by By Ariana Hausia-Haugen
As a proud fangirl of countless artists, concerts are one of my favorite ways to enjoy music. They’re a special opportunity to hear your favorite artist live and have a fun night alongside other fans. However, when I stop to consider concert culture and what the experience means today, there’s always a glaringly obvious obstruction: phones. Even though concerts are live events, and pricey ones at that, the experience has become rooted in online sharing.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to be massively critical of the use of devices at concerts as I myself am guilty of taking my phone out in order to capture a certain song or moment. But with every concert I attend, I find myself wondering why we all have this instinctive need to digitally document an experience we paid to see live.
We must acknowledge the context that concert culture exists within, and as with all things, it’s in the age of social media. Fans having the ability to post concert moments online introduces opportunity for virality, thus changing how the experience is designed. For one, the caliber of performance that artists put on stage is remarkable, and it’s almost never without elaborate stage designs or costume changes. Surprise songs are another new component that has emerged in recent years, where each night of the tour gets to hear an exclusive song performed by the artist. All of these features are part of a proven method for making an incredibly successful tour, because time and again, they’re why fans take out their phones, push the record button and post it online.
We also can’t ignore how social media has built an intrinsic need to “prove you were there.” This applies to almost everything online, but I think it’s especially true for concerts. The live-music experience has become wildly popular amongst GenZ, and not just in awareness or online conversation, but in the lengths to which people will go to in order to attend a concert. Fans have shown their level of dedication, to the point where tickets are bought before the music is even released, or hotels and flights are booked. And once again, I must admit, I’m entirely guilty of it as well, so this all comes from a place of introspection.
But isn’t it an issue when your Instagram story is more top of mind than the artist on stage in front of you? The answers may vary by person, but either way, the issue has been discussed at length online, with footage from concerts having gone viral for highlighting the distracting presence phones have in the crowd. Commentary like this tweet below is incredibly common, turning the discussion into a satirical meme around how phones consistently remove people from the moment.
But! There might be a shift in concert culture after all, as some artists have started to do phone free tours. Phoebe Bridgers announced that she would be partnering with Yondr for her 2026 Lost Tour, making each show completely free of phones or cameras. Before fans purchased tickets on Ticketmaster, the site displayed this message to share the guidelines. I myself am going to this tour and it will be my first no-phone concert, so I’m excited to experience the difference.
Of course, it’s hard to know if phones and social media are truly the thing to blame for poor concert culture, but it’s hard not to put the onus on them when they’re always so painfully obvious. But I would encourage you to join me in putting your phone down at the next concert you attend and truly live in the experience of live music.
I really liked your take on this Ariana! Your article made me think about concerts I’ve been to recently, and I had a really different experience at a Clairo concert compared to a smaller artist I saw recently I believe was largely due to phone use and the ‘need to prove you were there’ you mentioned
Hi Ariana! I really enjoyed this article about concert culture and how phones are changing that. I go to a lot of concerts especially concerts that are “viral” and where everyone is videoing trying to get a viral video. This past weekend I went to the Phoebe Bridgers Lost Boy tour which you talked about in this article, I was nervous about the no phone policy but because of this policy I truly think it was the best concert I’ve ever experienced!
Hi Ariana! It is really interesting to think about how phones may be affecting concert culture. It is something you don’t really think about in the moment when you take your phone out to record a song, but then if you see that many people on their phones, it makes the experience a little less impactful. I like the idea of phone-free concerts; I haven’t heard anything about it, but it sounds cool.
Hey Ariana, I really enjoyed this take. This is why I don’t even attempt to buy tickets in the pit, because with everyones phone and they’re already standing in the way it ruins the whole experiences. I think that Phoebe Bridgers take on how to approach this trend for her tour was an interesting approach and I wonder if there are going to be anymore artists who will start requesting the same, or making similar partnerships.
Hi Ariana! I was hoping you’d mention Phoebe Bridgers’ phone policy at her concerts, and I really liked your breakdown of this issue. Truthfully, I’m not sure how I’d feel about having my phone shut off at a concert for safety reasons, but on the other hand it’s much more refreshing to see a crowd actively listening to the music, instead of an ocean of screens. I think your inclusion of the guidelines and recommendations that the ticket website for Bridgers shows is a great addition, because it preemptively solves any problems that might arise without your phone, and certainly answers some of my questions. The no phone policy also starts to solve the problem that has come up with social media, in that you need to “prove you were there” by taking the power to do so out of your hands.