A Market analysis for Live Nation Entertainment and their Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, TN

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A Market Analysis for
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
Nick Orlando
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
09/22/2017

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides an analysis and evaluation of current status and future outlook for
the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, as well as its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment.
Methods include analyses of attendance trends, competitors, and demographic statistics. Results
of financial data analyzed show that parent company Live Nation is consistently outperforming
the NASDAQ as well as other competitors in the entertainment sector.
The report finds that the current position of Bonnaroo is unstable in an incredibly volatile
and competitive marketplace. The major areas of weakness include struggling to maintain a
clear and unique position amongst competitors, and unstable attendance numbers.
Recommendations discussed include improving and broadening use of demographic-tracking
technology and analysis of gathered data from audience statistics, as well as re-positioning their
talent brand to also target a slightly older, more loyal customer base rather than specifically
concentrating on new, younger audiences with contemporary artists lineups.

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OBJECTIVE
This report was compiled to convince the producers of Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
that in order to survive in the immensely saturated festival marketplace, they should utilize social
media and new interactive technologies to re-connect with their original neo-jamband,
Millennial/Generation X audience, as well as target younger Generation Z crowds. Rather than
side one way or the other, they can maintain a unique position by targeting both of these
audiences.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information in this report was gathered using mostly external, secondary research
from the internet and online databases. It was compiled during the month of September 2017.
The information is as current as 2015. Specific metrics about the revenue and profits for
Bonnaroo could not be found as it is produced by a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment. All
attendance numbers are estimates from third-party sources.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
For people who love music, good vibes, and want a unique and memorable experience,
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is an immersive 4-day event where attendees can enjoy live
music, comedy, film, and various forms of other entertainment with thousands of like-minded
individuals. People who attend Bonnaroo will become a part of a positive and loving community
who get to enjoy and experience all of their favorite music and entertainment acts in one
location.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival was co-founded in 2002 by AC Entertainment and
Superfly Presents in Manchester, TN. After its inaugural year in 2002, Rolling Stone magazine

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dubbed the festival “one of the 50 moments that changed Rock and Roll” (McDonald, 2017). In
2015, as Live Nation was beginning to take hold of the growing trend and popularity of outdoor
music festivals, they acquired a majority stake in the Bonnaroo Festival. In 2016, they took this
merger to another level by acquiring AC Entertainment, which on top of Bonnaroo also produces
and operates several other festivals, as well as other entertainment venues all over the Southeast
(Waddell, 2016).
Financially, the parent company of Bonnaroo, Live Nation, is doing very well. Its stock
is currently trading at $39.83, which has increased by 368.43% in the past five years. It also has
greatly outperformed the NASDAQ in this period, which has increased by 104.70% in
comparison to Live Nation’s 368.43% (Yahoo Finance, 2017). Bonnaroo itself, rebounded well
this past year from their severe drop in attendance that took place in 2016. That year ticket sales
plummeted by 28,000 to an all-time low of 45,553 tickets sold (Galbraith, 2016). This year’s
event, saw a much healthier number of
65,000 attendees, but still shy of the
reported 10-year average of 75,000 (Rau,
2017). Bonnaroo’s biggest year came in
2012, with an estimated 100,000 attendees
– this lineup was headlined by much older
and classic acts, including the jamband
icons, Phish, whose own festivals were a huge inspiration for the origination of Bonnaroo, as
well as The Beach Boys, Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Bonnaroo has been one of the leaders of the live music industry as far as incorporating
new interactive technologies and social media marketing strategies. In 2012, they began
implementing the use of RFID (Radio Frequency ID) technology with their alliance the company
Bonnaroo 2012 Lineup

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Intellitix. The main use for this technology is to be able to track GPS coordinates and social
media data from the attendees and links to their social media accounts. It also enables fans to
link credit cards onto their RFID
wristband chips, making the
festival a completely cash and
plastic-free experience. This drives
up mindless spending from food
and merchandise vendors. By
utilizing this technology to see which fans spend the most time at certain stages or campground
areas, what types of things they purchase, from where and what time they post on social media,
they can really get to know their audiences’ festival preferences on a deeper level (Intellitix,
2013).
The music festival landscape is more complicated and crowded than ever. By attempting
to book a more contemporary pop and EDM heavy lineup, Bonnaroo has to compete with
audiences of Coachella, EDC, and Firefly Festival, just to name a few. According to Billboard,
32 million people in the U.S. attended at least one live music festival every year (Grate, 2016).
Among this sea of people, there is a small sub-demographic that is really driving the growth of
the industry: the “hardcore festie”. The hardcore festie makes up about 20% of all festival goers,
and attends 5-6 festivals each year. Even though 20% is a small section, this demographic fits
into the 80/20 rule as they drive the lion’s share of revenue in the business (Eventbrite, 2016).
These are the VIP buyers and repeat attendees – the true, loyal, fans and customers. They spend
a whopping 78% more on a typical festival ticket than the casual attendee. The typical hardcore
Bonnaroo RFID Wristband Technology

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festie is about 32 years old, and skews
slightly more male than female. They have
attended their favorite festival an average of
3 times, and 56% of them would rather attend
a niche festival over a mainstream festival
(Eventbrite, 2016).
CONCLUSIONS
Bonnaroo has seen constant pushback from critics and fans about the inconsistency of
their lineups over the past 7-8 years. The main reason they have survived the overflowing
festival landscape is the power of the brand and community experience they built in the first few
inaugural years of the festival. Although their “constantly evolving strategy” of changing year
by year with the tastes and trends of contemporary music may seem like it is effective, it is
extremely short-sighted. With the overly-cliché mainstream pop, rap, and EDM lineups of the
past couple years they are saying that they are really targeting the first time, late-teen/early-
twenties ticket buyers. Also, these types of lineups are way too similar to their top competitors.
What is viewed as popular and appealing to the masses changes every year, and with this
strategy, their audience is going to change every year along with the music trends, and will
continue to push away the real loyal ticket buyers and returning customers, the hardcore festies.
What was different from their worst attendance year ever (2016) and their best year ever
(2012) was the fact that in 2012 the talent buyers really made an effort to bring in that all-
inclusive blend of their original jam-band and indie bands, some older acts that appealed to even
the boomer generation, as well as just a few big name contemporary acts to draw in the younger
Eventbrite “hardcore festie” Infographic

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crowd. In 2016, besides the booking of Dead & Company, it was a very lackluster and overly
similar lineup to the festivals they were competing against. They were able to slightly bounce
back in 2017 by again booking acts that appeal to older crowds, such as U2 and the Red Hot
Chili Peppers – in order to stand out and be successful in this business in the long run they need
to book more jamband and indie acts, as well as these classic acts to appeal to the customer that
is going to continue to return, as well as spend more money on tickets and purchases within the
event.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the research findings and conclusions, Bonnaroo and Live Nation to need to use
their powerful social media and RFID technologies to target older millennials and Gen X crowds
rather than specifically concentrating on the younger Gen Z crowd. By analyzing social media
data of their customers in the 25 – 35-year-old age range, they can create more features within
their social media platforms, mobile apps, and within the festival to engage and attract more of
these fans.
By 2019, they should aim to re-shape their crowd to be made up of at least 35% of this
older and more loyal demographic. Steps to reaching this goal within the next 2 years could be
to bring in an extra analysis team to really dig through the data from the RFID wristband
technology from their 2017 and 2018 events. Due to the fact they now have the wealth of their
parent company, Live Nation, behind them, they can utilize this resource to analyze the social
media and RFID data recorded from the hardcore festie demographic of their attendees. By
doing so they can not only better fine tune their future lineups to these fans who drive the
majority of their revenue, but also to ensure that they are targeting them with their non-music
programming such as their comedy, culinary, and theatric amenities, as well as their VIP and

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platinum programs.
This is a strategic recommendation, as it may not lead to immediate results in next year’s
event, but will ensure their ability to stand out in the festival industry, and retain the most loyal
customers in the business. Another analysis report should be done after both the 2018 and 2019
events, to assess their progress as well as be able to formulate a clear projection for future
revenues and attendance numbers.

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References
Bonnaroo Festival Embraces RFID Technology | Intellitix : Intellitix. (2013). Retrieved from
https://www.intellitix.com/en/bonnaroo-festival-embraces-rfid-technology/
The Driving Force Behind Today’s Growth in Music Festivals - Eventbrite US Blog. (2016,
June). Retrieved from https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/academy/hardcore-festies-most-
valuable-fan-driving-todays-growth-in-music-festivals/
Galbraith, A. (2016, July 14). Bonnaroo 2016 was the least attended ‘Roo ever | Consequence of
Sound. Retrieved from https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/07/bonnaroo-2016-was-the-
least-attended-year-in-the-festivals-history/
Grate, R. (2016, July 7). 4 Music Festival Statistics Defining the 2016 Season - Eventbrite US
Blog. Retrieved from https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/4-statistics-defining-the-2016-
music-festival-season-ds00/
Jansick, D. (2012, February 14). Bonnaroo 2012 Lineup News - Way Too Indie. Retrieved from
http://waytooindie.com/news/bonnaroo-2012-lineup/
Rau, N. (2017, June 15). After big attendance drop, Bonnaroo at a crossroads | WBIR.com.
Retrieved from http://www.wbir.com/entertainment/music/after-big-attendance-drop-
bonnaroo-at-a-crossroads/445976627
Waddell, R. (2016, October 31). Live Nation Acquires Bonnaroo Co-Founders AC
Entertainment: Exclusive | Billboard. Retrieved from
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7557895/live-nation-acquires-ac-
entertainment-purchase
Wristbands | Big Issue Invest | Pinterest | British summer. (2016). Retrieved from
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/189643834282553464/