Music Festivals ticket sales have declined. Inflation, labor shortages, supply issues, an economic downturn, and an overcrowded market are to blame.

“We had extraordinarily good events in 2021,” said Melissa Ormond, chief operating officer of festivals for AEG Presents and Goldenvoice, which promote dozens of festivals including Coachella and Stagecoach. “As more and more tours felt comfortable hitting the road, it just got to be just a lot of artists out there.”

“There’s an oversaturation of events,” he said, pointing out that audience numbers have dropped on a per-event basis despite overall ticket sales being up. “There are less people buying festival tickets. The industry is asking fewer people to buy more tickets.” said Max Frieser, vice president at Infamous

In the future, festival organizers say, it is important to have a focused event. “The multigenre festivals, with rare exceptions, are not working,” Ms. Ormond said.