The litany of obstacles facing the festival sector formed the basis of the opening panel of this year’s International Festival Forum (IFF).
Held today (25 September) in London Bridge, The Festival Season 2024 was moderated by IQ magazine’s James Drury, featured high-profile agents Summer Marshall of CAA and Primary Talent International’s Matt Bates, plus Serbia’s Exit Festival co-founder Dusan Kovacevic and Goodlive’s Fruzsina Szép, MD of Munich’s Superbloom and festival director of Lollapalooza Berlin.
The session began with a presentation of ROSTR x IQ’s analysis of the European festival summer by ROSTR co-founder and CEO Mark Williamson.
A key talking point related to gender equality, as 69% of all artists across all lineups were men, while 97% of every band and every solo act that played a headline slot were male (the full analysis appears in the new issue of IQ).
“There’s still a lot of big female artists out there, but rather than playing at festivals, they’re staging their own outdoor shows,” offered Bates, who added the trend was not exclusive to women performers. “When you’re a huge artist nowadays, there’s a tendency to do your own thing rather than performing at a festival which would’ve been the norm 10 to 15 years ago,” he said.
Bates considered the shift could yet be a blessing in disguise for festival organisers.
“A major positive about headliners doing their own thing is that festivals now have a better opportunity to help break through emerging acts and mid-level artists,” he explained.
Kovacevic agreed with the sentiment, pointing out that, in Exit’s case, it forces the festival itself to become the headline act rather than a select number of big names. “This will force other festivals to not rely too much on headliners, but to focus on the overall experience instead,” he said.
Szép added that increased awareness of the types of brands sponsoring festivals and rising costs have made festival-goers more cautious when it came to expenditure.
“The younger generation are a lot more sensitive to what they’re spending their money on, which mirrors what artists are questioning when it comes to choosing what festival they’re willing to put their names on,” she explained.
The session also touched upon navigating the controversial issue of artists pulling out of festivals due to sponsors affiliated with various political situations.
“It’s all about communication,” Marshall said. “It’s a very personal decision for each artist, and as an agent, if you’re presented a deal a year in advance but the sponsors haven’t been confirmed yet, it becomes a tricky situation.”
“As an agent, we’ll be quite careful not to have our own opinion, so we really have to stay neutral all the time,” Bates added. “Some of the situations involving artists pulling out of slots aren’t just due to political reasons. I’ve had acts that refused to play because they didn’t like the brand, which they might find to be damaging to their own reputation. It’s always a balancing act.”
Furthermore, the panel agreed that festivals would have to cater for audiences that are more socially and financially conscious than in the past.
“We can’t continue raising ticket prices every year, so it’s important to keep thinking of creative solutions to keep the younger demographic coming to festivals,” said Szép, who cautioned: “A festival nowadays is a very risky business.”
And despite the issues that have threatened the festival business since the pandemic, the panellists remained optimistic about the direction of travel.
“It’s absolutely vital that festivals focus on spotlighting emerging artists and continue to create the headliners of tomorrow,” Kovacevic said, with Szép adding that this is a “great way to minimise costs that would usually increase significantly with major headline acts”.
Article & photo by: IQ Mag
