Breaking down Big Day Out 2010 by the chart

So the Big Day Out 2010 lineup is here and is the case with most festivals, the reaction from the public is mixed. If there are two major complaints with the lineup, they are that it’s too recycled (featuring too many internationals who have recently toured) and that it features too many of the “same old” local acts. With the lineup now out, it gives a good chance to analyse the data (and gives me an excuse to use Google’s Chart API).

First, let’s look at where the artists are coming from:

The Big Day Out are known for flying in the top artists from around the world to play, but in 2010 just under half the artists announced in the first lineup are based locally. Given the second and third announcements will focus on local artists for the most part, you have to wonder if Lees & West are saving a big international act for the second announcement. However, previous lineups would indicate that this is not the case.

Only four of Australia’s states are represented in the BDO2010 first announcement. Australian headliner Powderfinger gets the state of Queensland up, while Victoria gets the nod for having the most acts on the first announcement.

Let’s get down to the issues that drive the anger. Of the 25 artists announced, twelve have never played at the Big Day Out before. If you break that down by country, it looks even better.

Looks pretty good right? The majority of the artists are from overseas which in theory should mean you’re being exposed to more international bands who haven’t toured here. Unfortunately for the Big Day Out, International artists don’t only tour for the Big Day Out, and the artists picked to appear on the 2010 bill seem to like Australia.

Eep. No wonder people are saying this year’s lineup is recycled. Just over half the international acts playing BDO2010 have been out in the last year, and over three quarters have flown into Australian airports within the last twenty-four months. The lone act on their first tour of Australia are The Decemberists. What are the chances that they are Big Day Out exclusives?

Of the international names that have been booked, over a quarter have played the Big Day Out twice already. Peaches will make her fourth appearance at the BDO in 2010. Headliner Muse are here for their third Big Day Out tour, while main stage acts Lily Allen and Kasabian will appear for the second time on the 2010 bill.

Those Internationals who are playing the Big Day Out in 2010 for the first time probably remember Australia pretty well. Half of the newbies have been here in the last twelve months, including Boiler Room acts Groove Armada, Calvin Harris, and Girl Talk.

There are similar findings for the Australian artists on the bill. Local headliner Powderfinger have played the festival tour six times as have Magic Dirt, with festival favourites Grinspoon trailing behind at four showings.

Of course, the Big Day Out isn’t the only game in town. As should be expected, all eleven acts played a festival date in this country within the last twelve months. But if you’re headed to a non-Big Day Out event between now and January 17, there’s a good chance you’ll see a BDO local. Over three quarters of the acts will appear at four or more festivals in the run to the Big Day Out, with all but Magic Dirt appearing at one or more festivals.

Breaking it down further, it appears that Perth’s Southbound gets a rub of the BDO Aussies, with The Temper Trap, Midnight Juggernauts, Kisschasy and Karnivool. Homebake, the Falls Festivals and Pyramid Rock follow closely behind.

In short, the Big Day Out has booked international names that the audience is already familiar with - safe names who have previously drawn crowds. It’s unlikely that we will know if these names have been booked due to competition in the market (Falls grabbing big indie names such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Moby and Grizzly Bear; Soundwave offering a one-two reunion punch of Faith No More and Jane’s Addiction) or in order to increase revenues.

It’s fair to say that the Big Day Out is Australia’s biggest festival tour - it was one the first in the country to establish a travelling music circus and in the past have booked the biggest of the big names. But it’s past two lineups are safe, and by booking safe you risk being complacent, which in turn sucks credibility away from your brand. Sure, you’ll still get those ticket buyers who couldn’t care less who is playing in the short term. But in the long term you risk turning away your music fans who carefully spend every dollar to get the maximum bang from their buck. Those are the people who will convince their non-music loving friends to buy a ticket, and if they are buying a ticket for Falls or Soundwave because those festivals are booking interesting acts; you’ll slowly see the Big Day Out’s fall from grace when the big groups who don’t care about the tunes head to those festivals because it’s the popular thing to do.