It’s New Year’s Eve, 2025; millions of people tune in to the live broadcast of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in anticipation for the world-renowned ball drop. The night entails performances from a multitude of artists, some more well known than others. However, one of the performances that stirred up quite a lot of excitement was Mariah Carey’s portion of the night. At 8:00 p.m EST, the long awaited performance kicked off. However, as Mariah sang a few of her songs, including her hit single “Obsessed,” the lack of enthusiasm and vigor in her performance was glaring. Though she did at least sing live (in contrast to the disaster that was her 2017 New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show), the absence of energy put a damper on the crowd’s excitement. Left craving more, audiences felt unfulfilled after watching a show from one of the most respected singers in history. Have invigorating, showstopping performances begun to die down in popularity and frequency?
One place that a person could look to for industry defining performances are the multitude of Super Bowl halftime shows over the years. From Prince rocking out to “Purple Rain” while rain showered the stadium, to Beyoncé’s 2013 show temporarily reuniting Destiny’s Child for the purpose of executing a history-making spectacle, there is no shortage of mind-blowing productions. Though, aside from the Super Bowl shows and from notable tours that individual artists have done (i.e., The Eras Tour, the Renaissance World Tour, the Short n’ Sweet Tour), there aren’t many other places that one can expect to see truly phenomenal performances. As of recent, this is evident through Katy Perry’s Lifetimes Tour. Including shoddy AI visuals, uninspired choreography, and a cheesy, high-tech theme, former fans were disappointed to say the least. Additionally, Perry’s decision to focus on special effects and stunts rather than actually performing was a clear mistake. The inclusion of songs from her latest (and, generally, most hated) album, “143,” surely didn’t help either. Another painful example of the decline in the art of real performances is seen in Kanye West’s 2025 performance at Shanghai stadium. During this show, West showed up 40 minutes late, poorly lip-synced, and experienced technical difficulties midway through the performance, resulting in livid fans requesting refunds. With clowns like these at the forefront of the music industry, it looks like the circus is in town and here to stay.
There are a few possible causes behind the decay of live performance culture. Firstly, inflation has brought ticket prices up to unrealistic amounts, resulting in fewer people attending live concerts or performances. In a bar graph from Pollstar’s 2024 year end analysis, while the average ticket price in 1996 was around $25, the average has soared to nearly $140 in recent years. If an artist is aware that high prices are limiting the amount of fans that will come see their show, they will not feel as much of a need to give it their all. Additionally, as with so many things, the internet and social media play a part in this as well. Because of live streams, recorded performances, music videos, etc., people are able to watch their favorite artists from the comfort of their own home, removing any need for supporting them live in a venue. A third potential reason behind this phenomena could be the heavy commercialization of concerts. With more and more shows being hosted in massive stadiums overflowing with advertisements, the experience for the audience does not feel quite as personal or special as it used to be. So, even if the artist is giving the performance of a lifetime, for a fan in the nosebleeds, the experience would not be nearly as magical. Whether the decline in performance quality is due to a lack of effort, price inflation, the explosion of the internet within the past few decades, or some other miscellaneous reason, it is difficult to pretend that the concert experience has not become less sensational as of late.
Thankfully, not all hope may be lost. With artists like Chappel Roan and Doechii giving performances that fans will marvel at for years to come, it might not be too late for performance culture to have a renaissance.