The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2006–2015
Future Music Festival ran ten years — then 'the travelling model stopped paying'
Mushroom Group's Future Music Festival toured Australia for a decade; in April 2015 it was cancelled for good after two years of underperforming sales.
Future Music Festival · Mushroom Group · 2015-04
What happened
Launched by the Mushroom Group in 2006, Future Music Festival grew into Australia's big travelling dance festival, moving its lineup of acts like The Stone Roses, New Order, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Avicii and Drake across the country's major cities each summer.
The math stopped working. Ticket sales underperformed for two consecutive years, and in April 2015 the organisers announced the festival would not return in 2016 — cancelled indefinitely despite critical acclaim for the 2015 edition.
The statement read like an obituary for the format itself: 'We share the belief expressed by promoters globally that the day of the large-scale travelling festival in its current form is numbered.' Chairman Michael Gudinski said the decision 'was not made lightly. A point came though where it simply no longer made sense to continue.'
Why it happened
- Two straight years of underperforming ticket sales made a multi-city tour impossible to finance.
- A travelling festival pays freight, staging and crew for every city — costs a single-site rival avoids.
- The Australian festival market was saturating; even strong lineups no longer sold through.
The lesson
After a decade, Future Music's own organisers declared the travelling festival model over: 'travelling the festival in its current form across Australia simply doesn't make financial sense anymore.'
Aftermath
Mushroom said it planned to announce a new festival concept; the touring-festival era it predicted was over arrived, with destination festivals taking its place.
Sources
- Music Business Worldwide, April 2015 — Australia's Future Music Festival scrapped after 10 years (announced 7 April 2015 by Mushroom Group; launched 2006, final edition 2015; hosted The Stone Roses, New Order, The Chemical Brothers, Avicii, Drake, The Prodigy; B2B statement: 'the last two years of ticket sales for the festival have underperformed, meaning Future Music Festival will not be returning in 2016'; organisers: 'travelling the festival in its current form across Australia simply doesn't make financial sense anymore'; chairman Michael Gudinski: 'A point came though where it simply no longer made sense to continue')
- EDMSauce, 2 April 2015 — Australia's Future Music Festival Will Not Return In 2016 (announced 2 April 2015 via the festival's Facebook page; ran from 2006, touring Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide; cancellation due to underwhelming ticket sales: 'traveling the festival in its current form across Australia simply doesn't make financial sense anymore'; Mushroom Group said the festival would not continue)
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