Isle Of Wight Festival promoter John Giddings has offered his insights into the realities of touring and what it takes to succeed in the contemporary live business.
Speaking in the latest issue of Music Week, the Solo Agency founder looks back on his history with the festival ahead of the 2025 edition, which returns to Seaclose Park, Newport from June 19-22, headlined by Sting, Stereophonics and Justin Timberlake.
“It’s got an iconic name," said Giddings, who resurrected the legendary festival in 2002. "I think it’s up there with Reading & Leeds and Download. Glastonbury is obviously the grandfather of everything, but we’re top three, top four in terms of perception. You do have to get a boat to get there, but that’s basically a floating pub. Then it’s really easy to get to because it’s just around the corner. It’s the sunniest place in the UK. And because of my age, I book acts from the past, present and future."
Legends to have topped the IOW bill over the past 23 years include David Bowie, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, The Who, Bruce Springsteen and Fleetwood Mac, but Giddings admitted it was getting harder to find new headliners as the years go by.
"Acts want to do more of their own shows in stadiums where they can control the environment in terms of the production," he explained. "But to headline a festival, you’re playing to an audience which isn’t necessarily your own audience. There’s more reach.
"I don’t want all the same acts. If you book 10 indie acts, then people don’t move from the main stage. You want people to walk around the site and enjoy different things. It all depends on who’s available, who’s been successful, who’s got a great catalogue, who can keep an audience for an hour-and-a-half.”
You discover a rock band, but pop groups are put in your face
John Giddings
Isle Of Wight 2025 will also feature acts such as Faithless, The Corrs, The Script, Paul Heaton ft. Rianne Downey, Jess Glynne, Texas and Olly Murs. Giddings discussed the high level of scrutiny in terms of representation on festival line-ups.
“What you don’t know is what goes on behind closed doors, what happens in terms of who gets offered the show, whether they’re on a tour cycle, whether they want to do it. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want someone to do it," he said.
"It has to be right for all parties involved. I’d love Madonna to do it, but she hasn’t done festivals. Beyoncé did Glastonbury, I remember doing that, and she built a stage set, which was like the Pyramid Stage within the Pyramid Stage. I thought that was really intelligent, a fantastic idea. And they’ve got Olivia Rodrigo this year.”
Giddings also doubled down on his provocative claim that pop acts work harder than rock acts.
"They come from a different background," he said. "A rock band is normally formed with your mates. Pop groups are put together and go on that wheel of promo, doing interviews, TV… I look after The Corrs and they can’t really remember what happened when they were young because there was so much promo. You discover a rock band, but pop groups are put in your face.
"Music is completely different now, you know, you look at the charts, it’s Charli, Sabrina, Olivia and we know who we’re talking about just by the first names. I think it’s great the way all these women are coming through and delivering. They’re all welcome to come [to the Isle Of Wight]. I’m very aware of having a mixture of female and male acts on the bill.”
A record label’s idea now is to bundle the album with the ticket. And they call that selling records. I call that asking me to be the record company and using my ticket to sell your album
John Giddings
In light of the precarious state of the grassroots scene, Giddings suggested the industry should be responsible for keeping those venues alive.
“But I don’t think it should [do it] by putting a pound on a ticket for a Wembley Stadium show," he added. "Because that pound then becomes liable to VAT. And who do you give it to? Who looks after it? I don’t know what the answer is, but I know that’s where groups come from.
"But nowadays, a lot of people blow up through TikTok and go straight into arenas… I think Covid is partly responsible too [for the issues with small venues]. People like to stay at home now, as opposed to going out. And I think with so many big tours and really expensive ticket prices, people are living for today, not for tomorrow, and they’ll go to a big experience, but maybe they’re cutting down going to the smaller experiences.”
Moreover, Giddings said that there were a number of factors making it more difficult for acts to tour these days.
“There’s so much taxation, especially in Europe with Brexit, and the costs of everything have gone through the roof," he said. "The balance used to be 60% the artist, 40% the cost, and now it’s 60% the cost, 40% the artist. And then if you’ve got to pay members of your band, you’ve got to pay a truck, you’ve got to pay travel, hotels... It’s a different world out there and it’s a struggle for young bands.
"We have a responsibility to help them and possibly to invest in them. Record companies don’t do that so much anymore. When I started out, groups were selling hundreds of thousands of albums, so record labels used to give them tour support. A record label’s idea now is to bundle the album with the ticket. And they call that selling records. I call that asking me to be the record company and using my ticket to sell your album.”
Subscribers can read the full interview with Giddings in the May issue of Music Week.
