There are now 'too many music festivals'

There are now too many music festivals held each year in the UK which is saturating the market, the bosses of some of the biggest festivals have said.
Major festivals have all seen slower ticket sales than usual and as many as 31 festivals have been postponed or cancelled this year, the BBC reported.
Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, which runs Reading, Leeds, Latitude and The Big Chill festivals, told the BBC that he expected the smaller events to pack up shop first before any of the big festivals go.
“There’s no question that tickets have sold slower than they previously did. Money is definitely tighter,” he said.
“I think we will end up with fewer festivals as a result of the economic climate.
“But we’ll still have an incredibly healthy festival environment even if we have a few less festivals.”
He stressed that festivals are not going anywhere, though, with a million people heading to an event this year.
However, there is also a concern that there are not enough new artists coming onto the scene, meaning that the same bands play each year, which could leave festival-goers tired of paying to see the same thing.
“It gets more difficult every year because the UK music industry isn’t making new stars so you end up with the same acts going round and round,” Mr Benn said.
Even Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis told the Times earlier this year that “there is a feeling that people have seen it all before” and his festival could be on its way out in three or four years.
The comments come after a report from PRS for Music shows that UK music industry revenues totalled £3.8 billion in 2010, a fall of 4.8 per cent on the year before.
But despite fewer stadium gigs and a fall in recorded music sales, festival sales increased 20 per cent, suggesting that there is demand for the live music experience.