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Meet the six types of live music fan

Live Nation UK’s partnerships division has released a new study, Fan DNA, which identifies six core types of live music fans.

The study moves away from traditional segmentation approaches in an effort to provide a more nuanced understanding of concertgoers, exploring the emotional drivers behind fans’ attendance to offer deeper insights for marketers.

Via a third party agency, it employed a “robust” three-part approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research to “ensure comprehensive exploration, rigorous validation and enrichment of the segments”.

More than 3,600 individuals from diverse locations across the UK were surveyed for the report, which also employed in person and online focus groups.

“By moving beyond a two-dimensional view of fans, we enable our partners to engage with fans more effectively”

The six fan types, which encompass a broad range of ages and lifestyles, were broken down as follows:

“With live music so deeply embedded in British culture and an abundance of concerts and festivals available across the country, our fans span a wide range of life stages, personalities, and live music preferences,” says Gina Ha, head of research and insights at Live Nation UK.

By offering an enhanced understanding the fan segments and their motivations, the LN team hopes to provide brands with opportunities to engage more effectively.

“Our team’s passion for accurately representing the UK’s live music communities led us to develop a segmentation approach that offers a multidimensional view of live music fans,” adds Ha. “It considers various factors such as event attendance, occasions, attitudes, behaviour, personality and life priorities.

“By moving beyond a two-dimensional view of fans, we enable our partners to engage with fans more effectively, creating personalised experiences that resonate deeply and fostering long-lasting loyalty.”

 

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Inside the changing face of live music sponsorship

The pandemic has changed the game for live music sponsorship, according to prominent figures across the business.

With question marks arising over whether brand tie-ins have lost its allure or remain a premier choice for brand leaders, most signs appear to point towards the latter.

Bijal Parmar, head of consumer marketing for Virgin Media O2, indicated much of the appeal for sponsors was derived from music’s “immense power” of connectivity.

“It’s a common culture and a universal language that during the pandemic – and even post-pandemic – has been able to unite people,” she said. “It’s something that has kept people connected, so we’re able to use it to articulate our brand strategy and provide an experience for our customers… So it’s a memory that we’re creating, not just an event.”

Dukagjin ‘Dugi’ Lipa, founder of Republika Communications Agency and co-organiser of Kosovo’s Sunny Hill Festival, with his daughter, Dua Lipa, discussed the evolving relationship.

“Rather than just being that transactional stance between the artist and the brand, we see a lot of changes and different approaches from brand partners,” he said. “Now it’s more connected to brand values: do they see anything that can have longevity rather than just one kind of interaction between the artist and the brand?”

“We get a lot of brand offers, but it’s never about the money”

Dugi pointed out that although the global success of Dua Lipa’s second album Future Nostalgia had placed her in even higher demand with would-be sponsors, there were additional considerations to take into account.

“We get a lot of brand offers, but it’s never about the money,” he insisted. “It’s always about the long term partnership and the values. You become part of the brand and the brand becomes a part of you for that period of time.

“Even though you have a lot of offers, you have to be very, very careful what your next step is and who you are going to be affiliated with, etc. We are living in a new kind of world, where everything is online, everything is reachable, everything is accessible to you. So you have to be very careful who you work and why you do it.”

US-based ASM Global EVP of marketing Alex Merchan summed up the venue company’s approach.

“A key thing we find is really looking beyond just the transactional relationship,” he said. “What is in it for both parties? We’re looking for partners that we can find unique, creative things that add value to the fan experience, or to the facility itself.”

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd explained the organisation’s formation in 2014 marked a turning point for the grassroots sector’s relationship with brands. Davyd referenced the Revive Live showcase, launched in July 2021 with support from the UK National Lottery, which contributed £1 million to directly underwrite the touring and production costs of hundreds of live performances.

“Post-pandemic, it seems to me like a lot of the brands are becoming smarter and not overlaying quite so much,” he suggested. “Our deal with them doesn’t really involve us saying ‘the National Lottery’ very much at all. What they’re looking to do is own the space where an artist broke through, from being unknown to being a touring artist. They want to own that across a number of years.

“In five years’ time, they’re hoping that one of the 60 or 70 tours we’ve already put out will be by the next Adele or Dua Lipa – and they want that reputational branding, rather than a big ‘look what the National Lottery has done’ shout, and that feels quite different. I’ve done a lot of branding where quite often you weren’t really sure why the company was there, but you liked their money. But what we’re now seeing is a lot more of a focus on, ‘What is the authentic experience and how can our brand sit alongside that?'”

“The reaction from the audience is tangibly different than it was before Covid. And I think brands can see that and want to be part of it”

Davyd added that Covid-19 had acted as a “wake-up” call for people who had previously taken their local venue for granted.

“They had to drive or walk past it when it was closed for nearly two years and they really thought, ‘Wow, I could lose that,'” said Davyd. “In this pandemic, a lot of the audience reconnected with what they’ve missed. I’ve been to about 200 shows already and the reaction from the audience is tangibly different than it was before Covid. There’s a real atmosphere in the room of being so happy to be there. And I think brands can see that and want to be part of it.”

CAA UK’s Bradlee Banbury continued on a similar theme, saying many brands had been forced to rethink their relationship with live music due to pandemic.

“They had been lazily badging tours or festivals, but not really activating in a different way with music fans,” he said. “And when we went into the pandemic and there were no live events happening, I think everyone had to reinvent the wheel a little bit. There were some brands that already had strong connections with musicians established for years and they lent into it quite easily. But there were others that were just completely shocked by the whole experience.

“Post-pandemic, I think everyone will have a bit more of a strategy to spread the money a little bit further and make that connection with the actual fans, rather than just badging a tour [although] there’s a place for that as well.”

Banbury spoke highly of drink brands White Claw and Jagermeister’s link-ups with All Points East.

“They’ve got their own stages,” he said. “So you’ve got a lot of fans seeing a show, drinking Jagermeister or White Claw; they’re having a party and they’re really enjoying it. Those brands have brought something to the table.”

This discussion took place as part of the Sponsorship: Falling through the cracks? panel at ILMC 34 in London.

 

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CTS Eventim hires Jan Voss as MD of brand business

CTS Eventim is bolstering its brand partnerships and sponsoring business with the appointment of Jan Voss as the new managing director at Eventim Brand Connect.

Voss joins the company from Universal Music Group (UMG) Germany, where he was responsible for partnerships and licensing as VP of UMG for Brands. Previous roles include director of marketing and head of new business at the same company.

At UMG, he played a key role in establishing the product endorsement business and digital media marketing, and in taking UMG for Brands into new areas of business such as the food sector.

He will take up his new role at CTS Eventim on 1 May 2022 and will report to the managing director of Eventim Live, Dr Frithjof Pils, who was formerly also managing director of Eventim Brand Connect.

“Jan Voss brings the ideal mix of industry expertise and broad experience in the area of brand partnerships”

Pils says: “Jan Voss brings the ideal mix of industry expertise and broad experience in the area of brand partnerships. We are looking forward to embarking upon a massive expansion of Eventim Brand Connect with him on board as managing director.”

Voss added: “Live entertainment offers brands one of the most powerfully emotive ways to interact with people. There are numerous new opportunities here for brands, particularly as the live events sector starts to open up again.

“Taking Eventim Brand Connect forward in such an exciting environment with the power of Europe’s biggest live entertainment platforms and an excellent team will be a fantastic challenge.”

Eventim Brand Connect enables companies to associate themselves with live events such as major festivals as part of their marketing strategy, allowing them to engage with specific target groups.

 

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The future of the branded live music experience

Last October, Richard Branson announced that V Festival would no longer be sponsored by the brand that gave the festival its name. As one of the most notorious front-runners of the branded live music experience, does the termination of a 22-year association indicate the end of brands wanting to associate with live events?

With the future of the similarly long-running, Tennents-sponsored T in the Park also uncertain, you could be forgiven for thinking so. However, with British live music audiences increasing year-on-year and several surveys suggesting that attendees feel more positively about brands who engage with music, it’s no surprise that brand sponsorship of venues, tours and festivals continues to curve upwards.

Ultimately, while being a headline sponsor may look good, it’s a pretty blunt approach. As Ottawa Bluesfest director Mark Monahan recently explained to Eventbrite, brands are looking to identify specific audiences at festivals, preferring to “activate around artists” rather than events as a whole.

Brands are also cutting through by providing services at festivals, from State Farm providing essentials to forgetful fans at Bonnaroo, to Hunter Boots giving away free wellies to Glastonbury-goers (a trend encouraged by the latest Nielsen 360 report).

Brands aren’t spending less – they’re spending smarter

Technology is also opening up new avenues, from live-streamed events such as Boiler Room to exclusive, app-announced performances (see Toyota at last year’s Lollapalooza).

What’s in it for the festivals, though – not to mention our troubled small venues?

Ultimately, the same thing that encourages artists to license their music to adverts: money. Not only could a cash injection help attract bigger performers but at least one venue has been pulled back from the brink by a brand, when the 100 Club was effectively saved from closure by Converse. What was notable about the deal was that Converse didn’t attempt to plaster their name all over the venue; rescuing it provided all the good PR they needed.

As owner Jeff Horton enthused at the time: “They’re not interested in ownership […] The fact that the club will remain independent [is what] appeals to them so much.”

When it comes to ad-savvy millennials, brands increasingly seem content to sacrifice visibility in favour of authenticity. While you may see less headline branding of festivals and venues in 2018, brands aren’t spending less – they’re spending smarter.

‘Unlocking the Sync: A band’s guide to brands and a brand’s guide to bands’ can be downloaded for free at Musictank.co.uk.

 

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‘The opportunities are there’: 2018’s vital trends in sponsorship

Newsflash: live matters.

OK, not much of a newsflash – we know that a healthy live sector makes for a healthy music industry. We know very well that live music has a transformative role in turning passive listeners into passionate, irrational fans who are willing to spend their time and hard-earned cash on music.

As it stands, live music in the UK is in as good health as it has ever been: audiences for concerts and festivals rose 12% between 2016 and 2017, bringing £4 billion (€4.5bn) into the UK economy.

But the industry isn’t immune to change. Competition has never been as fierce, and the need to use insight to better understand and engage with fans is vital to thriving in a tough business. Changes in fan behaviour mean that the live sector will have to reinvent itself or risk irrelevance.

So what are the changes that will make the greatest impact on the relationship between brands and live music in 2018? We could spend an hour or two positing the inevitable disruption of the sector as changing expectations and the proliferation of new tech adapts the way fans engage with the live experience. However, this article isn’t an exercise in navel-gazing about what will happen in the next five years; there’s no mention of Pokémon Go and the gamification of the live experience. Let’s talk about what’s happening right now.

There are three significant shifts in thinking that could have a transformative impact on the industry this year.

“2018 will see sport and entertainment properties further extend their reach into live to retain and engage their fans”

1. Sport and entertainment crossover
According to industry expert Jeremy Paterson, MD of IF Media: “Real opportunities won’t come from a simple appendage of sport or tech onto music and vice versa. The real magic happens when powerful cultures collide: two add two suddenly equals seven, and a whole new ritual like the Super Bowl halftime show moment is created.

“The opportunities are there, now it’s about having the bravery to take them.”

With live more crowded and competitive than ever, it will be little comfort that the sector may face increasing competition from properties in sport and entertainment. For example, although music has been an integral part of fan culture, in sport it’s only very recently that rights holders have woken up to the opportunity of using music to supercharge the fan experience.

Top-tier clubs and rights holders in football are repositioning themselves less as sports brands but rather as “premium entertainment” properties, with big spenders like Chelsea, Juventus and PSG at the forefront of adding music to their fan offer. Paul Pogba and Stormzy teamed up to announce the French player’s arrival at Manchester United in a way that had never been done before.

At a more grassroots level, football’s inherent connection with grime culture was brought thrillingly to life by Tottenham when rising artist AJ Tracey put on a live gig with several performers to launch the club’s new kit, coinciding with a release of his single ‘False 9’.

But what about the reverse? What about music or live properties using sport to enhance their offer?So far, the sector has been slow to latch on to the huge potential of sport to entice and engage music fans. We’ve seen streaming behemoths like Deezer and Apple Music partner with football clubs to reach global audiences but in live it’s a rarity to see venues and festivals use sport as a point of difference. Ministry of Sound made waves last year by launching its first fitness club in London, but it would be good to see a live music property really take the opportunity to combine music with sport and fitness to attract new audiences.

Twenty-eighteen will see sport and entertainment properties further extend their reach into live to retain and engage their fans. However, there remains an opportunity for the live music sector to successfully partner with sport and entertainment properties to create a musical identity that extends beyond large-scale, glitzy events.

“The lines between music product and live performance have blurred considerably”

2. New tech, new rules
New technology-based ways for fans to enjoy music mean the reach and impact of live is being felt far beyond the events themselves. But let’s be blunt: some advances in live tech are having more immediate impact than others. VR has huge ramifications for the live industry, and while there have been some interesting experiments at festivals and large-scale sporting events, until it gains mainstream acceptance and penetration among music fans, its presence is a curiosity rather than an immediate opportunity.

Live streaming is an altogether different proposition that is already having an immediate impact. The opportunities for fan engagement using livestreaming platforms are certainly striking; specialist live broadcasting platform YouNow says 80% of music consumers are likely to take commercial action after watching a live broadcast from one of their favourite musicians, while 86% of fans are likely to seek out more of an artist’s songs.

But, so far, it feels like live streaming hasn’t been used effectively to augment the concert experience. There have, however, been exceptions that have used the platform to brilliant effect. Afropunk Festival had huge success by livestreaming sets, behind-the-scenes access and interviews with artists and influencers. With a passionate Facebook audience of one million, it was a no-brainer to digitise the festival experience, with one fashion-centric recap of day one of the festival gaining 200,000 views.

Another exciting use of live-streaming was Gorillaz and Goldenvoice’s Demon Dayz Festival in Margate, UK, a partnership with Red Bull to help launch their latest release, Humanz. More than a straightforward streamed performance of the band, fans were able to see live streams of standalone gigs from Damon Albarn’s many collaborators, including Vince Staples, De La Soul, Little Simz, and Danny Brown, across multiple channels on Red Bull TV. It was an execution befitting the world’s pre-eminent amorphous alt-pop project, in that it allowed fans both at home and at the event itself to pick and choose from the sonic and visual worlds of the band, and curate their own experiences of the festival.

Those are two exciting and innovative examples, but there’s still plenty of room for smaller venues and event properties to take advantage of fans consuming live content online. With entry-level costs to streaming relatively inexpensive, 2018 will see pioneering events and venues utilising the technology to engage fans beyond the live experience itself.

“The opportunities are there, now it’s about having the bravery to take them”

3. Blurring boundaries
The lines between music product and live performance have blurred considerably over the last five years. Live curation is being increasingly led by data-driven decision-making, allowing curators and promoters to make smarter decisions when using live music to connect with fans.

While tech/streaming giants have made previous forays into live (RIP iTunes Festival), 2017 was the year that we truly saw the power of the playlist not just in breaking artists and bands, but as a real force in the sector. Playlists on streaming services have morphed from a user-generated curiosity to major properties with huge curatorial teams that have the power to make or break a track.

This year, Spotify UK turned a hugely popular playlist, the grime/UK hip hop-led Who We Be (250,000 subscribers) into a live event showcasing artists that had particularly strong engagement with fans on the streaming platform. The event, which took place at Alexandra Palace in London, proved to be a huge commercial and critical success. With a line-up that included Cardi B, Dizzee Rascal, Giggs and J Hus, it was the crowning moment of an incredible year for UK urban music.

We shouldn’t be surprised that the live iteration of Who We Be was so successful – with a ready-made passionate audience, taking it into the physical realm was a simple way of broadening the appeal of the playlist’s brand across another touchpoint.

What was really clever was that Spotify used detailed fan-usage data to choose the acts, offer pre-sale tickets to playlist subscribers and specifically target the most engaged fans of artists who frequently appeared on it with promotional marketing. The result was a passionate festival crowd who even cheered the tracks (featuring up-and-coming UK artists Not3s and Lotto Boyzz) in the intervals between performances.

The lesson? Investing in media/audio properties to build audiences that can then cross over into live is very worthwhile. Rather than starting from scratch trying to build a live property, you already have an engaged audience, a long list of artists to curate, and a means by which to immediately monetise and incentivise a fan base. Owning or allying with an online music media property gives you access to a huge amount of audience data that you can then translate into creating fan-led live experiences.

Live remains a challenging and competitive environment, but with a little bit of lateral thinking there are huge opportunities. Whether crossing over with entertainment, using streaming to broaden your existing audiences or investing in building media brands that can drive audiences to venues and events, it’s an exciting time to be a part of the live music business.

The promoters, venues and artists who are brave enough to seize the big opportunities to engage with fans in new ways will reap the rewards.

 

Ear to the Ground delivers industry leading sport and music campaigns driven by Fan Intelligence™. 

Fest sponsorship a favourite for young Europeans

Partnering with or sponsoring a music festival is one of the best ways for brands to reach young Europeans, a new study suggests.

Some 34% of Germans, 33% of French and 31% of Britons aged 18 to 34 chose partnering with a festival as one of their five “favourite ways brands or companies can engage with people your age” in a recent survey of over 1,500 millennials in the UK, France and Germany by Chinese smartphone brand Honor, ahead of, among other things, partnering with sports events (29%) and video-gaming events (27%), the creation of sponsored social media content (26%) and news stories (20%) and taking out traditional ads on billboards and posters (24%).

Festivals are on a level pegging with sponsorship deals with film, TV, sports or social media stars (31%), but do, however, lag behind posts on brands’ own social media accounts (35%), television adverts (42%), new-buyer promotions (46%) and sponsored YouTube videos (39%).

Some 34% of Germans, 33% of French and 31% of Britons aged 18 to 34 chose partnering with a festival as one of their five “favourite ways brands or companies can engage with people your age”

The survey, commissioned by Honor and conducted by Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) in July and August, also investigated European millennials’ expectations of brands, attitudes towards technology and confidence in their own futures, finding “while the region is shadowed by some uncertainties and difficult issues, European millennials remain optimistic” and that “7 in 10 respondents agree they will have the opportunities to follow their dreams, and a sizeable majority think their own generation is the best equipped to help their countries tackle the biggest issues”.

The survey data can be viewed in full here.

 

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Frukt unveils Field Work 2016 festival branding guide

Creative agency Frukt last night unveiled the sixth edition of Field Work – “the definitive global guide to brand activations at music festivals” – at a launch event at the Gibson Brands Studio in central London.

This year’s guide (pictured) focuses on ‘the new transparency’ (subtitled “embracing the ‘third wave’ of branded festival activations”), arguing that brands who advertise at music festivals should now be doing so in a more transparent way than ever before. It divides festival branding into three distinct ages: The silent generation, characterised by “loud, brash banner sponsorship, shouted from the sidelines but ultimately falling on deaf ears”; the covert generation, which is “party first, brand second experiential marketing, leveraging entertainment as a ‘right to play'”; and the current, transparent generation, featuring “a candid and open approach, not being afraid to put the brand and its story above the entertainment parapet”.

Featured case studies include Guitar Hero Live’s The Amp at V Festival, Reading Festival and Bestival, in which festivalgoers were invited to play the game months ahead of its official release date in front of an amp the size of a house (Field Work says the ‘activation’ “put the game firmly back on the map, announcing its presence loud and clear”); Energizer’s Dress Your Head Up initiative at Bestival, which invited attendees to decorate a free headtorch with a range of “colourful and charming” accessories; Telstra’s The Big Selfie Stick from Splendour in the Grass, which capitalised on a site-wide ban on selfie sticks with its own 10m-high version, a “smart hybrid of both the ‘photo bomb’ and ‘size matters’ trends” that “provide[d] the brand with a much-needed subversive edge”; and Virgin Trains’ Festival Express to Festival №6 and Kendal Calling, which “remove[d] the drudgery often associated with festival travel” by serving up live music, cocktails, magicians and “glitter-paint makeovers” to festivalgoers en route.

The full Field Work 2016 guide can be downloaded at the Frukt website.