Coachella “has become a brand more powerful than any of the acts in its lineup,” The Desert Sun’s Bruce Fessier wrote in a Sunday story on the festival:

After 12 years in Indio, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become more than just a hugely successful concert attraction.

The sold-out two-weekend event, which begins Friday at the Empire Polo Club, has become a brand more powerful than any of the acts in its lineup.

Bob Lefsetz, author of the influential music industry Lefsetz Letter, said after last year’s Coachella, “It doesn’t matter who plays the festival.

“Attendees trust Paul Tollett to put on a good show,” he wrote of the Coachella co-founder and president of Goldenvoice.

Fessier goes on to write about a potential challenge to Coachella’s brand.