Founder of Coachella Talks With the LA Times

I think a radius clause is perfectly acceptable. I understand for smaller bands, when it comes to a giant festival like this it doesn’t really make a difference, but on the whole I think it’s a fair business practice.

 

Rare case of username and post lining up as expected.

 

Whether or not anyone thinks a radius clause is not a bad idea, it regardless makes zero sense for Coachella. Do they think that if Justin Timberlake plays in SD and LA around Coachella time it's just gonna...not sell out?

Also car dealerships are the worst example possible because there are entire frontage roads dedicated to car dealerships all being next to each other and across from each other

 

Radius clauses are especially ridiculous when you consider the fact that the artists hurt most by this are the ones who people aren't paying money to see at fests, and who need to constantly tour. also, FWIW, these are some of the Coachella radius clause terms:

- Artist playing Coachella are barred from performing any festival in North American from December 15 to May 1.

- Artists are also barred from playing any hard ticket concerts in Southern California during that same time period.

- Artists can't "advertise, publicize or leak" performances at competing festivals in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington or Arizona or headliner concerts in SoCal that take place after May 1 until after May 7.

- Artists can't announce festival appearances for the other 45 states in North America until after the Coachella lineup is announced in January, with exceptions made for Austin's South by Southwest, Ultra Miami and the AEG-backed New Orleans Jazzfest.

- Artists must also wait for the January announcement before publicizing tour stops in California, Arizona, Washington and Oregon, with an exception made for Las Vegas casinos, but not Las Vegas festivals.

 

I understand the reason for radius clauses but isn't Coachella like 2 hours away from LA? That'd be like bands not being allowed to play Philadelphia or Hartford because they're booked to play Gov Ball in NYC.

 

This must be frustrating for the KROQ Weenie Roast as they always announce their lineup the day after Coachella and have 3 weeks to fill a soccer stadium.

 

Their clause covers all of Southern California, so you can't play LA, Anaheim, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and a ton of other cities that are usually pretty solid draws for bands.

 

to me I understand the purpose of radius clauses but theres a difference in being, like, a dictator about it.

 

That's wild. I don't live in Southern California so not an expert but San Diego and Santa Barbara seem like completely different markets. I still don't understand why Coachella is considered an "LA-area" date given how far it is from the city proper (like, for example, there's a KROQ Coachella house but does that KROQ signal even reach there?) I understand that Coachella likes to have some exclusivity to its bookings but I feel like the clause should only apply to 8-10 big names.

 

I feel like the clause should exist only up until the fest sells out. Once it sells out, what do the promoters care if someone adds a show nearby?

 

Yeah honestly that makes sense to me

 

I could be wrong in the specifics, I'm not from there, but I've heard more than once that Santa Barbara is considered the northern tip of SoCal and I'd guess that coachella is the type of fest that would take the most liberal definition of their zone

 

Coachella weekends and Christmas are the only times LA traffic isn't a nightmare.