Has The Music Festival Bubble Burst?

(Hypebot) – Has the music pageant bubble burst? Discover the components that contributed to the dramatic rise in music pageant cancellations.

by ArtistVerified

Competition Overload

It’s no secret that music pageant ticket gross sales are down considerably this yr. Coachella is nearly all the time a assured sellout, however not this yr. Over 50 festivals have been canceled in Europe alone and the pattern appears to be carrying over to North America, there’s proof from different markets akin to Asia and Australia/New Zealand that this can be a wider downside. When a enterprise mannequin turns into profitable in a particular market, it’s virtually a on condition that copycat companies will flood the market till there’s market saturation and an eventual bubble burst. What we are actually seeing within the pageant area could be the begin of the inevitable. However what are the causes and what may be performed to deliver the crowds again subsequent yr?

CAUSES

Market Saturation: Has the music pageant bubble burst?

The best and most evident trigger is market saturation. New festivals are popping up yearly and they’re competing for a similar {dollars}. That signifies that the cream will rise to the highest and followers (and sponsors) must select which festivals enchantment to their hearts and wallets. Touring lots of of miles to the mainstay festivals with the premier lineups is now not needed when there’s a pageant with an ideal lineup inside an hour or two. Most music followers can’t afford to attend a number of music festivals and inflation isn’t making it any simpler.

The Headliners

Fairly merely put, the variety of true pageant headliners is finite and dwindling. What number of festivals can Foo Fighters or The Killers proceed to headline yr after yr? It is a results of a variety of components however the one that’s most troubling is the DSP algorithm impact. An artist that has an enormous quantity of streams is probably not an ideal pageant headliner. Streaming numbers can’t be equated with document gross sales. True pageant headliners are artists with a broad enchantment and a fairly strong touring historical past. There are much less and fewer up to date artists which have that at present, partially as a consequence of taking part in extra festivals than headline dates. Additional, festivals are cannibalizing the opposite facet of the touring business; the membership dates and enviornment excursions, which are actually struggling much more than the festivals. Simply ask The Black Keys or J Lo.

The Undercard

When pageant lineups turn into more and more unrecognizable and odd to even the youngest music fan amongst us, it’s in all probability not an excellent signal. Competition curators are shedding an unwinnable battle at current as a result of they’re changing into depending on reserving and traction information that’s primarily based on metrics that are inclined to lean to prediction moderately than history-based evaluation. The times of “this artist is gonna blow up” are over for probably the most half. And it’s not the curator’s fault. Just like the headliners, there’s a finite variety of acts that persons are keen to pay to see greater than every year or much less. Additional, some music followers desire a extra curated lineup interesting extra to their particular tastes and aren’t getting it from the Coachella/Gov Ball “too cool for college” DSP/Tik Tok-driven lineups. Style-targeted festivals/excursions which have remained targeted on artists of a selected sort — whether or not they be established or rising, eg Knotfest or Inkarceration appear to be doing higher than Coachella or Glastonbury.

The Publish-Covid Hangover (Gonna get together like its 2021/2022)

The dreadful summer season of no stay music that was 2020, meant that music followers have been chomping on the bit to get out and see extra exhibits than ever in 2021 and 2022 and appeared to proceed to take action into 2023. Artists might tour consistently in the event that they wished and the followers would come out. The stay music business was apparently crushing it like by no means earlier than. However like all good issues, 2024 has signaled that the get together has come to an finish. Competition organizers now have the information that the pent-up demand in 2021/2022 was an aberration, not a brand new regular. Most artists are coming to the unhappy realization that efficiently touring yearly isn’t a actuality. Artists must return to “taking the yr off” from touring with the intention to maintain their market-demand, a minimum of within the US. We doubtless received’t see lots of this summer season’s headliners again at it subsequent yr until they tour exterior North America.

The Onerous Prices

Like nearly each different market at present, the prices of doing enterprise as a music pageant are larger than they’ve ever been. However as a result of the pageant market is now extra saturated with new festivals, promoters aren’t in a position to merely increase their costs with out seeing a unfavorable impact on gross sales. That is merely supply-demand economics.

Restricted Sponsor {Dollars}

Most music festivals rely closely on substantial sponsorship {dollars} to even come near break-even, a lot much less profitability. Sponsorship {dollars} usually are not flowing like they’ve prior to now and the competitors is even better now with extra hyper-targeted and market-curated festivals popping up. Sponsors count on extra for his or her cash and have much less of it to spend. The competitors for these {dollars} is fierce and getting fiercer.

SOLUTION?

Natural Progress

Many of the big-name festivals with longevity and historical past began very small and grew organically. Right this moment, we see festivals pop up with an unimaginable lineup in yr one and nil likelihood of breaking even. Actually, it’s not straightforward to interrupt even in yr one or two even, however gradual and regular wins virtually each race. The pageant that builds a sustainable relationship with attendees will stand the most effective likelihood of getting longevity.

KYC

Competition attendance is nearly fully pushed by expertise. Sure, the artist line-up is what’s on the poster. But it surely’s the expertise from the earlier yr or years that retains individuals coming again. It’s crucial for pageant promoters to not solely know who their prospects are, however what they love or don’t love about their pageant. If somebody has a foul time at your pageant, it’s virtually assured that they received’t be again. Know your buyer. Know as a lot about them as you presumably can. They purchased a ticket and watched some artists on some levels and acquired some merch. Which artists ? Which levels ? Which merch ? What do these followers do earlier than attending ? Afterwards ?

Artistic Curation and Expertise

Competition lineups that seem like each different pageant lineup that yr will see their turnstile numbers lower as rapidly as they grew. It’s now not ok, and the pageant that’s creatively curated to face out as an outlier could be the one with the most effective shot at getting the festival-goers {dollars} at present. Distinctive and memorable pageant experiences will deliver the followers again time and again.

Conclusion

On the finish of the day, now we have far exceeded the important mass of music festivals to the purpose of market oversaturation, a minimum of within the present financial system. We’re additionally seeing a gross sales droop on the enviornment and shed stage. A correction is coming and people festivals that are artistic and resourceful will stay one other season, whereas sadly, some others received’t.