#193

Issue #193 | March 5, 2024

For better or worse, AI is here to help you sell tickets and it doesn’t care if the event is legit or not. Canada and the UK are begging their governments to support the music and live industries while Japan says goodbye to the thousand year old naked man festival.

Credit: Music WeekNot so golden ticket 🎫As if Oompa-Loompas aren’t scary enough on their own, a Willy Wonka-themed event in Glasgow, Scotland had kids - and their parents - in tears. “Willy’s Chocolate Experience”, put on by London-based House of Illuminati, used AI-generated images to sell tickets to the disastrous event in an empty warehouse that some distressed parents compared to a meth lab.The actors hired to play Willy Wonka and Oompa Loompas have spoken out about their AI-generated scripts, trying to “make the most of it”, and The Unknown, an evil chocolate villian made up especially for the event.  The “less-than-magical” event has generated so much buzz that the unofficial spokesperson for catastrophic events, Billy McFarland, has chimed in to offer the House of Illuminati folks a chance to redeem themselves at Fyre Fest II and The Unknown appears to be getting its own horror movie. 

Eventbrite reports on 2023 revenueEventbrite announced double-digit revenue growth for 2023, but still posted a loss for the year. The ticketing company “sold” 302 million paid and free tickets across 5.2 million events up from 70.6 million tickets across 1.4 million events in 2022 and posted a net revenue of $326.1 million, up 25%. They also saw a net loss of $26.5 million, down from $55.4 million the previous year. CEO Julia Hartz is optimistic that 2024 will bring more growth. 

Belgian police thwart potential terrorist attack on concert hallPolice have arrested 4 people suspected of planning an attack against the Botanique cultural complex in Brussels, Belgium. The federal police detained an 18-year-old and three minors identified as jihadists who were plotting an attack on the concert hall within a few weeks. The adult suspect was charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group, and taking actions in preparation for an attack". 

SeatGeek's new AI-powered toolsSeatGeek unveils Next Fan Up, a new suite of tools that makes it “easier for fans to list, price and sell their tickets” and includes an AI-powered Smart Pricing tool. The Smart Pricing tool gives ticket sellers the ability to “automatically track and adjust the price of their tickets so that they can sell them quickly and at the right price.” Other new features include Seat Perks, highlighting the other perks that come with seats and Bulk Listing, enabling sellers to list tickets to multiple games at once.  

Successful carbon-removed events at The O2When The 1975 played at The O2 last month, they did more than just perform, they made history with the world’s first carbon-removed arena events. The combined effort between the venue owner/operator AEG Europe, A Greener Future (AGF), carbon removal enterprise CUR8, and The 1975 yielded the removal of 100 tons of residual carbon generated by the event from the atmosphere. Moving forward, Claire O'Neill from AGF hopes that venues and events will now factor the cost of carbon into the event’s budget. 

The truth about ticket pricesLive Nation released a lengthy essay digging into how ticketing really works, why there are ticketing fees (and who gets what), the role of the promoter in ticketing, supply and demand’s effect on ticket prices, and the impact of secondary ticketing on primary prices. While the essay appears to have gotten very little press outside of Live Nation’s website, its intent appears to be to combat the antitrust allegations and the perception that Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s “monopolies” influence ticket prices.

"It takes a village"UK Festival production company, The Fair, has released a behind-the-scenes documentary following a production team working at various festivals throughout the 2023 season. The documentary, “It Takes a Village” highlights the challenges the team faced during the season, including off-site supply chain and cost challenges. The Fair hopes the film shines a light on the industry’s request - and need - for government support. The film is available on The Fair’s website and YouTube. 

Canadian please for continued government supportAcross the ocean, the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) in conjunction with other music associations and organizations from across Canada wrote an open letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Canadian Heritage urging them to continue to support the Canada Music Fund. In 2021, the government promised to increase the fund by $50 million in the 2024-25 fiscal window. They are asking for the government to fulfill this commitment as other funding sources for the industry are “shrinking dramatically” and without this support, the results could be “catastrophic.”

The last "naked man festival"After nearly 1,000 years, Japan’s Somin-sai Festival - also known as the Naked Man Festival - has come to an end in 2024. During the festival, thousands of men wearing loincloths only wrestle each other in an attempt to claim a talisman in celebration of  bountiful harvest, prosperity, good health and fertility. Festival organizers deemed this the last year due to their inability to find young successors to take over the event; a direct result of Japan’s population decline.

 Director, Mozilla Festival at Mozilla (remote). Salary based on country, US: $142,600 - $160,201. Bar Manager at Dreamville Music Festival in Raleigh, NC. Day rate: $200 to $265/day.  Music Partnerships Director at Epic Games in New York, NY. Salary $201,437 - $295,441.

Have you used AI to sell tickets?

Lineups, Festival & Tour Announcements

• Alison Wonderland, Illenium, John Summit, and Zedd will headline EDC Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway May 17 - 19. The lineup was innovatively revealed through an interactive “Music through Music” experience.

• Gazebo Festival, a new festival curated by Jack Harlow with SZA as co-headliner, will take place at Waterfront Park in Louisville, KY, May 25 - 26. 

• Lil Wayne, Summer Walker, Latto, Gucci Mane will headline the inaugural TwoGether Land Festival, a new sister fest to Atlanta's long-running ONE Musicfest; May 25 - 26 at Fair Park in Dallas, TX.

• Movement Festival will take over Hart Plaza in Detroit, MI, May 25 - 27 with more than 115 performers including Richie Hawtin, Solomun, Idris Elba. 

• Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Kane Brown and Old Dominion will headline Barefoot Country Music Festival on the beach in Wildwood, NJ, June 20 - 23.

• Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Brittney Spencer to headline Outlaw Music Festival Tour. The tour starts June 21 at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA and concludes September 17 at Darien Lake Amphitheater in Buffalo, NY.

• The Ottawa Bluesfest lineup will feature Killer Mike, Orville Peck, and Future Islands, July 4 - 14 in downtown Ottawa, Ontario.

• FairWell Festival will have Billy Strings, Brandi Carlile, and CAAMP, July 19 - 21 at Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Central Oregon.

• Blink-182, The Killers, and Dave Matthews will headline Oceans Calling Festival on the beach in Ocean City, MD, September 27 - 29. 

• Aftershock Festival will feature Slayer, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and Mötley Crüe, October 10 - 13 at Discovery Park in Sacramento, California.

Cancellations

• John Fogerty was “blindsided” by Country Fest Queensland (Australia) pulling him from the lineup last week. The fest announced the lineup change on instagram, citing “unforeseen circumstances” for the cancellation. Apparently they were so unforeseen, even John was surprised.

• Guy Fieri’s inaugural Flavortown Festival, scheduled for June 1 - 2 in Columbus, OH has been canceled, also due to “unforeseen circumstances.” No mention of the cancellation - or anything else - on the event’s website or socials.

• Firefly Festival announced that the Dover, DE festival will not be returning in 2024, but reminds fans that The Woodlands will continue to host other events, like Mondegreen.

The Event Sector: a new, free platform aims to be the Upwork of the event industry.  

After years of hustling to land freelance jobs and struggling to hire staff through word of mouth and Facebook groups, The Event Sector team set out to streamline the event work process. The Event Sector is a new online marketplace where event professionals can build profiles for themselves or their companies, post and apply to jobs and RFPs, and connect through messaging. 

Designed for both seasoned event professionals and those interested in breaking into the industry, The Event Sector levels the playing field — making it less about who you know and more about who you are.

Join the community at theeventsector.com.

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