音乐节的生财之道

    Mad Decent Block Party音乐节起源于在Mad Decent唱片公司费城办事处所处街区举办的一个派对活动，它今年首次销售演出门票。正是这个举措让这个致力于进一步扩大规模的音乐节得以在13个城市举行了巡回演出。从免费变为售票可能会让粉丝感到失望，但这也是Mad Decent公司拉来赞助商以维系低票价的原因所在。“平均票价是30美元，最早卖出的门票售价20美元。在一些更大规模的音乐节上，80到300美元的门票很常见，”组织方之一TMWRK公司的安德鲁•麦克因尼斯说。“这种低票价全靠赞助维持。我们百般努力，为的是让乐迷们买得起入场券。”

    “现在与几年前的情形有所不同，人们不再介意赞助商的存在了，”Windish Agency经纪公司的萨姆•亨特这样说道。这家公司从一开始就参与Mad Decent Block Party音乐节的预定和营销工作。“高价门票会把我们的核心粉丝群挡在外边，但票价越低，粉丝们就越容易接受。”

    Mad Decent Block Party音乐节与制作人兼歌手迪布洛的良好关系也发挥了作用，因为像哈莱姆摇摆舞（Harlem Shake）DJ二人组Flosstradamus和Baauer等音乐人都愿意降低身价，友情出演，而这个音乐节的头牌人物通常则是迪布洛或者他的乐队Major Lazer。过去，歌手们都是免费演出，但麦克因尼斯指出，“售票演出意味着每个人今年都获得了酬劳。”亨特急忙补充说：“每个人都有钱拿，但没有人发大财。”

    西雅图的雨伞音乐节（Bumbershoot）对此也深有体会。这个每年劳动节在西雅图市中心举行的音乐节依然恪守着自1971年创建以来一直坚持的非营利准则。“上世纪70年代和80年代，音乐节是侵犯版权者和狂人们的天地。但到了90年代和21世纪初，企业界的其他公司也开始参与，音乐节现在就是一门生意，”雨伞音乐节制作商One Reel公司的执行董事乔恩•斯通笑着说。

    “雨伞音乐节在上世纪80年代中期率先采用了公司赞助的方式，但我们拉赞助的目的在于维持低票价。如果你对比一下雨伞和其他音乐节的票价，你就会发现我们一直怀抱着一个愿望，那就是尽可能地消除入场的经济门槛。”

    斯通还指出，对于雨伞音乐节来说，非营利性“是一种理念，而不是为了享受税收优惠政策。”他补充说：“入场的经济门槛是音乐界目前面临的一大难题，特别是一些大型音乐节。这就是我们为什么尽全力维持低价的原因。”斯通估计，在雨伞音乐节的收入中，门票销售约占60%，赞助费约占30% ，其他收入来自各种特许权和商摊使用费。然而，组织者并没有一门心思地赚钱，而是全身心地为参与者提供精彩的艺术表演，这也是西雅图市政府创办这个音乐节的目的。作为一个城市音乐节，他们还注重推出本地人才。“我们把三分之一的音乐表演场地留给本地人才，”斯通指出。“我们想支持本地音乐人，通过这个音乐节让乐迷们关注西雅图本地的音乐人。”

    麦克勒莫尔和瑞恩•刘易斯就是通过这个音乐节获得成功的。在雨伞音乐节的小舞台上表演了数年之后，他们去年凭借着单曲《旧货店》（Thrift Shop）登上了大舞台。这对组合已经创造了历史：他们成为有史以来第一对有两首单曲位居Billboard Hot 100排行榜前两位的歌唱二人组。所以说，音乐节绝对是笔好买卖。（财富中文网）

    译者：任文科

    This year marks the first year that the Mad Decent Block Party – a festival that started as an actual block party outside of record label Mad Decent's office in Philadelphia – has charged money and issued tickets for their shows. It's a move that has allowed the festival to expand into a 13-city roving tour with an eye on even more growth. Turning a free event into a ticketed one can frustrate fans, though, which is why Mad Decent has worked with sponsors to keep ticket prices low. "The average price of our tickets is $30, and the early bird ticket was $20. At some of the larger festivals, that would easily be an $80 to $300 dollar ticket," said Andrew McInnes of TMWRK, who helped organize the event. "That's all due to sponsorships. We make an effort to make it affordable."

    "People don't mind sponsorship as much as they would have a few years ago," said Sam Hunt from the Windish Agency, which has been involved with booking and marketing the Mad Decent Block Party rom the beginning. "A high ticket price would keep out our core fanbase, but the cheaper the ticket, the easier it is for fans to accept."

    Their affiliation with producer/musician Diplo's Mad Decent label helps, as well, because artists like DJ duo Flosstradamus and Baauer of "Harlem Shake" fame are willing to contribute their services at a reduced cost, and the festival's headliner is typically Diplo or his band, Major Lazer. In the past, artists played for free, but according to McInnes, "A ticketed event means everyone gets paid this year." Hunt hurried to add, "Everyone gets paid, but no one's getting rich. "

    It's something that Seattle's Bumbershoot understands well. The festival, which takes over the city's downtown every Labor Day, remains true to its nonprofit core, which dates back to when Bumbershoot started in 1971. "In the '70s and '80s, festivals were the realm of pirates and crazy people, but as time went on in the late '90s and 2000s the rest of the corporate world has caught up and now it's just business," Jon Stone, executive director of One Reel, the producer of Bumbershoot, laughed.

    "Bumbershoot pioneered corporate sponsorship in the mid-'80s, but we used sponsorship to keep ticket prices low. If you look at the price of Bumbershoot versus other festivals, we've stayed true to that desire to eliminate economic barriers to entries."

    Stone also noted that for Bumbershoot, being nonprofit "is a philosophy, not a tax status." He added, "Economic barriers to entry are real things in the industry these days, especially at larger festivals. That's why we keep ticket prices as low as we can." Stone estimates that ticket sales make up about 60% of Bumbershoot's revenues with sponsorship accounting for 30% and assorted concessions and vendors making up the rest. However, instead of focusing on profits, the organization focuses on exposing attendees to the arts, which was the City of Seattle's mission when they started the festival. As a city festival, they also focus on local talent. "We reserve about a third of our musical programmatic space for local acts," Snow noted. "We want to champion local artists and use the festival to shine the spotlight on local artists."

    Among their success stories is Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who played Bumbershoot's small stages for years before moving to the main stage last year on the strength of their song "Thrift Shop." The group made history when they became the first duo ever to have their first two singles top the Billboard Hot 100 charts. That is definitely good business.