Though Soundwave 2016 was recently officially cancelled and Soundwave 2017 was discontinued, the 50+ acts who engaged in February’s Soundwave 2015 are still awaiting payment. According to Music Feed, the Australian music festival owes large sums to the performing artists — from $5,720.60 to Melbourne band Ne Obliviscaris, to $2,132,075 to Soundgarden.
American heavy metal band Slipknot is reportedly owed $1.6 million and Chicago-based alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins is owed over $1.26 million. The figures are confirmed by documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) submitted by booking agents and representatives of Soundwave 2015 acts, as well as an October meeting of Soundwave money creditors. While formal proof from creditors is unavailable, administrators consider the amounts to be correct.
The annual traveling music festival was born in Perth, Australia in 2004 and expanded to cities such as Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Sydney, featuring mainstream metal, rock, and punk artists.
Soundwave was cancelled due to insufficient funds and “poor ticket sales”, according to promoter AJ Maddah, who wished “we could’ve ended on a better note”. Maddah acknowledged that he is struggling with refunding fans.