SZA's Glastonbury fee as BBC viewers spot issue amid small crowd claims (2024)
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Glastonbury headliner SZA's huge fee has been revealed as she took to the Pyramid Stage on Sunday night amid fears from fans over a smaller crowd and sound issues
SZA's Glastonbury headliner fee has been confirmed after fans noticed she attracted a smaller crowd compared to Dua Lipa and Coldplay.
The American singer-songwriter was Sunday night's headliner at the iconic music festival. However, before she even took to the stage many fans were sharing their heartbreak for the star as she appeared to attract a smaller crowd. She also faced concern from those watching at home that her sound appeared off.
SZA got a vastly bigger crowd on Saturday night as she performed at BST Hyde Park, in London. BST sources say she pulled in 50,000 punters, which appears to dwarf the number of people watching her at Glastonbury. But all in all, it’s been a pretty lucrative weekend for the star, as she would have picked up about £500,000 for BST, and around £200,000 for her Glastonbury headline set.
Despite the impressive fees, many fans expressed their concern for the star as they slammed the sound of her performance shown on the BBC. One fan fumed: "Omg fix the microphone? Glastonbury's sound techs have been awful today #glastonbury." Another added: "It’s not just the mic it’s the whole sound."
Someone else slammed: "The evil, evil #Glastonbury sound people." A fourth quipped: "I must get my ears checked, I can’t understand a bloody word! #Glastonbury." Another shared: "SZA has the most angelic voice but this mic is ruining it omg get her a new one #Glastonbury." One fan asked: "Wtf is wrong with sza’s mic," while someone else commented: "I think my age is kicking in- I cannot understand a word SZA is singing! #Glastonbury #SZA."
Another urged: "Why does SZA sound so muffled??? #Glastonbury." A fan declared: "I'm so sad they've f***ed up SZA's audio. Fix it!!! #Glastonbury." Fans also shared their heartbreak for SZA's smaller crowd than Dua Lipa and Coldplay as one said: "The Pyramid Stage looks empty :(, thought was a strange one having SZA on the Sunday especially, hope she puts on the performance of the festival! #Glastonbury." Another added: "oh dear.... not a very big showing for Sza. #Glastonbury." Someone else commented: "Is it the @bbcglasto camera angles I’m seeing or is the #PyramidStage pretty quiet @glastonbury.
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"I don’t know @sza but sad to see it so quiet on the last day." A fourth wrote: "It’s a quite big crowd but it’s not a Sunday night headline crowd is it? #Glastonbury." One fan said the lineup should have been flipped as they shared: "SZA, Dua Lipa, Coldplay. That should’ve been the order of the headliners this year in my opinion but #Glastonbury #Glastonbury2024." A fan added: "I am a massive Glastonbury geek, looking at the webcam and BBC pictures the crowd awaiting Sza looks very small by headliner standards…"
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When the 34-year old was announced as one of the headline shows for this years event, many were unsure on who she was, if she was a singer, a DJ or even a band. SZA, pronounced 'scissor' - whose real name is Solana Imani Rowe - is an American R&B singer-songwriter and has released two studio albums, three EPs, one live album, and 44 singles (11 of which as a featured artist). She has become one of the most most listened-to artists globally and certainly warrants a top place on the line-up alongside Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Shania Twain.
But all in all, it's been a pretty lucrative weekend for the star, as she would have picked up about £500,000 for BST, and around £200,000 for her Glastonbury headline set. Despite the impressive fees, many fans expressed their concern for the star as they slammed the sound of her performance shown on the BBC.
It didn't help that, for at least the first half an hour, her microphone was both distorted and muffled - an issue for an artist whose appeal lies in the precision of her lyrics and the beauty of their jazzy vocal runs. The 33-year-old also committed the festival sin of failing to address the crowd.
Festival co-organiser Emily Eavis, youngest daughter of the festival's founder Michael Eavis, confirmed that artists get paid 10 percent less than what they are typically paid by other festivals.
SZA faced tough competition for her headliner slot with The National playing the Other Stage at the same time. Justice, London Grammar and Bob Vylan were also performing around the festival site.
The Glastonbury festival is one of the UK's biggest cultural events – this year 210,000 people attended the event, which was headlined by Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA.
It's too hectic, you can't get anywhere near it, we've been turned away, “we were just at Nowhere, and there was a horrible crush”. This shouldn't really be surprising. Glastonbury Festival is, for a few days a year every June, estimated to be the most densely populated place on earth.
R&B artist SZA closed Glastonbury Festival 2024, after Shania Twain took on the coveted Legends Slot. The Grammy-winning star appeared to have a much smaller audience than earlier headliners Coldplay and Dua Lipa, as revellers rushed home to beat traffic and amid four other major stage clashes.
Lyle Bignon, a music consultant specialising in live music venues and festivals, told Metro.co.uk in 2023: 'Glastonbury headliners can expect to pick up performance fees of anywhere between £35,000 and £300,000 – depending on their profile.
The material an artist plays may not agree with the BBC Taste & Decency guidelines, such as containing excessive swearing. In these instances there is no way for the BBC to air that material. The BBC is committed to making sure the sound and visual quality of a performance is high.
The report, carried out by research specialists Fourth Street, found Glastonbury Festival to have a significant positive economic impact both nationally and in Somerset, generating around £168 million of income for UK businesses including £32 million for businesses based in Somerset.
SZA at Glastonbury Festival: When and where? SZA is scheduled to hit the Pyramid Stage at 9:30 p.m. BST local time on Sunday, June 30, with the set expected to last for around an hour two hours. That makes it a 4:30 p.m. ET or 1:30 p.m. PT start in the US and Canada.
She performed at The Other Stage and it was her first performance with a band on The Fame Ball Tour The BBC was to broadcast her whole part on the festival but they decided to make highlights of the show and took out "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" and "The Fame", because she didn't X her breasts.
1. LONG DROPS: A Glastonbury Festival tradition - these lockable, open-air toilets are plentiful with over 2,000 long drop seats across the site. 2. COMPOST LOOS: There are now over 1,300 compost toilets across the site (with more than 1,100 supplied by Natural Event).
1. Donauinselfest. Vienna has long been home to musical geniuses, with luminaries such as Mozart being previous residents, so it's no surprise it's now home to the biggest festival in the world. Held on an island in the middle of the Danube River, Donauinselfest attracted a whopping 3.1 million people in 2016.
That would be Creamfields, which takes place in Cheshire every year and has an attendance of around 280,000 – surpassing Glastonbury, but still not enough to crack the top 10 festivals across the world. Still, according to Somerset Council, Glastonbury is the largest performing arts festival in the world.
American singer and songwriter Beyoncé headlined the 2011 Glastonbury Festival alongside acts U2 and Coldplay, performing on June 26, 2011 at the Pyramid Stage in Pilton, Somerset, England.
During his two-hour headlining set at Glastonbury in June 2022, where he became the festival's oldest solo headliner, Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl made surprise appearances. He launched his Got Back tour in 2022, having completed 16 shows across the US before his Glastonbury appearance.
The singer also performed the track at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 20, and at Glastonbury Festival on June 30. "Bad Guy" was included on the setlist of Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep Tour (2019).
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