The Guardian’s Post

#Beonix #Loud #Cyberness Reflect Festival #Fengaros at #ETKO #Kolla in #Limassol and #Nicosia are just a few of the new and upcoming cutting edge productions taking place and lightening up routines with their creativity. A few points below on what goes on behind the scenes of organising a music festival of such large scale, from a legal perspective.

🎵💛🙏🎵💛🙏🎵💛🙏🎵💛🙏🎵💛🙏 ⭐️⭐️⭐️… Happening now … ⭐️⭐️⭐️ “So far this year 45 UK music festivals have been postponed or cancelled. The Association of Independent Festivals are forecasting that that figure could DOUBLE before the year is out.” - Sky News For fantastic in-depth & clear analysis JUST RELEASED… ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e-peu7ch KT Tunstall makes an important point in Katie Spencer’s excellent report (below) about ‘headline’ acts ‘cutting their teeth’ at the smaller festivals long before they walk out & WOW huge crowds at Glastonbury or at the O2, for example.. The appetite for festivals continues to grow and has bounced back since the pandemic.. which is most certainly welcome news. Yet the organic nature & grass roots of the industry.. is under threat, ironically due to its success. WHY? Big international corporations are ‘buying out’ smaller festivals 🤔💭 John Rostron, Executive of The Association of Independent Festivals, wants a return to the initial post-pandemic 5% instead of 20% VAT charge associated with producing smaller festivals… to give the operators & supply chain a chance to fully recover & rebuild. Reading about & reflecting on the many varied benefits of small festivals.. not LEAST that they provide an initial platform for talent to emerge, ‘get their feet wet’ & blossom so that they can then headline the bigger events… small festivals seem to me to be worth supporting for so many reasons: ⭐️ They birth, grow, develop, foster, support & nurture: - New music 💖🎵 - New music fans 💖🎵 - Community spirit! 💖 - Joy & Unity! 💖 😀 - Sustainability 💖 - Diversity 💖 - Inclusivity 💖 - Cultural Growth 💖 - Celebration! 💖🎉 - Families & kids! 💖🏡 - New technologies 💖💫 - Local economies 💖💷 - Cultural Growth 💖 - New Artists… who become big show headliners 💖👏🎵 ⭐️ What do YOU think? ⭐️ - Are you an avid small festival goer? Or do you just enjoy one or two local festivals each year? - What’s your favourite thing about attending smaller festivals compared to the bigger ones? - Have you had your festival plans curtailed this year due to organisers having to cancel or postpone the event? - What do you think.. & how do you feel.. about the threat of the small music festival counter culture being ‘taken-over’ by big international corporations buying out smaller festivals? - And what about them having acts sign exclusivity contracts to prevent them performing at smaller events? Watch Katie Spencer’s brilliant report below… Look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments! 🎵💫😇 #musicfestivals #skynews #singersongwriters #localeconomies #newmusic #liveevents #sustainability #culture #newtechnology #community

It’s no secret that music festival ticket sales are down substantially this year. Coachella is almost always a guaranteed sellout, but not this year. Over 50 festivals have been canceled in Europe alone and the trend seems to be carrying over to North America, there is evidence from other markets such as Asia and Australia/New Zealand that this is a wider problem. When a business model becomes successful in a specific market, it’s almost a given that copycat businesses will flood the market until there is market saturation and an eventual bubble burst. What we are now seeing in the festival space may be the start of the inevitable. But what are the causes and what can be done to bring the crowds back next year? #MusicIndusty #LivePerformances #MusicBusiness #IndieArtists #MIMELLC

JamBase’s breakdown of the global surge in music festivals, complete with the most booked acts of 2024, is a fascinating read. I know the average festival-goer isn’t losing sleep over the insurance side of things, but with data-driven risk management on the rise, it’ll be interesting to see if insights like these start shaping markets and premiums. And more importantly I am absolutely here for the returning nostalgia acts. “A noteworthy shift marking the recent landscape is the resounding return to festival stages of 90s/2000s pop-punk and nu-metal “legacy” acts in 2024 including: The Offspring (27), Avril Lavigne (11), Sum 41 (23), and Limp Bizkit (11) none of whom or the likes of whom had more than a handful of festival plays in the previous 4 years. After years of contemporary pop artists dominating headlining slots, nostalgia is showing up as a dominant trend in festival lineup curation” #MusicFestivals #LiveMusic #MusicInsurance

Today, UK Music Ltd has published new research into the value of gigs, concerts and festivals to local economies, revealing that a total of 19.2 million music fans travelled from UK towns and cities and overseas to see shows and festivals in the UK in 2023. Dr Jo Twist OBE (she/her), CEO of BPI: "This welcome news shows that the UK continues to be a global centre for live music, with live gigs, concerts and festivals bringing huge value to the British economy.   While there are challenges, particularly for smaller venues, it's particularly exciting to see significant growth in music tourism in the South West and North East, which is testament to the vibrant music ecosystems and incredible talent all across the UK.   We have an exciting opportunity to work together, in the industry and with government, to boost creative skills and education and give opportunity to talent from all parts of the UK. This is why it's so important that all parts of the music sector, including under-threat grassroots venues, are enabled to perform their vital role in supporting artists’ careers." Read the story in full: https://lnkd.in/eveZqrxS

10/10 recommend getting a job that involves attending music festivals. Our "first look" at When We Were Young Festival is at 679K organic impressions and 48K interactions, making it the 4th most-viewed of their 69 in-feed videos—just behind a proposal, Pierce the Veil, and My Chemical Romance. Considering this video highlighted sponsors by name (typically less engaging), that's a huge win. What helped it perform: - Fast-paced "hook" with 9 shots in the first 5 seconds - Engaging VO: “WWWY doors just opened, and I speed-ran the festival to show you everything!” - Text Hook: “The Emo Fans Have Taken Over the Vegas Strip” (Key insight: it is different from the VO) - A little humor and conversational tone helped it land (like ‘How did they get my teenage bedroom here?!’ The VO opening line was planned, but I stayed flexible on the ground to capture everything in real-time. From the moment the gates opened, I filmed, edited, and posted the video—all within 4 hours, including approvals! Shoutout to our team for quick approvals via text and nailing a smooth live post. 🙌 Props to festival and sports social teams for constantly crushing real-time content—it’s a grind! I love that we can flex into it for big events, but it doesn’t have to be our daily hustle.

This is an important and ongoing trend for the UK’s Festival Industry, which I explored in my Final Year Dissertation, the findings of which included: a reduced total supply of festivals with a higher market concentration and increased real ticket prices. In combination, these factors benefit big actors, the likes of Live Nation and AEG, and make it harder for all independent promoters. The Association of Independent Festivals, UK Music Ltd and Chris Anderton have all provided research that highlights the numerous benefits of music festivals and the ongoing troubles faced. Initiatives like 5%-For-Festivals are spreading awareness to the public and government to support this industry. For anyone who's ever experienced the magic of a festival, it's important to educate yourself and get involved in this cause.

Check out a recent report out of Australia on the music festival sector, it makes for some interesting reading. The findings suggest that only half of Australia's festivals are profitable. The reasons for this include rising operational costs, lack of funding or grants, extreme weather events, insurance, consumer buying behaviours, and complex and inconsistent regulatory requirements.

My Masters thesis was on music based tourism and destination venue placement. This touches on so many points from my paper.

This year’s Tramlines Music Festival and The Fringe at Tramlines provided a combined £7.3 million boost to the city’s economy, according to a new report. Tramlines is one of the UK’s longest running, city-based music festivals and a highlight in Sheffield’s year-round calendar of events and festivals. Whilst Tramlines in Hillsborough Park is a ticketed event, 2024 also saw the return of the Fringe at Tramlines – in Association with Sheffield BID – a free, city centre event taking place in Sheffield’s outdoor spaces, pubs, bars and music venues. The report, to be discussed at an Economic Development and Skills Committee meeting next week (Thursday 12th December), has now revealed some of the major benefits of the festival to both the city and its residents. More here: Multi-million-pound boost to the Sheffield economy thanks to Tramlines and Tramlines Fringe