The Country Music Festival Bubble Is Bursting
The 2015 Thunder On The Mountain Country Music Festival in beautiful Ozark, Arkansas was going to be a big one. Major country music headliners like Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, and The Band Perry were scheduled to perform, along with an impressive under card of 40 other bands. It was to be one of Carrie Underwood’s first performances after taking time off recently to give birth to her son. The picturesque Mulberry Mountain was set to be the backdrop in 650 acres of national forest in to Arkansas Ozarks. Promotion for the event was robust, and fans from around the country were making plans to attend the June 26-28 festival.
And then the festival was abruptly canceled.
“It is with great regret that due to circumstances beyond our control, we are unable to hold Thunder on the Mountain,” the festival announced on June 15th, only 11 days before the festival was set to take place. “A separate statement regarding ticket refunds will be made direct to ticket holders,” they said. No other explanation was given, leaving many eager festival goers in the lurch. Why did the festival cancel? Was it poor ticket sales? An issue with the location? One local media outlet reported that one of the festival’s investors pulled their funding and resulted in the cancellation, but except for the brief statement above from the festival itself, no more information has been made public, and the festival has taken down their Facebook page. It’s just one of many country music festivals, big and small, that have had to cancel abruptly in 2015.
It’s not just mainstream festivals that are facing challenges. During mid-June’s annual CMA Fan Fest in Nashville, promoter Dale Guthery thought he would offer an alternative to the pop acts downtown and planned the Country FanJam at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds for the same weekend. Four full days of music was booked, including performers like Wade Hays, Ray Scott, Tonya Watts, Ty Herndon, Doug Stone, Darryl Worley, Buddy Jewell, and The Bellamy Brothers. Where CMA Fest had mostly walked away from older and more traditional country acts over recent years, FanJam was hoping to offer support to these artists and their fans.
But unfortunately, virtually nobody showed up. Advanced ticket sales were almost non-existent, and after the crowd never swelled over 40-something people on Friday, the festival organizers decided to pull the plug, leaving many unpaid bills, angry fans, performers, and vendors, and rumors of potential lawsuits stemming from the situation.
Though some are crying that the festival organizers were scam artists, it appears to be more of a case of not planning to scale, and biting off more than they could chew. FanJam was likely trying to do a good thing, but there was just not enough support for it in the marketplace.
Festival cancellations have also affected the Americana side of the country music world. The 2015 installment of the Cross Country Lines music festival in Franklin, TN just outside of Nashville quietly cancelled after organizers determined the festival space was becoming too crowded in the area.
“The festival marketplace has grown significantly in the Middle Tennessee region just in the past year,” said Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association. “As a not-for-profit trade association, we are in the business of fostering growth for all those who work in the Americana Music community and not to compete with them…We’re disappointed it’s not happening this year.”
The event, scheduled to be held at The Park at Harlinsdale Farm, was competing with another local festival called Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival featuring Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow. Other festivals in the area, including the Americana Music Association’s annual conference in September made Cross Country Lines a hard sell to Americana fans with so many festival options.
Meanwhile one major country festival cancellation in Illinois has the state Attorney General looking into the matter, and many angry music fans demanding answers. The Country Life Music Festival scheduled to occur at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe was canceled on June 9th after ticket sales were not meeting expectations. Organizers had moved the annual event to a larger venue, booked major headliners such as Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Travis Tritt, and expected a larger uptick in ticket sales for 2015. However the ticket sales didn’t come in as expected, and when the festival started missing deposits to some of the bigger acts, the acts began to cancel. Pre-sales were expected to get near $1 million in revenue, but only reached $650,000 according to the Journal Star.
The office of the Illinois Attorney General, as well as the Better Business Bureau opened investigations into the festival after ticket holders complained about issues with the refund process.
Whether small independent local festivals, micro-festivals looking to appeal to a niche crowd, or major mainstream country music festivals with million-dollar budgets, many organizers have believed in recent years that with the elevated interest in country music, launching a festival at this time is a good idea. Starting a festival is sort of the hip thing to do, and a way to build brands for sponsors and boost local economies. However the marketplace has never been more crowded, and the endeavor never more difficult with the regulations and high guarantees for talent it takes to put on a festival properly. Even if there are significantly more country music listeners willing to travel and pay top dollar for tickets to festivals compared to previous years, there still is not enough space in the marketplace to double the festival infrastructure as is being attempted by the flood of new promoters.
Meanwhile Live Nation and other major corporations continue to add to their festival portfolios. With national and international teams of festival experts, these corporations can create profitable models that in some cases can run independent or local festival promoters out-of-business. Mega-festivals catering to cross-genre tastes, and massive mainstream country tours like the ones included in Live Nation’s Country Megaticket make it difficult for upstart festivals to gain traction. The discrepancy between the have’s and the have not’s—like in much of the American economy—continues to grow. Though many established festivals are likely to be just fine moving into the future, new festivals may continue to struggle.
Festivals are an efficient and enjoyable way for music consumers to see many different acts in the short time span, and they look to continue to become one of the best meal tickets and opportunities for exposure for country music artists. But too much of a good thing has lead to the bursting of the country music festival bubble in 2015. A re-evaluation industry wide of how many country festivals are truly needed is in order before more angry ticket holders and canceled tour stops become a bigger problem in the future.
July 2, 2015 @ 8:52 am
Carrie Underwood played that same weekend at the festival I was at in Delaware. There was also the Farmborough Festival in NY that same weekend, which also had a lot of the same acts (Strugill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Wade Bowen and others) playing as the festival in Delaware. Must be hard to be in two places at the same time!
July 2, 2015 @ 9:11 am
It’s not hard when an artist like Carrie Underwood pulls the kind of money she does. Private jets shuttling top-level headliners across the country is what the summer festival season is all about.
July 2, 2015 @ 8:54 am
I think some of it has to do with the younger generation not wanting to watch live music as much. With online videos, some might think “Why pay when I can watch the performance in my underwear at home?”
Festivals here in College Station still do well, but I’ve noticed a lot of unpacked shows at the local clubs because, for the most part, the kids just aren’t into live music like they used to be. Whether they just don’t care about the music or because they are occupied with other things, live music has suffered.
Could it be the same with the festivals throughout the country?
July 2, 2015 @ 8:57 am
I think they’re just too expensive! I’ve looked at some of the ones around Chicago and I can’t justify the prices. I understand it costs a lot to put these on but $300 for a festival where I maybe only want to see half the performances is a tough sell.
July 2, 2015 @ 10:18 am
I saw Jason Isbell on Saturday in Aurora, IL at the Two Brothers Summer Fest for $10/person. Granted it was more of a beer fest than music fest, but still, great show for not a lot of money.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:44 pm
I wanted to go go that but I was scared off by the notes on the website that only VIP tickets were guaranteed admission and I didn’t want to go all the way to Aurora to be turned away.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:28 pm
You mean Lakeshake, don’t you, Megan? We’ll never know how many people attended, but I bet it was 50% of what the fest could have done if they had been priced more reasonably, or had single day tickets. At least smokeout is a little bit more affordable and has single days.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:36 pm
Lakeshake definitely came to mind. I’ve also looked at country thunder in WI before and decided it was way too pricy. I went to Windy City Smokout last year. The bands are great but the problem is everyone is there for the (very expensive) food and not to listen to all the great artists so I don’t love the atmosphere. We might still go though. I really want to see Wade Bowen that Sunday at Joes but this Millenial is too old to stay up till 11:30 and go to work the next day!
July 3, 2015 @ 11:09 am
Country Thunder is actually not that bad if you plan ahead. I got my tickets for $99 last year. For 4 days access and all the performances, even if only half interest me…well worth it.
July 3, 2015 @ 6:36 am
I saw Whitey Morgan last weekend here in Atlanta for $10. There are still some deals out there.
July 2, 2015 @ 9:16 am
I think millennials care more about the festival experience than any generation since the 60’s. I agree they present a challenge for nightly concerts, but they fill up the festival grounds for Bonnaroo, Coachella, Hangout Fest, and all the others in record numbers. I think the modern day mega festival is built around millenials. However they’re probably even less likely to pay attention to the local Strawberry Festival with Doug Kershaw headlining.
July 2, 2015 @ 9:47 am
As far as nightly concerts, the underground metal scene is flourishing and built on an audience of rabid kids aged 18-30 who go to one or two shows a week @ $10-$30 a ticket, month in an month out, with huge collections of shirts, patches, and vinyl. Many of them work at places like Petco and go to junior college, or whatnot. It’s a vibrant and active scene. If the $150 per ticket concerts are in trouble because Millenials are going to four $20 shows instead, I think that is unequivocally a GOOD THING.
July 2, 2015 @ 10:35 am
Since millennials don’t grow up, don’t get married, and don’t have (legitimate) children, I wonder if the ones who don’t OD, die in the middle of a video game marathon, or end up in prison will just keep on going to those festivals until Mammon calls them home….
July 2, 2015 @ 12:28 pm
Rd: I’m a millenial, I go to college full time, work part time, and play music on the side. I haven’t played more than an hour of video games in over a year, and have no intention of having children or a girlfriend for a very loooong time. Yes I live with my parents, Yes I go to music festivals.
July 2, 2015 @ 2:17 pm
*Old Man Yells At Cloud*
Seriously RD, I hope you were being sarcastic…
July 2, 2015 @ 9:34 pm
Ironically, I think that RD is actually much younger than he likes to act. For example, he recently mentioned that his wife just gave birth to his second kid. There are also other hints sprinkled here and there whenever he opens up about his personal life.
I would guess that RD is either a late Gen Xer or perhaps even a [self-hating] Millennial.
July 2, 2015 @ 9:37 pm
As I mentioned before, Millennials take hard drugs and commit crimes at significantly lower rates than either Boomers or Gen Xers did when they were younger. You can blame those two generations for the crime spree of the 1970s through the 1990s, and you can credit Millennials for the sharp drop afterwards.
July 2, 2015 @ 11:25 am
Aggieland?
That’s just disappointing as shit to hear. I remember the music scene there was pretty vibrant when I was there in 1998-2000….
July 2, 2015 @ 11:49 am
Aggieland is still great and his some cool live music. Up until a couple years ago when the Hall closed down, there was a ton of great live music all around. The students now seem to be more interested in being followers than leaders in knowing great music. Not as much love shown to the little guys coming up so the Aggies can say “I knew of ________ first and loved it!”
July 2, 2015 @ 12:14 pm
College Station has been an underrated proving ground for great musicians for years. From Lyle Lovett to Jamie Lin Wilson and so many more.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:57 pm
Is Shadow Canyon still open? I saw Cory Morrow there when he recorded his first live album.
July 7, 2015 @ 10:02 am
I’d have to agree. Something has changed and I don’t necessarily blame the kids of today. But they don’t care about live music as much as they used to. It’s not an “event” to do on the weekends anymore. At least here in Boston. Clubs are closing left and right and it’s not just due to rent increases. Festivals might be different but at the small club/bar level it’s a very noticeable change. With no more record stores, 30 TVs at bars/clubs these days, phones to always play on…and music is supposed to be free these days…no wonder nobody cares. I’m sure this comes off as bitter but I’m just reporting what I’ve seen.
July 7, 2015 @ 10:08 am
I think its the same with live sporting events, too. I don’t watch sports, but the people I know who are addicted to sports are increasingly likely to watch on their enormous tv, and/or follow the games and their multiple fantasy teams/bets on their intelligent phone…. I think when it comes to music, people can get so much of it free on youtube or some other site, and they only really get out to concerts when its one of the handful of bands/performers that they really want to see.
July 7, 2015 @ 10:15 am
RD – I think you’re spot on! YouTube has almost become LifeTube haha…
But yes, it seems people go to live shows for select bands they like. Not to go out and maybe discover a new band. That’s what YouTube is for now ; )
July 2, 2015 @ 8:55 am
I think the Fan Jam during CMA Fest was a good concept & if not scheduled at the same time as that week & maybe just kept to one day it would have been pretty good. The lineup was really good. We need these type of real country music fests. I understand one can get more for their $$ with a fest w numerous performers but it has become quite the overload. And sadly so many of them are just drunk fests.
July 2, 2015 @ 9:18 am
I think it arguably could have been worse if they did not schedule it during CMA Fest. It was sort of the point to run it as an alternative, and the demo it appealed to was completely different. I do agree though it should have been much smaller, and maybe just one or two days to start.
July 2, 2015 @ 9:29 am
It’s more Americana-folk based music, but a new festival is launching at the end of this month in Des Moines, Iowa: http://hinterlandiowa.com/ My daughter and I are going–interested to see what it’s like. The organizers were able to score some pretty major talent for their first year!
Rest in Peace, Red Lane; Garth Makes Highest-Paid List; Hank Williams Biopic Gets Release Date | Country California
July 2, 2015 @ 10:08 am
[…] Saving Country Music says the country music festival bubble is bursting. […]
July 2, 2015 @ 11:06 am
Informative write-up. Any information on how FarmBorough did or is it too soon?
July 2, 2015 @ 12:11 pm
I believe it did well from what I’ve seen. The question is, who did not do well because a festival like FarmBorough did. Festivals like Thunder on the Mountain and Country Life would be in direct competition with a festival like FarmBorough.
July 2, 2015 @ 11:45 am
My $.02 here, but sub-genre specific festivals seem to do ok still. The Red Dirt/Texas Country festival “MusicFest” in Steamboat Springs is thriving. Larry Joe Taylor does well down in Texas in May, and Medicine Stone in Oklahoma in September has grown to a 3rd day and is selling out again. They offer a variety of pricing and accommodation options and have exactly what those fans (including myself) want.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
Yes, I think established, niche festivals are doing well, and will continue to do well, as will the mega festivals. It’s the ones in the middle, or some of the smaller festivals that are just trying to get started that are going to face an uphill battle.
July 2, 2015 @ 11:43 pm
Actually, I’d add that us smaller grassroots-styled festivals can focus more on our preferred ‘niche’ and less on trying to grow fast enough to compete with larger fests…there are so many amazing “future stars of tomorrow” out there, and with the open range of abilities to market one’s self these days, a small, awesome niched festival can actually do quite well. This proves true especially if no one is trying to make a living by throwing that one niche festival, but instead has a good time providing a kickass scene with even better music – all for the whole family to love. Seriously!
I’m more concerned about the small-almost-medium sized festivals that are too big to be just about right and too small to compete with the Pickathons of the world. That’s a huge jump financially and it’s an uphill ride that I couldn’t conceive of ever having to face.
July 2, 2015 @ 11:53 am
I’m inclined to agree with Herbie that, if you appeal to a specific sub-genre or locality teeming with a lot of regional talent, the prospect of launching a country music festival would remain favorable.
The problem, as I see it, runs parallel with the ridiculous number of country music award shows. There is simply market oversaturation in terms of mainstream country music events that obsess with booking the big names. And the largest downside of that is that numerous regions who were hoping their local economies would get at least a minor boost from holding these events are greeted with disappointment.
Country music, regionally, differentiates somewhat from community to community. Make sure what distinguishes that community from others is reflected in the banner acts, and that is more likely to be a recipe for success. I should know, seeing that Pickathon is annually held in my neck of the woods.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:32 pm
Honestly, music festivals are the worst. They’re crowded, the sound system frequently is poor, there’s always groups of people who make everyone else uncomfortable. Half the bands are complete unknowns, and of those half only half of them are any good. The really good acts don’t get enough respect and they’re treated just like the mediocre ones. I don’t even go unless I’m performing unless there’s an act I really want to see. Getting inside the grounds is a nightmare, the list goes on… I don’t want to be negative, I do enjoy festivals, there are some cool people, but they really are pretty insufferable.
July 2, 2015 @ 12:54 pm
Some of this has to be market saturation. I believe a read a year ago that Delaware had plans for 2 different country fests in the same summer. I think only one was actually held, but somebody can correct me. If a small state like Delaware can have 2, that’s just saturation. I know Wisconsin has like 5 every summer that are country specific and Milwaukee has Summerfest, an 11-day event with all genres, including a good share of country.
Most of these country fests end up feeling the same. I’ve been to 3 over the years and, despite each one being a different organization, they all completely blended together.
Plus, they draw a lot of the same headliners. Jake Owen, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Toby Keith always seem to be there. Sawyer Brown, Travis Tritt and Neil McCoy are there to represent the ’90s. Kip Moore and Billy Currington also seem to be regulars on the fest circuit as well. They need to mix it up more.
July 2, 2015 @ 3:28 pm
Delaware’s Big Barrel Festival was last weekend. It was a success from what I’ve heard. The other, Delaware Junction Country Music Festival, is scheduled for August. The line-up is not nearly as good as Big Barrel was.
July 2, 2015 @ 1:29 pm
It’s not all bad news. At least one new festival successfully lauched carolinacountrymusicfest.com
July 2, 2015 @ 3:38 pm
So how much does the recent run of beatings, arrests, drunken pukers, and other party-heartiers play into some of the reluctance of ticket buyers to buy tickets?
Just Curious… George
July 2, 2015 @ 4:30 pm
That’s a good question, and I almost broached it here except for I’m not sure we have any real information to bridge the two narratives. It could be a factor, I would say. But I don’t sense it is a significant one.
July 3, 2015 @ 8:23 am
I am a Nyc native and steered clear of farm boroughlast weikend. despite a burning desire to see dierks, Chris stapletonand cadillac three, mainly due to my experience a few weeks ago at the Jason aldean concert with drunks, fights and the general stupidity of the crowd. Getting there and high ticket prices were secondary considerations, but certainly far outweighed by the desire not to put myself in harm and stupidities way.
July 2, 2015 @ 8:09 pm
I work in marketing and PR and we’ve done work with live events and festivals. I’ve not personally worked on a country fest but I’m familiar with the business of it.
You’d be surprised how big a deal alcohol sales are for any live event. Most music festivals don’t get their money from the shows, they make it off selling drinks and food, primarily beer. The margins on a $3.50 beer are amazing and festivals can sell 30,000 a night.
I know of a country fest in my area that was looking to launch this summer but didn’t because they couldn’t find enough sponsors. They desperately wanted a beer sponsor so they could get their supply at a reduced cost. Things were already looking bad for the fest but not being able to get a beer sponsor was the killer. Country shows usually sell the most beer by a good margin.
July 3, 2015 @ 10:54 am
Go check the Larry Joe Taylor Texas music fest sometime. A variety of pricing and packages available and the sound is top shelf. Tommy Alverson’s gathering is a great smaller festival to check out too.
July 3, 2015 @ 11:37 am
The Better Business Bureau? You mean the one that protects the interests of its paying members? It’s a fine organization.
July 3, 2015 @ 2:15 pm
Did not want to see that blog post title as a first year festival! Our area, western Maryland, is not saturated with country fests with exception of the roots based Del-Fest. We are keeping prices low, beer cheap, and capacity manageable. It’s a first year, one day show, not looking to make lots of money, just want everyone to say they had a great experience for the value and come back next year. It’s a charity show so we are getting lots of help from sponsors and city logistical donations. Rather this formula works or not, we shall wait and see. Good luck to other small independent festivls that care about the music and experience rather than making tons of money.
July 9, 2015 @ 4:33 pm
local one here in georgia almost got cancelled.. just moved to smaller venue.
July 11, 2015 @ 3:54 pm
The Nifi festival was cancelled today as well.
July 18, 2015 @ 2:00 pm
I have been setting up a roadshow at these country shows since 1996. We have surely noticed a slowdown and saturation in some places in recent years.
At the same time certain events have employed creative, interactive, or grassroots ideas and maintained strength. Emerging artist stages, interactive games(scavenger hunts and Redneck Olympics) and other creative separators, change a field full of inebriated zombies into connected country loving fans with A watercooler story of how they saw Sugarland before they were on the map. Ideas like these require artisty, effort, and luck. Just an opinion.
July 18, 2015 @ 2:12 pm
Artistry