Music Concerts: Cultural Consumption among New York University Abu Dhabi Students in Abu Dhabi and Dubai | Sara Pan Algarra

This study examines the cultural consumption of undergraduates focusing on music concerts offered in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I asked, first, what kind of music concerts students attend. Second, I looked for factors that may influence these preferences, including the extent of exposure to books in adolescence and childhood, languages spoken, music literacy, self- reported socio-economic status, the university’s financial aid packages, and owning a Spotify account. Extensive research was conducted to identify the concerts available, which already shows how relevant organizations could invest more in developing a platform to market concerts simultaneously. The concerts were distributed in 6 genres: Pop/Rap, Classical, Rock, Electronic, Experimental, and Jazz. I found a statistically significant positive association between the monthly pocket money students had for leisure activities and the total number of concerts attended. I also found that most students attended Pop/Rap concerts. However, this may not strictly be due to their own preferences as most of the concerts listed were of this genre. This research is a first step toward learning more about undergraduates’ cultural consumption across international higher education settings in the UAE. The results can help cultural organizations in the UAE to improve their programming and marketing to better target the student demographics.

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