The failure of Coachella, one of the biggest ongoing music festivals in the United States, to sell out for the second year in a row shook the concert industry recently. Previously, tickets would sell out the day they were made available.
One theory for the decline is ticket prices, which range from $549 to $599 for each of the two festival weekends — about a $100 increase from just four years ago. Another reason is that Coachella keeps increasing audience capacity, meaning it must sell more tickets.
But Coachella also indicates a trend — at least in the U.S. — away from festivals. They’re not only expensive, but fewer people want to pay for this particular experience. When the summer festival craze was at its peak, about 10 years ago, promoters were often competing for the same big-name acts. Though the base appeal of a music festival is the expansive musical buffet, many fans bought tickets based on the artists they were interested in seeing. The reality, however, was that most would prefer to see their favorite acts in standalone concerts.
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