As this year’s summer festival season draws to a close, the clash between artistic expression and corporate ownership has never been more visible. When private equity firms and corporate giants control live music, artistic expression inevitably clashes with shareholder interests. This summer saw artists pull out of festivals over ownership concerns, while other performers were censored over what they said on and off stage.
The live music industry needs a strong independent alternative to the growing creep of corporate ownership. KKR’s ownership of Superstruct is a prime example.
Festivals that once championed innovation now find themselves owned by a fund that treats them as a commodity to be flipped and traded, generating return for fund managers who provide KKR with the cash for their deals.
But it also puts those festivals alongside other companies and investments in the KKR portfolio which many artists and fans consider unethical.
We don’t blame staff of those festivals - they mostly have no idea about the other investments of their corporate owners. But that’s the point: when you’re sucked into the corporate machine and become nothing more than a line in a financial model you don’t get to choose the values that come with the money.
I like to think that what we do at DHP Family provides an alternative to this model. As an independent company we make decisions rooted in artist and audience priorities - and free from the influence of conservative corporate meddling.
Over the past 45 years we have built our business as an artist-first and audience-conscious partner. Those are the principles that inspire most music venues, and as we’ve developed we’ve added the operational capacity to deliver this at a national level - making decisions that are free from shareholder influence.
Instead, our independence allows us to make decisions based on long-term cultural and business value, rather than the need to raise the share price. Of course we’re a business, not a charity, but we look first at how we can combine the ethics and agility of a small independent company with the serious operational capability we need to be taken seriously by agents, managers and artists.
We’re passionate about music and have long lasting relationships with many of the artists we work with. And we’re interested in developing long term careers, not just hitting short term metrics.
We combine the ethics of a small independent company along with national capability making us a serious alternative for agents, managers and artists.
We don’t look at artists as “product” to be leveraged, pushed and thrown away. Some of the artists we’ve worked with for many years have played 200 cap venues for their whole careers - and will continue to do so. That’s something we’re happy to support.
We’re passionate about the grassroots, we’re not in this business just to push artists into arenas when they’re not ready, driven by squeezing the maximum financial return from a relationship, no matter the cost.
This is something we try to articulate through our festivals. With Dot To Dot we have been introducing new artists to audiences in Nottingham and Bristol for 20 years, helping support and develop the scene in two of the UK’s strongest music cities, and developing a trusted festival brand that is part of those scenes.
And at Bearded Theory, our five day camping festival, we champion new music alongside artists we’ve worked with for many years. One of the things I’m proudest about is that Bearded Theory remains free of major corporate sponsorship, providing a true alternative offer to mainstream festivals where corporate sponsors can call the shots.
Our commitment to the grassroots can be seen in our venues too. I was enormously proud when The Bodega, our 220 cap venue in Nottingham, won ‘Grassroots Venue: Spirit Of The Scene’ earlier this year. The Bodega is a really special place where we are nurturing the whole creative community.
And at the other end of the scale we’ve got the venue that started it all for us 45 years ago - the 2000 cap Rock City. Every year we have new audiences coming through the doors of our venues, and Rock City is a great example of how we have tried to blend respect for the heritage and legacy of a venue with our desire to invest and deliver great new programming.
That’s not so straightforward though. Rising ticket prices are a real challenge across the industry and present a huge threat for artists at an early stage in their careers, with a growing trend among audiences to go to just one or two big shows each year, rather than taking a risk on artists they don’t know.
For some promoters there’s a temptation to charge whatever the market can take - and then some. We saw the results of so-called ‘dynamic pricing’ on the Oasis tour and the reaction from true music fans who felt priced out.
We don’t do dynamic pricing on any of our shows - we believe that live music should be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.
That means that we think about what is affordable and what is sustainable both now and in the future - with a focus on the long term growth of the artists we work with.
It can be easy - and tempting - to have your head turned by lucrative deals from big corporate players where their motivation is to make as much money as possible as quickly as possible. But those deals can often be short-lived for the artist.
If your audience feels priced out then sooner or later they stop buying. That’s why we urge artists to think about choosing a partner who truly cares about building a long term sustainable career, rather than someone in it for the short term. And I like to think that this is something that underpins the way we do business.
If we believe in an artist, then we’ll fight for them tooth and nail.
Tomorrow night one of those artists that we’ve fought for - Kneecap - will play their biggest headline show to date, at Wembley Arena.
There’s been a huge amount of noise around Kneecap, and a huge amount of debate about the rights of artists to express their opinions on stage. We’ve stuck with Kneecap throughout, working with them since 2020, putting on their first headline show in London and now watching them play Wembley.
What you see is what you get when you’re working with us. Our model prioritises transparency, flexibility and delivery. Those are all qualities that are claimed by corporates, but often harder for them to demonstrate.
What we add is true passion and a firm belief in the right of artists to express their opinions - and I don’t think many corporates and their private equity owners are able to do that.
It’s vital for the future health of the UK’s entire music ecosystem and industry that serious independent alternatives exist. Without us, and others like us, it will become more and more difficult for new artists to find their way, unless they appeal to corporate interests - and if that happens, we are all poorer for it.
This year should be a wake up call for the industry, and I hope that as we move forward as an industry we recognise the true value - and real meaning - of what it means to be independent.