There’s no denying that music festivals have become a major segment of the live music industry in recent years. While legendary gatherings like Woodstock set the mold in previous generations, they would pale in comparison to the sheer production magnitude of iconic events like Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival and Tomorrowland. In case the rapid rise of festivals was in any way subject to speculation, Complex took it upon themselves to compile some of the phenomenon’s most compelling statistics into this infographic-driven video.
Much of the data presented can be found elsewhere – the findings presented in business reports by Kevin Watson at the annual International Music Summit in Ibiza, for instance, usually pop up in literature throughout the year to follow – but the inferences drawn by Complex put the growth of the festival market in perspective. Among the more interesting tidbits is the fact that Coachella’s attendance and ticket price both grew roughly sevenfold since its 1999 edition, and that the combined attendance of the 11 largest festivals in 2014 would equal roughly 2.1 million, or the population of the fifth-largest city in the United States.
More than anything, the numbers strongly suggest that if there is an economy bubble, as many critics of the current musical movement have speculated, we’ve still got a long way to go before it bursts.
Tell us, what information from Complex‘s video surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments section below.
