THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

While reports of its line-up shortcomings will inevitably be proven wide of the mark, there’s no doubt that Glastonbury (official site here) is in a state gone slightly awry right now, with recently released tickets stalling short of selling out – unlike the festival’s major competitor, Reading – and organisers forced to re-open registering for further tickets in a drive to attract attendees. Apparently some 37,500 tickets remained unsold at the time of today’s registering announcement. What’s gone wrong, then?

Year after year Glasto – a fixture on the festival calendar since the ‘70s, occasional rest years excepted – has sold out almost instantly, phone lines jammed from dawn ‘til dusk as hopefuls redial the same credit card line while planning the next day’s visit to Blacks. Its status as the domestic festival to get muddy at, and play for that matter, is starting to look shaky; there can be no doubt that the confirmed headline acts – Kings of Leon, Jay-Z and The Verve – aren’t as classically Glasto as top-billed sorts of not so many years back: R.E.M., David Bowie, Radiohead, The Who, Paul McCartney, et cetera. They lack the universal appeal of the aforementioned, and only one of three can truly be said to be enjoying their highest commercial profile ever. A contributing factor in the no-sell-out story? Perhaps. Let’s assess the suspects…

99 problems but Jay-Z’s the one you pick on…

Apparently some sorts don’t dig Jigga, and have been (virtually) vocal with their displeasure: NME.com’s stories yesterday, reporting on the festival’s failure to sell out immediately, attracted a variety of borderline racist comments from individuals personally insulted that hip-hop had found a headline place at a typically white men/guitar rock institution like Glasto. While these attitudes can be ignored as puerile, youthful potty-mouths working overtime, there’s no doubt Jay-Z’s presence can be considered an effect on initial ticket sales – fans of the rapper, but not mud and tiresome indie bores, will simply head to Wireless, and back to their own beds/hotel rooms for a lot less than the price of a Glastonbury ticket.

Let’s not party like it’s 1995…

The Verve? One great album and a smattering of semi-decent tracks across the remainder of a catalogue does not necessarily headliners make you, especially when said long-player, succeeded though it was by greater commercial fortunes, was released in 1995. A Northern Soul might be regarded by many as a classic of its times, the best in its particular canon, but really: was nobody with acclaimed LPs from this side of the millennium bug available for hire? Kings of Leon are a huge act nowadays, true, but at this stage (three albums in) they too lack a collection of certified hits substantial enough to warrant their bill-topping designation. If you added their sales together, chances are Hova would win, and he’s the one copping the most flack of the three here.

You can’t burrow under/climb over the fence anymore…

Or, more pertinently, no bugger truly into the spirit of the experience can afford a Glastonbury ticket without selling an organ and/or giving up their offspring for adoption. Those that can afford the asking price – £160 plus booking fee and postage atop that – are precisely the sorts head-honcho Michael Eavis was eager to muddle with fresher-faced newcomers: middle-class white-faced Guardian readers (me, then) with pennies enough to just leave the tent there come Monday morning. Last year Eavis complained about there being too many thirty-somethings on site, too few teenagers, but with that sort of ticket price, d’uh. Oh yeah, and it clashes with exam season. Still. And the television coverage almost exclusively focuses on the oldies, rather than who’s gracing the newer band stages: hardly an exciting prospect for your more casual potential teenage attendees.

Cards up your sleeves vs waving them wildly…

By not announcing the majority of its bill, as is its wont, does Glastonbury shoot itself in the foot? Previous years: certainly not. But Eavis senior’s, and daughter Emily’s (pictured), protestations that the full bill will be an attractive one will fall on largely deaf ears until names are revealed. Reading shouts its bill from the rooftops; likewise Connect, ATP, Isle of Wight, Primavera. Should Glastonbury be quicker to reveal its trumps, in order to secure an immediate sell-out?

Brits abroad, increasingly so…

With flights to the continent still affordable to many of a festival-fancying persuasion, weekenders in Europe are attracting more and more Brits to their guaranteed sunshine and (well in advance) pre-announced bills. See: the aforementioned Primavera, Benicassim and Sonar in Spain, Exit in Serbia, Roskilde in Denmark, Hove and Quart in Norway. Tickets to these events are often cheaper than domestic equivalents, too, making the combination of foreign holiday plus exciting music venue all the more enticing.

Mud…

Simply: would you rather spend three days, at least, wading through slop and muck in drizzly Somerset for the sake of catching a handful of bands you’re partial to, or jet out to the Spanish sunshine for a selection of the same bands under (almost) certain blue skies, where the booze flows cheaper and the lager louts are mercifully locked out? Precisely. Attend enough bad-weather Glastos in a row, as this writer has, and you’re unlikely to return for probably more of the same. Eavis, Michael, has admitted this probably is a factor in this year’s slow sales: “I think three years of mud may have taken their toll”.

The underground’s not so deep these days…

Niche, or boutique, events like All Tomorrow’s Parties, Green Man and Truck are big on atmosphere, something that’s vitally important for a festival that doesn’t sell itself exclusively on its musical bill. While there’s a definite spirit to Glastonbury that’s far from extinguished, the crusty old-timers that made the trip every year from day dot have moved on as the festival’s been forced into adopting a more commercial approach to management. And they can’t sneak in for nowt anymore, too. Bummer, old dudes. Point: the audience is shifting, and presently in a state of flux, regulars fewer and further between than ever before. The abundance of day-long events, including Wireless and Field Day in the capital, must also be considered – returning to an earlier point, there’s much to be said for creature comforts after a day of biting wind and howling rain.

…Not that any of this really matters, as Glastonbury will sell out. No doubt about it. Radio 1's Huw Stephens tells us as much: "There are so many good little festivals now that are sometimes more diverse and niche. But Glastonbury still has so much history and the vibe is unique." Enough said 'haps, and chances are by the time this article runs it already will have got rid of those spares; we’ve been blighted by connection problems for so long that it’s almost a certainty that everything above is already out of date (Okay, so it’s not – Ed). But still: it didn’t when it had before, and that’s a talking point worth elaborating into a discussion. So, DiScuss…

_ Visit GlastonburyRegistration to register, and remain registered for the next three years.

Tickets are available for online sales at seetickets.

The UK sales phone line is 0800 079 2008.

The international sales line is 0044 1159 934 183._