Fyre Festival’s comeback appears to be a shaky start. Yet, the brand still holds some value in the entertainment industry.
Fyre Festival — yes, that infamous Fyre Festival — is set to become the face of a new music streaming service following a rather perplexing intellectual property agreement.
Fyre Music Streaming is the creation of Shawn Rech, who previously launched another streaming platform called TruBlue with To Catch a Predator star Chris Hansen. Despite the controversies from his last venture, Rech acquired the two Fyre trademarks needed to kickstart this new project.
“Music networks have turned into mere programming, and I’m not interested in watching people slip on bananas,” Rech stated to Deadline. “It’s not really about music. I needed a memorable name, even one associated with infamy, which is why I secured these [trademarks] to launch the streaming network.”
So, what can users expect from Fyre Music Streaming? Primarily user-generated content, along with a video-on-demand service that will cost approximately $3.99, alongside a free ad-supported option. Initially, Rech plans to focus on pop and hip-hop but has intentions to branch out into other genres later on.
Fyre continues to be a globally recognized brand, even eight years after its disastrous launch in 2017 that left attendees stranded on the Bahamian Exuma Islands with limited food and shelter. Festival co-founder Billy McFarland was sentenced to four years in federal prison for wire fraud related to the festival, and the entire debacle has been captured in documentaries by both Netflix and Hulu.
It’s important to note that McFarland still holds ownership of the Fyre brand. He has been in the news frequently after announcing Fyre Festival 2, only to change the location and subsequently postpone the event indefinitely due to objections from Mexican authorities.
Despite all of this, is the Fyre brand still a valuable asset? The answer remains uncertain — but given McFarland’s struggles to turn the publicity into a legitimate venture, we remain skeptical.
