FMCS2100 Music & Culture Music Event Grant 'Vocal In The Valley' By Claudia D'Amore Student No. 3184284

1. VOCAL IN THE
VALLEY
MUSIC EVENT GRANT
CLAUDIA D’AMORE
STUDENT NO. 3184824

2. OUTLINE
 Why A Music Festival? - What ‘Vocal In
The Valley’ will bring to the Hunter
Valley.
 The Music & Its Audience
 Musical Styles/Genres
 Music Acts Featured
 Audience
 Subcultures
 Location
 Benefits of Community
 Benefits of Tourism
 Live Performance
 Authenticity of Live
Performance
 High Social Media Presence
From Live Performances
 Economical Boost Due To
Festival Performances
 Effective Advertising Campaign
 References

3. Why A Music Festival?
 ‘Vocal In The Valley’ aims
to connect the community,
boost the economy in the
Hunter Valley, give a
memorable and authentic
experience whilst
celebrating the Australian
culture of musical talents.
 Bowen describes music festivals in
a way that benefits the members of
the audience’s experience stating,
“Music festivals are unique special
events that attract audiences for a
variety of reasons. Unlike concerts,
where individuals are generally
drawn to her and view a live
performance of a specific artist,
music festivals often involve a
myriad of talent and may or may
not follow a particular genre. Music
festivals are further distinctive in
that music is an integral part of

4. Musical Styles/Genres
 As Newcastle is the
predominant influence on the
Hunter region, it’s fitting that its
musical tastes also have a great
effect on the genres/musical
styles present at ‘Vocal In The
Valley’.
 The selected genres include
alternative, indie pop, indie
rock, Australian hip-hop, and
electronic. Although it may
seem as a cluster of many
different genres, these are quite
popular amongst the charts and
intertwine quite well at music
festivals.

5. Music Acts Featured
 Headlining Acts include Blue
Juice (as their musical
partnership is coming to an
end), Violent Soho, & Allday.
 Other acts will include more
Australian musicians including
Sticky Fingers, Miracle, The
Preatures, The Jungle Giants,
Vance Joy & Andy Bull.
 There will also be local N.S.W
artists to make a good name for
themselves including Just A
Gent, Julia Why?, I Know
Leopard, Little May, and The
Patriots.

6. Audience
 The projected audience range will
be highly in the 18-25 mixed
gender spectrum. The reason for
this age range is due to their free
time (not as many work
commitments), more money to
spend (on wants rather than
necessities), their interest in
today’s music and for social
status.
 Chart:
http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2013/10
/02/exclusive-why-australians-dont-go-to-
festivals-or-local-gigs

7. Subcultures
 Hosting ‘Vocal In The Valley’
brings about subcultures of the
particular genres featured within
the festival. This experience of
identifying with a particular genre
or subculture can define whom
one is or how they would like to
be perceived.
 Farrugia explains the meaning of
subcultures amongst audiences
within her journal article focusing
on EDM, “An understanding of
the intricacies by which musical
genres and subcultures develop
can help identify some of the
missing links that individuals,
especially youth experience in
their lives. It can also lead to a
more sophisticated
understanding of the ways in
which individuals use media such
as music to satisfy these needs,
giving an indication of the
potentially remedial qualities of
music.” (2003, p.4).

8. Social Practices
Music festivals have actually proven to increase a persons well-being as the
engagement with music has the power to exude emotional, social and
physical satisfaction, in which ‘Vocal In The Valley’ plans to do exactly that.
Packer & Ballantyne have commented thoroughly on this subject, “The
health benefits of musical engagement extend across the lifespan with
research documenting developmental and quality of life outcomes in
childhood, adolescence and senior adulthood, and positive impacts on
resilience within individuals and communities. Music theorists suggest that
active participation in music contributes to identity development by providing
a medium for self-expression, mood enhancement and spiritual functions,
terms and symbols for self-identity, and opportunities to create individual,
virtual worlds,” (2011, p. 165).

9. Location
The event will
be held at
Maitland
Showground in
the Hunter
Valley. There
will be four main
stages situated
around the
showground for
the acts to
simultaneously
perform giving a
range of options
and genres for
the audience’s
preferences.

10. Benefits of Location
Sense of Community
 One of the many benefits of ‘Vocal in the Valley’ residing here besides its
spacious grounds is that it will bring forth a sense of community as audiences
and the acts will engage with the concept of place.
 Straw found within in his study of other Canadian academics findings that the
artists, “each emerged within international industrial and cultural contexts which
shaped the conditions of existence and certain the ‘meanings’ of musical
localism throughout Western countries,” (1991, p. 370), in other words the
events provided benefits to both the local community and the artists. The
audiences’ support within the event strengthened the community, event and
artists stating the type of benefits that came with it, that we too could apply to
the outcomes of ‘Vocal In The Valley’, “…the criteria of public support for
popular recordings within Canada frequently presume patterns of career
development, forms of collaboration and a relationship between domestic and
international popularity,” (1991, p. 370).

11. Benefits of Location
 Whilst music festivals give forth a
sense of community to the locals,
it also attracts tourism. Of course
it may seem as though tourists
wouldn’t be able to connect to
the space as comfortably as the
locals, but due to music’s ability
to bond with it’s listener, ‘Vocal In
The Valley’ will be a place of
welcoming for all.
 This can be supported by Duffy’s
concluding statements in her
work on festival participation and
sense of place, “Meaning is
given to the musical
performances of the festival
because they operate and are
interpreted within particular
framing strategies… [it] is
embedded within a greater
context, enabling participants to
attach and reattach themselves
to a sense of place and to make
claims of belonging,” (2000, p.
63).
Tourists

12. Authenticity of Live Performance
 The advantage of music
festivals derive from their
live performances; literally
any crazy occurrence can
happen at a music festival,
and it’s particularly why
people attend them. Not only
will the music be authentic at
‘Vocal In The Valley’ because
of the live performances, but
Hunter Valley will also
benefit in that authenticity
will thus be attached to the
region itself.
 Frith expands on live
performance and the notion of
authenticity through the
experience, dedication and
individuality artists and fans
share, “Live musical
performance matters, then, for
two reasons… it is a public
celebration of musical
commitment, a deeply
pleasurable event at which our
understanding of ourselves
through music is socially
recognized… it is a site in which
to explore – for ourselves –how
performance works,” (2007,
p.14).

13. High Social Media Presence From
Live Performances
As the audience of this
festival will consist highly
of social media bloggers
because of the age
spectrum, the Hunter
Valley will be depicted as
an extremely popular
destination. The
engrossed commitment
of the audience and artist
has changed immensely
as the connectivity that
social media allows
increases music fandom;
and a bigger fan-base
means more people will
be attending festivals
Bennett depicts this expansion of
fans due to an Internet presence
stating, “The arrival and expansion
of the Internet have changed music
fandom quite significantly… In
recent years, the use of mobile
Internet and social networks such
as Twitter and Facebook has not
only allowed fans to find and
connect with each other at shows,
but also to tweet concert set-lists
and other information as they
happen, thereby allowing non-attendees
around the world to feel
part of the event,” (2012, p. 545).
While this may seem concerning, in
actuality, it puts the Hunter Valley on
the map (virtually) around the world.

14. Economic Boost Due To Festival
Performances
 The most obvious benefit for hosting ‘Vocal In The Valley’ will be the
economical gains that the region will receive due to the number of
people attending the festival regarding ticket sales, food,
accommodation, etc.
 In a recent article in Rolling Stone written by Steve Knopper, explains
the economical gains festivals offer to the industry and the artists, “All
of this is possible because festivals have come to dominate the music
industry… Thanks to hug competition for “event bookings” that sell
$300 tickets and even more expensive VIP packages, festivals can
afford to pay headliners up to $4 million… Even for baby bands – if
they get the right time slots and are able to play effectively to big
crowds – festivals can make the difference between just surviving and
thriving,” (2014, p.18-19).

15. Effective Advertising Campaigns
 Addressing social media as it will be
where most of the targeted audience
derives from.
 Other mediums including television,
radio and print (including billboards) will
be used for advertising.
 Posters all around the Hunter region
including shopping centres,
cafes/restaurants, clubs and bars.
 A featured app for festival set times and
stages constantly updating new artists
added each day to keep paying
customers or undecided goers
interested.

16. References
Bennett, L. (2012). Patterns of listening through social media: online fan engagement with the live
music experience. Social Semiotics, 22(5), 545-547.
Bowen, H. (2005).Does the music matter? Motivations for attending a music festival. Event
Management, 9, 155-164.
Duffy, M. (2000). Lines of drift: festival participation and performing a sense of place. Popular Music,
19(1), 51-64.
Farrugia, R. (2003). From Midnight to Broad Daylight: The constructive capabilities of techno.
International Communication Association, 14, 21-27.
Fitzsimons, S. (2013). The Music. Why Australians Don’t Go To Music Festivals (Australia) Chart:
http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2013/10/02/exclusive-why-australians-dont-go-to-festivals-or-local-
gigs
Frith, S. (2007). Live Music Matters. Scottish Music Review, 1(1), 1-17.
Knopper, S. (2014). Inside the Festival Economy. Rolling Stone Magazine, 1209, 18-19.
Packer & Ballantyne (2011). The impact of music festival attendance on young people’s psycohological
and social well-being. Psychology of Music, 39(2), 164-181.
Straw, W (1991). Systems of articulation, logics of change: communities and scenes in popular music.
Cultural Studies, 5(3), 368-388.