Why don’t acts play Glastonbury

[O'Doyle Rules]

I’m just wondering, why have certain acts just never played Glastonbury?

Is it fear of their huge reputations failing to live up to arguably the biggest stage of all?

Baffles me as it seems the pinnacle of music success (but I am bias AS F*CK to Glasto).

[dentalplan]

Glastonbury doesn’t pay as much as other festivals.

[Matt42]

- reduced fee.

- Glastonbury likes to pick and chose what acts it wants to promote on its major stages. Some acts don’t like the fact that they won’t be given a headline slot.

- Some acts only like to play to their own fans / shows where their fans can get tickets easier.

- Some acts don’t like the fact it’s broadcast on the BBC.

- International acts usually don’t get the ethos of the festival.

- Some artists don’t like festivals.

- Some artists don’t care about exposure.

- Some artists don’t like being a part of something bigger than themselves. 
 

- some acts just don’t get asked.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Matt42

[Ayrshire Chris]

8 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Glastonbury doesn’t pay as much as other festivals.

That’s been well publicised but the PR and TV exposure a band gets by playing glasto can really benefit them. I recollect Neil Diamond saying his albums got increased sales for months after his appearance. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Ayrshire Chris

[Matt42]

4 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

That’s been well publicised but the PR and TV exposure a band gets by playing glasto can really benefit them. I recollect Neil Diamond saying his albums got increased sales for months after his appearance. 

Some artist managers don’t give a shit.

They can’t comprehend something that is bigger than themselves. 

[gigpusher]

11 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

That’s been well publicised but the PR and TV exposure a band gets by playing glasto can really benefit them. I recollect Neil Diamond saying his albums got increased sales for months after his appearance. 

Although that will only happen if you perform well so maybe some acts are worried that they won't be as good which is wht with the Rolling Stones negotiations about how much the BBC could show were going on whilst they were on stage. It was going well so they let them show more than originally intended. 

[dentalplan]

35 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

That’s been well publicised but the PR and TV exposure a band gets by playing glasto can really benefit them. I recollect Neil Diamond saying his albums got increased sales for months after his appearance. 

Yeah but being ‘paid in exposure’... ???

[Ayrshire Chris]

4 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

Yeah but being ‘paid in exposure’... ???

True, I suppose our devotion to Glastonbury outweighs the financial realities of the music industry. A bit like football supporters, I can’t understand why Messi wouldn’t take a pay cut to play for my fav team! 

[Gnomicide]

 

[Ayrshire Chris]

2 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

 

Right, OK , I get the point! ?enough! 

[danmarks]

Can i just add cos im a bit pissed. Sales after live 8 wemt up 800percent for some acts. Mind you if you were only selling 1cd you were now selling 8. The who and pink floyd donated any sales to live aid 

[jparx]

54 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

That’s been well publicised but the PR and TV exposure a band gets by playing glasto can really benefit them. I recollect Neil Diamond saying his albums got increased sales for months after his appearance. 

Neil's mentioned before that the agents get a cut of the fee but not the record sales, so they're hunting the pay day not the exposure. For international acts especially, Glastonbury's interest might not even reach the acts and just be batted away by the agents.

[Slugworth]

15 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

 

If only they had seasoned it properly...

[Avalon_Fields]

Money, and non-British acts not ‘getting it’....but also most major tours are bespoke shows designed for indoor arenas or huge outdoor stadiums, and they can’t replicate the show they’d like to do, or have rehearsed for, at Glastonbury, they’re less in control of the situation and it’s more of a risk. 

[glastofun]

2 hours ago, O'Doyle Rules said:

I’m just wondering, why have certain acts just never played Glastonbury?

Is it fear of their huge reputations failing to live up to arguably the biggest stage of all?

Baffles me as it seems the pinnacle of music success (but I am bias AS F*CK to Glasto).

Some artists live in a world where Glastonbury is the centre of the universe, so it really isn't a big deal to them. 

[lukethekid]

4 hours ago, glastofun said:

Some artists live in a world where Glastonbury is the centre of the universe, so it really isn't a big deal to them. 

Sorry to be a pedantic bell end here..... but

If Glastonbury was at the centre of some artists’ universe then surely it would be a big deal to them. Earth is the centre of our universe, therefore in the grand scheme of things Earth is a big deal for everyone living on it. 

[stt11]

31 minutes ago, lukethekid said:

Sorry to be a pedantic bell end here..... but

If Glastonbury was at the centre of some artists’ universe then surely it would be a big deal to them. Earth is the centre of our universe, therefore in the grand scheme of things Earth is a big deal for everyone living on it. 

It doesn't seem to be the end of it, though, does it?! There's going to be more to this. This situation, we've been discussing here, is definitely going to progress. Artists are going to moan about the festival being seen as more important than them, for a start. If your a band like Muse and your fans bend over backwards to buy a Glastonbury ticket, because they think Muse might play that year, there's repercussions.

If Muse don't have a tour that year. All these fans would probably go off to Glastonbury anyway, for something to do. Yet they still bought the tickets to see Muse. Muse might still complain, moan, or whatever. Especially if it's claimed that these fans bought their tickets because they were big fans of the festival itself.

Edited November 7, 2019 by stt11

[lukethekid]

8 minutes ago, stt11 said:

It doesn't seem to be the end of it, though, does it?! There's going to be more to this. This situation, we've been discussing here, is definitely going to progress. Artists are going to moan about the festival being seen as more important than them, for a start. If your a band like Muse and your fans bend over backwards to buy a Glastonbury ticket, because they think Muse might play that year, there's repercussions.

If Muse don't have a tour that year. All these fans would probably go off to Glastonbury anyway, for something to do. Yet they still bought the tickets to see Muse. Muse might still complain, moan, or whatever. Especially if it's claimed that these fans bought their tickets because they were big fans of the festival itself.

Doesn’t seem to be the end of what? No one buys a Glastonbury in the hope that a particular band are gonna play, if that was the case the farm would be filled with 150,000 Coldplay fans.

[stt11]

1 minute ago, lukethekid said:

Doesn’t seem to be the end of what? No one buys a Glastonbury in the hope that a particular band are gonna play, if that was the case the farm would be filled with 150,000 Coldplay fans.

I thought it was filled with 150,000 Coldplay fans.

[lukethekid]

1 minute ago, stt11 said:

I thought it was filled with 150,000 Coldplay fans.

?? 

[mcshed]

9 hours ago, dentalplan said:

Yeah but being ‘paid in exposure’... ???

Huge difference between expecting a struggling artist to work for free for "exposure" and asking an established artist to take less cash than they're used to but still a decent bit of cash for a day's work.

[Crazyfool01]

Image not pasted

Edited November 7, 2019 by crazyfool1

[eFestivals]

9 hours ago, jparx said:

Neil's mentioned before that the agents get a cut of the fee but not the record sales, so they're hunting the pay day not the exposure. For international acts especially, Glastonbury's interest might not even reach the acts and just be batted away by the agents.

yep, this.

For the bigger acts there's always a bigger offer available.

[morph100]

Less control can be a factor for example you get 30 minutes to set up a limited stage means you can’t put all the bells and whistles on like you can your own stadium tour.

[Crazyfool01]

Some suffer nerve issues