World Music Day: Heard of it?
[Yet another post from Elisa F.G. If I’d known about this, I would have baked a cake or something.- AC]
Every year on June 21st the entire world meets on common ground for one topic, music. Meeting eye to eye on genres or artists may be a stretch but World Music Day is our unified nod to music itself – the importance and vitality of sound and expression, something we can all agree on, no? On Alan’s site at least.
Live music festivals have been one of the gateways into music fandom since the late sixth century BC. The Pythian Games (forerunner of the Olympics) is said to be the first live musical performance and probably the best show in town. (What the hell else did they have to compare it to?)
Fast forward to today-ish, the selection is endless, talent runs rampant and music crews are pioneering something new every other day – The Pythian Games is no longer the only show in town, with so much to listen to…what constitutes as “the best” now?
Much like the question “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” – If one band does the “best concert ever!” on one side of the world, and the other side isn’t there to hear it…is it still the “best concert ever?” And vice versa? Can the best exist if ‘we’ aren’t there to hear it? Woah.
This study collected intel from 10 years worth of festival line-ups and fully researched a much less confusing question than the “tree in the forest” thing. They wanted to figure out which acts are currently the most common headliners, which genre reins supreme, and what’s the gender split for headliners?
According to their findings, in the last 10 years, 10% of all headline slots have gone to Indie Rock acts, the genre wins the gold medal for festival popularity, EDM takes home Silver.
When it comes to female headline artists, only 12% have been the main attraction over the last decade with the remaining 77% going to male acts and the last 8% towards gender duos – both male and female acts.
The top artist most popular across international festivals with over 15 appearances in 10 years is Dutch DJ, Martin Garrix. Gefeliciteerd! That’s Dutch for congratulations.
