This weekend, the 2025 boom in headliners will be in glorious evidence at Lido, where Charli XCX headlines a festival for the first time, and Download, where Sleep Token do the exact same thing.
As part of our headliners feature in the new edition of Music Week, we spoke to Jim King, CEO of European festivals for AEG Presents, which runs Lido, as well as All Points East, BST Hyde Park and Forwards Festival.
XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Raye and Barry Can’t Swim are among the first time headliners across those events.
Looking ahead to Charli XCX’s show this weekend, King said there are “no limits” for what she can do as a live act.
“Her sold out headline show at Lido shows that everyone is now coming to see her,” he said. “It only gets bigger for Charli from here.
There have been many artists in development over the last five years that are worthy of festival headline status
Jim King, AEG Presents
Lido Festival continues in London’s Victoria Park, where Turnstile, XCX and London Grammar are set to headline following last week’s opening two nights, where the bill was topped by Massive Attack and Jamie xx.
Jim King told Music Week the live sector is in rude health.
“There have been many artists in development over the last five years that are worthy of festival headline status,” said King. “They have great music and a catalogue of songs that can keep a festival audience captivated for the 90 minutes – ultimately that’s the key. At a festival, they must be able to bridge into wider audience groups and it's easier to do that when you have great songs that people know.”
King also highlighted the impact of electronic music on the shake-up in headliners.
“Electronic music still doesn’t get the respect about headlining which is madness when you think about the last 30 years with Daft Punk, Kraftwerk The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy etc and more recently Calvin Harris, Anyma, Aphex Twin, Jamie xx, Kaytranada and more,” he said. “Not only are they as big as headliners from other genres, but their influence also underpins many of the other artists that we are talking about as headliners. Brat, for example, is unashamedly a dance record.”
Meanwhile, Download booker and promoter Kamran Haq pointed out that the festival is “embracing a more contemporary line-up” as the event prepares to welcome Sleep Token this weekend.
Haq reflected on the booking policy at Download, where Green Day and Korn are also topping the bill.
“We’ve diversified the line-up to include a wider range of acts in the rock spectrum, or alternative punk and even mainstream acts,” Haq explained. “That has attracted a younger audience that might not have previously considered Download.”
Sleep Token are going to throw everything at it, much like Bring Me The Horizon did in 2023 – it’ll be special
Kamran Haq, Download
According to Ticketmaster data, approximately 44% of Download ticket buyers this year are first time attendees.
“We as a festival need to keep evolving and stay relevant with younger fans,” said Haq, who believes that rock’s ‘old guard’ is slowly being replaced.
“We’re trying to embrace a more contemporary line-up,” he explained. “There will always be a place for the likes of Iron Maiden, Metallica and the more traditional headliners, but some acts from the prior pool of headliners, like Kiss and Aerosmith, are retiring or have retired.”
Haq described the decision to book Sleep Token – which attracted some backlash online – as a no-brainer.
“They did nearly 100,000 tickets across the UK shows last year,” he said. “That proves the point. These guys are ready to headline a major festival. They’re going to throw everything at it, much like Bring Me The Horizon did in 2023. It’ll be special.”
The group are set for their debut headline performance, with a US arena tour to follow. They topped the charts for the first time in the UK with Even In Arcadia in May, with the record now on 46,020 sales to date, according to the Official Charts Company.
Damaris Rex-Taylor, RCA UK MD, said that Download represents a key part of the campaign.
"The fact that they're only doing one live date in the UK over summer at Download, having that alongside the album release is going to just be a huge moment for the band," she told Music Week.
Ange Joe, senior marketing manager, RCA UK, said the Download performance will be a celebration for fans who have closely followed the band's innovative online activations for the Even In Arcadia campaign.
Download is going to just be a huge moment for the band
Damaris Rex-Taylor, RCA UK
"They're an incredible live band," she said. "Everything is immersive and well thought out from the light show to the colours that they use. Also, it's an in real life space for fans to come together – you see a real community there. Live is a very important part of the campaign that also helps with streaming and music discovery. I would highly recommend you go to a Sleep Token show if you haven't been before."
Looking ahead to the rest of this summer and beyond, Jim King suggested that the boom of new headliners won’t stop in 2025.
“Absolutely [it will continue] and it will be across all our shows,” he said. “We have 65,000-capacity sold out shows at BST Hyde Park with artists headlining a festival for the first time. There are no rules, and I feel no restrictions. If the artist is big enough and, more importantly, has the music and the show to carry off a headline show, then we will book them.”
Read the full report, which also features CAA’s Emma Banks, Steve Homer of AEG, Dugi Lipa, Ben Mortimer and more, in the new issue of Music Week. Subscribers can read it online here.
PHOTOS: Henry Redcliffe/Katja Ogrin/Redferns
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