The Effect of: Coachella

Disclaimer: These opinions are my own. Take of them what you will.

This is the second part of my series "The Effect of:". If you want to check out the first one about Instagram, it'll be linked here. They unintentionally go hand-in-hand which must say something about what our society revolves around these days... but that's up to you to decide.

Coachella Music Festival. Experience for the privileged; hispters; insecure people chasing clout and possibly doing drugs. These are all common statements made when we think and talk about the infamous music festival. My favourite one someone sent me a couple days ago was: "Coachella is just Urban Outfitters the Musical". I love Urban Outfitters so much that I know how true this is.

Before you close this window in despair, I'm not here to share my "Coachella Experience", I've never been. But I am here to share my thoughts on what I’ve learned through some research and Coachella's role in how we use social media today. But I also want to try to give you a possible solution to the madness, if you're interested. If you don’t care at all, then you don’t have to keep reading this. BUT if you want to help make social media not such a black hole for your morale at this, or anytime of year than I think I can help.

The Story 

It should be obvious that the lineup of artists every year at Coachella never disappoints. A-listers headlining the last time slot of all 3 nights (Friday-Sunday) accompanied by more A-list and B-list artists filling out the afternoon/evening time slots. The diversity of artists attracts all kinds of people who enjoy indie, rock, EDM, rap, dance, pop and even country music. Everyone can find something or someone they enjoy listening to at Coachella… unless you enjoy Heavy Metal, then I’m sorry I don’t know how to help you.

Going back to it's root, the festivals came to be in 1993 when the classic rock band Pearl Jam refused to play in Los Angeles due to disputes with Ticketmaster. Instead, selecting the grounds of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California to perform for their 25,000 fans. It wasn't ideal for many fans but the seeds, nonetheless, were planned. 

By the late 90s-early 2000s, many things had to fall in place perfectly, and investors put in alot of money, but Coachella was officially born. The buzz around the festivals grew very slowly. In 1999, at the first ever Coachella Music Festival, tickets were 50$ and organizers actually lost 800,000$ with headliners Beck, The Chemical Brothers and Rage Against the Machine. At that time, the festival ran on one weekend in April. The first sold-out year didn't even come until 2004! So it wasn't smooth sailing from the start. 

Credit: Nick DeSantis, Forbes

But by 2015, total attendance was close to 200,000, now over two weekends. Ticket sales range from 400$ for general admission to 900$ for VIP packages; grossing an estimated 95$ million. Today, tickets sell out every single year in the span of minutes. Compared to it's competitor festivals, it may not be the most expensive ticket prices, or the highest attendance, but it's arguably the most popular. Today, it is considered the most profitable music festival in North America. Here's how it holds up to it's competitor festivals.

I won't get into it here because there are so many articles online, but the total cost of going to Coachella is insane. Tickets are not the most expensive from it's competitors, but being located in, literally the middle of the Californian desert, logging, transportation and food for Coachella is nowhere cheap! That hassle is definitely one of the reasons many people don't even consider attending, regardless of the lineup.

In the early 2010s, Coachella became a sought-after place to perform as an artist, and to attend as a listener of music. Headliners included Kanye West, Rhianna, Eminem, Mumford and Sons, deadmau5 and many more. The driving forces selling the tickets were the headliners, but the B-list, or “indie” artists, kept people in all night. It’s never been easy to see your favourite artist perform, let alone indie artist perform live. Sure Ed Sheeran tickets run you at 200$ each, but at least he plays in big arenas with thousands of seats. But trying to see boy pablo, Mac DeMarco or SALES live is nearly impossible. But at Coachella you get, and pardon my cheesy reference, the best of both worlds!

In and around the early 2010s, at the same time Coachella was growing exponentially, the internet and social media was booming and pop culture started creeping into Indio, California's Coachella Valley.

The Crowds

At some point between 2012 and 2013 Instagram was THE new social media platform. It was a simple interface where celebrities and the regular population could post pictures. These pictures would then showcase your life through "you feed". Well not exactly. They portrayed only what we wanted to share with the world. This often meant we always shared the good, and never, or hardly ever, the bad. And that is how we still use it today.

Intertwined into this, was the start of monetization with Instagram posts, which I hope you all know what that means (if not check out the Wikipedia page). Posting pictures of yourself holding or using products on Instagram became a career. More and more big brands started using these “influencers” as the new form of advertising thanks to cheaper costs all around. All the brands needed to do was tell the influencer what to post, and what to caption the photo. So much faster and cheaper than a whole advertising campaign!

An estimate of social media influencers today is growing at 1.1 million people. Any number of them could be the optimal demographic for attracting potential future Coachella attendees for example. So these Big Brands reach out to the Coachella team to purchase bulk tickets and reserve hotels at a discounted cost, in exchange for advertising opportunities for both parties, through influencer Instagram posts.

This business model helped grow the festival exponentially, but it's also its biggest flaw and what started the negative stigma around Coachella. 

Influencers. Their increased presence every year have created a metaphorical cloud over Coachella, and other music festivals a-like. The assumption on everyone’s mind is: “They don’t care about the music, they just got in for free, or are getting paid to be there. They're showing off. They don’t even care/know the artists performing!”. And that may be true, but we'll honestly never know.

Being able to differentiate the people who are there for the “clout” and those who are actually there to enjoy the music and have fun with their friends is impossible to do through a single post on Instagram. Their very minimal amount of clothing, with the caption “Chella day one with my day ones! (followed by many unnecessarily emojis)” is not telling me much more than “hey look at me probably having more fun than you right now with my girlfriend on my shoulders getting drunk in the middle of the day for three days straight”.

Some people are there to make money from their Instagram, some are there because they are insecure and blow money on anything that will make them look cool, and some are genuinely there for the music. If you can tell them apart on social media than honestly I applaud you, and please let me in on your knowledge.

My Solution

If we stop “liking” “fake” Coachella pictures, they get less validation for promoting their “fake” lifestyle therefore less exposure, right?! Then those brands will stop spending their advertising money on “influencers”, therefore less influencers will get a free ride to Coachella, so less Coachella in your feeds. Isn't it that simple?! Stop allowing yourself to consume it and it will stop being created. If you don’t believe in something than don’t support it. The festivals would still run, but there would be a much higher percentage of attendees who actually care about the artists performing and not the number of likes their pictures gets. And those “fake” people will go find their validation somewhere else, and not on your Instagram feed.

You may be asking, “But what if I actually like someone’s outfit at Coachella? Can’t I like their outfit?”. Last time I checked it’s possible to genuinely like something without the double-tap…!? Or did people in the 90s double tap their magazines and newspapers when they enjoyed a picture or an article? You see it’s pretty simple. But we’ve been brainwashed to believe that a “like” is necessary to convince ourselves, and others, that we enjoy certain content. In reality, the “like” button was created to generate and run an algorithm for suggested content similar to your interests.

I'll admit that I am still guilty of “liking” things just because it peaks my interest or because it's on my feed, but I am aware and working on fixing that.

I try to only give an account a double-tap if the image, or the message behind it, or the caption, makes me genuinely happy and/or inspired. Whether those are quotes, awareness posts, interior design ideas, or fashion ideas, that’s what makes my heart happy so that’s what I choose to promote.

The Right Thing To Do

I think the right thing to do with Coachella and other festivals, is to validate the actual artists. They are the ones who worked hard to get there. It’s probably been a dream for them to play for 60,000 people. They have, but more importantly are, the talent! These festivals would be nothing without the artists. And before you give the chicken-egg argument, if artists didn’t show up, the fans would have no reason to go.

Also, the artists’ validation doesn’t come solely from “likes” on a picture. It’s the fan’s interaction and appreciation for the music that they care about. So, don’t reward the people who are attending; their reward should be the experience of being surrounded by great artists, performing amazing music; so amazing that they’d spend 500$ for a ticket at the opportunity!

The solution is very simple. If you don't care and have never cared, then well I'm not sure why you've been reading this far (haha). But if it does bother you to constantly see it and/or has made you question what you are consuming on social media than step back, be present, and as cheesy as it may sound, do what's best for you and not what society has said is "normal".

At the risk of sounding really crazy now, here me out. No one is forcing you to “follow” an artist, celebrity, or friend either. A follow does not represent you care about them or what they are doing with their lives. It’s as simple as typing their name into the search bar if you’re curious, looking around their feed, and moving on. Obviously, you can only do that with people who have public accounts, but the same can go for friends.

If their account is private, and you care to know what they are doing, send them a text or an instant message to say hey!. And if you wouldn’t do that, then they obviously aren’t important enough in your life and I don’t know why you care about them. Truth. Tea. Sis. (sorry I never thought I would actually say that, but I figured it’s less aggressive than “mic drop”).

But I can't tell you what to do. If you want to go to Coachella than go right ahead, hell maybe one day I’ll go, who knows! And if you still want to follow celebrities for the convenience or follow people who post for the soul purpose of making money or shelling out a good image, then it is what it is! But be mindful about what YOU are sharing; Who and how, positively or negatively, can it affect?

Remember, Coachella isn't much different than going to a concert or a vacation. So how will you decide to share your experiences with your social circle?


-Marie