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Corporate Brand Sponsored Music Festival Stages.

Andy Robertson

An essential part of any music festival organisation is obtaining sponsorship and there are increasingly different ways to capture part of this revenue. The stage is usually the centrepiece of any music festival and so provides the best opportunity for potential sponsors to get their brand in front of the festival audience.


Whether a music festival has one or multiple stages organisers can market branding opportunities to potential sponsors. Traditional sponsorship packages can include a variety branding and pitch space options to suit all budgets and sponsor requirements. Stage sponsorship (sometimes called stage hosting) is probably one of the most underutilised sponsorship opportunities as many festival organisers stick with their own branding and theme designs.

Stage Sponsorship Packages.
For festivals with a single stage, it’s worth considering potential sponsors early in the planning phase so that space can be incorporated into the stage design to allow for branding splashes. Where there are multiple stages it’s possible to offer various sponsorship packages with branding on the main stage attracting a premium price. For smaller stages organisers can offer a takeover option where the stage is named after the sponsor and any attached VIP areas can be part of the package.

Sponsored Touring Stages. 
Some corporate sponsors with deep pockets have started organising their own temporary stage set up that can tour from festival to festival on a dedicated pitch space. They may organise their own artist line-up and become a festival within a festival. Any company pursuing this option will need to have agreements in place with each festival organiser for the events they plan to attend. This ensures that any line-up and other arrangements match the requirements of the festival organisers. The touring branded stage is a substantial undertaking and requires meticulous planning to pull off. Creating a self-contained stage solution with quality lighting and sound systems plus all the engineering to support it means that the host music festival does not need to supply anything more than pitch space and support services like electricity for example.

Types of Stage Sponsors. 
Currently the majority of stage sponsors (or hosts) come from the record labels that are associated with the artists booked to appear in the line-up. More recently the corporate brands have started sponsoring stages and include the likes of Red Bull, Vodafone, Samsung and numerous drinks companies. With more opportunities and rising interest festival organisers may increase the prices they charge for sponsors keen to brand their stages.

Not all festival-goers particularly like corporate sponsorship at a music festival as they feel it gets away from the free-living experience of attending a festival. However, the majority of visitors understand the necessity for sponsorship at a festival, even if some consider it a necessary evil. Without revenue from corporate sponsors many music festivals would just never take place. 

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by Bárbara Oliveira via Pexels

Andy Robertson
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