Rhythmism.com
Friday, May 6th 2005, 02:33 PM
#1
City of Detroit approves admission charge for Fuse:in Festival
http://www.wantickets.com/Function/e...asp?e_id=12772
$25 for a 3-day pass..$10 for 1-day
Not free.. but hey, if that’s what it takes, I’d rather pay $25 for 36 hours of music than have no future for the festival
Watching Derrick May plead for people to buy programs for $5 was somewhat sad..
From Detroit-Free-Press:
Council to OK plan today; city to get a cut
May 6, 2005
BY KELLEY L. CARTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The show will go on -- but at a cost.
On Thursday, the Detroit City Council gave preliminary approval to a plan that would allow electronic music festival organizers to charge an entry fee for the Memorial Day weekend event at Hart Plaza.
There's never been a charge for an event in the history of the outdoor space, which is owned by the City of Detroit and located downtown adjacent to the Detroit River.
Not only did council members agree that organizers of Fuse-In: Detroit's Electronic Movement could charge a fee, they suggested they charge more than initially requested.
The price will be $10 per day, or $25 for a three-day weekend pass. Organizers had initially requested $7 per day, or $15 for the pass.
The council's suggestion was a pleasant surprise to organizers, who originally wanted to submit a plan that allowed for a larger ticket price, but feared the request would put off the council.
In the pending agreement, the city will get $1 for every ticket sold. It would also get 30 percent of the festival's net profits.
Fans were abuzz as news of the fee hit message boards Thursday, but they didn't seem to be put off by it.
"We're going to move forward now. We're ready to go and we're going to start hitting it hard," said Kevin Saunderson, the Detroit techno legend overseeing the event. "We need to charge."
Today, the council will make the plan official by approving a one-year contract. Members said they expect to establish a broad policy later this year in case other festivals want to look at generating revenue by charging entry fees, but for now, Fuse-In is the only event allowed to do it.
Other marquee events at Hart Plaza include the Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Downtown Hoedown and PraiseFest.
The electronic festival was threatened this year because of a lack of funding and lower than hoped-for sponsorships. When the festival was launched in 2000, the city aided it with $338,000, but has since ceased the contribution due to budget issues.
This is the first year the group led by Saunderson is managing the festival. The festival's previous two incarnations, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000-02 and Movement in 2003-04, had been plagued by financial problems despite drawing huge crowds and much critical acclaim.
Saunderson said he needed to charge, otherwise the festival couldn't happen financially.
Part of his team's $1-million-plus budget includes money projected to pay contractors who are owed money from previous festivals, though Saunderson -- who was involved with Movement '04 -- has said he is not legally responsible for the debts.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick didn't want the festival to end or not take place in the city, said Lucius Vassar, the city's director of corporate and civic affairs.
"He wanted to make sure this was done in a way that was reasonable and fair," Vassar said. "Council wants to see what's best for the city. There are times when we agree, and this is one of those times."
Ticketing will take place online before the festival begins or inside the atrium of Cobo Center during the weekend (May 28-30). Tickets can be purchased now online at www.Wantickets.com.
Fencing will be put up along Jefferson Avenue to keep out those who don't have tickets. In other smaller areas on the plaza, security will monitor entry points. People who want to walk alongside the Detroit River will be allowed to do so without buying a ticket.
Hard-core techno fans were already talking about the fee Thursday afternoon.
People from out of town bought their plane tickets or made plans to drive as soon as the lineup was released earlier this week, and many called it the best lineup in the history of the festival.
Among the highlights, Underground Resistance, a Detroit electronic collective that is revered overseas, will play a live performance, its first such outing in Detroit in about a decade.
The full lineup is available at www.fuse-indetroit.com.
"This is the best lineup ever," said 27-year-old Rory Benson, who is driving from Columbus, Ohio. "The $25 admission; who cares? With all the money we have to drop on the travel -- I'm meeting friends who are flying in from out of town -- $25 is nothing. You almost spend that much money on lunch. Just to have UR playing live, it's absolutely worth anything like this."
Detroit is unique in even having a festival of this size and with this quality of music for free. Other places charge as much as $65 for an event like this, Saunderson told the council.
"I'd be willing to pay twice this amount to get in there. In New York, an event like this would run $60 or $80 at an outdoor venue," said Fred Wilson, 26, a New Yorker who is flying in for the event.
"They just had an electronic music festival in Miami and the outdoor party was $60 presale and $70 or $80 if you walked in the door for one day of music. That was thrown in Miami's version of Hart Plaza and that wasn't techno music. It was more like trance and house music," Wilson said.
"But I thought one of the best things of the festival is that it exposed the music to new faces. Unfortunately, those kinds of people probably wouldn't be willing to pay the money for something they knew nothing about."
$25 for a 3-day pass..$10 for 1-day
Not free.. but hey, if that’s what it takes, I’d rather pay $25 for 36 hours of music than have no future for the festival
Watching Derrick May plead for people to buy programs for $5 was somewhat sad..
From Detroit-Free-Press:
Council to OK plan today; city to get a cut
May 6, 2005
BY KELLEY L. CARTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The show will go on -- but at a cost.
On Thursday, the Detroit City Council gave preliminary approval to a plan that would allow electronic music festival organizers to charge an entry fee for the Memorial Day weekend event at Hart Plaza.
There's never been a charge for an event in the history of the outdoor space, which is owned by the City of Detroit and located downtown adjacent to the Detroit River.
Not only did council members agree that organizers of Fuse-In: Detroit's Electronic Movement could charge a fee, they suggested they charge more than initially requested.
The price will be $10 per day, or $25 for a three-day weekend pass. Organizers had initially requested $7 per day, or $15 for the pass.
The council's suggestion was a pleasant surprise to organizers, who originally wanted to submit a plan that allowed for a larger ticket price, but feared the request would put off the council.
In the pending agreement, the city will get $1 for every ticket sold. It would also get 30 percent of the festival's net profits.
Fans were abuzz as news of the fee hit message boards Thursday, but they didn't seem to be put off by it.
"We're going to move forward now. We're ready to go and we're going to start hitting it hard," said Kevin Saunderson, the Detroit techno legend overseeing the event. "We need to charge."
Today, the council will make the plan official by approving a one-year contract. Members said they expect to establish a broad policy later this year in case other festivals want to look at generating revenue by charging entry fees, but for now, Fuse-In is the only event allowed to do it.
Other marquee events at Hart Plaza include the Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Downtown Hoedown and PraiseFest.
The electronic festival was threatened this year because of a lack of funding and lower than hoped-for sponsorships. When the festival was launched in 2000, the city aided it with $338,000, but has since ceased the contribution due to budget issues.
This is the first year the group led by Saunderson is managing the festival. The festival's previous two incarnations, the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000-02 and Movement in 2003-04, had been plagued by financial problems despite drawing huge crowds and much critical acclaim.
Saunderson said he needed to charge, otherwise the festival couldn't happen financially.
Part of his team's $1-million-plus budget includes money projected to pay contractors who are owed money from previous festivals, though Saunderson -- who was involved with Movement '04 -- has said he is not legally responsible for the debts.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick didn't want the festival to end or not take place in the city, said Lucius Vassar, the city's director of corporate and civic affairs.
"He wanted to make sure this was done in a way that was reasonable and fair," Vassar said. "Council wants to see what's best for the city. There are times when we agree, and this is one of those times."
Ticketing will take place online before the festival begins or inside the atrium of Cobo Center during the weekend (May 28-30). Tickets can be purchased now online at www.Wantickets.com.
Fencing will be put up along Jefferson Avenue to keep out those who don't have tickets. In other smaller areas on the plaza, security will monitor entry points. People who want to walk alongside the Detroit River will be allowed to do so without buying a ticket.
Hard-core techno fans were already talking about the fee Thursday afternoon.
People from out of town bought their plane tickets or made plans to drive as soon as the lineup was released earlier this week, and many called it the best lineup in the history of the festival.
Among the highlights, Underground Resistance, a Detroit electronic collective that is revered overseas, will play a live performance, its first such outing in Detroit in about a decade.
The full lineup is available at www.fuse-indetroit.com.
"This is the best lineup ever," said 27-year-old Rory Benson, who is driving from Columbus, Ohio. "The $25 admission; who cares? With all the money we have to drop on the travel -- I'm meeting friends who are flying in from out of town -- $25 is nothing. You almost spend that much money on lunch. Just to have UR playing live, it's absolutely worth anything like this."
Detroit is unique in even having a festival of this size and with this quality of music for free. Other places charge as much as $65 for an event like this, Saunderson told the council.
"I'd be willing to pay twice this amount to get in there. In New York, an event like this would run $60 or $80 at an outdoor venue," said Fred Wilson, 26, a New Yorker who is flying in for the event.
"They just had an electronic music festival in Miami and the outdoor party was $60 presale and $70 or $80 if you walked in the door for one day of music. That was thrown in Miami's version of Hart Plaza and that wasn't techno music. It was more like trance and house music," Wilson said.
"But I thought one of the best things of the festival is that it exposed the music to new faces. Unfortunately, those kinds of people probably wouldn't be willing to pay the money for something they knew nothing about."
