2013/ the future of soni?

[GazzaScotland]

Oh of course, if they are sticking with the same art thats fine. Just the way you said it, wouldn't look great changing the design half way through.

[willutalk]

THE UK'S WEBSITE:

http://sonisphere.co.uk/page/2/

THE WORLD WEBSITE:

http://sonispherefestivals.com/

From these sources I think Soni UK are doing something: BUT

I think if Soni UK is to go ahead, announcing soonish (not long after Christmas) is key. Download are to announce more bands before Chrimbo and R and L are gunna announce a headliner before Chrimbo as well !!

[luckysalt]

With competition for punters fierce, and as you say Reading learning that the sooner you get your info out there the better, you see Reading and Leeds now do the deposit scheme as does Download so you need to give people a reason to do the scheme.

Soni have that to compete with, no deposit scheme, peoples money may be tied up elsewhere before Soni have announced

[kipper64]

The other 2 images on the sonispherefestivals.com homepage are for madrid and Finland by the way.

Though as with last year, more will probably be added, Poland and Switzerland have always been successful and went ahead last year so would be surprised to not see those return.

[SOAD]

Getting antsy thinking about Soni... if it doesnt happen I'm tempted to go somewhere else but really don't want to... Soni is prob my fave fest ever and I for one was stoked about this years lineup excluding two of the headliners... the rest of the bill was great. Not often you see Marilyn Manson doing less than sub.

Edited November 19, 2012 by SOAD

[CC Breville]

There's been a lot of detective work on the Soni forums, which have been down for most of the day btw.

It's all a bit pointless though isn't it? I know people like to try and figure these things out but surely a decision has been made about the UK fest by now? Communcation is the key and it's not difficult to keep people updated. Fair enough, there may be negotiations going on but most other 2013 fests have dates announced so that people can at least book time off, arrange hotels/travel and most importantly - not spend the money on something else. Maybe an announcement in mid Jan when everyone is skint?

[biffoire]

I think the lack of communication shows a complete lack of confidence in the event by the organisers.

[willutalk]

Yeah no Facebook posts/Tweets since 9th November (except a retweet) very much unlike Reading (who actually don't need to start talking about tickets or stuff because it's much later in the season) or Download (who are announcing bands and getting in ticket buyers). Plus I can't get onto the Soni forums cuz of a server error.

[biffoire]

It made me laugh when someone asked on there what could be done to keep people interested in the forums.....

Er announce some bands, or that the event is actually happening?

I mean seriously. What level of engagement do they expect to have when they haven't even indicated whether they're returning or not.

[Black_Crow]

It made me laugh when someone asked on there what could be done to keep people interested in the forums.....

Er announce some bands, or that the event is actually happening?

[Black_Crow]

Yeah no Facebook posts/Tweets since 9th November (except a retweet) very much unlike Reading (who actually don't need to start talking about tickets or stuff because it's much later in the season) or Download (who are announcing bands and getting in ticket buyers). Plus I can't get onto the Soni forums cuz of a server error.

[GuitarManDan15]

Yeah they do moan about absolutely nothing nowadays, but people are moaning about genuinely poor communication and poor customer relations. The proof is in the pudding, if soni were good at communicating and had brilliant relations with non fan-boy customers, these issues would not be being discussed.

I eagerly wait your irrational highly charged blinkered response

[kipper64]

To be fair it's sort of a lose-lose situation. People say "bad communication" but last year they tried the whole "announcement soon" and teasing with pictures of covered up posters, that scuzz show that teased headliners etc.. and people complained that they didn't want to be teased.

People will complain no matter what, unless they get the info they want. Which is essentially bands, and good ones. However obviously bands can't be announced right now for whatever reason. So until then they've said a few times they'll just sit tight this time around and only announce when it's going to happen for a fact and they have the bands and the bands are ready to announce.

It sucks, but that's how it is.

As for the forums, we were sorting out an invisible spambot invasion. Their spamposts don't go through anyways as they need to be approved, but we wanted to purge all the accounts and filter out all the requests. They should be up properly now though, or in the process of being put back up now it's been dealt with.

EDIT: As I said before as well, I think it's more a case of err-ing on the side of caution. I think they know that especially with last year, things can go tits up, headliners can mess you around/drop out/whatever, and if they committed to an event taking place without everything being in place, and having to either have a half-hearted attempt again, or cancel after confirming again, they'd be in a very bad position, and they've got more to think about than just the festival, seeing as they are first and foremost a gig promoter in general. Being completely indie and not having the backing of a large company like Livenation for example too means there is probably less room for them to screw up, especially as they've spent the last 4 years building up a good business seemingly as a promoter in general - they still seem to be getting just as, if not bigger gigs these days.

Edited November 20, 2012 by kipper64

[biffoire]

The thing is Kip. Theres a difference between being a bit criptic about the headliners or announcing them late and staying silent over whether the festival will happen or not.

I mean seriously, it's a wall of silence with the most reliable source being the local rag.

[mrtourette]

It certainly isn't the way to win back your audience. Six months ago a number of people correctly said that if Soni wanted to make a real attempt at getting back then it would have to get it's house in order and come out all guns blazing, but as with this year (and we all know how that ended) it all seems rather limp and overshadowed by Download. They even risk getting trumped by R&L if their announcement in the next couple of weeks competes with what Soni might offer (Sabbath for example).

Some of it may not be their fault but it doesn't instill confidence and no matter what the reasons behind it are you have to acknowledge that it's far from ideal and isn't the best way to try and get back into the game.

[biffoire]

It may not be their fault. But as Kipper rightly pointed out.... It sucks, but that's how it is.

So late announcement could mean weak consumer confidence which might lead to poor ticket sales. And we all know where that leads.

Soni are the kings of announcing when the announcements will be so this uncharacteristic silence can't be a good thing. They need to start generating hype if it's going ahead.

[Dan R]

Anyone think they could wait a year to bring back the UK leg? They seem to change where they run them quite often so could take this year to recover and start working on 2014? At least then they could be ready to announce before Download and try and do a proper comeback.

[eFestivals]

The thing is Kip. Theres a difference between being a bit criptic about the headliners or announcing them late and staying silent over whether the festival will happen or not.

the thing is, they can make all the "coming soon" noises they like, but, particularly in light of last year, they don't mean anything without the substance of a real announcement of what's happening.

They could of course announce the date, but unless that comes with bands it doesn't really mean very much, cos with a date but no bands there's still no festival.

I've no idea if it's coming back or not - everyone tells me it is, but they're not going to undermine themselves by saying it isn't while it's still a possibility - but if it is then (aside from not having announced this early) I'd say they're going about it the right way.

And how early they're able to announce is not really within their control. While they can chase all the bands they like and try to sign them, when a band chosoes to sign is within the control of the bands and not the festival. Given what happened with Soni this year then it's likely that most bigger bands would sit and wait to see what other offers they might get before deciding on Soni - because while Soni might choose to offer more money than a band might get at another fest, they only get that money if the festival actually happens.

And all of that is the straightforwards side of things ... what we don't know is what might be going on in the background from other promoters, who might feel that it's worth their while to try and hamper what Soni is trying to do - because the more successful that Soni is, the less successful the competing fests are likely to be.

[mrtourette]

True, I heard that Andy Copping has been phoning around management companies telling them that if their bands play Soni then "they'll never work in this town again, and that's a promise from the Maverick".

I also understand that when he did this he was on speakerphone so that he could make two pistols with his fingers and fire them into the air.

Edited November 21, 2012 by mrtourette

[biffoire]

True, I heard that Andy Copping has been phoning around management companies telling them that if their bands play Soni then "they'll never work in this town again, and that's a promise from the Maverick".

I also understand that when he did this he was on speakerphone so that he could make two pistols with his fingers and fire them into the air.

[biffoire]

i thought one of the silver linings to cancelling was the time advantage Soni would have over DL in booking bands? Clearly thats not been the case.

[devilman]

Let's face it, it's fucked. It's not coming back. Much as I'd want it to.

[eFestivals]

i thought one of the silver linings to cancelling was the time advantage Soni would have over DL in booking bands? Clearly thats not been the case.

It never would have been.

The agents for the more major bands will suggest to just about anyone that they're in with a chance of landing the band they've enquired about, but those agents will sit back and wait for the offers that they really want rather than go with the ones they don't.

And those agents will want Download and not Soni, because those agents will know that the money - more particularly, their share of the money - is far more likely to actually arrive from Download than it will Soni, because no one gets paid by a fest that cancels long in advance.

Lots of agents will by-default try to swerve any festival that hasn't paid its bands previously. I had an agent tell me that he wouldn't take bookings from the new owner of a fest that had not paid its bands the previous year when under different ownership despite the new owner having a good reputation in his own right. It's perhaps the case that that agent did deal with the new owner in the end (I don't know either way), but he was certainly suggesting he'd take bookings from elsewhere in preference.

[jump]

Anyone think they could wait a year to bring back the UK leg? They seem to change where they run them quite often so could take this year to recover and start working on 2014? At least then they could be ready to announce before Download and try and do a proper comeback.

Edited November 21, 2012 by jump

[biffoire]

why the fuck does he wear a cowboy hat anyway?