Innovation in music festivals The case of DGTL, EXIT Festival and Glastonbury Festival

The disruption of the music industry caused by digitalization, caused the evolution of music festivals from cultural projects external to the music industry, to main protagonists of the sector, which resulted in a rapid increase in the number of festivals organized. This rise brought higher competition levels in the sector, and the question of how to solve this problem for cultural projects that are now established businesses. Although the growth of their centrality in the current society, there is still a lack of research regarding music festivals. This study will tackle this problem by considering music festivals as part of the experience economy, a relatively new discipline, which recognize innovation as the answer to the current problem faced by music festivals. Nowadays, there is a crucial need to build strategies to innovate in order to stay relevant in the eyes of the customers and competitive in the field. Therefore, this thesis wishes to propose a framework to assess innovation strategies employed by music festivals to innovate, tackling the gap in previous research and with the goal of providing a useful tool to professionals and researchers of this sector. Reckon these propositions, this study will employ a multiple-case study approach, involving three major music festival in Europe: DGTL, EXIT Festival and Glastonbury Festival. The main research question is: What strategies do music festivals in Europe employ to innovate? The analysis will be based on 89 projects by the mentioned music festivals that are published online and will draw upon existing literature to develop a framework that differentiate itself from existing ones. The results will show interesting insights and premises for further research. These include the expansion of the area of interest for studies in music festivals, which grows from the basic event organization to the creation of a business, and the inclusion of experience and areas as forms of outcome of innovation strategies.