Routes to Getting a Job in the Music Festival Sector.

The demand for employment in the music festival sector has always been high, despite the reality of long unsocial hours and low pay. With formal recruitment processes in most business environments now relying more on AI is the music festival sector an exception to this trend? What are the most common routes to securing employment in this sector in 2025 and beyond.

The music festival sector is a fast moving and competitive environment to work in that provides exposure to creativity and passion mixed with complex logistical operations and business strategy. The variety of roles are diverse and typically include operations, marketing, safety, hospitality and artistic curation. This industry has a reputation of being difficult to secure employment and even for the lucky few high turnover of staff is not uncommon. The industry is larger than just the event organising entities and there are also opportunities in the plethora of contractors and organisations that provide support to the sector. If someone is determined to work in the industry what are the most effective routes to securing employment. 

Informal Volunteering and Networking. 
For some time, volunteering at a music festival has been known to be the most common form of entry to gaining paid employment. Those who regularly volunteer at different festivals in a variety of roles are getting first-hand experience of the inner workings of events. However, to secure future employment a volunteer needs to excel at their assigned role and demonstrate abilities and a strong work ethic that will get them noticed. All this needs to be combined with some excellent networking skills getting to know the key decision makers in any event they volunteer at. Building relationships through networking is essential and can be further enhanced by connecting with decision makers on social media and LinkedIn for example. Attending industry events and conferences also enables relationships to be developed in a more professional environment away from the festival fields. Networking and building relationships with key decision makers enables access to unadvertised job vacancies and equally can save the festival entity the hassle of a formal recruitment process. This route to employment can work for independent smaller and medium sized festival entities but not so relevant to the large corporate players. 

Graduate Schemes. 
A more formal route to employment can be through graduate recruitment schemes and internships which are common for large corporate event organisers like Live Nation, AEG Presents and Insomniac who regularly operate such schemes. These organisations often target undergraduates who are studying relevant degrees, and the application process can be long, convoluted and very competitive. Securing employment in a graduate recruitment scheme does provide a structured career path where employees get exposure to numerous departments, event types and locations. 

Job Boards and AI Developments. 
The advertising of vacancies on job boards has evolved in recent years with the use of AI more prevalent and agencies dominating postings. Reports in the media have suggested that up to 80% of job board postings are fake or posted for other reasons not related to an actual vacant position. This makes applying for a job posted on a job board the least favoured route to securing employment in the festival sector. Expect recruiters to be employing various AI assisted sifting processes commonly referred to as Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which rely on algorithms to short list applications. To counter this AI assisted software is increasingly being used by applicants to create resumes and covering letters. The human touch has almost disappeared as AI is used to make applications and short list applicants. Given the importance of working relationship in the events and festival sector this impersonal approach to recruitment is not popular with recruiters or applicants. 

Contractors and Suppliers. 
Although many focus on festival organising entities for potential employment there are other routes to working in the industry. Suppliers of backline equipment, stages, design, event software and agencies involved in artist management or independent event organising can provide great employment opportunities. Working for these organisations provides intimate exposure of the music festival environment without the long unsocial hours and low pay usually associated with festival entities. 

Whichever route someone pursues they can end up working in one of the most vibrant and exciting industries. The key to securing employment remains excellent networking and relationship building with key decision makers. It’s an industry where most positions are filled without advertising and experience plus who you know probably overrides any formal qualifications. 

For festival organisers planning their next event 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, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by dimitrisvetsikas1969 via Pixabay

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