Major Aus festivals thrown into chaos as ticketing platform shutdown

Some of the handful of Australian festivals left have been thrown into uncertainty after a major ticketing platform has gone bankrupt.

Major Australian festivals are facing uncertainty after it emerged a popular ticketing company has gone out of business.

Ticketing company Lyte has disappeared from the internet, shutting down its website, laying off its staff and leaving a number of concert promoters unpaid for hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of tickets sold on the platform.

Lost Paradise and Rabbits Eat Lettuce are just two Aussie festivals impacted by the shutdown, with ticket holders now left in the dark.

Rabbits Eat Lettuce could be at risk following the shutdown of ticketing platform Lyte. Photo: supplied.

Teams for both festivals are actively investigating the issue, but Rabbits Eat Lettuce organisers say they’ve been unable to contact Lyte for clarification, according to The Music.

Lyte founder and chief executive Ant Taylor has resigned from the company, confirmed Billboard.

Taylor told the publication that “emergency board/creditors effort [is] underway” to find a potential buyer to repay ticket holders and promoters affected.

However, until that happens, it’s unclear what will happen to those who are holding tickets for future events.

To make matters worse for the Australian festival scene, Lyte shutting down for good puts organisers of Lost Paradise and Rabbits Eat Lettuce at major risk of losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The worst-case scenario for any primary ticketing clients would be if Lyte went out of business without paying its clients any of the revenue from tickets it had sold on their behalf. For small event organisers, that could equal nearly all of an event’s revenue.

Rabbits Eat Lettuce music festival. Friday March 29, 2024. Picture: John Gass

Meanwhile, following a string of legacy festivals being permanently canned across the country, the NSW government has announced financial support today to prop up live music.

New regulations for festivals in NSW will see the state government attempt to help revive the industry, which has seen the likes of Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass and Return to Rio axed this year alone.

A fund will offer up to $500,000 per festival, with the emergency cash support available for two years for festivals with capacities of 15,000 or more. It will kick in this month ahead of the summer festival season and is set to run until June 30, 2026.

Minister for Music and the Night-Time Economy John Graham said the fund was a response to the slow collapse of music festivals both in NSW and around Australia. “NSW has had a strong music festival sector, but it has been under intense pressure. We have seen the chickens come home to roost after years of pressure, with major festivals failing,” Graham said.

“Festivals are facing challenges across the globe and around Australia with the increased price of doing business, the costs of living crisis and changing audience behaviours.”

Originally published as Major Aus festivals thrown into chaos as ticketing platform shutdown