Concerts are supposed to be places of connection between people and their favorite artists, but it has become a trend for people to pull out their phones and film what is going on. 

I feel that this recent trend is harming concert culture and pulling people out of the experience.

Phones are turning concerts into mediated experiences where views of audience members are blocked, the “live” experience is sacrificed, the audience becomes disconnected from the artist and takes away the value of the experience that concertgoers pay good money for.

Phones block the views of audience members and are often very distracting. People are practically scrambling over themselves to get the “perfect shot,” but while they’re doing this there are physical obstructions to people’s view by having phones up in the air in front of people’s faces, and they are quite distracting thanks to the light of the screens and sometimes even the camera flashing lights.

This practically forces people to watch the live show through screens because people’s focus is often pulled away by the movement of those who are constantly pulling their phones out.

Another way that phones are ruining concert culture is by taking away the “live” experience. The videos and photos that are taken at concerts are often published online. People who use their phones during concerts are taken out of the moment and pulled into the world behind the screen. Instead of living in the moment and feeling the music or connecting with others in the crowd.

In addition to this, people rarely watch back the footage that is taken at these concerts and the photos that come out of them are often poor in quality. The videos usually have the same quality issue with shaky footage and poor sound.

Phones also cause the artist to feel disconnected from the audience, and many artists describe today’s crowds as “staring out at a sea of phones,” rather than actual faces. It can make the artist feel that the audience is disengaged and only there for a post on social media.

Another way that phones can ruin concerts is by pretty much spoiling the concert experience. With countless clips and even full songs posted onto social media from the concerts the element of surprise is practically nonexistent. 

Some artists include special segments in their show where they incorporate different audience members in different ways. One example of this that has recently gone viral is Sombr. 

A woman who went to one of his shows began to criticize his stage presence and some of the “bits” that he does on stage. While doing this she provides footage that people have taken at Sombr’s concerts. Sombr does a segment in his concerts where he will have an audience member of his call an ex and he will talk to them and ask things such as why they broke up. The woman who made this video spoke about how Sombr’s stage presence does not match his audience’s age. The woman calls out that Sombr’s audiences are typically full of teens and the woman argues that Sombr discusses things that are too “mature” for his audience, and while doing so she uses footage from his concerts as “evidence” to prove her point.

Since this first video has gone viral there have been many people that have hopped on the Sombr hate train, many often body shaming him using this footage taken on phones. The use of footage taken of Sombr’s concerts enabled a widespread and harmful campaign against him, and essentially turned his “bits” into viral fodder for online criticism.

Phones can be a double edged sword though. Billie Eilish was recently pulled against a barricade by a fan at one of her concerts. While Eilish was walking through the crowd by the barricade she was violently grabbed and pulled towards the crowd. This clip immediately went viral and the person who was responsible was ejected from the venue. This viral clip has raised awareness about how concert crowds can be violent and how artists should have a bit of caution when it comes to being around their crowds.