The other face of music festivals: between the benefits of the organizers and “labor exploitation”

Friends, camping and several days of concerts of your Favorite groups. The festivals of music invade the Spanish geography every summer. In 2020, more than 1,000 events of this type, although the figure is difficult to calculate given the number and the different modalities of these events.

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After two years of inactivity due to the pandemic, festival fever returns to Spain. According to Association of Music Festivals, in 2022 the demand has doubled and there are many possibilities to reach a record turnover. According to the author of a report for the OBS Business School on the impact of the coronavirus on the live music industry, Albert Guivernau Molina “If the pandemic had not existed, 2020 would have been the best year in the history of music festivals.”

Economic impact

According to the study of O.B.S. Business Schoolthe music sector accounts for more than 1% of Spanish GDP and employs more than 300,000 people. In 2019, Spain was the first tourist destination for festivals in the world and invoiced up to 420 million euros through ticket sales. According to a study conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), the indirect economic impact of events in this category is around €5.6 billion.

In 2019, live music mobilized more than 28 million viewers, according to the PWC report. Among these attendees, five million are foreigners and spend an average of 300 euros per daywhich generates an economic impact of more than 1,500 million euros. Catalonia It came to celebrate more than 180 festivals in 2020, which makes it the autonomous community that hosts the most festivals, followed by Andalusia and Madrid. However, behind this capacity for mobilization, economic impact and ability to generate employment, workers do not always enjoy the best Labor conditions.

Footprint in Catalonia

Catalonia hosts several of the most well-known music festivals in Spain. Most are concentrated in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, such as the Spring Soundthe Dream or the Cruilla. However, others such as the Festiuet in Tarragona or Vida in Vilanova i la Geltrú complement the Catalan festival offer. Beyond the macro festivals of several days in a row, we also find some that are extended for months with series of concerts such as the Jardins de Pedralbes, in Barcelona, ​​the Portal Blau in L’Escala and Empúries or the Portaferrada, in Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

The latest edition of Primavera Sound, the main festival in the Catalan capital, had an economic impact of €349 million, depending on the organization. Total attendance at the event, including activities in the city and in the Parc del Fòrum, is around half a million people. 65% of its attendees were foreigners and it is estimated that they spent an average of 1,423 euros. On the other hand, a Sónar report in 2016 calculates that it generated an impact of 125 million.

Primavera Sound Venue / DAVID ZORRAKINO – EUROPA PRESS

Conditions of the musicians

But while the organizations achieve such benefits, the spokesman for the Union of Activist Musicians of Catalonia, Ramon Vague, denounces the conditions in which the different gangs operate. “There is no type of regulation on the conditions in which musicians must perform and festivals take advantage of it,” he explains. I wandered into account that there is no specific agreement for bands that participate in music festivals, but the agreement of the staff of nightclubs, dance halls and discos in Spain usually applies.

However, it clarifies that this agreement not always fulfilled. “There is not always an employment relationship, festivals often force bands to issue an invoice. For a concert or two it doesn’t pay become autonomous“, Add. In this case, many groups resort to production companies or broadcasting agencies. management, which issue invoices in your name with the corresponding commission or withholding. “As much as other companies take over, if there’s a problem, it’s passed on to the group,” he says.

an atomized sector

“If you want to go commercial because you think your career can go better, you can’t blame him for anything. We are in a atomized and intermittent sectoryou can play on a site as work and then move on to commercial, but at least a few minima“, it states.

Regarding the caches of the groups, it ensures that 90% charge less than usual for being a great launch pad. “Except big bands that interest the festival to generate a claim, the rest earn less than they usually earn,” he says. Vagué also assures that part of the blame lies with the musicians, who according to him have panic at work and they are unaware of the regulation.

Archive image of a concert at Sónar / SÓNAR

covert advertising

Other issues addressed by the spokesperson for the Union of Activist Musicians is the advertising. “When you go out to sing, you have the whole stage full of brands from which you don’t charge anything. Without meaning to, you find yourself making a promotional work gratuitous for companies with which you have nothing to do”, he says.

However, not all festivals do it wrong. Vagué explains that the union has a good practices manual and many administrations and municipalities apply it. “In Vic, Aitona or La Garriga they hire the musicians and pay them what is stipulated in the venue agreement. In most large festivals and town halls, on the other hand, the tendency is that not fulfilled”.

bar workers

Ander and David, waiters at BBK Live and Primavera Sound respectively, agree on how tough their shifts are. “It is a job that you can only afford if you are young and student. At the end of the festival you think that you have won more than 300 euros in three days and you end up satisfied, but the reality is that we are standing for more than 12 hours non-stop”, tells Ander.

One of the complaints of the last Primavera Sound was the queues to order at the bar. “Between there were only a few waiters for all the people there were and that many we had no experience In this type of event, many people waited. This meant stress that prevented rest, “explain other sources, who slip that they suffer a bit of” labor exploitation.