#140

Love capsules 👀

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Would you pay for a clean, safe, private spot to get busy at a music festival? You may have the opportunity thanks to a new UK initiative coming to festivals soon. In other good news, harm reduction at festivals is becoming more prevalent and Swifties helped decrease the price of eggs. (At least they think they did.) And a big shoutout to co-founder Hannah on completing her first marathon over the weekend! 

Credit: InsomniacGrowing Focus on Harm Reduction

The event industry is increasingly seeing a new approach to drug use and safety with the rise of organizations focusing on “harm-reduction strategies that are designed to lessen the negative consequences associated with drug use.” Event Safety Alliance, Gibson Gives’ TEMPO program, This Must Be the Place, End Overdose, and NIVA are all working to provide resources for events and event attendees alike.

Musically Fed and The Grammys Feed >1,000

Musically Fed continued its partnership with the Grammys earlier this month by packing up leftover and unused food from the Grammy Celebration and The MusiCares Persons of the Year gala and donating it to four area locations. In total, the Musically Fed volunteers, alongside the Levy hospitality team, provided 1,048 meals to those in need with the food donated by the events. The non-profit also partners with Lollapalooza in Chicago and Innings Fests in AZ and FL this year.

Live Nation Antitrust Suit RejectedAn April 2020 class-action antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation was thrown out by the US Court of Appeals last week when the court ruled there was no legal standing due to ticket buyers accepting the Terms of Use, thereby waiving their right to sue. The suit alleged that Live Nation’s “anticompetitive scheme has been wildly successful and today threatens to put nearly all ticketing services for major concert venues (primary and secondary) in the United States under Ticketmaster’s monopolistic thumb.” Goliath wins again (for now).

DWP Develops Future Industry StarsStudents in the Music Industries Studies program at the University of South Carolina have the opportunity to learn on-site at some of the biggest music festivals in the United States thanks to a partnership with Danny Wimmer Presents and a grant from the University’s Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning (CIEL) that has been in place since November 2021. DWP provides opportunities for students at festivals like Welcome to Rockville, Louder than Live, and Bourbon and Beyond, as well as providing their lodging. The grants from CIEL cover travel and any additional expenses incurred along the way. 

Viagogo In Trouble Down UnderTicket resale platform Viagogo is in the hot seat in New Zealand as it undergoes a month-long civil trial against the Commerce Commission. The Commission is stating that the platform breached the Fair Trading Act, citing that it admits over 90% of the tickets sold on the platform are from scalpers. Viagogo denies that it misled ticket buyers saying it did not use the word “official.”

Ticketmaster Gets CloseAmsterdam’s Close App, an app that allows event organizers to engage with their ticket buyers before, during, and after the event via exclusive, personalized mobile messaging, has collaborated with Ticketmaster so that ticket buyers can get relevant information about their upcoming events and event organizers can reach their guests in more direct ways.

Philly Folk Fest Takes Rebuilding YearThe Philadelphia Folk Festival, the longest continuously-run outdoor music festival, has been canceled for the first time in 60 years due to financial instability. According to Miles Thompson, President of the Folksong Society’s board of directors, the festival has 2 options: bankruptcy or taking a year off to reorganize and raise funds. Last year’s festival cost $1.2 million to produce and while all but two contractors have been paid, the organization has decided to take 2023 off and rebuild in 2024.

New Omaha VenueThe Killers will open the new $104 million Omaha Performing Arts venue, Steelhouse Omaha, in Nebraska on May 12. The venue hopes to transform the downtown music scene by hosting between 1,500 and 3,000 guests for all genres of music as well as comedy and community events. 

Federal Prison for Iowa Festival OrganizersFormer festival organizers Aaron McCreight and Douglas Hargrave were both sentenced to federal prison this week for defrauding a local bank that supported their 2018 festival, Newbo Evolve. The 3-day festival in Iowa, put on by Go Cedar Rapids, the local convention and visitor’s bureau, lost $2.3 million and was unable to repay its $1.5 million bank loan and $800,000 owed to vendors. The men admitted to misrepresenting revenue projections to get funding from the bank and received 18-month and 15-month sentences, respectively.

Get it On (in a festival Love Capsule)UK company Get A Room wants to make its Love Capsules available at music festivals, offering guests a “safe, clean, and private environment” to get intimate. There are 3 options: The Lovely, 25 min for £59; The Naughty, 40 minutes for £89, and The VIP, 55 minutes for £99. Toothbrushes, phone chargers, and condoms will be provided, but the capsules are specifically for 2 people - no threesomes or solo rentals allowed. And yes, the pods will have fresh sheets and towels and will be cleaned between uses.

 Oak View Group is looking for an Event Manager for its Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, MS.

Tixr is hiring a Partnerships Executive, Motorsports. This is a hybrid sales role with a salary range of $60-80,000 + bonus.

 Insomniac is seeking a Director, Exterior Event Operations in its Calabasas, CA office. Salary range is $100-125,000.

 

 

Love capsules at festivals?

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Last Week's Results:

thought Rihanna’s Halftime Show was AMAZING.

Headliners, Lineups, and Festival Announcements 

  • King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard drop out of Australia’s Bluesfest following the addition of the controversial band Sticky Fingers. The festival takes place April 6-10 in Byron Bay.

  • Roots Picnic, presented by The Roots and Live Nation Urban, will be headlined by Diddy, The Roots, and Lauren Hill, in Philadelphia, PA, June 2-4. 

  • Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, and Thomas Rhett will headline Live Nation’s new Virginia Beach, VA country festival, Beach It!, June 23-25. 

  • Phish announced a summer tour complete with a 7-day run at Madison Square Garden in late July-early August and a 4-day stint in Colorado over Labor Day Weekend.

  • Insomniac’s Moonrise Festival is returning to Baltimore with Alison Wonderland, Kaskade, and GRiZ, August 12-13.

  • Palomino Festival, a one-day country festival produced by Goldenvoice in Pasadena, CA, will not return for a second edition in 2023.

 

If you celebrated Valentine’s Day at McDonald’s, you could have ordered the

, the first duo meal in the chain’s annual celebrity meal endorsement.

 Swifties' influence seemingly has no bounds: Did they contribute to the decrease in US egg prices?

 Delivery drivers in NYC are invited to take a break in Chick-fil-A’s Break Room through April 13.

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