Developed countries in Europe and North America have largely adopted cashless payments and digital ticketing for events. Almost all festivals taking place in these regions now only accept online digital payments for tickets which are issued to buyers in the form of QR codes which allows them easy access to the event and the issuing of RFID wristbands.

There are various factors to consider when assessing copyright laws with regards to music festivals and it can be a complex subject to understand. All music is protected by copyright no matter who plays or reproduces it, equally a music festival organisation and its brand is also protected by copyright laws. 

Every music festival relies heavily on the army of companies that provide rental of backline equipment to them every year. What can festival organisers expect when dealing with a a backline rental company and how have they fared during the coronavirus pandemic to be ready for what looks like being a busy festival season in 2022.

The entire music industry relies on a constant feed of new talent to keep the sector healthy but with so many new up and coming performance artists trying to get a break this can be challenging. With recording deals few and far between and the financial rewards reduced most artists and musicians now focus on live performances and music festivals to earn a living.  

Despite the coronavirus pandemic having an impact on the music festival sector new festivals still get announced on a regular basis. Why would anyone want to launch a new music festival in an already overcrowded market where margins are known to be extremely tight even for well-established festival organisers.

Any large scale multi day festival situated in a remote location will need the ability to manage all their operations locally on-site. What are the key requirements for setting up and installing a festival site office to ensure that all the operational logistics can be easily managed away from a fixed office space.

Sponsorship deals are an essential part of every music festival and provide a key revenue stream that contributes towards running costs. Sponsors can vary in size and budget and festival organisers usually offer varying packages to suit potential sponsor budgets. What are the options for sponsors in utilising the pitch space they get as part of their package?

Any large scale multi day festival will have a complex planning schedule created perhaps a year in advance of the festival dates. Tasks are typically assigned to responsible staff with schedules and critical paths being constantly monitored to ensure on time delivery, however, what can organisers do to minimise the impact of something going wrong at the last minute.

A sizable cost of organising and running any music festival is the cost of insurance to cover most eventualities. Some underwriters and insurers may be giving music festivals extra scrutiny in the coming years because of some recent high-profile incidents so will this result in higher premiums for organisers affecting their financial viability.  

Every music festival compromises many moving parts and controlling and managing these can be daunting for even the most experienced festival organisers. Many festival entities have embraced some form of automation to help managed all these moving parts but with so many elements to consider can everything be automated.

Festival-goers, vendors, artists, sponsors and contractors can have a perception of a festival organising entity that may not reflect reality. All these audiences generally think that every festival makes huge profits making it difficult to justify high ticket prices along with organisers driving down prices for contractors and artists.

Any music festival organiser will tell you to expect the unexpected when running a multi-day festival. The unknown is a key element of even the best run music festival and no event is perfect so it is imperative that organisers take steps in their logistics planning to implement a robust escalation process for every conceivable eventuality.

For festival organisers who hold annual events having an accurate record of all the data relating to the event is important in the planning process for future events. The ability to refer back to previous data can help with financial forecasting for future events and make the festival organisation process smoother.

2021 has been an eventful year for the festival sector with plenty of highs and lows to reflect on. It has been another tough year financially for the industry and anyone who works in it but the festival sector has survived intact. The future looks bright with most festivals looking forward to a good year in 2022.  

A subject that is often ignored and receives little publicity is the impact on hearing that musicians and music festival-goers suffer. Hearing loss can take many forms and can affect people later in life but because of the gradual onset is not taken seriously so what actions can vulnerable people take to protect their hearing.

The democratisation of the music industry has increased since the late 70s and continues to be a fundamental aspect of the industry today. The advancements in technology to help create music combined with distribution over the internet have been the engines behind this process but can the same principles be applied to the music festival industry.

Alcohol sales and music festivals have always been closely connected and the amounts of money spent by the big corporate alcohol brands each year on music festival sponsorship amounts to about $1.5 billion. Getting an alcohol brand to sponsor a music festival is a key requirement for festival organisers and always forms part of their overall sales revenue strategy but are there other ways to benefit from alcohol sales. 

Having poor financial planning and budgetary control has been the downfall of many music festivals no matter how well intended they were. What steps can festival organisers take to ensure that they have robust financial processes and procedure in place to avoid future financial difficulty or event cancellation.

The Government Live Events Reinsurance Scheme (LE Reinsurance Scheme) was introduced in September 2021 as a way to provide some financial backing to insurers for event cancellation due to Covid-related reasons. What is the current status of this scheme and what can festival organisers do to get coverage for their 2022 events?

Organising any music festival is a very risky business where the swings between high profit, break even and big losses can be unpredictable. With the coronavirus pandemic now entering a new Omicron wave globally what is the likely impact on the business of running music festivals in 2022 and beyond. 

The number of factors and time critical activities involved in planning and running a music festival can be huge. How can festival organisers use critical path management to plan and control their festival logistics to ensure that everything happens when it should to deliver a quality event on time and within budget.

Most music festivals produce a significant carbon footprint at each event due to the activities of the organisers, vendors and festival-goers. Festival organisers are doing their utmost to reduce the organisation’s carbon footprint but a high proportion comes from festival-goer activity so it is prudent to encourage visitors to make efforts to reduce their own carbon footprint too.

As the holiday period approaches between Christmas and New Year many music festival organisations let their staff take time off. How can organisers automate customer support during this time when they are operating with a skeleton staff to help potential ticket buyers who need assistance.

This may be one of the most important events to take place in 2022 for anyone working in the underground electronic music sector. The new 5-day event is planned for 13th - 17th April 2022 in the popular resort town of Cancun, Mexico. What will this new event deliver for anyone working in the music festival industry and why should they consider attending?

Although the numbers of adult smokers has fallen significantly over the last 20 years the number of festival-goers who smoke is still unusually high. The issue of smoking can be quite divisive so organisers need to find the right balance between restrictions and provision of facilities for those who wish to indulge. 

The numerous small grass roots music festivals that take place in most countries every year often rely on the efforts of a small group of volunteers and are organised by local societies. They are usually local societies that cater for specialist interests in particular music genres but how do they manage to put on their small music festivals every year.    

Providing a luxury VIP experience is part of almost every music festival where festival-goers pay a premium to get a home form home service. The key element that helps to sell any VIP package is the bathroom facilities provided and this can vary from event to event as organisers have a different interpretation of what a VIP service is.

The holiday festive season around Christmas and New Year is traditionally a quiet period for summer festival organisers with most staff taking time off to be with family and friends. How can organisers of next summer's festivals increase and maximise revenue opportunities in the run up to the end of year holiday season.

Getting the right media coverage for a music festival is great but organisers should ensure they manage journalists and photographers attending. Having a good accreditation process in place will help to manage the number of media people on site and that they are genuine journalists and photographers.

Inclement weather can be disastrous for any music festival with numerous examples of festivals being closed prematurely because of bad weather. What steps can organisers take to be the most prepared for potential problems that bad weather may cause by anticipating the weather forecast prior to the event dates.