Announcing yesterday that this Summer's Ozzfest will be a free event, Sharon Osbourne waxed altruistic, saying, "[We] want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year." Osbourne locates blame in the bands for those spikes in ticket prices, saying that costs have "steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours." However, an anonymous music-industry insider tells CMJ a different story. According to the source, Osbourne has actually charged developing bands up to $75,000 to tour on the festival's second stage, which would certainly help cancel out losses incurred by bands' supposed fee-gouging. Perhaps then, the mall-metal matriarch's unprecedented move might be damage control in altruism's clothing. Another anonymous source reports that 2006's Ozzfest suffered a $1.5 million loss, primarily due to poor ticket sales. John Vlautin, vice president of communications for LiveNation, the festival's promoter, declined to comment on the profitability of their ventures. Vlautin would, however, acknowledge that mega-companies like Jagermeister and Monster Energy drink have already signed on to help fund the juggernaut. This follows suit with Osbourne's assertion that the solution to offsetting money lost on free admission is "getting bigger sponsors to be involved with the festival and underwriting the festival." Elsewhere in Osbourne's lengthy press release, which is loaded with "ground breaking" policy changes, it is noted that bands can book their own gigs during the tour, even in the same town and on the same night as an Ozzfest show. In the past, festival contracts have stipulated that bands don't book shows within 150 miles of an Ozzfest market from the time the date is announced until the last day of the tour. While Osbourne's gesture may initially seem gracious, it's also a very crafty manipulation. After all, should artists really expect fans to dish out the door charge later that night after whipping up a sea of moshing kids for free at the festival that afternoon? With these changes, Osbourne concedes, "[There] aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing," implying that Ozzfest bills will be back-loaded with developing bands and thin on high-profile talent. In fact, whereas Ozzfest allegedly required an investment from these up-and-coming acts, they now simply require that the bands agree to play for merch money. "They can sell their T-shirts, CDs and whatever else they’ve got," allows Osbourne. As of yet, the Ozzfest lineup has not been announced and calls to Ozzfest's P.R. firm were not returned by presstime. www.ozzfest.com
