ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the future of the music festival and events industry, offering discussions surrounding the quest for uniqueness in a standardised commercial environment, taking a counterculture perspective. The role of culture, society, the internet and social media is considered because of their active and important role in today’s society. Counterculture movements are viewed as an engine operating in the margins of society, waiting to take the world by storm. Big data analytics offers potential foreknowledge into counterculture movements. Having access to big data information could provide insight(s) into evolving counterculture movements that would otherwise go unseen. This could present opportunities to establish (profitable) music festivals and event experiences specifically for consumers engaging with a counterculture: a shared space for like-minded consumers. The value and importance of this are increased if the counterculture eventually becomes a popular mainstream consumer culture in the visitor economy.
