Unpredictability defines the post-pandemic music festival
By: Kavya Thakkar
Music festivals are back in business, but questions remain for fans and performers alike
Pandemic related concerns and security concerns have resulted in increasing unpredictability for the newly revived music festival which have generated billions of dollars in revenue.
As the Weeknd’s fire-blazing last-minute set came to a close, Priya Mehta headed back to her tent near the festival campsite with her torn VIP wristband and a Corona Lite. She and her friends reminisced on the events of the past weekend as they prepared for their drive back to Los Angeles the next morning. Earlier that day, they had been trapped in the grueling 90 degree heat for over five hours. They were mobbing shuttles which promised to take them to a private Coachella party, Revolve fest. While waiting, they had developed dust allergies from severe heat exhaustion.
For over a week, social media platforms were flooded with images of Harry Styles performing in a pink Gucci glitter leather bodysuit, receipts of $20 açaí bowls, and mega-crowds,all gathered across metal security barriers in the sweltering desert of Indio, California when the Coachella Valley festival was in full swing. Social media influencers characteristically posted photos of themselves alongside the festival’s iconic ferris wheel, dressed in their trendiest festival gear.
Coachella marks the unofficial beginning of festival season in the United States. The festival, which typically takes place in the spring, is one of the most closely followed in the world Outside of the music itself, it is essentially a Met gala for brand influencers and celebrities, who are personally invited to the event instead of having to pay general admission, which costs upwards of $600 per day.
As the weather warms and Americans relish spending quality time in the sun, several music fans are crowding around outdoor venues to see their favorite music artists at music festivals. But without masks and proof of vaccination, it is almost as if the pandemic never even happened.
In 2020, Coachella was canceled for the first time in its 20-year run. Festival organizers deemed the festival hazardous due to mask mandates and rising coronavirus case counts. The festival was originally postponed to October of 2020, when it was assumed the pandemic would be over, but we know how that went.. In 2021, the festival was canceled yet again due to vaccination irregularities, and was said to return once the world had fully recovered from the pandemic’s long lasting effects.. This year, though, the show went on: according to the Indio City Council, 125,000 individuals attended the festival each day for the two weekends.
Music festivals are, by their nature, immersive,in which individuals can experience music from a lineup of artists, both big names and small.But since returning after the pandemic-induced slumber, there have been several interruptions with creating that experience. Covid-19 related concerns have prompted artist cancellations as well as social media hysteria. Security concerns have erupted throughout the music industry due to the tragedy of Astroworld Fest last year. And sponsors are pulling out of contractual agreements due to a lack of clarity around both.
“We’re getting there. It’s been a treacherous and slow process to figure the logistics out,” said Marcie Allen, professor of Strategic Music and Branding at New York University. “There are a lot of regulatory procedures that organizers need to follow which have been newly implemented but sometimes they’re not being executed as they should be.”
This summer also brings a whirlwind of outdoor music festivals to New York City where the mask mandate and proof of vaccination were lifted completely last month. New York City is home to several music festivals that take place during the summer and fall. There are larger music festivals like EZoo which are geared towards the EDM genre and Gov -Ball which typically hosts pop music fans. But there are also smaller, niche music festivals throughout the city, which take place within local parks and amphitheaters. Due to concerns surrounding the pandemic and security at other music festivals such as Coachella, New York City now has to navigate a new environment without social distancing as well as execute an up to date security system which ensures the safety of all artists and fans.
“In New York City, the issue is trying to make use of a limited amount of resources such as space and figure out how to create an enriching experience for music fans in which they feel completely at ease,” says Sujay Pandit, professor of Media Audiences and Spectacles at New York University
Part I: The Pandemic
As a result of the pandemic, several artists are scared to perform their sets at music festivals due to rising production costs. Kanye West, or Ye, recently pulled out of his Coachella set a week before he was expected to headline on Day 3 of the festival, due to production difficulties as a result of the pandemic. After several weeks of rumors surrounding which musician could step in place of Ye, The Weeknd and The Swedish House Mafia were announced as the new headliners for Day 3.
Contractual terms in a music agreement usually define the next steps when an artist cancels music appearance. In the case of big headliners, there are lesser repercussions of cancellation for the artists, but for smaller indie rock bands, the loss of one show can significantly impact profits made from the festival.
“When an artist cancels such a huge event, festivals have no set insurance policy in place to recover that loss so they have to rebook immediately. But artists are canceling because they are either getting the virus or their crew is,”said Clover Hope, a music journalist for Billboard magazine.
With the complete revival of live music, fans are also being more selective of the content they can consume based on what they see on social media platforms.
Shake, an up and coming hip hop music artist had originally made plans to go to Coachella but changed them after seeing images of the festival’s mishaps. “I noticed that people aren’t wearing masks even when huddled together in a mosh pit which actually puts me off because you never know if you’ll end with a positive test result,”
Talent and production crews are also being selective during performances due to rising case counts, which continue to plague music festivals around the country. Several artists have now resorted to urging their fans to wear masks during their performances, so that the show can go on.
“I went to a show last year at the Borderlands Music festival where this one band, Moon Taxi, urged us to wear our masks, which made me feel safer in the crowd,” said Sabrina Chan, an indie music fan
But there’s also evidence that outdoor music festivals have affected case counts. Following the reopening of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago in the summer of 2021, according to the Chicago Health Department there were just 203 breakthrough infections of coronavirus among the 400,000 festival attendees. In that same summer, Govball officials reported that they were making vaccinations mandatory for attendees and if an individual were unvaccinated, a negative test upon arrival.
Yet in 2022, Coachella sparked a 76% increase in Omicron cases according to the Riverside County Health Department. There was absolutely no testing requirement or mask mandate in place for the attendees of the outdoor music festival.
While the industry strives to strike a balance between the lifting of mandates and requirements with artist demands and audience demands, the future of pandemic related issues at music festivals in 2022 remains unclear. But for the most part, attendees are unafraid to unleash their inner music lover as live music resumes.
Part II: Security Changes and Challenges post Astroworld
In November of 2021, Avery Liardon, a talent buyer’s assistant for C3 presents, an event production company, went to Astroworld festival, Travis Scott’s self headlined music festival in Houston, Texas.
“ I was all the way in the back trying to avoid crowds. But all around me, I could see people trying to get onstage and screaming at Travis to stop his show because they were being suffocated,” said Avery haltingly recollecting the events of the festival. “I also noticed that security wasn’t doing anything to stop them.”
At Astroworld, there was an immense amount of moshing that ensued due to drugs and alcohol consumption, combined with unclear security regulations. Approximately 300 people were injured while 10 passed away from injuries related to the event
“They have had to re-envision live concert venues after Astroworld. States have banded together to issue guidelines for such mass gathering events. Music festivals have permits which dictate capacity restriction and safety measures. If there is a threat to safety, they have implemented task forces to resolve the situation,” said Professor Marcie Allen.
According to the Govball website, in New York City, task forces include on site command and control groups which are tasked with identifying safety triggers which threaten audiences. These triggers are usually specified by the event organizers such as Live Nation and Founders Entertainment. Representatives of Founders Entertainment were reached out to but unable to comment on the situation.
Festivals have also shifted regulations to reflect more specific jurisdiction regarding event capacity. Astroworld was unable to maintain capacity restrictions because the city of Houston had not issued an occupancy permit for the event. In New York City, the New York City Fire Department is now responsible for the permit of the event and thus liable in case there is a life threatening emergency to obtain a certain capacity limit.
“ The permit regulation process has now become the most complicated feature of an event venue contract because festivals have now tripled funding for security. There is now no way to get away with not having occupancy restrictions, ” says Professor Allen.
In January of this year, two security guards who worked the Astroworld event, filed a lawsuit against the event’s primary security company, claiming that they had not received proper instructions or training prior to the festival in case of an emergency. In accordance with the new safety measures, festival organizers are now being tasked with retraining security and performing more thorough background checks for festival safety officers.
“ We have to go through a lot of screening in order to even get hired for such a large-scale event. They now cross reference our backgrounds with fingerprints and a licensing exam. They also provide additional security training in case there’s an emergency,” says Victor Suarez, a security officer who works for Guard Security Company in New York City. “Audiences don’t usually notice this, but Govball has hundreds of security checkpoints throughout the festival grounds.”
But no matter how efficient the new security measures are, music festivals can always be vulnerable to issues involving public safety. Artists like Travis Scott, are known to encourage and allow crowds to climb over security barriers and ignore safety precautions.
Part III : The Future of the Music Festival : An influencer’s haven
Despite music festivals hosting artists of several music genres for fans of music, major music festivals have been largely affected by social media marketing, especially in the age of being a social media influencer. Several brands invite influencers to attend music festivals in order to advertise themselves.
“ I don’t think there was a singular corner at Coachella which didn’t have influencers trying to snag their perfect Instagram picture or TikTok against the ferris wheel backdrop. I don’t think festivals are for music as much as they are for the gram,” says Emma Jacobs, an attendee.
Major music festivals like Coachella often invite sponsors to host private parties at the venue which are unaffiliated with the main event. Brands invite influencers and other celebrities to the parties who create social media content and market the brand.
This year, Revolvefest was an invitation-only private party hosted by the fashion brand Revolve. It has received backlash online from influencers and attendees who were invited by the brand to attend the independent party wearing Revolve. According to attendees on Tiktok, the festival’s invitation promised an alluring experience of tequila tastings, healthy plant based food, and performances from Jack Harlow, Migos, and Cardi B.
However, Revolve was unable to organize efficient transportation for the event which resulted in controversy. “They sent us a bus which could probably fit about thirty people to one part of the venue and forced fifty of us to fit in,” said Priya Mehta, an attendee.
Several attendees and influencers took to social media to document mismanagement from Coachella staff, security and sponsors throughout the festival. In various videos posted on TikTok, festival goers complained about being unable to reach certain sets of their favorite music artists due to transportation difficulties. This resulted in event mishaps like Revolvefest. Revolve later issued a statement apologizing for the party and stated that they didn’t anticipate a large crowd.
“Pandemic capacity restrictions weren’t created for the thousands of guests attending the party which led to people thinking that influencers and celebrities were being prioritized,”said Avery Liardon. “Event sponsors are often unclear of how many individuals will attend these private events because people who don’t belong there show up.”
Part IV: What’s Next?
There is also a large amount of money required to put on a music festival which goes beyond the performer and their audience. Event production companies also have sponsors which fund the majority of the festival in partnership with the company.
“Right now, sponsorship deals are risky because everyone is so unsure of what’s going to happen next. The pandemic has led to a loss of billions of dollars in entertainment sponsorships because deals are falling through,” said Clover Hope.
The industry has now begun to favor virtual options for attracting customers given the increasing uncertainty of having solid financial support. Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company has acquired majority stakes in several streaming platforms like Twitch which host virtual music festivals. Brands are now developing virtual music experiences and creating various forms of marketing platforms in order to advertise themselves. Individuals can also use virtual forms of cashless payments to purchase tickets for music festivals such as NFT and Bitcoin.
“ It makes sense that everything is going digital. In New York City, festival organizers now need to focus on making music festivals more accessible and sustainable for the foreseeable future,” said Professor Sujay Pandit. “The diversity of New York City’s neighborhoods helps to make the experience an affordance for everyone involved.”
But it also makes perfect sense that individuals want to get outside and bond with others over their love for music despite the challenges the pandemic brings. In the book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, the author, Danah Boyd, explains that “music festivals/ gatherings are really important participatory moments for communities to celebrate a path forward.”(29) According to Boyd, the youth thrives off of sociability and because music festivals are a mass networked public, teens want to experience them and engage in community building opportunities which they have regained since the reopening of society.
This summer, New York City promises to host a variety of local music festivals ranging from rooftop concerts at Pier 40 to the Chelsea Music Festival, the most inclusive festival Afropunk and on a much larger scale, Gov Ball. GovBall is expected to have over 200 hundred thousand attendees in the Citifield stadium in Queens and one of the main priorities of Founder’s Entertainment, its partner, is to ensure the safety and security of all attendees.
“ It’s in a month,” said Victor sighing. “And we’ve already been told about our checkpoints and where we have to be. I think the hardest part is getting the crowd to listen in the moment. They usually want to do their own thing, and then it becomes dangerous.”
Despite the challenges music festivals have been facing throughout the past two years, music festivals have continued to dominate the music industry and support local businesses. In 2022, Coachella generated a revenue of approximately 400 million dollars according to marketrealist.com.
Live entertainment is far from slowing down. According to musicbusinessworldwide.com , Live Nation generated a revenue of over 1.8 billion dollars in just the first quarter of 2022. But some artists still remain skeptical of performing for audiences and several like J Balvin have canceled world tours. Industry experts also remain doubtful of being able to sustain music festivals because the environment is so unpredictable.
“Things can change at any time in the music industry. Right now, everyone wants to be outside and go see their favorite artists because they spent two years inside. That’s fair, but how do we know that this is going to be a forever thing?” said Professor Marcie Allen, “ Here’s the truth, we don’t.”
