You want to start a band and hope to be the next Oasis or the main act at a summer festival one day.
Thousands braved the wind, rain, and mud this past bank holiday weekend to assemble in Reading and Leeds.
The main performers were largely single performers Fred Again…, Gerry Cinnamon, Liam Gallagher, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Blink-182, and Lana Del Rey.
Ten years prior, Blink-182, Arctic Monkeys, Paramore, and Queens of the Stone Age performed at the same festival. a lineup stacked with bands.
Thus, is the music played at festivals evolving, and is it becoming more difficult for up-and-coming acts to secure the main stage?
The only new songs released in 2018 were four.
Just four newly released songs by bands reached the top 100 Singles Charts in the previous year.
Coldplay was the only band to headline other major festivals this year, including Glastonbury and Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
The expense of traveling, purchasing equipment, and even locating music venues—where bands often begin their careers—has increased in the music industry, as it has with many other things in recent years.
Over half of the 125 live music venues in the UK that closed down completely in 2023 owing to financial strain were live music venues.
The fact that the current music business is increasingly focused on solo acts could also be a contributing element.
