2013- Big Year for Soni ? Lineup next year ?

[Black_Crow]

truth hurts huh?

at least my bias is based on rationality rather than blind loyalty to some corporation that doesnt care about you or I or any of their customers

soni fucked it this year as we all know.

download has a great lineup and will likely sell out this year.

which is the better festival again?

[t8yman]

T8yman, you're posts really are blind loyalty and have been for a while, even without a single band announced for Sonisphere you was criticizing it.

Edited April 3, 2012 by t8yman

[AcademicPistol]

Which is the better festival? having been to both many times, Sonisphere is a much better festival, so what if they take a year off, it hasn't harmed the biggest festival in the UK - Glastonbury has it.

Edited April 3, 2012 by AcademicPistol

[biffoire]

I don't think that award proves anything really it's personal preference as to what line-up is the best.

[biffoire]

T8yman, you're posts really are blind loyalty

[t8yman]

I still find it amazing that they are all over the "who's gonna headline in 2013" thing, when it hasnt even been officially announced that they are even going to try and put one on.

I'll say one thing for Sonisphere, when it comes to blinkered, loyal, on the defensive fanboys - they really cornered the market.

[biffoire]

I still find it amazing that they are all over the "who's gonna headline in 2013" thing.

[AcademicPistol]

besides, even if it was to go ahead, it'd be this time next year before we knew anything about it.

[eFestivals]

Which is the better festival? having been to both many times, Sonisphere is a much better festival, so what if they take a year off, it hasn't harmed the biggest festival in the UK - Glastonbury has it.

it's not the same thing. Glastonbury hasn't taken a year off because it's failed.

I personally doubt that there's enough variety in a large rock fest to support one three day event long-term, let alone two of them. There's only so many times that people will pay £200 to see the same bands again and again and again.

[biffoire]

it's not the same thing. Glastonbury hasn't taken a year off because it's failed.

[eFestivals]

I'll say one thing for Sonisphere, when it comes to blinkered, loyal, on the defensive fanboys - they really cornered the market.

Download isn't far behind.

One day Download goers are going to ask for some different bands. The only way is down when they realise there aren't any.

This aspect is already affecting the bigger festivals, because there's never anything new and interesting in the line-ups for V, T & R/L. While rawk fans have a big liking for hearing the same three chords in a different order, even they'll have a limit eventually.

The future of all fan-boy events doesn't looks good, and would have died a death already if it wasn't for radio 1's change in music policy around the mid-nineties - which is the only reason that 'heritage' acts are succeeding in extending the life of these events.

So either the future of festivals is for the fashion acts to disappear and only the good acts remain (and those will always have a market, as the smaller fests get to prove), or they'll be a new musical movement that will revitalise the music scene, much as punk did, and dance music did.

But I just can't see where any new music movement is coming from. Kids today want to be famous, they don't want to be good at something and get the fame off their talent. Kids today don't take drugs, at least not good ones that open their mind - they think that nitros is a hit .... kids today are politically detached; they don't want a better world, they only want better for themselves.

Where's the passion, where's the ideas, where's the exploration? Queue up and buy the same ticket along with everyone else and think that's being alternative.

Am I sounding like an old git? Well, surprise me then and shake me out of it. But sadly, it's just not happening.

[t8yman]

Besides, Sonis main aim since its inception has been to finish download off and replace it. Just happens that Download appears to be the stronger of the two because of its longer history and pedigree.

and anyone that believes otherwise is deluded.

[t8yman]

Am I sounding like an old git? Well, surprise me then and shake me out of it. But sadly, it's just not happening.

[eFestivals]

Besides, Sonis main aim since its inception has been to finish download off and replace it. Just happens that Download appears to be the stronger of the two because of its longer history and pedigree.

and anyone that believes otherwise is deluded.

I'm the deluded then.

What Download has going for it to make it the stronger event is its owners place in the music market, nowt else. Because it's owned by Live Nation it's got the muscle that it needs to subvert the competition - and that's what's happened this year, a year of limited bands. Soni were left with nothing to book.

Galbraith has been able to exploit his past of working for Live Nation, but the influence that carries lessens as each year goes past, and his job gets harder because of it. When that's combined with such a small marketplace (compared to wider genre fests) of both bands and audience it was always going to get difficult.

History and pedigree means just about nothing - it's the acts that sell a festival, nowt else. If Soni had somehow booked a line-up of Download's strength this year and left Download with little to book, that idea of pedigree and history would be exposed as the empty myth that it is.

[t8yman]

bad post layout on my part there.

i meant more along the lines of soni wanted to finish download, not coexist. whereas it appeared that download was quite comfortable alongside soni (that was the appearance to me). but the fact that soni gave away free tickets to european festivals (the same weekend as download) was a cheap shot.

i should have put the "deluded" bit before the second sentence in my last post.

[jump]

I still don't get why they had acts like Soundgarden, Offspring & Machine Head for the other Sonis and not get them to play at the UK one. I thought they idea of having a touring festival means you could attract acts by offering them multiple fest slots.

[AcademicPistol]

Your opinions aren't facts. Glasto traditionally takes a year off every 5 years or so, it's not because it crumbled spectacularly like Soni did this year (I.e it has never announced a line-up not sold enough and had to cancelled)

[AcademicPistol]

I just thought of a future were no festivals exist and so therefore no eFestivals exists.

Edited April 3, 2012 by AcademicPistol

[eFestivals]

bad post layout on my part there.

i meant more along the lines of soni wanted to finish download, not coexist. whereas it appeared that download was quite comfortable alongside soni (that was the appearance to me). but the fact that soni gave away free tickets to european festivals (the same weekend as download) was a cheap shot.

i should have put the "deluded" bit before the second sentence in my last post.

If Soni really had a deliberate plan to try and finish download then that will only be because Galbraith was properly thinking ahead - it's hardly a radical idea to think that there wasn't the market for both to co-exist.

But I doubt that's it really. Unless things have passed me by (they might have, I don't deal with news stuff on a regular basis, and haven't done for a few years), the euro ticket offer was for Soni Spain, who's viability was undermined this year by the rock fest that Vince Power has launched in Spain - and just like the UK there is only going to be one winner (if there's any winner at all).

The idea that Download was more comfortable with Soni than Soni was with Download is no great surprise either. The market leader (thru the consequence of age and owner, nowt else) has less to worry about than a competitor that it going to struggle to establish itself.

[zahidf]

So, is this the end of Soni?

I think download tried to branch out into indie rock when they got feeder to headline a day. That went pretty badly.

[eFestivals]

I still don't get why they had acts like Soundgarden, Offspring & Machine Head for the other Sonis and not get them to play at the UK one. I thought they idea of having a touring festival means you could attract acts by offering them multiple fest slots.

It's a great idea in theory, it works less well in practice.

Music has traditionally been managed by territories - countries - which means that there's different operations in each country, specific to that country.

The weakness of mainland Europe in the American bands market has meant that it's been relatively easy for Soni to operate within those markets, but within the UK there's much stronger players which Soni will have needed to displace (which would have always been a tough thing).

I'm guessing that Galbraith's plan was to use Europe as the leverage to be able to work in the UK, but that would be difficult all the same, and not helped by LN starting to operate in a joined-up way across Europe too.

[gary1979666]

bad post layout on my part there.

i meant more along the lines of soni wanted to finish download, not coexist. whereas it appeared that download was quite comfortable alongside soni (that was the appearance to me). but the fact that soni gave away free tickets to european festivals (the same weekend as download) was a cheap shot.

i should have put the "deluded" bit before the second sentence in my last post.

[jump]

So, is this the end of Soni?

I think download tried to branch out into indie rock when they got feeder to headline a day. That went pretty badly.

[eFestivals]

I just thought of a future were no festivals exist and so therefore no eFestivals exists.

festivals don't have to die off for eFestivals to die. eFestivals is only as good as its financials, and it's always a struggle to make things work.

As things stand there's no immediate problem, but things are only as good as the users make it. For example, one way that we pay the bills is via the commissions we receive from tickets bought via our links, and the amount we're making from those is significantly less than it was a few years ago - presumably because everyone now knows where the tickets agents are and go direct to them (it's not because numbers using this website have dropped off, that much I know).

Every year one of our income streams falls by quite a chunk, but luckily so far it's been made up for my an increase in another. I'm not sure how long luck will hold out with that.

[t8yman]

If Soni really had a deliberate plan to try and finish download then that will only be because Galbraith was properly thinking ahead - it's hardly a radical idea to think that there wasn't the market for both to co-exist.

But I doubt that's it really. Unless things have passed me by (they might have, I don't deal with news stuff on a regular basis, and haven't done for a few years), the euro ticket offer was for Soni Spain, who's viability was undermined this year by the rock fest that Vince Power has launched in Spain - and just like the UK there is only going to be one winner (if there's any winner at all).

The idea that Download was more comfortable with Soni than Soni was with Download is no great surprise either. The market leader (thru the consequence of age and owner, nowt else) has less to worry about than a competitor that it going to struggle to establish itself.