A
benefit concert or
charity concert is a type of musical
benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Benefit concerts can have both subjective and concrete objectives. Subjective objectives include raising awareness about an issue such as misery in Africa (see
Live 8) and uplifting a nation after a disaster (see ). Concrete objectives include raising funds (
Live Aid) and influencing legislation (Live 8;
Farm Aid). The popularization of benefit concerts started after the
Concert For Bangladesh, organized by
George Harrison in 1971. However, the format of most modern concerts was only created after the occurrence of Bob Geldof’s Live Aid (CBC). The two largest benefit concerts of all time, in size, were the
Live 8 and the
Live Earth, both with billions of spectators. Scholars theorize that the observed increase on concert size since the Live Aid is happening because organizers strive to make their events as big as the tragedy at hand, thus hoping to gain legitimization that way.