Music discovery

[AdMike]

Hey everyone,

Little bit shameless, but I'm here on business and wonder if there's any kind people here who can help. I hope this is in the right place, but feel free to slap me on the wrists if not. 

Hopefully it's a two way thing - I work in marketing and I've been tasked with trying to tap into and improve the Glastonbury experience. I have a couple of questions about a certain topic that shouldn't take up too much of your time:

 

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

 

If you're interested in keeping in touch please feel free to send me a PM...more than happy to be transparent. 

 

Many thanks

Mike

Edited November 12, 2018 by AdMike

[Gucci Piggy]

15 minutes ago, AdMike said:

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

- Yes.

- Mostly, unless it's acts I'm not too bothered about who I highlighted just to fill time/who are on early and I can't be bothered to see them when it comes down to it. Or I get too drunk and miss what I planned to see.

- At the festival? Not very. I explore as much of the lineup as possible when it's announced and often discover acts via that, but I barely ever see acts at the festival who I haven't listened to before.

- Mostly from the new music threads on this forum. Other than that, from listening to acts I haven't heard of on lineups for festivals I'm attending.

[Divein]

20 minutes ago, AdMike said:

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

1) Yes
2) Most the time I do, I tend to fill it with 'must sees' I only tend to put in my must sees and probablys, so there's no reason for me to not stick to it as its not that packed anyway if that makes sense.
3) Not that important - a lot of bands I like I dont see anyway, so I dont think I'd go out of my way to discover a new band.
4) Usually work of mouth, sometimes on the radio.

 

Hope that helps.

[dentalplan]

• Yes.
• Yes.
• I do my discovering before the festival, so not very.
• Music sites and forums. Sometimes streaming services.

[hfuhruhurr]

38 minutes ago, AdMike said:

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

- Yes, I use clashfinder to create the plan - first choices, second choices and "ugh, even if you're off your skull, leave the field, this band is awful". I try to listen to the main stage acts that I don't know, at least one track - I also ask friends for their recommendations.

- Yes, pretty much, although if I'm at Park and the next band is at the Acoustic, then I might just have a beer instead

- Very important - I love finding new (to me) bands, very much a key element of the festival.

- In general, through festivals, I see around 50-100 bands/year and many are new to me.

[Miesh]

Hi

Yes I use a schedule - clashfinder 

Do I stick to it? Somewhat, for my must sees and when I'm in the right place at the right time. Making a schedule and only sticking to 40% is part of the fun. Edit - the weather and my current mood also influence this.

Discovery of new music whilst at the festival is not important to me. However I always like to discover something new at/about the festival. 

I find out about new bands from friends, this forum and @Brave Sir Robin 's Spotify playlist 

Edited November 12, 2018 by Miesh

[BambooShanks]

1 - As soon as the Glastonbury app is out I'll start making a schedule and work out what's manageable in regards to clashes / running from stage to stage and get a gauge of what my friends are wanting to see 

2 - this usually gets abandoned somewhat. I'll try and catch my must sees but usually am quite happy to lose myself to the festival. When I've religiously stuck to a schedule, I found it harder to relax and get into what I was seeing at the time because I was always thinking "I need to get to x to see y"

3 - quite a lot. Half the fun is stumbling across something that blows your mind which you wouldn't have normally seen

4 - friends, Spotify, festivals 

 

Good luck improving the Glastonbury experience! I'd say it's pretty damn good already so you have a mammoth task ahead of you!

[ourkid1984]

Yeah I use Clashfinder and use colours to determine the level I want to see an act but also consider where I am likely to be before and after and who I am with.

Yeah I generally stick to it but have learned not to worry too much about missing something.

I don't do much discovering at a festival unless I find myself chilling out somewhere and happen to like the music or act that is on closest to me.

I find out about new acts through streaming services, gigs, radio, record shops, reviews, online forums, social media and by exploring festival line ups.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

1 hour ago, AdMike said:

Hey everyone,

Little bit shameless, but I'm here on business and wonder if there's any kind people here who can help. I hope this is in the right place, but feel free to slap me on the wrists if not. 

Hopefully it's a two way thing - I work in marketing and I've been tasked with trying to tap into and improve the Glastonbury experience. I have a couple of questions about a certain topic that shouldn't take up too much of your time:

 

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

 

If you're interested in keeping in touch please feel free to send me a PM...more than happy to be transparent. 

 

Many thanks

Mike

1. Not as schedule as such, more of a plan of definites, maybes and definitely nots 

2. The definites I stick to, the maybes I'm pretty flexible with

3. It's nice to stumble across something surprising but chances are I'll mostly be in an area where I know what to expect

4. Word of mouth, going down the Spotify/YouTube rabbit hole

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, AdMike said:

Hey everyone,

Little bit shameless, but I'm here on business and wonder if there's any kind people here who can help. I hope this is in the right place, but feel free to slap me on the wrists if not. 

Hopefully it's a two way thing - I work in marketing and I've been tasked with trying to tap into and improve the Glastonbury experience. I have a couple of questions about a certain topic that shouldn't take up too much of your time:

 

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

 

If you're interested in keeping in touch please feel free to send me a PM...more than happy to be transparent. 

 

Many thanks

Mike

Yes

No - well sort of. Some acts I do make sure I see, then the others I'll see if I happen to be in the area.

Don't understand the question.

@Brave Sir Robin does a Spotify playlist every year. I have on rotation a couple of months before the festival.

[mashedonmud]

2 hours ago, AdMike said:

Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

No ,apart from the occasional definitely must see.

N/A, always happy to have no plan and no pressure

It just happens. Love the surprises so I guess it's an important part.

Word of mouth (including e fests in the run up) and pure chance.

[AdMike]

Thank you all for your responses so far. 

@Kinkyinuit yeah, I get that impression.  I've never met such a passionate fan base outside of sport. To unveil a bit more, it's specifically looking at what makes the festival experience so great in order to try and improve the experience for those that aren't lucky enough to get a ticket i.e. those that watch on TV or listen on radio. Such a small percentage manage to go...it's made me think I've been missing out!

[shuttlep]

 - normally pick one or two to see and then just potter round

-  no

- not really

- friends or stumble on to them

[Tranquility of Solitude]

17 hours ago, AdMike said:

Hey everyone,

Little bit shameless, but I'm here on business and wonder if there's any kind people here who can help. I hope this is in the right place, but feel free to slap me on the wrists if not. 

Hopefully it's a two way thing - I work in marketing and I've been tasked with trying to tap into and improve the Glastonbury experience. I have a couple of questions about a certain topic that shouldn't take up too much of your time:

 

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

 

If you're interested in keeping in touch please feel free to send me a PM...more than happy to be transparent. 

 

Many thanks

Mike

Yes, but I'm not in @bennyhana22 league yet

In 2017 I did.... first time I've managed... but the weather  ground conditions were excellent

Very, but you can't help but discover things at Glastonbury

As mentioned..... Brave Sir Robins playlist... also bimbling

[RichardWaller]

17 hours ago, AdMike said:

Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

- Never really tried to schedule owt strictly. Once the lineup's out there's always a few names that jump out and I'll rank em summat like "must see", "be nice to see but no biggie if I don't" and "not arsed".

- Probably somewhere in the middle... had some amazing times seeing bands I'd never heard before at Glastonbury, just stumble upon em and love em. Always open to discovering more, but at same time feel like I don't have enough time to listen to the stuff I already love anyway.

- That's changed a lot. I used to love it when I was in my late teens and early 20s, swapping mix tapes, standing at the listening post in Andy's Records or Virgin or whatever, flicking through NME or Melody Maker and a spread jumping out at us, having a look at biographies in Smiths or whatever, getting into such and such a band and reading about their influences and getting into them. The thrill of the chase was a big part of it for me. In theory, it's so much easier these days, you don't have to go anywhere, you can pop on wiki and read about a band's career and background, nip onto YouTube or Spotify and you've got a wealth of material to go through.  But at the same time,  I think the sheer access we've got now that we didn't 20 years ago makes it harder to discover stuff that makes you tick too, lot more separating the wheat from the chaff to get through. 

Last time I went in 2016, someone on here made a Spotify playlist of the lineup, can't remember who but ta if you're reading this. I'll no doubt have a few goes of that, start listening to 6 Music a bit more.

EDIT: 

Ok, Tranquility of Solitude is saying it's Brave Sir Robin's playlist, probably that 

Edited November 13, 2018 by RichardWaller

[clarkete]

20 hours ago, Miesh said:

Hi

Yes I use a schedule - clashfinder 

Do I stick to it? Somewhat, for my must sees and when I'm in the right place at the right time. Making a schedule and only sticking to 40% is part of the fun. Edit - the weather and my current mood also influence this.

Discovery of new music whilst at the festival is not important to me. However I always like to discover something new at/about the festival. 

I find out about new bands from friends, this forum and @Brave Sir Robin 's Spotify playlist 

My answers most closely match yours:-

Clashfinder

Yes, weather dependent

Yes, quite important

BSR's spotify playlist and 6music

[BambooShanks]

3 hours ago, AdMike said:

Thank you all for your responses so far. 

@Kinkyinuit yeah, I get that impression.  I've never met such a passionate fan base outside of sport. To unveil a bit more, it's specifically looking at what makes the festival experience so great in order to try and improve the experience for those that aren't lucky enough to get a ticket i.e. those that watch on TV or listen on radio. Such a small percentage manage to go...it's made me think I've been missing out!

Oh man, that is a challenge.

For me, what adds to the experience is all of the things going on around you - the palpable atmosphere of the crowd, the feeling of pure joy and freedom, the random little snippets of conversation  you hear and brief encounters while bimbling, looking around the crowd  and seeing countless people entranced and the shared emotion that comes with 130,000 like minded people all here to let themselves go to the festival.

Trying to convey that in a way that's feasible (or legal) would be a massive undertaking.  The nearest thing to an idea I had would be to give a large group of people GoPros and send them on their way to enjoy the festival but I'd imagine that would create all sorts of problems regarding music licencing (as well as seeing a lot of people clearly under the influence after midnight!).

 

[Miesh]

4 hours ago, AdMike said:

Thank you all for your responses so far. 

@Kinkyinuit yeah, I get that impression.  I've never met such a passionate fan base outside of sport. To unveil a bit more, it's specifically looking at what makes the festival experience so great in order to try and improve the experience for those that aren't lucky enough to get a ticket i.e. those that watch on TV or listen on radio. Such a small percentage manage to go...it's made me think I've been missing out!

As @Kinkyinuit said it's a challenge.  It is hard to get the experience of being there unless you've been before and can rely on memories.

Maybe focus on performances away from the main stages, random conversations (whilst respecting the interviewee may not be capable of informed consent), walkabouts, food reviews? The BBC did a Hidden Glastonbury segment in 2010 (maybe in other years too) that was quite good if I remember correctly.

Good luck 

[hfuhruhurr]

From a music perspective, to get more of a feel for the festival, how about a few fixed camera angles for main stage viewing. None of this swinging booms or editing - just a fixed shot, includes the band and some of the crowd. Maybe a few different spots per performance. So as a TV watcher (or iplayer) you could say, "John Peel, front left", "Park, sound desk". For example.

As far as capturing the non-music - impossible - since that's interactive and employs way more senses than 2D sight and sound!

[Miesh]

43 minutes ago, clarkete said:

My answers most closely match yours:-

Clashfinder

Yes, weather dependent

Yes, quite important

BSR's spotify playlist and 6music

Hi.

Yes many of us owe a lot to BSR.

In my initial response I was thinking I always see my must sees.....then I remembered being at Boomtown and how I abandoned the Jungle Cakes takeover in favour of a trudge back to camp and a shower.

I've just checked back and at Glastonbury 2017 I saw all of my must sees (bar a no show from Toots) and most of my probably will sees, the weather definitely is a factor. 

[clarkete]

25 minutes ago, Miesh said:

I've just checked back and at Glastonbury 2017 I saw all of my must sees (bar a no show from Toots) and most of my probably will sees, the weather definitely is a factor. 

Oh a no show is a big shame.  Saw him at Alexandra Palace recently and he was great and thankfully did show.

[BambooShanks]

54 minutes ago, hfuhruhurr said:

From a music perspective, to get more of a feel for the festival, how about a few fixed camera angles for main stage viewing. None of this swinging booms or editing - just a fixed shot, includes the band and some of the crowd. Maybe a few different spots per performance. So as a TV watcher (or iplayer) you could say, "John Peel, front left", "Park, sound desk". For example.

 

I had a rip of Daft Punk's Alive 2007 and The Chem's Don't Think that were comprised of footage taken from fans in the set (whether this was legal or not, I do not know) and they are by far my favourite live sets.  It made you feel like you right there in the thick of it.  

As much as it's cool to get close ups of the band and all the fancy angles, it takes you out of the performance and reminds you that you are watching it.

Something static - or someone in the thick of it with a gopro would be amazing.  

[Penrhos]

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

Yes - Clashfinder, spend the two weeks before Glasto refining it and trying to find bands/artists I haven't hear of on spotify/soundcloud etc. end up with a shortlist of 10 or so "Must-see acts" and highlight the others in levels of interest - plus a few "avoid at all costs".

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

Depends if it rains or how wasted I get, but usually see 80% of my must-see acts.

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

Very - I've discovered loads of new stuff at Glasto, more than all the other festivals I've been to put together.

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

Twitter, spotify, soundcloud - support acts for other bands, festivals.

[bennyhana22]

On 11/12/2018 at 5:13 PM, AdMike said:

Hey everyone,

Little bit shameless, but I'm here on business and wonder if there's any kind people here who can help. I hope this is in the right place, but feel free to slap me on the wrists if not. 

Hopefully it's a two way thing - I work in marketing and I've been tasked with trying to tap into and improve the Glastonbury experience. I have a couple of questions about a certain topic that shouldn't take up too much of your time:

 

- Do you use a schedule to plan your weekend?

- (If so) Do you stick to it?

- How important is discovery to you at the festival? 

- How do you find out about new bands/acts?

 

If you're interested in keeping in touch please feel free to send me a PM...more than happy to be transparent. 

 

Many thanks

Mike

Hi Mike

As @Tranquility of Solitude has mentioned, I am a bit OCD about all of this!

Schedule - yes. Personally designed and populated

Stick to it - pretty much completely. Mainly as I have taken so much time to create it that it's defo what I want to see!

Discovery - depends what you mean. Do you mean spontaneous discovery by 'accident', or discovery of new stuff by finding it on the line-up beforehand? If the former, then yes, if the latter then incredibly - the true joy of festivals for me is the weeks/months of line-up scrutiny, gradually becoming obsessed with a few bands who I didn't know about before, and who go on to become some of my all-time favourites

New bands - I go through the entire line-up with a fine tooth comb from the moment it is released! It's an unalloyed joy! Info can come from Bandcamp, their own websites, Soundcloud, Mixcloud, YouTube etc.

Hope that's useful!

Ben