As summer begins, the music industry shifts to the 2024 festival season, which has already seen its share of surprises. From Coachella selling only 80% of its available inventory, to Lovers & Friends being canceled due to bad weather, and the steady growth of genre-specific or niche festivals like Chicago's Sueños, the market moves and fan tastes change , with promoters, agents, managers and artists all looking to find the right formula to create the best ecosystem.
At the forefront of all festival bookings is CAA's co-head of North American music Daryl Eaton, which books acts like blink-182, The Weeknd and RBD and helps develop festival booking strategy for major stars and up-and-coming acts. He's had a lot of experience both booking his acts and watching the US festival scene grow over the years as the likes of Lollapalooza, Coachella and Bonnaroo go from upstarts to mainstays and the market begins to differentiated with genre-specific lineups and new, previously untested locations.
Eaton sat with him Advertising sign to discuss how the 2024 festival season is going, the appeal of cool festivals and where festivals fit into an artist's career. “Things come in cycles,” says Eaton. “Look at Lollapalooza and Governors Ball this year – they had their fastest sales in a decade. The formula is not black and white.”
How do you feel about the overall state of the festival right now?
It is very good. It is strong and growing in recent years. New festivals come every year. The one that goes up and doesn't do well, or gets cancelled, or goes out of business, gets the biggest headlines. But for every one that doesn't do well, there seem to be two or three that come online and do well. Overall, I see it as a growth area.
We're in a situation where it's hard to create a new Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza — a big, established [festival] — and these well-known brands are excellent and dominant. But what I see is a lot of growth in these smaller, niche festivals that are either very genre-specific or in new locations. They are popping up everywhere.
Why are these newer niche festivals doing so well?
Hard to say. For example, there is Jeffrey Schuman, who curates some of these very specific festivals that he puts out. He has the recently launched hard rock festival Sick New World, Lovers and Friends, When We Were Young which is retro punk vibe, Besame Mucho which is Latin based. Goldenvoice just started a new festival called No Values, which is punk rock. All these festivals did very well.
They are very targeted: targeted music, targeted demo. They do a good job of creating a composition that is undeniable. Festivals are driven by talent. You can have as much atmosphere as possible out there, but it's really about who you book that drives the sales.
We saw slower than usual Coachella sales this year. Do you think this has anything to do with their lineup or repeat lineups for these legacy festivals?
From a tourism point of view, the business is very circular. The right artists dropping the record at the right time is what makes it possible for you to make Beyoncé your Coachella headliner. Sometimes the planets don't align for some of these festivals, that time period is off for key artists. And sometimes things come together and there are multiple headliners available where there are too many to choose from.
If Coachella was off this year, I don't think it's indicative of the festival or the talent. Things go in circles. Look at Lollapalooza and Governors Ball this year — they had their fastest sales in a decade. The formula is not black and white.
Where do festivals fit into artist development these days?
It depends on the artist. Being in front of a lot of eyes at once is a big part of the draw, both on the rise and when you're established. Look at blink-182, who headlines Lollapalooza. Last year, they sold out two nights in Chicago at the United Center and made more money than you could make playing Lolla as a headliner. But they wanted to be in front of 100,000 people and find new fans and continue to regenerate their audience. This is why some artists will take a small pay cut to play in front of an audience that could be four to five times the size of their draw.
On the way up, for budding artists it's all about being in front of people and being around other artists. Having that sense of community in the artist sense is important to a lot of these performing artists [festivals]. The main reason is to get those eyes and, if you're good, win them. [When clips of festival performances go viral]it can be like a giant online infomercial for you as a band.
Is it more profitable for major artists to play festivals on top arena tours? Or has the increase in ticket prices made it more valuable to stick to their solo tours?
Post-pandemic demand has been very strong and ticket prices have increased. For many artists, it used to be that you would get a festival offer and, because it was a one-off and not necessarily part of your tour itinerary, you would command far more fees than you would if you played the market for a solo tour. But at the highest level, if you have the demand and can sell tickets, you can generally make as much if not more doing your own show. So, these are strategic desires to gain new fans. Artists always aspire to play these festivals because it's a small group that gets invited to play and it's a badge of honor.
It is becoming more and more expensive and difficult for smaller acts to do their own breakthrough tours. Do festivals mean more to them?
You can't make a career out of just playing festivals. There are some artists who do. They're the perennial festival artists who don't have hard ticket sales, but for the most part, to grow a career and have long-term stable fan bases, you have to be out there earning them — be on the road, sell hard tickets, growing fans.
Are there any niche festivals that have impressed you lately?
Some of the ones I mentioned before, like When Were Young. They did a great job creating an undeniable lineup that captured the imagination of everyone who ever heard this music for a period of time. He had to be in that show. When they started this in Las Vegas three years ago, they sold 65,000 tickets and then added a second show and immediately sold another 65,000 tickets and then added a third show. Anything that captures that kind of audience at that speed is impressive.
Because these lineups are so specific, it seems like there can only be so many artists that will fit the bill. Do you think they will be able to sustain this enthusiasm from the festival goers?
I do not know. Fortunately, that's not my job. [Laughs] This would cause me great anxiety. But it remains to be seen. I've heard rumors of what's coming for this year, but this is the race for the niche festivals. Maybe they'll fall out of line with time, but I'm sure these festival organizers are already thinking about what the next idea, the next niche, the next festival could be. Someone like Goldenvoice, who does Coachella, they're always trying to do other festivals and other ideas. You'd think if you had Coachella and Stagecoach you'd be like, “Yeah, we're good,” but they always seem to be hungry for new ideas. There is a special addiction for all these festival curators to do more and come up with new and fresher ideas.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/caa-darryl-eaton-state-music-festival-market-niche-genre-events-thriving/