One of Governors Ball main pitches to fans has been their ability remain independent in a festival market dominated by a few giant companies who own most of the large event brands. That claim may be heading out the window with a new report surfacing that Live Nation is looking to take a majority stake in Governors Ball's owner Founders Entertainment.
In its sixth year, Governors Ball will take place on Randall's Island from June 3-5. Some of the main headliners include Beck, The Strokes, Kanye West, Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers, M83 and others.
First reported by Billboard, the move comes at a time when Founders is now facing new pressure from another live music behemoth with deep pockets, AEG Live / Goldenvoice, which just announced its own festival on Randall's Island - Panorama Festival, which has been dubbed the Coachella of the east.
This accelerates the rivalry between the two live music brands. Live Nation remains the largest in the world, but AEG has an impressive portfolio with other fests like Hangout Festival, Coachella, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Firefly and others. Live Nation has been aggressive in recent years in its acquisition of other companies such as Insomniac Events, which puts on Electric Daisy Carnival, Hard Events, which puts on various Hard branded festivals, C3 Presents (Lollapalooza, ACL Fest, etc), Bonnaroo and many more globally such as Wireless Festival.
Earlier this year, Founder's partner Jordan Wolowitz told Billboard that they were happy remaining independent. "We've shown that, right now, we don't need to [partner] -- yet. Who knows what the future may bring."
If this deal goes through, Founders would have the deep pockets to fight off any competition from AEG Live and possibly expand on their festival offerings.
Representatives for Governors Ball did not return our request for comment.
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