A few months before Northwestern’s A&O Productions hosted their annual spring concert, Philfest, Eva Putnam (Medill ‘25), the club’s then-head of music booking, had her eye on rising hip-hop and rap star Lexa Gates.
Gates’ carefully curated social media aesthetic and distinctive creative vision stood out to Putnam, enticing her to engage with Gates’ discography.
Putnam said selecting artists based on their digital aesthetic is an increasingly popular practice in today’s music landscape, as it allows artists to craft unique personas that attract fans.
“It’s literally impossible for artists today to be successful without a strong social media presence,” Putnam said.
According to Putnam, successful booking relies on mapping out an artist’s fan base and their connections to the community. A&O, she added, accounts for the number of mutual followers an artist shares with NU students to gauge their potential reach on campus.
Local Mojo, a nationwide student-run club dedicated to uplifting local music scenes in college towns, brings student artists together through concerts and curated events. Rising Medill junior Jack Hartfelder, the founder of NU’s chapter of Local Mojo, said it tailors social media content to drive attendance and boost the artist’s exposure.
“The core of the brand is social media,” Hartfelder said. “Every year, we throw a festival that generates a huge amount of content that we use to promote what we do. You have to be viral to be successful.”
This emphasis on what’s trending on social media is also reflected in the professional music industry.
As a senior features editor at Billboard, Eric Brown edits cover stories, giving him a front-row seat to the evolution of booking in the industry.
“We’re constantly at Billboard trying to figure out, you know, what’s popular? How popular is it? Why is it popular? It’s a complicated thing,” he said.
Brown affirmed that festival booking today is starkly different from how it was a decade ago.
He said it was simple to measure an artist’s success using metrics like CD sales and radio play in the ‘90s.
Today’s landscape is much more complex. Success can be gauged through a mix of physical sales, radio play, streaming numbers and social media presence. Units like TikTok interactions and follower counts now play a much bigger role, and those in the concert business care about virality, Brown said.
According to a report by data collection company Luminate, 84% of 2024’s Billboard Global 200 entries first went viral on TikTok. The report also said social media engagement is a key indicator of both record sales and potential ticket revenue.
For festival and concert bookers, these numbers can signal the strength of an artist’s fan base, which is crucial when the goal is selling out a venue.
“Especially if you’re talking about the youth audiences that come to a lot of these festivals, (new metrics of popularity) might be more important than how many CDs or records they’re selling,” Brown said.
Even with careful planning, festival organizers don’t always predict audience responses accurately, according to Brown. Some artists draw unexpectedly small crowds during prime slots, while others — like Chappell Roan at Lollapalooza — gain tremendous momentum between being booked and performing, leading to overwhelming turnout during a midday set.
Brown said festivals offer a strong business model for artists by providing exposure to new audiences and boosting visibility through a high-profile lineup.
To book artists, many festivals include “radius clauses” which restrict artists from playing nearby shows within a certain timeframe. One of the first things artists must consider when accepting a gig is whether a festival appearance aligns with their touring strategy, Brown added.
In particular, artists also consider factors like geographic routing, financial viability and venue size when planning tours to ensure that each stop is worthwhile.
“Some artists at the arena or stadium-level who are huge are going to want to do their own shows so they can have their own production, their own sort of concept (and) have a venue full of all their die-hard fans,” Brown said.
Brown added that popular artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé appear at fewer festivals because “they know their business is buying on their own.”
But, he said, Tyler, the Creator is a unique example of an artist balancing both an arena tour and a packed festival schedule this summer.
“Camp Flog Gnaw is a super successful festival. It would be reductive to call it a hip-hop festival,” Brown said about the annual festival and carnival created by Tyler, the Creator. “You’ll have indie rock, cool R&B stuff — it’s truly Tyler’s taste as a festival, and it really resonates with fans.”
Brown said the shift toward high-concept festival production began more than a decade ago. He pointed to Ye’s — formerly known as Kanye West — 2011 Coachella performance as a turning point. He said it “reframed what might be possible for artists to do at festivals” by raising the bar on stage design and creative vision.
At North Coast Music Festival, crafting unforgettable moments is as much about giving the crowd a show as it is about catering to social media, said Pat Grumley, the head of marketing for the annual electronic music festival that is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
For example, Grumley pointed to a moment from last year’s festival where DJs Knock2 and ISOxo were in a container booth that was lifted 50 feet in the air.
Erik Soderstrom, senior director of programming at Ravinia Festival, said the festival’s production and lineup are shaped by a commitment to showcase Chicago’s diverse musical community.
For Soderstrom, a festival goes beyond entertainment.
“We want to give back to our communities. We want to engage with them and use music as the inspiration and the force for good,” Soderstrom said. “We want to make sure our lineup appeals to a wide range of people, but we also want to take risks and showcase artists who bring something new to the table.”
While the Ravinia Festival spans 100 days with six stages and a wide variety of genres, other festivals have leaned into narrower niches.
Grumley said the event once featured a mix of rock, psychedelic and jam bands. However, it pivoted fully to electronic music in 2019 with its move to SeatGeek Stadium, which Grumley said was a decision driven by its strong connection to the electronic dance music community.
Grumley added the festival’s booking strategy relies on both post-festival surveys and maintaining a diverse range of house music styles. He said they often allocate a few spots for artists who are deeply connected to Chicago’s music scene, like Green Velvet, who is considered a local favorite and a representative of Chicago house.
While social media promotion for music festivals proliferates throughout the industry, some NU students said they enjoy having a front row seat for these new developments.
With student-run events like A&O Ball and Dillo Day, as well as various pop-up concerts throughout the year, there are several opportunities for students to see new artists without leaving campus.
“Whether it’s Dillo or Lolla, I just love seeing artists I’ve streamed for months take the stage,” rising Weinberg junior Patrick Curry said. “There’s something really special about music festivals, and it’s been awesome to see Northwestern’s music scene so lively this year.”
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