Pukkelpop Stage Collapse: Insurers Blame Falling Record Sales

Insurers of Belgium's Pukkelpop festival blame this summer's deadly stage collapse at a Smith Westerns concert on "la chute des ventes de disques," or falling record sales. By their logic, low sales pressure bands to make up their money with fantastical live shows. They overload the stage with props, and in bad weather, the potential for injury if the stage collapses is greater.

The claim is angering music-savvy corners of the internet, where "falling record sales" is code for an attack on downloading. (Most sites are misreporting the original Figaro article, saying insurers are blaming downloading for larger crowds, when in fact, the article mentions neither).

Linking the recent string of fatal stage collapses to a trend in over-the-top shows isn't a new idea. Neither is it new to blame a rise in exaggerated showmanship on downloading. Caitlin Moran's 2010 profile of Lady Gaga mentions both in the same breath. Gaga "doesn’t mind about people downloading her music for free" because by her math: "Big artists can make anywhere from $40 million [£28 million] for one cycle of two years’ touring. Giant artists make upwards of $100 million. Make music – then tour. It’s just the way it is today." What is new is putting the two together as matter-of-factly (and conveniently) as the Pukkelpop insurers. Low sales lead to overloaded stages. Overloaded stages lead to deaths.

Is this the equation at the heart of Pukkelpop? In the first interview they gave after the collapse, the Smith Westerns described the signs of something amiss as a screen falling on their drum set and a chandelier swaying menacingly from the top of the tent. Certainly that sounds like a shelter rigged-out beyond its limitations during a storm. But the rub of the insurance report -- indeed, the reason bloggers don't like it -- is its anti-internet undertone, typified by the recording industry and other former Davids who've fallen. Downloads and low sales are not to blame here, any more than the appeal of music. They may be a reality to factor in, like modern demands on an artist, or the safe engineering of a stage. But however broadly illuminating it is to investigate the point where such factors converge, for now it's the job of the insurers who back those points to pay up when they collapse.

WATCH the Smith Westerns describe the collapse:

Comments

[hewhowaits]

11:10 PM on 09/21/2011

HaHaHa,The dumbest thing I've ever heard.....

[Reticent2]

06:33 AM on 09/21/2011

Right. And the Koch bros matching hang-nails were caused by part time workers wanting full time jobs.

[MarsAmbassador]

03:13 PM on 09/20/2011

Imagine that. An insurance company trying to get out of paying a settlement and fulfilling a legal obligation that they signed willingly of their own free accord. How shocking.

[the964kid]

03:01 PM on 09/20/2011

The lighting and rigging company is supposed to know what structural limits are of the set up they're using. It's that simple. Obviously high winds will increase the potential load on the gear, and that's another factor that should be taken into account when allowing a performance to continue.

As someone who's performed at big and large festivals myself, I can say that I've been there when open air festival stages were partially broken down (such as dropping heavy lighting rigs from the frame) when bad weather was moving through.

Furthermore, anybody who understands how record deals work would never draw the conclusion these insurers have reached. Sometimes labels pay tour support, and then the tour budget is based on record sales, but generally the tour budget is based on the guarantees an artist will make on a particular tour. The idea is actually make money, so the vast majority of the time, as record sales have dropped, so has the tour support, and thus so has the budget for the live performance. If anything the lower record sales would force artists to spend less on an extravagant set, not more.

[Hutchy]

03:19 PM on 09/20/2011

I have worked on designs on several ground-supported roof systems.

Load numbers are vague and do not take into account new (i. e. moving) equipment.

There is no one entity responsible for calculating and limiting the load on the structure -- at this scale the audio, lighting, staging, bands and producer are all separate companies. Everyone's pet piece of scenery or special effect must be accomodated so the show can go on.

In my experience these roof systems are assembled by seasonal workers with an equivalent amount of structural experience as a carnival worker, as opposed to union stage and studio mechanics who do this kind of work frequently.

After assembly usually they are inspected by fire marshals, not structural engineers.

The producer gets the profits only after everyone contract is settled. The financial incentive to cut corners on contracting is huge.

Any set, audio or lighting rig can be accomodated, but the producer needs to pony up for a solid substructure, count the kilograms, and have a structural engineer inspect the installation.

[catboycolo]

02:53 PM on 09/20/2011

whatever adjuster came up with this should be promoted. Obviously he/she is heartless enough even for a VP position.

[Red45]

02:44 PM on 09/20/2011

Sounds like the insurance company is trying to pass off responsibility.

[bluejaykira]

02:44 PM on 09/20/2011

You have to FIGHT insurance companies, otherwise they will walk all over you with excuses, that's where all your money goes, to pay their lawyers for excuses!

[lhanderson86]

02:29 PM on 09/20/2011

The only way to make more money than owning an insurance company is owning a gold mine. They'll do anything to avoid paying up.

[whychooseaside]

02:13 PM on 09/20/2011

If Pukkelpop Insurance was in charge of the festival, what insurance company made sure safety requirements were followed?

[Smirnonn]

02:09 PM on 09/20/2011

Hey, who needs an "act of God" clause when you can just use an "act of iPod" clause?

[catboycolo]

02:56 PM on 09/20/2011

well put!

[abbadabba]

02:08 PM on 09/20/2011

Until there is an unmoveable standard for such structures, insurers will continue to find fault with everything but their responsibility to insure public safety. Like this ludicrous excuse. We need action, not deflection. I'm staying clear of temporary stages until then.

[AOL SUX]

02:07 PM on 09/20/2011

Gee, an insurance company trying to worm out of it's responsibilities. They sound just like an insurance company to me. Blaming poor record sales is hilarious. They must be taking their cue from American Conservatives. In America, the Right Wing claims that natural disasters are both God's way of saying "Vote Republican" and evidence of his wrath against both homosexuals and athiests. Both as ludicrous as the notion that poor record sales toppled the stage. My rent cheque bounced last month. That must be because AM talk radio is filled with hate-merchants. Or maybe it's because insurance companies are extortionists. Same logic.

[abbadabba]

02:02 PM on 09/20/2011

Waha is the name of this insurer so we can make fun of it and "Pukkelpop" in the same sentence, as in "I'd like to pukkelpop those prevaricating bums in the face."

[ThePassedPawn]

01:56 PM on 09/20/2011

It surely couldn't be down to a poorly supported stage, clearly record sales are the culprit here.

[FreewheelinFranklin]

01:54 PM on 09/20/2011

If only we could buy insurance to protect us from insurance companies.

[abbadabba]

01:56 PM on 09/20/2011

Don't give them anymore bad ideas.

[Smirnonn]

02:12 PM on 09/20/2011

LMAO!! Insurance insurance!