BBC reveals record Glastonbury viewing figures
The BBC has revealed its TV coverage of this year’s Glastonbury festival reached a record-breaking 23.1 million people.
The figures, which include the 30-day catch up period, were up 8% on 2022’s figure of 21.4m, with 8.6m people tuning in to Elton John’s Sunday night headline performance on BBC One over the same period.
Other high-performing sets at the 21-25 June event included Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, as well as Blondie, Rick Astley, Fred Again.., Foo Fighters, Becky Hill and Lewis Capaldi. Glastonbury 2023 content on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds has also now been streamed 65 million times, up 54% on last year’s figure.
“This was an incredible year at Worthy Farm and I’m proud that we successfully matched the ambition and spirit of this iconic festival with our extensive coverage of it,” says BBC director of music Lorna Clarke.
The BBC, which recently inked a multi-year extension to continue to as Glastonbury’s exclusive multimedia broadcast partner, delivered over 40 hours of coverage across its TV channels in 2023, as well as 85 hours of live radio broadcasts, content on BBC Sounds, and an increase in scale and accessibility on BBC iPlayer.
“It’s wonderful that record audiences discovered and enjoyed our Glastonbury output on TV, radio and online”
For the first time, the corporation also streamed Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language.
“It’s wonderful that record audiences discovered and enjoyed our Glastonbury output on TV, radio and online, as I know the teams across the BBC and BBC Studios worked around the clock to bring more performances and content than ever before to people at home,” adds Clarke. “A special thanks to Emily and Michael Eavis for allowing us to share the joy of Glastonbury with so many people across the UK.”
Glastonbury’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured earlier this year after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council.
The festival will return to Worthy Farm, Somerset, from 26-30 June 2024.
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Taylor Swift ruled out of Glasto by new Eras shows
Taylor Swift has announced 14 extra European dates for her Eras tour, ruling out the possibility of a heavily-rumoured headline slot at Glastonbury.
It was revealed yesterday (5 July) that the pop star will now be playing Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on all three days of the festival next year. Previously, there had been a gap in her schedule on Sunday 30 June, Glastonbury’s closing night.
The pop star will play also extra nights in Paris, Stockholm, Sweden, Lisbon, Lyon, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Milan, Gelsenkirchen, Warsaw and Vienna.
The outing, produced by Taylor Swift Touring, will commence on 9 May 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena (cap. 40,000) in France and conclude on 17 August at Wembley Stadium (90,000) in London.
The pop star will play also extra nights in Paris, Stockholm, Sweden, Lisbon, Lyon, Edinburgh, London and more
Swift also revealed yesterday that US rock band Paramore will be the support act for her European dates. Paramore opened the first two nights of Swift’s US leg in Glendale, Arizona, before embarking their own headline tour.
The announcement of the European leg came soon after the star announced her first round of international dates, in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.
Swift currently has 14 dates remaining of her North American stadium tour, which sparked “historically unprecedented demand”.
In the US, Eras is tipped to eclipse Swift’s 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, which became the country’s highest-grossing tour in history, selling over two million tickets for 38 shows for a total of $266.1 million.
Promoted by AEG’s Messina Touring Group and AEG Presents, the 53-date trek was the second highest-grossing worldwide tour of 2018 behind Ed Sheeran’s record-breaking Divide run, grossing $345.1m from 2,888.892 ticket sales, as per Pollstar‘s year-end rankings.
Lewis Capaldi pauses touring for “foreseeable future”
Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi has said he will take a break from touring for the “foreseeable future”.
The announcement comes days after he struggled to finish his Glastonbury set due to his Tourette’s Syndrome.
Glastonbury was the 26-year-old’s first live performance since taking a previous three-week break.
“First of all, thank you to Glastonbury for having me, for singing along when I needed it and for all the amazing messages afterwards. It really does mean the world,” he began. “The fact that this probably won’t come as a surprise doesn’t make it any easier to write, but I’m very sorry to let you know I’m going to be taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future.”
He explained that he felt ready to return to the stage after cancelling dates scheduled for earlier this month but Saturday’s performance made it “obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order”.
“It became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order”
“I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I’d hoped 3 weeks away would sort me out,” he said.
“But the truth is I’m still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette’s and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come.
“I know I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to take some time out when others can’t and I’d like to thank my amazing family, friends, team, medical professionals and all of you who’ve been so supportive every step of the way through the good times and even more so during this past year when I’ve needed it more than ever.”
Capaldi, who is repped by agents Ryan Penty and Alex Hardee at Wasserman Music, was due to play 26 dates around the world between now and October including Reading and Leeds festivals.
“We’re gutted that Lewis Capaldi won’t be performing at R&L this year, but health comes first and we wish him a speedy recovery,” an update from Reading and Leeds read. “We’re working hard to book a replacement, stay tuned.”
Read IQ‘s recent report for Capaldi’s biggest European tour to date here.
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Elton John’s historic Glasto set smashes records
Elton John looks to have smashed attendance and viewership records for the last UK show of his farewell tour at Glastonbury.
The 76-year-old legend delivered a two-hour set packed with hits from across his five-decades-long career, including ‘Pinball Wizard’ which he hadn’t performed in over a decade.
Early estimates had the Sunday night performance as one of the most-attended of all time – possibly eclipsing Dolly Parton in 2014 – with at least 120,000 in the audience.
Meanwhile, 7.6 million tuned in to watch live on BBC One – the biggest-ever overnight audience for a Glastonbury set.
In comparison, in 2022 Diana Ross was the most-watched star with 3.1m and Paul McCartney’s headline set was seen by 2.7m.
“I never thought I’d play Glastonbury – and here I am,” he said. “I’m so happy to be here. I won’t ever forget this. It’s a very special and emotional night for me as it may be my last show in England, in Great Britain. I’d better play well and I’d better entertain you because you’ve been standing there so long.”
7.6 million tuned in to watch live on BBC One – the biggest-ever overnight audience for a Glastonbury set
The 21-song set included hits such as ‘The Bitch Is Back’, ‘Bennie and the Jet’ and ‘I’m Still Standing,’ as well as a number of guest appearances.
Jacob Lusk of US soul group Gabriels accompanied John on ‘Are You Ready For Love’, Rina Sawayama took Kiki Dee’s place on ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ and The Killers’ Brandon Flowers appeared for ‘Tiny Dancer’. Nashville’s Stephen Sanchez even got to sing a song of his own, ‘Until I Found You’.
John drew the curtain on his UK touring career with an extended version of ‘Rocket Man’. “It’s been an incredible journey and I’ve had the best, best time,” said the star, with a lump in his throat.
The show came toward the end of Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour – now officially the highest-grossing tour of all time, with box office receipts of $887m (£697m).
After Glastonbury, there are just seven dates left, with the final show in Stockholm on 8 July.
John’s performance drew the 2023 Glastonbury festival to a close, after high-profile sets from Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, Lana Del Rey, WizKid, Lizzo, Blondie and Cat Stevens.
Friday’s headliner Arctic Monkeys saw a record performance for a Friday night headline set with a peak audience of 2.6m, while audiences for Saturday’s headliner Guns N’ Roses on BBC Two peaked at 2.1m.
Lewis Capaldi’s and Lizzo’s Pyramid Stage performances on Saturday had a BBC One audience peak 2.4m.
Organiser Emily Eavis has confirmed the event will return next year, with two female headliners already booked.
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Glastonbury ceremony to remember CAA’s Ben Kouijzer
CAA and the family of late agent Ben Kouijzer are extending an open invite to anyone attending Glastonbury Festival this week to join them at an informal ceremony to celebrate his life.
Festival organisers have planted a tree along with Kouijzer’s ashes at a site on the border of The Kings Meadow, which sits between Greenpeace and The Stone Circle.
Anyone who will be at Glastonbury is invited to the ceremony at the tree on Friday 23 June at 3pm, to raise a glass to Kouijzer. The invite is extended to all those who knew Ben, and to those that didn’t have the chance to meet but would still like to pay respects. Guests are asked to please bring a shot of tequila (Ben’s favourite) for those who drink, or something else for those who don’t drink (or don’t like tequila).
The coordinates for the gathering are 51°08’45.6″N 2°35’03.6″W. The location can be seen in this video.
Kouijzer, who also previously worked at UTA, was 36 when he passed in November 2020. He had been diagnosed with malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST), a rare and aggressive type of cancer.
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BBC unveils expanded Glastonbury coverage
The BBC has unveiled full details of its Glastonbury 2023 coverage, revealing it will present more of the festival than ever before – both live and on-demand.
This year’s Glastonbury runs from 21-25 June, headlined by Elton John, Guns N’ Roses and Arctic Monkeys. Other acts on the line-up include Lana Del Rey, Lizzo, The War On Drugs, Chvrches, Lil Nas X, Christine And The Queens, Manic Street Preachers. and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, who has been booked for the coveted Legends Slot.
Queens of the Stone Age, Rick Astley, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Tom Grennan were among the latest additions to the bill announced this week.
The BBC, which will continue to be Glastonbury’s exclusive, multimedia broadcast partner, following a recent multi-year extension, will present more than 40 hours of programming across its television channels as well as over 85 hours of live broadcasts on the BBC’s pop radio networks. It will launch its 2023 coverage with Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music breakfast show live from the Glastonbury gates from 7.30am to 10.30am on Wednesday 21 June.
“Glastonbury 2023 will have even more live coverage from site, including a record number of hours on BBC One,” says BBC director of music Lorna Clarke. “There will be more programming in the lead up, including an updated version of Glastonbury: 50 Years and Counting and more content to discover on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer. As always, scale and discovery is at the heart of our BBC Glastonbury coverage.
“We’ve worked in partnership with the BBC since 1997, and they’ve become an incredibly valuable part of what we do at Glastonbury”
“This year we’re proud to deliver over 40 hours of coverage across our TV channels to our audiences, as well as over 85 hours of live radio broadcasts, in addition to content on BBC Sounds. We’ll also be increasing the scale and accessibility of our BBC iPlayer offer, with even more themed and live streams.
“For the first time, we will be streaming Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language, making our coverage more accessible than ever before. Our thanks once again go to Emily and Michael Eavis, for allowing us to bring their treasured festival to so many music fans throughout the weekend and beyond.”
New podcasts, collections and playlists will be available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer will present an expanded, 12-day celebration of the festival, featuring over 40 hours of coverage on BBC iPlayer’s Glastonbury Channel, in addition to streams and classic Glastonbury performances.
“We’ve worked in partnership with the BBC since 1997, and they’ve become an incredibly valuable part of what we do at Glastonbury,” adds festival co-organiser Emily Eavis. “I think we’ve created something really special together and we’re delighted that they’re continuing to evolve their coverage with additions such as streaming Pyramid Stage performances live in British Sign Language. We’re looking forward to welcoming them to the farm in June and here’s to many more Glastonburys together.”
Glastonbury’s long-term future at Worthy Farm was secured earlier this year after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council.
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Slowthai removed from line-ups after rape charge
Mercury Prize-nominated rapper Slowthai has been removed from the line-ups of several major festivals, following two charges of rape.
The British artist — whose real name is Tyron Frampton — was charged with two counts of rape earlier this week, and appeared before Oxfordshire Magistrates Court on Tuesday (16 May).
The 28-year-old was scheduled to appear this summer at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Parklife in Manchester and Forbidden Fruit in Dublin but his name has been quietly removed from their line-ups in recent days.
However, he is still billed to appear as Blur’s support act for their 8 July concert at Wembley and tickets for his Ugly World Tour in September are still on sale.
Slowthai appeared before Oxford Magistrates’ Court via video link from his home in Northampton on Tuesday, speaking only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He is set to appear before Oxford Crown Court next month.
The 28-year-old was scheduled to appear this summer at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Parklife and Forbidden Fruit
The rapper has “categorically” denied the charges and said he is “confident” his name will be cleared.
He wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday: “Regarding the allegations being reported about me. I categorically deny the charges.
“I am innocent and I am confident my name will be cleared. Until then I will apply my energy to ensure this is concluded swiftly and justly.
“I ask that my supporters don’t comment about this situation and respect the process and privacy of my family during this time.”
Slowthai was nominated for a Grammy award in 2021 and a Mercury prize in 2019. He has also won gongs at the NME Awards and UK Music Video Awards.
The rapper is also known for his budget-friendly tours such as ’99p tour’, a £5 ticketed tour and the recent £1 pub tour dubbed Best Night of Your Life.
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Glastonbury secures long-term future at Worthy Farm
Glastonbury Festival’s long-term future at Worthy Farm has been secured after it was granted permanent planning permission by the local council.
Since 2010, Glastonbury Festival Events Ltd. (GFEL) has had rolling temporary planning permission to hold the festival and other events at Worthy Farm in Pilton, which is due to expire in 2024.
Mendip District Council advised GFEL back in 2021 that a further extension to this temporary permission would not be allowed, since it was “contrary to best planning practice” as laid out by central government.
GFEL applied for the festival and other events, such as the annual Pilton Party, to have permanent planning permission, which would “provide more certainty and additional flexibility” in the years to come.
The plans were approved by the council’s planning board last Wednesday night (29 March), allowing Glastonbury Festival to be permanently hosted on Worthy Farm once a year, the hosting of the annual Pilton Party, camping events which can take place during festival fallow years, and agricultural use of the site outside of the festival period.
“The grant of planning permission will secure the future of the most iconic music and performing arts festival in Europe”
The permission also allows the festival’s iconic Pyramid Stage to be made into a permanent structure, alongside a building currently used for storage and recycling, and the allocation of land to accommodate the temporary festival workforce.
Nonetheless, the festival will still have to comply with the terms of its official licence, which sets limits on noise levels, crowd capacity and other matters.
A spokesman for Planning Sphere (representing GFEL) said: “The grant of planning permission will provide certainty and secure the future of the largest and most iconic music and performing arts festival in Europe.” The board approved the application by a margin of 11 votes to none, with one abstention.
This year’s Glastonbury is scheduled for 21-25 June. Elton John, Guns N’Roses and Arctic Monkeys will all be headlining the Pyramid Stage, while other acts on the line-up include Lana Del Rey, Lizzo, The War On Drugs, Chvrches, Lil Nas X, Christine And The Queens and Manic Street Preachers. Meanwhile, Yusuf/Cat Stevens has been booked for the coveted Legends Slot.
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Glastonbury unveils 2023 line-up
Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses have been confirmed as Pyramid Stage headliners for the 2023 Glastonbury festival, joining the previously announced Elton John.
The 2023 event is scheduled for 21-25 June at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset.
The 13 Artists-booked Arctic Monkeys will top the bill for the third time, having previously headlined in 2007 and 2013, while Guns N’ Roses, represented by ITB, will be making their Glastonbury debut.
More than 50 artists have been announced for the festival, including Lizzo, Lana Del Rey, Aitch, Lil Nas X, Fred Again.., Royal Blood, Lewis Capaldi, Christine and the Queens, Blondie, Wizkid, Becky Hill, Manic Street Preachers, Maneskin, Mahalia, Candi Staton, Alt-J, Carly Rae Jepsen, Central Cee, Young Fathers, Kelis, Cat Burns, FLO, The War on Drugs, Rina Sawayama, Sparks, Texas and The Chicks.
The Sunday afternoon “legends slot” goes to Yusuf/Cat Stevens, with more acts still to be announced.
“Next year it’s looking like we’ve got two female headliners, so fingers crossed”
While there is an almost 50:50 split between male and female acts on the bill (52% male), all three headliners are male.
“This year, we did have a female headliner, and she unfortunately had to pull out,” co-organiser Emily Eavis tells the BBC. “It changes all the time. But next year it’s looking like we’ve got two female headliners, so fingers crossed.”
Speaking to the Guardian, she adds: “We’re trying our best so the pipeline needs to be developed. This starts way back with the record companies, radio. I can shout as loud as I like but we need to get everyone on board.”
Tickets for the 2023 festival sold out last November in just over an hour, despite a 26% price increase for the 2023 edition.
General sale tickets cost £335 (€385) for 2023, up 26% on the £265 (€304) charged when tickets last went on sale in 2019. Tickets were subsequently rolled over until 2022 when the 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled due to the pandemic.
Glastonbury previously posted a loss of £3.1 million for the year ending March 2021, according to Companies House documents.
Ahead of the 2023 event, Glastonbury has also announced a multi-year partnership with Vodafone. As Official Connectivity Partner, Vodafone has exclusive rights to the festival and throughout the partnership will use its network to “deliver innovative experiences using cutting-edge technology”.
Vodafone’s network will be boosted to the highest capacity ever, while customers will be able to gain access to festival tickets via its VeryMe Rewards programme available on the MyVodafone app. VeryMe promotions and experiences will also be available to everyone who is at the Festival.
The partnership will also see the launch of a brand-new Official Glastonbury Festival app, with a host of new features, as well as free phone charging for everyone at the festival.
“We are so pleased to have Vodafone on board as a new partner for the festival,” adds Eavis. “The commitment they have made to supporting our festival in its technical and network requirements as well as other projects throughout the year is great, and we look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”
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Major festivals report speedy sellouts for 2023
Some of Europe’s biggest festivals have sold out within half an hour, regardless of significant ticket price increases.
Live Nation-backed Mojo Concerts says Lowlands (aka A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise) sold out in less than 15 minutes, despite ticket prices increasing from €255 to €300.
The 2023 edition of the Dutch festival will see acts including Billie Eilish, Florence + the Machine and Charlotte de Witte return to Walibi Holland between 18–20 August.
Discussing the ticket price increase on the festival’s own podcast LLowcast, director Eric van Eerdenburg said: “Inflation has hit us hard. It is not in our interest to have an expensive ticket. It is in our interest to have a ticket that is as cheap as possible, because then it is easier to sell your tickets. But it’s no different.
“All refugee shelters are full of stuff from the festival industry, everything is becoming much more expensive and harder to get. People who work for us have all submitted their salary demands and we must also comply with them. It’s a tough cookie to swallow, but we’re going to deliver something good for it.”
This year the 55,000-capacity festival is going mobile-only, with ticketholders allowed to resell on Ticketmaster only.
Tomorrowland has sold all 400,000 tickets, with the first 50% (reserved for Belgium fans) selling out in 20 minutes
Lowlands sister festival Down the Rabbit Hole – which also experienced a significant price increase due to inflation and higher costs – also sold out faster than ever.
Elsewhere, Tomorrowland has sold all 400,000 tickets, with the first 50% (reserved for Belgium fans) selling out in 20 minutes.
This year the festival will return to its two-weekend format, taking place in Boom, Antwerp, from 21 to 23 and 28 to 30 July.
More than 600 DJs will perform across 14 different stages including Afrojack, Amelie Lens, Armin van Buuren, Lost Frequencies, Netsky, Paul Kalkbrenner, Steve Aoki, Tiësto and Yves Deruyter.
Last year, the festival took place over three weekends to “cushion the financial hangover” of six cancelled festivals in 2020 and 2021.
Lowlands and Tomorrowland’s speedy sellouts come after the UK’s Glastonbury festival sold out in just over an hour, despite a 26% price increase for the 2023 edition.
The Glastonbury onsale failed to beat 2019’s record of just 34 minutes due to a “technical problem”, as organisers reported “incredible demand” for the 135,000 weekend tickets. Coach packages sold out in just 22 minutes.
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