Index In Brief

Nightclubs and dance music festivals lost more than three quarters of their value in 2020 due to Covid-19 opening restrictions, the IMS Business Report 2021 reveals.

BTS 2021 Muster Sowoozoo, a twoday virtual concert with the K-pop superstars, is attended by 1.33 million unique viewers from 195 countries.

Wild Mint, one of Russia’s biggest festivals, is left RUB47million (€540,000) in debt after local authorities cancel the event at the 11th hour.

Campaigners in Europe, Asia and Australasia warn that the move towards digital and mobile tickets for events, attractions and transport, accelerated by the pandemic, risks broadening the ‘digital divide’ and excluding older people as life returns to normal.

Viagogo is investigated in Australia for allegedly breaching anti-ticket touting laws in the state of New South Wales, where it is illegal to resell a ticket for more than 10% over face value. Lina Ugrinovska, one of the best-known booking agents in the Balkans, launches her own agency, Banana & Salt, offering international booking, consulting, training and educational services for artists and music professionals.

Live Nation teams up with nine of Denmark’s biggest festivals – Roskilde Festival, NorthSide, Heartland, Copenhell, Smukfest, Tinderbox, Jelling Musikfestival, Nibe Festival and Grøn – for a oneoff event marking the reopening of the country, Back to Live, set for 4 September.

Australia’s TEG announces the launch of TEG Rockefeller, a new global partnership and joint venture with the Rockefeller Company of New York.

The findings of the Ambition Live Again test concert in France show that attending a show is not associated with an increased risk of transmission when certain hygiene and testing protocols are followed. There were zero Covid-19 infections during a pilot event series, Modellprojekt Kultur/Reallabor Leipzig, held across nine venues in May and June, organisers announce.

ID&T announces it is taking the Dutch government to court over new Covid-19 restrictions, which are reimposed just weeks after they were lifted.

The EAA’s Arena Resilience Alliance publishes a report analysing findings from more than 20 test events hosted at 12 of its partner arenas across Europe.

Serbia’s Exit Festival takes place, attracting 42,000 festivalgoers from more than 70 countries on the opening day alone and recording no Covid-19 infections across the weekend.

Slovakia’s Pohoda on the Ground did not record a single positive Covid-19 result throughout the “extraordinary” five days it took place, according to organisers. CTS Eventim confirms it will receive €102m government aid for November–December 2020 “to strengthen the result for the current financial year and the company’s liquidity.”

The UK’s entertainment and media industry is forecast to return to growth and be the biggest market in western Europe by 2025, according to PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2021–2025.

Live Nation confirms that Theresa Velasquez, who was a senior vicepresident of strategic partnerships for the company, lost her life in June’s tragic apartment block collapse in Miami.

Within hours of rules being relaxed, UK vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi announces that full vaccinations will be required for entry into nightclubs and venues with large crowds from September.

Ticketmaster will provide digital ticketing technology for six Oak View Group arenas as part of a newly announced global partnership between the two firms.

Cider company Magners faces legal action for allegedly refusing to pay more than £1.7m (€2m) in owed sponsorship money after partner event Cheltenham Festival became a Covid-19 superspreader event.

Up to 20,000 fully vaccinated music fans will gather on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City on 25 September for the world’s biggest test concert to date, the Quebec provincial government announces.

The Belgian federal government launches its Covid Safe Ticket, a domestic health pass that will certify the Covid-19 status of attendees to major entertainment and sports events.

CTS Eventim announces the launch of Eventim Live Asia, an expansion of its European promoter alliance Eventim Live, headed by ex-Live Nation exec Jason Miller, with a focus on China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The 20,000-capacity Ticketpro Dome, South Africa’s largest indoor venue, will close to events and become a giant used-car dealership after owner Sasol Pension Fund sold the building to WeBuyCars.

Benefit concerts in Germany and Belgium help to raise money for those affected by the catastrophic flooding that has swept across continental Europe this month.

Finland’s major live music companies condemn all forms of harassment and discrimination following a series of allegations posted on the #MeToo-inspired Instagram account @punkstoo.

More than four fifths of Australians say they consider international artists to be a significant factor in their decision to attend live events in the future, reveals a major new survey commissioned by Live Entertainment Industry Forum.

UK festival safety initiative Festival Safe releases a new guide that aims to make fans aware of how Covid-19 will affect the festival experience, as well as steps to take to keep each other safe. There will be no Pukkelpop this year after all, the festival announces, as a result of new government regulations that would have required it to almost triple its onsite testing capacity with less than a month to go until gates open.

Khvylia, a former Soviet sanatorium on the outskirts of Kiev, has been converted into a live music venue by the team behind the world-renowned Georgian club Bassiani.

Dutch festivals such as Lowlands, Down the Rabbit Hole and Mysteryland are delivered a death knell after the government extended its ban on multiday events until September.

Hundreds of thousands of music fans flock to festivals such as Latitude, Standon Calling and Tramlines for the UK’s first big festival weekend since the summer of 2019.

Live Nation GSA (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) announces it will launch a German edition of Download Festival, the UK’s premiere rock event.

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