It looks so straight forward until we do it. Want to play live shows? Start a band. Want to see others on stage? Start a music festival. Well, what do we do after those initial steps is often where creatives find concern, with few sources out there
In 2016 alone, over 30.9million people in the United Kingdom attended gigs and music festivals, a 12% rise from the previous year at 27.7m, said a survey by UK music. Within the first figure, it is said that 4million of those people attended music festivals specifically.
Music festivals are the perfect way to target young people today, seen by the British Summer Time Festival attracting big names such as Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar… the list goes on. The festival, that was spread over 10 days sold an excess of 350,000 tickets that year, with a rise in attendance by 14.5% being common each year.
InnocentUK’s Jamie Sterry, though, simply shares “If you want to make a profit, don’t get into festivals – end of story!”
What some do not realise is that as an event organiser, you are paying bands, venues, advertisers. AEG’s Will Dowdy suggests that festivals are a long term commitment, and as such, organisers should expect not to earn money over the first few years, and instead use that time to develop their festivals to make the right kind of statement, and step further towards building themselves to a high-profile position like Glastonbury Festival or Parklife.
New Rockstar Philosophy’s “How To Launch A Successful Music Festival” focuses on a number of aspects they believe are important in making the dream festival happen;
- Get the right team; the right lineup, the right roadies and the light/sound team. The people are the heart of this event, and just like any band, if someone is out of key, everything else is risking its full potential. From the artistic director to volunteer co-ordinations, your staff must be capable and engaged in the music industry, alongside being passionate about making this event work.
- Get the right angle or niche; are you a heavy rock festival, or are you looking at something more poppy? As an example, the likes of Edinburgh’s Wide Days festival focuses directly on talent in that area; Scottish bands and artists based in Edinburgh’s alternative scene. This means that those with tickets are more than likely to walk away with new interests and find new music that they weren’t aware of before. It also gives an opportunity to appreciate and support local talent.
- Sponsors, grants and marketing; From magazine articles to social media campaigns, researching your target audience and how to reach them is a necessity in the music industry. After that, we consider the advertising rule of 3: It is claimed that we need to be hit with an advertising message 3 times before it really begins to stick with a person. This likely means looking into multiple advertising routes, such as TV, community radio, posters. From Warped Tour in the USA’s link with Monster Energy to John Lewis and Guinness putting their names alongside annual music festivals.
- Make it exclusive; Make someone aware that it won’t be possible to walk right into your festival on the day. Whether this means introducing priority passes or advanced tickets that allowed those who made the effort to get into the venue first, skip to the front of the line. Remember that some of the things you consider very normal (seeing a soundcheck, etc) would be considered a perk to fans outside of the industry.
- Get the artists involved; By giving bands and musicians access to all areas of the festival, they get the opportunity to support other groups and generally create a fuller atmosphere around us and provide a level of enthusiasm we may not have expected.
- Make sure your goals are grounded in reality; consider whether it is possible to get Dolly Parton to play on the main stage, or whether fireworks after the last set on the Friday is really something that’s going to be suitable in the area you have chosen. The only thing worse than not being able to fill your festival is leaving customers disappointed when it isn’t all that they expected.
The logistics
The size and location of your festival are what determines the kind of licenses you will need to go forward, and the costs. No matter how big your event is, the rule of thumb in our industry is that one should hope to break even by year three, and so considering the costs and how they may change over time is also ideal.
Outdoor festivals are often held on greenfield sites, which do not always have a clear perimeter of where the festival may start and end. When you are working on your licensing application (as explained below), make sure that you lay out plans delicately and clearly, as this has a legal effect in terms of capacity limits (the number of people allowed to attend) and alcohol sales.
On another rule of three, events organisers in the UK suggest applying for licenses (at least) three months ahead of any event date. This will help you work with the system and figure out the ins and outs of how it works, without having to worry that you aren’t taking in all of this new information fast enough. This also has the likelihood of helping you avoid last-minute legal issues and Government concerns.
Fighting to make the event bigger than its musicians is also a key element of success. For example, NH7 announce their headline acts months after ticket sales are launched, and sometimes even sold out completely. This is because the experience festival-goers will have is going to be exquisite no matter what, and they have grown trust over the years that the acts will be what is right for them. This makes the festival itself a brand, much like the musicians, and offers an opportunity for merchandising, which grows the likelihood of sponsorships from strong names.
Licenses and rules for events
If you want to sell alcohol and provide live music to more than 500 people after 11:00pm, you will almost certainly need a Premises License under the Licensing Act 2003. Alternatively, if you are allowing attendee’s to bring their own alcohol, you must be authorised for “off sales” of alcohol.
EventBrite share “For alcohol, you will need a Designated Premises Supervisor who holds a Personal Licence and you will have to complete an application form together with detailed layout plans.”
This application should be sent to the Licensing Authority, alongside eight other “responsible authorities”. If you send your application via the Licensing Authorities electronic facility (most have one), you should be able to avoid this, as they will forward the information for you.
If there are no problems found in your application, you should find it granted within 28 days. If there are issues that arise, you should normally hear within two months.
Most councils have Safety Advisory Groups (SAGs), these are non-statutory bodies made up of the right agencies to help you run a safe event; they will help you cut down on noise complaint and foot traffic around the time of your event for three weeks on either side of your expected festival date.
Most authorities prefer to be contacted at least 6 months before the event is going ahead, in order to collect the advice and experts that are relevant to you. Despite their name, some of the authorities that will include Police, Environmental Health organisations and Health and Safety experts do in fact have the power to stop your event from progressing if there are any issues that are not commercially viable or do not stand alongside the current guidelines. The best way to avoid this happening is to contact them as easily as possible, to ensure that you are able to meet their requests and answer their questions fully as different aspects of your festival develop.
Engaging with locals early to explain your event proposal is also another suggestion from EventBrite, who explains that noise issues are likely to cause issues to residents if they have not been warned in advance, or do not understand what type of event is being held in their place. Consider where stages will be placed, what angle speakers may be placed at and the general lie on the land, as all of these will affect the way that sounds travel.