16 Music Week 28.06.13
BUSINESSANALYSIS UK FESTIVALS EDITORIAL
New acts getting satisfaction on festival bills
“What a drag it is getting old,” reflected Mick Jagger on The Rolling Stones’ Mother’s Little Helper back in 1965 at the tender age of 22. Less than a month away from his 70th birthday, old rubber lips will be strutting his stuff again during the Saturday night headline slot at what, incredibly, will be the band’s first-ever Glastonbury Festival performance.
Their appearance on the Pyramid Stage half a century after their debut gig at the Marquee Club hardly paints a picture of youth of a festival market that in recent times has become over-reliant on the old troopers. This same weekend 63-year-old Bruce Springsteen will be closing proceedings at Hard Rock Calling, backed by his group of the last four decades, the E Street Band.
“There are enough new acts of quality around to warrant prominent places on festival bills - the real test will come in how many of those can work their way up to headline status”
Springsteen and The Stones’ presence suggests little has
progressed since Music Week last threw the spotlight on the starring acts at the main UK festivals a couple of years back and found that of the 19 headline artists at seven of the biggest events that year just two of them had broken through during the previous three years.
But dig a little deeper and the outlook starts to look a little more encouraging - maybe partially easing the fears of some who understandably worry what will happen when the old guard are no longer around to pull in the crowds. Even at headline level some newer name are creeping in. Alongside Mick, Keith and co at Glastonbury, Mumford & Sons occupy the Sunday night closing slot less than four years after the release of their first album, while Friday night headliners Arctic Monkeys could hardly be described as ancient. Springsteen’s place at Hard Rock Calling, meanwhile, is
contrasted by Saturday night headliners Kasabian who have achieved this status nearly a decade after the release of their first album. Similarly, Biffy Clyro will be one of the headliners at Reading/Leeds over the August Bank Holiday six years after their Top 10 album breakthrough with Puzzle. That is the kind of career progression we moan doesn’t happen often enough in the industry these days. Below the headline names the story is even more promising in
terms of newer artists. On every one of the leading festivals’ main stages, acts who broke through this century are by far the most prominently represented and in most cases those who emerged in the current decade have the greatest presence. This includes Glastonbury where 36.4% of the Pyramid Stage acts this year have made it since 2009. All this should at least show there are enough new acts of
quality around to warrant prominent places on festival bills, although the real test will come in terms of how many of those lower down the rankings this year can work their way up to headline status. The likes of Mumford & Sons and Biffy Clyro have done that this summer, providing inspiration to others it can be possible.
Paul Williams, Head of Business Analysis Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing
paul.williams@intentmedia.co.uk
www.musicweek.com
FIELD MUSIC
What kind of artists are set to clean up after this weekend’s big summer music festival shows? EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LIVE BY PAUL WILLIAMS
G
lastonbury returns after a two-year absence on Friday and will reflect a summer of festivals dominated by rock music.
Despite the genre having continued to take more
of a back seat since the last Worthy Farm event in 2011, especially in the singles market, Music Week research reveals that, when it comes to the main stages of the leading festivals, rock still rules. Led by headliners Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling
Stones (pictured above) and Mumford & Sons, rock acts make up 59.1% of the names this year on Glastonbury’s key Pyramid Stage with nine further acts representing other genres. Joining the rock line-up that includes Jake Bugg, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Vampire Weekend is an urban bill featuring Dizzee Rascal and Professor Green, Swedish folk act First Aid Kit, country legend Kenny Rogers and a trio of world music acts including Rakia Traore. Rock’s domination is felt even more on
Glastonbury’s second-ranked Other Stage with 18 of the 22 acts (81.8%) playing from the genre, including Alt-J, The Lumineers, Smashing Pumpkins and The xx, who all appear alongside the likes of chart-topping dance act Example and US rapper Azealia Banks. However, Glastonbury’s more diverse music mix is reflected on its other nine stages, including disco kings Chic featuring
Rock dominant format on most of leading festivals’ main stages, including making up 59.1% of Pyramid Stage acts at Glastonbury Typically 60% or more of acts on biggest festivals’ main stages this year are British Acts who broke through this century dominate main stage line-ups, including making up 81.4% of the bill at Reading/Leeds Some 86.6% of Glastonbury’s Other Stage artists emerged since the millennium Arctic Monkeys’ Friday night Glastonbury slot is one of season’s few exclusive festival headline bookings
Nile Rodgers, rap pioneers Public Enemy, and soul veteran Bobby Womack all due to play the West Holts Stage. Rock’s heavy presence at Glastonbury, which has
diversified its music line-up in recent years including Jay-Z headlining in 2008 and Beyonce following in 2011, is reflected by the season’s other main non-genre-specific festivals. Rock is by some distance the principal genre on the main stages this year at Hard Rock Calling, Isle of Wight, Reading/Leeds, T In The Park and V, plus the newly-launched Barclaycard British Summer Time, while naturally ruled the annual rock music event Download Festival held in Donington Park a couple of weekends ago. Glastonbury shares its place in the calendar this weekend with Hard Rock Calling - which has
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