Ozzfest Press

Ozzfest Press Conference Video Available


On Tuesday, February 6th at 11:00 a.m. PT, OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE made a "surprise groundbreaking, historic announcement about this summer's Ozzfest" at CIC 2007 (Concert Industry Consortium) at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. To watch the press conference head here.

As previously reported, Ozzy and Sharon, along with tour producer Live Nation broke the news that their 12th annual hard rock spectacular - a 25-date extravaganza launching July 7th in Los Angeles - is pulling the plug on ticket prices and giving the power back to the fans calling this summer’s OZZFest "FreeFest." The other OZZFest cities as of now are San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach, Nashville. Note: a final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming.

"For the last few years," says Sharon, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."

OZZFest and Live Nation will turn to sponsors to provide added support for the festival's new incarnation. This summer’s OZZFest will provide select sponsors with a unique opportunity to engage fans one-on-one utilizing one of music’s best known brands.

"We're reaching the same point we did years ago when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs," compares Sharon. "As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music. That’s what’s happening with summer touring in this country, it’s out-pricing itself. We started this and we want to keep it and we want to make it bigger and bigger each year by getting bigger sponsors to be involved with the festival and underwriting the festival. That’s what it’s about."

“For the past 11 years, music fans have made OZZFest the most successful and enduring rock music festival in the United States,” said Jason Garner, Live Nation President of North American Concerts. “What better way to say ‘Thank You’ to the music fans who have made this possible than inviting them to attend OZZFest for free.”

To gain entry into the event, fans will go to www.ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured. More details regarding the process are forthcoming.

As OZZFest’s founder and namesake, Ozzy will make his triumphant return to the headlining position on this year's mainstage after surprising fans last year by performing on the down-and-dirty second stage at a handful of dates. Audiences can expect the Prince of Darkness to unveil new songs from his forthcoming studio album, Ozzy’s first disc of new material since 2001. While the rest of the in-progress bill is under wraps, Sharon points out, "we have bands committed, but we’re hoping that after today's announcement we’ll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking. We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they've got. They're also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of OZZFest. I’m not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives."

Since 1996, OZZFest has been a virtual breeding ground for rising bands. The festival has been instrumental in igniting the careers of platinum-selling artists like SYSTEM OF A DOWN, DISTURBED, LINKIN PARK, INCUBUS, SLIPKNOT, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and GODSMACK. Along with supporting bands on the rise including AVENGED SEVENFOLD, MUDVAYNE, LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and LACUNA COIL, among others.

“OZZFest was created to keep this genre of music alive by showcasing new talent," states Sharon. "You better believe we’re going to keep perpetuating that by hand-picking compelling new bands that are hungry for OZZFest's career-making exposure."

More OZZFest Ticket Info Revealed

The "OZZFest 2007 Fans" MySpace page has been updated with the following:

"Ozzfest 2007 will be free of charge this year.

Questions...

Q: Will Ozzy play at my show?

A: Ozzy will headline ALL Ozzfest dates on the main stage.

Q: How do I get tickets?

A: Those signed up to Ozzfest.com will get the info on how to obtain their free tickets first! You will need to get a ticket just like previous Ozzfests however you will do so online and for FREE. You will need to go to Ozzfest.com or one of our sponsors websites to do this. Those who are signed up to Ozzfest.com will get an email with instructions and links once tickets are available.

You will print out your tickets and bring them to Ozzfest or get them from one of our sponsors. Yes each venue has it's own capacity level and only the amount of people allowed will gain entry. You will know you will be allowed entry because you have your ticket in advance. The show will be general admission. The seats will be first come first to sit there and watch the show in that seat basis. There will be still a 2nd stage and it will be located in the same area of the venue as previous Ozzfest. Yes, it will still be an outdoors show.

Now you are inside and you paid nothing. Merch, beer, water, food and soda price will NOT be raised more than any other show at that venue in the summer of 2007 to cover your free entry.

Q: Will there be a limit to the number of tickets I can buy?

A: Again, yes, there will be. The amount has not yet been determined, but there will be.

Q: How will I gain entrance?

A: You will print out or recieve the tickets that you have secured and you will bring those with you to the event, where you will exchange them for entrance.

Q: How will the seating be decided?

A: As in previous years, the second stage will still be general admission for everyone without seats. However, as far as main stage, it will be first come, first serve basis for both general admission AND the seats. Of course, you do not stake claim to seats, meaning that if you stand up and leave the seats, others are entitled to sit there.

Q: Will merchandise and concession prices be raised to make up for the lack of ticket price?

A: No. The prices will remain up to the individual artists to decide, however, there will be no expected raise in prices.

Q: How will the artists make money off of this?

A: They are free to book themselves at local shows on days before, after, and days OF the fest. Also, they are, as always, welcome to bring and sell merchandise.

Q: How different will the bill be from date to date?

A: Some second stage acts may change, however, the main stage acts will be comitted and appear throughout the tour, unless otherwise stated.

Q: Will bands autograph CD's at the FYE tent in 2007?

A: There will still be a tent where the bands sell and do their cd signings. It may be FYE or could another store who handles it, but either way you will be able to purchase the bands' performing cds and have them sign those."

For more information visit the page at this location.

Sharon Osbourne Says Artist Fees "Nearly Destroyed" OZZFest

Launch Radio Networks has issued the following report from Don Kaye

OZZFest co-founder Sharon Osbourne has said that skyrocketing artist fees led to the decision to make admission to this year's festival free, according to the San Jose Mercury News. She told the newspaper, "We needed to change something and we didn't want to change the format... We were putting offers to all these bands we wanted to tour with and they were coming back to us with exorbitant prices that would have meant we had to put the ticket prices up, which I won't do.'' She cited some acts, specifically 2006 co-headliners SYSTEM OF A DOWN, as requiring $300,000 or more for "an hour's work."

Despite decent-to-healthy attendance, OZZFest reportedly lost more than one million dollars last year. Osbourne said, "Last year nearly destroyed us, paying, paying, paying, and we just can't do it again.''

Osbourne said that sponsors will underwrite many of the show's costs, with Jagermeister and Monster Energy Drink already rumored to be onboard.

Perhaps most controversially, Osbourne said that bands will not be paid to perform. Instead, they will earn money from merchandise sales and other shows they book along the OZZFest route. A number of artists are skeptical about the arrangement, with BUCKCHERRY's Josh Todd telling us he doesn't see many acts going for it: "I doubt that's gonna work out. It's very expensive to tour. I don't think a bunch of bands are gonna be playing on a tour day in and day out and not getting paid. You wanna know what I would say if I was asked to do something like that? You know what my answer would be? No."

OZZFest will kick off on July 7th in Los Angeles, with the full schedule and lineup to be announced soon. OZZY OSBOURNE will headline all 25 dates.

Meanwhile, the OZZFest 2007 Fans page at MySpace was updated with a new posting that said fans should sign up at ozzfest.com for info on how to obtain free tickets first. It added that tickets will be available through that site or one of the show sponsors' sites. Tickets will be mailed to the recipients or can be printed out and brought to the show. All dates on the tour will be general admission and seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The posting added that venue concession prices will not be raised to make up for the free tickets, and that there will be a limit on how many tickets a person can order.