Coachella 2008: Will Jack Johnson prevent people from attending?

Coachella 2008 seems to be a hot topic this year. I might consider myself a Coachella enthusiast. Coachella could quite possibly be the best music festival in the United States. In fact, I might venture to say Coachella is what the most recent Woodstock festival was trying to be. Coachella generally has a relatively obscure lineup with a few major headliners but even then the headliners are relatively obscure unless of course the band is launching a reunion via Coachella. This year, one artist seems to be getting everyone's panties in a twist and that artist is Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson is a relatively popular Top 40 artist. Born and raised in Hawaii, you can generally find his tunes streaming through soft rock stations nationwide. For some reason, many people have decided that Jack Johnson is not good enough for Coachella, what ever that might mean. Personally I may have also been shocked when I first saw the lineup but then again, it's Coachella, it is not supposed to make sense. Also, I recently found out about Jack Johnson's environmental activism which in turn made me kind of want the guy at Coachella. In fact, I might even say I was happy that Jack Johnson is supposedly polluting the spirit of Coachella when in fact, he could be trying to spread the good for solar power. Jack Johnson is one of the few if any whom records his albums in a solar powered studio, which Johnson had built. If that is not being active in preserving the environment from a musician's perspective, I do not quite know what is. Naturally, I wanted to know what others had to say about the Coachella lineup, so I ventured out into the blogosphere to find some answers. First I stumbled across a blog by a student at UCLA Radio. Here a student rants about the lineup in an article called "Coachella 2008: Utopia or Jack Johnson-ed?" The writer is quite clearly disappointed in the lineup especially due to Jack Johnson. The second blog I found entitled "Coachella? Meh." can be found in a Washington Post blog. This writer is also disappointed with the lineup.

Coachella 2008: Utopia or Jack Johnson-ed?

Comment: I agree with you that Coachella is indeed what dreams are made of. I might say Coachella is the perfect music festival. When I first heard about the Coachella lineup, I too was annoyed by Jack Johnson's inclusion. When setting him next to all the other artists it hardly made sense. However, being a Coachella enthusiast, I decided I would deal with Jack Johnson. Not only would I deal with Jack Johnson, but I would find a reason to accept him. Not that I want to pester you, but perhaps I may convince you to rethink your decision and attend Coachella this year. Yes Jack Johnson is playing, but surely there will be at least four other bands to check out during his set and plenty of art with which to interact. Coachella is more than just the lineup. It resides in a giant polo field with five stages and numerous interactive art exhibits. The crowd is almost always friendly no mater who is involved which you note that hipsters, metal heads and more can congregate to enjoy the music. Perhaps most importantly, Coachella is a fantastic place to find out about new music. Never mind checking out every single MySpace link, see a new band live. Surely an opinion can change based on live performance. I will absolutely agree that $270 is a bit steep but when you think of where all the money is being split up it makes sense. Coachella may be expensive but it is also the cleanest and most sanitary music festival. Portable toilets are constantly cleaned and trash strewn across the festival grounds is almost non existent. Also, the fields that Coachella spans leave plenty of room for people to be and not be watching or listening to music. Perhaps to change you mind about Jack Johnson, I can open your eyes to his environmental activism. Many people do not know that he has built a solar powered recording studio and regularly records there. Yes Jack Johnson may be a little mainstream, but he is on our side and he doing something positive to make change. He may not be your favorite artist, but perhaps you can at least respect him.

Coachella? Meh.

Comment: As you are from the east coast I agree that perhaps this year's Coachella is not worth your travel considering the slough of wonderful festival headed your way. At first, I was suspicious of Jack Johnson, but I am a Coachella enthusiast and attend the festival for much more than the few headlining acts. You did mention all the east coast festivals coming up this year and I would like to point out that Coachella potentially had last draft pick as far as Goldenvoice starting All Point's West this year. Surely, the concert promoter would like people to travel out east to visit the first of their east coast festival. Naturally they would littler the birth of the east coast festival with significantly more attractive bands. On the note of Jack Johnson, you as well as many other people have denounced Goldenvoice for their choice. However, there is more to Jack Johnson than meets the eye. He is, in fact, quite an environmental activist. One many even call him "green". Jack Johnson has built a solar powered recording studio where he regularly records his music. This is certainly a step in the right direction and perhaps enough of a step to land a spot at Coachella. What is so bad about his music anyway? It will be a nice way to relax in the desert after a long and hot day of running between stages. Regardless of Jack Johnson, Coachella exists for many more reasons than the headlining bands and surely you will take that into account when choosing whether or not to attend. Although, many of the same acts are playing one or more of the festivals that will be closer to your home and perhaps Coachella really is not worth the drive. As far as I am concerned, I will be there and hopefully enjoying every minute.

The End of an Era: Live Nation Unlikely to Renegotiate a Deal with Ticketmaster

Anyone who has attended a concert in the last ten years probably bought tickets to the event from Ticketmaster, which has more or less monopolized the web based ticket-purchasing business. The average person probably could not even name another ticketing website. However, the time soon comes to reevaluate the way Ticketmaster has been mistreating its customers. The ever so unpleasant convenience charge will be a woe of the past. Ticketmaster's long term contract to sell concert tickets for Live Nation is to come to an end December of this year. January 1, 2009 will mark the first day of Live Nation's freedom to revive the concert industry. In light of the loss of Live Nation, Ticketmaster has designed various side operations known as secondary ticket sellers. These companies buy numerous seats just as an event goes on sale and then resells the seats for three to six times face value. With the termination of the contract, Live Nation has a chance to turn the souring industry around.

Over the years since Live Nation split from Clear Channel it has earned the coveted position as North America's largest concert promoter, not to mention its stock has more than doubled. The company has already shaken up the music industry by signing a deal with Madonna. With such a position in the live music industry, ticket sales for Live Nation events make up about 15 percent of Ticketmaster's overall revenues. The loss of Live Nation has the potential to cause a severe blow to Ticketmaster's billion dollar business. Ticketmaster is known for its obscene service and convenience charges that generally raise ticket prices 25-35 percent. Michael Rapino, Cheif Executive Officer of Live Nation, feels Ticketmaster's reputation has prevented people from attending concerts. "Seventy percent of people didn't go to a concert last year, and even the average concert fan only attends about two shows a year," Rapino noted. The key to explanding the concert industry is less expensive concert tickets. However, there is more to this than just lowering ticket prices and taking a cut of Ticketmaster's monopoly. Rapino is looking to revolutionize the concert industry and the role his company plays in the growing industry. "When a fan buys a ticket, we learn an enormous amount about them: What bands they like, where they live, how much they are willing to spend," Rapino said. "Someday, a fan will be sitting in a bar and his cellphone will text message 'Sonic Youth are playing tonight. Do you want to go?' He'll buy his ticket over the phone and walk to the concert." One of the main problems with the music industry is its lack to grasp new technology. Rapino realizes the importance of understanding the consumer. In fact, in a brilliant marketing move, he chooses to focus on consumer wants and needs. According to Live Nation executive and operator of the Electric Factory, Larry Magid claims, "You have to be more responsive to fans nowadays."

With the music industry slowly sinking into a bottomless pit as payback for overcharging fans for recorded music over the years, Ticketmaster might want to reconsider its profit making strategy. Of course the company needs to generate a revenue, but if another company can generously reduce ticket prices, Ticketmaster might be in for a rough ride. However, Live Nation could be in for a rougher ride. By the end of last year, Live Nation stock had plummeted by 43 percent. Wall Street is worried by Rapino's bold moves. While supporting ventures into other profit areas, perhaps some of the deals may be overly ambitious. There is even some talk that Live Nation over payed for the Madonna contract priced somwhere around 110 million dollars. In an article at Ticket News, Brian Thompson and Alfred Branch, Jr. state, "While the move to take over its own ticketing from Ticketmaster will no doubt help Live Nation improve its profitability by cutting out the middle man, there are certainly costs associated with building a ticketing operation". They go on to discuss the necessity of offices, investors and an entire team devoted to the ticketing department which currently do not exist at Live Nation. Live Nation has entered a ten year agreement with CTS Eventim, the largest European ticketing company based in Germany. The deal will allow Live Nation to utilize the Eventim ticketing platform which is arguably the most technologically advanced ticketing system in the world. According to Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner at Ticket News, "The new ticketing platform will allow Live Nation to control customer data, to create enhanced ticket-based concert products and to capitalize on expanded distribution channels and sponsorship opportunities." Rapino has found himself a company that will help him achieve his new profit goals. Though his moves may be bold it seems he has a clear path set for his company. Rapino goes on to explain the technological advancement of the Eventim ticketing system as well as how Live Nation hopes to use the concert ticket as a means of bring artists closer to the fans.

Regardless, the end of Live Nation's contract with Ticketmaster marks the end of an era in the live music industry but also leaves room for less expensive concert tickets and more satisfied concert goers. As the hackneyed strategy of concert as promotional tool for recorded album deteriorates, the live music industry will be the means of the paradigm shift. Soon the recorded album will switch places with the live show and become the promotional tool for the concert experience. As quickly as the CD sunk to the bottom, the concert experience will rise to the top of music industry revenue. Simple as it may be to illegally download mp3s, watching a YouTube video of a concert could never replace the experience of being a member of the audience.