From the Herald today:
But the turf has shifted under Big Day Out’s Doc Martens. Specialist festivals have mushroomed and compete with Big Day Out for both bands and paying punters. The alternative scene that used to support the event no longer exists, having dissolved into the mainstream. Meanwhile, the event’s original audience has aged to the point where most are not prepared to take a chance on anything new. West and Lees find that dispiriting.
Biting the hand that feeds you much? I have to disagree with the premise that BDO graduates are stuck in a musical rut and not willing to take a punt. Take a look at innovative festivals, such as Harvest earlier this year, which are attempting to carve out a niche by focusing on not just the music curation, but also the level of service provided to the audience in terms of facilities and side attractions. Ticket numbers may not be huge, and perhaps that isn’t the point for a boutique festival, but they are definitely appealing to a market that wants something different to what has been offered by the big named festivals such as BDO and Homebake in particular.
I totally agree that part of BDO’s problem is that the festival scene has absolutely exploded within Australia and they no longer have the captive audience that they once revelled in (pardon the pun). Some of the prohibitive costs associated with bringing acts in from overseas make it difficult to attract acts to play in Australia. When the price is right, acts have a plethora of festivals to pick and choose (for example Soundwave as a direct competitor to BDO). This does make it difficult for stalwarts such as the BDO to attract goods acts and also turn over the same level profit year on year. Plus the backlash they copped from incidents of injuries fatalities linked to crowd management and safety over the years possibly also made an impact on BDO’s bottom line.
I think also too the audience has changed over time - I’m not sure that music appreciation is top of the order these days so much as being part of a “scene”. Perhaps this has made promoters lazy thinking that they can recycle acts (i.e. Kanye backing up from Splendour the previous year)? But that could be my ageing cynicism talking.
The isolation that we face here in Australia is both a boon and burden for the music lovers and the music festival industry alike. Perhaps it is an issue of promoters and touring companies to adapt to the times and innovate their product in order to maintain their viability. Line up isn’t the only consideration when going to a gig these days. And there is only so much blood you can squeeze from a stone, even if the Australian market isn’t as spoilt for choice compared to their European and North American counterparts.
I should also add something here about the pitfalls of attempting to monetise the Arts but I think I’ll save that for another discussion.
