The value of 'being there': How the live experience measures quality for the audience

Most measures of the quality of a live performance have focused on on the audience member's experience in the concert but rather on either the extrinsic aspects of the production - most of which are principally of relevance before or after the performance - or on expert assessments of artistic quality. This chapter is concerned with what the audience sees, hears and experiences during a performance, based on focus groups and surveys conducted immediately after a performances with the audiences of five music companies performing a range of musical genres and in a range of venues. The chapter examines how the live audience experience of a music performance contributes to its value.