2011 had mixed outcomes for Australian music festivals with many favourites reporting their best attendance yet, while others cancelled or had poor turnouts. Soundwave, Spendour, Groovin’ The Moo, Laneway, Peats Ridge, Future Music, Tamworth Country Music Festival and Meredith Music all reported positive growth.
In contrast, Good Vibrations, Soundscape, Sunset Sounds, Ragamuffin, One Movement for Music, Great Southern Blues, Soundwave Resolution and Funk n Grooves all pulled the plug before kicking off.
Larger festivals suffered when performers such as Kanye We`st and Eminem turned down multi-million dollar offers to perform shows in Australia. Big Day Out was forced into bidding wars for headliners as other big names dropped out or accepted better offers.
However, Business Review Weekly’s Top 50 earning Australian entertainers 2011 list included 11 music acts and nine promoters proving that not everyone suffered.
Ken West and Viv Lee of Big Day Out made $4.9 million and were placed 24 on the list. Mark James and Jason Ayoubi of Future Entertainment made $4.6 million and placed 25.
Individual artists on the list included Kylie Minogue, AC/DC, Powederfinger, Human Nature and Keith Urban. The Wiggles came in second with $28.2 million in earnings.
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