Trust in the Music Festival Organiser.

For ticket buyers, artists, contractors and other suppliers how can they trust the organiser of a new music festival? With the legal fallout and debacle from the disastrous Fyre festival (2017) continuing some four years later what lessons that can be learnt and how can trust be earned between all parties involved. 

Any business that generates money can be attractive to criminals who are always looking for ways to take advantage of loopholes in any system. Ticket buyers and suppliers should check the organiser's identity of any proposed new music festival. In addition, it is vital for organisers to ensure that they make their credentials public.

Who is the Organiser? 
Before any artist or contractor agrees to a proposed music festival, they should thoroughly check the credentials, identity and track record of the music festival organiser. It’s simple and straightforward to check public company records on an organisation's financial history. Is the organiser well-funded and what is the source of their income and investments? Check what events they have previously organised and talk to other artists and suppliers to see if the organiser was good to do business with and did they pay any fees on time? Sometimes it’s worth doing a simple online search on individuals which can reveal previous legal cases for example.

Ticket Buyers. 
For festival-goers tempted by big name artists it’s worth checking if the artists named have actually confirmed their appearance. Tickets are sold on a variety of specialist ticketing platforms and most ticket sales organisations will conduct due diligence when agreeing to sell tickets. In addition, ticket buyers should check if their credit card supplier offers insurance for fraudulent sales as most do. Also check the festival's terms and conditions of sale and refund policy should there be any issues. As with artists and suppliers its probably worthwhile doing a few checks on the festival organisers if it’s a new event.

Building Trust.  
Music festival organisers rarely emerge with a new event without any history or track record but perhaps the team has a low profile. It is essential for organisers of a new festival to provide a much information as possible and list events they have successfully organised in the past and add any references from suppliers and artists who can verify them. Be transparent about the financial performance of the organising entity and clearly identify investors. A good PR campaign should include plenty of information on the organising team, their pervious performance and current financial stability. This PR  should run in conjunction with more general announcements about dates, venues and artists.

Scammers and other criminal elements are always attracted to any activity where huge sums of money are involved. Music festivals add an extra attraction to criminals because ticket buyers are paying up front for something that will happen in the future making it easier to take the money and then disappear without delivering the promised event. Equally suppliers and artists who were booked will not turn up because they never get paid. 

For organisers planning their first music festival or live event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the online functionality they need manage every aspect of their festival logistics. 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, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels

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