— The fact that targeting is a topic in this marketing session suggests that the music festival market may still lack a sufficiently large target audience. It seems that the number of festival goers—people for whom attending festivals is a priority leisure activity—is not as high as organizers might assume. Meanwhile, the number of new festivals continues to increase.

In this context, we want to explore how each festival can discover and attract new audiences. Let’s hear from Taiwan and the Philippines. I’m curious about the demographic characteristics of your concert and festival markets. Who are the regular attendees who consistently come to festivals, and what traits do they exhibit? Additionally, what are the characteristics of new audiences in your countries?

John: For the Philippines, I’d like to share an example from my festival, Wanderland, which we started back in 2013, about 11 years ago. Over time, our core audience has evolved, and many of them are now families—parents with young children. A personal example would be myself: I was in my early 20s when we first started the festival, and now I’m married and we have a one-year-old daughter. Our core audience consists of about 5,000 loyal attendees who return year after year, and we’ve built a community around them. To cater to their changing needs, we’ve made Wanderland a family-friendly event. Kids aged 8 and under can enter for free, and we’ve invested in infrastructure to accommodate them. Our core audience is essential to us and contributes to the unique Wanderland vibe. Still, they remain a vital part of our identity and community.

But in terms of sustaining over the years, we really need to attract the younger crowd, which has been a challenge for us. Coming out of the pandemic, we’ve noticed a shift in their buying behavior—they tend to prefer attending headline concerts or, for instance, traveling abroad to watch artists like Taylor Swift or their favorite K-pop stars.

I think this might be because many of them haven’t had much exposure to the festival experience yet. Because we had to pause for almost three years during the pandemic, festivals are something entirely new for many younger audiences. We’re currently in the exploratory stage, figuring out how to encourage them to experience the festival. This year, we decided to experiment by introducing new genres into our lineup. For example, we invited Hwasa from the K-pop group MAMAMOO to see if her presence could attract younger K-pop fans to Wanderland.

It worked well in terms of drawing a fresh crowd, but at the same time, we noticed clear signs that some of our core audience didn’t enjoy the change as much as the new audience. So, we’re continuing to explore ways to bring in younger crowds while staying true to the Wanderland brand. Protecting the brand is an important issue.

Orbis: I believe the target audience’s age and lifestyle vary for each festival. My first experience organizing an international festival was in 2007. Back then, we ambitiously booked Muse as the headliner, but I quickly realized that Taiwan wasn’t as responsive to international acts as I had hoped. Unlike other countries in Asia, Taiwan isn’t as closely connected to Western culture. Instead, the local music market is heavily focused on Mandopop, which remains incredibly popular—even more so than Western pop stars.

When I first started organizing festivals, I was inspired by Fuji Rock’s philosophy and tried to replicate it in Taiwan. However, I soon realized that Taiwan’s culture and lifestyle were vastly different from what Fuji Rock represented. Taiwan doesn’t have snow, ski resorts, or large mountain-based infrastructure. Camping culture, which is a significant part of Fuji Rock, was almost non-existent in Taiwan 10 years ago. At that time, camping was considered something only pioneers would do.

Recognizing this, I began looking at Taiwan’s unique characteristics. One standout feature was its ports. For instance, Kaohsiung is a city famous for its harbors, so we decided to leverage that for the Megaport Festival. We set up stages against the backdrop of large ships, creating a distinctive atmosphere. We also considered the best season for visiting Kaohsiung and planned the festival dates accordingly. In many ways, organizing a festival is like working for a travel agency.

One of Asia's unique characteristics is its diversity. Unlike North America or Europe, which share somewhat unified cultural patterns within the so-called "Western world," social life in Asia varies significantly from country to country.

In regions like North America and Europe, festival culture has been established for quite a long time, and many people now discover music independently through platforms like Spotify. However, that’s not as common in Asia. Here, people often learn about music while spending time with friends—having drinks, sharing meals, and enjoying their social lives in their own unique ways.

That explains why Koreans are so enthusiastic about picnicking at festivals. Many of them bring their own picnic stuff to enjoy the vibe, rather than only focusing on the live performances. They spend their time drinking beer, sharing fried chicken with friends, and enjoying the atmosphere. It’s a reflection of the Korean lifestyle, where picnicking—like gathering by the Han River for "chimaek" (chicken and beer) or spending hours relaxing in parks on sunny days—is an integral part of their social culture.

In the music industry, there’s often a tendency to import ideas or experiences from other countries simply because they seem cool. It’s easy to think, “Oh, this is so amazing, let’s bring it back to our country.” However, this approach can be misguided. What works in one culture may not resonate in another, or it might feel too foreign to be accepted. Before trying something new, careful observation and deep insight are essential.

Additionally, younger generations today don’t actively seek out music-related content from traditional media. Instead, they tend to follow what their friends are listening to, often using platforms like Spotify.

This highlights the importance of paying close attention to behavioral patterns across different cultures and generations. Strategic thinking and imagination are crucial to figuring out how to draw audiences into festivals in ways that resonate with their unique preferences and lifestyles.

— I think your comments on the current situation are closely related to the first two parts of this session. We’ve been discussing the lineup and the overall festival experience, but the keyword "lifestyle" that you mentioned adds another layer to the conversation. For example, as I’ve observed the music festival scene in Korea, it’s true that picnicking and having a relaxed, enjoyable time—without necessarily focusing on the music—is a significant part of the Korean lifestyle. But should festivals really prioritize this aspect?

Ultimately, as festival organizers, selling tickets is a common goal. However, as John mentioned earlier, protecting the brand is equally important. This raises the question: how do you strike a balance? How far should festivals go in compromising their original philosophy and ideas to cater to trends or sell tickets? At what point do you draw the line? Whether it’s about the lineup or the overall setting of the festival, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you approach these compromises.

Orbis: In my opinion, the question raised feels a bit premature for the Asian festival scene. Unlike in North America or Europe, where festival culture has become deeply embedded in mainstream society, Asia is still in a younger phase of development, exploring and enjoying music festivals in newer ways. At this stage, we need to admit that the concept of festivals is emerging in many diverse forms. Music festivals, in particular, haven’t yet established themselves as a major cultural phenomenon. Instead, we see many events where music performances are integrated as a subprogram alongside other activities. 

In Taiwan, we make a joke that “the biggest music event is KTV (a popular karaoke culture)”, and it’s not far from the truth. KTV is deeply ingrained in people’s daily lives—it’s everywhere, in every city, with thousands of people singing in karaoke rooms every day.

Every weekend, people have to make plans, and it’s becoming competitive. With urban culture constantly evolving and growing, many cities in Asia are experiencing this phenomenon. So you need to try to compete with other events, not only music events.

If you ask me how to draw the line, I’d say there is no fixed line. As Zhang ran mentioned in another session, a good starting point is deciding how many tickets you want to sell. That decision sets the foundation for your strategy.

This might be a slightly different topic, but for events with fewer than 500 seats, it’s crucial not to overlook the importance of promoting to everyone around you. For instance, if an indie band is hosting their first album release party, I believe every band member should personally call everyone they know—from high school friends to college classmates and beyond. Releasing an album and performing is one of the biggest events in a musician’s life. I often tell musicians, “If you’re willing to send wedding invitations to so many people, why wouldn’t you invite everyone you know to your release party?” When I lived in Korea for two years, I saw countless shows, including album release parties, where fewer than 200, or even less than 100 people attended. 

The approach changes drastically depending on whether you’re aiming to sell 500 tickets, 1,000 tickets, or even 100,000 tickets. Each scale requires a totally different mindset, target audience, and skill.

When organizing a festival, the first thing you need to recognize is the size and scale of your event. You need to understand how many people listen to a certain genre of music, how many people attend festivals, and what drives their participation. If you’re organizing a festival in Korea, for example, you should attend as many events and shows in the country as possible—even K-pop concerts. Observe how audiences engage, how much they’re willing to pay for tickets, and how other events structure their programs and generate revenue. For someone like me, who loves music and has my own preferences, it’s easy to feel to curate a lineup. But when curating a festival lineup, it’s not about just choosing music you think is cool or meaningful. You need to focus on what will make people enjoy the festival as a whole—what will create an atmosphere where they can have a great time. Because I made too many of these kinds of mistakes, I want to tell you.

John: I agree with that. If you plan to run a festival solely to showcase the music you like or just because you think it’s cool, it will be difficult to sustain it in the long term. You won’t be able to survive for 10 years like we have.

In my case, since the Philippines has relatively low spending power, we need to collaborate with a lot of commercial sponsors to make the festival financially feasible and sustainable. 

But we don’t allow them to simply hand out sample products at the entrance. Instead, when attendees visit their booths, they should be able to experience the products in an organic, festival-appropriate way.

To answer your question, yes, we have to compromise a little. Entering this challenging industry of festival promotion means understanding that your way won’t always be the right way. You must be willing to adapt and compromise to sustain this crazy work for the long term. After all, you need to ensure you can continue to pay the people who work with you.

— Very good points, and I completely agree. To attract new people to the festival experience, I think there are a few key channels to consider. Regardless of the lineup, there should always be a core festival audience. Between the technology aspect and the community engagement aspect, pick one keyword and share your thoughts.

Orbis: For me, the internet played a crucial role in introducing me to foreign indie culture, which was previously hard to access in Taiwan. Back in the early 2000s, my friends and I started a small hobby project where we imported indie magazines and records to sell directly to music fans. The internet allowed us to promote these without relying on mainstream media or traditional outlets, helping us create our own culture and community.

When I began running a live house, I used social media extensively. I checked every single post daily to understand our audience—what they liked, what they thought, and which artists they wanted to see live. Interestingly, even the artists themselves often didn’t know what their fans truly wanted. By identifying these gaps, I was able to tailor our programming and make the live house increasingly popular and successful. 

Another interesting observation is how socially active our audience is. For example, about 10 years ago, one of our festivals had the worst ticket sales because a large protest was happening in Taipei on the same day. Events like these remind us how external factors can significantly impact ticket sales, and technology helps us anticipate and understand these dynamics.

I have a question for John because he is now doing his own ticketing service. I'd like to know how you use the data because everybody dreams of having the data by themselves. But I guess the data is very limited. What have you found for now?

John: Right. The main reason we built our own ticketing company was, of course, data. We’ve been promoting shows since 2013, but due to legal issues, I’ve never had access to detailed data about our ticket buyers—a limitation that frustrated me more and more over the years. During the pandemic, we finally had the time to develop our own ticketing platform, and the primary goal was to gain access to this data. To be a successful promoter, you need to understand key details about your ticket buyers—where they’re coming from, their age, their interests, and more.

Another major advantage is the ability to engage in direct marketing. For example, if you know your audience’s preferences—whether they’re into rock, K-pop, classical music, or festivals—you can directly target them. Let’s say you’re promoting an orchestra show; you can market it specifically to people who are interested in classical music. Having this kind of data at our fingertips has been incredibly helpful and has significantly improved how we promote our events.

On the business side, having data also makes it easier to pitch to sponsors or government agencies. For example, if we’re negotiating with the tourism board, we can present data showing that 10% of our festival attendees are international travelers or that a certain percentage of attendees booked local hotels during the festival. This kind of concrete information is invaluable for sponsors looking for measurable outcomes.

However, when it comes to technology, you have to be cautious not to be blinded by surface-level data. In the Philippines, TikTok is the most popular social platform, but we often ask ourselves, "If something is famous in Tiktok, is it really famous in real life?" TikTok numbers can be misleading.

Agents often point to high TikTok metrics, claiming that a song is booming in the Philippines, which leads them to demand higher fees. But often, these numbers come from a song being used in a viral challenge, and they don’t necessarily reflect the artist’s ticket-selling potential.

I’ve already lost a lot of money booking TikTok-famous artists who didn’t translate to actual ticket sales. Now, we’re much more careful about evaluating whether an artist has real fans who will show up at their concerts.

That said, TikTok does have its advantages. For example, we discovered a jazz artist, Laufey, through TikTok, and she’s been one of our success stories. Over the span of a year, we’ve hosted three sold-out shows with her. This shows that there are hidden gems on TikTok, but the key is to assess whether the artist has strong engagement with the local audience.

If a song is popular on TikTok but there’s no local fan engagement, that’s a clear indicator that the artist likely won’t sell tickets.