How to solve the headliner problem

One of the key findings of our latest European Festival Survey – and a topic frequently brought up at conferences, including the International Festival Forum (IFF) and European Festival Summit (EFS) – is just how concerned promoters are about headliner fees.

Whether you’re a major event vying for stadium-filling acts or a small festival with a more modest budget, the problem is industry-wide. For promoters, rising fees for artists are compounding the problem of inflation across all their costs, at a time when consumers are worried about their wallets, meaning festivals are very sensitive to ticket prices.

The reasons for rising fees are multiple. The well-documented rise in production costs also applies to artists, for some of whom touring is becoming almost unfeasible. In one high-profile example of how bad things have become, Kate Nash recently announced she was selling photos of her backside on OnlyFans, as it was the only way she could make enough money to tour. She says her Butts For Tour Buses campaign means she can afford accommodation, food, promotion, and crew. “I want other artists to know that they’re not alone – so many artists are having to cancel tours because they can’t afford it. It costs more to present a live show than it ever has,” she told The Independent.

There’s also the issue of the strength of the dollar against other currencies, which makes it not only very expensive to bring US acts to Europe but also means the market is less appealing for artists who can stay at home and make more money.

But recently, there’s also been a change in artist strategy. For some at arena- and stadium-level, it’s preferable to have full control of their shows and production, so they choose to tour venues rather than festivals. With the huge leaps forward in terms of number of stadium shows over the past few years, acts of a certain level are choosing to take the money from these runs instead. As Mikołaj Ziółkowski of Poland’s Open’er told EFS: “Most of the big acts want to do big shows, with huge production and a lot of staff. Often, festivals can’t accommodate that anymore, so acts choose to go with more money, their own audience, and their own production when they play stadium shows.”

And, as agent Matt Bates of Primary Talent International told IFF in September: “When you’re a huge artist, nowadays, there’s a tendency to do your own thing rather than performing at a festival, which would’ve been the norm ten to 15 years ago.”

“With the way the audience is finding new music, primarily via streaming, the movement is so much faster”

Solutions
So what are the possible solutions? For some festivals, such as Switzerland’s OpenAir St.Gallen, the answer is to no longer aim for the very top of the market. As Gadget Entertainment festival director Christof Huber, who runs the event, told EFS: “We used to have acts such as Muse and Depeche Mode as headliners, but I think these times are over for us.” He says the festival is now going for acts that are more affordable – in many cases, looking away from UK and US artists “who are either not available or not affordable.”

Many festivals are turning to domestic artists as a more affordable alternative to US acts (who are increasingly too expensive due to the strength of the dollar) or other acts for whom international touring has become very costly.

It was immediately after the pandemic that this trend really took off. In many places, crossing borders was banned, meaning the only touring that was happening was by acts in their own markets. That gave them the opportunity to capitalise on the vacuum left by foreign artists.

“The domestic market in Sweden now is bigger than it’s ever been,” All Things Live’s David Maloney recently told IQ. “That’s something we are really concentrating on now.” And in Denmark, Brian Nielsen, CEO of DTD Group points to Aarhus- born Tobias Rahim, who spent nearly 40 weeks at the top of Denmark’s singles charts, as “an Ed Sheeran-type story.” Rahim went on to headline Copenhagen’s 17,000-cap Royal Arena and land prominent slots at key Danish festivals Tinderbox, NorthSide, and Roskilde.

“As a new artist, he went straight to arenas from airplay,” Nielsen said. “With the way the audience is finding new music, primarily via streaming, the movement is so much faster. We’ve seen a big change with Danish acts playing bigger venues than they used to, and Tobias is a really strong example.”

“It’s not easy to book the artists that we would like for the beginning of September”

In Spain, Concert Studio’s Carlos Pérez says: “Traditionally, promoters used to hire more international artists, specifically, Anglo-Saxon ones. However, after the pandemic, the work of national artists is highly valued. In fact, they occupy a large part of the lineups of our festivals.”

It’s the same story in Poland. Sara Kordek, creative director of Poland’s Good Taste Production, which is behind concerts and festivals such as Next Fest, Jazz Around, and Jarocin Festival, told IQ that the company had 30 arena shows announced for domestic acts like Mrozu, Daria Zawiałow, Kwiat Jabłoni, and Ralph Kaminski.

“Last year, we were doing club tours with these artists, and then we put them on our travelling festival, Summer Sounds, and now we have announced arena tours for spring, and they are selling pretty well – like, 80% sold out in some cases,” said Kordek.

One way of solving the conundrum of booking artists who are touring for shorter periods in order to keep down costs is to move dates. Lollapalooza Berlin is switching from September to July for its tenth anniversary edition in 2025.

“It’s not easy to book the artists that we would like for the beginning of September,” explains Goodlive festival director Fruzsina Szép, who’s behind the event. “Many artists are finishing their tour period at the end of August, so it makes sense to move Lolla to the middle of the summer, when more artists are available. Lolla Berlin has taken place in September for the last nine years, so it’s a big move, and we are hopeful those dates will work well.”

“A major positive about headliners doing their own thing is that festivals now have a better opportunity to help break through emerging acts and mid-level artists”

Festivals as cultural leaders
With the biggest acts now becoming unaffordable for many or choosing to do their own solo tours in stadiums and arenas, maybe this is the time for festivals to act more as cultural leaders – telling their audiences who is worthy of a headline slot rather than being beholden to audience demands.

During IFF, Primary Talent International agent Bates said: “A major positive about headliners doing their own thing is that festivals now have a better opportunity to help break through emerging acts and mid-level artists.”

And for some, the solution seems to be to buck the trend of offering day tickets. Down the Rabbit Hole in the Netherlands only sells three-day passes – no individual day tickets are available. This means bookers can curate a lineup that’s more of a package rather than three individual headline shows.

“We try to create what we call a flock of artists,” festival director Ide Koffeman told IQ earlier this year. “So it’s not at all just about the headliner. We look at what the artists stand for and the diversity of the programme, and then we get a nice flock that tells a story. This year, it worked out very well. I am completely satisfied, and I don’t say that every year. We had a lot of great reactions from our audience, too.”

He added: “We like to present acts that can do a successful show without being stadium level. With our formula, we do have room to play with the possibilities. So, perhaps on Friday, we have a spectacular new act that’s a future headliner, and on Saturday, a more-established act. And then it all adds up, and people buy tickets for the whole package. It’s like booking one big show.”

“The cost of acts will force other festivals to not rely too much on headliners but to focus on the overall experience instead”

The festival as headliner
One way to reduce the reliance on headliners is to create an event that people want to come to, regardless of who’s playing. While they do feature exciting and popular artists, festivals such as the UK’s Glastonbury, Dutch stalwart Lowlands, and Germany’s Superbloom have focussed on developing an experience that attracts fans to buy tickets without needing to know who’s performing.

“It’s something that is in the heads and I hope also in the hearts of people,” says Goodlive’s Szép, who came up with the concept for Superbloom in 2020 and has overseen three editions (including during the pandemic, which saw it postponed twice). “I’ve heard it said many times that ‘Superbloom is Munich, and Munich is Superbloom,’ and that means we have found a home, which I’m very thankful for, because it’s not easy to establish any brand nowadays and keep it going, [let alone] become a loved brand.”

In Serbia, EXIT Festival’s Dušan Kovačević says the rising costs of headliners led to the festival itself becoming the headline act rather than a select number of big names. “The cost of acts will force other festivals to not rely too much on headliners but to focus on the overall experience instead,” he said.

Lowlands festival director Eric van Eerdenburg says the key to cutting the reliance on headliners is to “build a community around your festival.”

“It’s not just a lineup. It’s a culture we’ve established over the last 25 years and have managed to stay in touch with,” he told IQ after this year’s festival – his penultimate at the helm. “It’s a three-day Fata Morgana [mirage] that everybody wants to be part of. You’re there for three days, getting dazzled by it all, and then you wake up, and real life starts again.”

“I’d encourage festival bookers to think more broadly about how they’re structuring deals”

He added: “Artists, especially the more successful ones, are getting more and more expensive, and that’s worrying me. There’s an ongoing struggle with agents who think their artist is worth more money.

“Within the agency business, nobody takes responsibility for the industry as a whole. No, they work for the artist, and they want more money. As a festival, we have to keep investing in artists to keep the profile of the festival, to keep the young people coming in, and to get a three-day full programme. But it all comes back to the ticket price.”

One agent who is certainly looking for innovative ways to ensure the viability of the festival sector is CAA’s Summer Marshall, who told IFF in September: “I’d encourage festival bookers to think more broadly about how they’re structuring deals. I welcome bonus structures on headline festival deals, and not even necessarily headlining the festival but headliners of other stages, too. It incentivises the artist and the festival and everyone to promote it. If you’re taking a lower guarantee, but there’s a bonus structure, then everyone benefits when a festival succeeds.”

Different entertainment types
One way of creating a unique vibe that attracts audiences without a lineup is to broaden the range of entertainment on offer. While this might mean fewer music acts, it still adds up to an amazing experience for festivalgoers, who are increasingly accustomed to playlist-style culture. Elements such as talks, theatre shows, circus acts, and cinemas are all increasingly common on bills.

“Festivals offer hours of experience. It’s not just go in, watch a show, go home. This is our advantage”

In the UK, Live Nation’s Latitude festival has long focussed on a broad range of arts, from dance, ballet, and literature to film, theatre, podcasts, and cabaret. This year, alongside acts such as Duran Duran, Kasabian, London Grammar, and Keane, it featured hit comedian Sara Pascoe; dance performances, including the London City Ballet; podcasts such as Evil Genius with Russell Kane, and a literary lineup including renowned astronomer Chris Lintott, presenter of Radio 4’s All in the Mind, Claudia Hammond, King Crimson’s Jakko Jakszyk, and Nigerian novelist Ayòbámi Adébáyò.

With so much entertainment on offer, whether it’s music or not, festivals continue to represent incredible value for money. With a full festival pass in Europe costing on average €206.17, (according to our festival survey), audiences can see hundreds of acts for almost the same price as a stadium concert.

“Festivals offer hours of experience,” says Alter Art’s Ziółkowski. “It’s not just go in, watch a show, go home. This is our advantage.”

• This article was first published in IQ’s 2024 European Festival Report.

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