Music Festivals
Las Vegas Music Festivals
Are you considering having up a music festival in Las Vegas? Bad weather, human violence, and accidents all have contributed to music festival disasters, but poor planning is the number one reason that leads to catastrophe.
Festival law can be complex and difficult to navigate. We can help you create a successful event by assisting you with all aspects of planning your event, including:
- Selecting a venue and booking artists
- Promotion
- Permits and licenses
- Alcohol sales and staff training
- Minimizing risks and liabilities with adequate insurance and training
- Artist agreements, including cancellation and radius clauses
- Brand protection and management
- Ticketing
- Intellectual property of recordings/content capture
The most recent example of poor planning in this type of venue is the 2017 Fyre Festival. It was touted as an opulent cultural experience in the Bahamas in April and May of 2017. Tickets reportedly cost between $1,000 to $12,000 and attendees were promised performances by famous musicians, gourmet food, and luxury accommodations on the private island of Exhuma. Nearly everything went wrong, and almost all of it was due to lack of planning and experience. Guest stayed in what they described as disaster relief tests, food was substandard, the main headliner cancelled, and other musicians failed to appear because of non-payment.
In fact, as of October 2017 the promoter of the event, Billy McFarland is facing 20 years in prison for wire fraud and making false statements to a bank. In addition to the criminal proceedings, Mr. McFarland and Frye are also facing a \$100 million dollar class action lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract. The Frye company was also involuntarily forced into bankruptcy in August 2017.
1. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/music-festivals/7777047/fyre-festival-timeline-fiasco