Sal, what do you think of this music?

In a festival it is the vendor licenses which make almost as much as the ticket revenue. However, if nobody comes or weather does not cooperate it is very risky. A person could put five to six know vintage acts together and sprinkle in some very cheap fillers and spend less than 35k on the music. You would have to find an outdoor venue which allows overnight camping and had hotels near which could take care of the older festival goers who were not healthy enough to camp. You are looking at 30 bucks a person venue costs and 35 bucks per person music costs for a basis of 65 bucks, and you would set your market at between 1k and 2k tickets at 90 bucks a ticket.

90k to 180k gross revenue, 25k to 50k net profit with 10k vendor fees for a 35k to 60k profit for the investors. However, there are liability exposure expenses, and security beyond the venue negotiated price. Also most online ticket agents are going to take 10%, and rental of sound stages for the weekend are going to cost 5k so you will have additional costs of 14k to 32k on the high attendance end. Now you are only talking about 21k to 28k profit with huge risks of groups backing out, weather cancellations, and increased marketing costs if ticket sales are not happening. However, a big buck guy who is only getting 3% on their money is willing to take risks when you are only talking about 35k outlay to get close to a 100% return in one weekend. Lots of work, but these oldie groups are finding these type of festivals all over the country every weekend during the summer, and music lovers are attending.

The Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores is growing year by year.

The festival was attended by 13,000–15,000 people per day in 2010. Attendance in 2011 had to be capped at 35,000 per day, an unprecedented number for the second year of a music festival in the region, due to safety concerns.[5][6][7][8] The 2011 event was estimated to have generated approximately $30 million for the Gulf Shores area economy.[8] Advance tickets for the 2012 event, which continues to be capped at 35,000 attendees per day, sold out within one hour.[9] General admission tickets sold out on February 21, 2012, almost three months prior to the event.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangout_Music_Festival

I went last year because single day tickets were made available. But this year it's all three-day tickets priced at over $200 and no single-day tickets.

But then there's another annual music festival east of Tallahassee which is also commercially successful. But rather than the more contemporary headliners at Hangout, it's selling the kind of music which appeals to an older audience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanee_Festival

http://www.waneefestival.com/

We have called promoters to assist us. We have been considering this for a year, and these young kids come in and tell us that they have to have music until 3 am, that they have to control all vendors, that they will take care of all security at the venue, and they will book the acts.......what do we want for a bottom line? It drives us crazy. First, these bastards do not understand that the investors want to build a continuing business, and these promoters have a history of shutting down venues because of complaints. So they take all the money and destroy a venue who now has to deal with zoning, neighbors, leo, and health departments for their one weekend screw up.

By planning a 1-2k event you almost have to work with a popular local radio show and in conjunction with the same promote the festival yourself, but if you have a 50k commitment of resources and you sell 400 tickets, the investor is going to lose their entire 35k upfront money. We are hoping to try to pull off a late June or late August festival, but after a year of realizing we cannot trust the people who have the knowledge, and that we are babes in the woods, it is highly doubtful that an oldies festival will materialize, yet the main investor is determined to make this work.

Bob wrote:Do a karaoke of "Time of the Season" for me and add it to this thread.

Bob I gave my Karaoke machine to my grandkids...I might try to cobble together a mic into a laptop and see if I can croak it out...  

TEOTWAWKI wrote:

Bob wrote:Do a karaoke of "Time of the Season" for me and add it to this thread.

Bob I gave my Karaoke machine to my grandkids...I might try to cobble together a mic into a laptop and see if I can croak it out...  

I'll put it on the jukebox. I'm getting enough of your stuff to put a whole Teo CD on it. lol

This is the mecca of music festivals in our region, seaoat, and it's happening right now. It's got Clapton this year too. I'd go but I don't want to have to be in crowds that big. You have to get in front of the stage a half day in advance to get close enough to see Clapton without a telescope.

But check out this promotional video they made for it this year to present the lineup. It's remarkable...

Bob wrote:

TEOTWAWKI wrote:

Bob wrote:Do a karaoke of "Time of the Season" for me and add it to this thread.

Bob I gave my Karaoke machine to my grandkids...I might try to cobble together a mic into a laptop and see if I can croak it out...  

I'll put it on the jukebox.  I'm getting enough of your stuff to put a whole Teo CD on it.  lol

Bob I tried it but it makes doing the BeeGees look easy...I will keep trying my voice changes slightly morning noon and night maybe I can hit those high notes tonite...it won't sound anything like me and that may be a good thing...  

Interesting couple of bands you picked there, Bob.

I've listened to those Zombies songs many, many times on oldies radio.

I'd describe them as inoffensive and unremarkable.

They certainly never struck me like a thunderbolt or prompted me to want to hear them again or get the music for myself.

I had the opposite reaction to the Allman Brothers.

The first time I heard Whipping Post, I was completely blown away and inspired to steal the album from the old hippie lawyer whose apartment I was painting at the time.

lol

Sal wrote:

I'd describe them as inoffensive and unremarkable.

They certainly never struck me like a thunderbolt or prompted me to want to hear them again or get the music for myself.

Music like all art is of course a subjective experience,  Sal.  

But you should know that many music critics now say that what Lennon/McCartney did with Sgt. Pepper and what Rod Argent/Chris White did with Odessey and Oracle led the way to rock and roll becoming more "progressive".  Although of course, at that time,  the Zombies' effort was completely overshadowed by the Beatles.  Especially since once they left the recording studio,  the Zombies were no longer in existence.  

It would be analogous to when George Carlin underwent his transition to "progressive" comedy.  It all happened at roughly the same time and opened the door to new ideas for music and comedy.

But as I said, it's all subjective. When I sent those youtubes to my girlfriend, she said "it sucks". "I don't like looking at them". "They don't sing that good and their timing is off". "I don't see the big deal". lol