Coachella 2025 is officially underway, with the festival taking place across two weekends from April 11–13 and April 18–20, 2025. Since its founding in 1999, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as the festival is officially called, has grown into one of the world’s most iconic music events, known for its star-studded lineups, celebrity sightings, and cultural impact far beyond music alone. Held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, Coachella sets trends in both entertainment and fashion—and generates global media attention every year.

To better understand what drives media visibility around one of the world’s most talked-about music festivals, we looked back at how Coachella captured attention in the past two years. Using data from the US mobile News Boxes, we analyzed the most-ranked keywords and top-performing publishers during Coachella 2024 (April 12–21, 2024) and Coachella 2023 (April 14–23, 2023). By understanding past trends, publishers can better predict which topics and strategies might dominate coverage this year.

Let’s first take a look at how Coachella 2024 shaped media visibility in the mobile News Boxes.

Coachella 2024

Coachella 2024 took place over the two weekends from April 12–14 and April 19–21, 2024, and delivered a wave of viral moments, celebrity appearances, and surprise performances that shaped media narratives throughout both weekends. Before diving into which publishers led the coverage, let’s first look at the keyword landscape that defined Coachella 2024 in the US mobile News Boxes.

Top Keywords During Coachella 2024

A look at the Coachella 2024 keywords shows a strong media focus on both the festival brand itself and major celebrity appearances. Across 21 keywords, 7,537 total rankings were generated in the US mobile News Boxes during the festival period. Unsurprisingly, general event keywords like “coachella 2024”, “coachella”, and “coachella valley music and arts festival” dominated the list, underlining the enduring media power of the festival’s name.

Beyond that, celebrity-driven content clearly stood out. Taylor Swift’s presence fueled major coverage, with several variations of her name appearing among the top keywords. Other notable spikes came from surprise appearances or reunions, particularly involving No Doubt and Will Smith, which generated significant buzz. Keywords related to individual sets, specific weekends, and even minor festival issues also surfaced, highlighting that both star moments and the event’s overall experience shaped media narratives.

Most Visible Publishers During Coachella 2024

1. PEOPLE claimed the top spot, securing 10.81% of the total visibility with 621 keyword rankings. Their coverage leaned heavily into celebrity moments, with “coachella” (168), “coachella 2024” (67), and “coachella no doubt” (64) as their top-ranked keywords. PEOPLE’s most visible article for Coachella 2024 was “Olivia Rodrigo Joins No Doubt for Band’s Coachella Reunion.”
2. Los Angeles Times followed in second place with 7.10% of total visibility across 538 rankings. Their top keywords, “coachella 2024” (164), “coachella valley music and arts festival” (127), and “coachella no doubt” (85), suggested a broader focus that balanced the general festival experience with key reunion moments. Their standout article was “Coachella 2024: No Doubt reunion tops the ’90s nostalgia fest on Day 2.”
3. USA Today achieved 6.18% visibility with 340 rankings. Their coverage was a mix of event-wide reporting and celebrity-driven buzz, with “coachella valley music and arts festival” (84), “coachella no doubt” (67), and “coachella taylor swift” (39) leading their rankings. Their most visible piece, “Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce dance to Bleachers, Ice Spice at Coachella,” tapped into the ongoing fascination with celebrity attendees.
4. Desert Sun, the local voice for the Coachella Valley region, secured 5.91% visibility with 487 rankings. They leaned heavily into practical and comprehensive event reporting, with top keywords like “coachella 2024” (176) and “coachella valley music and arts festival” (121). Their best-performing article, “Coachella 2024: Here’s the complete setlist from No Doubt’s Weekend 1 set“, reflected a more informational, service-oriented approach.
5. Variety rounded out the top five with 5.25% of total visibility and 409 rankings. Their coverage highlighted headline moments and surprise performances, with “coachella” (120), “coachella 2024” (109), and “will smith coachella” (51) as the top keywords. Their most visible article was “Will Smith Joins J. Balvin at Coachella for ‘Men in Black’ Performance“.

Overall, the 2024 Coachella coverage shows a strong mix of celebrity-driven moments and broader festival reporting. Publishers that blended both angles—highlighting key performances, surprise appearances, and the overall event experience—achieved the highest visibility. The success of articles centered on reunions (like No Doubt) or unexpected performances (like Will Smith’s appearance) also shows that tapping into nostalgic or viral moments can strongly boost News Box presence.

Coachella 2023

Coachella 2023, which took place on the weekends of April 14–16 and April 21–23, 2023, was marked by headline-making performances, last-minute changes, and high-profile celebrity appearances that dominated the media conversation. Before exploring the top publishers for that year, let’s once again take a closer look at the keywords that captured the most attention in the US mobile News Boxes during the festival period.

Top Keywords During Coachella 2023

Looking back at Coachella 2023, the keyword landscape paints a very similar, yet slightly more fragmented, picture compared to 2024. Across 26 keywords, 5,252 rankings were generated in the US mobile News Boxes during the festival period—noticeably fewer than the 7,537 rankings in 2024. This suggests that in 2024, publisher focus and audience interest were more concentrated on fewer but stronger topics.

In 2023, the coverage was heavily driven by specific headline moments. “coachella frank ocean” dominated the list with 1,419 rankings, reflecting the intense attention surrounding Frank Ocean’s controversial performance and subsequent cancellation, which led to Blink-182 stepping in as a replacement headliner. Celebrity presence also played a major role, with stars like Kendall Jenner, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Zendaya making strong appearances in the keyword set. Broader festival terms such as “coachella”, “coachella valley music and arts festival”, and “coachella 2023” were still important but slightly less dominant compared to the event-specific buzz driven by major lineup changes and celebrity sightings. Compared to 2024, this created a sharper celebrity and headline focus, whereas the following year saw broader themes like reunions and surprise performances complementing the celebrity buzz.

Overall, the data suggests that while celebrity-driven moments consistently dominate Coachella coverage year after year, 2024 achieved a broader and slightly more event-focused media presence compared to the more personality-driven coverage of 2023.

Most Visible Publishers During Coachella 2023

1. Variety emerged as the top-performing publisher during Coachella 2023 in US mobile News Boxes, achieving 9.14% of the total visibility. Their success was mainly fueled by quick and comprehensive reporting on major headline events. Out of 450 keyword rankings, “coachella frank ocean” accounted for the vast majority (360 rankings), showing just how dominant Frank Ocean’s controversial performance and cancellation were in shaping the news cycle. Variety’s most visible article was “Frank Ocean Pulls Out of Coachella Weekend 2“, perfectly tapping into one of the festival’s most talked-about moments.
2. Desert Sun secured 6.44% of total visibility, leveraging its strong local focus and consistent event updates. The outlet generated 414 rankings, with “coachella valley music and arts festival” (140 rankings) and “coachella” (134 rankings) being its top keywords. While Desert Sun didn’t focus as heavily on single headline events, its live updates kept it relevant throughout the festival. Their most visible article, “Coachella liveblog: Billie Eilish joins Labrinth Saturday night“, highlights they were able to capture attention through real-time coverage of surprise performances.
3. PEOPLE achieved 6.43% of visibility, focusing strongly on celebrity-driven content. Out of 243 rankings, their top keywords were “kendall jenner coachella” (44 rankings), “coachella frank ocean” (35 rankings), and “coachella valley music and arts festival” (34 rankings). Their most visible article was “Kendall Jenner Spotted Dancing During Bad Bunny’s Coachella Set amid Rumored Romance“.
4. Pitchfork followed closely with 6.29% visibility, standing out for its music-centric approach. The publisher generated 346 keyword rankings, with “coachella” (128 rankings), “coachella frank ocean” (96 rankings), and “coachella valley music and arts festival” (88 rankings) leading the way. Their most visible article was “Blink-182 Replacing Frank Ocean as Coachella 2023 Headliner“.
5. E-Online reached 5.62% visibility, also mainly by focusing on celebrity moments. With 187 keyword rankings, their top keywords included “kendall jenner coachella” (81 rankings) and “coachella shawn mendes camila cabello” (47 rankings). Their most visible article, “Camila Cabello and Ex Shawn Mendes Spotted Kissing During Coachella Reunion“, underlines how relationship-related celebrity news were able to perform strongly in the News Boxes.

During the 2023 Coachella coverage, publishers who focused heavily on celebrity moments and headline news stories were the most successful. Visibility was largely driven by specific events like Frank Ocean’s canceled performance and high-profile celebrity appearances. Articles that zeroed in on viral incidents or relationship rumors (like Kendall Jenner and Shawn Mendes with Camila Cabello) performed particularly well.

How publishers can maximize Visibility for Coachella 2025

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