Coachella
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The organizers of Coachella are suing the creator of a Washington D.C.-based music event called “Moechella,” accusing the smaller group of violating the trademark rights to the giant yearly festival.
Filed after months of public dispute with Justin Johnson over the name of his go-go music events, Coachella’s lawsuit says he’s continued to use the allegedly infringing name unabated — even announcing last month that he’s planning 10 new events in the coming year.
“Despite plaintiffs’ repeated efforts to avoid litigation, defendants have made clear that they have no intent of ceasing their infringing activities, forcing Plaintiffs to file this action,” wrote lawyers for Goldenvoice LLC, the AEG subsidiary that operates the California festival, in a complaint filed Tuesday (Jan. 31) in D.C. federal court.
In an interview with Billboard on Friday, Johnson said he’d been surprised to learn of Coachella’s lawsuit because he said he’d already agreed with the company’s lawyers that he would “pivot away” from the “Moechella” name and had been continuing to do so.
“These events are protests that have spawned out of the gentrification of D.C. and the erasure of the culture in this city, not festivals for monetary gain,” Johnson said. “It’s surprising that a multi-billion dollar company is approaching a non-profit organization like this.”
The new case is just the latest trademark clash for Coachella. In 2021, the festival sued Live Nation for selling tickets to an event called “Coachella Day One 22.” Last year, Coachella sued a West African company over an event called “Afrochella,” then later sued a California business park that has been using the name “Coachillin.”
An attorney for Coachella did not immediately return a request for comment on the new case.
According to Washington City Paper, Moechella started in 2019 as musical protests organized by Johnson and others after residents of a luxury apartment building complained about go-go music that was being played outside. The name, according to that article, is a portmanteau of “moe” — D.C.-area slang for a friend — and Coachella.
The dispute with Coachella first became public last summer, when the festival filed legal documents seeking to block Johnson from registering the name as a federal trademark. In response, Johnson quickly dropped his trademark application, but publicly vowed that he was “not going to stop using the name” even after Coachella’s complaints.
In the new lawsuit, Coachella’s attorneys said the company had no problem with the Moechella event itself — only with the use of a title that seems to clearly play on the better-known festival’s name.
“Plaintiffs have no objection to Defendants’ lawful activities, including the hosting of live music and entertainment events,” the company wrote. “Plaintiffs’ only objection is to the Defendants’ infringing and confusing use of the term ‘Moechella.’”
The new case also named Kelsye Adams, a woman who appears to be the executive director of the group that organizes Moechella. She could not immediately be located for comment on Friday.
In an effort to underscore the argument that Coachella doesn’t want to be confused with the smaller event, the festival’s lawyers took the notable step of citing a recent tragedy.
In June, a 15-year-old boy was killed and three others shot when gunfire erupted at Moechella. In a statement to the media at the time, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser criticized the fact that the event “did not have any proper planning for the number of people who were here and with guns involved.”
In Tuesday’s lawsuit, Coachella said the shooting was an example of the kind of “reputational harm” that can be caused if consumers think the bigger festival has somehow approved of Moechella.
“Plaintiffs contend that incidents such as the shooting death and melee cause harm to Plaintiffs, particularly given Defendants’ infringing use of similar looking and sounding ‘Moechella’ marks,” Coachella’s lawyers wrote.
In speaking with Billboard on Friday, Johnson said he viewed the linking of the shooting directly to Moechella as “unfair,” arguing it had actually occurred after the event ended. But he reiterated that he would adopt a new name, which he says he’ll use in the future to continue drawing attention to gentrification, gun violence and other issues facing D.C.
“This name was something that was chosen by the people, so we’re going to do a call to action to change the name, just like a sports team would do,” Johnson said, alluding to the recent high-profile name change for Washington D.C.’s professional football team.
“They named it once, so they can name it again,” Johnson said.
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Your favorite artists are ready to hit the road! After two years of rescheduled, postponed or canceled tours and concerts, music fans can rejoice in knowing that live shows are back in full swing.
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Madonna, SZA, Blink-182, Taylor Swift, Janet Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks are just a small portion of acts heading on tour in 2023. And the list keeps growing.
Below, find a roster of more than 25 of the year’s most-anticipated concerts, tours and music festivals. We’ll be updating this story regularly, so be sure to check back for new dates and ticket information.
For more tour guides, check out our roundups of 2023 Latin Tours in the U.S. and Las Vegas Residencies.
From A-Z: A List of Must-See Music Tours (Updating)
Anita Baker performs in concert at The Austin Music Hall on February 12, 2010 in Austin, Texas.
Jay West/WireImage
Anita Baker — The music legend is hitting the road for her first tour in decades joined by Babyface. The tour kicks off on Feb. 11 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla.
Anita Baker Tour
$from $223
Ari Lennox – The Age/Sex/Location tour kicks off in Las Vegas on Jan. 26. Get tickets here.
Billy Joel — Before he joins Stevie Nicks for a co-headlining tour, Billy Joel has solo shows scheduled at the Hard Rock Live in Florida, New York City’s Madison Square Garden and the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Get tickets to Joel’s solo concerts here and here. Click here for tickets to the tour with Stevie Nicks.
Blink 182 – The band’s tour start March 11 in Tijuana, Mexico. Get tickets here.
Bruce Springsteen – Bruce Springsteen’s 2023 tour launches on Feb. 1 at the Amelia Arena in Tampa, Fla. Get tickets here.
Chris Stapleton – The country star’s tour starts on March 16 at the Houston Rodeo. Get tickets here.
Depeche Mode – The English band’s Memento Mori tour launches on May 18. Get tickets here.
Ed Sheeran – Ed Sheeran’s “Mathematics” tour makes its way to North America in May. Get tickets below.
Ed Sheeran Mathematics Tour
$from $125
Foo Fighters – The Foo Fighters will hit the road this summer. Get tickets here.
Harry Styles – In March, Harry Styles will perform a string of shows rescheduled from last year’s Love On Tour. Get tickets here and here.
Janet Jackson – The “Together Again” tour starts April 14 in Hollywood, Fla. Get tickets here.
Lizzo – The Special tour resumes overseas in February and returns to the U.S. in April. Get tickets here.
Luke Combs – The country star’s tour launches on March 25. Get tickets here.
Madonna – The highly-anticipated Celebration Tour kicks off in July. Tickets went on sale Friday and another batch of presale passes will be released via Ticketmaster on Monday (Jan. 23). Get tickets for select dates below.
Madonna Celebration Tour
$from $140
New Edition – The group’s Legacy tour, featuring Keith Sweat and Guy, begins on March 9. Get tickets here.
From left: Taylor York, Zac Farro and Hayley Williams of Paramore photographed on November 4, 2022 at St. Rocco’s in Brooklyn, NY.
Meredith Jenks
Paramore – The pop-punk band scheduled to perform at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Feb. 6 and the Bud Light Super Bowl Fest on Feb. 9. Get tickets to see Paramore live here.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Red Hot Chilli Peppers tour, featuring Iggy Pop, The Roots, The Strokes St. Vincent and more, starts March 29 in Vancouver. Get tickets here.
Santana – The band’s upcoming tour dates includes a performance at the House of Blues Las Vegas on Jan. 25. Get tickets to see Santana here.
Shania Twain – The country legend launches her tour at the Tortuga Music Festival in March. Get tickets to the Queen of Me tour here.
SZA – The S.O.S. tour starts on Feb. 21 in Chicago. Get tickets here.
Taylor Swift – The Eras tour, featuring Paramore and Gayle, officially kicks off on March 17. Get tickets here.
Wizkid — The North American leg of Wizkid’s More Love, Less Ego tour launches in March. Get tickets here.
Zac Brown Band – Zac Brown & Co.’s 2023 tour dates include the Houston Rodeo on March 5. Get tickets here.
2023 Music Festivals: Where to Get Tickets
A general view of atmosphere during day 2 of the 2016 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Weekend 2 at the Empire Polo Club on April 23, 2016 in Indio, California.
Daniel Leist/GI for Coachella
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival — April 14-16 & April 20-23; Get tickets here.
Bonnaroo Music Festival — June. 15-18. Get tickets here.
Rolling Loud — March 3-5 (California); Jul 21-23 (Miami). Get tickets here.
SXSW — Mach 10-19 in Austin, Texas. Click here to register for tickets.
YouTube and Goldenvoice have once again renewed their livestream and content partnership agreement for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival, striking an agreement that keeps the mega two-weekend festival on the Google-owned video platform through 2026.
First signed in 2011, the streaming partnership was renewed in 2018 through 2021 — the 2020 and 2021 versions of the festival were postponed due to COVID-19. Last year, the two companies worked out an agreement to air the festival’s post-pandemic return.
Besides multichannel live streaming and on-demand video from performances, the partnership enables fan shopping for Coachella merch, exclusive content for YouTube Premium subscribers, live chat, and onsite activations with YouTube creators and artists.
YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen called the renewal “an absolute honor” and said the partnership would “bring the magic of Coachella to music fans,” while Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett said the agreement “brings Coachella to everyone around the world.”
Coachella is scheduled to take place April 14-16 and April 21-23.
With Tuesday’s flurry of festival lineups — including Boston Calling, Bonnaroo, Sonic Temple Festival, and, finally, Coachella — the 2023 North American festival season formally kicked off, and music fans can expect more announcements to follow.
This figurative ringing of the bell is typically reserved for Coachella (and Coachella alone), which usually announces its lineup the first week of January. But when Los Angeles-based concert promoter Goldenvoice didn’t deliver on time — for unexplained reasons — it left some executives wondering what to expect from potential ripple effects throughout the festival circuit.
That’s due to Coachella’s contracts and stature in the business. Coachella’s artist contracts come with radius clauses that give the Southern California festival first right to announce its artist lineup in the region. As such, festivals have worked out a largely unspoken schedule for announcing their lineups after Coachella goes first, and then navigating similar first-announce and radius clauses other major festivals may have.
In this case, Live Nation-owned festivals Boston Calling and Bonnaroo booked 070 Shake, Sofi Tukker and Knocked Out, who were playing Coachella as well. Both lineups were slated to drop on Jan. 10 — but with the morning of the 10th approaching and no Coachella lineup announced, agents for the acts had to check in with Goldenvoice to let them know about the Bonnaroo and Boston Calling announcements.
Making things more complicated was that both Live Nation-owned festivals, along with the Danny Wimmer Presents-owned Sonic Temple Festival in Columbus, Ohio, had coordinated their lineup announcements to take place hours apart on Jan. 10 at the request of the Foo Fighters, who wanted a somber announcement surrounding their return to the stage following longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins’ death last March.
Goldenvoice president/CEO Paul Tollett told the agencies there was no problem with the lineup announcements happening before Coachella, and a small dustup was easily avoided. The episode, however, is illustrative of how a small group of concert promoters, powerful booking agents and contract attorneys regulate and protect the music festival industry.
At the top of that system is Coachella, a cultural and economic juggernaut that sells more than $100 million worth of tickets each year over two weekends in mid-April, making it the first major festival to take place each year. In order to protect the massive investment in artist fees it pays each year, AEG-owned Goldenvoice requires artists to sign radius clauses agreeing not to announce their participation in festivals that take place in California, or in states neighboring California, until after their performance at Coachella. Artists participating in festivals in states not neighboring California generally only have to wait until after the Coachella lineup announcement before publicizing their involvement in other events.
Today, most major festivals use radius clauses to restrict participating artists from performing at competing events that fall too close geographically or chronologically. Managing this complex web of obligations and radius clauses typically falls on an artist’s booking agent, who negotiates the agreements between festivals and artists while managing their client’s radius clause obligations throughout the touring cycle.
In order to avoid violating each other’s radius clauses, since 2014, festivals that take place in the first part of the year have worked on a schedule starting in the first week of January for announcing their lineups. From 2014 to 2020, the lineup for Coachella was announced during the first week of January. But for the last two years, following the pandemic and the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 festivals, Coachella’s lineup announcement hasn’t taken place until the second week of January, causing minor delays to festival lineup announcements that have traditionally followed Coachella.
While some of Coachella’s critics say the festival’s pole position in the lineup announcement hierarchy affords Goldenvoice far too much power over smaller festivals, one booking agent told Billboard that Tollett is “exactly the type of person you want in that position.”
“He wants to protect his event, which he spends tens of millions of dollars on each year. He’s first in line because his event is the major festival each year,” says the agent. “But if he needs a little more time to announce his festival, he’s going to accommodate the requests of any festival he impacts. He’s fair and always does the right thing.”
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival revealed its jam-packed 2023 lineup on Tuesday (Jan. 10), with Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean and BLACKPINK set to headline.
Also set to perform are Gorillaz, Rosalia, Bjork, Kaytranada, Blondie, Burna Boy, The Kid LAROI, MUNA and many more. The 2023 iteration of the popular music festival is slated to run on two consecutive weekends, from April 14 to 16 and then again from April 21 to 23.
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Leading up to Coachella, we want to know who on the lineup you are most excited to see. Check out the full list here, and let us know by voting below.
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Ready for the desert? After being sidelined due to pandemic and rebounding last year, the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is back.
Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK & Frank Ocean to Headline Coachella 2023
01/10/2023
Frank Ocean, Bad Bunny and BLACKPINK will be headlining this year’s festival, which returns to Indio, Calif., on April 14-16 and April 21-23. Presale tickets will go on sale Friday (Jan. 13) at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.
Additional performers include Rosalía, Gorillaz, Burna Boy, Blondie, Becky G, Pusha T, Metro Boomin, Charlie XCX, Kid Laroi, Flo Mili, Bjork, A Boogie, Uncle Waffles, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Elderbrook, Kenny Beats, Yves Tumor, The Chemical Brothers, Kaytranada and SG Lewis.
According to Coachella.com, 2022 ticket holders and/or registered attendees will receive early access to buy tickets on Wednesday (Jan. 11) at 2 p.m. PT/11 a.m. PT.
General Admission passes are divided into three tiers: $499 for the first tier, $549 for tier two and $599 for tier three. General Admission with shuttle passes will cost $599 for tier one and $649 for tier two. VIP tickets are $1,069 for tier one and $1,269 for tier two.
Car camping tickets are regularly priced at $149, $375 for “preferred” car camping, and $149 for tent camping. Visit Coachella.com to register for early access to buy tickets. Only a limited amount of passes are available for the first weekend, so you’ll probably have a better chance at scoring passes for weekend two.
Weekend two of Coachella will take place from April 21-23. General Admission and VIP Passes for both weekends will be available at Ticketmaster once tickets are officially released.
If you want to get a head start, Coachella tickets are available on Vivid Seats for around $634 and up for general admission, three-day passes. VIP tickets start at $1,271.
Coachella Tickets
$from $634
Stub Hub has tickets for sale for Coachella weekend two, but expect to pay at least $650 for general admission and $1,343 for VIP. Camping passes are currently priced at $292 and up at Stub Hut. At Seat Geek, general admission tickets start at $670 and up for week one and $669 for week two.
Booking a place to stay may be a little trickier but starting early is always a safe bet. Find hotels and other lodging options at Expedia, Trip Advisor, Booking.com, Travelocity and Airbnb.
After you get your tickets secured, check out our list of Coachella essentials to take on the road.
Coachella season is officially upon us. After weeks of swirling rumors about who’d be filling out the 2023 lineup, the desert’s most hyped music festival on Tuesday (Jan. 10) announced its 2023 lineup.
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In addition to headliners Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK and Frank Ocean, there is of course, as always, a robust slate of dance/electronic artists on the bill. Key players include Calvin Harris, who hasn’t played Coachella since his mainstage slot back in 2014, the Coachella debut of Eric Prydz’s massively hyped (and with good reason) HOLO show, a set from Deadmau5′ TESTPILOT alter-ego, along with genre pioneers The Chemical Brothers, whose last Coachella appearance was back in 2011.
Notably, Harris’ name currently appears at the bottom of the bill, signifying that festival organizers have not yet decided on which day of the fest the Scottish superstar will play the show. Last year, Swedish House Mafia initially appeared in this area of the lineup poster as well, until the group replaced Ye as the event’s Sunday night co-headliner, along with The Weeknd.
The finer print of the Coachella 2023 bill features a crew of major dance players, including a reunion from Sasha & Digweed, Alison Wonderland’s Whyte Fang project, actor/DJ/heartthrob Idris Elba, Danish sensations WhoMadeWho and LP Giobbi.
Coachella has two stages dedicated exclusively to dance music, with the Yuma tent providing a club-style space for house and techno, while the massive Sahara Tent hosts more commercial sounds, with the genre also spread out between the festival’s other stages. The festival’s Do Lab stage also annually hosts its own three-day slate of electronic artists, with that companion lineup — which typically includes a few massive surprise sets — to drop in the coming months.
Here’s when the electronic acts are playing at this year’s festival:
Friday, April 14 & 21
The Chemical Brothers
Kaytranada
Yves Tumor
TESTPILOT
Maceo Plex
Jamie Jones
Malaa
Whyte Fang (Alison Wonderland)
Idris Elba
Vintage Culture
Dombresky
Nora En Pure
Uncle Waffles
Mochakk
Dennis Cruz
PAWSA
Oliver Koletzki
Chris Stussy
Saturday April 15 & 22
Eric Prydz Presents HOLO
Underworld
SOFI TUKKER
Chromeo
Mura Masa
Tale Of Us
Yaeji
Elderbrook
Kenny Beats
Keinemusic
Hot Since 82
Monolink
Nia Archives
Jan Blomqvist
WhoMadeWho
DJ Tennis + Carlita
Mathame
Chloé Caillet
Francis Mercier
Sunday April 16 & 23
Porter Robinson
Fisher
Chris Lake
Jai Wolf
Boris Brejcha
2manydjs
Sasha & John Digweed
Camelphat
LP Giobbi
MK
Adam Beyer
Big Wild
Romy
TSHA
Cassian
Gordo
We’re only three and a half months away from the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, which means this year’s headliners should be announced any day now.
However, before that big reveal comes, we want to know who you think should take the main stage in Indio, Calif. this April.
Frank Ocean is, obviously, the best bet for this year’s festival in the desert, considering he was originally supposed to headline the 2020 iteration along with Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott before it was canceled by the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s also previously been announced as one of the main acts this April, so if that holds true, two other headliners will be joining him on the lineup.
Both Bad Bunny and Rihanna are also strong contenders among Billboard‘s predictions. The former capped off 2022 as the top touring act of the year, with his combined El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo & World’s Hottest Tour grossing a total of $373.5 million and selling 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows while the latter will make her triumphant return to performing just two months ahead of Coachella by headlining the Super Bowl LVII halftime show. Could Bad Bunny walk back his plan for a quiet 2023 to bring Un Verano Sin Ti to the desert? Will Rihanna double down on her hotly anticipated Super Bowl show by turning Coachella into RiRichella?
Other possibilities for headliners include Dua Lipa, SZA and Drake — the latter of whom last headlined back in 2015 before he ever had a single Hot 100 No. 1 under his belt. BLACKPINK could also make a victorious return to the Empire Polo Club in between the Asia dates of the Born Pink World Tour after making history at the festival four years ago. Even still, less likely candidates such as Olivia Rodrigo, Kate Bush or someone else entirely could serve as this year’s biggest surprise.
Vote for who you want to see headline Coachella 2023 in Billboard‘s poll below.
Although the 2023 edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is still a few months away, kicking off on Apr. 14 in Indio, Calif., we should know which artists will be headed to the desert this year imminently. The Coachella lineup is typically unveiled in early-to-mid January, which means it’s just about time to submit final guesses for the artists who’ll headline this year’s edition of the three-day festival.
Which superstars will top the 2023 lineup? After Coachella boasted Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and a combo of Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd as headliners last year — their first year holding the fest this decade, after having to cancel both the 2020 and 2021 incarnations due to pandemic-related concerns — speculation for who’ll follow in their footsteps has reached a fever pitch on social media.
Some artists who have the star power of a Coachella headliner are out of the running for this year, due simply to logistics: Taylor Swift and Paramore, for instance, both have tour dates on their respective 2023 itineraries that conflict with the Coachella dates, and are thus not viewed as potential performers. And a couple of these predictions may be a little far-fetched, since some have not announced themselves as active in 2023. That’s why we’ve separated these guesses into categories, from strong possibilities to pie-in-the-sky wishes. Once the full lineup drops, we’ll see how close we came to calling our shot.
Here are our best educated guesses as to who will lead the Coachella 2023 bill: