Is it profitable for the company to have a free festival like this?

No, you lose a bit more money than if you were charging for it, but we don’t have to spend money on advertising and the feel-good factor is great. And there’s the money we raise for good causes… We were only going to [make the festival free] for one year. We’ve done it for three. I would love to see if we could do it indefinitely… I think it’s really well appreciated by everyone that comes, but you need to go out and ask them. Festivals are bloody expensive, generally. But it’s not like they’ve compromised on the bands. Grace [Potter and the Nocturnals] are playing right now and she’s actually brilliant. There are lots of great bands playing and the bands have been willing to charge a little less because it’s free. I think it’s a win-win for everybody.

Musically, who are you excited about here today?

Well, I wish I was watching Grace! I managed to see a few songs but then I was dragged off to talk to [reporters]. I did have the privilege of spending a few minutes with her before and I thought she was one of the nicest [people]. There aren’t many people in rock-n-roll who I think, “Wow, they’re very nice!” Peter Gabriel is one of our artists and he’s remained a true friend. It’s very nice to have Grace as a friend. 

<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/click-track/post/be-specific-richard-branson-on-keeping-freefest-free-and-how-faust-spawned-a-global-conglomerate-sorta/2011/09/12/gIQAp6wjMK_blog.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/click-track/post/be-specific-richard-branson-on-keeping-freefest-free-and-how-faust-spawned-a-global-conglomerate-sorta/2011/09/12/gIQAp6wjMK_blog.html</a>