Fox Business and the Concert Biz

This morning I was interviewed on Fox Business News. My first live television interview! It sure was an interesting experience. It was just me sitting alone on a stool in the Fox Business Network offices in West Los Angeles with a very nice man who wired me up and monitored me while I spoke to invisible hosts. They were in NY and I was just patched in. It was really weird, but boy do I have a new appreciation for those remote guests you see on The Today Show or who appear on the big hanging screen on Real Time with Bill Maher.

The interview was extremely quick, It might have lasted 2 minutes at most. And they confused my profession by saying that I was a concert promoter, but I politely corrected them and answered their questions.

If you want to see it, it's streaming HERE.

That said, I was prepared with so much more information. They had sent me a list of questions to see if I really knew what I was talking about and I answered them in a manner that must have been appropriate because they asked me on the show. But most of them never got asked. So, I figured I'd share their questions and my answers with you because otherwise they just die and that would suck. Ha!

As I did with my last blog post about the Mediabistro panel in NYC, here are the questions and the answers - which are really just my opinions on the state of the US live festival circuit in this current economic downturn.

• How are concert festivals being hit by the recession?

Like everything that costs money, even concert festivals are being hit. Going to a concert is a luxury. To many it is incredibly important to them, but it is still not as important as food, clothing, and shelter. A festival concert ticket can cost anywhere from $50 to $350 which is not a nominal sum. It is not surprising at all that concert festivals are being hit hard.

• Have some festivals looked into giving recession discounts?

I don’t know that they’ve looked into giving discounts, but I do know that several have taken steps to keep prices down or even stagger payments. For example the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals offer layaway plans which allow people to pay for their tickets in installments. According to Paul Tollett, the founder of both of those festivals, 24% of the people who bought tickets to Stagecoach opted for the layaway plan. And that is thousands of people.

For the Vans Warped Tour, the longest running touring festival, they’ve consistently offered the lowest price (usually under $30) and the most entertainment. For $30 you get to see over 50 bands over a 6 or 7 hour period. Plus they offer the opportunity to buy your tickets in advance, pay less fees, and get a compilation CD for less than the price you’d pay at the box office.

• Will this change the way they operate business?

A few years ago there were only a few major festivals. Coachella being the standout. Then Bonnaroo came. Coachella was west coast based and attracted an eclectic peaceful crowd literally from all over the world. They created an environment that was reminiscent of the European music festivals like Glastonbury and Reading. Bonnaroo on the other hand drew from a “jam band” and jazz-type environment featuring acts like Phish and Dave Matthews. Both could live independently and do extremely well. But last year there were countless festivals and many featuring the same bands. If people can see the same bands closer to home, then they won’t travel. Thus, the competition has started to cause declining ticket sales. Add the economy issue and you’ve got trouble.

So yes, it will change the way they operate. There need to be fewer festivals. Each has to be special and offer something beyond just music, an overall experience like at Coachella and Bonnaroo. Each has to address the price of the ticket and the cost of getting to the event and creatively figure out solutions. Coachella offers a free train ride to the Palm Desert and layaway ticket plans. Others will likely do similar things.

• Will events book fewer guests with bigger names or vice versa?

No. If the event is going to exist, it has to maintain it’s integrity. The best and biggest festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits will not change the amount of bands or the level of bands. If you look at the caliber of talent this year which includes Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen playing festivals, you can see that this isn’t changing. The big names bring in one group of people, but the core attendees go every year because they get exposed to so many new and younger bands. And they love the overall experience.

• What caused the festival (Langerado) to close?

Competition and the Economy. The economy is definitely the primary factor. At $150 a ticket, there are way too many people that are out of work or may be out of work that need that $150 for other more important things. The competition leads the consumer to believe that they can either see the same bands somewhere else, or maybe next year instead. I’m sure there is a lot of, “I’ll sit this year out and hopefully go next year” being said.

• Can other festivals be expected to follow suit?

I believe that we’ll see fewer new festivals being created for the next couple of years that is for sure. I also think we’ll see a few more festivals from last year not reappear this year. The big ones will still exist, but like I said, you’ll see fewer major festivals crop up.

• Is this a phenomenon limited to this current recession?

No, this was bound to happen because there was too much competition and too many options for people. 5 years ago there were really only a few festivals, but last year there were tons. We were bound to see fewer festivals.

But the current recession is the reason it is happening right now.

• How can the business continue to be profitable in a fluctuating economic climate?

By standing out from the crowd and offering tremendous value for the customer. Each festival needs to address these concerns:

1. Is price an issue? If so, what can we do about it? Can we lower the price? If we can’t lower the price, what value adds can we put on top of the ticket price so that the customer feels like they are getting more than they got last year?
2. Make it easy. Travel is an issue. Not only do you have the ticket price, but you have to consider gas, food, lodging. What can you do to help with this? If you don’t want to lower the ticket price, perhaps camping fees can be eliminated. Or better hotel deals can be found. Perhaps lower or free food and beverage can be figured out. Maybe a sponsor can cover these costs.
3. Why this festival? Each festival has to distinguish itself. It is more than just music. Every festival now has similar music, so what makes each stand out? Films, art, food?