Influence of social determinants in preference of public audience at music performances in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract: This paper displays the results of a survey of public music performances held during 2010 in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The data concerns the number of visitors categorized by genres of music preference, age, status symbol, origin of the performers, space, and organizers. Field research included 653 musical events with a total number 545,340 visitors grouped into eight categories according to the preference of genres. The largest percentage 35 % refers to the audience of pop rock concerts with the widest age structure ranging from 10 to 55 years. The status symbol among visitors is particularly apparent when it comes to domestic and world - renowned musicians regardless of genre distribution. Yet, most visitors, 46% of them, attended public events where the performers are from mixed backgrounds. In terms of space for maintenance, most events are held in established concert spaces for classical music. The organizers of musical events are budgetary institutions and nonprofit management and private agencies, profit. Structure and size of the audience depend on their marketing skills and affect the segmentation of the audience at the public musical performances. Key words: Social determinants; musical performances; segmentation; musical genres