Yesterday, Rhymesayers released the line-up for the 2013 Soundset festival. Headlining will be Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Mac Miller.
Technically, Atmosphere is billed as the headliner, as he has been every year since the festival started in 2008. However, with each year I’ve attended the festival, there are fewer and fewer people who actually know who Atmosphere is.
The festival has come a long way way since 2008, which featured guest headliner Dilated Peoples. Ever heard of them? I hadn’t. That’s my point. The next name billed is Aesop Rock, and from there down it’s pretty much just a bunch of local acts. The next year, 90’s rap veterans Pharcyde headlined. Each year, the festival has focused less on homegrown acts and more on national names, drawing a larger, broader audience.
The Current is continuing their tradition of sponsoring the show, even though they probably wouldn’t be caught dead playing Snoop Dogg. Or Busta Rhymes. Or Mac Miller. You can, however, find these acts being pumped on the local top 40 station, KDWB.
I’m not going to come right out and say that Soundset is selling out. Just because they have focused their attention on mainstream national names instead of the same local acts year after year, and just because their attendance has doubled since their first festival, it doesn’t mean they’re selling out. But let’s look at the ticket prices for each year.
2008: $25
2009: $30
2010: $35
2011: $38
2012: $41
2013: $49
Plug that sucker into your graphing calculator, and you’ll find that tickets go up an average of $4.50 year. Below, I’ve listed the estimated ticket prices for some upcoming Soundsets and my best guesses at their headliners.
2015: $58, Kayne West
2017: $67, Hologram Tupac
2020: $79 N.W.A., Complete with Hologram Eazy-E and whoever else has died since then
