How the World's Largest Music Festival Books Bands

This week on the New Music Business podcast features Bob Babisch, the Vice President of Entertainment for the glorious Summerfest. Following its 1968 debut, Summerfest has evolved into what is now recognized as “the World’s Largest Music Festival” and Milwaukee’s cornerstone summer celebration with approximately 800k people. Babisch manages tens of millions of dollars in the entertainment budget for Summerfest on an annual basis, and has worked with a plethora of artists over his 46 years in the music industry, from The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder to Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga and Kanye West. Learn more about Summerfest here: https://www.summerfest.com5:05 Welcome7:38 The history of Summerfest9:42 How many people each stage holds11:54 Structuring the festival lineup13:27 Showcasing local Wisconsin artists16:45 Keeping up with the times18:30 When Summerfest starts booking acts22:15 Fishing where the fish are23:38 The finances behind Summerfest30:17 The production crew35:25 Change over times and standard line checks38:46 Video screens on stage39:51 Festival hospitality41:39 Smaller ground stages43:44 How to get booked at Summerfest47:29 Final questionSubscribe to The New Music Business: https://aristake.com/nmbAri's Take Academy (use code NMB for 10% off): https://aristakeacademy.comWatch more discussions like this: https://bit.ly/3LavMpaConnect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aris.takeTwitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstandConnect with Bob Babisch:Website: https://www.milwaukeeworldfestival.comWebsite: https://www.summerfest.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/summerfestTwitter: https://twitter.com/sfestbobEdited and mixed by Maxton HunterMusic by Brassroots DistrictProduced by the team at Ari’s Take Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.