Spotify's excellent Insights blog's most recent project is to track data from bands that played at Bonnaroo in order to see if a "Bonnaroo Bump" exists, or proof that playing major music festivals such as this one leads to significant jumps in listening. The numbers point to "yes" but it came at different times than what was expected.
The first "bump" occurrs right when the lineup was announced, followed by a second jump in listening after the revealing of the night line-up and the none more boost a few days before the festival begins. In other words, people aren't hearing new bands at Bonnaroo before coming and listening to them: People are trying out all of their options on Spotify before heading to the event, to ensure that their personal schedules are ideal.
We shouldn't complain...either way, new bands are being listened to. Doesn't matter if its before or after a festival.
Those at Spotify ran some qualifiers to make sure the data wasn't being unfairly skewed. Acts that had released a new album within six months of the festival were ruled out of contention, as were bands whose "global popularity changed massively" in the same time span.
So who got the biggest bumps thanks to Bonnaroo? Check out the Top 20 below.
01) Goat
02) A Tribe Called Red
03) Warpaint
04) Diarrhea Planet
05) Sarah Jarosz
06) Foreign Fields
07) Royal Teeth
08) Hunter Hunted
09) J. Roddy Walston & The Business
10) Slightly Stoopid
11) Cage The Elephant
12) Ty Segall
13) Wiz Khalifa
14) The Bouncing Souls
15) Seasick Steve
16) Cayucas
17) Blackberry Smoke
18) Classixx
19) Jake Bugg
20) The Lonely Biscuits
