In all my research of music festivals and events throughout Australia, I realised that although I had identified a number of events I would like to work on, I really needed to know which companies were responsible for producing these events. That way when I'm job searching or looking to network in the industry, I can identify particular companies that I would like to find employment with and target. Even if I started off working on an event I wasn't particularly interested in, but was produced by the same company that produced other events I'd love to work on, it could be a stepping stone towards me securing that dream job.
I started off researching the companies behind the list of events I'd idenfitied as productions I would love to work on:
- Big Day Out
- Rainbow Serpent
- Eclipse
- Stereosonic
- Creamfields
- Summadayze
- Falls Fest
- Good Vibes
- Soundwave
And here is what I found...
BIG DAY OUT - CREATIVE FESTIVAL ENTERTAINMENT
Big Day Out is produced by 'Creative Festival Entertainment', a partnership between founder Ken West and C3 presents. I looked quite deeply into the history of this festival to find out that Ken West originally founded the festival in 1992 with Viv Lees, but Lees left last year amid trouble they were having with booking talent and high bidding wars. Fortunately, American company C3 stepped in to buy Lees' share of and help the festival find a new direction. I also did some research into C3, an independent concert promotion, event production and artist management company based out of Austin, Texas. It was founded by Charles Attal, Charlie Jones and Charlie Walker in 2007 (hence the 3 C's) and produces amazing festivals in the US such as Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, as well as hundreds of other events nationwide. This is particularly of interest to me, because after I made contact with a couple of people at Big Day Out for PNR interviews I managed to score myself an internship there. If I continue working with them and manage to find some sort of paid position, there's always the possibility that I might be able to find work with their partners C3 when I move to the US. Creative Festival Entertainment offices are based in Sydney, but they also have a smaller office here in Melbourne.
RAINBOW SERPENT
It was pretty impossible to figure out what company puts on Rainbow Serpent, or I think that the company might just call themselves 'Rainbow Serpent' or something. I know this festival pretty well from having gone to it myself in the past, and I know that it's not a very profit-driven event with lots of volunteers that don't get paid, and it's more about providing everyone value for money. Since the festival is set in Beaufort, Victoria, I know that their offices must also be in this state. Although this one was hard to find employment info about, I know that should I want to find work with them the best place would be to start at the contact page on the festival website.
ECLIPSE - RAINBOW SERPENT, SYMBIOSIS, GLADE, PSYCLONE EVENTS AND MOSAIC
Eclipse isn't an annual festival, but only occurs when there is a natural solar eclipse predicted. The next one just so happens to be this year in a few weeks time, and a big week-long festival in far north Queensland has been planned to celebrate it. From doing a bit of research into this event, I found that the event was not produced by one particular company, but instead the event production team comprised of key members from renowned international events such as Rainbow Serpent Festival (Australia), Symbiosis Festival (USA) with support from Glade Festival (UK), Psyclone Events and Mosaic. Having been to Rainbow and Symbiosis, and heard great tales of the others, I'm honestly seriously impressed that such festival heavyweights are collaborating to produce an event together. So impressed so, that I actually bought an (expensive) ticket and flights so that I can go check this out. I feel like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity (the next Eclipse doesn't happen till 2028 and who knows if I'll be in Australia for it) but moreso a really unique event experience to see what's possible when multiple festival companies come together to produce something amazing. I hope from going to this I can really see how they pulled it off and be inspired.
STEREOSONIC, CREAMFIELDS - TOTEM ONELOVE
My research tells me that Stereosonic and Creamfields, two of my favourite EDM events are produced by the one company Totem Onelove. Who knew? A bit more research into Totem OneLove told me that it was created in 2007 when the two powerhouses Totem Industries and Hardware Corporation merged together. I also know that they have offices based in Melbourne, which is obviosuly super convenient for me. They've also produced other events such as Solar Music Festival and Outrage. I would actually love to work for a company like this, and have made contact with their marketing director John Curtin (a bit of an industry heavyweight himself) to let me know if any such opportunities arise.
SUMMADAYZE - FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT
Summadayze is produced by Future Entertainment, which actually reminds me of another festival I would be keen to work on - Future Music! They actually have a huge portfolio with over a decade of experience, over 20 festivals per year, including artist management, festivals and concerts. What really REALLY interested me with them though was finding out that they have a specialist marketing and communications agency called The Sound Campaign that develops marketing and media solutions through the entertainment industry. This is something that I would LOVE to work for, combining events and media at the same time. I would love to work for either Future Entertainment or their agency The Sound Campaign, and so I will definitely be following both of these up for future jobs.
FALLS FESTIVAL -
From my research it seems the people that produce this event really just call themselves 'the team behind the Falls Music & Arts Festival', so it makes it a bit harder to find out more information on employment with them. It would seem that they are based in Victoria, given that the festival is in Lorne, but more research here is needed.
GOOD VIBES -
The Good Vibes festival was launched in 2005 by Justin Hemmes and Jam Music. Unfortunately the festival is currently on haitus after trouble selling tickets in 2011. Chasing work with them might seem a bit redundant if they're not producing events at the moment.
SOUNDWAVE - SOUNDWAVE TOURING
Soundwave Touring have been producing Soundwave every year since 2007, and also promotes tours for bands and musicians throughout the rest of the year. I actually couldn't find out much more than that since they have very little information about the company on their website or elsewhere, but instead seem to want to focus on the bands that they're touring at the moment. Soundwave Touring focus on rock, punk and metal music, which I am less interested in, but if I were to find a job with them I would definitely still take it because they're such a respect company and would be good to get experience in.
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