An Exploratory Investigation of the Motivational Factors Impacting Attendance at Small, Young Music Festivals Within Scotland: Does the Music Matter?

Abstract

The music industry in the UK has been a rising trend in recent years and has a powerful draw of tourists from within and outwith the UK. Scotland's music festivals have increased by three times as much since 2006, which is down to the growth in small music festivals. It is important to understand why this growth has occurred. In other words, what drives and motivates attendance at small music festival in Scotland. If festival organisers understand what motivates their audience, it can benefit the design process of the event. A gap in literature was found, as there have been no previous studies directly related to the issues of motivation at small music festivals in Scotland. There have been similar studies with regards to large music festivals in England and other types of arts and cultural events therefore the research aims to resolve this gap. The research aim is to determine what motivates attendance at a variety of different music festivals and the benefits this information can provide event organisers. A variety of themes such as determining the different motives between locals and visitors were researched to gain as much information possible. It was predicted the best results would be achieved by taking a qualitative approach as more detailed and meaningful responses could be gathered. Data was collected through the procedures of interviewing a variety of people from the attendance and production side of music festivals. The study revealed that the musical line up does not drive attendance at small music festivals in Scotland. The most important factors to consumers are the atmosphere and socialising with friends and making new friends. It was agreed that the music is an important factor but for the majority would not be the deciding factor. It was also found that visitors are more likely to attend for the music over locals as visitors have more community involvement, support and excitement factors.