Differentiating revenues to grow small and medium-sized music festivals
Increasing turnover and audiences for summer events throughout Italia Lean regulations and public-private support are needed for a quantum leap
A phenomenon that is still new in the contemporary music ecosystem but has been growing exponentially in recent years. This is how Carlo Parodi, president of Assomusica, frames the medium-sized and small music festivals. "In the summer of 2025, we counted 1,245 events - this year there will be even more, we are mapping them these days - that involved 1.8 million spectators with takings in excess of 80 million: this means a lot for the supply chain linked to the cultural and creative industries". The spread throughout the country is another positive element characterising the phenomenon.
Experientiality as an attractive factor
"Net of the evolution of technology, the experiential moment is today the most important lever in music fruition, because it is irreplaceable, as confirmed by the number of spectators in continuous growth," Parodi emphasises, recalling how there is an Italian model of festival for foreign fans because live music, regardless of the size of the event, is experienced in an iconic location, such as the Amphitheatre of Pompeii. "It is an added value that we must leverage on because, unlike what happens in Europe, the summer music festival, especially if organised by companies, is not recognised, valorised, sponsored by the central body, by the Italian State, and this is - Parodi reiterates - a vision that must be overcome in order to increase both the Made in Italy and the GDP and the professionalism of the workers involved".
These events, creating social cohesion, are an opportunity for cultural elevation available to the citizenry. Local governments are aware of this and recognise its value. 'Our commitment is to explain to public decision-makers what a valuable tool they have in their hands and to invite them to invest in it for territorial development,' the Assomusica president concludes.
The Wisdom Research
It was precisely on the impact of small and medium-sized music festivals on the territory that the first report of the Observatory on the music industry and events of the Sapienza University of Rome focused. "The data collected from the sample of 49 festivals show that ticketing accounts on average for 51% of total revenue, food & beverage for 16%, sponsorships for 11% and merchandising for 6%," explains Francesco D'Amato, director of the Observatory, highlighting how the economic model presents a revenue structure that is still not very diversified, with a significant dependence on the paying audience, which is both a vulnerability and a testament to the real capacity for attraction. "Expanding and structuring complementary channels is one of the most concrete directions for development identified by the research".
In the sample analysed, around 40% of the public came from outside the province, demonstrating that the organisers are aware of the capacity to activate economic flows in accommodation, catering and local commerce. However, the majority do not yet have structured tools to quantify this effect rigorously (average expenditure per visitor, employment generated, allied industries activated in local supply chains). "It is a priority to define a shared system of impact indicators, articulated in the economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions, calibrated on medium-small festivals," hopes D'Amato.
