OzzFest Buy-Ons - Are they for real?!

[JayBird]

I was just reading an article about Mastadon over at blabbermouth.com. They have been asked for the past three years to do a buy-on spot...what to know the asking price - $100,000. Lucky for them...they turned it down for the past three years and this year they are getting to play for free. Heck, they are probably getting paid this year to do the tour. Is OzzFest making or breaking bands?

[Punkinhead]

Is OzzFest making or breaking bands?

Neither. Ozzfest has almost no credibility in the world of metal. They can put Slayer and Dimmu Borgir on but, they still put shit on. Any shit = not credible to metal heads. Chances are, if you play heavy music, real metal fans won't give two shits if you played Ozzfest or not.

And the other side of the coin is a bunch of trendy frat boys who can't decide for themselves what they like anyways. If you're video isn't in rotation somewhere they don't give a shit.

These aren't the only 2 groups there but, it's the majority by far. So really, Ozzfest, to me, doesn't do much for you. It's definitely NOT worth paying 100 grand to get on. If you're band is good enough for Ozzfest they need to get off their ass and tour and build their own damn fanbase big enough that eventually Ozzfest will call.


FUCK paying them. Do some tours and people will decide if they like you or not. If you got some connections promoters always need a band or two to fill a slot with a bigger, signed, touring band. You can set up your own tour feeding off of that shit to start. Get a fanbase big enough, they'll come after you.

That's just my opinion...

[red]

$100,000 is main stage, I heard second stage acts have to pay upwards of 25,000. The guys from Hatebreed told us they make it all back in merchandise sales. Stll, thats f*#@ing stupid to pay to play.

[GoneForever]

I always thought main stage bands play for free. And I think it's $75,000 to play 2nd stage, unless they raised it.

My 2 cents on the whole pay to play:
1) It's the record label that pays. They put bands on that they think will make them money. For example, Shadows Fall plays. They are on Century Media. If they have an ad for Ozzfest, they might list the bands and labels they are on. CM's name will be on, so there's some advertisement for them.

2) Jagermeister- Jager sponsers Ozzfest every year. Arch Enemy and In Flames are signing autographs at the Jager tent this year. They are not Jager bands. So there is a shitload of posters and shotglasses Jager will make for them=more promotion. Also, if you're playing Ozzfest and aren't sponsered by Jager, it might be a good chance to pick up that sponsership.

3) FYE-FYE has an autograph tent set up every year where they sell the bands cd, and in return you get a wristband to get an autograph. They sell the cd's for $20. If 10 people by the cd, there's $200. If FYE would sell all of Bury Your Dead's cd's, they would keep more in stock, making sales go higher.

4) Shadows Fall, Lacuna Coil, and God Forbid are 3 of Century Media's best selling artists. They became the best selling artists are each of their Ozzfest runs.

[esa]

Know what the coolest thing about Shadows Fall is? They wanted me to come take pictures of them when they were scheduled to play up in OHIO. I had a friend in Texas that has a musical set up, she sent them the link for Jamie's old band ESY and they thought the music was cool....and my pics were great. So I got tickets, back stage passes the works...and then ::cue vh1 behind the music sounds:: it all fell apart... It's a shame that they had management changes that changed tour dates and locations....that was my almost 10 hours of fame....