Music Festival Sponsorship Trends in 2022 and Beyond.

Sponsorship revenue is an essential part of almost every music festival. With many international brands impacted by the coronavirus pandemic they have been re-evaluating their investment in festivals. What are the likely trends and changes to music festival sponsorship that could happen this year.

Numerous brands are always associated with sponsoring music festivals, usually alcohol related. Alcohol brands are a natural fit for festival sponsorship given the large volumes consumed by festival-goers. In recent years other brands have tried to invest in sponsorship deals with festival organisers, some have failed to see any return on their investment with post event research indicating that festival-goers viewed the brand in a negative light. The key for non alcohol brands to successfully sponsor a music festival is to resonate with the festival-goers, this may require a fundamental shift in thinking away from only considering a match in target audience to how to engage with them.

Traditional Brands.
The food and drinks brands will no doubt continue to be key players in the music festival sector, however, with many festivals chasing the same pot of sponsorship funds securing a lucrative deal may become more difficult. With more new music festivals continuing to make an entrance it's going to become a competitive environment as brands only have a finite sponsorship budget. They will probably stick with tried and trusted festivals rather than risking a new festival with unknown success.

Vehicle Manufacturers. 
The boom of alternative fuel vehicles may make car manufacturers more interested in sponsoring a music festival. Promoting their latest EV’s will probably resonate well with festival-goers who are traditionally more concerned with environmental issues than the general population. EV manufactures are selling the future of alternative transport and the largely younger target audience will likely have an affinity with EV brands that choose to sponsor a music festival. 

Technology Companies. 
Whether it's hardware or software a music festival environment can be an ideal event to showcase the latest technology. Festival-goers are more likely to be early adopters of the latest tech making these sponsors potentially a good match. The key for technology sponsors is to make their brand and presence at a festival relevant. A number of these technology sponsors have already successfully participated in music festivals by showcasing their latest tech for immersive music and audio experiences for festival-goers.

Festival organisers can consider targeting more non alcohol brands as potential sponsors for their events. These EV manufacturers and technology companies are trending now as the new sponsors for music festivals and they are prepared in to invest heavily if they feel the target audience is right. Alcoholic brands will always dominate but it’s worth organisers having discussions with potential new brands keen to enter the festival sponsorship market.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event 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.  

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