Easier Said Than Done

Last week, I tweeted about the the challenges of organizing festivals and garnering tour sponsorships; two tasks which seem relatively achievable for anyone with either a strong buzz or financial backing.

I know the statement is a little ambiguous, so I wanted to expound on my experience and break it down for y’all.

For those of you who have dreams of throwing your own festival or going on the road in a pimped out, fully wrapped tour bus, completely paid for by a sponsor, don’t let me stifle your dreams. Just hear me out.

It’s not that organizing a festival is impossible. And it’s not that there are no brands willing to spend on the right partnerships. It just may be more difficult than you’d think.

Let me explain (one topic at a time)…

Festivals

I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve been approached to help organize a festival. But guess how many have actually occurred? Zero.

Why? Because there are a ton of logistics that go beyond the basic challenges of location, staging, sound, lights, hospitality, staff, security, sanitation, etc.

To give you a recent example, I’ve been working on an experiential music festival; a concept which took six years to develop. And finally, a large multi-national promotional company was willing to invest and co-promote the inaugural festival, which was scheduled to take place this summer. We had the date, location, list of targeted artists, and even some official offers ready to go. Then reality kicked in.

First, the promoter started cutting the agreed upon talent budget, because they thought it’d be more successful if we could keep ticket prices reasonable. So… ok, all good. We could still make it work.

Next, we came across radius clause issues. To specify, a "radius clause” is a clause in the contract that restricts an artist from performing at another nearby venue within a specified time frame (e.g. the artist isn’t allowed to perform within 100 miles of the show for 90 days prior to the show). The reason is to keep the two shows from competing with each other for ticket sales.

So, some of the artists we needed to headline were unavailable due to prior engagements. And to be honest, that’s kind of all it took to take the wind out of the promoter’s sails. So you can only imagine how many variables could possibly appear, which would threaten to derail a festival.

So, if your heart is set on organizing your own festival, then by all means, chase that dream and make it happen. I’m still confident we’re going to make ours happen eventually. Just remember, a good idea is only as good as its execution.

Sponsorships

The idea of sponsorships always makes me laugh. Not because they’re not great in theory, but because there are just so many more effective ways for brands to spend their marketing budgets. And many lifestyle brands realized this over 10 years ago, when sponsoring tours and shows was no longer bringing them the same R.O.I. as previous tours.

That being said, you don’t necessarily need a Budweiser or a Nike to sponsor you. In fact, there are countless local clothing brands, dispensaries, and other shops that are still looking to get the word out in an organic manner. As an artist, I’d look to partner with those brands, especially ones with products that fit your lifestyle.

But the big bags are for bigger artists, and that’s something we all need to accept.

It brings me back to a tour I booked over a year ago, in which a group’s manager swore she had a brand on board to sponsor the tour for $50k. I was initially very skeptical, considering we were only playing 25 cities in 500-1000 capacity venues.

So let’s do the math. If every show sold out (which they didn’t), that’s 25,000 fans that could possibly get eyeballs on your brand. So you’d be paying at least $2 per potential consumer, if the brand was clearly visible on all promo, ticketing, and throughout the physical venue. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t spend that kind of money if it was my wallet.

And of course that deal fell apart.

Which brings me to the most important point— There are a ton of empty promises in the music game. I’ve probably become overly jaded, but a healthy distrust can be useful. Experience tells us to not allow ourselves to get overly excited until the money is in the account. Then we can celebrate.

Thanks again for all of your support, shares, and replies. Please keep spreading the word about this newsletter, and I’ll continue to give you an honest look into the music business in exchange.

Til next week.