Glastonbury festival is 'over' according to Harvey Goldsmith

[Guest]

Was shown to me by a friend, what are your guys thoughts on this article?

http://m.westerndailypress.co.uk/#!/Glastonbury-Festival-says-world-famous-music/story-26611251-detail/story.html

I don't know if this is already a thread, had a search but didnt find anything.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Boddah

[A Guy Called Matt]

My thoughts are it is not over........ it doesn't start for another, just under, 3 weeks.

The only opinions that matter on GF and it's future are those of people called Eavis surely?

[dentalplan]

"Music festivals have probably run their course. What is going to happen is a growth in events where it isn't just music"

"There will be lots of small combination festivals that give something plus – not people standing around in a massive great field unable to go to the toilet because they might miss the band."

Glastonbury doesn't have much to worry about then.

[swede]

Other festivals might struggle but Glastonbury wont, it sold out in record time this year without a single headliner being known. Tbh if the casual fans are put off in the next few years by what they perceive as a lack of major headliners then it gives us guys a better crack at getting tickets, most of us on here go to Glastonbury because its Glastonbury, not because whose headlining the pyramid.

[fatyeti24]

i think he has a point - somewhat distorted by the headline - that 'traditional' festivals, the gig-in-a-field type thing may have seen its best days. people want a bit more for their money than to stand in the mud all day in front af a big stage waiting for the big rock band to play their big hits. Glastonbury cottoned onto this years ago.

people have been going outdoors in the summer to listen to music for far longer than Mr Goldsmith has been flogging tickets and they will do it long after he stops.

[Spindles]

What swede said.

[GlastoSimon]

Exactly as dentalplan says, we've already seen some of the smaller festivals which are like that (i.e. one/two stages, not much else to do) decline due to poor ticket sales etc.

Glastonbury is already planning for the day it can no longer attract the mega acts, by investing elsewhere.

EDIT: In fact, what everybody in this thread has said.

Edited June 3, 2015 by GlastoSimon

[eFestivals]

Harvey, now there's a man who understands festivals, not.

(He doesn't get the modern music biz at all, I'd say)

In regard to what he's saying in the article, it's hardly a contentious theme. Even Michael Eavis has said similar in the past, tho i reckon both of them are predicting calling time a bit early.

As far as it goes, the problem is at least as much the fault of promoters wanting a safe bet as it is any other part of the music biz. For all but the niche-genre festivals (hello Download) There's plenty of acts with a decent body of work who'd be acceptable as headliners to 'punters' as long as those punters have been 'trained' to see that act as headliner material.

Florence is a good example. I've been quite surprised this year at just how many people are ready to accept her as a headliner, essentially because she's been pushed at the world by the media with that sort of angle on it.

But at the same time, the 'punters' always need a bit of a similar push by festivals too. Back over a decade ago, Muse were announced as headliner for Glastonbury (the first major fest they were announced as headliner for) and there was plenty of complaint about it on places like here - "they're not headliner material", etc, etc.

They did their set, and those people ate their words.

Like many people I think Glasto dropped a bit of a bollock this year in going for The Who. It's the same playing it safe which ultimately does have a dead end. Be brave Emily!

[mike86]

Theres more music festivals around now than ever before.

[incident]

The idea that acts have stopped breaking through just doesn't stand up to any scrutiny. And the suggestion that Coldplay were the last is laughably wrong.

In 2009 I accidentally saw Mumford and Sons play a mid afternoon set in The Departure Lounge to about a hundred people. Four years later they were headlining the Pyramid. This year, plenty of people believe that Flo could and/or should have headlined the Pyramid.

The thing about this kind of ascent is that often people don't notice it happening until it does - hell, I thought someone was joking when I heard that Ed Sheeran had sold out 3 nights at Wembley Stadium.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Isn't this a regurgitation of something the NME printed a few days ago?

As I said then, the idea that we haven't produced any big acts capable of putting on a big show since Coldplay when Muse, Mumford and Sons, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Biffy Clyro and One Direction - amongst others - have broken through more recently than Coldplay is absurd. And that's just the British acts.

EDIT: as above.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Zac Quinn

[Avalon_Fields]

Glastonbury has a better chance to continue to thrive, because there is less emphasis and reliance on headliner acts than the other larger festivals (Reading/Leeds, V, IoW), I think it is true there are fewer big act headliners available, but I'd have no hesitation to keep going even if there were no real headliners, and I reckon most on here would do the same.

[jeffie]

Isn't this a regurgitation of something the NME printed a few days ago?

As I said then, the idea that we haven't produced any big acts capable of putting on a big show since Coldplay when Muse, Mumford and Sons, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Biffy Clyro and One Direction - amongst others - have broken through more recently than Coldplay is absurd. And that's just the British acts.

EDIT: as above.

Mind you, that's a fucking scary list.

[siblin]

yep hes right... call the farm, get them to pack up and give up. I'm surprised they managed to sell a single ticket.

His argument is based on the premise that there aren't any great headliners any more. Whilst its true there arent as many good, big headliners any more, that in no way means glastonbury is over, it just has to adapt to not focusing so much on headliners, something i think its done remarkably well with this year.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Neil, are you saying that the genre-specific festivals are most at risk? If so, I totally agree. Just look at the likes of Global Gathering and Sonisphere in recent times, taking a year out, possibly due to lack of suitable or fresh acts to headline? These two and their direct rivals, Creamfields and Download seem to regurgitate the same acts between each other over the course of a two/three year period, and in a saturated market something's got to give. People are beginning to demand something slightly different, those who used to attend the larger festivals are becoming disillusioned with the organisations, repeated line-ups, demographic being attracted and sheer size/overcrowding and starting to look to the small to mid-sized festivals for their summer enjoyment.

I don't think that Glastonbury is immune to the threat of people moving on to new trends or the festival bubble bursting but it might take a decade of slow decline rather than an immediate impact. Maybe a year or two of poor weather, and adverse publicity regarding the headline acts like we've seen over the past few years might add to the potential problem.

Either way, I'm riding this thing out until I get bored. And that may take some time.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Mind you, that's a fucking scary list.

Possibly, though it doesn't really matter.

[eFestivals]

Neil, are you saying that the genre-specific festivals are most at risk? If so, I totally agree. Just look at the likes of Global Gathering and Sonisphere in recent times, taking a year out, possibly due to lack of suitable or fresh acts to headline? These two and their direct rivals, Creamfields and Download seem to regurgitate the same acts between each other over the course of a two/three year period, and in a saturated market something's got to give. People are beginning to demand something slightly different, those who used to attend the larger festivals are becoming disillusioned with the organisations, repeated line-ups, demographic being attracted and sheer size/overcrowding and starting to look to the small to mid-sized festivals for their summer enjoyment.

Download is the one that comes most to mind. It pretty much has Metallica and Iron Maiden on rotate.

But that's obviously popular enough when it's just Download doing it. There just doesn't seem to be the market to support a second event doing much the same, cos when someone tries Download suffers with its audience size.

I don't think that Glastonbury is immune to the threat of people moving on to new trends or the festival bubble bursting but it might take a decade of slow decline rather than an immediate impact. Maybe a year or two of poor weather, and adverse publicity regarding the headline acts like we've seen over the past few years might add to the potential problem.

I'd say the weather has the greatest chance of killing the likes of Glastonbury in the short to medium term. People are wooses nowadays.

Either way, I'm riding this thing out until I get bored. And that may take some time.

i've been doing festies for over 30 years now, and i'm still here.

[Smash Williams]

Lets also not forget that whilst HG is one of the best at what he does, he is also a member of the glass half empty brigade. As such any conclusions that he has come too will be the worst case scenario.

[filmguy]

Bullplop, almost all of the excitement about bands at Glastonbury this year has nothing to do with the Pyramid headliners at all, most people who go don't give a crap about the "big" bands. It's the rest of it that keeps us coming back every year. Glastonbury is already doing exactly what Goldsmith thinks is the future of festivals.

[Hugh Jass]

Glastonbury will be fine, it's be going for 40+ years and is now at the stage where it is a British cultural institution. I have no evidence to back this up, but I do suspect the festival market peaked 4-5 years ago when everyone wanted to go and there were literally hunderds of festivals popping up all over the country. Feels that the numbers are slowly dwindling now, seen a few cancellations over the last few years due to poor sales.

V strikes me as a festival at risk, especially in it's current two-site format. Just doesn't seem to sell anymore.

[eFestivals]

V strikes me as a festival at risk, especially in it's current two-site format. Just doesn't seem to sell anymore.

I know what you mean, it seems a bit lost in what it's trying to do and be.

I suspect, tho, it'll be fine because of where it's coming from. It has all of the UK's biggest promoters involved in it, and the ability to use that muscle so that it would be other smaller festivals who go down and not V.

[russycarps]

Isn't this a regurgitation of something the NME printed a few days ago?

As I said then, the idea that we haven't produced any big acts capable of putting on a big show since Coldplay when Muse, Mumford and Sons, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Biffy Clyro and One Direction - amongst others - have broken through more recently than Coldplay is absurd. And that's just the British acts.

EDIT: as above.

they're all really shit though.

What he means is, future glastonburys are going to be headlined by shit bands.

[gmb1992]

What a load of shpeel.

[Guest]

althogh download does recycle its headliners, with slipknot playing at least once every three years. there is always going to be people that like metal/rock music and will naturaly gravitate towards download instead of other music festivals. it may last, but not as long as others.

[eFestivals]

What he means is, future glastonburys are going to be headlined by shit bands.

bands stopped being good in 1980, maaan.