R&B Festival Promoter Souled Out Enters Voluntary Administration

After cancelling last year's event just weeks out, the company behind R&B music festival Souled Out has gone into voluntary administration with debts reportedly exceeding $1 million.

Souled Out Pty Ltd had planned to return in February 2025 for a second year of the festival but cancelled the sold-out event, before entering administration last month. Per the Courier Mail, a report filed with ASIC on Wednesday shows the promoter accrued $1.1 million in debts during its 2024 events, held across Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Perth, and Auckland.

Of that amount, unsecured creditors were owed roughly $910,000, while a secured creditor was owed around $280,000, according to administrators Laurence Fitzgerald and Garth O’Connor-Price from William Buck.

The festival launched in 2024 with headline performances from US and Canadian artists Summer Walker, Bryson Tiller, and PartyNextDoor. The cancelled 2025 edition had been set to feature Don Toliver, Jhené Aiko, and Vince Staples.

Despite generating about $12 million income from ticket sales and an additional $193,777 in other income in the 2024 financial year, Souled Out recorded total expenses of approximately $12.3 million.

Performer fees made up 40% of the costs, while production accounted for 18%, accommodation 6%, venues and security 5% each, and travel 4%. The company reported a net loss of $13,800, further impacted by payments, distributions, or loans to related parties that reduced cash available to creditors.

 

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Following the 2024 festivals, a major vendor, Eventco Group, issued a statutory demand for repayment and subsequently filed to wind up the company in the Brisbane Supreme Court. That action was dismissed in February 2025 after the two parties reached a settlement. Another creditor, CVEM Security Group, issued further demands after Souled Out defaulted on payments under a separate settlement agreement.

Per the Courier Mail, the administrators’ report also flagged multiple transactions to unrelated creditors and related parties that may be considered preferential or uncommercial, potentially reducing funds available to pay creditors. They note the company may have been insolvent since at least June 2024.