Coachella

The brand is bigger than the acts. Which is why so many festivals have failed recently, they believe it's about the lineup. If you're dependent upon the lineup to sell tickets, you're screwed. You need to be selling more than music, you need to be selling CULTURE! Now my biggest takeaway from Coachella so far is the anointment of Leah Halton as the "most beautiful girl alive" on social media as a result of her Coachella "appearance." Never heard of her? Then you're neither social media nor news savvy, because this story has been EVERYWHERE! But this is the tale of the past fifteen years, the internet's flattening of society, the swarming of traditional voices with those of nobodies, the connection of the younger generation online. And all the Baby Boomers and Gen-X'ers want to do is decimate it! Let's be honest... Does someone well-adjusted commit suicide after talking to a chatbot? OF COURSE NOT! So we had violence in movies, violence in videogames, lyrics on records that needed warnings... All those wars, did they make a bit of difference? All these years later, one must ask whether there ever really was a problem. Ditto on social media and the internet. Come on, people like Elon Musk and Sarah Silverman play videogames, they're 54 and 55 respectively. Videogames are now part of the culture. As are influencers. In gatekeeper culture all eyes are on those who make it through the sieve, and they're given undue powers, never mind they oftentimes don't deserve them. People need other people, to react to, believe in, this is what the internet provides, this is what oldsters hate. Because if you don't play by modern internet rules, you lose. Rule #1? You need constant contact with the public. You must create at all times. This is where young musical stars get it and the old ones do not. They say they're "artists," that to post on social media is below them. WRONG! Young people know that social media is part of their art, another way to expose their identity, their sense of humor, to bond themselves to their audience. But influencers have one over on most musical acts. The goal of musical acts is to become a brand and then create brand extensions. The problem here is these extensions are too far from their identities. Kim Kardashian, who is selling visuals, a shapely body, sells SKIMS. Kim's sister Kylie made her money selling cosmetics, supposedly a billion, more than almost all musical acts. But it's not just the Kardashians... The influencers... They're selling image, clothing, cosmetics, and they tie in with the manufacturers who pay them directly, and sometimes they sell these products themselves. It's seamless. The beauty influencers uses this foundation...YOU GO AND BUY THAT FOUNDATION! Of course there's an element of FOMO involved, but when has FOMO not existed? The public used to look to celebrities for clues, for influences. But the celebrities rested on their laurels, thought they were above it, immune. Now a movie star means little, they're empty vessels, they stand for nothing. But the influencers? Now for a while there Coachella continued to drive in its preestablished lane, as a festival of new music, with roots in the old days, with acts who often started in the old days. But the audience for these aged acts died out, no one wanted to come see the reunion of a band whose members were now in their fifties or sixties. No, like MTV, Coachella cast aside its old audience and focused on the new, as it should continue to do. As for Justin Bieber singing along with YouTube videos on his Mac...I thought that was brilliant, but let's remember, he debuted as a recording artist in 2009, SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO! A lot of the audience wasn't even familiar with his early hits, they were barely out of diapers. No, even Bieber is background, all the acts...Goldenvoice is presenting an environment, wherein the attendees vie for social status. That's what Coachella is all about. As for grazing and discovering new acts... It's too hot and you can't get close and almost all of the acts on the undercard are never going to be heard from again, why shoot a selfie? But the FOOD! Coachella has doubled-down on offerings, that's what influencers and other attendees really want to photograph. And then there are the brands with their experiences... To a punter, someone who actually goes to Coachella, what do they feel when they hear about these houses/events? LEFT OUT! That's what's missing in today's world, scarcity. To focus on the commercialization of Coachella is to miss the point, because THAT IS THE POINT! What Goldenvoice is selling is an experience. And the media has been convinced that this experience deserves attention. To read the reviews of the performances is laughable, that's not what people on the polo fields are really talking about, they're talking about each other, the great unwashed, the hoi polloi! You can get up close and personal with a famous influencer, not someone on stage. And the influencers know it's not one and done, they're there for the entire festival, all three days, if not more...taking the stage on one day? That's for the acts, a completely separate category. The action is all down in the pit, not on the stage. So... Festivals have to focus on the penumbra, the experience. And with individual acts refraining from playing, since they can make just as much dough or more alone... If you're looking for next year's headliners, you're already gone. As for the public and the influencers themselves... Don't try to beat them at their own game, your role is different. But most of the acts today are chasing the same dream... Fame. And the money it generates. The actual music... Would a real artist listen to the label and use an outside writer? Didn't Tom Petty stand up against all this? Justin Bieber ain't Tom Petty, nor is Sabrina Carpenter. Carpenter is sex light. This is not the edgy sexual tension of the seventies, never mind the eighties and Madonna. Carpenter, unlike the Rolling Stones, is so safe you can bring her home to mama! No, if you want to be a successful act today you have to be honest and credible and do it differently. Sure, you've got to post on social media, but garnering sponsorships, selling clothing...that leaves you little different from the nobodies online. You've got to refrain from that, do it your own way, which requires creativity, which is in short supply. This is a sea change. The audience has become the star. Just go to a show and watch people talk and shoot selfies during the performance. A recording of having been there is more important than being there! As for the brands... They're hipper than the music business. They're going where the money is, the exposure, they want bang for their buck. Why settle for signage on stage when you can pay an influencer with millions of followers to rave about your product in an intimate video online? Coachella as a place to break bands is toast. Coachella as a cultural driver, as a focus of America, the world, as a place where the public comes and creates content which is then instantly spread around the globe, is number one! Where we go from here... Ask yourself what you want. If you desire money, there are more avenues than ever before. If you consider yourself a musician, know that we live in an attention economy, and if you can't garner attention, which you must manufacture yourself, constantly, it's your own damn fault. And if you're a promoter... You go where the bucks are. Used to be the labels broke the acts and the promoters followed in their wake, hoovering up dollars. Then the promoters not only sold what was established, but broke acts too. Now everything is in the hands of consumers, it's about discerning trends, seeing what is hot, and capitalizing on it. To make it today, you've got to be totally dialed-in. It's not something you can learn in business school, it's not even something you can learn in college. You can only win today if you're online 24/7, like the younger generations who dominate the culture. To do otherwise is a fool's errand. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25