We aren’t trying to stir up trouble here, but there appears to be a serious disconnect between the artists and fans who attend the Coachella music festival and the event’s ownership.
For those of you who haven’t kept up with music festivals since Woodstock, the busy beavers at Wikipedia describe Coachella this way: “Coachella showcases popular and established musical artists, as well as emerging artists and reunited groups. Coachella is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and all over the world. Each Coachella staged from 2013 to 2015 set new records for festival attendance and gross revenues. The 2017 festival was attended by 250,000 people and grossed $114.6 million.”
Who would have thought “peace, love and understanding” could be so profitable?
The fly in the ointment is that not only is Coachella a money-printing capitalist enterprise — the festival is also owned by a Republican. As RedState explains, “Coachella’s founder and CEO Philip Anschutz votes conservatively, and has even donated millions to conservative politicians and causes. This includes over a million dollars during the 2016 elections.”
The fact that none of the $1 million Anschutz donated in 2016 went to the campaign of Donald Trump is irrelevant to the Bill-of-Attainder left that dominates the entertainment industry and the social media mobs that are always on the prowl for another cultural transgressor.
In a normal society, a business owner’s private contributions to politicians and political causes would be their business alone. But as you may have noticed, we don’t live in a normal society.
According to The Daily Wire, Open Secrets ran the numbers and found, “Goldenvoice, which produces Coachella (and several other high-profile music festivals), earns millions from millennials and other decidedly progressive demographics. In 2017 alone, Coachella hauled in a 'record' $114 million in profits, according to the GRAMMY foundation, and it’s consistently among the top-earning recurring music festivals, easily clearing $40 million in profit every year since it became a two-weekend event in 2012.”
It’s bad enough when conservatives discover their tax dollars go to support Planned Parenthood abortion mills. When Millennials and Generation Z learn their discretionary income is going to a dreaded Republican, sparks may fly.
As yet no one is ‘outraged’ enough to call for a Coachella boycott — possibly because the left needs a spreadsheet to keep track of boycotts currently in force. And even if they do, leftist fans could be tripped up by another wily capitalist. As Emily Zanotti remarks on potential leftist anger-mongers, “Just wait until they find out that Urban Outfitters, where they no doubt go to compile their Coachella wardrobes, is also owned by a Republican.”
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