Hot desert heat, loud music coming from different directions, giant art installations throughout the field, and the sight of influencers wearing outrageous outfits everywhere. Alas, another Coachella festival season has arrived. Coachella today has more or less become a worldwide phenomenon instead of pure enjoyment of music. Individuals from across the globe gather at the Empire Polo Club for three days of music while sporting their best outfits and taking excessive amounts of drugs and alcohol, all while posting on social media for their followers to see. But when did Coachella start becoming more about the experience rather than the music?
Coachella began in 1999 as a two-day event, with Beck, Rage Against the Machine, and Tool headlining. The festival was a success among attendees and critics, but promoter Goldenvoice lost $850,000, leading to years of struggle as a company. It wasn’t until 2004 did Coachella saw its first sellout and began to breakeven and make profit off the festival. Coachella began attracting the worldwide attention for its booking of notable acts and concert in the desert experience. At this time, most of the musicians booked were of the rock genre, and reunion shows became an anticipation each year.
As the festival reached the new decade, three day tickets became the standard, and the event expanded to a second separately ticketed weekend with an identical lineup to allow for more attendance. By then, Coachella became the top music festival in the world, with goers flying from across the nation and the globe for this three-day event. Social media use skyrocketed, with Instagram launching in 2010, allowing users to share their lives through pictures with others, and Facebook’s users rapidly increasing each year. The growing popularity in social media helped spread Coachella to even more people and created a “I have to be there” mentality. Brand deals were created and Instagram influencer contracts were developed to generate a perfect marketing strategy, showing the world that Coachella has the best products and the hottest people at their event, further feeding into its own brand of the best festival in the world. Ticket prices were at an all-time high of $399 per three days with Goldenvoice booking its biggest talent at the time, Beyonce, before she cancelled due to pregnancy. She came back the next year to deliver a performance festival goers deemed historical.
Flash forward to today, ahead of Childish Gambino’s set of Coachella 2019, where making a fashion statement is more important than seeing an artist of whom you’ve only heard one song, rolling molly is integral to enjoying Diplo at the Sahara Tent, and taking a photo with a member of the Vlog Squad is your number one priority, all while music takes a step back as secondary. Will Coachella ever revert back to its roots of music at the forefront, or will it continue to capitalize off its popularity and place focus on the experience? As a die-hard fan of the 2013 lineup, I can only hope for the former.
Liner Notes 