Gen Z women are attending more concerts than men in the US
Image credits: Wendy Wei
New data from Luminate reveals that young women are leading concert attendance trends in the US.
Gen Z women are in the front row
Live music remains one of the most powerful ways for artists to connect with fans. However, fresh data from Luminate’s Insights’ US Music 360 survey indicates something new: Gen Z women are outpacing men when it comes to concert attendance in the US.
According to the research, Gen Z women consistently attended more concerts than their male counterparts throughout each quarter between Q1 2023 and Q1 2025 (when it comes to attending at least one concert in the past 12 months). This signals another trend that distinguishes Gen Z from older generations, with Luminate already revealing that Gen Z spends more on concert tickets than older age groups.
While the margin isn’t huge – around 3% to 6% women attended more than men – it still marks a noticeable shift when compared to older generations. For example, Millennial attendance tends to be more balanced, trading off each quarter. Meanwhile, Gen X sees more male attendance.
More than just showing up
The gender gap isn’t just about who has gone to concerts. It’s also about who wants to go.
When asked whether they planned to attend at least one concert in the next 12 months, Gen Z women’s intent was 10% higher than men across Q2 and Q4 of 2024. That’s a 4% increase from Q4 2023, perhaps suggesting that the interest gap is only widening between men and women.
Why the shift?
So, what could this mean? Luminate points to a key reason: the “mainstream resurgence” of female-led pop. Think about the biggest artists and the most popular tours of the last year or two. Chances are, artists like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, or Sabrina Carpenter come to mind.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour alone became a cultural phenomenon, with millions of mostly young women flooding stadiums to experience the record-breaking tour. It’s no surprise that these tours might be helping boost young women’s interest in attending live shows.
It’s not just Taylor though. If the stars of the moment are women, it makes sense that young women are showing up to see them.
Importantly though, that’s not to say that males will continue being less interested. It could just mark the era that we’re currently in.
What could this mean for the industry?
For promoters, marketers, and venues, these Gen Z gender shifts are worth paying attention to. If more women are consistently showing up (and planning to show up), everything from tour planning to merch design could take a different approach.
This extends to festival line-ups and live shows which may need to reflect the changing face of live music audiences- with that face, at least among Gen Z, is increasingly female.