“Significant increase in expenses, increase in income that is less, and the more modest the festival, the greater the gap”: Jean-Philippe Thiellay, president of the National Music Center (CNM), sounds the alarm.
The CNM, which oversees the music industry, took advantage of the Printemps de Bourges, which opens the season, to present its “study on the economic data of current music festivals in France in 2022.”
These data compared between 2019 and 2022 -that is, before the health crisis and in the post-crisis recovery- are based on a panel of 68 festivals of different sizes, from blockbusters to small events.
cost inflation
During this period, expenses increased by 19%, when, for example, own income only increased by 14%.
“What makes the cost of a festival are the artistic fees, which increase, as well as the technical equipment. With a generation in the image, a show must be ‘instagrammable’, with lights and special effects, hence a whole machinery”, he described. for AFP Boris Vedel, director of Printemps de Bourges.
From a global point of view, “the situation is complicated” for current music festivals, underlines Jean-Philippe Thiellay. The president of the CNM notes “a significant increase in expenses, an increase in income that is less so, and the more modest the festival, the greater the gap.”
An observation that echoes the panorama of independent festivals drawn up, also at the Printemps de Bourges, by the Union of Contemporary Music (SMA), which brings together 170 member festivals that can be classified in the small and medium category.
The SMA notes a “cost inflation”, in particular an “artistic budget” -the fees of the artists, to summarize- “almost doubled between 2015 and 2022”. And the “private security costs” that have increased by “26%”.
“Artists’ fees increase”
At the same time, the Union reports a 29% drop in public financing for cities compared to 2015, and a 28% drop for departments.
“The fees of the artists have been increasing for 20 years and, at the same time, the subsidies are, at best, sprinkled”, comments Odile de Plas, head of the music department at Télérama, speaker at the SMA presentation.
“Could artists consider lowering their fees to help festivals? No, but that’s normal, they are in a difficult environment, thinking of advancing their careers,” deciphers Lisa Bélangeon, general coordinator of the Au Foin De La Rue festival, in Mayenne. , and head of the party sector of the SMA.
Raising ticket prices or passing inflation to the drinks and food offered is risky for smaller events. “We have 15% of our public that only attends one festival a year, ours. What do we do if they no longer come if it’s too expensive?” worries Pierre Hivert, director of Décibulles, in the Alsatian countryside, present at the round table of the Union of contemporary music.
“We cannot use the same levers as multinational festivals. We cannot impose a + golden pit + (expensive ultra VIP place on the public, editor’s note)”, describes Lisa Bélangeon.
Viability
Blockbuster festivals, which fill up without problems, mask a reality that must be qualified. “It’s easier to fill up with international artists but it was like that before. For the artist in your life you make efforts: the most expensive places (to see the megastars) go faster,” Malika Seguineau, from Prodiss, a representative organization of large events.
“But we are hit like all sectors by inflation, this year will be tense,” he perceives.
“Professionals wonder about the evolution and viability of certain economic models,” adds the head of Prodiss. “After the health crisis, we did not imagine living in an economic crisis. The future is difficult to write, we hope that there will not be too many breakages, that the boxes will hold up”, concludes Malika Seguineau.
Source: BFM TV
