What Music Festivals & Blogging have in common
Music festivals and blogging have much more in common than you might initially think. On a personal level, I love them both. There really isn’t a much better feeling than the one you get while at a concert. It’s amazing but you know what else feels fantastic? Hitting publish on a blog post that you’re proud of and excited to share.
If you’re lucky enough to be headed out to the desert in April for Coachella then your summer music season is so close to kicking off! The rest of us will have to wait until summer actually begins for festivals like Lollapalooza and Panorama. Or at least until June for Governors Ball.
Until then let’s take a look at what music festivals and blogging have in common with one another!
Festivalgoers vs. Community Members
Every festival has a certain vibe and attracts a different type of attendee. The same goes for online community members in the blogging world. Music festivals and blogging live and die by the communities they attract. (Click to Tweet) Those groups have to be carefully curated and nurtured throughout the year.
Now, a huge event like Coachella can probably afford to just be radio silent until they drop their lineup. On the other hand, smaller blogs with even smaller audiences don’t have that luxury.
They can’t rely on word of mouth or the prestige of their brand name alone. They have to cultivate, inspire and engage with their community on a more consistent basis. Either way, both of their audiences have a huge of amount of power and are important pieces to the machine as a whole.
Headlines vs. Headliners
When you go to a blog one of the first things you’re bound to see will be the headlines. These post titles will do one of four things:
- Make you click-through and immediately read.
- Make you click-through and bookmark for later.
- Make you scroll through to check out other posts.
- Make you exit the site.
Now there are a few other things that might happen but for the most part, these are the four main results. I would argue that #1 and #4 are probably the most common. This only emphasizes how important it is to have clear as well as interesting headlines for your content.
Music festivals are 100% all about the headliners. A big chunk of festivalgoers will buy their ticket solely to see 1 or 2 of the headlining acts. The rest of the roster is just an added bonus. Those big names grab their audience’s attention in the same way that a catchy post headline does.
In both instances, the person who either clicks through or buys a ticket is doing so because of the promise of that headliner or headline. The only difference here is that with a festival they’re expecting that promise to be fulfilled at a later date and with a post they’re expecting it now.
Pay to Play
This particular point comes into play at various stages, however, both music festivals and blogging have pay to play elements. When it comes to blogging the “pay” side of the coin is typically an issue for the blog owner and not so much their audience. The owner might have to pay for hosting fees, an email list, software, social media management and more.
This can change when you offer products, services, a membership site, courses etc. However, for most bloggers and most blog readers, the content on a blog is free to read and engage with.
For music festivals, a big cost is felt on both sides. The festival organizers shell out massive amounts of cash each year on logistics, promotion, talent acquisition and more. Attendees pay anything from an affordable under$100 ticket all the way up to the thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Event Marketing vs. Content Marketing
Event marketing and content marketing are tactics that are used for both music festivals and blogging. Bloggers use webinars, workshops, and in-person events to promote their products or personal brand a whole. A music festival is not only the main event but it’s also a huge marketing resource for al future festivals and any visible sponsorship brands.
Blogs are themselves a hub for content marketing. You can market yourself/brand through your social media copy, mailing list etc. but the blog posts you write are the main attraction. It’s what keeps your audience coming back and advocates for your credibility.
Planning vs. Preparing
Bloggers and music festivals both involve a heck of a lot of planning and preparing on the backend. The difference is that blog readers don’t typically have to prepare to engage with blog content but they do have to prepare to attend a festival.
If festivalgoers want to survive they have to wear the right shoes, stay hydrated etc. In this situation, the onus is on the festival organizers to plan and prepare for their arrival on the day of the event. For bloggers, this could mean anything from researching a post topic to designing a theme that converts and more. With both cases, multiple variables are at play behind the scenes.
Music Festivals and blogging may not intuitively relate to one another but they do rely upon the same principles. The communities around these institutions are what allow them to thrive or dive. Without them, all the work that it takes for them to come to life would be for naught,
What do you think music festivals and blogging have in common?