FreeFest

  A few weeks ago, a major announcement was made that could forever change the world of summer music festivals, an announcement that could, indeed, bring the notion of exorbitantly-priced concert tickets to its knees.  And it came from Sharon Osbourne, of all people.

  On February 6, at a press conference at the Concert Industry Consortium in L.A., Sharon announced that, instead of raising ticket prices for Ozzfest again this year, she will raise the price of corporate sponsorships and offer the tickets to fans for free.  That’s right, free.

  In her statement, she said that “for the last few years, ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours.  We want everybody to make money, but we also want kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience.”  In a subsequent interview she did with “The Mercury News,” Ozzfest had no choice but to reinvent the summer-touring wheel.  “We were putting offers to all these bands we wanted to tour with and they were coming back to us with exorbitant prices that would have meant we had to put the ticket prices up, which I won’t do.  They want $300,000 plus to do an hour’s work onstage.  I’m just not doing it.  Last year nearly destroyed us, paying, paying, paying, and we just can’t do it again.”

  One of the bands for which last year’s Ozzfest paid through the nose was System of a Down, who got $325,000 per show.  “They’re taking four years off, we paid them so much,” says Osbourne, “and we’re still working.  I’m not doing that again.”

  She claims that if Ozzfest continued this year in the traditional model, “we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year.  We’re reaching the same point we did years ago when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs.  As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music.  That’s what’s happening with summer touring in this country.  It’s out-pricing itself.” 

  While this year’s headliner, Ozzy, has agreed to do the show for free, it remains unclear how many other bands will get on-board.  Sharon remains optimistic.  “We know there aren’t any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we’re confident we can turn some of the genre’s biggest bands on to what we’re doing.  They could come out and play a date or two.”

  On the surface, Sharon’s motive seems almost saintly.  But a magazine called “College Music Journal” suggests there may be more to it than meets the eye.  In a recent article, CMJ claims that last year’s Ozzfest lost $1.5 million.  Any concert promoter will tell you that relying on ticket sales is a nerve-racking gamble, with the odds against you.  CMJ implies that Sharon, Ozzy, and the tour’s producer, LiveNation, may be trying to get the money for the show up-front from corporate sponsors, instead of relying on the fickle fans. 

  Even if that’s so, one fact overshadows everything else.  It’s free.

  This year’s Ozzfest (or Freefest, as it has been dubbed) kicks of on July 7 in Los Angeles.  Further tour dates have not yet been announced, but the cities have.  Near here: Albuquerque, Phoenix, Denver and Dallas.  Rock fans should keep checking www.ozzfest.com for details on how to get your free tickets.

 -From Pulse
   March 1, 2007