音乐节的生财之道

    今年4月份，超过15万音乐迷成群结队地来到美国加州印第奥，参加柯契拉山谷音乐艺术节(Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival)。6月中旬，波纳若音乐节（Bonnaroo）吸引10万多人来到田纳西州曼彻斯特，观看保罗•麦卡特尼爵士和R. Kelly等明星的精彩演出。在一个悠长的周末，大批乐迷不约而同地赶赴华盛顿州一个遥远的角落，参加在那里举行的野人音乐节（Sasquatch）。除了几十个已经存在的音乐活动外，每年涌现的其他音乐节似乎越来越多。加入洛拉帕罗扎（Lollapalooza）、奥斯汀城市极限（Austin City Limits）或暴乱盛会（Riot Fest）等音乐节行列的，是一些你或许没有听说过的音乐盛宴，比如刚刚举办了第三届的州长舞会（Governor's Ball），以及进入第二个年头的梓木音乐节（Catalpa Festival）。

    为什么突然冒出这么多音乐节？因为这是一门大生意。柯契拉山谷是美国最赚钱的音乐节。根据Billboard Boxscore的统计数据，这个音乐节去年售出了158,000张门票，斩获4,730万美元的收入，远高于2007年的1,700万美元。2013年的门票在20分钟内就宣布售罄。主办方Goldenvoice公司去年将柯契拉山谷音乐节扩充，横跨了两个周末。尽管此举受到嘲笑，但其他音乐节正在效仿这种做法。野人音乐节已经宣布计划称，2014年的活动将延长至两个周末。据推广方透露，野人音乐节在2013年“大获成功”，90分钟内就卖完了门票，创下了新纪录。波纳若音乐节的门票也宣告售罄，音乐节普通票的价格从224至269美元不等，两张VIP门票（这种门票可享受停车和露营方面的特殊优待、专用休息室和观赏区）的售价为1,449.50美元。波纳若音乐节的代理商表示，他们目前还没有扩充计划。

    音乐节显然是可以赚钱的，但有些推广方参与这种活动却不是因为钱。涉足音乐节对于百威啤酒（Budweiser）来说是一项非常容易做出的决定。“对于我们的公司来说，赞助音乐活动是一个令人惊奇的传统，”百威英博公司（Anheuser-Busch）美国市场营销业务副总裁保罗•奇比接受《财富》杂志（Fortune）采访时说。早在上世纪80年代，这家公司就主办过一个名叫“超级盛会”（Superfest）的音乐节，奇比想重新进入这一领域。百威英博公司去年联手嘻哈天王Jay-Z主办了百威美国造音乐节（Budweiser Made in America）。第二届百威美国造将于劳动节周末在费城举行。“我觉得，重新树立我们作为音乐产业的领导地位是一件非常重要的事情，”奇比说。“去年在费城的活动大获成功，远远超过了我们此前的预期。”

    奇比指出：“从财务的角度来看，我们投入了很多，并没有赚到钱。”但赚钱并不是赞助音乐节的主旨。相反，百威啤酒认为，与联合劝募会（United Way）联合打造的百威美国造音乐节不仅是一次反馈社区的机会，也是一种在个人层面连接消费者的方式。“音乐是人类生活的重要组成部分，是与消费者建立关系的强大途径，”他说。“当人们想到伟大的音乐和打造出这种音乐的品牌时，我们希望他们想到的是百威啤酒。”今年音乐节的焦点明星是碧昂丝和九寸钉乐团（Nine Inch Nails）。

    Back in April, more than 150,000 music fans flocked to Indio, Calif., for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival. In mid-June, Bonnaroo drew over 100,000 people to Manchester, Tenn., to see Sir Paul McCartney and R. Kelly, among others. Sasquatch brought droves of people to a far-flung corner of Washington State for a long weekend. Every year, more and more festivals seem to pop up in addition to the dozens of music events that already exist. For every Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits or Riot Fest there's a Governor's Ball, which just held its third festival, or Catalpa Festival, which is in its second year.

    Why are so many festivals popping up? Because music festivals are big business. Coachella is the most profitable festival in the U.S. Last year it sold 158,000 tickets and pulled in $47.3 million in revenue, according to Billboard Boxscore. That's up from $17 million in 2007. Tickets for the 2013 festival sold out in 20 minutes. Goldenvoice, which produces the festival, expanded it to two weekends last year, a move that was scoffed at, but is now being replicated by other events. Sasquatch has announced plans to expand to two weekends for 2014 after a "highly successful" 2013 edition, which sold out in a record 90 minutes, according to promoters. Bonnaroo also sold out with regular tickets ranging from $224 to $269, and a pair of VIP tickets -- which include parking and camping perks, exclusive lounges and viewing areas -- going for $1449.50. According to Bonnaroo representatives, the festival has no plans to expand just yet.

    While it's clear that there is money to be made in festivals, for some promoters, there are non-financial reasons to get involved in the festival circuit. For Budweiser (BUD), getting into the festival business was an easy decision. "Our company has had an amazing legacy of being a patron of music," Paul Chibe, Vice President of U.S Marketing at Anheuser Busch told Fortune. The company had a festival in the 1980s called Superfest ,and Chibe wanted to reenter the sphere, which they did last year with their Jay-Z curated Budweiser Made in America Festival, which will take place again in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend. "I felt like it was important that we reestablish ourselves as a leader in the music industry," Chibe said. "We did it last year in Philly and ended up being a much bigger success than we ever expected."

    "From a financial standpoint we put more in. We didn't make money on it," Chibe noted, but that wasn't the point of the festival. Instead Budweiser saw an opportunity to give back to the community via the Budweiser Made in America's festival partnership with United Way, but it was also a way to connect with consumers on a personal level. "Music is a key part of who people are," Chibe said. "It's a powerful pathway to create relationship with the consumer." He continued, "When people think of great music and the brands that enable it, we want them to think of Budweiser." This year's festival is headlined by Beyoncé and Nine Inch Nails.