The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the live events industry like never before. But as it finally subsides, it is now critical that event organisers understand how the pandemic has affected the attitudes and expectations of music fans. How they respond to these and improve the fan experience will be key to the success of the recovery.

This is something we at Event Genius were keen to help our partners understand. At the start of this year, we conducted a survey of 12,000 music fans from the UK, Europe and the US for our Fan Report: Back to live in 2022. The full report is available to download for free from the Event Genius website by clicking here.

The report gives a snapshot of how demand for live events is shaping up for 2022, including what proportion of music fans from each region have attended an event since restrictions were eased, what share have booked tickets to events at home and abroad in 2022, what’s stopping some fans from booking, how they found any new measures they experienced on-site, and what are the main factors influencing the buying decision.

For example, 75% of European event fans have either booked tickets to an event abroad this year, are planning to, or are waiting to have the money to book. This trend follows what we’ve seen in our own sales data, with our report on consumer travel behaviours from November 2021 which found that eventgoers are spending nearly three times more on their international event trips now than they were before the pandemic.

However, 31% and 60% of fans from all three regions reported they haven’t yet booked a ticket to a domestic and international event respectively in 2022. There are a number of reasons that are stopping this group, including fears an event will get cancelled, a lack of money, and still not feeling entirely comfortable due to Covid-19. Fortunately for organisers, these fans also noted a number of ways organisers could help them return.

“WHILE DEMAND AND OPTIMISM FOR LIVE EVENTS REMAIN HIGH FOR 2022, EVENT ORGANISERS ARE HAVING TO WORK HARDER TO STAND OUT”

That fear of an event being cancelled also shone through when we asked fans what were the most important factors when it came to deciding whether to buy a ticket to an event. Eighty per cent of those we surveyed said that an event having a clear cancellation policy would be very important, at times even more so than the event’s lineup.

Eventgoers from each region also experienced a number of changes to events they attended, for example, the use of Covid passes, mobile tickets and a cashless payments system to help reduce the spread of the virus. Importantly these measures made fans feel safer at events, with UK and European eventgoers reporting that a cashless payments system was the second most important measure in making them feel safer, even more so than having to wear a face mask. These measures can play a key part in helping fans feel more comfortable returning to live events.

While demand and optimism for live events remain high for 2022, event organisers are having to work harder to stand out from the crowd. Understanding and responding to these new fan expectations will go a long way in ensuring they make the most of the post-pandemic recovery.

Download the full report by clicking here, see the data for yourself and find out how music fans around the world really feel about the return to events.

Event Genius will also be sponsoring the Arthur Awards aftershow party at this year’s International Live Music Conference (ILMC), taking place on Thursday 28 April.

While, Event Genius COO Reshad Hossenally is slated to take part in the Festival Forum: New lands, new adventures panel.

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