SYDNEY, Australia – Listen Out, one of Australia’s prominent electronic and hip-hop music festivals, has announced it will not proceed with its traditional multi-city festival format in 2025. Citing significant “downward pressures” and the currently “challenging times for festivals” within the industry, organizers have stated they are “hitting pause on Listen Out as you know it.”
The unexpected decision, conveyed through an official statement from the festival’s promoters, marks a temporary departure from the large-scale, touring event that has been a fixture on the Australian music calendar. Instead of the conventional festival setup, Listen Out intends to pivot its focus towards a series of curated, smaller-scale events across the country throughout 2025, operating under the banner of “Listen Out Presents” parties.
Responding to Industry Headwinds
The move by Listen Out underscores the significant economic and operational headwinds currently impacting the live music sector, particularly large-scale festivals, in Australia. Rising production costs, artist fees, logistical complexities, and evolving consumer spending habits are among the factors contributing to a challenging environment.
The Australian Festival Association (AFA), the peak body representing the nation’s festival industry, acknowledged the difficulties facing its members. In response to Listen Out’s announcement, the AFA commended the festival organizers for taking a “thoughtful and creative approach” to navigate the current landscape, suggesting that adapting formats may be a necessary strategy for survival in the present climate.
A Look Back at the 2024 Edition
The decision follows the most recent iteration of the Listen Out festival, which successfully toured across Australia and New Zealand in September and October 2024. The festival visited six cities: Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland (New Zealand), Brisbane, and Sydney.
The 2024 lineup featured a range of international and local artists, including major headliners such as 1 Savage, Skepta, and Lil Tjay. However, the 2024 events were not without their own set of challenges, experiencing late artist withdrawals from anticipated performers Tyla and Flo Milli, which necessitated last-minute lineup changes.
Despite these operational hurdles during the 2024 tour, the organizers proceeded with the events as planned, delivering the festival experience to attendees across the different locations before making the decision to reassess the format for the following year.
Part of a Wider Trend
Listen Out’s announcement is not an isolated incident within the Australian festival circuit for 2025. It follows a string of high-profile cancellations that have impacted the industry earlier in the year.
Notable events that have been called off include the R&B and soul-focused Souled Out festival, the long-running and iconic Splendour in the Grass held in Byron Bay, the regional touring festival Groovin the Moo, and the arts and culture-focused Esoteric Festival.
These cancellations, spanning various genres and scales, highlight a systemic vulnerability within the Australian festival market, making Listen Out’s decision to pause and recalibrate rather than cancel outright a noteworthy strategic choice.
The Path Forward: “Listen Out Presents”
By opting for the “Listen Out Presents” model in 2025, the organizers appear to be pursuing a more flexible and potentially less capital-intensive approach. These curated parties could involve smaller venues, fewer artists per event, or focus on specific genres or themes, allowing for greater adaptability in response to market conditions.
The pivot suggests a strategic effort to maintain brand presence and connection with their audience while mitigating the significant risks associated with producing multiple large-scale outdoor festivals in the current economic climate. It allows the brand to remain active and potentially lay the groundwork for a return to the traditional festival format in future years, should market conditions improve.
The future scale and locations of the “Listen Out Presents” parties remain to be fully detailed by the organizers, but the focus is clearly shifting from a large, unified festival experience to a series of more intimate, decentralized events across Australia throughout the coming year. The music industry and festival-goers alike will be watching closely to see how this new strategy unfolds and impacts the Australian live music landscape.
