How did performances become more informal and participatory after the mid-20th century?

Since the mid-20th century, musical performance has shifted away from the formal, ritualized events characteristic of earlier eras toward more informal and spontaneous gatherings. This evolution was driven by several key factors:1

• Active Participation: Many artists began creating performance environments that actively involve the audience as participants. In these settings, the traditional boundaries between composer, performer, and listener are consolidated into a single participant who interacts with others to invent and realize a unique, ephemeral work.1
• Experimental Art Forms: The rise of performance art in the 1960s and 1970s—including Happenings and Fluxus activities—prioritized improvisation, spontaneity, and direct audience interaction over traditional, presentational formats.2
• Counterculture Influence: The 1960s counterculture movement further fueled this informality. Large-scale rock festivals, such as Woodstock, transformed the concert experience into a communal, youth-oriented event that rejected conventional mores and traditional authorities.34
• Technological Impact: While technology has enabled high-quality, lifelike reproductions that can increase private musical consumption, it has also facilitated new, interactive performance possibilities, allowing for a wider variety of informal and diverse musical experiences.1