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7 Inescapable Things You’ll Find at Every Typical Music Festival

10-Feb-2016 By Tieece Gordon

Heading to a music festival this year? Be prepared to encounter some weird, wacky and wonderful spectacles. Certain trends seem to pop up year after year – by now, music festivals wouldn’t feel complete without them. While many could be seen as examples of how strange we’ve all become, not all are crazy premeditated stunts. Some things are just inescapable.

Shoulder Rides

It seems as though sitting on somebody’s shoulders is an essential part of the festival experience. This may have been promoted by TV coverage that seems to make ‘human chairs’ festival icons.

Good Points: More chances to get your face on TV; better view of the acts onstage.

Bad Points: A nightmare for those behind you.

Warm Drinks

Not talking about tea or mulled cider here! The warm weather seems to play havoc with refreshments. Drink cups emblazoned with “best served chilled” have no hope once festival season rocks up.

Good Points: It’s still a drink.

Bad Points: It tastes like an evil genius has set a plan in motion. 7 Inescapable Things You’ll Find at Every Music Festival

Tents

If you were surveyed for a family TV quiz show and asked to name ‘Things You’d Find at a Festival’, chances are tents would be pretty high up in the responses. If you haven’t been to a festival before, you won’t believe your eyes when you see the sheer amount of canvas sleepers that appear before you. Be ready to sleep virtually head to head with the guy next door.

Good Points: You need a tent to sleep (or not) and store your possessions; being so close to others makes socialising and meeting new people a doddle.

Bad Points: Claustrophobia Central; sleeping next to a canvas covered toe is still sleeping next to a toe.

Merchandise

T-shirts, vests, hats, bags; anything you can think of is being sold (and bought) onsite. Some people kit themselves out with one of everything while others look on in disgust.

Good Points: An everlasting reminder of a great festival; could come in handy if your clothes fall victim to the elements.

Bad Points: May end up looking like a walking advertisement; probably not going to touch this stuff ever again once you get home.

7 Inescapable Things You’ll Find at Every Typical Music Festival

Fashion Statements

You name it, it’s probably been a fad at some stage. Face paints, fedoras, headbands and even hairstyles have come and gone down the years. Even religious items, such as rosary beads and bindis have become mainstream – often to mixed reception.

Good Points: It’s fun to dress up – even if it means following a crowd; adds to the feel of everybody having fun.

Bad Points: Looking at those photos a few years down the line and wondering why anybody would ever want to wear hair beads.

Wristbands

Wristbands are an essential piece of a festival-goer’s kit. They’re essential to the whole party and some even create custom wristbands to spice things up.

Good Points: Eternal memorabilia; custom wristbands add a sense of personality; seem to last forever even when untreated.

Bad Points: If left too long can become a hive of bacterial activity; some people like to show off their wristbands six months after the fact.

Queues

Whether it’s for an overpriced burger or a race to get to the front of the stage, chances are you’re going to have to wait – either that or unceremoniously barge your way through (not recommended).

Good Points: Gets you excited about what’s coming up; a bit of quality time with friends while nothing is happening.

Bad Points: Who likes waiting?

7 Inescapable Things You’ll Find at Every Typical Music Festival

Filed Under: Fans, Festivals, Music Industry Tagged With: live music, millenial, music festival, music industry, musicians, peformance, superfan

How to be a music superfan in 2015!

16-Jul-2015 By Shannon Duvall

Hey there, you hot mess, it’s 2005, MySpace messaging you crunk peeps from the past with a totally hott message, so listen up.

If you’re a music lover in 2015 – and you’re here, reading this, so it’s safe to assume that you are, fo sheezy – then there are a few things you should know about your, ahem, current status.

First of all, you – yes you, the one reading this – are directly responsible for the absolute interplanetary, warp-drive, ‘let’s-tear-this-space-time-continuum-a-new-one’ success that most of the music superstars in your day are right this minute enjoying. In a freakish turn from expected events, the openness of the internet has not, as we here in 2005 were certain would happen, resulted in the dismantling of the Record Label as we know it, freeing the market and balancing the scales. Au contraire.

 

Dolla, dolla bills.
Dolla, dolla bills.

The bands and solo artists making the big bucks in the industry have only ended up making more money, getting more media attention, and becoming more popular, and thus immeasurably more valuable to the record companies representing them.

And. The same power you wield to bestow such wild, unbridled, never-before-witnessed prosperity upon those lucky few hundred entertainers has also resulted in the widening of the pay gap between them and, well, every other musician out there.

Seriously.

It’s a sizeable chasm of unprecedented size: MIDiA Research is one company that has been using analytics to track the progress of digital music, and a report released by them last year showed a staggering 77% of all the money in the industry gracing the bank accounts of the top one percent of global superstars.

In short, fancy future folk, you probably don’t realize how influential you are in this, the new music business battle royale.

"Well, i'll be..."
“Well, I’ll be…”

 

It’s your choices: your likes and dislikes, your skips, saves and shares, that determine who makes it, and who flakes it. If you’re in any doubt about how true this is, take a look at viral victim/sensation Justin Bieber – discovered singing humble covers on youtube; promoted like there was no tomorrow – and you’ll see what I mean. What you are capable of.

Look at your eyes. You’re already drunk with power.

So how should you flaunt – I, ahem, mean, responsibly apply all this newfound sway?

  • Click (or swipe, or tap…) wisely. Intelligent analytics are scoping out every aspect of everything you do online, and there’s big money in being able to predict what people are going to want next. If you have a favorite unsigned band, follow them on social media, like their posts, and share their videos. Check in, tweet, Instagram and Snapchat from their gigs.

If they’re on Spotify, even better. Add favorite tracks to your shared playlists, that way other people can discover them on                 their own time, rather than caving in to your constant OMG ballyhoo.

 

"Premium or GTFO."
“Premium or GTFO.”

 

  • Interaction is EVERYTHING. Websites like WeDemand allow you to act much like an old village council, telling venues and promoters what bands are wanted where. IndieGogo and other crowdfunding sites let you pitch in when it comes time for an artist to create something, like an album or a run of t-shirts. You can even help send them on tour. And there’s usually a sweet, VIP bonus for digging into your pockets and getting involved.

Other sites, such as Patreon, let you give them money –  just because you like them.

  • One word: collabs. If you’re the creative type, why not get in touch with an artist you really like and offer to work together for mutual benefit? After all, they’re looking for fresh ideas and constant exposure as much as you are.

Are you an artist? Offer to design gig posters, t-shirts, or use your likeness in some rad graffiti somewhere strategically                     placed. If they like your work, they might end up asking you to design some album art, which would be dope AF.

Musician yourself? How about a remix or mashup? Heck, even a cleverly executed cover of one of their songs can be a great             way to show support and appreciation for the work and inspiration of others in your genre or location. This can sometimes             lead to working together – on a track, perhaps, or, if you have really good chemistry, an album, split seven- inch (yep, people           still do this; vinyl is the top selling purchased music format after digital, and sales are up 54%!), or bill sharing at gigs and               on tours.

Can you write? Offer to review songs or albums, then submit your work to blogs and websites that might publish your work             as a guest blogger. Exposure for everybody!

Travel blogger? Seek out new bands in places you travel to and blog your heart out to your followers. Take photos and videos           and show the rest of the world what they’re missing.

Surfer, skater, or parkour perfectionist? Ask for permission to feature a song in one of your promos. I can’t tell you how                   many times I’ve heard a song while watching a surf video and Shazammed the crap out of it so that I could add it to my                    “How to Get Through This Workday Alive” Spotify playlist. This approach is equally great for animators, videographers, and             anyone with a smartphone/GoPro and a vision.

The soundtrack of our lives.
The soundtrack of our lives.

 

  • Actually go to their gigs. I know it’s hard, but you can do it.

So what we’re saying is this: the millenial music lover has so much opportunity to be connected to the up and coming artists he or she loves. With all that say at your fingertips (literally), and no end in sight to the innovation which continues to break down walls between observer and observed, there’s never been a better time to have your say. Like a true music superfan.
Take it from me, your old pal, 2005, champion of MySpace, the one who started all this internet band business in the first place.

Filed Under: Artist Discovery, Fans, Independent Musicians, Music Advice, Music Industry, Music Promotion Tagged With: 2015, millenial, music, music industry, music scene, superfan

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