"Corporate sponsorship called a 'compromise'"

The heavy hand of corporate sponsorship remains one of the more controversial aspects of the festival business. Even smaller festivals such as the recently completed Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park require corporate support for revenue and marketing, but the corporate presence is especially pronounced at Lollapalooza with prominent banners throughout Grant Park on festival weekend.

The possible repercussions of such sponsorship became evident last year when politically charged lyrics sung by Eddie Vedder during Pearl Jam‘s closing-night performance were censored during a Webcast by one of Lollapalooza’s sponsors, AT&T. The company said the censorship was a “mistake” by a Webcast vendor, and apologized… [Chicago Tribune]