50 years ago, four young investors—all in their 20s—held a music festival on a dairy farm in rural New York.
Gathering 32 musicians for the three-day event, the organizers planned for an attendance of 50,000.
Over 400,000 came to the show.
And that is how the original Woodstock happened.
Since then, the music festival industry has exploded. From small, local gatherings like Appaloosa that drew in 6,200 attendees last year to the mega-party Coachella that grossed over $100 million in 2017, odds are that there is a music festival happening nearby wherever you happen to be in the US.
The music industry is in revival. If video killed the radio star, then online streaming killed the album salesman. Only a few years ago, music artists feared that streaming and dirt cheap music would deal a lethal blow to the industry. You couldn’t really blame them, as sales at the time were in a steady decline. As it turns out, however, paid streaming has given the industry a much-needed bump, as illegally pirated music gives way to competitively priced subscription services.
This proliferation of online music has given music festivals a special boost. With the world living more and more inside the digital world, authentic and real experiences are becoming more valuable. This rings especially true for music festivals. When cheap music is everywhere, live performances and parties have become something special and unique—an experience people are willing to spend big money on that the internet cannot provide.
Music festivals make for a unique investment. With some festivals growing as much as 50% in attendance by the year, the music scene is starting to perk investors’ ears. Consumers are looking to spend more money on experiences and less on material goods—and fans are willing to pay top dollar for a good quality event. Not to mention music festivals are a great way to diversify both your investment portfolio and your own experiences.
We are very proud of our investment in the North Texas music festival, Fortress Festival —whose third year was the biggest yet and sold out!
Music festivals provide a captive audience of buyers. If you know what you are doing, music festivals can payout big. Once you get the attendees through the gates, you now have multiple days with a captive audience to market further sales to—food, drinks, merchandise, and more. The best festival planners do their homework on their demographic beforehand, looking at what kind of fans the artists bring in, studying their tastes and spending habits. The organizers then tailor the event to sell products they know the crowds will love. Festivals are more than just music experiences—they are a space where the organizers can make a fortune through connecting brands with their ideal audience.
Despite the crowds, the organizers of Woodstock 1969 didn’t make a penny the first year. They did, however, create a legacy and kickstart a world-changing, multi-million dollar industry—one that’s primed for a new generation of smart investors to rock out to.