How many people would never experience live music in their entire lives? How many would never be touched by being connected to a performing artist? Or, to cite the British sociomusicologist Simon Frith, “who [would say] they loved particular performers but had no desire to see them live?”. Obviously, …

Live music is of great value in the lives of many. Even in today’s age of unlimited access to digital music, the appetite for live performance is only increasing. In fact, the years preceding the pandemic in 2020 can be regarded as the best for live pop music in terms of the number of gigs, audience …

EuroSonic NoorderSlag (ESNS) actively engages with around 130 festivals across Europe as part of the ESNS Exchange program. As a leading partner in this initiative, ESNS aims to transition into a fully sustainable festival in the coming years. It recognizes its role in spearheading the sustainability …

Music festivals are among the most affected sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, despite their precarious situation, several Dutch festivals have managed to innovate and transform during the crisis. This chapter seeks to understand how these festivals managed to bounce forward. Based on three case …

This paper seeks to understand the role of valuing in urban live music ecologies. It explains how multiple actors (e.g. directors of music venues, musicians, policy-makers, and real estate experts) in Dutch live music ecologies negotiate the different values of live music. To examine this dynamic, we …

To better understand the growing popularity of live music, this study analyses consumers’ motivations for live music attendance. In addition to existing literature, a generic approach to audience motivations contributes to our knowledge of the growing live music industry, where venues and festivals vie …

The Johan Cruijff ArenA (JC ArenA) is a big events location in Amsterdam, where national and international football matches, concerts and music festivals take place for up to 68,000 visitors. The JC ArenA is already one of the most sustainable, multi-functional stadia in the world and is realizing even …

Many cities consider their live music ecologies to be a valuable asset to urban culture. Many have adopted active live music policies, which is part and parcel of the trend of instrumentalization of urban cultural policies. In this paper we explore the reasons behind the increased political policy attention …

In the global pop music industries, revenue models have shifted from physical record sales to streaming services and live performances. At the same time, the supply of live music performances has changed as a result of festivalization. This study aims to understand the effects of festivalization on the …

Het geeft een actueel overzicht van de spreiding, activiteiten, bezoeken, medewerkers, inkomsten en uitgaven van 48 poppodia. Daarnaast is informatie opgenomen over spreiding, muziekoptredens en bezoek van 44 popfestivals.