Oz launches parliamentary inquiry into music scene
Australia’s House of Representatives has launched an inquiry into the country’s struggling live music industry.
The standing committee on communications and the arts is hosting its first round of public hearings this week, with the sector in the midst of an ‘existential crisis’ amid the widespread closures of venues and festivals due to issues including the cost-of-living crisis, reduced audience spending and state restrictions.
The committee will hear about the challenges and opportunities within the Sydney and Brisbane scenes from industry stakeholders such as peak bodies, broadcasters and event organisers.
In today’s session in Brisbane, the parliamentary committee was told that Australia needs a national strategy to ensure the live music industry survives, with grassroots venues highlighted as an immediate cause for concern.
Brisbane live music venue The Zoo shut down for good in July after running at a loss for the past three years. Owner Shane Chidgzey, who noted he has lost AUS$3 million running the venue since 2020, said: “We don’t have any chance whatsoever of getting anywhere near a profit.”
“The Committee looks forward to continuing its deep dive into the operational and regulatory challenges facing the live music event industry”
Despite seeing its best-ever ticket sales in 2023, The Zoo was constantly losing money due to higher costs and falling food and drink sales, Chidgzey said. “People shouldn’t have to get drunk to keep the music industry alive.”
Among the suggested solutions were a mandatory ticket levy for large concerts to support the grassroots music sector, government-funded culture passes for young people, and a rule that international tours include at least one local artist among the support acts.
Other areas to be considered in the inquiry include “the rapidly changing face of the Australian live music industry; changing audience preferences post-pandemic—including new demographic behaviour, and how digitisation is impacting career pathways and business longevity”.
The next two hearings will take place in Sydney on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 July from The Map Rooms in The Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW, Sydney, respectively.
In a statement, Brian Mitchell MP, the chair of the committee, said, “The Committee looks forward to continuing its deep dive into the operational and regulatory challenges facing the live music event industry.”
Elsewhere in the Australian live music industry, the Venue Management Association (VMA), the peak body for venue industry professionals in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, today announced that Joel Edmondson has been named as chief executive officer.
Edmondson brings more than 15 years of senior management experience and most recently served as CEO and creative director for Queensland Music Festival (QMF). He will replace Michael Brierley, the VMA’s CEO of six years, who will remain with VMA in a part-time capacity as the Association’s Company Secretary.
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Colours of Ostrava: ‘There’s a thin line between success and failure’
Colours of Ostrava programmer Filip Košťálek has spoken to IQ about the 21st edition of the Czech festival.
This year’s instalment returned to Ostrava, the country’s third-largest city, between 17–20 July, with Sam Smith, James Blake, Tom Morello, Lenny Kravitz, Sean Paul and Khruangbin among the top-billing acts.
Here, Košťálek tells IQ how the festival is bridging a generational gap, what the global IT outage meant for them and why it wasn’t the “easiest” year for the event…
IQ: How many tickets did you sell for this year’s edition?
FK: We have not been publishing attendance figures for several years. Since there is no single metric for counting attendance, we consider the quality of artistic performances and visitor satisfaction to be more important. However, we are still one of the largest international festivals in Central Europe.
What are you most proud of with this year’s edition?
I’m very proud of our audience and the overall atmosphere of the festival. This edition showed us once again that our festival is about discovering new original music from all over the world, regardless of genre. Visitors of all generations filled our eight music and 13 discussion stages to the brim, no matter how well-known the performer. Our visitors showed warmth and love to the world’s biggest stars and emerging artists across all four days.
“The outage of the global air traffic clearance system in the middle of the festival was a shocking moment”
What were the main challenges of this year’s event?
The outage of the global air traffic clearance system that hit our performers at European airports right in the middle of the festival was a shocking moment. Although we had made all sorts of plans for replacements and rescheduling, in the end, we were lucky and it only meant rescheduling one show. We are delighted that we were able to deliver all the shows.
How much have costs risen since last year and what measures have you taken to ensure the festival remains profitable?
Overall costs have risen by 20-25% year-on-year, so it is clear that we have had to continuously respond to these significant changes. As we strive to keep the festival as accessible as possible, working with ticket prices is quite sensitive for us – we’ve addressed this by adding new categories that expand the ticket offer while opening up the opportunity for new audiences to attend. At the same time, our commercial partners are helping us a lot, for which we are very grateful!
Nevertheless, the line between the success and failure of festivals is getting very thin. I believe that the current economic setup of the industry dramatically increases extreme risks for promoters compared to the potential profits. We never compromise on quality, but we are forced to think more and more about each item in our budgets.
“Overall costs have risen by 20-25% year-on-year, so it is clear that we have had to continuously respond to these significant changes”
Czechia is one of the only European countries that hasn’t adopted the Euro (though it seems there are plans to) – how does the currency fare when it comes to artist fees?
Of course, this means more work for us in the economic department. We have to monitor exchange rates and buy currency as necessary. But I think we are managing and it doesn’t limit us.
There have been many reports of festivals struggling to book headliners. What was your experience with securing the 2024 lineup?
I think we did very well this year thanks to the support of our agents and the good name of our festival with 23 years of history. It was definitely not the easiest year, but to complain would be blasphemy.
When Sam Smith, a non-binary artist, was announced to play at the festival, there were some uncouth remarks from people on social media. Why do you think that was? Do Czech audiences embrace LGBTIQ+ artists?
It is about the fact that our festival is one of the biggest cultural events in the Czech Republic. This means that we have a truly society-wide reach and impact, reaching the majority of the population, who are not necessarily festival-goers. However, I must say that the Czech Republic is generally a very open and tolerant country.
“We also introduced psychological First Aid for staff and visitors… we know that huge events can be challenging for a lot of people”
Was there anything new or improved at this year’s festival?
No edition is the same, we strive to improve across all departments. To innovate every year. This year, we added two stages: the NYC stage with an eclectic lineup full of music, stand-up comedy, theatre and discussions in a new glamour tent, and the storytelling tent for sharing stories about Indigenous culture and connection with the soul and nature.
We also introduced psychological First Aid for staff and visitors. We know that huge events can be challenging for a lot of people. This service has been warmly received and I am pleased that, in the end, the number of people who had to use this service was less than we had anticipated. This means that Colours of Ostrava is a safe, comfortable and inclusive festival.
Pavla Slivova (head of booking & artist liaisons) said at IFF 2022 that there was a generation gap at the festival and the team needed to refocus its attention on what Gen Z finds attractive. Have you managed to do that?
I think it’s on the right track. This transformation is definitely not a task that can be accomplished in one year but I feel that not only Gen Z, but society in general, is starting to realize again how important it is to meet and have long, intense experiences.
We’re going to work on this step by step, and this year has shown us the right way. I think it’s mainly about communication: the way we receive information is evolving dynamically, and we try to adapt to that so that young audiences understand us, so that they realise the importance of culture, simply so that we speak the same language. At the same time, we are placing even more emphasis on the safety and comfort of visitors. We have introduced psychological first aid and with the help of our partners, expanded the range of relaxation rest areas.
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Creativeman on Summer Sonic’s triumphant sell-out
Creativeman’s Naoki Shimizu and Layli Odamura have spoken to IQ about how they’ve triumphed over a myriad of challenges in the Japanese industry to sell out Summer Sonic 2024.
The flagship festival will return to its longstanding locations, Tokyo’s Zozomarine Stadium and and Osaka’s Maishima Sonic Park, between 17 and 18 August.
Bring Me The Horizon, Måneskin, Christina Aguilera, Greta Van Fleet, Major Lazer, Lil Yachty, Belle & Sebastien, Bleachers, Madison Beer, Oliva Dean, PinkPantheress and more are due to perform at the twin events.
Here, the Creativeman executives tell IQ how this year’s festival has prospered over the headliner drought, the weak yen, rising costs and extreme weather…
How are the Summer Sonic dates in Tokyo and Osaka selling?
Naoki Shimizu (NS): We’ve sold out Tokyo and Osaka, which comes to 220,000 tickets. If Sonicmania on Friday sells out at 30,000, that would come to 250,000 total.
Summer Sonic 2024 is headlined by Maneskin and Bring Me The Horizon, two bands that haven’t yet headlined many festivals. What’s your thinking behind that decision?
NS: In the past, these two bands have played in Japan at Summer Sonic, headline tours etc which were all very successful due to their strength locally. This year many festivals across the world struggled to book headliners but for I believe in developing and growing artists into headliners and these two artists are prime example of this.
Layli Odamura (LO): After the pandemic had gradually calmed down, we have been lucky to have many incredible artists committed to play in Japan at the return of Summer Sonic in 2022. The fans were so ready and hungry for it and this included a new generation of them.
Maneskin’s first-ever show in Japan was at that Summer Sonic in 2022 and it was an instant, magnetic love, perfect match for Japanese audience to feel connected. Bring Me The Horizon (BMTH) had cleverly built their career and fan base in Japan gradually to the level where they even held their own festival called NEX_FEST in Tokyo, which sold out at approximately 20,000 people. This is a big achievement for this genre of artist as it has never been done before here and all due to BMTH’s exquisite artistry.
“Many festivals across the world struggled to book headliners but for I believe in developing and growing artists”
How have fans responded to these choices?
NS: Very well. The majority of our audience were seeking for a fresh act to be chosen, and a rock band in particular. One of the factors would be due to Summer Sonic audience becoming younger post pandemic.
What kind of impact is the weak yen having on booking, especially when it comes to big international artists?
NS: This is a big damage. The countermeasure we have put in place to survive the weak yen is to decrease the number of offers to those artists requiring fees in USD$ or GBP£, while increasing domestic and Asian artists to play instead. And this has proved that the festival can sell out even without the appearance of expensive acts.
LO: With the current exchange rate, as you can imagine we are paying approx. x1.6 or even more than a few years ago. This is a big problem because even when we are technically paying more in yen, from artist’s point of view in USD, the fee is still low.
Also touring costs overall such as airfare, freight, production costs etc has increased globally in the recent years so this is a double knockout situation for us.
Does this mean future lineups won’t be so Anglo-centric?
NS: I will stick to international music at the forefront. In Japan there are countless number of festivals with just domestic artists and K-pop. If that differentiation from these festivals disappears, the uniqueness and individuality will be lost. This year at Summer Sonic there are approximately 40 international artists and this ratio feels right.
“To survive the weak yen, [we have to] decrease the number of offers to those artists requiring fees in USD$ or GBP£”
There’s a trend of Asian festivals linking up and making offers together, are you doing this with your stable of festivals?
NS: Summer Sonic Bangkok starting this year is an example of this. I do hope to broaden to wider Asian territories and make offers together in the future.
LO: Summer Sonic brand has a strong presence in Asia so that always helps for us to connect with other Asian festival promoters too.
Are there upsides to the weak yen? Does it mean more tourists are visiting your festivals?
NS: Disadvantage is much bigger. However yes, inbound tourists attendance have increased and likely to reach to about 10%. If we broaden the sales network wider in the future then we could even reach to about 25% .
LO: Recent inbound tourism has strongly impacted Japan’s economy. Recently I have read a report that inbound travellers spent Y1.8 trillion in the first three months of 2024 in Japan, which is the highest figure on record. At our festivals and shows too we definitely see a lot more attendees from abroad, and are also noticing that shows such as overseas comedy acts etc are now not only promoted but sell well. This is a fairly new phenomenon because these shows are all in English, but it seems to be working as demand is there by increase of inbound tourists, ex-pats and those locals who returned from living abroad.
How much are prices rising in Japan, for things like infrastructure, artist fees, staffing etc?
NS: They have increased by about 120-150%. Aside from increasing the ticket price, it would become necessary to consider various strategies to cut down the costs such as decreasing the number of acts, number of stages etc.
“Prices in Japan have increased by about 120-150%”
Extreme heat is becoming a major challenge for summer festivals in Japan. How are you planning to mitigate that for your attendees?
NS: The Japanese summer is becoming increasing hot so for those areas such as merchandise, lockers etc where a long line is expected, we have now expanded indoor facilities to a even bigger capacity. Water supply area and first aid/medical areas have been expanded too.
Are you able to attract new and young audiences to your festivals?
NS: The well balanced line-up between the Western acts, domestic acts and Asian acts have attracted new and younger audiences. Research showed that in 2022 after the pandemic, 75% of the audience that year were attending Summer Sonic for the first time ever.
Creativeman organises a number of genre-specific festivals, how do they sell compare to your more eclectic events?
NS: When a festival is genre-specific, overall capacity does decrease compared to Summer Sonic but they still do have strong attendance. In addition to Summer Sonic and Sonicmania, Creativeman also holds multiple international music festivals such as GMO Sonic, Punkspring, Loudpark, Green Room, Blue Note Jazz, Coke Studio, Rockin’ On Sonic etc, and we are very proud to be the promoter most passionate about spreading International and Western music culture which we put so much effort in building, maintaining and strengthening locally.
LO: Creativeman is a pioneer in presenting genre-specific festivals. Our first one was nearly 20 years ago now. We do move fluidly based on demand so although some are long-running, each time gives out a freshness about it with dynamic tweaks and changes to it. Japanese fans are committed to their artists so in that sense a genre-specific festival does work well and is a great platform for many bands to gain new fanbase.
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Euro festival bosses preview ‘challenging’ 2024 season
European festival bosses have reflected on mixed fortunes for the 2024 festival season.
While some events have reported bumper sales and speedy sellouts, others have been forced to take a break or call it quits altogether.
Regardless of boom or bust, the challenges of staging a festival in the current climate are being felt across the board.
In 2024, organisers are grappling with a laundry list of problems, from extreme weather to spiralling costs and a lack of headliners to unpredictable ticket sales.
“Sales are okay but not outstanding compared to 2022 or 2023,” says Christof Huber, director of festivals at Gadget in Switzerland and chair of European festival association Yourope.
“There are a little less stadium shows compared to 2023 which helps”
“There are a little less stadium shows compared to 2023 which helps, but it’s also needed for this festival season.”
Stephan Thanscheidt, CEO of FKP Scorpio, adds “The overall conditions of the festival market remain very challenging. Frankly, it has become very challenging to promote festivals in a way that keeps pushing things forward and is economically viable.”
Skyrocketing costs have been a primary concern for festival organisers and, according to Thanscheidt, that’s not set to change.
“Tight margins are by far our biggest challenge,” he tells IQ. “The costs in virtually every area of festival production have risen considerably since the pandemic with no signs of slacking off.
“Exploding costs in all areas paired with cautious purchasing behaviour are keeping all promoters on their toes. Of course, we do not want to simply pass these costs on to our guests. Music and culture must stay as affordable as possible, and I consider it our duty to find ways to mitigate this troubling development, both by cross-financing as well as using synergies across our group.”
“People rewarded our booking efforts with a high demand”
Whilst acknowledging spiralling costs, Jim King, CEO of European Festivals for AEG Presents, urged festival organisers to “concentrate more on value than they do on cost”.
“The first natural reaction when costs go up is to have fewer stages and smaller production,” he told delegates during February’s ILMC 36.
“But if you reduce the value, you reduce the experience and then you’re on a downward spiral. If you look at the most successful festivals, they’re actually adding more value to the ticket. We worry too much about ticket price and not enough about the value of the ticket.”
Indeed, festivals that have adopted the “go big or go home” attitude with booking lineups and enhancing experiences have prospered in the challenging climate.
“It’s great to see that strong festival brands like Paléo Festival Nyon or Lowlands, which have created great lineups and also are famous for their unique experiences, have sold out right after going on sale,” says Huber.
“The demand is there, it’s supply that’s an issue”
FKP Scorpio’s Southside and Hurricane festivals are also set to sell out, thanks to blockbuster lineups led by Ed Sheeran, K.I.Z, Bring Me The Horizon, Avril Lavigne and Deichkind.
“People rewarded our booking efforts with a high demand,” he says. “Especially in these challenging times, I’m very grateful for the continued trust of our festivalgoers. We consider ourselves very lucky that our festival brands continue to be successful.”
Other festivals that have been rewarded for first-class lineups include Reading & Leeds, which has reported a sell-out Saturday headlined by Lana Del Rey and Fred Again.., as well as the 20th anniversary of Tomorrowland Belgium, the return of Germany’s Wacken Open Air, the Netherlands’ Down The Rabbit Hole and (of course) the UK’s Glastonbury Festival.
While these major festivals have delivered impressive lineups against all odds, securing headliners has been no mean feat.
“The challenge across all my UK business has been the availability of headline talent,” King said at ILMC. “When they’re prepared to confirm, how we can get that show announced and then the sales window that we’re dealing with. The shows we’re putting up are selling very strongly. The demand is there, it’s supply that’s an issue.”
“The challenge across all my UK business has been the availability of headline talent”
Download Festival boss Andy Copping has echoed those challenges, telling Planet Rock that the 2024 edition was the “hardest year” to secure a line-up, having approached 21 bands to find headliners.
Huber says the drought of headliners could be a symptom of increased domestic touring during the pandemic. “A lot of domestic artists took breaks after touring intensively after Corona,” he explains. “Therefore, the competition for international artists was quite intense.”
Another challenge that has become more prominent in recent years is the impact of extreme weather on festivals, which in turn has driven up insurance premiums.
In the last 12 months, a raft of major events have been hindered due to extreme weather including Primavera Sound Madrid, Awakenings in the Netherlands, Bluedot in the UK, Slovenia’s MetalDays, the UK’s Kaleidoscope, shows by Louis Tomlinson show and Ed Sheeran in the US, Burning Man, Taylor Swift in Brazil, Elton John in New Zealand, Wacken Open Air in Germany, Sol Blume in the US.
In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.
“There will be more shows that fail because the barrier to entry, financially, is so high and the risk point is so high”
While in the UK market, Martin Goebells at Miller Insurance says, “Today additional premiums for adverse weather are 50% higher than eight years ago.”
Another major source of cancellations has been the challenging economic climate, in the UK and Australia in particular.
In the UK, PennFest, 110 Above Festival, NASS Festival and Barn On The Farm have been called off due to financial challenges, while Connect Music Festival, Leopollooza, Long Division and Splendour were called off for varying reasons. A further 100 festivals are at permanent risk without action, according to trade body the Association of Independent Festivals.
Meanwhile, Australia’s festival sector is “in crisis” after cancellations from Splendour in the Grass, Groovin The Moo, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays. A first-of-its-kind report found that only half of the country’s festivals are profitable.
King says that unfortunately festivals failing is part and parcel of the business: “The attrition rate is always going to be high. There will be more shows that fail because the barrier to entry, financially, is so high and the risk point is so high. I think it’s devastating. But that’s the direction of travel. I think it’s very difficult to change.”
The coming months may prove challenging for some but with the consistently high demand for live music experiences, many festivals are looking forward to their biggest and best editions yet.
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