Gotobeat UK Launches Festival Division

Gotobeat, a UK-based live entertainment company that by its own admission combines “promoter expertise with proprietary AI technology,” has appointed Mike Lightford as its new head of festivals.

Lightford is the former Director of Music at Boardmasters and NASS Festivals. His appointment reflects Gotobeat’s expansion into the festival space.

Gotobeat, in the company’s own words, “combines on-the-ground promoter expertise with proprietary AI technology to help artists plan and deliver smarter tours. Its custom-built tools analyze fan demand, venue data and touring patterns, helping the team make informed decisions around the right cities, venues and timelines for each artist.”

The expansion into festivals brings this data-led approach to the festival market.

Pollstar wanted to know what exactly the AI component of Gotobeat adds to the promoter’s role, and received a reply from founder and CEO Max Busin, who said, “The AI gives us another layer of insight when we’re looking at an artist, a market or a potential venue, but it’s the people on the ground who turn that insight into a successful event. It’s also beneficial for us as AI reduces admin work, which is why we are able to manage 1,000 shows a year with a team of only 20 people.

“Local promoters have the time and capacity to fully understand their audiences, their venues and the relationships that make a show work. For me, the exciting thing about Gotobeat is bringing those two things together, using technology to identify opportunities and reduce the guesswork. This simultaneously allows experienced promoters to focus on the relationships, creativity and local knowledge that are essential to putting on a great festival.”

The first festival by Gotobeat will be a six-show concert series across two weekends in July 2027 (July 2-4 & 9-11, 2027), taking place at Beckenham Place Park, located 30 minutes outside of central London. The park provides a natural amphitheater setting with an established history of hosting large-scale live music. Gotobeat will build on the site’s musical heritage with a new festival experience designed to bring a broad range of artists and audiences together across the two weekends. The lineup for the first edition of the Beckenham Place Park concert series hadn’t been announced at the time of writing, but a press release from Gotobeat promises “more than 10 artists performing each day across two stages and capacity for 12,000 attendees per day.”

Most shows on Gotobeat’s event calendar are club and theater shows, but the company stated it also promotes arena shows. The addition of festivals marks another step forward for the business.

Lightford will be tasked to grow the commercial, partnership and sponsorship opportunities in this new festival vertical, with full operational autonomy, working alongside the CEO.

With more than 20 years’ experience across live music, A&R and brand marketing, Lightford began his career at the Barfly Group before moving into A&R at Warner Music Group. He subsequently held roles at Ministry of Sound and MAMA Group before transitioning into brand marketing, where he led music strategies for major brands including Coca-Cola, Unilever and Superdry.

From 2018, Lightford worked within Boardmasters and NASS Festivals, where he became a key member of Superstruct’s European booking team. During his tenure, both festivals experienced significant growth, reaching peaks of approximately 30,000 and 55,000 daily attendees respectively, while hosting artists including Sam Fender, RAYE, Stormzy, Liam Gallagher and Jamie XX.

Another festival conceived by the team at Gotobeat is Unión, scheduled for July 9, 2027, a contemporary music festival for the UK’s Latin American community. “Running from Reggaeton to Latin Pop, Unión will pioneer current Spanish and Latin American artists, including many debut UK performances,” a press release states.

Headline acts and the wider line-up for Uninón will be announced the coming months.

Comments:

Mike Lightford, Head of Festivals, Gotobeat, “I’m thrilled to be joining the Gotobeat team at such a pivotal moment for the business. Beckenham Place Park is an amazing site, and we have the opportunity to create something really special as we launch the company’s first festival program. We’ve got a fantastic line-up coming together that caters to a wide range of music tastes, and I’m very excited to be a part of it.”

Max Busin, CEO and Founder of Gotobeat, “This marks an exciting new chapter for Gotobeat as we launch our dedicated festival division. As we continue to grow, expanding into festivals allows us to create even more opportunities and experiences for the artists we work with, while bringing our expertise to an entirely new area of live entertainment. We’re also incredibly excited to welcome Mike to the team. His experience and track record in the festival space make him the ideal person to lead this new division, and we’re looking forward to seeing him help shape its future. I’m incredibly proud of the team we’re building at Gotobeat and the ambition and commitment they bring as we continue to grow.”

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