A room, or a packed stadium filled with music? Being alone, or being with hundreds of fans? Seeing the artist's album cover, or seeing them perform in person? Music has always been important in our society no matter the generation. It conveys a sense of visibility, togetherness, and acceptance. Unfortunately, one of the many beauties of music that is often forgotten or skipped over is its authenticity and its ability to build a community.
Using streaming services is practical, but every song that gets released goes through an extensive production process. The artist most likely sings multiple takes, perfecting their voice over and over again until the song is completely how they envision it. A level of perfectionism is understandable and expected within the music industry, but the joy of music comes from the small flaws. From small voice cracks, to laughter in songs, these moments reveal the humanity of the artist, which finalized songs sometimes lack. Along with the popularization of autotune, musicians are discouraged to release songs that do not fit the standard, contributing to the uniformity of the industry. With concerts, the crowd is composed of people together for one night, producing a unique environment for the artist to color their music with ad-libs. In this way, performances that are built off the crowd allow a new level of authenticity and creativity.
“When it's live, it's very unique because [Swift] can change the words or she can have a phrase that she says to interact with the audience. It just feels special because whoever is there in the audience are the only people who get to listen to it live like this,” said Vivian Lutkowski ’28 who attended a Taylor Swift concert.
Not only do concerts allow the artist to experiment with performance style, a community and a sense of interconnectedness are also fostered during the performance. All audience members are packed inside one venue to see an artist they all enjoy, and therefore are uniting under a common interest. Trends such as friendship bracelets as well as custom items like stickers and charms immortalize the moment and provide a way to make friends with unlikely people.
“Everyone, like me, was a super fan. Everyone was being so nice and everyone was trading friendship bracelets around,” said Lutkowski.
Unlike studio recordings, artists have zero do-overs or retakes and there is no rewind button for the audience. That unfiltered experience of staying in the present moment can be refreshing and is irreplicable. Going to a concert not only brings people closer together, but it also brings people closer with the artist. Concerts turn songs into moments, and those moments last a lifetime.
“The music felt ... alive and radiant," said Lutkowski. "And I just loved every single time she opened her mouth to sing.”