Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by OneCoolHippie on Mar 10, 2011 23:34:50 GMT -5
I have been going to Bonnaroo for five years running and have to say they've been the most fulfilling experiences of my life. In fact, I am even minoring in entrepreneurship and going to grad school in hopes of starting my own festival some day.
My question is, was Bonnaroo the idea of one individual, or a collective group? The Bonnaroo website and others don't seem to share any information, though I realize Superfly and AC Entertainment run tons of festivals. This being said, what is the story behind the founding of Bonnaroo? Furthermore, if someone were to want to work year round with AC Entertainment, Superfly, or perhaps even put on events like these on their own, what courses of study should they take? Thanks.
Post by icantenough on Mar 11, 2011 0:26:49 GMT -5
i had some shit typed up, but then i decided i would just tell you that promoting is a tough, tough business. you are asking the equivalent of "so how do i become a blockbuster film producer?". I don't mean to be a negative nancy, but being a Bill Graham, or an AC is a combination of stalking VC's, a lot of bullshitting/bluffing, and a great deal of luck.
Superfly is (left to right): Rick Farman, Rich Goodstone, Jonathan Mayers, and Kerry Black
...But without its own venue to collect the bar revenue--a critical profit center for promoters--Superfly took a pummeling from corporate giants such as the House of Blues. By 2001, the operation had already plateaued. So the gang hit on the idea for Bonnaroo: "We didn't have an amphitheater," recalls Jonathan Mayers, the quartet's prickly strategist, now 32. "So we went to a farm."
As ideas go, the notion of setting a three-day festival 60 miles outside of Nashville--featuring a bunch of bands that had never come close to the FM dial--verged on the insane. But Superfly, which also includes sponsorship wrangler Rich Goodstone and Web guy Kerry Black, was convinced that if it could somehow coalesce the entire diaspora of lightly employed, musically rabid fans, it would have the makings of a franchise. It cobbled together a business plan (paying its accountant with concert tickets), hooked up with Ashley Capps, a regional promoter in Tennessee, and pitched the idea to Coran Capshaw, the powerful manager of the Dave Matthews Band.
Capshaw went for it (he and Capps retain stakes in Bonnaroo), and rumors promptly began circulating online, where jam fans already had an intricate network of sites and blogs for exchanging tour dates, bootlegs, and show reviews. Sensing that cultish, post-Phish types would perform the promotional legwork on their own, Superfly went so far as to pocket its $100,000 advertising budget, bypass Ticketmaster, and throw the tickets up for sale on its Web site. By the end of the day, it had sold more than 10,000 tickets by word of mouth alone; a couple of weeks later, it hit 70,000. It had hoped to sell 40,000.
"Our entire promotional campaign was basically 'Don't come,' " says Farman, the group's de facto CEO whose biggest fear was that non-ticket holders would crash the party (a big problem at the original Woodstock). Bonnaroo One grossed around $9 million; a year later, Rolling Stone would proclaim it the "American rock festival to end all festivals."
Farman, who chipped in $6,500 of his bar mitzvah money to get Superfly off the ground, still marvels at his own success: "We were just a bunch of kids who had never even done an outdoor show. And there we were, producing the largest music event in the country." Last year, Bonnaroo raked in $13.4 million, making it the third-highest-grossing music event in the world after U2 shows in London and Dublin.
i had some Leno typed up, but then i decided i would just tell you that promoting is a tough, tough business. you are asking the equivalent of "so how do i become a blockbuster film producer?". I don't mean to be a negative nancy, but being a Bill Graham, or an AC is a combination of stalking VC's, a lot of bullshitting/bluffing, and a great deal of luck.
What's a Leno? But thanks for the constructive criticism. I'm already well prepared for that because of the courses I've taken however. Plus, I never said I wanted mine to be the same size as Bonnaroo or anything like that. Something along the lines of Summercamp would suit me well. Since my family also has a ranch with a lake in TN, it helps, although to lower competition I'd prefer to talk to my friends family who owns 500+ sum-odd acres in the Carolinas, with 3 lakes (and my research shows the only real fests they have are Bluegrass and city fests).
...not to try and sound like there's no talking me out of it or anything. I'd just much rather prefer a job that I enjoy doing rather than sitting in a cubicle from 9-5. Also, my degree will allow me to have other opportunities as well, and I wouldn't have a problem with intrapraneuring or working with companies that are already involved in matters like these either (though owning it would give me tons of freedoms). IEBA seems like a very useful resource as well, so thanks for that! But while I do understanding owning, running, and profiting from an organization does involve some legal work in office buildings, I guess what I'm trying to say is the ends justify the means for me.
And Bunny, thanks for that article. Any idea where it came from? It does make me more hopeful since it has a story very similar to other start-ups... except for the great fact that it succeed rather than failed! I also heard about Bonnaroo through word of mouth and heard that they were having a Superbowl commercial this year. They didn't, did they? I mean, it doesn't sound like that would be their style. Whether it would be selling out or not isn't really my concern though because you do have to spend money to make money, and Superbowl commercials are an obvious example of that.
Post by icantenough on Mar 11, 2011 16:50:37 GMT -5
I dont think people realize how much money it takes to put on even a single act concert.
I work for a much smaller size tour and we charge 25k minimum per show. if concerts were baseball, we would be AA farm team. i believe alan jackson at one point was charging 750k a show. so on top of paying these acts their giant sums, you still have pay for all the infrastructure... like security, house crew, system techs (not cheap), rent backline, artist transportation, lodging, lights, etc etc etc. but the genius of bonnaroo is that it has taken off so well that i bet the bottom half of the lineup does it at or below cost due to the fact that you get so much exposure.
I would not ever want to be a promoter though. just last year i watched a guy take about a 100k bath in Austin trying to put on a 3 day festival. he shut it down on day 2. didnt even have enough to pay the caterers, so we were out of breakfast and lunch, and our tour manager literally drove the guy to the bank to get a check before we even dropped the trailer door. it was sad.
I dont think people realize how much money it takes to put on even a single act concert.
I work for a much smaller size tour and we charge 25k minimum per show. if concerts were baseball, we would be AA farm team. i believe alan jackson at one point was charging 750k a show. so on top of paying these acts their giant sums, you still have pay for all the infrastructure... like security, house crew, system techs (not cheap), rent backline, artist transportation, lodging, lights, etc etc etc. but the genius of bonnaroo is that it has taken off so well that i bet the bottom half of the lineup does it at or below cost due to the fact that you get so much exposure.
I would not ever want to be a promoter though. just last year i watched a guy take about a 100k bath in Austin trying to put on a 3 day festival. he shut it down on day 2. didnt even have enough to pay the caterers, so we were out of breakfast and lunch, and our tour manager literally drove the guy to the bank to get a check before we even dropped the trailer door. it was sad.
You just can't let my dream be sought, can you? Nah I'm just kidding. I just think you should know that like any entrepreneur, I do realize failure is one possible outcome of my venture.
Much like your last post though, these are things I realize. Something I failed to mention last time is that I don't plan on launching this for at least a decade, so that would give me plenty of time to plan, save, and research.
I obviously realize that there are many things between start and finish (see: security, house crew, system techs, etc.). As for booking the acts, I suppose that's why a smaller fest wouldn't be out of the question for me. Call me crazy, but wouldn't some (smaller) acts want to play just for recognition? Oh you mentioned that, so I guess we're still in agreement (although I like to take a glass half full approach with some of your arguments).
So I guess this leads to needing answers for the second topic in my post, since the first (how Bonnaroo originated) seems to be answered. What exactly entails promoting? I know there are a plethora of ways to market, but what does a promoter actually do... besides promote? This is something I'll look more into as I wait for your reply, but it honestly sounds to me like the guy you all were working for was extremely unprepared. To me it sounds like if I was unable or unwilling to work on the promotion side of things, I could simply hire a promoter. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
TL;DR version: What do promoters do? To become one, what sort of background would be necessary?
Post by icantenough on Mar 12, 2011 13:58:38 GMT -5
promoters do everything. the only background that i think would be necessary is some business/finance kind of learning just so you can show investors/bar owners/venue heads that you can turn a profit. otherwise you just need to know everybody. the bigger the shows, the more little stupid things are going to pop up, and usually at last minute. then you get the call and you are already balls deep in 16 other things that could potentially cancel the show. you need to have a rolodex the size of kansas. you have to be as hard as the biggest asshole lawyer, but at the same time build relationships. you need to be able to make 1 or 2 phone calls and have the problem fixed . it isn't until you get way up in making huge shows that you get to sit back and hire some people to worry about all the little shit. even then you will spend a lot of your time on the phone making decisions about stupid shit that you never dreamed could be a problem.
promoters do everything. the only background that i think would be necessary is some business/finance kind of learning just so you can show investors/bar owners/venue heads that you can turn a profit. otherwise you just need to know everybody. the bigger the shows, the more little stupid things are going to pop up, and usually at last minute. then you get the call and you are already balls deep in 16 other things that could potentially cancel the show. you need to have a rolodex the size of kansas. you have to be as hard as the biggest jerkstore lawyer, but at the same time build relationships. you need to be able to make 1 or 2 phone calls and have the problem fixed . it isn't until you get way up in making huge shows that you get to sit back and hire some people to worry about all the little Leno. even then you will spend a lot of your time on the phone making decisions about stupid Leno that you never dreamed could be a problem.
Thanks for the info. Sounds like I'll need lots of networking skills on top of my education. This is especially true if I want to make something big.
As for Itchycoo Park, looks very interesting! Seems odd that the dates are practically the same as well.
Honestly there is a lot I would have enjoyed at this festival. I wish 'roo would get Iron Butterfly. Also I have known Felix for a long time and he puts on a great show.
Post by nature boy on Mar 15, 2011 10:27:06 GMT -5
From what I've heard about Itchycoo, I don't think it did too well. The following is hearsay from someone who provided computers for the festival; he told me the promoter took what money he could get his hands on and ran. He never got paid and had to drive on site to retrieve what equipment he could. Also many bands didn't get paid, some didn't perform as a result. Great concept, bad implementation. I'm glad Bonnaroo has been more successful.
From what I've heard about Itchycoo, I don't think it did too well. The following is hearsay from someone who provided computers for the festival; he told me the promoter took what money he could get his hands on and ran. He never got paid and had to drive on site to retrieve what equipment he could. Also many bands didn't get paid, some didn't perform as a result. Great concept, bad implementation. I'm glad Bonnaroo has been more successful.
It was because most ppl were like me and didnt think all these bands would ever come to play in the middle of a field in Manchester, Tn. lol I bought my ticket at the gate after it started. Cost me $80
Honestly there is a lot I would have enjoyed at this festival. I wish 'roo would get Iron Butterfly. Also I have known Felix for a long time and he puts on a great show.
And man, what I wouldn't give to see The Outfield at another fest.
Honestly there is a lot I would have enjoyed at this festival. I wish 'roo would get Iron Butterfly.
Right there with you on both counts. And I would love to see Leon Russell at Roo, he's one of my favorite performers of all time. Preferably with a Shelter People reunion, though I'm sure that's way too much to hope to ever see!
In fact, I am even minoring in entrepreneurship and going to grad school in hopes of starting my own festival some day.
Kinda funny you bring this up because I just graduated with a Bachelor's in Music Business, and I'm having a hard time even getting a job in the mail room. Getting into the music industry is very, very tough - even for people like me who actually got a degree in the music industry. Working for AC Entertainment is my dream job, and it's impossible to reach anyone there. Not trying to be a debbie downer, but it is one of the hardest (if not the hardest) industry to break through! Be prepared!
I've interned for Live Nation... what ever you do, don't turn into them.
I also started a small music festival last year with a small group of people. Hard Work! Weather is a bitch! Working with the city sucks, and there are so many expenses you don't even think of.
Event planning courses are good Finance Management Marketing!
Nothing beats experience and in the end make sure you surround yourself with a group of people that have different areas of expertise. Don't think you can know it all! Really good to have at least one person who has managed a band. Agencies can be really hard to work with when you are just starting up.
I think passion is respected a lot in the business but at the end of the day it's not what will pay the bills. It's a really hard industry to make a splash in, especially with all the power houses paying such high guarantees to all the top musicians. Your best bet is to find the up and comers, but then it's a struggle to sell tickets. If you have the money to throw at putting on a festival it won't be that hard to put together. Selling tickets is the hard part
Post by internjeff on Mar 18, 2011 13:00:43 GMT -5
Never done a fest but used to be a talent buyer for a venue in Michigan and ran a booking/promotions company with my wife. The above poster is right on all accounts. The promoter puts up a lot of money hoping to make a profit a month later when the show is over. It's amazing all of the problems that can come up just waiting for the show date. You have advert, ticket sales, sound, venue problems. All that so the band can cancel a week before the show and you lose half your money. Bottom line, the promoter takes all the risk, does alot of work, and spends the whole show putting out little fires.
A friend of mine here in NOLA worked for Superfly when they were just doing small shows in the city. He quit because he didn't think there was much potential there. Year and a half later they did the first Roo. I guess you never know...
