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I've talked a lot about why the economics are less compelling than they once were for the top tier stars to perform at music festivals. But admittedly, I've been too dogmatic about this.
I talked to Crush Music founder and talent manager Jonathan Daniel about Green Day, who will perform at several music festivals this year including BottleRock in Napa. I estimate that BottleRock may pay the band $1 million, which is a fraction of the $4 million gross revenue per show that band's ongoing Saviors tour has made. Even after expenses, the band makes more from their own shows. But legacy bands like Green Day see festivals as a longevity play.
The younger festival goer may not be able name three Green Day songs off memory, but if they heard them, then they may say "Oh THAT song, didn't realize that was Green Day!" In our episode, JD told me that when "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" was featured in the 2024 movie Deadpool vs. Wolverine, the Shazam searches for the song increased by over 200%. Yes, the song that many of us heard at all of our graduations is unknown to a large portion of the population.
Festival, despite the discounted pay day, are arguably the cheapest customer acquisition tool for a legacy act. This is important for Green Day, who wants to perform in stadiums for decades to come. They need to extend their base and attract families. If parents and children can both sing along to their songs, it builds the audience that can come for years to come.
Bands like Guns and Roses and Blink 182 have leveraged their recent Coachella headlining experiences into massively successful tours that will help their legacies live on.
It's a different lens than Kendrick Lamar, who is still in his prime and reportedly (and understandably) turned down Coachella this year. He didn't want to compete with his own GNX Tour with SZA, which has an audience that's much more likely to overlap with the Coachella crowd, and potentially cannibalize his post-Super Bowl halftime show momentum. There may be a time in the future where Kendrick's fanbase is no longer the Coachella fanbase, but not right now.
Listen to the full conversation with me and JD now for more about:
- The nine-figure acquisition offers for Crush that he turned down
- Helping Train launch a wine business that has sold 10 million bottles
- How Sia almost fired him because of "Titanium"
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