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In response to "the blueprint" released by the partnership of the Country Music Association of Australia, Events NSW, Tamworth Regional Council and Tourism Tamworth, the Stakeholders Group has put together a detailed response which has been delivered to "the partnership" and can be found on this website.
In support of our response, we are compiling a series of articles looking at the various aspects of major concern, this is the second article...
What is our real Festival market?
The recent draft recommendations and discussions by the partnership of the Country Music Association of Australia, Events NSW, Tamworth Regional Council and Tourism Tamworth includes a suggestion to widen the appeal of the Festival, especially in the first weekend by attracting ’Äúa new, younger audience’Äù.
While the Stakeholders Group is all for bringing people back to the Festival and building the first weekend, is this the best way of doing it?
After all, the first weekend has traditionally catered for a more mature audience of mobile homers and families. Changing this could create a perception that could undermine our well-branded identity and put off dedicated country followers.
Let’Äôs face it. People grow into country music. For most young people, the natural tendency is to follow their peers into rock and roll, hip hop, rap and all those music genres that are made for the uninhibited, free, restless, young people who are often more driven by loud, exciting rhythm than content.
But as people grow older, more mature and experienced in life, their taste in music changes.
The same thing happens with classical music or jazz or, in fact, a lot of rock and roll. Tastes grow and mature, placing more attention on lyrics and traditional forms of their music. This is very true of country music, too, and it’Äôs exemplified by the many rockers and ex-rockers like Johnny Chester, Normie Rowe, Don Walker and Ross Wilson who have adopted country music.
The point we make is that while it’Äôs always great to welcome young people into country music, the old truth that few start getting traction as country music entertainers before they are in their late 20s or 30s, is a reflection of the musical and life experience they need to acquire before they can attract a following.
In the real world this is shown by the fact that country music in general, appeals more to mature people. No wonder that, according to Tourism Tamworth figures, some 87 percent of visitors to the Tamworth Country Music Festival are over 35 (with 44.6 percent over 55 years old) and only 12 percent between 20 and 34.
This is why the Stakeholders Group believes that, as a community, we should be focussing on our core market and not chasing the mirage of a ’Äúnew’Äù, youthful audience.
We should be thinking of ways of making the Festival more affordable, more user friendly and more fun for family groups and existing mature visitors.
And, by the way, this mature demographic is the fastest growing segment of the Australian population, not to mention the one with high disposable income. So it makes even more sense to focus strongly on the older demographics.
No wonder the Josh Pyke pop concert on number one oval in January, promoted as a result of recommendations to ’Äúthe Partnership’Äù at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, failed to draw a significant audience.
Just imagine how it would have gone with a few real country headliners.
And that would have gone a long way to boosting the first weekend.
Most young people will choose ’ÄúA Big Day Out’Äù or the ’ÄúByron Bay Blues Festival’Äù over Tamworth any day.
The only way to actually make country music appealing to this wider, younger audience is by changing it to the point where it becomes something else entirely, i.e. not country music!
We should always remember that Tamworth built a unique Festival in the first place by offering fans a product that no-one else wanted to touch at the time ’Äì genuine Australian country music.
Let’Äôs not try to hide from the fact that we are all about genuine country music and the culture that surrounds it and that means the target Festival demographic is always going to be people over 35.
Let’Äôs focus on keeping, and building, our vast family of genuine, mature fans happy and coming back to Tamworth year after year.
As the Mayor has said repeatedly, we must ’Äùkeep it country’Äù if we are to keep it at all.
Next in this series: Bringing 'em back!