Generating New Revenue Streams for Music Festivals.

The traditional source of revenue for music festivals are ticket sales, vendor pitch fees and sponsorship revenue. It's time that festival organisers got more creative and start looking at additional revenue streams. Creating alternative sources of revenue may help organisers with cash flow and assist in securing their financial survival. 

Many of the larger music festivals with experienced teams already offer numerous add on services to maximise their revenue potential but for smaller less mature festivals there may still be plenty of opportunities to create new revenue streams. 

Ticketing Structure. 
The pricing strategy is a factor often overlooked by music festival organisers. The timing and pricing employed can increase overall revenue by a surprising amount. For some festivals that have resisted VIP pricing this is certainly an area that can generate additional revenue for relatively small outlay and can be an easy sell if the event regularly sells out. It's also worth investigating the payment collection methodology as payment gateways can reduce commissions considerably compared to traditional banking merchant accounts.

Merchandise.
Increasing the range of merchandise available and making it available on an ecommerce basis throughout the year can generate reasonable volumes of sales and revenue. Do a quick assessment of branded items currently on offer and consider expanding the range. The festival has a captive audience so with some low-cost promotion sales can be generated and the organisers can gain additional branding traction too.

Accommodation and Travel. 
Doing deals with transport companies and local accommodation facilities can generate additional revenue depending on the cut agreed or deal done with the partnering organisations. If these partnerships and deals are already in place consider re-negotiating them for better terms. Consider charging volunteers for accommodation and other onsite services and limiting their benefit to free entry.

Insurance. 
New for the 2021 season will be coronavirus insurance for ticket buyers as well as vendors who will be looking to cover travel costs related to cancellation due to coronavirus. Organisers can offer insurance companies access to a relevant audience in exchange for a commission on any insurance premiums collected. 

Data Sharing. 
If the organisers have followed GDPR processes correctly they may (or may not) have gained permission from data subjects to share data with selected organisations. If a high enough number of ticket buyers have agreed to data sharing there may be opportunities for the festival organisers to consider deals with third party advertisers for a fee.

There may well be other revenue streams that can be considered but the above is just an example of some relatively straightforward initiatives that can bring in additional revenue and make the music festival more financially viable. 

For festival organisers planning their events for 2021 using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need to plan every aspect of their event. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, vendors, volunteers, sponsors guestlists and ticketing. The system acts as a secure CRM system for ticket buyers so access to the data for additional marketing activities is possible. 

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