The Case for Music Festival Software in Pandemic Times

Music Festival Software Had a Huge Purpose Before 2020

Until early 2020, live music festivals steadily increased in popularity, particularly for millennials who generally prefer to spend their money on experiences rather than accumulating material items. They were driving ticket sales and the number of music festivals across the country. 

Billboard reported more than 32 million people to attend at least one live music festival each year. On average, the U.S. alone hosts over 800 annual fests. Experts predicted these events and concerts would reach $20 billion in 2020.

Then came COVID-19.

The pandemic changed everything, including, of course, the live music scene. We know the related restrictions won’t last forever. The whole industry is getting ready for when it’s safe to start booking again and welcome the hoards of people who will show up. 

The crowds will be more ready than ever to enjoy live music, perhaps even with a greater appreciation for it. How can leading promoters and venue owners manage this upcoming surge in live events’ interest? For many, music festival software is the only way.

Music Festival Margins are Challenging

Music festivals may be very attractive and, to the inexperienced eye, they could make millions. But when you dig a little deeper, you can prove margins are pretty thin, even with record-high ticket prices. 

The expenses never seem to end and include artists’ booking, venue, administration, marketing, safety, production, and staff. Revenue streams are not as prolific. They come from ticket sales, merchandise, food and beverages, and sponsorships. To just break even, promoters have to typically sell at least 80% of their tickets. 

When you’re talking about organizing a music festival hosting dozens of bands and thousands of guests, often across multiple days or weekends, things can quickly get complicated, even chaotic. 

For venue owners and managers, booking all the artists, managing their contracts, and staying on top of the constant changes requires countless hours of labor and an extreme focus on organization. A seemingly minor variation in schedules, availability and other areas can throw plans out the window, spelling disaster for the festival and revenue.

Related: How Do You Plan A Concert Checklist?

Investing in these festivals is a high risk, and now, stakeholders have to worry about post-COVID-19 measures and considerations.

Taking a quick look back at 2020, Coachella and Stagecoach – two of the largest music festivals on the planet – announced cancellations in light of the pandemic. These were no easy decisions to make. Both festivals grossed dozens of millions of dollars in ticket sales alone. Collectively, these festivals were predicted to generate $1.4 billion in profits just in 2020. 

This was a significant amount of money to leave on the table. If you multiply it by the 800 music festivals across the country, it’s easy to see the damage this pandemic has done to the industry.

It’s 2021 now, and public safety is still a top priority. International travel restrictions persist, and fears of infection could still keep artists and some fans from attending a live music festival. The big question is: Will these events return to normal anytime soon? 

While no one knows the answer for sure, Israel and New Zealand are already proof of widespread vaccination effectiveness with the first public massive events taking place safely. 

Therefore, getting ready with the best music festival software to make planning, bookings, and management processes seamless is an excellent move everywhere else, including the U.S.

Music Festival Software Makes Life Easier

Ask any talent buyer or venue manager, and they will tell you one of their biggest challenges is staying organized. There are hundreds of moving parts, particularly with music festivals, and trying to keep on top of everything is a full-time job. 

If you’re like many business managers, you are likely using multiple systems to automate at least some of the tasks, but those systems are often outdated and disconnected. 

Here’s the problem: When apps aren’t integrated and sharing data between them, you not only have the hassle of having to switch back and forth between tools, but you’re also not ever getting a truly comprehensive picture of your business in real-time.

Sure, manual processes and complex spreadsheets are still popular, but only because people think they are their only options. Instead of helping, these disconnected systems just slow things down and make it difficult to be productive and make faster decisions. 

Change wreaks havoc, and errors in manual data transfer result in more work and apologies. You’re likely never 100% positive of the accuracy or reliability of your stats, including financial data.

So here’s the good news: Premium music festival software automates existing processes and gives you visibility into every aspect of the business. This is essential because you can be more productive, proactive, and organized with less effort when you can see every part of your work as it happens. 

You can witness how valuable this capability is during this pandemic when so much is at stake. Things are changing daily. Talent buyers and venue owners have to control every aspect the best they can. 

Music festival software makes streamlining processes more straightforward to reduce costs and ultimately increase profits.

Related: How to Effectively Market Your Music Venue – Even Now

Your music festival planning may be coming to life right now. At some point, you know festivals will return. 

In the meantime, you’re probably attempting to reschedule artists or keeping in touch with their agents to stay in the loop. It is also an optimal time to get organized and assess which tools and processes you are currently using to see if they are working for you or against you. 

With festival margins already thin, whatever you can do to streamline your processes and become more efficient can only help you stay more organized, become competitive, and reduce costs.

Here are just a few of the capabilities top music festival software can give you:

• Comprehensive calendar management where you can easily manage holds, shows, and markets on a centralized calendar the whole team can work from
• Instant offer generation with real-time break-even calculations so you can more accurately predict revenue, profit, and break-even across deals and scenarios
• Total visibility into revenue, expenses, and return on investments (ROI) at multiple levels with real-time and historical views, even linking directly to your ticketing platform for automatic and real-time updates
• Customized settlements to track and report adjustments, payout methods, and additional costs and revenue
• Centralized collaboration platform to keep you, your team, and your stakeholders connected virtually so you can track status, progress, and communications in one place
• Interactive, easy-to-read dashboard with all of the critical metrics, such as sales trends, profitability, taxes paid and owed, and employee productivity

You can access the best music festival software from any device. You don’t have to be tied to your desk or wait to get back with someone about an issue when you return to the office. You and your team can be more productive, getting more done than ever before with less effort.During this unprecedented time, investing in state-of-the-art technology will make you and your team more efficient, organized, and informed. Prism will help you visualize what matters most to increase profits, optimize resources, and improve your ability to compete. We all can’t wait for music festivals to return. And when they do, you’ll be in a better position to organize, manage and profit from them. Get started now.