[troutman]

Coachella Finally Ghosted Punk and Metal

By playing it safe, the festival has shut out the heaviest and most vital strands of indie rock

http://consequenceofsound.net/2017/0...unk-and-metal/

Coachella will feature fewer than five acts that fall anywhere along the punk or metal spectrum, and that’s being perhaps too generous.

But it’s fair to say that punk and metal bands can no longer expect a welcoming crowd (or, really, a crowd at all) at Coachella, and these most intense of genres happen to be the ones that suffer the most when paired with an empty, lifeless room.

The organizers can’t be blamed entirely for Coachella’s slow phase-out of heavy music, and their efforts to book at least a few token bands over the years (probably at the expense of higher profits) shouldn’t be overlooked. Music festivals are a money-making business above all, and it’s only natural for organizers to follow where the trends, and thus the cash, go. This path has inevitably led more to pop and hip-hop in recent years.

Punk and metal account for less than 10 percent of total album sales — less than half of pop and hip-hop’s combined 22 percent

Rather than going after the alternative and underground bands that actually made great records in 2016, the organizers opted to fill their loosely defined “rock” quota with a healthy number of safe but entirely unexceptional indie bands that offer more crossover appeal for the festival’s growing pop audience.