The Marketability of Rolling Loud

“Filled with smoke, blaring speakers, flames, flashing lights, and fireworks, the scene at Rolling Loud was more analogous to Mad Max’s Thunderdome than a rap concert.”

In May 2018, over 180,000 people descended upon the Rolling Loud Music Festival in Miami, and nearly 20 million eager hip-hop fans viewed the concert online. To put the numbers into perspective, imagine the entire population of Albany, New York or New Haven, Connecticut filtering in and out of a football stadium over the course of three short days. Filled with smoke, blaring speakers, flames, flashing lights, and fireworks, the scene at Rolling Loud was more analogous to Mad Max’s Thunderdome than a rap concert. With such a strong attendance, one would think Rolling Loud to have a history and background on par with that of Woodstock. 

However, the shocking truth is that Rolling Loud is still very much in its infancy. Since its establishment in 2015, Rolling Loud has brought in hundreds of thousands of fans, millions of online viewers, and superstar headliners. Past lineups include current rap industry titans and hip-hop legends, including, but not limited to: Travis Scott, J. Cole, A$AP Ferg, Future, and Young Thug. 

Rolling Loud shows no signs of slowing down. It has two festivals planned for the fall of 2019: one in the Bay Area, and one in New York City. Expectations are high. An estimated 225,000 fans are expected to attend the New York festival, eager to catch an all-star roster of over sixty chart-topping performers. Among them are Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Lil Uzi Vert.

“Festival demographics seem to cater to a crowd of die-hard hip-hop fans and likely self-branded ‘influencers,’ all of whom seem eager enough to purchase expensive tickets to bask in the three days of straight partying and deafening music the festival offers.”

According to their website, Rolling Loud “attracts a diverse mix of males and females of all ages and race.” When demographics are observed in a more detailed lens, Rolling Loud reels in fans with an average age of 24 years and range of 16 to 35 (while this age range of 21 years might seem relatively small, one must keep in mind that in the world of hip-hop, 16-35 encompasses a range of fans who either grew up on Biggie, Nas, and 2Pac, praise Lil Pump as the savior of the rap game, or fall somewhere in-between). The gender breakdown of festival attendance is skewed, with 61% of attendees being male and 39% being female. Rolling Loud claims its attendees identify with the phrase: “I like to keep up with style and fashion,” which seems likely, given that the average household income of attendees is $112,000 USD per year. All in all, festival demographics seem to cater to a crowd of die-hard hip-hop fans and likely self-branded ‘influencers,’ all of whom seem eager enough to purchase expensive tickets to bask in the three days of straight partying and deafening music the festival offers.  

Although it caters to a diverse crowd, Rolling Loud’s marketing, in theory, really only needs to be sufficient enough to appeal to the common interests of festival goers, which appears to be good music in a good setting. Furthermore, the marketing must be sufficient enough to convince would-be attendees to fork over the pricey $300 ticket (plus additional fees on food, drinks, lockers, and even portable chargers—more on that later). 

Rolling Loud’s marketing strategy seems rather simple: it focuses on building an attractive brand name (or at least that’s what one of Rolling Loud’s founders, Matt Zingler, seemed to preach in an interview with Forbes). At a glance, this appears to be true. Rolling Loud has a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, as well as a detailed website. Updates are posted as they come, and the most coveted form of media posted online is the infamous lineup sheet. This poster places the names of its major headliners in a large bold font, with subsequent acts listed in subsequent lines in increasingly smaller and smaller fonts. This is all against the backdrop of the evening skyline in the city where the festival is taking place. This backdrop is typically illustrated in a cartoonish style with soothing colors. If anything, the different font sizes of the performing artists likely influence consumer interpretations about the magnitude and seriousness of the festival. For example, on the 2019 Oakland line-up sheet, superstar artists like 21 Savage and Gunna are listed in much smaller fonts than the headlines Future and G-Eazy, and other chart-toppers like Smokepurpp and Young Dolph are listed in fonts even smaller still. By listing such relevant artists in a smaller font, Rolling Loud attributes a seeming insignificance to major players in the hip-hop industry in the relative scope of the festival itself. This makes Rolling Loud appear larger than life, and this might be true. According to the Miami New Times, some rappers even paid Rolling Loud to be included in the 2016 Miami lineup. 

According to its website, Rolling Loud boasts a large amount of benefits, opportunities, and entitlements to company partners, such as targeted media and email blasts. It appears that Rolling Loud’s existing brand name and popularity permits it to market itself further. On a deeper level, Rolling Loud seems to seek to control every marketable aspect of itself during the festival: no professional cameras are allowed in, and photo passes are only granted to media companies partnered with Rolling Loud. 

Despite its effective marketing and impressive turnout, Rolling Loud’s profitability is questionable. After losing money during its 2015 debut, Zingler claims in his Forbes interview that other years have been more successful, with ROI at around 10-15%. While there are no available statistics to back this claim, it seems somewhat plausible. According to its website, all ticket sales are final, and almost everything at Rolling Loud is available for purchase, from lockers to portable phone chargers. 

Regardless of revenue, Rolling Loud must be credited for its massive growth and surge in popularity in less than half a decade. Their marketing formula seems simple: build a brand name and bring in big performers and partners to continue to build said brand name. Rolling Loud has become a staple in the entertainment world, and given the expected turnout and lineup for the 2019 event, it appears that the festival will keep on rolling for years to come.