Not sold out, why?

[Pothuthic]

I dont think its going out of fashion to go to festivals, if that was the case there would be alot less 16-25 year olds at festivals which is V's target audience now. For headliner they could have gone for a big dance act like Calvin or Guetta, but that wouldnt be met with much happiness from people on here an tbh im glad they didnt.

Repeat bookings are the same for most festivals, it seems that between V and R&L, they must have acts signed to 2 year deals as Rudimental and Bastille are here again, with Disclosure and Jake Bugg at R&L being just a few repeats. Even some acts that people may like on here, such as Manics and Kaisers, are repeated from 2011. I guess its just a case of if you have seen them, see them again or see someone else because theres bound to be people who want to see them.

The cost may hit some people but might not hit others, theres always going to be current music at V and if its current there must be people who enjoy it, whatever the genre. I wont be seeing the headliner this year, and I oly saw Beyonce last year from the main stage headliners so they arent the major selling point to me personally

I personally don't think Calvin or Guetta are big enough to headline IMO

Bastille didn't perform last year? No acts would be signed on two year deals at all, that's not how booking works.

I think the line up this year is the best since I've been going, last years had an awful undercard, this years undercard is fantastic

[sisco]

Pothuthic - Well Calvin is headlining 2 fests this year. So...... probably is to be fair.

Completely agree on undercard with u. Think it is a lot better and has a lot more variety, however i have always thought for a 2 day fest (or buying day tickets) the headliners do sway peoples decisions massively.

Daniel - Have any fests sold out barring Glasto (the big ones). Were they selling out a few years ago..... yep. IMO going out of fashion, cost, and lack of must see acts for the people who did go must be the reason surely??

I love your line about cost may hit some and not others. Did you know some people have nicer cars too due to having more money and same applies for houses too.

[daniel.k]

Pothuthic - Well Calvin is headlining 2 fests this year. So...... probably is to be fair.

Completely agree on undercard with u. Think it is a lot better and has a lot more variety, however i have always thought for a 2 day fest (or buying day tickets) the headliners do sway peoples decisions massively.

Daniel - Have any fests sold out barring Glasto (the big ones). Were they selling out a few years ago..... yep. IMO going out of fashion, cost, and lack of must see acts for the people who did go must be the reason surely??

I love your line about cost may hit some and not others. Did you know some people have nicer cars too due to having more money and same applies for houses too.

Was going to say something along the lines of your first point. Calvin is headlining 2 other fairly big, mainstream festivals so if V got him to do that they would use that to show why he is worthy of it. I wouldnt want him headlining but I dont think people at T are too happy with him headlining.

Yeah I like the undercard as well, V has done a fairly good job at varying things up and still having big names.

I dont think its the fact that they are going out of fashion otherwise Glasto would have struggled and it clearly hasnt. Finance and fashion arent the same thing

[Pothuthic]

Calvin headlined the second stage, what of note has he done since the last one to gain a headliner status? As much as I love it, Thinking About You hardly set the world on fire, and neither has Summer?

I personally think the undercard is the strongest of any festivals this year (including Glastonbury), they've done incredibly well.

[thetime]

I dont think its going out of fashion to go to festivals, if that was the case there would be alot less 16-25 year olds at festivals which is V's target audience now.

You sure about the target audience? If it was reading/leeds I couldn't disagree, but V targets a much wider age range.

If they were targeting just the 16-25 would they be having the manics, embrace, wonderstuff, inspiral carpets? No they wouldn't.

[Bisque]

A lot of my friends think V is a bit of "joke" festival as in it just caters for people who listen & like whatever is churned out by Radio 1.

It doesn't have a niche & the line ups are generic. I wouldn't know much outside of the singles of most acts V usually has.

[thetime]

A lot of my friends think V is a bit of "joke" festival as in it just caters for people who listen & like whatever is churned out by Radio 1.

It doesn't have a niche & the line ups are generic. I wouldn't know much outside of the singles of most acts V usually has.

Why would they have a niche? What festival does? Isn't the reading lineup radio 1 acts? Edited April 28, 2014 by thetime

[Bobinup]

No, Jake Bugg and Arctic Monkeys and Paramore are totally cool and ace and wicked and never ever playlisted on Radio 1 yo.

[DarthSaul]

I think maybe bands like Bastille,Alt-J, Arctic Monkeys, Imagine Dragons etc. are now as/more popular than full on 'pop' music. V hasn't booked enough of those kind of bands and so half the lineup is music very few festival goers listen to ie pixie lott, train, sophie ellis bextor,ceelo green, rizzle kicks,

[daniel.k]

You sure about the target audience? If it was reading/leeds I couldn't disagree, but V targets a much wider age range.

If they were targeting just the 16-25 would they be having the manics, embrace, wonderstuff, inspiral carpets? No they wouldn't.

Main target is around 16-25 I would say, but they still cater for older goers. Target audience isnt the same as only people they are targeting in my opinion

[sisco]

I would agree that its not specifically targetting 16-25 yr olds. If so the booking of The Stone Roses was one of the oddest things ever.

Pothuthic - i understand what ur saying but he is headlining IOW and T. Whether we like it or not.... apparently headlining status.

Daniel - Glastonbury is different. Its much more than a festival for so many and for otherd, well i suppose its still cool to say u have been.

Sorry i dont quote directly. On my phone and its a pain to do so

[2f4e]

I definitely dont think festivals are going out of fashion! In my last year in high school and going to a festival has quickly become the coolest thing to be doing over the summer. I think the problem for the bigger festivals such as v will be that there's much more of a variety of festivals to choose from now. For example without travelling more than an hour I could go to Wakestock, Chester Rocks or Osfest and I know these are nothing on v but it's still an alternative that is growing in popularity with mediocre line ups but cheap prices.

Edited April 30, 2014 by 2f4e

[Gingo]

I think that is the problem though, its cool for youngsters leaving school to go to fests for a few years but the people who have gone for years are slowly dwindling due to a variety of reasons

[PeterGregory]

I think this year's lack of ticket sales is mainly based on the headliners. I've been going every year since 2008 and the only reason I am going to go this year is because I thought I wouldn't get glastonbury tickets (I did in the resale) and that I love the atmosphere at V (I've never had an issue like some people seem to have had) and I couldn't imagine my Summer not going.

The past several years it has pretty much sold out within a couple of hours - ticketmaster always sold out of their allocation within 15 minutes. This year you can go on seetickets and purchase 100 tickets if you really wanted to. There used to be a 4 or 6 limit per order limit.

I imagine a lot of people's decision is based on the headliner and I was competely underwelmed with The Killers and Justin Timberlake being chosen. I mean, I'm a Killers fan, but I saw them at V in 2009 and 2012 and I saw them in Manchester last Jan/Feb. They've not got a new album out and there's no buzz about them at the moment. There's just nothing exciting about them playing V again. If it was Arctic Monkeys (which I expected) I would have been a lot more happy - there's something about them at the moment and they haven't played V in 3/4 years (and they're quite a different band from back then).

And for me Justin Timberlake does not fall into the "novelty long careered pop star who's now respectable and would be fun to watch" category (like Beyonce did last year) and I'm sure this is the case for a lot of people - in fact it's quite embarrasing telling people he's one of the headliners when they ask me. I certainly will be looking for an alternative when he's on stage. I can't imagine a lot of people will be going to V purely based on him headlining. I also can't work out which age market he is appealing to - I really can't imagine your lucrative college/university student market buying into him, which probably leaves your late 20's/early 30's lapsed fan base (none festival goers), which probably wouldn't want to spend £200 to sit in a field for 3 days in order to watch him.

It's not actually a bad line-up beneath the headliners. For me, there's paolo nutini (who hasnt been there for years), Ed Sheeran, Elbow, Bastille, Manics, Blondie, Kodaline, Miles Kane, Starsailor, plus a few others I'd happily watch with a cider in the sun. There's definately a quite a lot there to appeal to a mixed audience, certainly no worse than in previous years, although probably a lack of big(ish) indie band(s) as sub-headliner(s). But no Ocean Colour Scene or Shed Seven this year???!!! :-)

I think the only way V can salvage the poor ticket sales is by annoucing another big artist in the next wave of line-up additions. I really can't see this happening though.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

And for me Justin Timberlake does not fall into the "novelty long careered pop star who's now respectable and would be fun to watch" category (like Beyonce did last year)

Nobody's suggesting he's level with Beyonce in terms of superstardom but he's not small. He's had more number one albums in this country, and just sold out an extensive UK tour at higher prices than she charged. He's not that far behind. And considering he's not done the solo Super Bowl slot, published a film about his life, carefully ensured he got as much publicity as possible for marrying the biggest rap star in the world, or headlined Glastonbury, the four key events which arguably raised the interest in Ms Knowles in the UK to the levels it currently stands at..

[PeterGregory]

Nobody's suggesting he's level with Beyonce in terms of superstardom but he's not small.

I'm not saying he's small in terms of superstardom. I think what I am trying to say is that he doesn't have the mass appeal as someone like Beyonce - who both the girls and boys would enjoy watching. He's more for your female audience and probably doesn't have as much cross appeal as Mrs Jay Z. Certainly from my own perspective anyway.

[thetime]

Also another angle to think about for the Weston park leg is the new wireless leg in brum.

A few people I know are choosing that over V this year, I am sure the Weston Park leg has lost a fair few sales to Wireless this year.

I usually hear a good buzz about the V fest in town, not heard much about it this year.

[daniel.k]

Also another angle to think about for the Weston park leg is the new wireless leg in brum.

A few people I know are choosing that over V this year, I am sure the Weston Park leg has lost a fair few sales to Wireless this year.

I usually hear a good buzz about the V fest in town, not heard much about it this year.

I guess the organizers dont mind because they are the same owners. I think that the brum leg hasnt sold as well as london, just because Drake day hasnt sold out. I must underestimate how big he is or something, because I thought Kanye and Pharrel day would be the biggest sellers at both areas but I guess not. I am maybe going to Birmingham Wireless so I dont mind that it is competing with wireless. I dont think I would choose wireless over V though

[SERRIDGER]

This may have already been raised so apologies if it has!!

I was reading the other day that festivals have taken off in the USA and increased in number, as a result less American bands are travelling to Europe during the summer as they can stay at home doing the festival rounds. This may explain the depleted line ups at this years UK festivals (yes I know both V headliners are American but The Killers are bigger here than in there own home)

BTW I went to Coachella back in 2008 , it was sterile beyond compare.

[Muppetmark]

Also another angle to think about for the Weston park leg is the new wireless leg in brum.

A few people I know are choosing that over V this year, I am sure the Weston Park leg has lost a fair few sales to Wireless this year.

I usually hear a good buzz about the V fest in town, not heard much about it this year.

the sales for wireless have been dreadful apparently in brum.

[thetime]

This may have already been raised so apologies if it has!!

I was reading the other day that festivals have taken off in the USA and increased in number, as a result less American bands are travelling to Europe during the summer as they can stay at home doing the festival rounds. This may explain the depleted line ups at this years UK festivals (yes I know both V headliners are American but The Killers are bigger here than in there own home)

BTW I went to Coachella back in 2008 , it was sterile beyond compare.

Very good point, there was an arcticle about it a couple of weeks ago on Efests.

Can see it getting worse to be honest. When you have artists like Ed Sheeran, Jake Bugg and Macklemore subbing major festivals you know it's a slippery slope.

[thetime]

the sales for wireless have been dreadful apparently in brum.

I'm unsure where people get these stories from, a few days ago folk were saying V had only sold 40,000 for both legs.

I can see wireless struggling though, a new festival usually does.

So where do people get these figures from? Genuine question.

Edited April 30, 2014 by thetime

[daniel.k]

This may have already been raised so apologies if it has!!

I was reading the other day that festivals have taken off in the USA and increased in number, as a result less American bands are travelling to Europe during the summer as they can stay at home doing the festival rounds. This may explain the depleted line ups at this years UK festivals (yes I know both V headliners are American but The Killers are bigger here than in there own home)

BTW I went to Coachella back in 2008 , it was sterile beyond compare.

I dont know if its been mentioned but I read that too. Smaller American bands arent having to come across here to do festivals to get money either when they can do the USA ones.

On a different note, we all know V gets the talent show rejects from X factor ect. There are stories that Simon Cowell is doing an 'Ultimate DJ' show that I think could be the same format as X Factor, so when we get rejects from that we will have even more EDM than we have now which might make everything worse for V

the sales for wireless have been dreadful apparently in brum.

Could be true as Drake day hasnt sold out in brum but has in London

[thetime]

Could be true as Drake day hasnt sold out in brum but has in London

Isn't that pretty normal, the older version of an event always sells out first as it's more established.

For example Reading always sells out before Leeds.

[daniel.k]

Isn't that pretty normal, the older version of an event always sells out first as it's more established.

For example Reading always sells out before Leeds.

True true but with Birmingham being more northern that could attract people who would previously say london was too far to go to.

Also, Big Green Coach are doing free coach travel to Birmingham wireless but not London so could that be anything to do with bad ticket sales