Corey Taylor, Halestorm, Fort Rock producers support school safety initiatives

In the month since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the world has seen as its students, as well as students around the country, join forces to demand that the government do something about gun control and school safety. Last week, a benefit concert featuring Dashboard Confessional, former Yellowcard singer Ryan Key, and Parkland natives New Found Glory was announced and now, it looks like a massive music festival is getting in on the action.

On Wednesday (March 7), the people behind the World’s Loudest Month concert series, Danny Wimmer Presents, announced that they will be offering 50 percent off general admission weekend tickets to Fort Rock for those who sign the Students Fighting Guns Since Adults Won’t petition. The petition was created by high school student Julia Kemple of Kalamazoo, Mich. in response to last month’s school shooting. The petition has so far garnered signatures from over 200,000 people across the nation.

Backing the music festival’s decision to support the petition and the students’ gun control/school safety movement are headliners Corey Taylor and Halestorm as well as Danny Wimmer Presents CEO/Broward Country native Danny Hayes.

“I’m absolutely behind this movement. Not only the name itself, but the reason and the cause. As a father, my one concern is my children. The fact that no one is doing anything worthwhile to change the horrendous laws and circumstances around these shootings is unacceptable,” Taylor expresses in a press statement. “[So] if the adults can’t extricate themselves from the politics that are keeping them from ACTUALLY making a difference, I support the generation who will.”

“To all the students that have been affected by gun violence, and to students everywhere, YOU are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Our future is what YOU make it and the path is yours to blaze. YOU are the fire!,” a joint press statement from Halestorm reads. “We are proud to stand by you as we push to make this planet a better place.”

“The wording of Julia’s petition is profound. We should all be ashamed that our nation’s youth feels unprotected by those in charge,” begins Hayes in his own press statement. “As a Broward County, Florida native, the Stoneman Douglas tragedy really hit home for me. We are so deeply touched and moved by the courage and fortitude of the students at Stoneman Douglas High School. They have turned trauma into strength. As a society we must act quickly to give them the protection they deserve.”

This special promotion will be available to future Fort Rock ticket buyers. For those who already purchased a ticket to the festival, the concert promoters still ask that they sign the petition and spread it to as many people as they can. Those who would like to take advantage of this promotion are asked to simply sign the petition, take a screenshot of the signed petition (or forward the confirmation email), and send it to dh@dwpresents.com. This promotion will only be available until April 1, 2018 while supplies last.

On Feb. 14, an armed shooter entered Stoneman Douglas High School towards the end of the school day and began shooting, killing a total 17 people. Since then, the Douglas students have been vocal about supporting stricter gun control laws.

In conjunction with their movement, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington D.C. on Saturday, March 24, to demand that their lives and safety as well as the ending of gun violence and mass shootings become a priority. For those not in D.C., there will be almost 500 marches taking place worldwide. To find a local march or to sign the petition, head on over to the March For Our Lives website.

As for Fort Rock, the sixth incarnation of the annual music festival announced a major change when it was confirmed that they would no longer call the JetBlue Park in Fort Myers home. This year, Fort Rock will make its debut at Markham Park in Sunrise, Fla. Fort Rock will take place during the weekend of April 28-29.

This year’s lineup will include performances by Ozzy Osbourne, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, Stone Sour, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Stone Temple Pilots, Halestorm, and many more.

Pandora Media Acquires Ticketfly

How does a powerhouse internet radio station compete with those powerhouse businesses that make money off of live music? Simple, get in on the same business and make a name for yourself.

On Wednesday (Oct. 7), it was confirmed that Pandora Media had acquired Ticketfly, a somewhat competitor to Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The acquisition of Ticketfly reportedly cost the media company $450 million in cash and stock. Though Ticketfly is not as popular or widely known as Ticketmaster or Live Nation (Live Nation and Ticketmaster sold 184 million ticket in 2014 while Ticketfly sold 16 million in the same year), the latter sells tickets to concerts and other types of events for about 1,200 different venues and festivals including the Pitchfork Music Festival and hipster paradise, Burning Man.>

“This is a game-changer for Pandora – and much more importantly – a game-changer for music,” said Brian McAndrews, chief executive officer at Pandora. “Over the past 10 years, we have amassed the largest, most engaged audience in streaming music history. With Ticketfly, we will thrill music lovers and lift ticket sales for artists as the most effective marketplace for connecting music makers and fans.”

“Pandora’s entry into live events is a watershed moment for the music industry and will forever change the landscape for artists, promoters and fans,” said Andrew Dreskin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ticketfly. “Ticketfly and Pandora are a perfect fit: two companies that are extraordinarily passionate about music and improving the experience for the entire ecosystem. The combination of Ticketfly and Pandora will be a marketing and event discovery powerhouse, giving venues and promoters unprecedented access to a massive and targeted audience of nearly 80 million music fans.”

This isn’t Pandora’s first major purchase in 2015. Back in May, the company purchased Next Big Sound, a music data service that tracks the popularity of songs online and in social networks.

Coachella Announce 2016 Festival Dates

Doesn’t it feel like Coachella just wrapped up the 2015 incarnation of the annual music festival last week?

Well, it was actually like two months ago, but that’s not stopping the festival organizers from revealing the dates for the 2016 festivities as well as the news that tickets will be going on sale later this week.

We guess it’s never to early to plan for the desert.

Coachella 2016 will once again return to their stomping grounds of the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, CA.

Like last year, the festival will once again happen over the course of two weekends; April 15-17 and April 22-24 for 2016.

Like organizers revealed, advance ticket sales will take place this Thursday (June 4) beginning at 11:00 a.m. PDT.

Coachella organizers revealed in a statement that “this will be the only time passes can be purchased using the payment plan.” So if you’re on a fixed income and want to hangout in the desert next April, Thursday might be your magic way in.

Organizers also “recommend signing up for a Front Gate Tickets purchase account in advance” so you aren’t one of the unfortunate souls who gets locked out on Thursday.

For those interested in signing up ahead of time, head on over to Coachella’s official website to sign up for weekend one and/or weekend two.

StubHub Planning Their Own Music Endeavors

StubHub has become a haven for desperate fans and scalpers, but now, the company who is part of eBay Inc. has revealed plans to start self-producing their own concerts and selling their own tickets.

Taking a page from the books of LiveNation and AEG, the ticket buying site are deciding to take a large step and begin these endeavors. According to Michael Lattig, StubHub’s cheif marketing officer, this is not a “one off” deal.

“This is about doing something that we can repeat and continue to bring around the country and deliver to fans in as many markets as makes sense.”

StubHub are aiming for 300- to 600-seat venues for its self-ticketed shows. Tickets for the May 18 self-produced show will go on sale next week for $60. The StubHub shows, which will benefit the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, will play in Nashville, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Along with its new plans, StubHub is also partnering with Pandora for five free concerts, kicking off April 30 with Tokyo Police Club at Los Angeles’ Boulevard 3.

Brand New Scalpers Are at It Again

When Brand New announced that they would be holding a short tour in the United States this Summer, fans should have expected that purchasing tickets for the shows was not going to be as easy as going onto the internet and getting them.

Oh no, things were going to be as big as a catastrophe or worse than what it was last year when they did a few stops.

Turns out, the predictions were accurate because now over 1000 tickets have been uploaded to StubHub for those unfortunate fans who did not get the chance to get tickets before the scalpers invaded.

Tickets for the general public went on sale at noon and within a couple of minutes of being put up, several of the markets had been declared sold out. Due to the injustice, fans, of course took to several social media platforms to cry foul play over it especially when you take a look at the prices that the scalpers are charging.

There was even a retweet by a fan run Brand New Twitter which shows a scalper who bought four tickets to one of the shows and admits that he plans on charging five times the original price.

Scums.

As for Brand New, the band have yet to comment on the issue, but honestly folks, from someone who has only seen Brand New once, it might not be worth shelling out “five times” the price to see them. This injustice might be enough for the band to go out on an actual tour and satisfy everyone so like that scalpers can’t prey on their fans, again.