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Not excited about this year’s music festivals? You’re not alone.

[This was my column for GlobalNews.ca this week. – AC]

The early signs were there. Several Australian music festivals scheduled for the Down Under summer months were cancelled. Then word started to come out of Britain about more festivals that wouldn’t happen because of various financial and logistical issues.

But the biggest wake-up call came when Coachella 2024 failed to sell out instantly like in years before. It took months to sell all the tickets for the first weekend; even as late as this past Thursday, tickets were still available for the second weekend, something that would have never happened in the past.

And it’s not just Coachella. There seems to be an overwhelming lack of enthusiasm for almost every major festival this summer. Lollapalooza has gone all hip-hop and pop. Except for the Red Hot Chili PeppersBonnaroo’s lineup doesn’t feel very exciting. Osheaga has Green Day, Noah Kahan, and SZA, but lacks the superstar punch of previous years. Same thing with Festival d’Été de Québec.

There have even been moans about Glastonbury, a festival that sells out in hours, months before anyone knows who will be performing. “These are the best headliners you can get?” seems to be the dominant complaint. Oh, it’ll still be the mud-and-booze-and-drugs riot it always is, but I doubt that Glastonbury 2024 will make anyone’s top 10.

So what’s the problem? Why are so many major music events suffering from a “meh” problem? Several reasons.

Keep reading.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39691 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “Not excited about this year’s music festivals? You’re not alone.

  • They are some universally s**t lineups. Which is what largely killed the festivals here in Australia.

    Sure, we’re all experiencing a “cost of living” crisis. But people are still going to concerts. They just won’t throw down what amounts to a lot of money on a festival ticket unless it has at least a healthy contingent of A-listers.

    Metal / rock festivals are doing a little better here, but still not securing consistently strong lineups. Variety festivals are generally all filler, no killer.

    Reply
  • Another great article. I read the original from Global News yesterday. We had this discussion before, but I have changed my position slightly. I originally bemoaned the destruction of festivals because of the capitalistic greed of the festival organizers. I have walked that back to blanket that statement in general, and remove it from the organizers specifically. The organizers are struggling too. The cost of everything is so high that even the organizers are feeling the strain. Couple that with the fact that headliners make more money and have less hassle on their own tours, and you have a major piece of the problem. While I appreciate new music, as the Spotify data shows, we are still listening to the 70s, 80s, and 90s the most. Gen Z is meh on festivals because they are really not in to the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas festival atmosphere, which is really an accessibility issue, and is not just a Gen Z problem. I have a few suggestions. In order to free up some money, the organizers are going to have to be much more selective on who they headline. They also need to concentrate on getting the bands that represent the feel or genre of the festival. Some bands will make people NOT want to go. There also needs to be a revamp on the accessibility of these festivals for all types of people. Lastly, this is kind of a sensitive subject, but if your putting on say a grunge festival, get the licensing for big named grunge songs. I know you can play covers for free, but you can’t advertise or monetize someone else’s song without a licence. Here is the idea, get the licence of the songs that fit your festival. Grunge festival? Get some licensing from, Nirvana, Blind Melon, Pearl Jam, Green Day, Soundgarden, etc. If you labeled a festival with a couple grunge headliners and then paired bands with specific songs, I really think people would go. You may never have heard of the band, but No Rain, or In Bloom?

    Reply

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