DS02 Concert Sponsorships 3376 PDF

The New Era of Concert & Music
Festival Sponsorships
Are brands the future of the live music industry?
Sponsorship spending on music tours, festivals, and

venues totaled $1.47 billion dollars in 2016, growing
faster than spend on sponsorship in any other industry.1
And global sponsorship spending across industries is
projected to rise 4.5% in 2017, according to IEG.2
But what do these big numbers mean for the future
of live music?
“Brands are the future of the music industry,” says

Casey McGrath, co-founder and chief creative officer
at Phear Creative, a creative content agency that
helps brands establish cultural relevance with younger
consumers. “As this seismic shift happens in the music
industry and the traditional model loses its footing,
brands have the opportunity to become the best way
that musicians connect with people.”
For promoters of live music and owners of festivals,

sponsorship has long been an important source of
funding. And as venues struggle to stay in the black,
they will need to rely on sponsors more and more in
the years to come. Not only because brand dollars are
vital to protecting your business, but because fans
are coming to expect more robust brand experiences
at shows and festivals.
Eventbrite.com The New Era of Concert & Music Festival Sponsorships Page 2
In the near future, brand partnerships could be the
difference between building a sustainable business,
or joining the ranks of cancelled festivals and venues
shuttering their doors. But the increasing reliance
on brands also means that it’s never been more difficult
to win sponsors for your shows or festival. Find out
how you can stand out to sponsors — and craft
activations that fans love — with these insights from
thirteen sponsorship experts from festivals, venues,
agencies, and brands.
This guide is for…

Directors of development and owners of festivals who
want to stand out from the crowd and establish long-
lasting brand partnerships
Venue owners and promoters who want to ensure their

shows stay in the black in 2017 and beyond
You’ll learn…
What sponsors want — and how to use fan data and
new tech to win them over
The new activations that fans love, and how to increase

fan engagement with sponsors
Why music venues will attract a larger portion of spons-

orship dollars, and what they can learn from festivals
Meet the experts
Adi Anand Alex Beim Parag Bhandari

Director of Business Development, Creative Director, Owner,
Sound on Sound Fest Tangible Interaction UG Strategies
Adam Cohen Ben Cooper Chad Issaq

Account Manager, Creative Director & Partner, Head of Sponsorships,
Cornerstone Agency Hfour Design Studio Superfly
Nick Lippman Casey McGrath Biasha Mitchell

Manager, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Music Strategy
Matchbox 20 Phear Creative at Eventbrite
John Riccardi Jason Scoggins Mathew Thomas

Strategic Account Manager, Sponsorships Founder,
Music at Eventbrite at BottleRock ConcertPass
Section 01 What brands want: How to win over sponsors
Brands have always gravitated toward live music — and it’s no wonder why.
“Music is the best way to communicate a brand’s values,” Phear

Creative’s McGrath says. “It’s a quick, easy way to communicate your
values to the consumer. Every single brand wants to let people know who
they are and what they care about, and to do that through the power and
connectivity that music and live experiences offer.”
Music is how brands capture hearts and minds. To create

an authentic musical experience you’re saying, I, this brand,
care about these values, and now you, the consumer, know,
because you stood in this moment and it washed over you.
Casey McGrath, CCO at Phear Creative
And there’s science to back that up. “Many reports show that music is
the number one passion point for people between the age of 16 and 35,”
says Adam Cohen, an account manager at Cornerstone Agency. Studies
have also shown that millennial fans perceive brands as more authentic
and trustworthy when they sponsor a music festival, and are more likely
to purchase and recommend a product.3
So brands’ motivations are clear when they partner with artists and
live music events. “It’s a no-brainer if you’re trying to connect with a
millennial audience,” Cohen says.
The challenge for live music events is to show why your specific
audience is more valuable than any other audience of music fans. It’s not
an easy task — the majority of event organizers managing sponsorships
named finding potential sponsors as their top challenge, followed by
negotiating the terms of the sponsorship. Proving your audience’s value
is vital in both of those steps.
This challenge can be even greater for music venues, with so many
brands gravitating to massive festivals. But there are ways venues can
make their offering stand out — check out section three for those insights.
No matter whether you’re a venue or festival, the key to winning the right
sponsors is bringing your vision and value to life. Here’s how our experts
tackle the challenge.
The two types of sponsorship activations
PRO
TIPS
“Most sponsorship activations fall into two categories,” says John
Riccardi, who’s on the music team at Eventbrite and previously managed
sponsorships for various large-scale promoters and festivals. "The
first type are one-size-fits-all, smaller-footprint activations commonly
booked by agencies. These tend to be fairly passive, and typically drive
engagement via social check-ins, specific hashtags, or branded merch
giveaways and prizes. The second type are higher-dollar, more elaborate
activations, potentially led by the brand itself. These are typically tailored
specifically to your event and fan demographics, and focus on fans
being more hands-on with the brand, or rewarding them with unique,
premium experiences, rather than prizes.”
“You need to know how to pitch differently to brands and agencies,

especially since most brands don’t do event activations end-to-end
in-house," Riccardi says. "Oftentimes they work through agencies,
which might not be specifically focused on music events, or can act as
gatekeepers in representing their clients. Do your research ahead of time.
Make sure you're well-versed in the brand's core values, and have an
understanding of what did or didn't work for them in the past."
Start by understanding the brand’s goals
To have the most success attracting sponsors, you need to understand
each brand’s goals. After all, “investment levels correlate to their brand
goal, their targets, and numbers,” says Adi Anand, the director of
business development for Sound on Sound Fest.
So do your research: find leads by looking at competitive events and see

who’s spending money there. Local venues can turn to local companies
to see where they’re spending marketing dollars. Build relationships
with a variety of agencies and brands to get firsthand information about
their goals.
Once you have brands who you think could be a fit, delve deep into
each brand’s website, press coverage, and social media accounts.
Have a conversation — before you start pitching — solely dedicated to
understanding their focus.
“You should sit down prior to pitching to learn about what they’re looking
for, what demographic they’re focused on, where they're spending
money in your space, what new products they have, what they’re
bringing to market, and how you can solve for their business goals,”
Riccardi says.
According to an IEG survey, most sponsors’ goals for 2017 revolve

around creating awareness and brand loyalty.4 But it’s important to
understand if a company would rather prioritize (for example) capturing
fan data for lead generation, or simply getting samples of their product
in front of more consumers.
The most important objectives for sponsors5
50% 48% 38%

create awareness/visibility increase brand loyalty showcase community/social
responsibility
36% 26% 26%

change/reinforce image access platform for obtain/develop content
experiential branding to use in digital, social and
other media
24% 23% 21%

database capture/lead access property’s fan data stimulate trials/sales/usage
generation
That said, don’t be afraid to be blunt with a brand if their goals don’t
align with your festival or show.
“Brands often get seduced by short-term goals, but those can lead
down the wrong path,” McGrath says. “Brands need to be most
concerned about having an authentic POV, about the perception of
their brand in the long term.” If your potential sponsors are focused
on the wrong goals, it’s time to have an honest conversation about
the partnership — and be prepared to walk away.
Brands need to understand in their dialogue with festivals

that they’re talking to curators and purveyors of culture.
Chad Issaq, head of sponsorships at Superfly
Think lifestyle, not demographics

Once you’re aligned with a brand’s goals, it’s time to convince them
you can help them achieve those goals — better than any other music
festival or venue.
“Most brands and companies know the market, demographic, and

audience they want to target,” Anand says. “Festivals have a captive
audience they can offer brands.”
Every brand will ask for demographic information like the age and
household income of your fans. Go a step further: describe your fans’
lifestyle, not just their demographics.
“Nearly every competing contemporary music event is going to say their
core fan age is 18-34 and college-educated with higher income levels,”
Riccardi says. “But if you can drill down into the three unique things that
compose your fans' lifestyle — that makes it a lot easier to win a pitch
and be on the same page as your partner.”
For instance, Anand describes Sound on Sound Fest’s demo as a

culture-forward crowd that wants to see what’s next and new before
everyone else — the people who want to tell their friends. Identify what’s
unique about your audience: are they tastemakers? Are they parents,
or students? By bringing your fans to life, brands can better understand
what role they can play in their overall growth strategy.
Portray brands as your partner when you pitch

“If there’s one thing I could underscore, it’s that every sponsorship
should be approached as a collaboration, a partnership based
on customized goals and execution,” Riccardi says. “A one-size-fits-all
pitch deck with a gold, silver, and bronze package doesn’t show that.”
The hard reality is: to pitch a brand successfully, you need the flexibility
to focus on certain aspects in one conversation, and different aspects in
another.
Start off your pitch with the personality and makeup of your event or
venue — what your property is all about. Your deck should be in-line with
your brand, and customized to the company you’re pitching.
Next, articulate who your attendees are, describing both their basic
demographic information and their lifestyles. Then, if you have them,
share case studies of how you’ve worked with similar sponsors and the
audience engagement they’ve seen.
“Have thoughtful case studies and numbers around how the brand’s
target audience engages with the festival,” says Cohen. “Don’t just say
it’s this many stages or this many bands.”
At the end of the day, Finally, share some ideas for how you think their product might fit into
you want something your festival or shows. They don’t have to be particularly realistic —
that’s going to be an share your most ambitious ideas to get the partner excited about the
active attraction for possibilities and start the conversation. These tactics probably won’t
your attendees to become the final activation, because that will evolve as the partnership
experience, instead does, but they will help you begin brainstorming.
of passive wallpaper
onsite that people “At the end of the day, you want something that’s going to be an
walk by all day. active attraction for your attendees to experience, instead of passive
wallpaper onsite that people walk by all day,” Riccardi says. “If you can
accomplish that, your partner will be very happy because they’ll have
high engagement and meet their goals.”
Consider strategies to add value when negotiating

the sponsorship deal
Once you’ve won brands over to the value of your audience, it’s time to
negotiate the deal itself. This will look different every time you do it, but
there are ways to increase the value of your offer to sponsors.
The first strategy is to offer exclusivity. According to IEG, category

exclusivity is the most valuable benefit you can offer sponsors.6 Can
you assure a sponsor that you won’t partner with anyone else in their
industry? Or can you assure them that they will be the only sponsor with
a specific type of activation?
“In many cases, less is more,” says Jason Scoggins, who heads
sponsorships at BottleRock Napa Valley. “More sponsors would prefer to
be involved in a festival that has fewer sponsors overall in the footprint of
the festival ground.”
The next value add to consider is extending the sponsorship beyond the
event itself. Especially if you work with a promoter or are a venue with
multiple shows to offer, create a package that lasts more than one night.
“Take a three-day festival and make it a six- or seven-month program

with incremental value, whether through online initiatives or additional
events throughout the year where brands can get visibility,” Anand says.
“You can offer more value that way for brands.”
Digital extensions of the sponsorship through social media posts and

integration into your website are fairly standard, but there are ways to
think outside the box. For example, you could offer the ability to co-brand
assets with your event all year long, or do giveaways leading up to the
festival. For sponsors with a physical storefront, you could even offer to
put on a small preview event leading up to yours at their store.
Of course, the negotiation phase is also the time to consider what

additional value a brand could provide you. Especially for venues, it may
be worth accepting a small deal from a brand to create the opportunity
for a longer-term partnership down the road.
The most valuable benefits for sponsors7
60% 43% 40%

category exclusivity on-site signage right to property marks
and logo
39% 34% 34%

rights to property content access to mailing presence in digital/social/
for digital and other uses list/database mobile media
33% 32% 29%

access to audience/ tickets right to promote co-branded
fan data products/services
Make a plan to measure return on investment (ROI)
Once you’ve negotiated with sponsors, it’s time to build an activation
that meets their goals — and has the data to prove it.
Before you decide exactly what the activation will be, “understand how
the sponsor is measuring success and document that with KPIs [key
performance indicators] the sponsor wants to achieve,” says Biasha
Mitchell, who heads music strategy at Eventbrite. “Make sure A) you
can get those metrics, that they are measurable and exist, and B) that
you can prove the ROI, since KPIs change from sponsor to sponsor and
between digital and physical activations.”
If brands are focused on driving awareness, those KPIs are usually

measurements of social mentions, the number of people who passed
through, and the press impressions they garnered. If you’re partnering
with a brand on content creation, the KPIs could be views and shares of
a video. If the sponsor is focused more on down-funnel data, they could
want metrics around how many samples they handed out, how many
fans they got contact information for, or how many bar sales there were
for their beverage.
“Brands have new KPIs now,” says Parag Bhandari, owner of UG

Strategies. “Five or ten years ago, it was how many people saw their logo.
Now, it’s what kind of content they got, and how you pushed that content
out. Festivals are now 365 days a year online, not just three days, so tell
how the brand is engaged in that year-round story.”
Whatever data they want, make sure you are clear on what those metrics
are and how you are measuring them before the activation is finalized,
because you’ll be expected to report back on them after the event.
Streamline data collection with RFID technology
PRO
TIPS
One of the easiest ways to prove the ROI of an activation is for the
sponsor to walk away with specific data on how many fans interacted
with their brand, and who those fans are.
“Sponsors are investing so much more money in these activations

that they need to have proof of some kind of ROI that goes beyond a
trending hashtag on social,” Riccardi says. “That’s where the data play
becomes much more important.”
Using RFID (radio-frequency identification) wristbands, more and

more events are delivering this level of data. While the activations
themselves stay the same, RFID makes it much easier than traditional
data collection techniques, such as contests.
“Because the event is already going through the effort to distribute

RFID wristbands, and encouraging or requiring attendees to
personalize that wristband to their own identity, you get much more
personalized information,” Mitchell says. “By doing that, you can
take the multistep friction of entering a sponsors’ contest out of the
equation, and just introduce a tap to participate.”
Instead of sponsors using paper clipboards or iPads for fans to

manually enter their data, sponsors can collect this information with
a simple tap of fans’ wristbands.
Scoggins is introducing RFID technology to his winery sponsors at

BottleRock this year. “We’re taking an analog sponsorship activation,
and incorporating the RFID sponsorship capability, so that if someone
wants to join the winery mailing list with the tap of the wristband, they
can opt in,” Scoggins says. “RFID email capture is going to be a big
help in justifying sponsorship ROI.”
Already, Scoggins credits RFID data capture at the entry to their
Silent Disco activation as the reason they were able to get a sponsor
(Libratone) this year. “We probably wouldn’t have gotten a sponsor
for our Silent Disco activation this year if we didn’t have RFID,
because they need to justify their budget spend. RFID enables that
ROI story.”
Set your sponsors up for success onsite
“Festivals that have the most success with sponsors dedicate quite a
few resources to accommodating them onsite. Set clear expectations
with the sponsors about what you can and can’t do, especially in the
middle of a field. Do they know where to load in, where to pick up
credentials, how power and internet is taken care of? If you can, have
a full team that does just sponsorship accomodation onsite. Make
sure that, if something happens in the middle of the event, that their
needs are addressed quickly. These things mean money at the end of
the day.”
— Biasha Mitchell, music strategy at Eventbrite
Section 02 What fans want: The brand activations fans love
Ultimately, brands are successful when they create an activation that

fans love — and fans’ expectations are rising, fast. Plastering brand logos
everywhere doesn’t catch fans’ attention, and it’s actually a way that
brands can spend money to lose affinity with consumers, Phear Creative’s
McGrath warns.
What would you want as a fan? That needs to be the

approach. If you’re not thinking about it from the fan’s
perspective, then you’re not thinking about it the right way.
“There’s a more savvy, demanding consumer with higher expectations,”

McGrath says. “They don’t want to see a logo on the top of a main stage
at a festival. Now, you have to ask yourself: what are we doing to make
sure everyone who attends the event leaves saying they had a better
time because of that brand’s presence?”
Luckily, according to Eventbrite research, music fans aren’t hard to

engage: 82% of fans who attend four or more music festivals a year
embrace company and brand activations at music festivals. But to truly
engage this audience, “brands need to be a part of the experience, not
just supporting the experience,” Bhandari says.
The hottest trends in brand activations
So, how can you make sure your activations are authentic for both the
event and brand? “My suggestion is to always keep your audience in
mind,” says Alex Beim, the creative director of Tangible Interaction. “See
if you can really add value. Be on the audience’s side.” Here’s a quick run-
down to figure out if some of the latest trends are right for your event.
Experiential activations
“Hands-on experiential events tend to give greater engagement. It's
the main reason why brands are spending more in this area,” says Mat
Thomas, the founder of ConcertPass, a mobile rewards platform for
concerts and live events. “They might cost more, but the fans are more
active. People are used to free things — now it’s about how you can
engage in a two-way interaction."
We see brands as the new patrons of the arts. It used to

be the rich and royalty, or perhaps the church, who would
commission paintings and support the arts. For a time, it
was the government. Now, it’s brands that are bringing art
to people, because they see the value in enriching people's
experience in that way.
Ben Cooper, creative director and partner at Hfour Design Studio
For festivals, these activations are more and more common, usually
in the form of interactive art installations. Ben Cooper, the creative
director and partner at Hfour Design Studio, has worked on a number
of technology-driven art experiences at festivals. One of his favorite
festival activations allows fans to speak into a microphone and see their
voice in lights. For venues, experiential activations can take a slightly
different form.
Beim worked on an activation at clubs for Absolut Vodka, creating a
sculptural piece with the liquor bottles. Fans could put their finger on
the center, and the sculpture would light up to the beat of their heart.
“The value that brands are getting from sponsoring art installations
is a wider reach and exposure,” Cooper says. “Traditional advertising
isn’t as effective anymore, so giving people experiences is the new way
of advertising.”
To make sure these activations ring true to fans, indulge your audience’s
curiosity and playfulness.
“People are curious and playful, and in the last ten years we’ve been so
focused on new tech and media, that we haven’t paid attention to the
full person,” Beim says. “We are creatures moving through space, and
you can really engage people with their senses. Brands can make a real
impact just by understanding this.”
Art is a fundamental part of our experience every day.

Technology impacts your brain, but your entire body is
moved by art.
Livestreaming and virtual reality (VR):

According to the experts, sponsor interest in livestreaming and VR is
growing. “VR is probably the biggest thing we get asked to come up with
ideas on in regards to tech and experiential asks,” Cornerstone Agency’s
Cohen says.
Anand has also received more requests for livestreaming and VR options
from sponsors for the festivals he manages. “I wouldn’t say it’s the
future, but it’s a big part of the future,” Anand says. “Livestream growth
especially is just so logical. It’s a huge advantage if you’re able to [use
livestreaming] for exposure, and to generate more sponsorship revenue
due to increased exposure.”
This content can go beyond the performances. “Storytelling is an

amazing opportunity for brands,” Superfly’s Issaq says. “There are so
many different cultures, communities, and stories that come to life at a
festival. Brands can naturally create an amazing narrative for their social
channels via short form or docu-style content.”
For both livestreaming and VR, the challenge is to establish the most
valuable way to use the technology, and the platform to use to do so.
“With both festivals and venues, content is always going to be an

incredible driver of engagement and value — engagement with
attendees, and value for potential sponsors,” Eventbrite’s Riccardi says.
So much so that video content may drive sponsorship activity moving forward.
VR will take a couple “The on-site experience will always be important, but for a brand, when
more years to catch you livestream live music, you’re reaching a hell of a lot more people
on, but once the than are actually at the event,” says Bhandari. He predicts that VR will
technology itself is take a couple more years to catch on, but that once the technology itself
more widespread, it’s is more widespread, “it’s going to skyrocket: that’s the future of festival
going to skyrocket. content.” With livestreaming and VR coming together, he believes video
content will drive the sponsorship conversation in three to five years.
Like festivals, venues have a huge opportunity to engage sponsors for

livestreaming. In fact, with year-round content, these deals can be even
more lucrative than festival offers.
“It helps to leverage the brand beyond the actual event, even during your
shows,” Thomas says. “Attendees could send a link or post to someone who’s
not at the show, so their whole personal community of friends feel like they
are participating in the event as well.”
The tried-and-true activations fans love
Of course, among all the buzzwords in the sponsorship world, some
activations never go out of style. If a sponsor provides entertainment
for fans, a safe haven from the sun, or has refreshments or cool swag,
it’s an easy win. After all, Eventbrite research shows that fans are more
likely to engage with simple activations like WiFi access, so it’s worth
asking: are more elaborate activations really worth your sponsors’
money and effort?
Simple, functional service to fans

Some of the most successful brand activations at festivals appeal to
fans’ base needs. Consider a modern version of Maslow’s pyramid, with
WiFi and cell phones joining food and drink at the pyramid’s foundation.
Sponsors can use these basic desires to build a memorable brand
interaction with fans.
This extends to more elaborate activations — like a shampoo

company providing free haircuts and shampoos at camping festivals.
But even touring activations from an agency can succeed if they focus
on functionality.
“A viewing deck near main stage was super popular,” Anand says,
recalling an activation that toured multiple festivals. “Fans could go
up, sample wine, and watch the band. That was a smart activation
not unique to Sound on Sound festival — but it was actually functional
to give attendees a rooftop viewing area.”
Activations engaged with by the most frequent festival-goers9
70% 61% 46%

food or drink WiFi access cell phone
charging stations
45% 43%
access to a lounge photo booth
or relaxation area
Building on the experience

The magic really happens when sponsors can provide an experience that
feels native to the festival. At BottleRock Napa Valley, Scoggins has seen
this success with their winery sponsors.
“We have the luxury of partnering with wineries that sponsor our festival
in a way that’s very authentic to BottleRock as a Napa Valley Wine
Festival,” Scoggins says. “Our winery sponsorship program is unlike any
I’ve ever seen. Our winery sponsors really help turn our GA space into
what I would consider a VIP experience.”
Wineries build out and host areas with hardwood floors, chandeliers,
and white leather couches in which their patrons can sit back and sip
wines. “Frankly, it’s not like our winery partners are doing anything
technologically revolutionary,” Scoggins says. “Winery sponsors are the
perfect fit in terms of our brand and our experience.”
Anand has also seen the most success when brands incorporate
organically into the experience.
“Sound on Sound Fest last year was at a Renaissance Faire park, so
one of our sponsors — a cider company — took over the ax- and knife-
throwing area,” Anand says. “We stuck apples into those walls, and folks
were trained how to throw an ax or a knife to hit the apple. There were
prizes: if someone hit the apple, they could win an instant upgrade to VIP,
or tickets for next year. There was a long line the whole time, and it was
one of the most popular things we had. It was about learning a new skill,
and it was very on-brand and done in a very safe, monitored setup.”
Swag
Unsurprisingly, everyone loves freebies. While sponsor-branded
merchandise isn’t as popular, festival and artist merch are. So if your
sponsor is attached to their logo, encourage them to include it alongside
the festival or artist on merchandise.
Encourage sponsors to consider swag with a practical purpose to stand

out from the crowd. Instead of handing out one of countless free tote
bags, give summer festival-goers sunglasses, sunscreen, or baseball
hats. Or, provide fans a tumbler or beer glass for their drinks: half of
U.S. consumers who own drinkware with a logo on it said they use it at
least two to three times a week. And depending how much sponsors are
willing to spend, portable chargers are always popular.
Activations engaged with by the most frequent festival-goers10
55% 48% 40%

festival merchandise artist merchandise sample of the
sponsor’s product
34% 32%
sponsor-branded sweepstakes for a
merchandise product or cash prize
Section 03 The future of brands & live music: How venues are
beginning to capture more sponsorship dollars
Traditionally, festivals have dominated the live music sponsorship

ecosystem. “The dollars go to the top festivals and artists,” says Mat
Thomas, the Founder of ConcertPass, the first mobile rewards and
loyalty app for concerts. “Very little of that money really trickles down to
independent artists, venues under 3k, or brands that aren’t as big as
Pepsi and Budweiser.”
But that is beginning to change. In fact, two thirds of the 50 venues

we surveyed want to increase revenue beyond ticket and bar sales.
And one in five venues specifically want to increase sponsorship revenue
using technology.
A third of surveyed venues already rank sponsorship as a “very important”

revenue stream for their room. To scale sponsor engagement with smaller
rooms, there’s a lot that venue owners can learn from festivals. And, as
venues experiment with creative ways to engage sponsors, festivals will
have to learn from them as well.
Venues’ secret advantage over festivals

Venues can certainly learn from festival sponsorship models — but
venues also have an advantage over festivals when attracting sponsors.
Unlike festivals, which have three days a year to produce those videos
and other content, venues have a steady stream of new content
year-round.
“What any venue has to offer is a great variety of events and attractions
over the course of a year,” Riccardi says. “A festival is one big event or
celebration. But a venue has the luxury of producing events with regularity,
on a continuum, and being able to drop in sponsors ad hoc as they go.”
Venues also attract a more diverse audience than festivals, given the variety
of bands performing each night. “That will expose sponsors’ brands to a
greater variety of attendees than a festival alone,” Riccardi says.
To make this diversity appealing — instead of scary — to sponsors, venue

owners should use data. “You know approximately how many shows and
attendees you have a year, and you know past shows included certain
renowned artists,” Riccardi says. “Presented correctly, that information
should be enough for sponsors to know they’re investing in a rock-solid
business with a lot of diversity.”
Here’s how venues can improve their offering to sponsors — and stand out
from festivals.
Use your venue’s full range of data

As a venue, you have As a venue, you have more data at your disposal than many festivals.
more data at your Illustrate the value of your audience to sponsors using real numbers
disposal than many from a variety of sources. Go beyond demographic information — for
festivals. Illustrate the example, if you’re pitching alcohol brands, you might share data on your
value of your audience bar sales. (According to IEG, wine & spirits and beer brands are the most
to sponsors using active sponsors for music venues.8)
real numbers from a
variety of sources. “Build your data over time to give brands a picture of your audience,”
ConcertPass’s Mat Thomas says. “Use whatever sales data you already
have: your ticketing data, bar sales, POS systems, and social media.
Remember that you're dealing with corporations, so identify early on
what kind of data and analytics they are looking for — it will save you
time in the long run.”
While “venues tend to have more luck with local brands,” don’t assume
your reach is only local, Thomas says. “If you’re in a major city, you could
draw a national audience.”
Package your shows with membership or loyalty
programs across venues
Loyalty programs are a great way to identify your most engaged fans —
exactly who sponsors want to reach. Since these programs often already
involve rewards, it’s a great opportunity to allow brands to sponsor
rewards to access your fanbase. This becomes even more appealing if
you own multiple venues or are able to partner with other local venues to
extend your reach.
That’s where new technology can make a difference. As the founder of

ConcertPass, Thomas hopes the app will connect venues and sponsors.
By using the app and location-based technology, ConcertPass serves
sponsorship offers to fans before, during, and after shows at a number
of venues. (Imagine a push notification as you’re waiting in line at your
favorite venue that offers you a VIP upgrade or a meet and greet with
that artist, brought to you by a brand.)
“We’ve created a matching system in New York, pairing multiple venues

with multiple brands as ‘digital sponsors’ across events,” Thomas says.
For example, they could package 25 shows from different venues that
target 18-27 year-old fans of country music in New York City, and brands
could offer rewards at all those shows. “This is a way for brands to more
effectively spend more marketing dollars on artists and venues while
getting better ROI. It’s a win-win.”
Partner with brands or festivals for co-branded

custom events
Beyond your usual shows, you can also offer custom events to brands.
“Ownership is a big thing for brands, which is why you see a lot more
shows hosted by them,” Cornerstone Agency’s Adam Cohen says.
Your room could become the space for these brand-hosted shows.
If the brand already has a space or storefront they want to use, you
could offer your booking and promotional expertise. “We can come
in and curate a series at their store,” Anand says. “We can book four
shows for them in a season at their stage. We’ll handle production
and marketing, and sponsors can hide VIP tickets in the store or do
a sweepstakes for customers.”
An easy way for An easy way for venues to get involved in custom events for brands is
venues to get by partnering with larger events, like festivals, for related programming
involved in custom leading up to the event. “Club and venue sponsorships are added value
events for brands is for festival sponsors,” Bhandari says. Festivals themselves can also
by partnering with offer sponsors activations at shows that lead up to the event.
larger events, like
festivals, for related “We create custom events with brands, like a boat or a pool party,
programming leading leading up to our festival,” Anand says. “Local venues can partner with
up to the event. larger events, or host separate events for sponsors of larger events.”
Embrace hyperlocal businesses

Local brands have smaller budgets than national businesses —
but they’re also a natural fit for many rooms. “There are interesting
hyperlocal sponsorships for local venues,” Eventbrite’s Biasha
Mitchell says.
There are countless ways to engage these sponsors without the

level of effort that would need to go into a national brand partnership.
For festivals that attract mainly a local audience, these strategies can
also be effective. Here are a few simple offers to engage local companies:
Naming rights
Providing naming rights means adding "in partnership with [BRAND]”
or “event brought to you by [BRAND]” to the name of the show. It’s an
easy way for local businesses to get their logo in your venue’s newsletter
and on your promotional materials.
Ticket giveaways or meet and greets
Partner with a brand to do ticket giveaways. For example, a purchase
at the store within a certain time period could enter fans in the
sweepstakes. Or, a brand could sponsor a meet and greet with the artist,
either after the show or even at their own store earlier in the day.
Activations at the show itself

While most rooms have limited real estate inside the venue, it’s usually
possible to find space for one sponsor. “At the concert, give them a
space to vend, sell, and be exposed to the crowd,” Anand says. “If it’s a
restaurant, they could cater for the audience, or give the touring band
dinner backstage.” If it’s an alcohol company, feature their product at the
bar, or give away free drinks to the first 100 fans. If you don’t have that
much room, you can always offer signage for visibility.
Keep in mind that these businesses often have tight budgets. “When
first approaching sponsors, don’t jump the gun and say you need this
much money,” Thomas says. “For a venue, take the long-term strategic
view to work with them on one project, and then see if that relationship
can expand.”
Think about customer service beyond the walls

of your venue
Beyond livestreaming, there are other ways to build partnerships

that extend past your room. Think about local services that would
make it easier or more affordable for fans to get to shows. For example,
Nick Lippman, a partner at Lippman Entertainment and manager
for Matchbox 20, recently organized a partnership with Lyft and the
babysitting app UrbanSitter for the band’s upcoming tour. Both services
will be offering a discount on the website and app for Matchbox 20 fans.
“I wanted to best cater to my target demographic to get them out of
their homes and into our shows,” Lippman says. “The partnership was
a way to get more butts in seats, because I eliminated a cost that could
influence whether fans choose to go to the show or not.”
Since the band’s target demographic were largely parents, and most of
the band members have kids, it was a natural fit. “My goal was to help
parents like me who have to choose whether or not to go out,” Lippman
says. “That choice is difficult because of all the transportation and child-
care costs involved. The alliance benefits everybody.”
Local ridesharing apps are a clear fit, but you can get creative with the
services sponsors provide to fans beyond the show. Festivals too can
offer services beyond the event itself, like a partnership with a local hotel
for out-of-state fans.
“Look at activations that incentivize fans to come to the show,” Thomas

says. “The idea of customer service and value is the most important
thing a brand can do. Add more activities that make the experience more
seamless and effortless — those are the sponsors that are going to win.”
Conclusion:
Working toward partnerships, not payments
Brands have become the patrons of the live music
industry, and their expectations are growing and
shifting each year. Cutting a check in exchange for logo
placement is already outdated, but it’s not the only
relic of the old sponsorship model that will need to be
reconsidered. Promoters, festivals, and venues will all
need to adapt their approach to sponsorship if they
want their businesses to survive.
“Both entities need to be aligned and share values,”

McGrath says. “Those are the partnerships that work
well: ones that are reinventing the transactional
model. You can’t just get paid a check for services
rendered. There needs to be a goal in the distance that
both partners want to reach, and that neither can
reach alone — they have to reach it together.”
Don’t be intimidated. At the end of the day, remember:

brands are music fans, too.
“Luckily, a lot of the brands in our industry want to
be a part of music events,” Anand says. “You need
to show value and meet goals — but guess what else?
The people we work with, this is their passion. They
want nothing more than to be a part of these shows.
“When you strip down the business side of things,

people are actually interested in music. Start and
end there.”
Of course, sponsorships aren’t the only evolving

element of the live music industry. To make sure
your business stays on the cutting edge, check out
The Future of Concert Technology: 20 Tastemakers’
Predictions.
1“Sponsorship Spending on Music to Total $1.47 Billion in 2016”, 2016 IEG report
2“What Sponsors Want and Where Dollars Will Go in 2017”, 2016 IEG report
3“Study: Sponsoring a Live Music Event Makes Millennials Trust and Recommend Your Brand”, Forbes 2015
8“Sponsorship Spending on Music to Total $1.47 Billion in 2016”, 2016 IEG report
9 https:⁄⁄www.eventbrite.com⁄blog⁄academy⁄hardcore-festies-most-valuable-fan-driving-todays-growth-in-music-festivals⁄
10 https:⁄⁄www.eventbrite.com⁄blog⁄academy⁄hardcore-festies-most-valuable-fan-driving-todays-growth-in-music-festivals⁄
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The New Era of Concert & Music

Sponsorship spending on music tours, festivals, and

“Brands are the future of the music industry,” says

For promoters of live music and owners of festivals,

This guide is for…

Venue owners and promoters who want to ensure their

The new activations that fans love, and how to increase

Why music venues will attract a larger portion of spons-

Adi Anand Alex Beim Parag Bhandari

Adam Cohen Ben Cooper Chad Issaq

Nick Lippman Casey McGrath Biasha Mitchell

John Riccardi Jason Scoggins Mathew Thomas

“Music is the best way to communicate a brand’s values,” Phear

Music is how brands capture hearts and minds. To create

The two types of sponsorship activations

“You need to know how to pitch differently to brands and agencies,

So do your research: find leads by looking at competitive events and see

According to an IEG survey, most sponsors’ goals for 2017 revolve

50% 48% 38%

36% 26% 26%

24% 23% 21%

Brands need to understand in their dialogue with festivals

Think lifestyle, not demographics

“Most brands and companies know the market, demographic, and

For instance, Anand describes Sound on Sound Fest’s demo as a

Portray brands as your partner when you pitch

Consider strategies to add value when negotiating

The first strategy is to offer exclusivity. According to IEG, category

“Take a three-day festival and make it a six- or seven-month program

Digital extensions of the sponsorship through social media posts and

Of course, the negotiation phase is also the time to consider what

60% 43% 40%

39% 34% 34%

33% 32% 29%

If brands are focused on driving awareness, those KPIs are usually

“Brands have new KPIs now,” says Parag Bhandari, owner of UG

“Sponsors are investing so much more money in these activations

Using RFID (radio-frequency identification) wristbands, more and

“Because the event is already going through the effort to distribute

Instead of sponsors using paper clipboards or iPads for fans to

Scoggins is introducing RFID technology to his winery sponsors at

Set your sponsors up for success onsite

— Biasha Mitchell, music strategy at Eventbrite

Ultimately, brands are successful when they create an activation that

What would you want as a fan? That needs to be the

“There’s a more savvy, demanding consumer with higher expectations,”

Luckily, according to Eventbrite research, music fans aren’t hard to

We see brands as the new patrons of the arts. It used to

Art is a fundamental part of our experience every day.

Livestreaming and virtual reality (VR):

This content can go beyond the performances. “Storytelling is an

“With both festivals and venues, content is always going to be an

Like festivals, venues have a huge opportunity to engage sponsors for

Simple, functional service to fans

This extends to more elaborate activations — like a shampoo

70% 61% 46%

Building on the experience

Encourage sponsors to consider swag with a practical purpose to stand

Activations engaged with by the most frequent festival-goers10