DEBATE aCcEsS ALl AReAs
How vital are big
name artists to a
festival’s success?
The world’s top music acts are fought over by
festival organisers, but are they the surest route
to a sell-out event?
YAW OWUSU, MUSIC CURATOR, LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
Th ere’s no escaping the fact - festivals need big names to draw in the punters. Th at need can become
quite intense - as we are very much in the era of over-priced ‘headline’ artists and bands, omnipotent
agents and jaded audiences. Th ere won’t be a festival curator, booker or owner, who doesn’t lament the
process of pitching for and securing this top tier talent as they wonder whether the current situation is
even sustainable and whether their festival will be able to win out. With festival goers expecting big names
to match the big price for tickets, this is is not a walk in the park for many of us, as we fi ght off festival
exclusivity clauses and try to dig in the well of ‘decreasing real headline talent’. Oh, did I mention the bullish
promoter conglomerates? (Th at’s another story).
Naturally, the aim for small to medium festivals like LIMF is to strive to build such a solid reputation
that people come for more than just a headliner. After all, they could just go to a regular concert of
said artist. I think we strive to have people fall in love with the vibe of the festival, the peripheral
elements and relative unknown and new. However we would be crazy to ever underestimate the
importance and pull of a safe bet to entertain the masses, garner attention and help position
our festivals.
In 2015, as part of Liverpool International Music Festival, we had a series of
Commissions were we attempted to focus primarily on theme and context. Suffi ce
to say as great as the concept were and the promise of experiencing a world fi rst,
the tickets moved slow. Th at is until we added the recognisable and respected
headliner and ditched to theme led narrative. Th en the ticket sales soared. In
retrospect, the night was a huge success - primarily because of the theme,
narrative and vibe - but I can’t lie, that headliner led over 70 per cent of
the people to purchase tickets to the event. Lesson learned.
LEE DENNY, DIRECTOR, NEVERWORLD (FORMERLY
LEEFEST) AND CAMP WILDFIRE
Th ere is no single answer to this question; it entirely
depends on the individual festival’s strategy. For someone
like V Festival big name artists are vital, because they have
built their brand around delivering some of the biggest
names in the world to their fans. On the other end of the
spectrum, for a truly unique event like Camp Wildfi re,
the question of ‘who is playing’ is rarely asked, because
we have built the brand around delivering quality
new activities, experiences and artists for attendees
to discover. Interestingly our new creative direction
for LeeFest (now called Neverworld) straddles a bit
of both; we’re using bigger names to assist us with
growing our audience, but we are retaining them by
delivering a unique experience.
ACCESSAA.CO.UK
YAW OWUSU
LEE DENNY
FEBRUARY 2018 11