IndexUltra Music Festival - EDM Festivals, SFX and the Impact on the Festival MarketRise and Decline of SFX FestivalsEDM May Be Losing PopularityThe Music Festival BubbleDrug Use and SafetyCountry Music and AlcoholBranding and Experience Sponsorship Marketing at music festivalsWhen Sponsorship and Sponsorship BackfireThe Future of the Music Festival IndustryBoutique FestivalsDestination Music Festivals and Cruise Music FestivalsRoving FestivalsMAD DECENT BLOCK PARTY TRIES TO BE EVERYTHING AT ONCEFestivals Exploring the Attendee ListMulti-Venue FestivalsAfter the Festival Panorama has entered the New York City music festival scene, Founders Entertainment, the independent promoters who produce the Governors Ball, have entered into negotiations with Live Nation for the large concert promotion company to purchase a majority stake in Founders Entertainment (Nelson, 2016). According to online magazine Billboard, "A festival arms race of sorts is underway between Live Nation and rival AEG Live, as both aggressively seek to build their respective festival portfolios in what has been the most successful sector of the live music business for over the past decade (Waddell, 2016). AEG is considered the favorite in the competition by Billboard because it owns or has a stake in 30 major concert promoters in North America loss of its independence by one of the last remaining independent promoters as Founders Entertainment “is now headed towards an alignment with the largest promoter in the world” (Waddell, 2016). shouldn't violent video games be banned"? Get an original essay Ultra Music Festival: EDM Festivals, Sound Effects, and the Impact on the Festival Market Electronic dance music is quickly becoming the hottest music of the millennial generation. In fact, it can arguably be called the music of the decade from 2010 to 2020 due to its immense popularity (Heitner, 2013). “With popular DJs including Tiesto, Avicii, Calvin Harris, Kaskade, David Guetta and many others commanding fees in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars (per performance), radio airplay on mainstream pop stations and a growing number of artist collaborations of other genres, EDM has become the preferred type of music on the airwaves and in public performances. And a favorite annual event among EDM fans is the Ultra Music Festival based in Miami, Florida, which is part of UMF Worldwide” (Heitner, 2013). With the aforementioned well-paid stars and their growing popularity, music festivals of this genre are also thriving. You would expect electronic dance music festivals to be over the top compared to other music festivals and they are right; Furthermore, in the United States the market for these festivals is booming. “The United States has become the largest market for large-scale pyrotechnic events called 'EDM festivals'” (Garcia, 2014). This type of music festival, which many may consider to be a slightly newer form of music festival, is quickly becoming the most popular type of music festival among festival goers. “While Coachella 2006 certainly represented a turning point for the mainstream profile of electronic music, it wasn't until around 2010 that festivals dedicated exclusively to electronic music took hold in the United States. Since then, they have transformed into a profitable and culturally significant industry, which has also begun to influence the global festival circuit” (Garcia, 2014). With the growth ofthese kinds of music festivals, there are also some concerns about fan safety. Rise And Fall Of SFXSFX Entertainment, a company founded in the 1990s by Robert Sillerman, re-emerged in 2012 to conquer the electronic dance music scene (808SJake). Sillerman's first SFX Entertainment was sold to Clear Channel in 2000 for $4.4 billion; this SFX Entertainment later developed into Live Nation Entertainment. IN 2012, Sillerman hoped his new SFX Entertainment would be as successful as its Live Nation predecessor. “From June 2012 to the present, they have made a series of acquisitions that have included everything from some of the largest EDM promoters in the world to ticket purchasing companies. Instead of dealing with just a particular portion of the EDM pie, Sillerman plans to not only control the entire pie, but change the way you eat it” (808SJake). The company had acquired: Disco Donnie Presents, Dayglow LLC, The Voodoo Experience, Huka Entertainment, Beatport, ID&T, Miami Marketing Group, Totem OneLove, Arc90, Fame House, Tunezy, Made Event, Rock in Rio, i-Motion and Paylogic ( 808SJake). With these acquisitions by his company, Sillerman intended to conquer the world of electronic dance music (Mac & Gara, 2015). You could officially declare Sillerman's plan to conquer the electronic dance music scene in 2015 a failure. “Sillerman is now in a fight to save SFX Entertainment, which went public at $13 a share and was valued more than $1 billion in October 2013. On Friday, the stock closed at 91 cents a share. SFX now has a market capitalization of $88 million” (Mac & Gara, 2015). Given that SFX Entertainment is now on the brink of bankruptcy, one has to wonder where the company and Stillerman went wrong. The plan for SFX Entertainment seemed simple enough: bring together local EDM event organizers under one umbrella organization that could generate profits by providing structure and efficiency. It wasn't too dissimilar a plan from Sillerman's to move to the original SFX, where he spent more than $1.2 billion to gobble up regional, local rock promoters and management companies in the late '90s (Mac & Gara , 2015). Sillerman believed that due to the popularity of EDM festivals around the world, this music scene would be the new rock and roll for millennials. In 2015, however, Sillerman was involved in a lawsuit with acquaintances who claimed he had originated the idea to consolidate the EDM industry (Mac & Gara, 2015). Furthermore, according to business analysts, the management and board of the holding company are to blame for SFX Entertainment's problems and not the company's festivals and business units (Mac & Gara, 2015). Due to its financial problems and the unlikelihood that Sillerman has the ability to return the company to strong financial performance, the possibility exists that the company could be sold off so that Sillerman can exit. One possible buyer for SFX Entertainment is Live Nation, the company that grew out of Sillerman's original SFX Entertainment. EDM Festivals May Be Losing Popularity In March of 2016 the Miami Herald reported that the electronic dance music craze may be starting to fade in a similar way to disco (Levin, 2016). Although all tickets to Ultra were sold out, there were significant signs at this year's event that the popularity of the electronic dance music scene may be starting to decline rapidly. “'EDM is over – it's like disco,' says Vanessa Menkes, former communications chief of the now-dissolved Opium Group, whose pups, including Mansion and Set, dominated for yearsSouth Beach nightlife. «In 2005 you could open your doors on any Saturday and make $150,000. Those days will not return” (Levin, 2016). The article goes on to state that electronic dance music may have peaked in 2013 (Levin, 2016). Several factors may contribute to the decline in popularity of electronic dance music. A significant factor that can influence the popularity of the music genre is the prohibitive cost of a trip to a club to enjoy the music craze. "Many of the music-loving club-goers who make up the genre's core audience have been alienated by soaring admission and drink prices that push the cost of even a minimum evening well over $1000, even though the clubs cater to wealthy customers who spend thousands at VIP sanctuaries” (Levin, 2016) One of the reasons the high price associated with enjoying a night out at a club where electronic dance music is featured is due to the price that the most famous DJs. they can impose. The genre is dominated by some superstar DJs/artists like Calvin Harris, Diplo, Tiesto and Skrillex (Levin, 2016). These top earners can command up to $400,000 to give a show in a club music in Miami, when Mansion booked headline DJ Afrojack for more than $150,000 shortly before the club ended its 11-year run last fall, it couldn't draw enough audiences to break even" (Levin, 2016). Additionally, many music industry insiders speculate that the popularity of electronic dance music that has led to a wave of corporate sponsorships is ruining the genre as music marketed for social media hits and profit is replacing art music . Furthermore, the limited number of artists who can headline this music genre has led the above-mentioned few to give a large number of repeat performances, causing fans to slowly lose interest in attending electronic dance music events. In fact, according to Pitchfork, a new online music magazine site, the bubble has already burst for electronic dance music, and the craze that is now being characterized as a fad had already begun with a dramatic collapse. Contributing editor Philip Sherburne states, “the only thing the media loves more than a success story is a spectacular fall, and so the death knell for EDM has sounded increasingly louder in recent months” (2016). The article goes on to state that the genre's top artists were making more money than they were worth as a result of a rapidly growing fad; the decline in popularity of electronic dance music is simply an example of the market correcting itself (Sherburne, 2016). Therefore, many music industry commentators attribute the start of a decline in the popularity of electronic dance music to the fact that it should never have been as popular as it was when it peaked in 2013. The music festival bubble One of the reasons of the rise In the popularity of music festivals over the past decade is the changing landscape of the music industry as a whole. There was a time when cassettes and CDs accounted for the majority of sales in the music industry. However, the Internet has changed the way revenue is generated in the music industry, and with it, the music festival industry. “The growth in the number of music festivals over the last fifteen years has coincided with a big change in how people buy recorded music, if they buy it at all. And now streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and, soon, Apple's Beats are reinventing the model again” (Robinson, 2015). This new kind ofdistribution has had a significant effect on the music industry as a whole. The means by which music is promoted and distributed have changed in favor of new bands with little money. “Thanks to the easy online distribution and promotion of music, an emerging group can find an international audience with just one song under their belt” (Currin, 2014). Because music festival attendees can go online and check out artists on a festival's lineup for free in advance, bands can often draw much larger crowds at festivals than they can at their own show. Thus, access to music online has helped create a phenomenon where music festival tickets are one of the hottest music items, at least at the moment. As music festivals have become more popular, the way they operate continues to change. in a way that could ultimately cause smaller music festivals to start disappearing. The massive growth in popularity of the music festival industry has encouraged music festivals to seek out and satisfy corporate sponsors attracted by the potential for large amounts of revenue; this is leading to excessive commercialization of music festivals. AS music festivals have become increasingly commercialized, they have begun to compete more fervently to attract the big names who will bring in significant revenue. This threatens smaller music festivals that lack the capacity to attract big-name artists. Because of this, these smaller music festivals may struggle to succeed and continue in the coming years. Therefore, there may be a "what goes up must come down" effect with the growth of music festivals characterized by the plethora of music festivals that have emerged in recent years being replaced by some big name music festivals, which are turning into super concerts. According to Wondering Sound, a music news outlet, the summer music festival bubble is about to burst (Currin, 2014). Music news journalists speculate that the growth music festivals have experienced in America over the past decade is unsustainable. “There are signs that the exponential curve of festival growth is a path to an unsustainable scenario, where too many festivals outstrip talent costs and outstrip fans' ability to buy tickets” (Currin, 2014). The Wondering Sound article goes on to say that what is happening in the American music festival industry is typical of many trends occurring in America where once something proves popular, millions of people jump on the bandwagon to cash in; however, as the novelty of the trend wears off, its popularity begins to wane and is quickly replaced by the next new trend. The Drug Use and SafetyMusic festivals offer festival-goers a chance to enjoy listening to new and popular artists perform live, however. , some festival-goers also see these festivals as a time to engage in drug use. “For some, music festivals are a time to get away from life, party with friends and experiment with a wide range of illicit drugs. Sometimes, these experiments have disastrous results. A Billboard article in July 2014 counted 15 deaths at music festivals at that time of year. Not all were attributed to drug use. But this does not mean that drugs at festivals cannot be fatal, quite the opposite” (Williamson, 2015). It is important to note with a word of caution that drugs are often used and/or available at many music festival events. In fact, in an article that appeared on the drugpolicy.org website, “Music festival promoters join forcesdrug safety experts to reduce harmful drug use at events,” musical artists, DanceSafe and the Drug Policy Alliance urge festival-goers to abstain from drug use. drugs at music festival events. (Drug Policy Alliance, 2015). The number of illegal substances mentioned on Instagram [2015] for the most popular festivals was studied and the Electric Daisy Carnival recorded 42,000 mentions of substances, far more than its closest competitor, Ultra Music Festival (Williamson, 2015). This may lead to assumptions that electronic dance music festivals have the highest number of drug users, however, it is important to note that these festivals take place every year in several locations around the world; therefore, the higher incidence of drug mentions for these two festivals may be due in part to the fact that there is more than one festival each year. Country Music and Alcohol While ecstasy and dance music may be the most widely discussed substance abuse problem plaguing music festivals, it's not the only one. At the 2015 Stagecoach Music Festival, 157 people were arrested, mostly for alcohol-related crimes. "The biggest factor among all crimes appears to be alcohol, with a whopping 89 percent of arrests due to alcohol violations, according to a release released Tuesday morning. Of the 141 arrests made for alcohol violations, four major charges included minors in possession of alcohol, minors in possession of false IDs, adults giving alcohol to minors, and minors purchasing alcohol, Marshall said” (Mendoza, 2015). venue, the Stagecoach festival does not feature "beer gardens" where festival goers can drink their alcohol; instead those attending this party can take it out on the police, this has led to a drinking problem more significant at this event than at Coachella (Mendoza, 2015 Brand Sponsorship and Experiential Marketing at Music Festivals To increase profits, music festivals are constantly looking for more sponsorships, the same way music festivals have being exploded in popularity, brands have discovered that festivals are the ideal place to spend their marketing budget. Sponsorship is key to any festival, even if it tries to keep things low-key, as Goldenvoice does at Coachella, more so than its country-themed twin. fest, Stagecoach, the following weekend. It can make the difference between losing and making money, especially in the beginning, and helps soothe wounds when times get worse. Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell tried to keep corporate brands at bay for a while, but found sponsorships the only acceptable way to keep ticket prices low. From 2003 to 2010, music sponsorship of multi-day concerts and festivals doubled from $574 million annually to $1.17 billion, with much of that increase coming from festivals (Perry, 2013). Therefore, brands are willing to shell out large amounts of money. to sponsor music festivals. Brands are spending large sums to sponsor music and music festivals in the hope that there will be significant returns. In fact, in 2014 brands spent approximately $1.34 billion on music sponsorships. Beer and spirits top the list of music sponsors, followed by banks and soft drinks. Many brands have realized that sponsoring music festivals is an ideal way to reach the Millennial generation. “A recent study conducted by major live promoter AEG and Momentum Worldwide, a marketing agencyfocused on experiences in the music business, shows that when it comes to millennials, this is the place to be” (McIntyre, 2015). This study found that: “93% of respondents say they appreciate brands that sponsor live events; 81% say the best brand experiences they've ever seen involved music in some way in a live setting; around 80% admitted that the best and most effective way for brands to connect with them is through a branded live music event; and those millennials who engaged in a branded music experience perceived it 37% better” (McIntyre, 2015). The study also showed the effect that attending a brand-sponsored event had on millennials' perception of the brand compared to millennials who did not attend the event. According to the survey: 89% of millennials surveyed who have attended music festivals appreciate brands that sponsor a live music experience, compared to 63% of those who have not attended; 89% of millennials who participated perceive these brands as more authentic, compared to 56% of those who did not participate; 83% of attendees walked away with greater trust in brands that supported a live music experience, compared to 53% among those who did not attend; 80% of participating millennials purchased a product from a sponsoring brand following the experience, compared to 55% of those who did not participate; and 80% of those who participated recommended brands that sponsored a live music experience on their social networks, compared to 49% of non-participants (McIntyre, 2015). It goes without saying that sponsoring music festivals is an extremely effective way for brands to reach the millennial demographic. Given the fact that one in five millennials attended a music festival in 2015 and the statistics regarding brands marketing to these millennials by sponsoring events, there is intense competition among sponsors to get noticed at these events. “While music festivals are a marketer's dream in terms of connecting with audiences who are knowledgeable, engaged and open to new experiences, the competition is fierce. In 2014, according to FRUKT analysis, approximately 447 brands participated in 300 music festivals around the world” (Finn, 2015). Marketing agencies have experimented with various methods to connect fans to these events. A common way brands often use to reach millennials during festivals is mobile. “Millennials make up the largest segment of smartphone owners. In the second quarter of 2014, 85% of millennials ages 18 to 24 and 86% of millennials ages 25 to 34 owned devices” (Finn, 2015). Brands often try to entice this group to post on their social media accounts during festivals to broaden the impact of their sponsorship activation. Therefore, many brands that sponsor music festivals are making sure to have a presence on mobile devices. In an effort to stay competitive, brands are also trying to transform the fan experience in unique ways instead of just plastering their logos on stage. “At SXSW, Mophie generated a lot of buzz with its Mophie Rescue program. Users tweeted screenshots of their low battery to @mophie with the hashtag “#mophierescue” and the company responded by sending a St. Bernard equipped with a charger” (Finn, 2015). This unique activation is an attempt to get people to not only talk about your brand but also try the sponsor's product. Companies have intelligently understood that millennials are incredibly active onsocial media during festivals. If they can get their brand out to attendees, they are likely to post on social media. While Facebook is undeniably the most popular of social networking sites for millennials today, applications like Snapchat and Instagram that offer a more visual experience are quickly catching up. To capitalize on the social media aspect of these festivals, brands need to figure out how to be present in these social media realms as well. Therefore, it is not only the music festivals themselves that need to have a presence on social media, but brands that wish to market at these events also need to have a presence on social media. Another branding trick companies use to reach millennials at music festivals is to offer millennials the chance to get involved in social causes. “The most effective cause marketing campaigns are those that relate directly to the brand. StubHub, for example, hosted a concert series in 2014 to raise money for Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, which donates musical instruments to underfunded music programs. When you make your brand a vehicle for change, you will change how millennials perceive you” (Finn, 2015). This also increases their motivation to post on social media, because they will be doubly motivated by the desire to post about the festival and to post about the charitable cause. When Sponsorship and Sponsorship Backfire All the branding that is taking place at music festivals today can start to take a toll and take something away from the festival itself. In fact, one music festival, SXSW or South by Southwest Music Festival, was recently accused of feeling corporate with all the branding displayed at the festival to attract consumers who attended the event. “Sponsor-suggested hashtags were everywhere at the 28th annual South by Southwest Music Festival: on walls, on stages, on billboards, on vehicles, on T-shirts, on stickers, on cell phone apps. A newcomer to SXSW might well believe that the whole thing was created to induce social media marketing” (Pareles, 2014). This type of corporate marketing focus strays from the festival's original purpose in more ways than one. In addition to fans inundated with marketing messages, up-and-coming shows were overlooked, by many accounts, for showcasing mega-stars who were best for companies to bring in money. The New York Times said of the SXSW music festival that the million-dollar acts were definitely the center of attention with Jay Z and Kanye West drawing attention away from emerging artists who might have been completely ignored at this festival (Pareles , 2014). Therefore, the opportunity for little-known artists to shine was missing. “The small percentage of artists who made it big were taking even more visibility away from the struggling majority. For hip-hop fans, SXSW 2014 was a corporate-funded cornucopia; Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, 2 Chainz, BoB, ASAP Rocky and many other top rappers also performed during the festival, mostly in sponsored settings, often on large outdoor stages with their music booming for entire blocks". (Pareles, 2014). Mega-branding of festivals and attempts to generate revenue by corporate sponsors have led to a phenomenon where festival organizers want big acts to generate revenue while newcomers, part of the traditional music festival experience, are overlooked. The Future of Music Festival Industry In the years to come, American music festivals will undergo great changes. Technology will be one of the driving forces behind trends impacting festivalsmusic in the coming years, many believe. Additionally, production budgets will continue to increase; a high-end production will allow festival goers to see a spectacular show (Blatt, 2015). Additionally, more modern conveniences will be added to these outdoor music festivals; for example, “festival production companies like Red Frog, which produces the Firefly festival, are introducing a service mentality that treats music fans as customers” (Blatt, 2015). Additionally, these music festivals will be streamed live so those who aren't there can watch the event as things happen via the internet. Additionally, there will be a number of music festival-derived options for fans to select from as industry players look to capitalize on the popularity of the American music festival industry. Each of the different varieties of music festivals will offer fans something different from traditional music festivals. Boutique festivals Boutique music festivals, popular in the UK for some time, may also be gaining popularity in the US. These music festivals are small festivals that pride themselves on having large lineups for fans who choose to attend. “On the rise: Boutique festivals like Desert Hearts and Basilica Soundscape, which average around 3,000 attendees and offer intimate experiences and dark lineups aimed at older, knowledgeable audiences” (Buerger, 2015). Boutique music festivals offer the opportunity to do something different than what you might do at large music festivals. For example, the Further Future fest, a Burning Man-inspired boutique music festival, is invitation-only. “Others, like the free FORM Arcosanti event curated by Hundred Waters, which took place over Memorial Day weekend in the Arizona desert, required attendees to apply” (Buerger, 2015). Splash House is a biennial boutique festival in Palm Springs, California that hosts pool parties hosted by famous DJs (Buerger, 2015). According to the online magazine Billboard, these types of music festivals may be more appealing to audiences aged 30 and over (Buerger, 2015). Destination Music Festivals and Cruise Music Festivals The music festival industry has now combined two vacation periods into one with the excursion-cruise-themed-music-festival (Melendez, 2015). There are a number of music festivals on cruise ships and cruise destinations for those looking for a music-filled vacation to choose from. Some examples of these include: Mad Decent Boat Party, Flogging Molly's Salty Dog Cruise, Florida Georgia Line: This is How We Cruise, Gronk's Party Ship, Holy Ship, and The '80s Cruise (Melendez, 2015). In addition to cruise music festivals, destination music festivals that feature high-caliber productions and fantastic live music experiences in unique locations are also starting to become more popular (Hutchinson, 2015). An example of a destination music festival is Ceremonia which “takes place on a track outside Toluca [Mexico], surrounded by a forest. Its diverse lineup includes rappers Snoop Dogg and Pusha T, British garage-punkers The Horrors, Australian soulster Chet Faker, and techno and house DJs such as Daniel Avery and Art Department (Hutchinson, 2015). Some other music festivals that are becoming increasingly popular in this space include: Nrmal in Mexico City, BPM festival in Playa Del Carmen and Tropico in Acapulco Beach. Traveling festivals Not all music festivals are stationary, held in a particular location. Traveling or traveling festivals are also becoming increasingly popular. These traveling music festivals are not a new creation. A"..