Simon Dunmore, founder of Defected Records speaks on the state of festival lineups

Simon Dunmore, influential music exec and founder of Defected Records took a stance on one of today’s most hotly debated topics regarding festivals.

Simon Dunmore, founder of Defeated Records, took to Threads to voice his thoughts on the current landscape of festivals mainly how lineups are curated. These days, many would argue that the cookie-cutter nature of festival lineups have gone dull by repeating and promoting the same types of acts without adding little to no diversity amongst genres or even up-and-coming artists.

“Festival line ups have been stagnating 4 yrs, w the same 50 acts on rinse & repeat. New talent needs 2 break through 2 challenge the monopoly of the established hierarchy?” reads Dunmore’s post on Threads. He added within the same post, “Acts like ANOTR keinemusik are the future. Neither are overnight successes”

As part of the Threads discussion, others chime in stating which festivals have diverse lineups, which don’t, and even the point that there might actually be TOO many festivals which could also pose an issue. One user states, “fewer promoters willing to take the economic risk on fresh new lineups sadly… festivals in Australia are in a perilous state… perhaps the worst they’ve ever been with dozens disappearing in the last few years and few remaining… I hope the rest of the world doesn’t follow because it’s never been this bad…”

The debate is as old as time. People book who will sell and who will sell automatically uproots and taints the need for said festivals and the true magic of what a festival entails. There’s bound to be a shift either way.

Simon Dunmore sold Defected Records back in 2022 to former CEO Wez Saunders. In a reflective post on Instagram, Dunmore says that “Defected 2.0 is now very much Wez’s vision” adding, “It is great to hear that Defected is marauding in new waters, discovering new musical treasures.”

Read the full Threads discussion here.