Bonnaroo Ticket Sales Plummet (PJ receives some blame)

pjsteelerfan

Zod said:

Yah I can't believe periscope is a substitute for going to shows. That's like say concert dvd's/bluray's kill the concert industry. Periscope is way worse than a concert dvd/bluray. I can't see people replacing concerts with periscope.

Another possibility is that the price of concert tickets is hitting the point where it makes it cost prohibitive for young people to go. No more $35 lollapalooza's that I grew up with.

Maybe not Periscope, but I watched more than a few acts at the festivals official live stream of concerts. ACL, Lallapalooza, etc. Most do that these days.

weddingparade

live nation ruins everything so i blame them. besides, no one wants to support the devil. bill graham is rolling over in his grave as i type this.
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/54/Live-Nation-Inc.html

JWPearl

Who would go through all this trouble if it means only little to them but to cheer their folks
Seriously if you don't know any better you won't sell your livelyhood to go see a band at this young generation because of word of mouth, when you can just leave that venture for the folks to sort out
I think the people are just too young to really grasp pearl jam
All they know is they are a wealthy band that like smashing guitars
No idea one of the top bands of its era and monopolises and influences other bands
If you can imagine...
Only the young ones who gone with their folks would really know....

rbhester

RunIntoTheRain said:

rbhester said:

Apps like Periscope have a lot to do with this, especially at festivals. That ties into the banning cell service at concerts. Why go stand in the Tennessee summer heat and shell out money when you can watch on your phone for basically free (sans data charges if applicable). As much as some of us love the experience of being there, some feel they can save the $ and still watch from their easy chair.

I disagree. While Periscope is great, it doesn't replace the experience of being there AT ALL. I seriously doubt anyone says to themselves "oh let's not go to the concert because we can watch it on periscope for free."

It doesn't replace it for the diehards as I stated when I said some of us. However, I know for a fact 5 people that did who live in Nashville who skipped Roo and watched on Periscope and stated they otherwise may have gone to see PJ. A "normal"/headline show would be different they each said, but the festival they avoided when they could watch it on their phones. That's 5 people that just I know. Not saying I share their view, but if you want some proof, there it is.

PJ_Soul

pjsteelerfan said:

Zod said:

Yah I can't believe periscope is a substitute for going to shows. That's like say concert dvd's/bluray's kill the concert industry. Periscope is way worse than a concert dvd/bluray. I can't see people replacing concerts with periscope.

Another possibility is that the price of concert tickets is hitting the point where it makes it cost prohibitive for young people to go. No more $35 lollapalooza's that I grew up with.

Maybe not Periscope, but I watched more than a few acts at the festivals official live stream of concerts. ACL, Lallapalooza, etc. Most do that these days.

Yeah, the people who weren't going to go to the show either way.

BF89905

Spending all day out in a field is not on my to-do list anymore. I have never been to a Pearl Jam show at a festival, primarily because I have little to no interest in any of the other bands that they're surrounded by. If I ever see Pearl Jam at a festival, it will most likely happen when the band is somewhere in Europe and I'm fortunate enough to be over there too - with tickets to a show or two.

PJ_Soul

Cost is definitely a huge factor. I know that is the ONLY reason I am not going up to Pemberton to see PJ on Sunday. $170 just for only one day plus expenses, all to stand in a crowded field and use filthy Porta-potties? No thanks, and I am a superfan. The prices for festivals now are outrageous, and of course 18 - 26 year olds aren't into that. $380 for a full festival, minimum? That's nuts. The industry is pricing itself right out of the market.

JojoRice

I have no desire to pay $300+ for a festival and have to deal with all of the extra headaches. This is why I skipped out on their Music Midtown gig here in Atlanta a few years ago too. PJ is the only band I wanted to see. Would much rather see them at their own show and be able to get tickets through 10C.

Sarava

I think that Pearl Jam was playing all over the east coast (and even Lexington, KY) leading up to this festival probably hurt their sales a lot.

To put it bluntly - we had far better options for traveling to seeing PJ than going to Bonnaroo. I did a 4 day weekend in NYC with my wife and we had an amazing time!

bigdeath

Doesn't help that none of the main headliners (PJ, Dead and LCD) were exclusive to this festival and had their own tours in major cities across the US.

Also, there is a severe amount of fest overload. Here is a list of just some of the fests taking place in Chicago, not counting all the free ones in Grant Park (Taste, Jazz, Reggae, Blue, etc) and the multitude of block parties every other weekend this summer. I can't even keep up with the ones in my city, let alone ones I would have to travel to.

Lolla
Pitchfork
Riotfest
North Coast
Spring Awakening
Mamby on the Beach

AndySlash

this year was my 10th roo. i think the primary problem is bonnaroo has become 'just another festival'. hiking out to bumfuck tennesse is a big deal for most people, and so there needs to be incentive. festivals are a dime-a-dozen these days, with a lot of crossover, so you need to keep a sense of identity, and i feel bonnaroo has lost that, and so they've lost some appeal. bands USED to get full sets, not this truncated 45-75min bullshit every other festival has. late night sets USED to rage until 4 or 5 or even 6 in the morning. camping USED to be free, now there's a car pass. headliners USED to be relatively unique to bonnaroo, now they're shared with the other 50 festivals across the nation.

i don't think bonnaroo is in trouble necessarily, but clearly a 30% drop from one year to the next is something to keep an eye on. MAKE BONNAROO GREAT AGAIN. or not, i'll still probably go.

myoung321

Not to disrespect locals, but Tennessee is not exactly known as a summer get-a-way location.

smc317

I think it's a combination of what people mentioned but to me the two biggest are...

Cost: I'm 25, so I fit in the target demographic and I speak for myself and my peers when I say WE ARE BROKE. Most of my age group started paying back college loans or are about to start, are living on our own or trying to, and many of us work (at or near) minimum wage jobs or unpaid internships, so if we're able to scrape together an extra $300 we're going to be pickier about what we do with it.

The wrong headliners: I just don't see that many people going "Oh my god, Tom Petty, Beyonce, AND Skrillex. Best festival ever!" yet every festival seems to follow that pattern "Old favorite, New mainstream favorite, Alternative favorite"

I think it's time we went to more genre based festivals honestly. While some people truly love all genres, most have a preference between rock, hip hop, pop, country, etc. So if I'm a huge rock fan and could pass on most pop, why would I want to buy a weekend pass when PJ headlines one night but it's Taylor Swift the next? Same if I was a huge pop fan and thought PJ was boring. With a few remaining cross-genre festivals perhaps. This has the plus of reducing the number of festivals to choose from, but also focuses them so you're more likely to enjoy a greater portion of the line up, and makes them different from one another if you do want to/can go to more than one.

And now that people can discover all kinds of music from big acts to basement acts on the internet for free, there's less of an incentive to spend tons of money on the off chance you'll find a new band you like.

FrankieG

This year was my 2nd year attending bonnaroo. I am planning to go back next year as long as the lineup is good. I can take the heat/weather. i enjoy the camping. The lineup is what makes the decision for me to attend now. If they don't have a good lineup, I will be looking to go to Lolla, forecastle, gov ball, sasquatch, or another festival that has the same undercard bands, but also the headliners that I want to see.

TA243471

Ive never been to Bonnarroo, but I just bought single aftermarket tickets for both nights in Wrigley, and they cost me the same as 1 Bonnarroo ticket. I'm pretty sure I will enjoy those 6+ hours of Pearl Jam more than I would that whole festival.

fall by the wayside

There were multiple issues that combined in a perfect storm to bring about such a drop in attendance.

1. The festival market is obviously over saturated and customers have many options, probably closer to home and more convenient.

2. The lineup. I think the problem for many wasn't the headliners but the undercard. This is tied to over saturation. As the article points out the increasing demand for headliner caliber bands has driven up prices on headliners leaving less money for the rest of he lineup. And it shows. This has been compounded by the fact that Bonnaroo is trying to be everything to everyone. If you were attending to see PJ or Dead & Co. there wasn't much else on the lineup to justify the expense. Ellie Goulding? J. Cole? Macklemore? C'mon Roo. You used to be better than this.

3. They raised prices significantly this year. Not only did ticket prices go up, but Bonnaroo added a per car camping fee this year that added to the already significant expenses and travel needed to attend.


Add these things up and you have more people hitting their regional fests for less money and hassle while getting a fairly comparable lineup.

Bentleyspop

Im one of those old farts who won't go to a festival for all of the above stated reasons.

I was actually thinking about going to the Ride Festival. I live in Colorado, only a short 5.5 hr drive from Telluride. I try to get out there at least once a year.

I didn't go due to one reason: cost

I ran the numbers and found that my trip to South Florida for 6 days to see the first 3 shows including tickets, airfare, rental car, misc expenses was less than 3 nights hotel, 2 VIPs, misc expenses for Telluride.

Im going to guess that cost is a big issue for a lot of people.

Edved007

I think a lot of the points being made here are good ones...

1. Festivals are where you used to discover new music, not necessary anymore.

2. Cost - It's gone up too much too fast and the quality of the acts has diminished.

3. Oversaturation. Too many festivals all over the country (and world) with similar line ups

4. This is the biggest one if you really want to examine the root cause of issues, and that's experience. We live in a time where the "customer experience" is a big deal. You can get anything you want from Amazon in 48 hours or less (including all your music) so if you are going to shell out a pile of cash for a festival it needs to be not just a weekend of music, but an outstanding overall experience. As someone previously mentioned, our 20-30 year old population is broke, and they are educated, and the research stuff...they aren't spending a pile of cash to sleep outside, brave crowds and overflowing port-a-johns to catch a band or two. Let's be truthful, festivals are not an outstanding overall experience. It's expensive, it's crowded, possible weather concerns, uncomfortable, bad bathroom situation typically, camping, etc, etc.

I think "boutique" or specialized festivals are the future from a business stand point. I went to The Ride fest and I was blown away. I mean I knew it was beautiful there, but never have I seen an event so well planned, organized, etc. I left that festival wanting to go back next year so bad regardless of who plays. I don't want to write a novel on why it was so great....but I could. If you wanted to camp, it was available...and right next to the park. If camping isn't your thing, there were condos and plenty of hotels available depending on the $$$ you wanted to spend. Have your kids with you, no problem! Kids were free and there was a kid area set aside with things for them to do. No kids and you want to go get drunk before the show, go for it! You could walk 1 block from the fest and hit any number of local joints. Tons to do in town, you could truly make the experience anything you wanted....not stuck in a field for a long weekend. To some camping in a field for a long weekend and hitting one of the "mega fests" is a good time...but it's becoming a good time for fewer and fewer people every day.