14 MusicWeek 08.06.12 FEATURE THE TENTH DOWNLOAD
LIVE BY TIM INGHAM
Y
ou have to listen to the people who put their hands in their pockets. We don’t rule them, they rule us. If you’re ignorant to them,
they’ll disappear in their droves.” Live Nation’s Andy Copping knows all about dealing with grumpy customers direct. The man responsible for booking hundreds of acts at Download Festival in the past 10 years – including the 148 artists playing at the event this weekend - boasts over 14,000 followers on Twitter; and they’re not shy in sharing their opinions. “It’s great when they’re saying the bill’s great, but
you’ve also got to deal with it when they’re disgruntled,” he says. “You wake up in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep and two hours later, you’re still banging out tweets. It’s bonkers, but the punter for the most part really appreciates it. We’ve changed so much at Download over the years purely on customer feedback.” Copping credits social media with shifting the
attitude, audience and aspirations of Download over the past decade – introducing a two-way relationship with ticket-holders that has evolved and escalated ever since the first Download arrived in Donington on May 31, 2003. “Categorically, we were the first festival to
embrace social media,” he claims. “We strongly believe the reason the festival has grown is because we’ve given the fans a voice. Our website has won countless awards and our Facebook is marching on to half a million fans.
“I remember when I first booked The Prodigy,
everybody said I was insane and that they didn’t deserve to be at the festival, but I knew they could cross over”
ANDY COPPING, LIVE NATION “On Twitter, people ask me everything from why
FULLY LOADED
The tenth Download Festival takes place this weekend and it’s another sell-out. What makes the annual rock event so unique – and so successful?
I haven’t booked bands to whether they get car parking tickets and where to pitch their tents. I have to make myself available 24 hours 365 days a year.” Download’s debut nine years ago was a deliberate if unofficial successor to the much loved Monsters of Rock event. It took place over two days with 30,000 fans in attendance. There were just two stages, headlined by an unsurprising, if exciting name: Iron Maiden, with Marilyn Manson and Deftones. How times change: Download 2012 is a three-
day event – an extension first seen in 2005 – boasting five stages and little under 100,000 punters.
Its bill is no longer entrenched in trad heavy
rock: although Slash, Metallica and Black Sabbath will keep the end up for world-famous ageing rockers, fans will also find Chase & Status and The Prodigy, who first took Download by storm back in 2006. “I remember when I first booked The Prodigy,
everybody said I was insane and that they didn't deserve to be at the festival,” recalls Copping. “But I’d seen them live and I knew they could cross over to a rock audience. Speak to The Prodigy now and they'll tell you Download is their favourite festival –
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