Can it be said that certain things in life have lost their spontaneity? Some things (by which I mean of the music kind specifically) have become so in demand that to stand any chance of getting that lucrative ticket you have to set alarms and be poised at your PC/iPad/mobile/other device to hit refresh on repeat at 9am months before said event takes place. Who likes to plan that far ahead these days? In truth no one but it seems to be the norm now.

To be honest, I’ve only recently witnessed this myself as a couple of weeks ago I happened to overhear that the Stone Roses were doing three shows next year with tickets going on sale that Friday morning. Knowing competition was going to be ridiculous, particularly as I read that the last time Stone Roses tickets went on sale they got sold in a speedy 10 seconds flat! Therefore, on that Friday morning my husband and I had all our devices at the ready and by some miracle, we got tickets! I’ve now adopted this as the norm, even for what I perceive to be less in demand gigs, I’m still at my PC for 9am frantically refreshing the page until I am successful.

I have never to been to Glastonbury Festival and I am unlikely ever to,

1. Because it’s so expensive

2. while I don’t dislike camping, that kind of place would leave me too anxious to sleep or even be comfortable sitting at my tent, and that’s not even taking into consideration the enormous crowds.

But some years ago when I was in my mid-teens, it was somewhere I always thought I would go.

According to my husband, buying tickets for the main summer festivals back then was as simple as working out what you wanted to see a month or maybe even a few weeks so in advance, and then going down to your local HMV to purchase tickets. Now it’s pre-registration and that whole 9am, multiple devices and teams of friends and family kind of scenario, with the many thousands of tickets available selling out in mere minutes; it’s just too crazy for words.

With this lack of spontaneity in life now, aside from having to be totally on it to stand any chance of going to these events, it’s also the added pressure to enjoy yourself when you get there. Once upon a time when I lived at home in Plymouth, I went to see most of the bands that came down to the Pavilions to perform because it was affordable and I was one of those people that took the opportunity to see multiple bands, even if I wasn’t a huge fan or that familiar with them.

Sophie Ellis-Bexter, Sum 41, The Flaming Lips, Chris De Burgh, Lemar, Blondie, Stereophonics, Athlete, Travis, and Keane to name just a few of my favourites.

Music for teenagers is such an important thing and for me, it’s how I identified myself and so often what I clung to; ages ago I wrote about my love for Avril Lavigne as she particularly was someone I strongly gravitated to, and in many ways I still do. But with such a competitive edge for tickets now, how can teenagers, or anyone really, have that freedom to find themselves in music outside of the confines of ITunes and Spotify?

I worry for my future children because I wonder if they will be able to enjoy that live gig experience I grew up with, and the pressure as a parent to get your children to see their favourite artists and bands –I mean we’ve all seen the videos on YouTube of teens going into meltdown on Christmas Day when they find Justin Bieber tickets in their stocking, ha!

What do you guys think? Has music lost its spontaneity?

Until next time x