Music festivals have become integrated into our millennial society as the quintessential summer outing. Every spring the annual buzz of “what festivals do you think you’ll go to this summer?” or “have you seen the Lollapalooza lineup?”. But truth be told, music festivals are kind of ruining music and the people who appreciate it for what it truly is. For someone who has been there and done that, it’s irritating to see how much it has changed and how superficial it has become.

The average demographic for music festivals are people ages 17-35 according to an Eventbrite study. The most disappointing thing I found after reading the study is that only 17 percent of festivalgoers commented on specific groups of artists.

So the takeaway from that is people didn’t give a shit about who they saw and only cared about the experience. Which, obviously, the head honchos at Insomnia and Superfly can feel good about since that means they’re doing their jobs. But how crazy is that? People can’t even remember specific artists. A mere 8 percent of people who get tickets and go comment about seeing one specific artist, for example, at Lollapalooza 2015, Paul McCartney went. Much to fans everywhere surprise, the crowd was pathetic because more people wanted to go experience the EDM stage.

This totally goes back to the experience. There are huge props all over these festivals and people who don’t like music or care about the artists go either because their friends go or they want to plaster it all over social media. Plus, for all the frat boys out there who want a chance to wear their favorite jersey, it’s a great chance to get blacked out. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to my fair share of festivals and concerts but these festivals are getting totally out of control.

Now, festivals are feeding grounds for affluent kids to wear their trendiest clothes, get absolutely out of their minds on drugs and alcohol, and post the most ~candid~ and fake posts they can. Social media has completely changed the game when it comes to these festivals. I get that taking pictures is fun but the spam on Instagram and Facebook during festival times is outrageous. The flower crowns, converse, and leather all have a place at festivals but at a certain point, it’s going to get old and die.

My parents went to Stagecoach in 2016, obviously for the music because I’m pretty sure they’re past snorting coke in bathroom stalls but who knows. When they came back, all they could talk about was how messed-up everyone was and that all the girls were dressed in next to nothing. The value of music and art has completely been squeezed out and I truly believe it’s only going to get worse until people get sick of spending hundreds of dollars on a few days they can barely remember.