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Music festivals
音樂節
Muddy tunes
泥濘的曲調
How big outdoor concerts are changing the music industry
大型的戶外演唱會如何改變音樂行業
DOLLY PARTON, an American musician, is used to performing for big crowds. But after her set this year at Glastonbury, Britain's largest music festival, she admitted to feeling nervous. Since that show, seen by 100,000 revellers and 2m television viewers, her album “Blue Smoke” has hovered near the top of the album chart for eight weeks. Ms Parton's resurgence hints at how festivals are reshaping Britain's music business.
美國音樂家多莉·帕頓（DOLLY PARTON）經常參與公演。但在今年參加過英國最大的音樂節格拉斯頓伯里音樂節（Glastonbury）之后，她承認確實感到有些緊張。在那次表演之后（圍觀此次表演的有10萬名狂歡者和200萬電視觀眾），她的專輯“Blue Smoke”連續8周位居專輯榜前列。Parton歌唱事業的“第二春”暗示了音樂節是如何改變英國的音樂格局。
The live music market is flourishing even as sales of recorded music have mouldered. Between 2012 and 2013 it grew by a quarter, according to the Performing Right Society for Music, an industry body. Gig-goers now spend more than 1 billion (1.7 billion) a year on tickets and almost half that again on food, drink and the like. Festivals make up a large chunk of this. In the early 1990s Britain had few of them, recalls Melvin Benn of Festival Republic, a promoter. Around 450 will take place this year. The festival season, once limited to July and August, now stretches until early autumn. On the first weekend of September four festivals battle it out.
正值唱片銷售疲軟之際，現場音樂的市場不斷蓬勃發展。英國表演權協會（一個行業組織）表示，在2012年到2013年間，現場音樂的市場份額就已增長了四分之一。如今樂迷們一年在門票上的花費就逾10億歐元（合17億美金），此外在吃、喝等方面的花費幾乎是它的一半。在音樂節上的花費就占了很大一部分。來自Festival Republic（共和節日，一個音樂推廣公司）Melvin Benn回憶，在20世紀90年代早期，英國還沒有出現這樣的一群人。今年預計有450場音樂節。曾在7、8月開展的音樂節，如今已延伸至初秋。在9月的第一個周末，四大音樂節就全面展開、決一勝負。
One boost was a change to the licensing laws in 2005, recalls Jim Whewell of the Wilderness Festival, a music and performing arts event. This made it easier to put on a show outdoors. The recession helped too: Britons who could no longer afford foreign holidays found a weekend of camping in a muddy field more attractive. And as fewer people buy recorded music, fans are splurging the money they save on live events, says Chris Carey, a consultant.
據Wilderness Festival （曠野節，一個音樂和表演藝術的活動）的Jim Whewell 回憶，2005年許可法的變化對現場音樂有一定推動效應。這使得在戶外舉辦表演變得更加容易。同時經濟的衰退也對此有一定的幫助。負擔不起國外度假的英國人發現，在泥濘的曠野中來一次周末露營更具吸引力。而且購買唱片的人越來越少，樂迷們更青睞將他們積攢的錢財用于生活消費，一位名叫Chris Carey的顧問說道。
Ageing crowds are another bonus. A survey in 2013 found that the average age of a reveller at Glastonbury, excluding those under 18, was 36 years old. Older people have more cash to spend on boozing, and their demands have helped make festivals safer and more pleasant. Security at bigger festivals has grown much tighter. Toilets are slightly less gruesome (though punters must often pay an extra fee to use the cleanest ones). Posh food and fancier drinks have replaced cheap hot dogs and watered-down beer. At Wilderness, middle-aged bacchanals quaff champagne or real ale and eat lobsters.
大齡人群則是另一個驚喜。2013年的一個調查發現，除去那些18歲以下人群，Glastonbury音樂節狂歡者的平均年齡是36。老年人有更多的金錢來買酒豪飲享樂，而且他們的需求有助于音樂節變得更安全更令人滿意。大型音樂的安保條件已變得愈加嚴格，廁所也稍微地沒那么驚悚（盡管賭徒常為使用干凈的馬桶支付額外的費用）。精致食品和高檔飲品已取代了廉價的熱狗和兌水的啤酒。在曠野節，中年的狂歡者痛飲著香檳和鮮啤酒，享受著美味龍蝦。
All this is changing the way the music industry works. Festivals are increasingly seen as a way to test whether big-name artists have enough fans to warrant arena tours, says Rebecca Kane of the 02, a large venue in London. Newer names find them essential: Clean Bandit, a British band who brought out their first album this year, are performing at around 20 festivals this summer. And music executives are increasingly taking into account how successfully they think artists will perform at big outdoor gigs before deciding to sign them.
所有的這些都在改變著音樂行業的運作方式。來自The 02（一個位于格林威治半島的大型娛樂區）的Rebecca Kane表示，音樂節越來越被看做是一種測試大牌藝人是否號召足夠的歌迷來撐場面的一種方式。這些音樂節對于新人來說不可或缺：今年推出了他們的第一張專輯的Clean Bandit（清潔盜賊，一支來自英國的電音組合），這個夏天就參加了近20個音樂節。而且音樂公司在簽下藝人之前，格外看重藝人是否像他們考慮的那樣在大型戶外演唱會中取得成功。
Some promoters complain festivals are getting harder to run. “Most people do it as a labour of love,” sighs one. Increasingly bureaucratic paperwork is a pain, complains Sidharth Sharma of Shambala Festival, a smaller event, while providing better food and drink is expensive. One big problem is that competition for headliners means the most popular bands, many of whom are getting on in years, can command eye-watering fees. Few new acts have Dolly Parton's pulling power.
部分推廣者抱怨，音樂節越來越難辦。其中一人感嘆，“大部分人做這個都是興趣使然。” Shambala Festival（山巴拉音樂節，一個小型活動）的Sidharth Sharma抱怨，越來越多的官僚文書讓人煩悶的同時，提供較好的食物和飲料也是花費不少。另一個最大的問題就是，各個音樂節對頭版頭條的競爭意味著大部分流行樂隊（他們中的多數都有一定資歷）能獅子開口、漫天要價。幾乎沒有新人能擁有Dolly Parton的號召力。 譯者：張娣 校對：崔夢雪
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