Is Glastonbury festival now just a joke?

Glastobury used to be the flagship of alternative culture. A melting pot of fresh invigorating music. Sadly it is now a shadow of its former self. Having succumb to the big money dominance of Live Nation, the festival has lost its integrity.

Live Nation is an organisation that has introduced James Blunt, Jay Z, Status Quo and the like to the mix and reduced its appeal to the loyal in order to pander to the masses (and their pockets). Live Nation are an investment company. They have no real interest in investing in the future of music. They just exist to generate huge profits. Now, making a profit is not a bad thing, but controlling an industry that is already ruled by money is only going to have a detrimental effect for the future. Live Nation own stakes in The Academys, Wireless Festival, Download Festival, Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Latitude Festival and our very own T in the Park (They bought a controlling stake in Dance Factory, or DF Concerts if you prefer who run T in the Park and also own King Tuts in Glasgow).

You can now look forward to festival line ups starting to look the same as Live Nation fill the bills with acts they promote, whether they are suitable for the festival or not. Just look at Jay Z playing Glastonbury last year all because LN own touring rights for both him and control the festival.

Don't get me wrong, there are still some great acts on festival bills, but the festivals ability to discover a gem that the mainstream music industry overlooks seems to be over. Shame really.