#1 ·
I was thinking about this the other day while scrolling through some event calendars, and it’s something that has been weighing on me more and more lately. It feels like we are moving away from the era of "discovery" and moving toward an era of "pre-packaged perfection."
Don't get me wrong, I love a well-organized event. There is a certain level of comfort in knowing that if you show up to a venue, the sound will be crisp, the seating will be comfortable, and the lineup will be a collection of names you actually recognize. It’s safe. It’s polished. But lately, I can’t shake the feeling that the "curated festival" model is slowly choking the life out of the music scene.
I remember being in my early twenties, hitting up local venues or small-scale outdoor shows where the lineup was basically a mystery. You’d show up for a band you liked, and you’d end up stuck in a crowd with three other bands you had never heard of. Half the time, you’d walk away having discovered a new favorite artist that you’d listen to for the next decade. There was an element of risk, an element of serendipity. You were part of a shared moment of exploration.
Now, it feels like everything is being bundled into these high-end, boutique summer series. These events are meticulously planned by corporations or massive hospitality groups to ensure a specific "vibe." They pick a set of established names—artists who have a guaranteed following—and wrap them in a luxury experience. It’s great for the people who want a nice dinner and a comfortable chair while listening to a familiar melody, but I wonder what we’re losing in the process.
When every summer concert series is essentially a "Greatest Hits" tour of recognizable names, where do the outliers go? Where is the space for the weird, the experimental, or the truly groundbreaking? If the goal of these large-scale summer series is to provide a seamless, high-end experience for a specific demographic, then the "surprise" element is intentionally removed. You aren't there to be challenged or surprised; you're there to consume a lifestyle.
I’ve noticed this trend creeping into other areas of culture too, but it hits hardest in music. We’re seeing the rise of the "lifestyle event" over the "musical event." The music becomes the background noise for a much larger, more expensive machine designed to sell a sense of prestige. It’s become less about the raw connection between a performer and an audience and more about the prestige of being in the "right" place at the "right" time.
I’m not saying we shouldn't have these big, polished productions. They provide jobs and high-quality entertainment. But I do worry that we are conditioning ourselves to only value music that comes with a certain level of branding and familiarity. If we stop frequenting the smaller, messier, more unpredictable shows, we might find that the cultural landscape becomes incredibly stagnant. We'll just be hearing the same echoes of the past, polished up and served on a silver platter, year after year.
It makes me wonder if the "premiumization" of leisure is actually making us more isolated in our tastes. If we only ever go to shows where we already know the names on the poster, are we really expanding our horizons, or are we just paying for the comfort of the known?
Does anyone else feel like the "boutique" trend in live entertainment is stripping away the magic of finding something new, or am I just being a nostalgic old soul?
Don't get me wrong, I love a well-organized event. There is a certain level of comfort in knowing that if you show up to a venue, the sound will be crisp, the seating will be comfortable, and the lineup will be a collection of names you actually recognize. It’s safe. It’s polished. But lately, I can’t shake the feeling that the "curated festival" model is slowly choking the life out of the music scene.
I remember being in my early twenties, hitting up local venues or small-scale outdoor shows where the lineup was basically a mystery. You’d show up for a band you liked, and you’d end up stuck in a crowd with three other bands you had never heard of. Half the time, you’d walk away having discovered a new favorite artist that you’d listen to for the next decade. There was an element of risk, an element of serendipity. You were part of a shared moment of exploration.
Now, it feels like everything is being bundled into these high-end, boutique summer series. These events are meticulously planned by corporations or massive hospitality groups to ensure a specific "vibe." They pick a set of established names—artists who have a guaranteed following—and wrap them in a luxury experience. It’s great for the people who want a nice dinner and a comfortable chair while listening to a familiar melody, but I wonder what we’re losing in the process.
When every summer concert series is essentially a "Greatest Hits" tour of recognizable names, where do the outliers go? Where is the space for the weird, the experimental, or the truly groundbreaking? If the goal of these large-scale summer series is to provide a seamless, high-end experience for a specific demographic, then the "surprise" element is intentionally removed. You aren't there to be challenged or surprised; you're there to consume a lifestyle.
I’ve noticed this trend creeping into other areas of culture too, but it hits hardest in music. We’re seeing the rise of the "lifestyle event" over the "musical event." The music becomes the background noise for a much larger, more expensive machine designed to sell a sense of prestige. It’s become less about the raw connection between a performer and an audience and more about the prestige of being in the "right" place at the "right" time.
I’m not saying we shouldn't have these big, polished productions. They provide jobs and high-quality entertainment. But I do worry that we are conditioning ourselves to only value music that comes with a certain level of branding and familiarity. If we stop frequenting the smaller, messier, more unpredictable shows, we might find that the cultural landscape becomes incredibly stagnant. We'll just be hearing the same echoes of the past, polished up and served on a silver platter, year after year.
It makes me wonder if the "premiumization" of leisure is actually making us more isolated in our tastes. If we only ever go to shows where we already know the names on the poster, are we really expanding our horizons, or are we just paying for the comfort of the known?
Does anyone else feel like the "boutique" trend in live entertainment is stripping away the magic of finding something new, or am I just being a nostalgic old soul?