Gen Z’s Growing Appetite For Live Music Offers Radio A Playbook.

Even before the Beatles’ arrival in the U.S. and the birth of the music festival revolutionized the live music experience, radio was already on board, with stations sponsoring and promoting — and air personalities hosting — concerts featuring top artists.

Findings from a Luminate survey suggest contemporary music stations would be smart to hitch their wagons to, or even to create, live events attracting Gen Zs, whose interest in, attendance of, and expenditure on concerts increased significantly during Q1 2026, even as ticket prices continue to rise.

Luminate’s research found that Gen Zs spent a monthly average of $101 on live music events during the first quarter, passing the $94 average from Millennials, who have traditionally been the highest-spending demographic for live music.

“Gen Z’s willingness to spend on live music has manifested in a few notable ways that, assuming current trends continue over the long run, will have a major impact on the industry’s further evolution,” Luminate Media Analyst Rob Steiner says. “The most surprising one is the demo’s shifting tone on ticket prices, which have increased substantially in the post-pandemic era and often incite debates over live music’s affordability.”

Since Q1 2024, the Luminate survey’s share of Gen Zs pointing to ticket price as a barrier to attending — consistently the biggest barrier for the demographic — has plummeted from 75% to 57% during Q1 2026, the most dramatic shift for any demo.

Additionally, Gen Z shows greater interest in attending more shows, and in traveling to see those shows. Luminate reports that the percentage of survey respondents going to three or four concerts in the past 12 months is up from 2024, with no change in percentage of those seeing one or two. As Steiner notes, Gen Z single-concert attendance has declined as multi-show turnout has grown, with attendance for two concerts a year up from 29% in Q1 2024 to 37% in Q1 2026, while going to just one show yearly was down 10%.

Another key takeaway for stations eager to offer listeners more access to live shows: Gen Z is more willing to travel for those experiences. That’s often driven by lower ticket prices for shows in a different city, or outside the U.S., making it cheaper and easier than trying to see major acts locally. As a result, Luminate’s survey also found that the share of Gen Z live show attendees listing travel cost as a barrier is also down from two years ago.

“These overarching trends among Gen Z concertgoers offer a clear glimpse of the live music industry’s current trajectory: younger fans are becoming more comfortable with spending big, and the industry has responded with bigger shows, more experience-based offerings and live infrastructure in emerging markets with existing tourist demand,” Steiner says.

How can radio capitalize on these trends? The short answer, the same way it always has: by not only offering listeners the chance to attend must-see shows by core artists, no matter the location, but also generating excitement for these events with artist interviews and exclusives; adding value to the experience with listener-only or pop-up events and other artist-related promotions; and perhaps most important, giving listeners the chance to talk about the experience on-air after the show.

In short, it’s all about inserting the station into the fans’ experience, being front-and-center well before and long after the show.