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That was pretty cool. I think Eventbrite gets this pretty well. I'm sure most of us see ourselves in a lot of the research. But we are all more engaged than typical and may become aware of perks from previous visits or just by paying attention. Shit, I'm certainly going to interact with any whiskey or bourbon sponsor. For instance if the price of a mixed drink is 8 or 9.00 for some bottom shelf swill but I can go to Jack Daniel's kiosk and get a triple shot for the same price, I'm doing it. Same thing if they bring in Longinus' Marlboro Cancer Experience. If I can get a pack of cigs for a buck I don't mind stopping in. I'm also going to look at value of GA vs VIP and decide based on the perks. Free drinks and not triple the price or more (Hangout), and you might get me to bite.
Post by The Foot Fuckin' Master on Aug 7, 2016 12:07:16 GMT -5
Nice read.
How many of you identify with primarily going for the lineup/headliners as well as willing to spend more on VIP? My North American festival experience is limited to the Northeast, but I find VIP to be not worth it more often than not. From what I've observed, the additional amenities don't enhance the actual music experience.
How many of you identify with primarily going for the lineup/headliners as well as willing to spend more on VIP? My North American festival experience is limited to the Northeast, but I find VIP to be not worth it more often than not. From what I've observed, the additional amenities don't enhance the actual music experience.
I think it depends on the festival. For me, the 3 I feel have been worth it were Buku Fest, Wakarusa and Euphoria. I did not find Bonnaroo worth it at all except for the vehicle entrance lines.
Buku VIP: free higher-shelf alcohol, access to the riverboat, front row stage areas, snacks, private events, etc. way worth the 299 vs 140.
Waka VIP: Awesome shady camping not roped off and with as much room within reason as you want, nice roomy front row for the 2 main viewing areas and skip line access for Satellite Stage, free beer and ale from 11am/12pm til 1am with private bars in VIP areas and bathrooms, coffee in the am and snacks all day, 2 meals a day, lithograph and priority car access,
Euphoria - I did the music only upgrade though VIP camp was shaded vs fields. This gave you front stage access at all stages and a cool and comfortable lounge/bar area with drinks you had to pay for but were discounted. It was only 40/day for the upgrade, and stage/bar priority access alone was worth that
Bear Creek Spirit of Suwannee - cool lounge areas, protected camping, 1.00 off drinks, access to the area tested by sound engineers where you get the best sound, massages, viewing areas, etc. this is now defunct, but it was worth it when we did it.
Bonnaroo had to buy in pairs of 2. Car access was basically drive right in instead of 4+ hours lollygagging. Camping was sectioned off and protected, but no shade. They gave you 2 complimentary meals over the 4 days, but they sucked and lines were an hour for each one. The pro was the on-site store which had ice and usually short lines. The Which stage had a nice front row but since it's not exclusive to VIP, you have to stay there if you want to be in there as the acts get bigger. The hill area near What isn't all that. This was seriously not worth it to me, and I wouldn't do it again. Showers and bathrooms weren't that great and usually had lines.
I think for major festivals, I lean towards the headliners 1st then make sure there is enough to fill a decent day up. For minor fests, it is more about the whole day as oppose to getting a few good headliners. I am hitting up ACL and Voodoo which were very Headliner based (same with hangout, but barely). Sound on Sound, Euphoria, Levitation, Utopia are more based on the over line up.
VIP: I have only done once at Wakarusa and it was well worth it. I would do it again under the same amenities (early arrival, 4 nights of VIP car-camping w/ unlimited space, shade, camping right next to main stage, AC bathrooms, hot showers, 3-meals, free beer, front row viewing at main stage and main tent). I can thank Esteban for telling me 50x to dive in.
I haven't seen a VIP package I would do anywhere else though. Hangout's seemed worth it a few years ago but I am not too interested. I also think VIP @ Camping has greater benefits than VIP @ city based fest.
Day for Night will be the first fest I go blindly into without knowing a line-up.
I suppose by some context I had a VIP experience from SXSW via a Platinum Badge the past 2 years and will in 2017. Unless you are an industry professional, I wouldn't spend the $1300-1700 for a badge unless you've hit the fest a few times already and know how to utilize it.
Interesting. Can't argue with the data. I am a casual festie. I am also over 49, so definitely way into the three sigma of the curve here. The focus of the data was in the area that Eventbrite would collect data, ticket sales. They didn't speak to the revenue from other streams, impact on a community, and other important aspects. I would say a local community getting tired of the festival impact and voting it out would be a bigger influence than just about anything. With the exception of this year, I totally enjoyed Hangout music festival. Eventbrite didn't mention the impact of social media and Internet sites like Inforoo. I hope festivals stay with us long after I can't go. Also hope they include variety, different genres, and cool things to see, do, eat, and drink. Freebies and discounts get a thumbs up. Beach, pool, and condo next door also a plus.
Post by smokeringformyhalo on Aug 9, 2016 12:54:23 GMT -5
I think it's funny that the writer(s) think they have a good idea of how "hardcore" festies spend their money on festivals when they've only surveyed "over 1000 festival attendees". Based on their definition of a hardcore festie, I highly doubt the average hardcore festie makes $75000 a year. That's not not even close to true in my opinion. They've completely disregarded the majority of hardcore festies that attend 5-6 smaller festivals a year.
I enjoyed reading the study because publicly available data regarding the demographics and behaviors of festival-goers is so limited, but I agree with others who have said you can't draw the conclusion from this data that in order to sell a lot of tickets you need to appeal strictly to hardcore "festies".
I just finished reading Chuck Klosterman's new book "But What If We're Wrong?" Entertaining read, almost completely useless, but entertaining nonetheless. In the book he makes the (obvious) point that in order for something to be popular, you have to appeal to the kinds of people who don't normally care about that type of thing. He uses E.T. as an example, for E.T. to be as popular as it was it had to sell movie tickets to people who go to like one movie a year, not just hardcore movie-goers who are in the theater every weekend. You could say the same for any incredibly popular musician. Like plenty of people who know and love and consume large quantities of music also like Taylor Swift, but she isn't selling out stadiums filled with those people, the stadiums are filled with people that love Taylor Swift and maybe a handful of other artists, but they aren't delving into the fringes of music or listening to lots of smaller acts on a regular basis.
So you can see where I'm going with this, it's what we've been talking about for months regarding Bonnaroo, for a music festival to be successful you have to appeal to people who don't go to multiple festivals a year, the more casual fan who knows some music but needs those big names to get him or her to buy a ticket.
Having said that, there is something to be said for the hardcore festie encouraging his or her more casual friends to attend, and for generally being a proponent of a festival's brand.
I think it's funny that the writer(s) think they have a good idea of how "hardcore" festies spend their money on festivals when they've only surveyed "over 1000 festival attendees". Based on their definition of a hardcore festie, I highly doubt the average hardcore festie makes $75000 a year. That's not not even close to true in my opinion. They've completely disregarded the majority of hardcore festies that attend 5-6 smaller festivals a year.
If I made $75k a year, I'd attend more than 6 a year.
I enjoyed reading the study because publicly available data regarding the demographics and behaviors of festival-goers is so limited, but I agree with others who have said you can't draw the conclusion from this data that in order to sell a lot of tickets you need to appeal strictly to hardcore "festies".
I just finished reading Chuck Klosterman's new book "But What If We're Wrong?" Entertaining read, almost completely useless, but entertaining nonetheless. In the book he makes the (obvious) point that in order for something to be popular, you have to appeal to the kinds of people who don't normally care about that type of thing. He uses E.T. as an example, for E.T. to be as popular as it was it had to sell movie tickets to people who go to like one movie a year, not just hardcore movie-goers who are in the theater every weekend. You could say the same for any incredibly popular musician. Like plenty of people who know and love and consume large quantities of music also like Taylor Swift, but she isn't selling out stadiums filled with those people, the stadiums are filled with people that love Taylor Swift and maybe a handful of other artists, but they aren't delving into the fringes of music or listening to lots of smaller acts on a regular basis.
So you can see where I'm going with this, it's what we've been talking about for months regarding Bonnaroo, for a music festival to be successful you have to appeal to people who don't go to multiple festivals a year, the more casual fan who knows some music but needs those big names to get him or her to buy a ticket.
Having said that, there is something to be said for the hardcore festie encouraging his or her more casual friends to attend, and for generally being a proponent of a festival's brand.
Great post.
I frankly believe that the hardcore festies need to choose their events wisely. That way, festivals which aim for a more qualitative experience such as Bonnaroo can thrive with like-minded people. Because let's face it: more often than not, the casual eventgoer with disposable income tends to detract from the music experience, and this is the type of spender that all big festivals are targeting nowadays.
I think it's funny that the writer(s) think they have a good idea of how "hardcore" festies spend their money on festivals when they've only surveyed "over 1000 festival attendees". Based on their definition of a hardcore festie, I highly doubt the average hardcore festie makes $75000 a year. That's not not even close to true in my opinion. They've completely disregarded the majority of hardcore festies that attend 5-6 smaller festivals a year.
Agreed. The study is also defining hardcore festies as people who are more willing to splurge on VIP, which I think does not apply at all to the majority of hardcore musicgoers.
