I just got an invitation to showcase the festival on Facebook, I won’t attend. In this case, there are four much bigger ones with important people out there, so I’m not interested in hanging around a bunch of local people who pretend to have a showcase festival. Even if I had the time, I wouldn’t attend. This festival has made it into a thing to brag that they have booking agents at their festival. The truth is that yes, they have artists from booking agencies but none of the real bookers are there, if you are lucky, they send some interns to take care of the artists.

Since the festival doesn’t have any names that are good in the industry the festival has done a solution to pay for the artists that they got from the booking agencies. Of course, smaller sums so they won’t get any top names. Instead, the booking agency can get an artist that is hard to book, or very new and a bit not pleased with their service at least one paid gig. With that then the festival can use the booking agency logos and market to all other artists that they have some names they want to meet.

The rest of the artist is not getting paid. They have to invest to go to a place where the quality is so low. On top of that, the festival then makes its money by selling tickets to the show. The panels and industry parts are so low quality since they relay on local organisations to organize them for free. With that you just have small local actors talking and visiting.

Many of the bigger people in the industry know this and won’t even seek out these festivals. But you have local government organizations that don’t really have artists who are ready to be on a showcase festival, so people will be there. Also, when they go to the bigger ones, they can’t really make a noise since it’s run by local people who don’t have the network to do anything so they end up on these. These organisations sponsor artists since the festival just gives them a carte blanche to send any crap they want to have their own stage. The artists are happy since they get a gig at a “showcase festival”. In one way these artists are losing since many of the bigger ones just look where you have played and know this is not a real festival.

The biggest losers are artists that invest to go there from other countries. Invest in travel to hope to meet industry people. And there is nothing there. Just the local guy with a record label under his bed. Some people from local government organizations have really no knowledge or contacts with the new industry.

This is the reason why showcases probably will die out. Many are now not run by professionals, just by some local hero, or local government organizations. The outcome doesn’t get the artist anything. Maybe just a gig in an empty bar in a shitty small town. There is little bang for the buck. Also, we see more and more that the showcase goes for bigger artists and pay them as it was a gig to just sell some tickets since they are not able to attract good enough artists any longer since they need to fill up space with not ready bands from local organizations. So check out close before you seek out a showcase that you get the opportunity’s.