Glastonbury. Surrounded, not bought.
Glastonbury started as a dairy farmer charging one pound with free milk. It now generates 168 million pounds a year for the local economy. Same family, same farm, and owning it hasn't stopped it changing.
THE GIST ON GLASTONBURY: "Surrounded"
Who owns Glastonbury?
Michael Eavis set up the festival 56 years ago. The family gave 5.2 million pounds to charity last year. Michael pays himself 60,000 pounds. In 2012 they ran it independently: it cost 14 million a year to put on, and at sell out they'd break even. That's more like a vocation than a business.
So where did the corporate money come from?
It came back anyway. The broadcaster isn't just the broadcaster, it's the creative partner shaping what gets played. Co-op and Vodafone are embedded. And a whole luxury economy has built itself around the edges: helicopter transfers, 10 grand a head, 58,000 pound manor house packages.
Did the family invite it?
The Eavis family didn't invite any of this. The festival was just worth far too much for the market to leave alone. They did everything they were supposed to do to keep it safe, and it didn't matter. Owning something doesn't protect it anymore.
What is the wider pattern?
Capital doesn't need to buy something to shape it. It just needs to be close enough. Pubs got bought. Football got bought. Garden centres are being bought right now. Glastonbury got surrounded, with the same result.
It was meant to prove you could stay outside the system. It might be proof that you can't.
Is corporate money around Glastonbury a problem?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
How much does Glastonbury bring to the local economy?
168 million pounds a year, according to Huw.
Did the Eavis family sell out?
No, they still own it, but corporate partners and a luxury economy have built up around the edges.
What is Huw's wider point?
Owning something no longer protects it: capital only needs to be close enough to shape it.
See you on the next one.
What should the next one be? Suggest a topic for Huw to explain
The conversation
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