The Daily Swarm

NME:

Norway’s Quart Festival has been cancelled, it has been announced.

The festival, the country’s largest, had been due to take place from July 2–5 in the southern region of Kristiansand.

The Enemy, Death Cab For Cutie, Dizzee Rascal and Future Of The Left had all been set to appear.

Aftenposten:

The southern Norwegian city of Kristiansand seemed a mixture of grief and relief after its annual music festival known as “Quarten” was abruptly cancelled. The foundation behind the festival was also planning to file for bankruptcy early this week.

Festival officials announced late Friday that they had little choice. Only 2,052 tickets had been sold, just weeks before the festival was to begin, and that meant there was no money to cover expenses.

The foundation Quartfestivalen had budgeted for ticket sales of at least 30,000, so actual sales through ticket agency Billettservice were described as “catastrophic.”

Organizers apologized profusely for the abrupt cancellation, and took the blame for the poor ticket sales.

Festival chief Daniel Nordgård said he had been proud of the musical program for this year’s Quart Festival and had the impression it was well-received within the music branch. He added, though, that “we clearly didn’t appeal enough to the public.”

Times UK:

Competition has caused the cancellation of at least 15 events this summer besides those hit by the weather, such as the Sunrise Celebration.The festival circuit has become increasingly important to the bigger bands, thanks to the drop in sales of CDs — down 11 per cent last year to £151.8 million. In contrast, rights for live performances rose 20 per cent to £17.5 million.

Many of the largest festivals are controlled by the American promoter Live Nation, which signed up acts including Madonna for $120 million (£60 million) and Jay-Z for $150 million. In April it bought a majority share in the promoters of Download, Wireless, T in the Park and Hard Rock Calling. Live Nation also has a controlling stake in Festival Republic, formerly the Mean Fiddler, which runs the Reading and Leeds festivals, as well as Glastonbury.

Hamish MacBain, festivals editor of the music magazine NME, said:“When Noel Gallagher was asked why he’d chosen to play a particular festival he replied he been given ‘2.7 million reasons’.” He added: “There are more and more festivals year on year. It is a source of constant bafflement how they are making any money.”