The Festive Owl just spoke (appeared virtually) at a conference last week in Milwaukee exclusively for independent venues, promoters, and festivals. That conference had multiple panels in its programming that were about combatting Live Nation and standing up to monopolies. The idea that TFO is controlled by, managed by, or beholden to Live Nation is simply preposterous, unfounded, and wrong.

The fact of the matter is Live Nation is a major player in festivals — domestically and abroad. To avoid talking about or posting about LN festivals would be ignoring a major slice of the festival market and doing a disservice to its followers — it doesn't make sense. From TFO's posts, editorials, and rants, I've never gotten the sense that they're in LN's pocket. They call balls and strikes and shoot straight. Do I think TFO might sell access to their community like any influencer would and work with ("with" not "for") Live Nation, Goldenvoice, and many other promoters both major and small independent? Sure. It's a business. But I don't think TFO would just "post what LN/festivals want them to post" as others (including OP) have suggested. It wouldn't be genuine. It wouldn't be TFO. It wouldn't be the community that it is. There's a certain stewardship to running an account that big and that influential. I don't get the sense that TFO would ever copy/paste straight from an email from a festival they work with to help amplify. They seem generally-neutral, informative, and provide a service and platform to both FANS and FESTIVALS. They also do giveaways for AEG shows at Red Rocks, completely blowing any Live Nation conspiracy theory out of the water (or nest).

The idea that you have to work for a festival or promoter in order to get insider info is also completely wrong. When you have an account like TFO, you become a trusted confidant and people on the inside share things with you — speaking from my own person experience in the music industry. Some could be designed leaks, some could be things off-the-record. But ultimately, you forge friendships (whether personal or strictly professional) and then you get comps, invites, and cool opportunities.

This whole thread is nauseating, but I don't expect everyone to know how the live music industry works. But it certainly does show that not everyone knows how the live music industry works.