coachella

Goldenvoice Sues Live Nation For Copyright Infringement Over A New Festival Planned For New Year’s Eve

by
coachella-festival-getty-full.jpg
Getty Image

Many festivals plotted a return in either 2021 or 2022 after the pandemic effectively shut down large-scale events, but one festival in particular is facing some legal issues. No, it’s not because of their COVID policy. Rather, it’s because of their name. The upcoming event Coachella Day One 22 is slated to kick off in California on New Year’s Eve, but Live Nation is now being sued by the massive festival promotion company Goldenvoice. The reason? Well, the name “Coachella” has already been copyrighted.

As reported by Billboard and NME, Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement against Live Nation earlier this week. Not only does the upcoming event use the name “Coachella,” but it is also set to take place just miles away from the official Coachella festival site in Indio, California. Live Nation is not acting as the festival organizer, but the actual Coachella Day One 22 organizers are a group of Native American tribe members who are immune from this type of legal action.

Goldenvoice’s lawsuit states that they sent two cease-and-desist letters to Live Nation after the company began selling and promoting the event’s tickets. The lawsuit asks the court to put a temporary order in place that would make it illegal for Live Nation to continue to advertise, promote, market, franchise, or sell any good or service in connection with the Coachella name.

Travis Scott Was Reportedly Dropped From Coachella’s 2022 Lineup

by
Travis Scott Astroworld Fest 2021
Getty Image

It looks like Travis Scott’s performance woes will continue into 2022 thanks to a new report. According to KESQ, Scott was reportedly dropped from Coachella’s 2022 lineup. The publication credits Goldenvoice, the promotion company behind Coachella, with making the move, but they also note that an attempt to get a comment from them was unsuccessful. KESQ also reports that the city of Indio, where the festival is held, and the Community Services Manager Jim Curtis also confirmed the news about Scott’s removal. Brooke Beare, the city’s director of communications and marketing, told the Desert Sun that “any confirmation about the festival lineup would come from Goldenvoice.”

The report comes after Travis sat down for his first interview since the Astroworld tragedy last month. He spoke to radio show personality Charlamagne Tha God about the incident and how it’s weighed on him in the weeks since. “It gets so hard because, you know, I always feel connected with my fans,” he said during the interview. “I went through something and I feel like fans went through something and people’s parents went through something, and it really hurts. It hurts the community, it hurts the city.” He added, “There’s been a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of grieving, and just trying to wrap my head around it.”

In more recent news, Anheuser-Busch discontinued Scott’s Cacti hard seltzer line following the Astrowrold tragedy.

Coachella Reverses Its Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy For Its Upcoming 2022 Festival

by
Getty Image

In an unexpected move by one of the entertainment industry’s biggest music festivals, Coachella has reversed its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for its upcoming April 2022 festival dates. The move comes just two months after Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which owns Coachella’s promoter Goldenvoice and is the second-largest concert promotion company in the US behind Live Nation, ruled that vaccinations are required at all their US venues starting in October. Along with Coachella, the August policy also affected showcases like Stagecoach, Lovers & Friends, and Day N Vegas. However, with six months left until Coachella 2022 commences, its organizers look to head in a different direction.

Screenshot From Variety

“After seeing first-hand the low transmission data and successful implementation of safety protocols at our other festivals this past month,” Coachella wrote in a post to their Instagram page. “We feel confident we can update our health policy to allow for: Negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event OR Proof of full vaccination.”

Variety reached out to Goldenvoice with questions about the change in policy, but they did not immediately receive a response.

At the end of 2019, Coachella announced that Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean, and Travis Scott would headline the festival, which was originally intended to be held in 2020 before the pandemic forced its postponement. Coachella’s co-founder later announced that Frank would miss the 2022 showcase and instead headline in 2023. As for the full lineup for Coachella 2022, it will not be revealed until some point next year.

Concert Promoter AEG Will Require Proof Of COVID-19 Vaccination At All Its US Venues

by
Getty Image

Would-be concertgoers had better get their shots, as Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the second-largest concert promotion company in the US behind Live Nation, will be requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination at all of its US venues beginning in October. AEG notably operates some of the biggest venues in the States, including Staples Center, Brooklyn Steel, and Webster Hall, and subsidiaries like GoldenVoice operate festivals including Coachella, Stagecoach, and upcoming fests like Lovers & Friends and Day N Vegas.

Up until now, and until the policy goes into effect, AEG has been allowing entry with either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event date. However, with new infections rising and the emergence of new variants of the novel coronavirus, including the Delta variant, AEG’s leadership wants to protect attendees — and the company’s bottom line — to ensure future events don’t get canceled or postponed as in 2020 when the initial COVID outbreak essentially shuttered the entertainment industry for months.

As AEG COO Jay Marciano explained in a statement:

“We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status. Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wrong direction again. We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, but it’s the right one. We also are aware that there might be some initial pushback, but I’m confident and hopeful that, at the end of the day, we will be on the right side of history and doing what’s best for artists, fans, and live event workers. Our hope is that our pro-active stance encourages people to do the right thing and get vaccinated. We’ve already had to deliver bad news about JazzFest this week; I think everyone can agree that we don’t want concerts to go away again, and this is the best way to keep that from happening.”

In contrast, Live Nation has let artists set the tone, determining vaccination requirements for their own shows. With this move, it’s possible AEG will put pressure on its industry peers to take further steps to protect the public and prevent another potentially disastrous industry-wide shutdown.

Coachella’s Co-Founder Says Frank Ocean Will Miss The 2022 Fest But Headline In 2023

by
Getty Image

Back in January 2020, the lineup for that year’s Coachella festival was unveiled, with Frank Ocean as one of the headliners alongside Travis Scott and Rage Against The Machine. The event was pushed back to 2021 and then 2022; A couple months ago, it was revealed the 2022 festival will take place from April 15 to 17 and April 22 to 24. The lineup has yet to be revealed, but festival co-founder Paul Tollett shared some tidbits about it in a new Los Angeles Times story. The most notable takeaway: Frank Ocean won’t be performing in 2022 since he was unavailable for the rescheduled dates, but he’s apparently set to take the Coachella stage in 2023.

Explaining why he decided to make that reveal so far in advance, Tollett told the publication, “Right now, it’s the Wild West. I’m just trying to be as fair as I can to artists and to the fans to make sure that eventually they get to see everyone that we talked about.”

The story also notes that Scott and Rage Against The Machine will return to headline in 2022, while a third headliner is set to be announced.

Elsewhere in the piece, Tollett discusses what it was like to delay Coachella so many times and the state of the music/concert industry at large, so read the full story here.

Coachella 2022 Sold Out Instantly, But You Can Join A Waitlist For Passes

by
Getty Image

After a series of rescheduled dates due to the pandemic, Coachella 2022 is officially on the books for next year. The storied festival is not only confirmed for its normal April slot, but has apparently already sold out completely. Fans might be a little hesitant still this year to attend a large scale event, but by next year it seems like that hesitation will be completely gone.

As Variety reports, the passes went on sale at 10 AM PST last Friday, June 11, and were sold out by 2:16 PM. Even for the most anticipated festival of the year, a four-hour sales window is pretty significant. Still, the upcoming event, which is now scheduled for slated for April 15-17 and 22-24, is honoring the 2020 passes that were held onto by fans who were confident the rescheduled festival would be worth the wait.

“Passes no longer available. 315 days till we meet again,” read the caption on an Instagram post the brand made over the weekend. But for those who did hold onto passes and might not be able to make it to the 2022 dates after all, Golden Voice has set up waiting lists on their site for weekend one and weekend two that fans can join in case tickets become available.

Get more info on Coachella’s website. Lineups won’t be reported until next year though, so at least that element is still very much up in the air.

Coachella’s Happening But Not Until These 2022 Dates

by

The Coachella Music & Art festival is officially gearing up for a mighty return even if it means you’ll be waiting practically an entire year to turn up with your favorite artists. The organization has announced plans to bounce back from a nixed COVID-19 2020 and 2021 rollout next year. Coachella’s Happening But Not Until… […]

The post Coachella’s Happening But Not Until These 2022 Dates appeared first on SOHH.com.

Coachella And Stagecoach Announce The Dates Of Their 2022 Comeback Festivals

by
Getty Image

Coachella is officially happening — next year. The juggernaut festival will occur from April 15 to 17 and April 22 to 24, 2022, according to an announcement from its promoter, Goldenvoice.

“Our desert homecoming is officially set for April 2022,” said the release. “Our advance sale begins this Friday, June 4th at 10 am PT. More time to plan and more time to pay for your passes over time with our flexible payment plan options. Information about flexible payment plans and more at coachella.com.”

Coachella’s sister festival, the country-themed Stagecoach, also announced that it will take place next year, from April 29 to May 1. “Stagecoach is back in the saddle!” said the announcement. “Be the first to find out about the advance sale right around the corner at stagecoachfestival.com.”

Artists playing at the festivals won’t be revealed until the beginning of the new year, per Variety. Coachella’s 2020 headliners included Travis Scott, Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, and Megan Thee Stallion. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 program was rescheduled several times before getting cancelled altogether.

Variety noted that YouTube will partner with Goldenvoice to live stream the festival for the 10th year. “We’re back and thrilled to be partnering with Goldenvoice,” YouTube said in a statement. “As the world’s biggest virtual stage, we are more excited than ever to celebrate live music and to bring two weekends of extraordinary performances to music fans around the world.”

See the announcement below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Coachella And Stagecoach Festivals Are Reportedly Being Pushed Back To 2022

by
Getty Image

Coachella is one of the world’s biggest music festivals, but the last time an iteration of the event was actually hosted was April 2019. Since then, the pandemic has forced the fest — along with its country-oriented counterpart Stagecoach — to be postponed multiple times. Now it appears that is happening again: Variety reports that according to “two industry sources with knowledge of the situation,” that Coachella is moving from April 2021 to April 2022. Additionally, Stagecoach, which traditionally takes place the weekend after Coachella’s two weekends, will be similarly postponed.

As Variety notes, if this move is official, this will be the fourth set of dates the festival has had: First April 2020, then October 2020, then April 2021, and now April 2022. There were previously reports that the festival was pushed back to October 2021, although that news was never confirmed by promoters.

So far, most of the news about music festivals has been regarding cancellations and postponements. Events that have changed plans this year include Glastonbury, Boston Calling, and Primavera Sound. There are some silver linings, though. At the start of the year, Governors Ball declared its intention to host its 2021 festival in September. Life Is Beautiful is also set for September and organizers announced this year’s lineup last week.