Here’s what audiences think should be the perfect duration for a live concert
A concert can be as short as just 13 seconds (British rock band The Who had to cut short a performance after their lead vocalist couldn’t continue singing) or can go on from midnight to sunrise (American rock band Phish once performed a roughly seven-hour long set). But is there such as an ideal live concert duration? This is what a recent YouGov Surveys: Serviced survey asked consumers across 17 international markets.
The long and short of it
Results reveal that two in five respondents (60%) across markets feel live concerts should ideally be two to three hours long, followed by those who feel 30 minutes to an hour long (15%) is enough.
Less than one in ten (7%) say live concerts should be limited to 4-5 hours, while just 2% think the event should go on for more than five hours.
Less than one in ten (6%) prefer live concerts wrapping up within half an hour.
By market
Among those who say they prefer live concerts to run anywhere between two to three hours, respondents in Great Briton (where Taylor Swift takes centre stage with her Eras Tour next week) lead across all markets (74%), followed by Italians (70%), Australians (67%) and Spanish (67%). Singaporeans (64%) and Hong Kongers (64%) lead among Asian consumers surveyed.
In the US (venue to upcoming concerts by Bruno Mars and Metallica), three in five respondents (60%) say live concerts should ideally be between two to three hours long.
Shorter the better
A proportion of consumers across markets prefer keeping it brief indicating some demand for shorter formats of live concerts.
Indians lead this lot, with nearly a third of respondents here (32%) saying the ideal length for live concerts should be between 30 minutes to an hour. Respondents in the UAE (28%), Indonesia (21%) and France (20%) follow in this regard.
Nearly one in ten Americans (9%) also feel live concerts shouldn’t exceed an hour of run time.
Among takers for 30 minutes or less live concerts we have India at 16%, UAE at 14% followed by Indonesia (7%), France (7%) and Hong Kong (7%).
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from
nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 511 and 2051 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in May 2024. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.