Static-X is among a number of leading rock and metal bands scheduled to appear during the three-day outdoor music festival.
Coronavirus is still a problem. We shouldn’t have to say that, but every week, people everywhere express their desire to see life return to “normal.” The problem is, normal as we knew it is gone. Even if a vaccine is available in the next week or month, the world is changing, and there is nothing short of another ice age that can turn back the clock.
Some people are accepting of these changes. Others, however, are willing to fight tooth and nail to see regain a sense of control over their existence. People want to go out and see friends, eat at diners, and watch live music. They want to feel a sense of community that Zoom and Skype and other digital streaming platforms cannot duplicate.
Q & Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin, is ran by promoters who share the frustrations that many have with the current state of the world. They want events to return as well, and they’re doing their best to make that happen with a recently announced three-day event set to take place July 16-18. The so-called ‘mini-fest’ will feature performances from rock and metal bands, including Static-X, Dope, and Blacktop Mojo, to anyone willing to risk getting sick.
“As humans we NEED other human contact. MUSIC in itself is great, but the live streams as I am sure you all know is just not the same we need LIVE , feel it to the bones, run shivers up your spine MUSIC with people around us. Takes us all away on a trip that unless you have felt it you won’t understand.”
The event will host up to 2,000 music fans in a space that traditionally holds 10,000, which should allow for social distancing. Whether or not distancing will be required is not known, nor are any rules related to wearing masks.
In this Music Biz News update, host James Shotwell details the event, the plans to keep people safe, and how the world might not be as ready for live music as the festival organizers seem to believe.
All large-scale public gatherings in Germany have been banned through at least August 31, which is leaving the rock world short on festivals.
Expect the unexpected. You have no doubt heard that phrase countless times throughout your life, but never has it been more true than right now. As the world attempts to understand and control the spread of COVID-19 there is no way to know what will happen next. Today’s hope can quickly disappear with tomorrow’s breaking news, but what matters most is that we never forget that this time will pass.
Today, the world of rock and metal took a major hit in the name of public safety. Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced a plan to begin gradually reopening the country’s economy starting next week. Even in spite of the ambitious timeline she laid out, large-scale public gatherings like concerts and sporting events will remain banned through at least August 31, which renders festivals not just unlikely and dangerous for public health but illegal.
That news means arguably every major European rock festival will not happen in 2020, including Wacken Open Air, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, and Bang Your Head. These events typically bring together well over 50,000 fans (and in some cases many more). Without them, jobs, merch sales, concessions, and performance fees will be depleted.
Writing to fans about the announcement, the organizers of Wacken shared:
Dear Metalheads,
yesterday, the German government decided that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, no mass gatherings will be allowed until August, 31st 2020. We are facing an unprecented situation in our 30 years: It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that there will be no Wacken Open Air this year.
Our whole team has been working intensively on the festival these last months and the more all of us are bitterly disappointed that we are not allowed to celebrate a Wacken Open Air with you. This administrative order affects us heavily and we will need some time to process the bad news.
Nevertheless, we support the decision of the German government in this difficult situation for the whole world. Your health and safety have always been and always will be our top priority. We as promoters are therefore bound to take an even greater responsibility and have to follow the instructions of the experts.
Concerning Wacken Open Air 2021 and options for your already bought tickets we will reach out to you asap but ask for a little bit of patience whilst we work through this. We thank you for your trust during times which are unparalleled for all of us.
Stay healthy – In Metal We Trust!
Your W:O:A Team
The news of these cancellations is upsetting, but it’s become the new normal for music fans. Just a month ago, many believed live music would return in May. This week, festivals for July and August are being canceled, as well as several tours.
Nobody knows when concerts will resume. Many believe club gigs could return as early as mid-summer, but large scale events may have to wait until 2021. We are keeping an eye on this developing story to bring you as much information as possible in the weeks and months ahead. Follow Haulix on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
Music festivals are nearly 50x more expensive than they were in the 1980s. What is driving the rising price of these events?
Music festivals are one of the most popular entertainment destinations in the world. Pick a genre, any genre, and you will find dozens of festivals looking to give fans access to the biggest stars of today. Some of these events have become internationally recognized, like Coachella, while others are considered ‘best-kept secrets’ that fans desperately want to keep below the radar. Whatever the case, the market for these events is booming, and that has caused a surge in pricing that seems unstoppable.
But how did we get here? Music festivals have been around for fifty years, but the cost to attend only began to skyrocket in the last decade. The number of artists performing is roughly the same as it always has been, as is the capacity of the event, so what happened?
Recently, The Economist took notice of the music festival market. The publication was so intrigued by the economics of festivals that it made a short documentary searching for the answer to every fans’ biggest question: Why do these events cost so much?
There is no easy answer because festivals are not simple businesses. Festivals build and dismantle a small town in a matter of days that is overrun with people from all walks of life who need food, water, bathroom facilities, and (usually) campgrounds. They also need to hire artists, each of which has demands and costs. There’s also the competition from other festivals to book popular artists, which only raises the costs of locking down great performers even higher.
But consumers may have hit their limit. Nearly every major festival saw a decline in attendance during the 2018 season. That kind of downturn is likely to shake investors and event producers worldwide. Festivals are big business, but unless people are willing to pay the high prices they demand the market will be unable to sustain a large number of events currently in existence.
Festival performances can change your career, but they can also be a waste of money. Marketing, or lack thereof, makes all the difference.
Every musician dreams of headlining a major music festival. The idea of performing for tens of thousands gathered to hear songs you developed is a career peak many artists spend a lifetime chasing. There is never a guarantee any amount of good songs and hard work will be enough, but that is no reason to not try in the first place.
For those musicians on the come up, festival performances often look very different from the one describe in the preceding paragraph. Most young artists lucky enough to land a festival time slot perform while the sun is high in the sky and the crowd is scattered. Some artists perform to only a handful of people, despite appearing at a festival whose headliners see a sea of people when they take the same stage hours later. It seems festival crowds, like every other audience in entertainment, are fickle.
But don’t fret! There are many things young musicians can do to maximize their return for performing at music festivals. What time a group or artist performs matters far less than how they promote the event, how they engage with festival attendees, and what they day in the weeks following the event. Don’t believe us? Just watch the video below.
On this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell explains the importance of festival appearances and what artists can do to maximize the exposure they receive for festival performances.
Festival season is upon us, which means there are bloggers and journalists all over the world impatiently waiting to learn what – if any – events they will be covering this summer.
For those who have never attempted to cover a festival before, here’s a quick rundown of how the application process typically works, from beginning to your arrival on site:
Press applications open 2-3 months prior to the event and require your name, publication, traffic size, description of all planned coverage, publishing dates for planned coverage, and (sometimes) a letter of assignment
2-3 weeks before the event, at most, approved members of the press receive letters of acceptance. These letters also include any artist specific coverage restrictions, as well as a photo release (when applicable) that must be signed in advance of the event.
Once approved, press must make good on any promise of preview content ahead of the event. This generally means a ‘must-see’ list of talent or similarly simple promotional content.
In the week before the event the PR and labels for the artists performing are given your contact information. Requests for coverage consideration begin to pour in
Prior to arriving on site most festivals request a list of all desired interviews with talent. Submitting a list does not guarantee approval, but it does mean your publication will be considered. Some approvals may arrive in advance of the event, but decisions on other requests may not be made until you are on site.
Once at the event, you need to check in with the media tent and learn when the interviews you were approved for are scheduled to happen. This schedule is usually determined by the artist, meaning you have to cancel any conflicting coverage that might arise as the last minute in order to conduct your requested interview.
To be fair, a lot of this has to be last minute. It’s the nature of the beast, so to say. Artists come to festivals from all corners of the Earth for a single day and then go back to their tour, studio, personal lives, etc. Knowing when a particular artists will arrive and be available/willing to do press is something that can be hard to confirm in advance.
Coverage on site is another story altogether. Fourteen hour days spent running from stage to stage, trying to take in as much as possible while still being on time to grab photos from the first three songs of the next must-see artist’s performance. When you do have time to relax, you usually need to eat and find somewhere to charge your gear.
Once the festival is complete, all coverage is expected to be live by a certain date or a penalty may be incurred. These penalties range from not being accredited in the future (slap on the wrist), to a fine of $500 (or more).
Suffice to say, covering music festivals is a lot of work, and with each passing year it seems the demands from festivals of accredited press are growing as their interest in making coverage easy seems to wane.
This makes little sense because festivals need media, influencers, and conversation around their event more now than ever. The so-called ‘music festival bubble’ has ballooned to the point there are numerous major events happening every week all summer long across the United States. Aside from genre-specific events, most lineups are largely the same, with a handful of select headliners being relied on to secure the largest chunk of ticket sales.
The competition for consumer dollars in the festival market has never been as fierce as it is right now, and sooner or later many events are going to fold. The ones that survive will do so because of their marketing efforts, community development, and funding, all of which can be aided by great receiving – and enabling – great press.
A great way to do this, or at least to begin, would be for more festivals to consider granting publications more than a single press pass. Festivals are inviting publications to cover an event featuring dozens of artists spread across multiple stages and days on a patch of land several acres in size. Do organizers really believe it is possible for one person to adequately cover even one-fourth of this madness? One-eighth? The more publications can cover, the better, and with the right photo policy (where you credit photographers and only use images with their permission) you can capture countless moments that you would otherwise miss.
Everyone wins when festival media is empowered to do their jobs well. Solid wifi in the press area allows for on-site updates that can encourage walk up ticket sales, as well as amplified conversation over social media. A designated area to conduct interviews away from noisy stages allows for higher quality content to be produced, which in turn encourages greater engagement.
The truth is that every piece of media created because of a festival is an advertisement for that festival. It does not matter who creates the content, only what impression that content makes on consumers. A lot of this is out of the festival’s control, but there is plenty that can be done to aide members of the media in properly covering their events. To not do so would be to hinder future promotion, and that is the kind of mistake events of any size cannot afford in today’s marketplace.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the host of the Inside Music podcast and a ten-year veteran of music journalism. You should probably follow him on Twitter.
Earlier this week we offered tips to help musicians make the most of their time at festivals this summer, so it only makes sense that we do the same for journalists today. This post comes to us from Matt Leimkuhler, a writer for the Des Moines Register.
Ahhh. The ever-so formidable task of mastering festival coverage. It’s not easy, running around like a chicken with your head cut off for 12-18 hours on end — making sure every must-see band has been seen, every must-shake hand has been touched and every must-interview act has been chatted with. Not only must you balance every minute of your time and energy, but you must focus that energy to make sure you are creating better content than every other writer on the scene. What does it take for you to stand out during this festival season? Here are five questions I ask myself when going into all types of festivals:
1. What story hasn’t been told before?
Every blog, ‘zine and YouTube account is going to give you the typical, “Must See” lists for festivals, and this is okay. It’s cool to give your thoughts on what the standout acts are. But why not push this idea further? Instead of the “Five Must-See Acts at the Vans Warped Tour,” why not the “Five Songs to Crowd Surf to at the Vans Warped Tour?” Centralize your ideas — make your thoughts unique and insightful. This doesn’t need to pertain to solely preview content — think about different angles for every aspect of the festival.
2. What questions haven’t been asked yet?
If you’re interviewing a band on a festival bill, odds are the act is going through an extreme press run. Don’t waste the band’s time with monotonous questions the likes of “where did you get your band name?” or “how did you all meet?” Goodness, what a waste of time. You [probably] have a smartphone…Google different interviews, visit Wikipedia, or at least read the band’s bio before stepping into the box. Dig into insightful conversation with the musician and you all might actually learn something from one another. And better yet — the artist might actually want to work with you again in the future. A good musician always knows when you’re skidding through an interview and it is a bad reflection on everyone involved. Always do your homework. Don’t be afraid to step away from even insightful and traditional interviews to have a little fun with the artists. Does the band want to talk about the best food to eat on the road? Great! Grab that opportunity and create the best damn “must eat places according to this band” piece possible.
3. What can I do to stay ahead?
Okay: you’ve done amazing preview pieces, you’ve locked in the best interviews, you’ve relentlessly prepared for those interviews and you’ve just landed at the festival. What now? Staying ahead and in your element is tough. Typically, festivals offer the best distractions possible. Food, booze, after parties and sideshows are all fantastic for fans, but you’re at this festival for generate content. Stay in communication with your publicists or tour manager. Embrace the notion of being a public figure. Live tweet sets and daily agendas, reach out to other professionals you know will be in attendance and do you best to not make an ass of yourself (it happens to everyone at least once). Do daily write-ups and reviews of what you’re experiencing at the festival to give the outside world an idea of what’s taking place. Make the most of every second. Stay focused and make great impressions but don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the fantastic music you’re getting to cover.
4. How do I sum it all up?
Congratulations, you killed your interviews and you made it home safely. Now, time for post-festival coverage. Again – tailor to your audience and strive to be unique in your post-festival coverage. Everyone will have a photo gallery and everyone will have the “best of” lists going live. Try to step back and think about the bigger picture. What really was the best part of the festival? Embrace the entire community you were apart of, not just the music. At this point of your coverage, more than ever, it’s time to be a journalist and tell a story.
5. What about next time?
Be sure to send the required follow up message upon returning home and be timely in turning your interviews around. Never take on too many interviews or you’ll dilute your product and slow down the process. Five well-thought out interviews stand out against fifteen half-hearted interviews any day. Make sure all of the appropriate parties know you are turning your content around in a timely fashion and thank them for the opportunity. Always be humble.
On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell sets out to answer a question anyone who has ever attended a summer festival has inevitably asked themselves: What’s with the hula hoops? James sits down with Layla, an up and coming Flow artist who tells him about flow culture, including details regarding how people make a living doing object manipulation at events around the world. It’s a fascinating chat that is more about a subculture than a single person, and we hope it opens your eyes to a world of possibilities you may not have considered otherwise.
The song used in this episode is “Are You Having Any Fun?” from Hoodie Allen. You can find this song, as well as nearly a dozen more, on Allen’s most recent release. Click here for details.
Inside Music is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and a number of additional podcast applications. Please subscribe and review the show.
Hello and welcome to the final Advice column of the week. The following article is something akin to a sequel, pairing Haulix with a few old friends for a second adventure with a similar theme: Tour problems. I’m not sure this pair of columns will become a trilogy, but I suppose anything is possible in a world where Think Like A Man Too exists. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Back in December, we partnered with our dear friends in The Venetia Fair to teach bands and solo artists touring the icy roads a few things that may help them survive their winter tour efforts. The column was a surprising hit, and so it is with great pleasure that we welcome them back to our site a second time to share their summer tour survival tips. Take it away, guys…
“Here Comes the Sun and I Say It’s Alright” – The Beatles. Errrheard?
Good day everyone, Mike Abiuso of The Venetia Fair, SwitchBitch (Records/Studio/Magazine) and Behind The Curtains Media. I feel like I practically live here at Haulix, which is a good thing, so thanks for having me back team!
I don’t know if you’ve read my last “Winter Tour Survival”, but if you haven’t, let me just reiterate the essentials that go for both seasons: (If you have, you’re going to be very bored, so just follow these ZZZZZZZZZZZZ’s)
Vehicle and Paperwork must be up to date:
-Driver’s licenses are legit
-Vehicle registered
-Vehicle insured
-Vehicle inspected
-Oil change (up to date and kept up to date on the road)
-Someone should have AAA for roadside assistance
If you have a van and trailer:
-Be sure the separate breaking system is functioning
-Under stand the low and high gears for up and downgrades
-Get a ball lock for your hitch incase you need to drop the trailer to park in heavily populated cities
Touring in general:
-Try to keep the tank above ¼ tank or have and to be safe have an extra reserve gas tank
-Get reflective cones and/or flares to put out incase you breakdown
(ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz hey wake up, you still there?)
Ok, moving on to “Part ll – Summer Tour Survival”…Now that we don’t have to worry about actually freezing to death, we mainly need to focus on keeping a good amount of food and water for survival and the rest is mostly comfort or “luxury”. Water is a given…get it in bulk and go, but food is way different this season. Can’t buy frozen food and keep it in the trailer any more unless you like eating a “mushy mold, fly graveyard sandwich” which I’ve heard has recently been labeled “exclusively for vegans” as of today. It’s all about those sealed cracker snacks and canned goods, which unfortunately, the ones that taste decent are awful for you. Click here to take a look at a year round specialty of mine that I like to call “tour-derves” (judge me? – dead to me)
So what we have here is a base coat of seared (aka canned) tuna, topped with peanut butter and/or cheese filled crackers with a light glaze of Sriracha to take away from the food portion of the meal. All served on the finest store brand paper plates. You get the idea, moving on.
When speaking in terms of water, this is where luxury comes in. Now I hate drinking water, but knowing it’s an essential I found a luxurious way to get around slamming that bull-shit of a drink. Umm SodaStream! Wootwoot, sound the alarm and flash the lights cause that jam keeps me alive. We (The Venetia Fair) usually get a case of water for the van, a back up case in the trailer and I also get a gallon jug of water to pour into a sodastream container, pull the sodastream from my drawer and just BLAST it w/ CO2. (Don’t know what a sodastream is? Know what google is?). Yeah, so seltzer for days.
Continuing on the topic of drinks. Alcohol always seems to find it’s way into a musicians life. It might have to do with having 6 hours to kill at a bar after load-in, but what do I know? Well, I do know that in the summer, if you’re 15 drinks in and feel amazing passing out in the van, that in a mere few hours that same van will transform into a human incinerator, so particularly after consuming alcohol, a few things you may want to keep near your van bed (or the place you sleep when touring) is A) water (seltzer) B) a battery operated fan and C) a $.99 spray bottle of water. These things I haven’t had lately on tour, but when The Venetia Fair did Warped Tour, I definitely had that jones going on.
While on the topic of sleeping situations, it’s a great idea to keep the van doors and windows open at night to keep air flowing. While that’s a great idea it also provides a free buffet for bugs and mosquitos, so you’re going to want to grab a few cheap bud nets to throw over all openings.
Being that this is beginning to get quite lengthily and I don’t want to bore the readers that made it thus far, I’m going to close out with showering. Every musician smells like the thickest festering shit syrup all the time. To reduce this in attempts to be a part or real civilization I would suggest three things. 1) pick up a sunshower which is a bag you can fill with a spigot, set on the roof of your trailer to warm up and shower with the power of gravity. 2) pick up a camping shower which is a bit more expensive, but basically it’s a pump version of the sunshower similar to the way your grandmother fertilizes her tomatoes, but with water instead. 3) Get a planet fitness membership and shower there.
Ok folks, as always, don’t do anything anyone in The Venetia Fair would do, and hope to see you this summer!
