Great strides have been taken in recent years by music festival organisers to tackle environmental issues raised by festivals. As most take place in remote locations there will always be an inadequate infrastructure to cope with the thousands of event goers that attend each event such is their popularity. 

The pace of change and innovation in the music festival scene has accelerated in the last few years with the adoption of new technology to transform the audience experience. With seamless ticket booking and cashless venues what other new technologies are on the horizon that audiences and organisers will be utilising in the near future? 

The music business evolved in the late seventies and early eighties to make the DJ genre a key part of the live music scene with innovators like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1978 and Grand Wizzard Theodore in 1982 completely changing how a DJ interacted with a live audience. Now top DJs The Chainsmokers are earning $46m a year.  

There has been much publicity and action to financially support the live events industry with various campaigns and announcements of financial assistance from the UK Government. Whilst all these offers of financial assistance are much welcome throughout the live music events sector spare a thought for the unseen people and companies that support the industry.  

The virtual event has been hailed as the saviour of the live music event industry ever since the majority of populations went into a lockdown back in March 2020. How has this developed over the last five months and does it fill the gap left by the cancellation of live events which are unlikely to resume until well into 2021. 

The revenue that live event organisers get from corporate sponsorship makes up a significant portion of their overall revenue and is said to be worth $10b globally. Recent research suggests that among media buyers responsible for sponsorship of live music events 25% have paused or ceased spend while 46% have reduced spending in this sector as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Artist’s riders are the demands or requests made on event organisers and venues that enable them to fulfil their live performance obligations. Whilst these may be quite reasonable some may argue that on occasions the riders can end up being a series of outrageous and unreasonable requests. 

One of the best ways to make a live music event stand out from the rest is the light show accompanying the artist’s performance. The technical capabilities of staging a modern light show have advanced hugely in the last decade as has the cost of getting a slick world class installation built.  

For an industry that has seen consistent strong growth over the last few years 2020 will look very different. What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global music events sector and when will it recover and start growing again? Some recent research suggests 2020 will just be a hiccup in continuing growth but these very much depend on where the world is with COVID-19 as we enter 2021. 

As live events start making a tentative return the services that support event infrastructure is key to putting on a good show. An essential part of any live event are the vendors servicing event goers primarily with food and drinks, however, these vendors are returning to an environment that is completely different prior to the global lockdown earlier this year. 

With so few opportunities to perform live what is next for performance artists that have previously focussed on performing at live events? Despite the increase in virtual events it is the atmosphere and audience feedback of a truly live event that give artists a buzz and makes the whole experience of performing live something special.   

In the UK and many other countries live performances are retuning in both outdoor and indoor venues but with new restrictions. For sure there is pent up demand from event goers and artists are really keen to get back on stage too, but is it really financially viable for live events to take place in what's left of 2020 or should they wait until 2021? 

Performance artists appearing at a live event rarely do these as one offs and are more likely to be part of a well organised tour. This could be anything from an in-country tour with a handful of dates lasting a week to a world tour lasting a year. The same principles broadly apply in managing a touring artist as they do for fixed venue with multiple artists.   

From the iconic pyramid at Glastonbury every live event tries to make its mark with something unique and recognisable. The stage design and construction is an art form in itself and can help define an event and its brand identity, particularly on the music festival scene where stage designs have reached new levels of creativity in recent years.    

It’s never easy to breakthrough any new musical talent and very few actually ‘make it’. Add into that the current global pandemic and it looks like a daunting task just got even more difficult. What are the basic steps a new performance artist can take to market themselves in the current climate to give them the best chance of success?     

With easing of restrictions on live performances for both outdoor and indoor events are these working in practice? With reduced audience numbers and relatively tightly controlled restrictions are event goers having fun? How are the restrictions working in reality and will event organisers turn a profit? 

All live performances that have amplified sound will require the services of a Sound Engineer. The best Sound Engineers can command premium pay and will always be in demand by top artists. Over time an artist will form a close relationship with their preferred Sound Engineers built on trust and mutual understanding. 

A complete sub industry in itself the business of providing light and sound for any live music event is big business and it can be a very expensive element in running a live event. Event organisers have a good choice of suppliers to go to and most will provide a one stop service including equipment hire and professional production.     

In days gone by a music festival was generally held in a farmer's field somewhere and many still are. Any event organiser trying to launch a new music festival needs to differentiate their event from all the many other music festivals taking place. In recent years some music festivals have used innovative locations and venues to spice things up. 

One of the biggest concerns in staging a music festival in a field somewhere is access to reliable power. The use of diesel generators is commonplace but not exactly the most environmentally friendly power solution. With advances in technology there are new innovative ideas that could transform the whole area of remote power sourcing. 

There have been some big changes in the music festival scene in Asia over the last decade. Despite the growth the number of music festivals occurring in Asia it is just a fraction of the number that take place every year in Europe and North America. Irrespective of the current COVID situation what is the Asian music festival scene like?  

As countries gradually and cautiously start opening up to the idea of live events there remain in place multiple restrictions for venues and participants. As some countries start experiencing second and third waves of COVID-19 cases it is travel restrictions that continue to be a major barrier to free movement.  

There has been a boom in recent years in the provision of ticketing to the events industry as the number of live events increased. The end user customer experience has changed and there is a certain expectation regarding prices and service so how are new players in the market disrupting the events ticketing sector?     

After four months of lockdown and a ban on all live events where crowds can gather the UK Government finally announced on 9th July that ‘outdoor’ live events with an audience can go ahead from 11th July 2020. Just how prepared is the industry for this and what restrictions will there be?   

Whilst the events industry goes through this lull in activity now is the perfect time to get your events business certified with ISO 20121. Previously called BS 8901 and created several years ago specifically to address the London Olympics the principles certify that your events business is improving the sustainability of events and related activities, products and services. 

With the cancellation of virtually all live events in 2020 there are dire financial consequences for any company whose survival depends on revenue from live events. For the financially strong there are opportunities to go on the acquisition trail and expand their portfolio of services to the events industry 

Running and managing exhibitions is big business with 31,000 taking place globally and 7,000 in the UK alone every year. The size and scope of the exhibition business is wide and varied with a mix of business to business and consumer focussed events with the number of attendees varying from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands.  

The world of the performance artist is far from normal with most falling into the ‘struggling artist’ category. The fact that so few ever make it does not deter artists from pursuing their dreams where strength in endurance and perseverance are key traits. But artists need not face this struggle alone. 

We are living in unprecedented times and no other industry has been impacted financially like the events and hospitality industry. Whilst governments around the world have launched various schemes to provide financial assistance where do you go to get this is reality?