From what I know, fans love to witness B2Bs. And why not? It’s a way to see two artists (and often, two friends) working together in any live exhibition, while paying the same price! I’ve never heard complains about these joint live-sets, except for the cases when there wasn’t any chemistry between the acts.
But there is more than it meets the eye. Promoters and event managers are showing an unhealthy obsession towards B2Bs lately! They hire two artists but negate from paying the full price since they are working in the same time window…
A win-win situation! Audience is happier, wallets fuller.
But what about the performers?
Personally, I’ve never given a thought about the fact that some of them are tired could be “obliged” to do B2Bs (especially for popular headlining festivals). MUST DIE! showed his opinion about this marketing strategy in a controversial tweet. From the following debate, I realized that most of the times its promoters that push for these, with the goal to earn as much as possible without expending for the entire paycheck. But shouldn’t have the free will to play their music without sharing their decks…
MUST DIE! calling out promoters for booking too many B2Bs, effectively compromising an artist’s vision. What are your thoughts about B2Bs? from r/EDM
The situation is getting out of hand. With excessive of B2Bs, some don’t even make sense. For example, the upcoming Rave Culture vs. Nervo Nation at Tomorrowland 2020 made me raise an eyebrow: both the imprint have never shared any connection whatsoever, not even a similar style. It’s obviously a way for the promoters to squeeze a lot of artists together in a stage with. It’s just an example, but other festivals had surprising acts as well. Some stages of UMF 2020 have almost 30% of B2Bs/single acts ratio: impressive!
Concluding, this aspect of the EDM industry is as always, a grey area. Some DJs can refuse these offers provided they don’t like to share their gig, but for a fair share of them, it can be a golden chance to play in a famous stage… But freedom of choice is important. MUST DIE! acted wisely when introducing this topic in the public debate.
What do you think?
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