IQ46 by IQ Magazine

Issue 46 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE

A n I L M C P u b l i c a t i o n . Mar 2013

A Schuere Bet

Herman Schueremans on making musical careers

25 Years of… Venues

Quarter of a century of developing music’s bricks and mortar

Through Space and Time Prepare to be transported through time at ILMC 25

SWITZERLAND

There’s more to the Swiss than just festivals

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR MUSIC? HARVEY GOLDSMITH TENDING THE GRASS ROOTS ANDY INGLIS REGULATING THE REGULATORS OKAN TOMBULCA FLEXIBILITY IS KEY NATASHA BENT FORCE MA-WHAT?! MARTIN GOEBBELS KNOW WHEN TO HOLD AND WHEN TO FOLD MICHAEL HOSKING

As anyone who’s been to March 2013 and back will tell you, ILMC 25 was a resounding success…”the best ever” someone will say; “more networking than O2” will comment another. But bending time can always take the edge off, so ILMC is inviting all time travellers of the universe to join our 25th anniversary in real time. Or some time. The Institute for Limitless Movement in Chronology is prepared…the flux capacitors are charged…which means that the most important weekend in the live music industry is ready for its next adventure…

International Live Music Conference 8-10 March 2013 • www.ilmc.com The Royal Garden Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High Street, London

Conference Agenda Special • Conference Agenda Special • Conference Agenda Special • Conference Agenda Special • Conference Agenda Special • Conference Agenda Special • Conf

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A Journey Through Time and Space

ILMC Agenda Marks a Place in Time It’s almost time for 1,000 of the world’s leading live music professionals to descend on London and hold what could be the most remarkable ILMC to date. This year, one thing’s for sure – you’ll need a time machine to do everything on offer over the weekend. More showcases than ever, poker, relaxing massages, table football tournaments, full-size football at Wembley Stadium, dress-up karaoke, a delegates’ jam, RFID fun, and more Kodak moments than ever before. It’s a Tardis of fun bulging at the sides with time travellin’ hoots. Listed over the next few pages you’ll find details of our conference agenda, but knowing that any time traveller needs a hearty meal before setting out on such a quest, we wanted to remind you about two conference highlights that you should sign up for, if you haven’t already. To celebrate our 25th anniversary, the ILMC Gala Dinner and Arthur Awards has gone all out this year and moved to The Savoy. With London’s most famous hotel as a luxurious backdrop, the most prestigious night in the live music industry’s calendar will be celebrated in ultimate style, with delegates transported back in time to the Roaring 20s. Sponsored by Robertson Taylor Insurance Brokers, the evening includes champagne on arrival, a five-star, four-course dinner with wine, and the industry’s favourite award show – The Arthur Awards. All ILMC delegates and other music business professionals are welcome to attend. If you miss that one, then on Sunday 10 March we’ll be taking a trip back in time to Scottish Hogmanay to bring in the start of the new ILMC Year at the ‘Highland Fling’ Sunday Dinner. Sponsored by our Scottish friends, including AECC, we’ll be enjoying drinks on arrival, Highland games, Scottish dancing, perhaps even a piper or two and, of course, an inevitable, rousing chorus of Auld Lang Syne at midnight. It takes place at the lively Boisdale of Belgravia, just a short, complimentary coach ride from the hotel. And whether it’s ‘tossing the caper’, or enjoying the restaurant’s finest Edinburgh haggis, it’ll be a quantum leap for both cuisine and fun. Make sure to sign-up when you register for the conference, or email registration@ ilmc.com for more info. Aside from the dinners and events, however, at the core of the conference are the meetings that provide an open forum to discuss those issues affecting the business. The agenda team has tried to strike a balance this year, between the expertise and learning from our longstanding members – those who were present at the early editions of the conference – and the next generation of delegates who increasingly make up our numbers.

Thursday 7 March 10:00-18:00 ILMC Production Day The fifth ILMC Production Day (IPM) will accommodate up to 150 of the world’s most renowned production managers; sound and lighting engineers; venue personnel; suppliers; and promoters’ representatives. Agenda topics this year include fatigue (scheduling of working hours, exploitation of personnel and narcotics abuse); and Construction and Design Management (CDM) regulations; as well as visas, work permits and customs clearance. Carl A H Martin will chair a session dealing with green issues and environmental legislation within the production fraternity, and Chrissy Uerlings will lead a panel reviewing IPM and ILMC’s regular Engine Room session, and planning for the future of the event. Full details are online at www.ilmc.com/25.

Friday 8 March 11:30-12:00 New Delegates’ Orientation Chairs: Alia Dann Swift (ILMC) & Allan McGowan (IQ)

Alia Dann Swift and Allan McGowan extend a warm welcome to new ILMC delegates and explain how the conference is structured and how to get the most out of it. An important introduction for the firsttimers, or those long-timers who just need reminding, this informal session gives the necessary lowdown on the ILMC world and surviving the weekend intact.

14:00-14:15 The Flight Attendant’s Briefing: ‘The weekend in 15 minutes’ Chair: Martin Hopewell (ILMC)

Conference founder and crackpot inventor Martin Hopewell welcomes all time travellers to ILMC, points out a few rules and introduces some of the conference’s key elements. It’s the starting point for all delegates to begin ‘backing into the future’ over the weekend.

14:15-16:00 The Open Forum: ‘A time experiment (1988-2038)’

16:30-17:30 The Dragons’ Den

Chair: Greg Parmley (ILMC)

Early arrival will be essential for this informal conversation between two of Europe’s greatest promoters. Live Nation’s Thomas Johansson and Mojo Concerts’ founder Leon Ramakers will compare notes and impart a few tips from the trade. With a century of experience between them, this is a mustsee ILMC session.

ILMC’s big opener is joined by another cast of industry heads who review the last 12 months in live music before tackling the biggest topics of today. On stage this year will be renowned German promoter Marcel Avram; legendary Aussie promoter Michael Chugg; Live Nation Spain’s Pino Sagliocco, and more to be confirmed shortly. Expect some high-level discourse as these senior figures set the tone for the weekend. Then, by means of some sophisticated, time-bending trickery, we’ll be casting a wizened eye over the next 25 years in live music. If you only make it to one meeting over this weekend, make it this one.

16:30-18:00 New Technology: ‘The shape of things to come’ Chairs: Steve Machin (dot Tickets) & Claudio Trotta (Barley Arts)

As innovation in the live music sphere continues apace, it is no surprise that Steve Machin’s annual investigation into new technology has become one of the most popular sessions. However, for every ingenious new piece of kit or software that comes along and transforms the way things are done, there are numerous gadgets and initiatives that are fast-confined to history’s long list of forgotten failures. Putting each idea to the test, Claudio Trotta will give his verdict on the prospects of the new technology being adopted by asking “Why the f*ck would we need that?”.

16:30-18:00 The Dance Club: ‘The beat goes on’ Chair: Peter Elliott (Primary Talent)

EDM to some, dance music to others, there’s no denying that the electronic music scene is in rude health right now. Estimated to be worth some $4bn globally, the EDM scene now even has its own association, while some promoter/producers continue to rewrite the rulebook for outdoor events and production aesthetics. Leading the charge this year, Primary Talent MD and long-time EDM proponent Peter Elliott leads an all-star cast around this vibrant scene, to discuss what the rest of the live industry can learn, and what boundaries are still to be pushed.

with Thomas Johansson & Leon Ramakers

Saturday 9 March 10:00-11:30 The Emerging Markets’ Place: ‘Raising the curtain’ Chair: Jüri Makarov (Makarov Muusik)

As one of ILMC’s longest-standing regular meetings, the Emerging Markets’ Place is a forum for less developed territories, or those building new heads of steam. Jüri Makarov chaired the first meeting back at ILMC 1, and he returns, 25 years on, to ask what’s been learnt, and where we are today. This meeting will be split into two-parts: the lessons gleaned by early pioneers, including their perception of those markets today; and then a journey through the current big growth territories to ask who’s next, who should we watch out for, and who’s going to go the distance.

10:00-11:30 The Tour Party: ‘Keeping the customer satisfied’ Chair: Bryan Grant (Britannia Row)

Touring is an unpredictable business at best. No two venues or festival sites are the same, and crews have to constantly adapt. As touring productions become increasingly complex, maintaining a good relationship and strong communications with all stakeholders is vital. So, are the guys at the sharp end getting what they need from the agents, the venues and the promoters? What are the gripes? What are the shining examples? Brit Row’s Bryan Grant brings together a group of highly experienced professionals from both sides of the fence to ask how cooperation can be increased and more neighbourly love spread throughout.

re-runs of There’s no need to watch ed on ILMC. spe to Doctor Who to get up om c.c ilm at It’s all online

12:00-13:00 The Dragon’s Den

14:30-15:30 The Dragon’s Den

with Carl Leighton-Pope

with Harvey Goldsmith

Carl Leighton-Pope’s history with ILMC stretches back decades, and in this anniversary year, the renowned agent and raconteur will be imparting his expertise in what will undoubtedly be a stand-out 60 minutes. Expect lessons and road stories covering a lifetime in the agency business, with artists such as Bryan Adams, Michael Bublé and WWE.

There are few names as well known in the industry as Harvey Goldsmith CBE. The legendary Live Aid promoter and serial entrepreneur will be passing on advice from a lifetime at the top of the business. This session is sure to be another sell-out – arrive early to get a seat.

12:00-13:30 Funding the Show: ‘Search for a new boss’ Chairs: Tom Taaffe (The Agency Group) & Martin Nielsen (Live Nation Norway)

The first of our twinned main room discussions considers new routes to funding artist touring. It’s not just grass-roots artists that are looking for new ways to fund tours, but bigger names are following equally innovative routes. What role are record labels now playing in the make up of a live music tour, and how reliant have we become on brand partners? Does streaming and digital pay enough yet? Is crowd funding an option these days? Our assembled forward-thinkers discuss how best to fund a tour, before the following panel considers how best to sell it.

12:00-13:30 The Venue’s Venue: ‘The next stage’ Chairs: Lucy Noble (Royal Albert Hall) & Don Elford (AEG Ogden)

Without the venue there is of course no show! The perennial Venue’s Venue session looks at the multifaceted and ever developing roles of venue operators as they cope with the evolution of the needs and demands of performers, promoters, producers and audiences. This year, the panel will use recent statistics to outline the market’s health and consider strategic alliances and initiatives that are improving returns for both venues and customers. Throw in some conversation around new artists, education, programming and audiences, and you’ve got a session that’s sure to see a full house.

14:30-16:00 Festival Forum: ‘Past, present and future tents’ Chair: John Probyn (Live Nation)

The festival sector has had a tricky time of late. The ‘soggy summer’ and the economy have taken their toll, but the continuing demand for these events is undeniable. In this edition of the regular session, the festival industry will look to the future, considering what extra preparations organisers can make to prepare for the worst scenarios, while planning for the best events. John Probyn and guests will also look at the myriad roles the festival promoter now has to cover, from producer to meteorologist, with all points in-between!

14:30-16:00 Entertainment: ‘Meet the competition’ Chairs: Koen Melis (NEC Group) & Jim Frayling (Wembley Stadium)

Live music is no longer the only show in town. As numerous other forms of entertainment dip into the wallets of the ticket-buying public, Koen Melis and Jim Frayling will quiz an array of panelists from other industries about how they go about getting bums on seats. As the competition gets fiercer, and venues around the world look to more and more non-music events to fill their calendars, what can the live music business learn from sectors such as sport, comedy, family entertainment and theatre?

16:30-18:00 Selling the Show: ‘Going to market’

12:30-14:00 The Booking Ring: ‘Changing the future’

Chairs: Serge Grimaux (Intellitix) & Geoff Meall (The Agency Group)

Chair: Juha Kyyrö (Fullsteam Agency)

The second of the twinned main room panels follows Funding the Show with how to sell it. Back at ILMC 1, marketing a show was simple: a promoter advertised in the press, pasted up posters, and – for the more sophisticated – tapped into fan club mailing lists. Fast forward 25 years and the number of avenues for marketing an act has exploded as record labels, agents, venues, ticketing companies, sponsors and even the fans play a role in shifting tickets. RFID innovator Serge Grimaux and agent Geoff Meall will lead this discussion into how social networking and technology are rewriting the rulebook, and threatening to rub out the word ‘marketing’ in the process.

16:30-18:00 The Market Focus: ‘From Russia with live’ Chair: Nick Hobbs (Charmenko)

Following last year’s very successful focus on China, the next BRIC market under the spotlight is Russia. Once seen as a mystery, touring artists would just play St. Petersburg and Moscow, and then leave. Now it’s possible to run a series of dates, progressing across the country before entering surrounding territories. The club market has also expanded and dance music has a strong foothold. This session will present detailed and perhaps surprising information on all aspects of a growing market with the participation of local operators and internationals who have added Russia to their touring schedules.

Sunday 10 March 10:30-12:00 The Breakfast Meeting with Nick Mason Chair: Ed Bicknell (Damage Management)

The Sunday morning slot at ILMC is always a popular session, but for our 25th anniversary, we’ll be installing rubber walls as standard when host-with-the-most Ed Bicknell is joined by legendary Pink Floyd member, Nick Mason. There aren’t many artists who can lay claim to over 250 million album sales, and having co-written some of Pink Floyd’s most popular songs, Mason is also a leading light of the Featured Artists Coalition, not to mention an erudite and fascinating raconteur. Delegates that can successfully squeeze into the room should expect some hilarious anecdotes as both Nick and Ed talk drumming, touring, the Floyd, artists’ rights and more…

The live music industry is changing, but is it changing for the better? With fewer tickets sold in advance and more festivals, are we jeopardising the touring element of our business? Are we working together on building a future business for all, or are we just out for ourselves? With deals, riders and contracts becoming more convoluted, are we our own worst enemy? All these issues and more will be dealt with head-on by Fullsteam’s Juha Kyyrö, who will be asking the questions that most wouldn’t dare…

12:30-14:00 The Sunday Supplement: ‘The gardening pages – seeding the future’ Chair: Allan McGowan (IQ)

Another of ILMC’s regular fixtures, it’s safe to say that this is one of the more intimate gatherings of the weekend. An open conversation with all in the room participating, this year’s session will look to the future, by considering the essential grass roots of our industry; the areas that will hopefully nurture tomorrow’s business and of course, new artists. This is also the space to continue a discussion inspired by anything picked up on over the weekend in other conference rooms and sessions.

15:30-17:00 ILMC Autopsy: ‘25 years of blood, sweat and tears’ Chair: Martin Hopewell (ILMC)

Having steered it to its quarter century, ILMC skipper Martin Hopewell will be ruminating on the genesis of the conference, recalling a few favourite memories, out-takes and bloopers, while inviting all members to comment on the future of the event. From the great unresolved mysteries of ILMC to more specific conclusions drawn from the meetings this year, this is the moment for everyone to have their say. What shape should ILMC take for the next 25 years? What’s the best and the worst of this annual event, and where do we go from here?

re-runs of There’s no need to watch speed on ILMC. Doctor Who to get up to It’s all online at ilmc.com

TIME TRAVELLERS’ GUIDE v. Access All Areas shows The Access All Areas programme allows entry to some of the hottest gigs around the capital. For most shows, delegates can gain entry with their ILMC badge, but some may need arranging in advance. Check your conference guide or the Help Desk for listings.

Saturday 9 March i. Match of the Year Football

Thursday 7 March i. ILMC Production Day (IPM) The ﬁfth annual IPM will see production professionals from across the globe converge for a day of panel sessions, discussion and networking. Along with some unmissable sessions, IPM delegates will be treated to a ﬁve-star buffet lunch, followed by a closing drinks party. Sponsored by eps and Megaforce, registration is separate to the main conference. Email ipm@ilmc.com for more info or check online.

ii. ILMC 25th Birthday Bash ILMC will be marking its 25th anniversary by hosting a birthday party on Thursday night, as all time lords, ILMC and IPM delegates kick off the weekend at the Royal Garden Hotel. The IPM Closing Party runs from 17:00-20:00, after which the Birthday Bash begins proper, with complimentary drinks, a vintage-Vegas theme, and even masterclasses in crooning provided by James Bernard. It all takes place in Rock of AEG’s Bar and ‘The Sands (of time)’ nightclub, on the mezzanine ﬂoor of the hotel.

iii. Breakout Sessions The ILMC showcase schedule is all within easy walking distance of the hotel. In partnership with A&R tastemaker night, Breakout, and some of our most esteemed agency friends, we’ll be running a full showcase schedule on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, presenting some of the hottest new talent out there. Check www.ilmc. com/25, the Help Desk, and your conference guide for more details.

Friday 8 March i. The ‘Portals Open’ Party With two hours of food, wine and networking, this is the only way to begin your ILMC weekend. A moment to treasure as time travellers from across the globe bring each other up to speed on another year – or ten – of adventures. It takes place from 12:00-14:00 on the lower ground ﬂoor.

ii. The Temporal Texas Hold’em Poker Tourney Gambling is not something that most ILMC delegates are averse to, so it’s no surprise that the poker tourney has become a perennial favourite among the sharks and bluffers out there. Taking place in The Time Zone (York Suite) from 22:30 until late, the showdown raises money for our chosen charity, with a quantum reap of bar tab prizes up for grabs. It costs just £20 to enter – sign up at marketing@ilmc.com. Hosted by American Talent Agency.

iii. The ‘Dutch Impact’ Party Drinks, presentations, competitions, fun... and live performances from Tangarine, Birth Of Joy, Blaudzun and Go Back To The Zoo, Dutch Performing Arts’ annual meet-and-greet takes place across the road from the Royal Garden Hotel at AAA from 18:00 to 21:00.

iv. Table Football ‘Coupe du Monde’ Supple wrist and a quick eye? And that’s just the referee – IQ’s Terry ‘offside’ McNally. The annual Table Football ‘Coupe du Monde’ takes place in the hotel bar from midnight ‘til late. It’s possibly the only opportunity you’ll ever get to play for your country with a drink in one hand.

Wembley Stadium, in a ﬁt of supreme generosity, has again agreed to allow ILMC’s Match of the Year Football – where the UK takes on the Rest of the World – to return to its hallowed turf. Hosted by Aiken Promotions, places are extremely limited, so contact Peter Aiken (peter@ aikenpromotions.com) to get on side.

ii. Access All Areas shows It wouldn’t be a live music conference without some of the best gigs that London can offer. These shows only happen once (unless you’ve got a time machine) so check the timings in your conference guide or at the Help Desk.

iii. The Roaring 20s Anniversary Dinner and Arthur Awards The star-studded ILMC Saturday dinner is the highlight in the industry’s annual calendar. In celebration of ILMC reaching its mid-twenties, this five-star affair will take place at The Savoy hotel in 2013. Without doubt, the grandest of occasions ILMC has ever thrown, over 350 guests from across the live music world will congregate for an evening of sumptuous fivestar cuisine, champagne, fine wines, tip-top entertainment, and the Arthur Awards. This lavish birthday celebration is sponsored by Robertson Taylor… check the website for more information.

iv. ‘Rock Around the Clock’ Karaoke After some of the most hair-raising, eyebrowlifting scenes ever witnessed at an ILMC, in 2012, ‘Rock Around the Clock’ Karaoke will give all those frustrated starlets and singers amongst us a late-night outlet. Taking place in the Time Zone (situated on the mezzanine ﬂoor of the Royal Garden Hotel) it all kicks off at 22:30, with prizes for the best rendition of The Time Warp and much, much more. Hosted by ILMC’s very good friends, Rock-it Cargo.

Help is at Hand! Got stuck in a time warp? Can’t find your way out of a black hole from the night before? Throughout the conference, the Help Desk is available to answer your questions, and Pollstar’s Mainframe Cybercafé is open 24/7 for getting online with a nice cuppa. Everything you need to know about ILMC 25 is online at www.ilmc.com.

How to Make Your Own Time Machine 1. Turn on your computer. 2. Open a web browser. 3. Type ‘www.ilmc.com’. 4. Register forILMC 25 in March 2013.

Sunday 10 march i. Nikos Fund Grand Prize Draw The ILMC raises a signiﬁcant amount of money every year, and in exchange for taking a donation from every registration we receive, delegates are entered into the Nikos Fund Prize Draw. Turn up for a 14:45 start as our chosen charities beneﬁt – you must be there to win.

ii. The ‘Out of Time’ Closing Drinks Capping the weekend to end all weekends, The ‘Out of Time’ Closing Drinks take place in the lower ground ﬂoor lobby after the ﬁnal session of the weekend. We’ll be calling time (lord) gentlemen, please, and doling out a glass or two of bubbly to help round off the weekend in style before all the global time gypsies return to their separate dimensions…

iii. The ‘Highland Fling’ Sunday Dinner Whether it’s ‘tossing the caper’ or enjoying some rare whiskies from the bar, the ‘Highland Fling’ Sunday Dinner promises the best possible end to ILMC, as delegates step back in thyme to a traditional Scottish Hogmanay. See in the ‘new year’ with Scottish jigs, highland games and more. Hosts include AECC.

iv. The Wind Down Wingding The ﬁnal moments of ILMC will gently bring us back to the present after the mayhem of the weekend. A few chilled hours in ‘The Sands (of time)’ nightclub where we’ll be taking some of the best songs of the last ﬁve decades, and doing our worst with them….

ILMC 25 probably took place from 8-10 March 2013.

[Provisional]

TimeTABLe The times, they are subject to changin’. Check www.ilmc.com/25 for details.

THURSDAY 7 MARCH 10:00 – 18:00 10:00 – 18:00 10:00 – 18:00 13:00 – 18:00 13:00 – 21:00 18:00 – 20:00 18:00 20:00 – 22:30 TBA 19:00 - 22:30

IPM (ILMC Production Meeting) Green Events & Innovations Conference Association Meetings (invitation only) Travel Desk ILMC Early-bird Registration IPM Closing Drinks Party Park Terrace Table Reservations ILMC 25TH BIRTHDAY BASH The Breakout Sessions Access All Areas shows

07:00 09:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 13:00

– – – – –

13:00 18:00 19:30 10:30 13:30

– 15:00

14:30 – 18:00 15:30 – 16:30 19:30 – 21:30 19:30 – 00:00

TBA 19:00 – 22:30 22:30 – 02:30

SUNDAY 10 MARCH

FRIDAY 8 MARCH 09:00 09:00 10:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 14:00 18:00 18:00 18:30 TBA 19:30 22:30

– 18:00 Travel Desk – 20:00 Registration / Help Desk Pollstar’s Mainframe Cybercafé – 16:00 Association Meetings (invitation only) Rock of AEG’s Bar – 12:00 New Delegates’ Orientation – 14:00 THE ‘PORTALS OPEN’ PARTY – 18:00 Conference Sessions – 21:00 THE ‘DUTCH IMPACT’ PARTY – Late Rock of AEG’s Bar Dinner in The Garden The Breakout Sessions – 22:30 Access All Areas shows – 02:00 THE TEMPORAL TEXAS HOLD’EM POKER TOURNEY 00:00 – 03:00 TABLE FOOTBALL ‘COUPE DU MONDE’

SATURDAY 9 MARCH Breakfast available Registration / Travel Desk Help Desk Coffee Break (complimentary) & bars Conference Sessions Rock of AEG’s Bar Lunch buffet (complimentary) & pay bar Conference Sessions Feld’s Cryogenic Ice Cream Break MATCH OF THE YEAR FOOTBALL Wembley Stadium (transport provided) THE ROARING 20s ANNIVERSARY DINNER & ARTHUR AWARDS The Savoy, London (transport provided) The Breakout Sessions Access All Areas shows ‘ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK’ KARAOKE

07:00 09:00 09:00 10:00 10:30

– – – – –

13:00 16:00 18:00 11:00 14:00

11:00 13:30 – 15:30 14:45 15:30 17:00 19:30

– – – –

15:15 17:00 18:00 late

23:00 – 03:00

Breakfast available Travel Desk Help Desk Coffee Break (complimentary) & bars The Breakfast Meeting and Conference Sessions Rock of AEG’s Bar opens Lunch buffet (complimentary) & pay bar NIKOS FUND GRAND PRIZE DRAW Conference sessions ‘OUT OF TIME’ CLOSING DRINKS THE ‘HIGHLAND FLING’ SUNDAY DINNER Boisdale of Belgravia, London (transport provided) THE WIND DOWN WINGDING

The Time Bandits Producer, Alia Dann Swift .....................+44 (0) 7774 446 446 .... conference@ilmc.com Marketing & Press, Chris Prosser .......+44 (0) 20 3204 1190 .... marketing@ilmc.com Agenda, Greg Parmley ..........................+44 (0) 7740 868 956 .... greg@ilmc.com Agenda, Allan McGowan .......................+44 (0) 1273 880 439 .... allan@ilmc.com Agenda, Tom Hopewell .........................+44 (0) 20 7117 6357 .... tom@ilmc.com Agenda, Gordon Masson ......................+44 (0) 20 3204 1190 .... gordon@iq-mag.net Registration, Lou Percival ....................+44 (0) 20 7117 6357 .... registration@ilmc.com Travel, Christine McKinnon .................+44 (0) 141 353 8800 ... christine@thetourcompany.co.uk Crackpot Inventor, Martin Hopewell ....+44 (0) 20 7117 6357 .... ilmc@ilmc.com

Contents News 20 In Brief The main headlines over the last two months 21 In Depth Key stories from around the live music world

Features

3 A Journey Through Space and Time Prepare to be transported through time at ILMC 25 38 A Schuere Bet Herman Schueremans talks about making musical careers 56 European Arena Report 2013 Another year of growth for our major venues business 66 25 Years of… Venues Quarter of a century of developing music’s bricks and mortar 74 Market Report: Switzerland There’s more to the Swiss than just festivals

Comments and Columns 30 What Does the Future Hold for Music? Harvey Goldsmith asks where are the acts to fill our state-of-the-art venues? 31 Tending the Grass Roots Andy Inglis urges for more support to help our small venues 32 Regulating the Regulators Better communication and education would benefit all, states Okan Tombulca

33 Flexibility is Key Keeping an eye out for opportunity will open doors for acts, believes Natasha Bent 34 Force ma-what?! Martin Goebbels wants more clarity when it comes to show contracts 36 Know When to Hold and When to Fold Michael Hosking draws parallels with promoting and Asia’s love of gambling 84 In Focus Conferences, accolades and hirsute road crew 86 Your Shout Memories of Claude Nobs and Henning Tögel

March 2013 IQ Magazine | 17

NeW YeAR, NeW CAtAstRoPHe Ten years on from the Rhode Island death blaze, history repeats itself, writes Gordon Masson, with even more devastating consequences… LOOKING BACK THROUGH some of the editorial columns that have been written in IQ, the number of times that we’ve been compelled to talk about people losing their lives at live music events is nothing short of shocking. Unfortunately, 2013 is already proving to be no different, following January’s nightclub fire in a Brazilian city that claimed 238 lives and injured scores more. Regardless of the club’s inferior safety arrangements, it appears that the blaze was caused by a band using pyro effects on stage, meaning the tragedy was easily avoidable. No doubt the circumstances of the inferno will be pored over in the coming weeks and months, and the Brazilian government will probably be forced to introduce stricter guidelines for clubs and venues ahead of the World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2016. But that’s not enough. I’m not naïve enough to think that there will ever be a global standard agreed upon, let alone adopted, to cover the use of equipment, be that pyro or anything else, in small venues. But surely prosecuting people for using illegal effects, or using pyro without a proper licence – even if people are not hurt – isn’t too much to ask?! However, I fear many more column inches in IQ will be devoted to the needless deaths of music fans. It’ll be interesting to hear any potential solutions suggested by safety experts, during ILMC and its associated production meetings next month, to make sure such an accident doesn’t happen again. Speaking of ILMC, as usual, in our March issue, we have a full ILMC guide (see page 3), and as this year marks the gathering’s 25th anniversary, make sure you start planning which sessions and activities

most appeal to you, because at press time, the conference was close to being sold out, and events were filling up fast. Also in this issue, we run our annual health check of Europe’s major venues, (on page 56) and without wanting to give too much away, the continent’s arenas enjoyed growth numbers in 2012, but it was a mixed bag in terms of the most successful shows. Our latest feature looking back across the past 25 years, concentrates on the evolution of the venues sector worldwide, and Christopher Austin talks to a number of veteran execs around the globe about the continuing development of their business (page 66). On the back of affable promoter Herman Schueremans picking up a lifetime achievement award from the European Festival Awards, the straight-talking Belgian talks about his approach to life (see page 38) and just how he managed to transform a cultural backwater into a touring mainstay for international acts. Speaking of popular destinations for international acts, Adam Woods revisits Switzerland (page 74) to discover that the usually robust economy has not been completely immune from the economic reality affecting neighbouring countries, but demand for festivals still remains high. Elsewhere, we lament the passing of industry legends Claude Nobs. and Henning Tögel. Both men were great supporters of ILMC and there will be tributes made to them during the March 8-10 event. But for any of you unable to make this year’s conference, we hope our obituaries to Claude and Henning and some of their colleagues’ memories in Your Shout (page 86), give a measure of the friends we have lost.

Issue 46 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE THE ILMC JOURNAL, Mar 2013 IQ Magazine 140 Gloucester Avenue London, NW1 8JA info@iq-mag.net www.iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0) 20 3204 1195 Fax: +44 (0) 20 3204 1191 Publisher ILMC and Suspicious Marketing Editor Gordon Masson Associate Editor Allan McGowan Marketing & Advertising Manager Terry McNally Design Martin Hughes Sub Editor Michael Muldoon Production Assistant Adam Milton Editorial Assistant Stephanie Mobbs Contributors Christopher Austin, Natasha Bent, Lars Brandle, Martin Goebbels, Harvey Goldsmith, Michael Hosking, Andy Inglis, Manfred Tari, Okan Tombulca, Adam Woods Editorial Contact Gordon Masson, gordon@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3204 1195 Advertising Contact Terry McNally, terry@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3204 1193

To subscribe to IQ Magazine: +44 (0)20 3204 1195 info@iq-mag.net Annual subscription to IQ is £50 (€60) for 6 issues.

March 2013 IQ Magazine | 19

News

In Brief... January

Sources tell Wall Street Journal that there are a number of bidders in contention for Anschutz Entertainment Group, following the first round of bidding, despite a reported $10billion (€7.5bn) asking price. Ian Watkins, the 35-year-old lead singer of British rockers Lostprophets, appears in court in his native Wales charged with sexual offences against children. Two women, aged 20 and 24 are charged with related offences. Arthur Fogel agrees a long-term extension to continue as Live Nation Entertainment’s chairman of global music and CEO of global touring. Promoter Kilimanjaro Live cancels its UK edition of the Sonisphere Festival for the second year in succession, blaming difficulties in attracting a good enough line-up. The New York Yankees drop StubHub as a ticketing partner, in favour of Ticketmaster, amid reports that the baseball team is unhappy at tickets changing hands below face value. Paul McCartney performs with Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic during a benefit gig at Madison Square Garden in order to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Sitarist Ravi Shankar dies after undergoing heart surgery. He was 92. Live Nation opens a new office in Moscow, headed by managing director Tim McWilliams, who had been LN’s vicepresident of European tours. Czech authorities say they will put Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe on trial for causing a fan’s death, after allegedly pushing him off stage at the Abaton nightclub in Prague during a gig in 2010. RFID specialist Intellitix opens an office in Sydney, Australia. The subsidiary, led by former Ticketek executive Dion Brant, has been launched in cooperation with Michael Gudinski’s Mushroom Group. Irving Azoff unexpectedly resigns as chairman of Live Nation Entertainment and CEO of its Front Line Management Group, to concentrate on his own artist management company.

The team behind Hungary’s Sziget Festival takes over the booking and production for Turkey’s Rock’n Coke Festival from Pozitif Productions. Istanbul-based Pozitif is the subject of a takeover bid from private equity firm, Dogus Holding, and says it will now be running a summerlong series of shows in the city. Irving Azoff

December

Exit Festival general manager Bojan Bošković moves to Brazil for family reasons, with fellow founder Dušan Kovačević, taking over the lead position at the award-winning Serbian event. The UK’s Office Of Fair Trading investigates AEG’s deal to operate the iconic Wembley Arena, after Live Nation’s deal expires. The watchdog is apparently concerned that the deal could lessen competition. Ebay begins phasing out its ticket resale service in the UK in a bid to push users over to the British version of StubHub, the eBay-owned secondary ticketing service that launched in the UK last March. David Braun, one of the most successful attorneys in the music business, dies aged 81, in Santa Barbara, California. His most famous achievements include negotiating George Harrison’s settlement with The Beatles and Michael Jackson’s deal for Thriller.

February Private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management pays $600million (€450m) for a 75% stake in Nashville-based performance rights agency SESAC, which represents the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond. Seatwave founder and chief exec Joe Cohen exits the UK-based company, claiming that the secondary ticketing business is in great shape. Kylie Minogue and her manager of 25 years, Terry Blamey, split, as the artist announces her intention to concentrate on her acting career. Minogue is new represented by Jay-Z’s management company Roc Nation, who also look after Rihanna, MIA and The Ting Tings. Entertainment retailer HMV goes into administration, with debts of about £200m (€233m), placing about 4,000 UK jobs in jeopardy across its 239 stores. Mathieu Jaton is named the new chief executive of Montreux Jazz Festival, following the death of founder Claude Nobs (see page 26). Jaton has been general secretary of the festival since 2001.

Reg Presley, The Trogg’s lead singer famed for Wild Thing and Love Is All Around, dies aged 71 after a long battle with cancer. Apple reveals that more than 25 billion songs have now been purchased and downloaded, making it the world’s most popular online music store. The service sells an average of 15,000 songs per minute, it says. Universal sells EMI’s Parlophone label group to Warner Music for an estimated £480m (€559m). The deal effectively means that three record companies now dominate the global market – Universal, Sony and Warner. Cecil Womack dies, aged 65. He was one of five brothers who sang as The Valentinos in the 1960s, before enjoying massive success with his wife Linda as Womack & Womack with hits such as Teardrops and Love Wars. A falling metal door at new UK venue G Live, in Guildford, kills Fisherman’s Friends’ vocalist Trevor Grills and tour manager Paul McMullen. The duo were reportedly unloading gear when the accident happened on 9 February.

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News

Eventim and SMG launch UK ticketing deal CTS Eventim Group’s UK subsidiary has successfully launched its long-term ticketing partnership with SMG Europe, the country’s biggest arena operator, with the Eventim system now up and running in five of SMG’s major venues in England. The companies say the Eventim system has been installed and is fully operational for the arenas in Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds, plus the Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre in Newcastle and The Whitley Bay Playhouse. SMG Europe managing director, John Sutherland, says, “The five-year deal with Eventim brings a new focus to our ticketing services. The new platform allows us to respond quicker and more efficiently to the requirements of promoters and the general public. Eventim also has

some exciting new ticketing initiatives in the pipeline.” The deal for the UK came after the partners had been working on ticketing services for the arena in Oberhausen, Germany. Eventim UK chairman, Nick Blackburn, adds, “During the lead up period to implementation we have reviewed business processes and further enhanced our state-of-the-art technology. The relationship with SMG is very important to us and a real stepping stone in our determination to grow our business in the UK.” When Leeds Arena opens in September, SMG will have 45,000 arena seats under its management in England. It estimates that more than 2.5 million tickets a year will be sold at its UK venues being serviced by Eventim.

ID&C Boosts Grass Roots Bursary Wristband specialist ID&C has launched its new-look annual bursary offering small-to-medium festivals in the UK the chance to receive £2,500 (€2,908) worth of free security wristbands and passes for their 2013 event. The competition is open to any UK festival that has run for eight years or less and has a capacity of fewer than 15,000 (10,000 in 2012). The bursary, which launched in 2011, can be used to fund the cost of security products from ID&C including its patented Smartlock wristbands and, for the first time, its RFID wristbands, that have

been used by major UK festivals including Isle of Wight, Wakestock and Wireless. “Emerging festivals are finding it increasingly difficult to withstand the economic climate, with some hit further by last summer’s bad weather – our Grass Roots Festival Bursary aims to help smaller festivals survive their early years and secure a successful future.” says ID&C director Matt Wilkey. “The bursary will be awarded to a festival that engages with its local community, shows support for green initiatives and displays a commitment to new music.”

Eurosonic Attracts Record Numbers The number of international delegates who made their way to the city of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands increased by more than a third this year, helping Eurosonic Noorderslag break its attendance record. A total of 1,500 international attendees took part in the 9-12 January conference and showcase event, as it celebrated its 27th year. Including visitors from within the Netherlands, the conference saw a sell-out 3,250 attendees, and the showcases attracted a total of 35,000 fans who turned up to see more than 300 acts, across 46 stages. According to organisers, 45 nationalities participated in proceedings, including

404 media and journalists, 31 European Broadcast Union’s radio stations, 78 festival members of the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP), and more than 400 international festivals. “We were particularly pleased with the increase in international delegates this year, but growth in years to come is going to have to be managed – we want to concentrate on quality over quantity,” says Eurosonic creative director Peter Smidt. “With 27 radio stations and a dozen TV stations now active at Eurosonic, Smidt says, “If we can include more radio and TV broadcasters, then the acts can get a lot more exposure and that is one of our main goals.”

News

Christchurch venues thrive following quake says business development manager, Turlough Carolan. “These smaller events run on a much longer lead time than ticketed events, meaning the arena’s previous core business of large-scale concerts and sporting events have at times struggled to find availability. However, in the two years since the February quake the arena has played host to performances such as Placido Domingo, Mumford and Sons, The Wiggles, Slash, Kenny Rogers and Ringo Starr.” Now, with thousands of people moving into the city for the rebuild and the established community looking for that sense of normality, Carolan adds that the continued support of promoters is key in the redevelopment of Christchurch. With a concert seating capacity of 9,000, CBS Canterbury Arena is one of the country’s largest purpose-built indoor sports and entertainment venues, only 15 minutes from Christchurch International Airport. Built in 1998, it plays host to sporting teams, world-renowned artists, exhibitions, gala dinners and special events.

Metallica at CBS Cantebury Arena

Two years after a huge earthquake that devastated large parts of Christchurch in New Zealand, entertainment facilities in the city have returned to normal, thanks to the efforts of CBS Canterbury Arena and its staff. In the immediate aftermath of the February 2011 earthquakes, the arena remained open and operational and was able to initially offer search and rescue teams valuable space as an operational planning and assembly point. In the months following, the arena provided interim space for various events that would traditionally have used inner city venues such as the town hall and the convention centre. These include meetings and conferences; several local cultural performances; secondary school and university ceremonies and balls; and smaller ticketed events. “The conventional configurations of the arena were designed to house much larger events meaning the operations team have established and practised various options to better accommodate these smaller events, including an intimate concert-mode,”

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Providing a stark reminder that the London Olympics are not the only sports event that can benefit production companies, JSA constructed the main objects for a show in the 12,000-capacity Bolshoy Ice Palace, in the Russian city of Sochi, to mark the oneyear countdown to the 2014

Winter Olympics. More than €13billion has reportedly been allocated to the Games’ budget and during the lavish 7 February ceremony, JSA’s stages hosted the likes of Russian president Vladimir Putin and president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge.

TAG Announces UK Expansion Plans The Agency Group (TAG) has promoted Paul Ryan, Natasha Bent and Heulwen Keyte to the positions of vice-president. All three previously acted as agents within the company and their step up the ladder coincides with further expansion of the group, which includes a new UK-based literary division. The new UK literary division will be headed by Jonathan Conway, with Juliet Mushens joining as a literary agent. Based in TAG’s London office, the new division will work alongside the company’s existing literary agency in New York. Conway has been a literary agent since 2004, managing the publishing careers of a growing list of high-profile media, cookery, music and sports personalities. Mushens began her career in fiction marketing at HarperCollins in 2008. After joining PFD in 2010

she became an agent in 2011 and represents a diverse and growing list of fiction and non-fiction writers from big brands to exciting debut writers On the music side, Ryan has been instrumental in developing the careers of acts including Bullet For My Valentine, Bring Me The Horizon, In Flames, Lamb of God, Trivium, and Killswitch Engage; Bent’s clients include The Knife, Foals, Amy Macdonald, Gotye, Foster the People, Cage the Elephant and First Aid Kit; and Keyte’s roster of clients includes Katherine Jenkins, David Garrett and Alfie Boe. TAG CEO, Neil Warnock, says: “Having such talented people joining Geoff [Meall] in the management of the UK company will ensure that The Agency Group will continue to be an outstanding powerhouse of talent in Europe and across the world.”

News

Peats Ridge Fails, but Oz Festival Market Continues to Expand Australia’s long, hot festival season is in full swing, but there’s no sign of a predicted meltdown in the crowded marketplace, which is welcoming a handful of new entrants this year. Unfortunately, there’ll be one less player on the scene with the long-running Peats Ridge fest controversially collapsing and entering into administration, owing creditors AUD$1.27million (€972,000). In a surprise move, the festival’s 200 creditors have rallied against promoter Matt Grant’s choice

of insolvency firm, Jirsch Sutherland, to handle its liquidation. Led by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance – which represents performers and production crew owed AUD$750,000 (€575,000) – the creditors have instead chosen forensic accountants Worrells. Grant responded in a statement, saying, “[I am] pursuing every avenue to find a solution to the current situation, and... am in communication with several parties” for a positive result. For the past nine years, the Peats

German Consolidation and Concentration

Germany’s live music market is beginning the year with something of a strategic shakeup as long-term independent operations A.S.S. Concerts and Handwerker Promotion have both inked deals with new majority stakeholders. Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) has acquired a majority stake in Handwerker, which it refers

to as one of the leading concert promoters in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. Meanwhile, musical production company Mehr! Entertainment has become the major shareholder of national promoter A.S.S. Concerts, which was founded by Dieter Schubert in 1979, and later joined by Michael Bisping (in 1986). At A.S.S., both Schubert and Bisping will remain at the company headquarters in Hamburg, with the latter explaining that the reasons behind the deal were twofold: “On one hand, the changing situation in the market which makes it harder for an independent company to standalone; on the other, the fact that Mehr! Entertainment and A.S.S. share the same sort of business philosophy… very hands-on, value-oriented, artist-related. It fits!” Mehr! is Germany’s second biggest production com-

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Ridge Sustainable Arts and Music Festival has been held in Glenworth Valley in New South Wales. The most recent event, from 29 December to 1 January, boasted a line-up that included the John Butler Trio and a Friendly Fires DJ set. Though Peats Ridge has met a sticky end, it hasn’t stopped a wave of new entrants trying to gain a foothold. Veteran rapper Nas and Live Nation are behind the inaugural Australian Movement Festival, a multi-city hip hop fest starting 26 April. And Barry Hogan’s ATP

tested the waters with its two-day, mid-February I’ll Be Your Mirror event in Melbourne. Hogan’s All Tomorrow’s Parties brand rolled-out in Australia back in 2009, but lost money and hasn’t been back since. “I’d love to do more (in Australia). The people embrace the music scene, especially in Melbourne. They’re so positive about everything,” Hogan says. “The problem with Britain is everyone is so jaded and cynical. If you think it’s congested (in Australia), my god it’s much worse over there.”

pany for musicals, putting on shows such as Cats and Starlight Express, as well as operating several music and event venues – Admiralspalast in Berlin and the Musical Dome in Cologne, for example. For the Handwerker deal, financial details were not disclosed by DEAG, but it expects that the new acquisition will contribute a double-digit million figure towards DEAG revenues in 2013, as Handwerker reports an annual turnover of about €10million. Founder Fred Handwerker will remain with the company, as well as continuing to manage a number of comedians and the Austrian act Schürzenjäger. DEAG says the deal completes its presence as a local promoter in Germany (already represented in Berlin, Northern Germany, Bavaria and the Rhine-Main region) and secures a significant market share for itself in North Rhine Westphalia. “[Fred] and his team

are the optimal expansion of DEAG´s local promoter network. He has strong expertise and a brilliant knowledge about the business, therefore I look very much forward to our common future in our business,” says DEAG chief operating officer Christian Diekmann. He states that the two companies have worked on many shows in the past and that the addition of Handwerker to the DEAG stable completes the company’s coverage of Germany. “With five local promoter offices DEAG is present in nearly every region of the German market, with its own subsidiaries. With Fred Handwerker, DEAG was able to fill the gap and to get access to the strongest German region with a population of 15 million people. We will expand and intensify our relationship – more shows, more active marketing measures and so on, leading to a growing company and to mutual benefits.”

News

Brazilian club fire claims 238 lives In a chilling parallel to a 2003 fire in Rhode Island, 238 young people lost their lives as the result of a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria on 27 January, prompting questions about government safety regulations ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup and the Olympics in 2016. The inferno at the Kiss nightclub reportedly started when pyrotechnics used by a band set fire to the ceiling of the venue and within minutes engulfed the club as panicked youngsters struggled to get out of the only exit to the premises. The tragedy evokes memories of the 2003 fire at The Station venue in Rhode Island which

claimed 100 lives after pyro ignited ceiling insulation. Early investigations into the Brazilian fire suggest that country act Gurizada Fandangueira lit flares or sparkler columns on stage, which led to the disaster. The band apparently performed regularly at the venue, playing there around once a month. The club was hosting a party for students from the local university when the tragedy occurred. Investigators said most of the deaths were caused by victims inhaling toxic fumes, such as cyanide, from the soundproofing foam in the ceiling, which effectively turned the building into a gas chamber within min-

utes. More than 120 people were hospitalised after the fire and at IQ’s press time, a number of people were still receiving treatment, with some remaining on respirators and fears growing that the toxins some survivors inhaled will cause long-term health problems. Police have arrested the club’s owners, Elissandro Spohr and Mauro Hoffman, as well as two members of Gurizada amid allegations that the pyro effect that caused the blaze was banned for indoor use. No charges have yet been brought, but conviction for voluntary manslaughter in Brazil carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

In the wake of the catastrophe, local authorities throughout Brazil increased fire inspections and closed dozens of clubs, citing problems with the establishments’ paperwork, as the government reacted to fears about the lucrative carnival season throughout the nation. But with the eyes of the world set to turn to Brazil when it hosts the two biggest sporting occasions on the planet, pressure is mounting on the country’s politicians and legislators to make sure that it’s not just the sports venues that are safe, but also the thousands of bars, clubs, restaurants and, indeed, accommodation that will host visitors.

News

Claude Nobs (1936-2013) ILMC is immensely sad to report the passing of Montreux Jazz Festival founder Claude Nobs, who died in hospital in Switzerland on 10 January, having sustained critical injuries in a skiing accident on 24 December. He was 76. he enticed Aretha Franklin Born in Montreux, to play Montreux in the Claude initially trained 1960s. as a chef before landing a “I remember standing job with his home town’s backstage with him ahead tourism office, where of that ILMC session and he became involved whereas victims of other in organising charity breakfast meetings have concerts. A friendship been low key, he had come with Atlantic Records up with the idea of this president Nesuhi Ertegun grand entrance playing sparked the birth of his harmonica – we only the iconic Montreux found out what he had Jazz Festival in 1967, planned when he started with Charles Lloyd and rehearsing a few minutes Keith Jarrett the event’s before he went on stage,” first headliners. recalls ILMC’s head of The calibre of marketing, Chris Prosser. musicians that have Prosser was also performed at the festival fortunate to be hosted by in its 45-year history is Claude during Montreux second to none and much Jazz Festival in the has been made of Claude’s Noughties. “I’m really heroics during a Frank proud to say he gave me a Zappa concert in 1971 guided tour of his record where he helped rescue collection – one of the audience members after largest in the world,” Prosser fire engulfed the Montreux says. “I met his wonderful Casino. That feat led to Bernese Mountain dogs at his immortalisation as his house, Le Picotin, on a “funky Claude” in Deep few occasions, where one Purple’s 1973 hit Smoke of the most memorable On The Water. things was the incredible A statement paying tribute to Claude on the In your typical spirit, you left us by surprise as if musicians who stayed there. I met Quincy Jones Montreux Jazz Festival website says, “In your to remind us once more, that in life as in music, each and Herbie Hancock on one trip and a number of typical spirit, you left us great performance could be the last one, even if the wide-eyed rock bands that by surprise as if to remind show must go on. were in awe of all the music us once more, that in life as in music, each great performance could be the last one, memorabilia Claude owned, as well as his amazing stories. “He was a great cook and I was lucky enough to be even if the show must go on. You hoped for an exit that reflected your life, you succeeded this as well. We carry, at the house late one night when he decided to make and will continue to carry on in your spirit, everything what was the most incredible spaghetti Bolognese I’ve ever had. Above all, Claude was a fantastic host. He you taught us.” A great friend of ILMC, Claude last attended the had a warm heart and gentle spirit and had the ability conference two years ago, and in 2009, when he was to inspire people on any number of levels. He clearly interviewed on stage by Ed Bicknell during The Breakfast loved music and had many wonderful stories spanning Meeting, entering the room in typically flamboyant style the length of his illustrious career. The world is a poorer and hurling chocolates into the crowd to illustrate how place without him.”

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News

Henning Tögel (1954-2013) German promoter Moderne Welt has confirmed the sad news that its founder and managing director, Henning Tögel, passed away suddenly on 9 January 2013. He was 58. market leader in the women’s A loyal member of ILMC and entertainment industry.” a friend to many delegates, One of Henning’s passions Henning was one of the was ensuring a future for the industry’s true entrepreneurs live entertainment industry who also campaigned and as a lecturer in event tirelessly to make sure the live management at the University entertainment business was of Heilbronn, he was able recognised for its economic and to share his knowledge and cultural importance. experience with many students. In a statement, Moderne He also established a charitable Welt paid tribute to Henning’s foundation, Talentstiftung flair for business and his Henning Tögel, to support new creativity, as well as his talent, fulfilling a long-held energy in making the company ambition to support the arts, that he founded in 1984 such culture, science and sports. a powerhouse in the German At industry events like the live entertainment market. ILMC, Henning was a well“For decades he had a received and popular guest at particularly close relationship panels and debates. He never with Joan Baez and Al Jarreau, shied away from arguments and also Miriam Makeba, whose was renowned for his incisive, passing was very hard for him,” passionate contributions, no says the statement, naming a matter what the subject. variety of artists he’d worked Elsewhere, Henning was with, including Alice Cooper, part of the IG Live Stuttgart Bonnie Tyler, Crosby, Stills & industry network, which also Nash, Cyndi Lauper, Emmylou included other Stuttgart-based Harris, George Benson, Herbie companies like SKS Michael Hancock, Joe Cocker, Kris Russ, Music Circus, KVL Kristofferson, Lenny Kravitz, His loss is going to touch a lot more people Konzertbüro Ludewig (now Paul Anka, Pink, Peter C2Concerts), Stadtkultur and Frampton, Randy Newman, than perhaps he might have ever imagined, Contour Music Promotion. Ringo Starr, Status Quo, Steve and leave a hole in the landscape of our Indeed, his participation in that Winwood, Suzanne Vega, The business that it will be hard to fill. organisation earned Henning an Beach Boys, The Bangles, The LEA award for Cooperation of Kinks, The Pogues, The Sweet, The Wailers, UB40, UFO, Vanessa-Mae, Whitesnake and the Year in 2009. ILMC’s Martin Hopewell comments, “It’s going to be Wishbone Ash. “Henning Tögel was widely respected both nationally hard to imagine an ILMC without Henning. His was one and internationally. He was known for facing even of those faces that you just expected to see every year – the hardest challenges and solving them successfully. always with a contribution to make in the conference room Examples are the tours with David Copperfield which and a new project to discuss in the corridors. It’s people he carried out in 2005 and 2006 and earned him the like Henning who have made ILMC what it is today, and Live Entertainment Award [LEA], also known as the characters like him who have given the live industry the ‘Oscar’ of the entertainment industry in Germany,” adds colour and passion it has had over the past few decades. Moderne Welt. “20 years ago Henning started to tour His loss is going to touch a lot more people than perhaps regularly with the American ensemble Chippendales he might have ever imagined, and leave a hole in the through Germany, which showed his foresight once landscape of our business that it will be hard to fill. God again – today the Chippendales are the worldwide bless, Henning. We’re all going to miss you.”

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Comment

What Does the Future Hold for Music? Harvey Goldsmith maintains that we have more venues with better facilities globally than ever before –

but, where are the acts to fill them?...

We are slowly but surely coming to the end of the era of the dinosaurs. But are we spending enough time and investment to develop the next generation of global artists? Historically, acts would tour constantly; create, make and produce a great record; and then promote and present their new body of work live over a long period of time in as many countries as would have them. Traditionally, record companies were the bank which allowed this process to work in a continuous cycle. The best UK acts would tour the country and then devote a chunk of time to breaking the US. Off the back of their success in America, they would come back home much bigger in status than when they left, giving them the opportunity to not only fill arenas but to accelerate enough to fill stadiums both in the UK and other territories. The clever artists never exceeded their capacity and would always leave demand for more. This would give them a head start on their next touring cycle with demand from those people who could not get to see them on their previous tour. As a result of greed and bad strategy from their advisors in recent times, artists have well exceeded demand by going for bigger capacities than they can possibly sell. Promoters, being insecure and concerned that they might lose the acts, gave in and pandered to the artists in the knowledge that they would probably not reach the capacity of sales demanded of them. The smart acts understood this phenomenon and were always careful not to overexpose. Today, we have the added horror of dealing with an inefficient and grossly expensive ticket distribution network that is quite frankly doing a disservice to its customers. The very acts that created a public image of being ‘of the people and for the people’ are those that have allowed their customers to get screwed. Furthermore, because the promoters are squeezed on irrational deals they do not have the reserves to invest in developing and nurturing new talent.

“ In order to protect their downside, managers, agents and promoters are colluding to squeeze every cent out of the customer without providing added value.”

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In order to protect their downside, managers, agents and promoters are colluding to squeeze every cent out of the customer without providing added value. Ticket buyers are becoming increasingly aware of this practice and are voting with their feet. We are currently experiencing the most difficult economical period that any of us have ever faced. Record companies have retrenched to the point where they will only invest in new talent if they own a bigger slice of that talent’s total earnings. However, promoters are still using the same tactics with new artists as they have done with the dinosaur acts, as if nothing has happened. We have forgotten our duty of care to customers and indeed, seem to have no concept of the reality of life for the regular fan. There is no shortage of new talent, there never has been and probably never will be. But, there is a diminishing audience that is prepared to pay to subsume that new talent. We cannot continue with our current methods and hope for the best. Everybody is aware that the current method of ticket distribution is poor, expensive and grossly unfair to fans. Yes, there are always people that have to have a ticket and will pay through the nose when the artist is hot. But will they support that same artist when they are struggling with their identity on their 2nd or 3rd album? Yet, no one seems to be getting to grips with honesty, transparency and fairness towards the fan. We cannot continue to allow each facet of the business to blame the other for ripping fans off through the secondary market. The recent Despatches programme on Channel 4 in the UK, that supposedly lifted the lid on a Take That tour and placed the blame on the shoulders of the promoter for ripping off fans, was ridiculous. No promoter would ever shift upwards of 20% of the manifest to the secondary market without the artist and the management approving it. Look at the recent 50th anniversary Rolling Stones ticket rip-off. It is time for the promoters to take the lead and say ‘No!’. It is time to look at wider, cheaper and more effective distribution systems, which will net the same face value to the artist but will not cost the fan a multiple of that face value. Consequently, the fans will re-engage themselves with the industry, take more risks and try new acts, therefore allowing the business to recover. We need the next generation of global supergroups, and we need it fast.

Comment

Tending the Grass Roots Andy Inglis warns that we are still not doing enough

to protect and develop our essential small venues…

“ If you’re earning, and the show’s £5 or

£6 at an independent venue, hosted by an independent promoter, buy a ticket, because the venue and promoter aren’t about to get any significant help anytime soon from anywhere else.”

The Live Music Act is now law in England and Wales, ushering in the deregulation of live performance in rooms of less than 200 people. I know more about running a small venue than most – if not all – of the architects and supporters of the Act, but they’ve either willfully ignored the affect it could have on existing grass-roots venues, or just hadn’t considered it. I don’t know which is worse. According to a study carried out by UK Music to assess the potential affects of the Act’s introduction, England and Wales may now have to support between 33,400 and 312,000 additional live shows in 2013. Where we’re meant to find the people to populate these shows, and continue to populate the ones that are going to go ahead anyway, UK Music hasn’t said. So, instead of financially supporting the existing grass-roots live industry, we’ve potentially greatly expanded it, in the teeth of the worst economic climate in history. So where’s the money going to come from? Over the six years of our venue’s life (The Luminaire, London) we gave away somewhere in the region of £240,000 (€281,000) in guest list places: 1,500 gigs at an average of £8 (€9) per ticket with an average of 20 people on the guest list each night. A very crude calculation – no cruder than UK Music’s, mind – but its purpose is illustrative. Guest lists aren’t inherently bad; they can actually generate income if you look after the right person. But guest lists are taken for granted. They’re expected and abused. It’s the music industry’s equivalent of benefit culture. It’s a perk of

the job? No, you idiot – you get to work with music; that’s the perk of the job. We’re useless at putting back into our own industry. We’ve allowed a culture of not paying because “I’m the artist’s manager/agent/boyfriend” to flourish, when in fact we should take the opposite tack, which will make the next show slightly easier for the artist, promoter and venue to stage, particularly those in the independent sector. So the next time someone offers you guest list, buy a ticket. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a hard-and-fast rule; if you’re following your band around on tour, or watching a lot of new acts each week, it’s going to get expensive. And if the gig’s at The O2, screw it; AEG could afford to pay Beckham’s wages so they can probably afford to swallow the cost of your ticket. But if you’re earning, and the show’s £5 or £6 at an independent venue, hosted by an independent promoter, buy a ticket, because the venue and promoter aren’t about to get any significant help anytime soon from anywhere else, whether it’s from arts funding or from those who’re doing pretty well out of our business at the top end, as some of you who’re reading this most certainly are. And if you’re on the list and you’re asked to pay £3, don’t start bleating about it, particularly when you’re happy enough to pay for drinks. The box office staff will just think you’re a dick. And they’d be right. While other European nations fund culture across the board (to varying degrees), the UK continues to throw money primarily at the ‘high arts’. The Southbank Centre in London gets £20million (€23.5m) a year in funding from Arts Council England. Add to that the income from tickets; food and drink; merchandise, hall hire etc, and from their private and corporate donations, and you can see that – without suggesting the staff are bowling up to work each day in Porsches – they’re doing far better than those who don’t have access to these funds. Now, the Southbank Centre is a wonderful, world-class facility and London needs worldclass facilities, but could we not give them £19m instead and funnel that £1m into our small venue circuit? £100,000 each for ten UK venues over five years, to fund improvements to their infrastructure and sound equipment, or £10,000 for 100 venues? We could… but we won’t, because we don’t have to. Because, for the most part, the music industry treats small venues as expendable. When one closes, another appears in its place, right? The grass-roots live industry is self-harming and we’re all complicit. But it doesn’t have to be this way. If we truly value small venues like Clwb Ifor Bach, Brixton Windmill, Exeter Cavern and The Lexington, we can choose to support them using one very simple method: Cash.

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Comment

Regulating the Regulators eps owner, Okan Tombulca, urges better communication between the event production industry and the authorities responsible for event regulation…

There have, of course, always been regulations covering the production of large-scale events, but over the years, these have become stricter. Because of various accidents in recent years, the authorities have become very cautious and, owing to a lack of clarity as to who is responsible for what, German authorities have assumed that they have to safeguard themselves in the first instance. That means that they draft restrictions in order to be able to say that they have fulfilled their duties and that it’s out of their hands. ‘It wasn’t our fault.’ Such behaviour results in extreme and onerous requirements. A current example is the Area4 Festival in Oberhausen, where authorities didn’t apply the usual authorisation process, but instituted a full building application instead. This sort of application is common in the building industry and necessitates additional costs and requirements than the usual authorisation process. Today, within the entertainment business, everything is about liability, and the authorities, in particular, want to cover themselves from the outset. As a service provider you are often caught in the middle. Our experience in Germany is that we’re regularly in contact with authorities, meeting in advance of an event and planning it individually. We discuss the procedures, review local requirements and we create a concept together: it is obvious that a Metallica concert is not comparable to one by André Rieu and that it has to be treated in a whole different manner. Years ago we started dialogues with different authorities beyond the event sector to compile and agree guidelines. The venue regulations specify some guidelines but the latitude for the authorities is very big. Thus, there is no consistent regulation for the particular regions. From our own experience in the past years we frequently had to assess various adaptations for a tour production that the producers had signed off due to innocence and a lack of professionalism. Our experiences in Germany are that in major cities where there are a lot of events, the circumstances vary, but at least we know what the requirements are in each city,

“ Accidents such as Love Parade cause even experienced authorities to seriously reconsider their procedures in order to safeguard themselves.”

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and as a result we have a basic plan to start work from. Sometimes we have problems in cities or regions where events do not take place that often and therefore there are no real empirical values. In these locations, the situation is very much dependent on the respective local advisor. Accidents such as Love Parade cause even experienced authorities to seriously reconsider their procedures in order to safeguard themselves. We have noticed that the organiser is far more prepared to compromise than before, although he or she doesn’t want to have to bear all the responsibility. Threats such as “If you don’t do it that way we’ll cancel the show” are rarely heard these days. In my opinion, unification [for safety regulations] throughout Europe isn’t advisable as you have to consider the many different cultures and mentalities. Another aspect, which you cannot control, is becoming more and more of an issue. The weather! In the last few years, weather conditions have changed enormously, bringing an increasing occurence of unexpected heavy rain and strong storms. A thunderstorm could pass a festival site by a few hundred meters, or hit it fully, happening so quickly that there is no time to react. In most cases, there are no evacuation plans for the audience or staff. A lot of festivals lack a proper chain of command, and there are no pre-event safety announcements to the audience demonstrating what to do in a case of a thunderstorm or emergency. This issue is still definitely underestimated throughout the festival industry. To combat these issues, training for the relevant authorities would help to simplify and improve the situation throughout the whole sector, as would regular meetings between event organisers and authorities. The authorities need to have the same level of education and access to information as the production teams. There should be more common and valid guidelines and everyone should communicate more. We frequently forget that the goal is not just that everybody knows best how to protect himself, but how the event becomes safe for every involved employee, the performers and all visitors.

Flexibility is Key Natasha Bent, vice president of The Agency Group, stresses the importance of keeping your eyes open as

changes challenge maintaining and building bands’ careers…

I have only been involved in the music industry for 11 years, but in that time, it has been changing constantly. With the decline of album sales, pressures have been added to other areas of the industry, the live side in particular. With bands having to find ways to make a steady income (often without getting tour support from the label), they have had to tour more, with the view that ‘they’ will make more money. So then, we (the agents) are expected to get good festival offers, whilst still booking headline tours. Once, acts would have been able to play summer festivals and then follow up with an autumn headline tour – Is this actually possible any more? For a new act perhaps, but what about mid-level bands? Is this the best way to build a band live? Sadly, not all festivals are surviving in our current economy, so understandably the others are putting stricter exclusivities on their festival offers, leaving agents and managers with choices to make as to what to do and when. Agents, at least, should really be looking seriously at what we can do to protect our artists whilst also protecting the promoters.

I’m not saying there is an easy answer but I do find it interesting and educational to see how everyone is handling the changes: how and when bands are touring, and why. I’m certainly not afraid to admit that I am constantly learning from everyone around me. I just hope by keeping my eyes open at all times, I will be able to continue to pass on the right information and help advise on what’s best for each act and manager. I am so incredibly privileged that I work with great acts and managers who are forward thinking, but aren’t afraid to use ‘old tricks’ either; who aren’t afraid to make bold decisions – for the good of the artists. I hear people commenting on how certain agents don’t tour their bands enough, that some tour their bands too much and some get it just right. How do they really know? All I know, is that from my side, I’m going to keep booking the way I do, because my bands are starting to have longterm careers, and isn’t that what the ultimate goal for us, as agents, should be?

Comment

FORCE MA-WHAT?! ILMC platinum member Martin Goebbels, of insurance brokers Robertson Taylor, calls for more clarity

in the ever-important matter of making sure you’re covered and knowing what for…

“ I am not alone in having heard of

promoters being told that any questions will result in no more business being passed their way.”

Let me make something plain before you reach to turn the page. This is not an insurance lecture... I write with an independent, wider concern, so let’s put insurance to one side, after I’ve made the following point: The term ‘force majeure’ is not an insurance term. Nor is it recommended by any insurers. Hurricanes, tsunamis, collapsed stages, volcanic ash, national disasters, dangerous storms, artist illness or accident, truck crashes, strikes, airline delays... Who decides how any of these are covered under the dreaded contractual words ‘force majeure’ and ‘act of God’? Here are three examples: 1. Horrendous weather has prevented a band flying to the next gig. 2. A storm on site has made it too dangerous for the festival to go ahead. 3. A natural disaster has occurred 70 miles from the venue and all emergency services are being pulled away to help. Is there a big difference, or perhaps any difference? It’s all bad weather but the result is the same...the shit has hit the fan. The show has been cancelled and now the big question is, should the artist keep or return the fee? Is it the artist’s or the promoter’s ‘responsibility’)? Or, in my humble opinion, in many cases – neither? Artists and agents don’t know for sure, or maybe don’t seem to care (sorry agents!) – until it is too late. For too many years, considerable confusion has been caused, particularly to the promoters, by the huge variation of contract clauses, sometimes two or three versions in the same contract all contradicting themselves! Just one moot example that I have seen all too often is “the artist shall return the fee less any expenses incurred”. How does the promoter know what expenses the

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artist will incur? How much of the fee will he get back? If any! Insurance can only operate in accordance with contract conditions. Using the example above, then either duplicate insurances have to be in place for the fee, affecting the band’s bottom line due to their own confusing contract terms, or the effect on a promoter could close his business. (Should insurance premiums be allowed as a show cost? ... I’m often asked but for the record, I consider it as important as many other costs.) I have far more examples than IQ has space for, but there has to be a simpler, clearer way to be contractually certain to all parties. My suggestion is that if a show is cancelled for any reason other than simple negligence, the artist will return the fee and each side are responsible for their own costs. End of story. I know of promoters that have lost serious money, possibly their company, over the interpretation of these clauses. Clearly, their additional problem is that UK and US bands and agents always have a hold over promoters, particularly in the ‘emerging markets’. Those promoters are simply scared to raise questions or decline contract clauses. I am not alone in having heard of promoters being told that any questions will result in no more business being passed their way. My concerns in the last few years have fallen largely on deaf ears. People think I’m an insurance man either trying to drum up business or just having a moan. This is not the case. I have been asked to comment on so many contracts, more so since the Icelandic volcanic ash problems and I am always happy to do so, as an insurance broker. But I am not a lawyer. Nor are the accountants that are also dragged into suggesting contract conditions. Maybe they and I are easy scapegoats if there is a problem, but we don’t issue, nor sign the show contracts, so why aren’t those that do taking more responsibility for their respective clients and the good of the live industry? Why wait until the disaster happens, why not have the clauses changed now, for everyone’s peace of mind. Now to end with one sentence on insurance: Can you afford to buy it, or can you afford not to? If you do take out insurance, then I, as a broker, want to make sure you get paid and not double charged, without toying with others’ livelihoods.

Comment

Know When to Hold and When to Fold Promoting always carries an element of risk, but as Michael Hosking, MD of Midas Promotions points out, there are particular similarities between gambling and promoting in Asia...

Another day, another dollar … lost! But too many days and dollars for the world’s biggest gamblers. Coming from Asia and spending much time in Singapore, I know something about them – not the whales at the baccarat tables in the Marina Bay Sands or Resorts World Sentosa, but my own colleagues, counterparts, friends and foes – collectively known as the concert promoters of Asia. “Concert business?? You don’t have a business!! There is no business plan or model. You are always beholden to elements that you have absolutely no control over whatsoever – on both sides of the table! Business? You’re kidding – you’d have more luck on a blackjack table!” I was told this by a former concert-business investor (who was also, arguably, the wealthiest expatriate businessman in Asia) some years ago. He now invests in casinos, not live music. Looking for a retort, I kept wishing I had an ace up my sleeve… but I didn’t. He was, and still is, right. But like all gamblers, we continue to throw the dice, place bets and pray that we’ve backed the right horse. So, some observations on possibilities to swing the odds slightly in our favour – or at least to encourage us to return to the tables…

“ Twelve-years ago, there was no competition

with only four casinos in Southeast Asia with player restrictions. Now there are more than 20 casinos, plus the ships, all of which have entertainment requirements and venues.”

The percentage deal doesn’t really work in Asia, for three reasons. Firstly, when, like Live Nation, AEG and Simon Moran, you promote hundreds of shows a year, you can work the margins to cover annual costs. In most Asian markets, a promoter does four or five shows a year, losing on most Western shows an estimated 80% last year. Many local promoters have ‘investors’ putting up a million-dollar artist fee, and they expect a significant risk/reward, so when one comes up trumps, it seems harsh to shake the promoter down for the extra he’s managed to pick up. Contractual accounting transparency might cost him the extra few bucks that keep him alive. Obviously, one artist should not cover the losses of another, but this is how many local promoters

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in Asia really feel about percentage deals. Secondly, outside Hong Kong and Singapore, the odds of getting accurate information and figures regarding anything: ticketing, venue rentals, sponsorship, etc… or even readable documentation, are very slim. Thirdly, one relies on the integrity of suppliers and authorities that enable one to promote – always a crapshoot in a third-world market. Flat deals as a norm in Asia, as they are in Japan, Russia and India, would help. Instigate checks and balances – count heads, demand receipts and don’t let local suppliers take advantage, but also, let us promoters have the occasional windfall. Speaking of gamblers and casinos, don’t underestimate their impact on the live touring business. Twelve years ago, there was no competition with only four casinos in Southeast Asia with player restrictions. Now there are more than 20 casinos, in Asia, plus the ships, all of which have entertainment requirements and venues – part of their licensing application process, with the two in Singapore alone, grossing more gambling dollars then the entire Vegas strip, and Macau taking several times more! Yearround musicals and plays are staged in these venues, and significant artists either collect huge dollars for private shows or perform public shows with tickets subsidised by the billions of dollars spent on the tables. Recently, casinos have outbid us for artists who then play in empty buildings, having been advised of sell-outs by their agents. The reality is that the casinos (or ‘integrated resorts’ as they must be referred to in Singapore) lavishly dispense tickets to high rollers who are in their buildings simply to gamble – with no interest in walking 50 paces to see an international act! Unlike Vegas – people don’t come for the shows, non-English speaking in the main, they have little interest in other resort attractions – unless scantily clad… One casino event manager explained that the people in the front row were nearly all asleep because they were actually gamblers napping between baccarat hands! Although absurd, or amusing, this is sadly true. What with local record labels using bygone relationships to deal directly with artist managers (thus swerving agents), becoming ‘promoters’ and working hand-in-hand with the casinos, you see we really have our work cut out! Of course, there is a role for the integrated resorts and the labels, we are grateful for their venues and support, but now the balance is not right. (Is it ever for a gambler?) So why do we continue? A nameless LA-based English agent once said to me, “There’s a mug promoter born every day!”. Which is exactly the premise the casino business thrives on!

Herman Schueremans

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Herman Schueremans

A Schuere Bet As one of Europe’s best known promoters, Herman Schueremans has transformed the live music business in his native Belgium. After recently picking up a lifetime achievement award, he spoke to Gordon Masson about his pioneering career and his New Year’s resolution to quit politics… Growing up in Belgium in the 1960s was a frustrating time for the young Herman Schueremans, as international acts travelled through the country on their way to and from gigs in Germany, France and the Netherlands, but would rarely stop. Taking it upon himself to change that situation, teenage Herman set about creating a live music empire to entice international acts to add Belgium to their tour itineraries. Four decades later, he heads up one of the most successful subsidiaries in the Live Nation network. But it could so easily have been different, as an equally promising career at a record label could have lured Herman to that sector. Herman Schueremans was born 25 kilometres east of Brussels in the city of Leuven, home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, which perhaps explains his academic side. “I studied Greco-Latin, which gave me a good understanding of Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture and philosophy,” says Schueremans. “I had good days studying and also bad days when I thought ‘what the fuck is this?’, but it gave me a wide view on life and I believe it allowed me more chances to understand society and not judge people. It’s funny that when you’re about 12 years old you’re told you need to pick a direction, but I was always into culture and art and because my school always pushed you to take on the most difficult thing, I chose Greco-Latin.” He recalls it was the scouting movement that turned him on to music, but although he was keen to emulate his rock star heroes, it became apparent that his skills lay elsewhere. “The scout leader had a guitar and would sing songs with us. So at the age of 14 I bought a guitar and joined a band at school. But before long I was playing bass guitar, which was a bad sign because it made me realise I wasn’t good enough,” he laughs.

However, showing early entrepreneurial signs, at the age of 17, Herman started managing a band and a year later, organised his first ever festival, in the town of Herent, a few kilometres from Leuven. “It was in a park, so I called it the Park Festival. I got a bunch of local bands and 800 people came to the event. One month later, a guy called Hedwig de Meyer organised a festival in Werchter, just eight kilometres down the road, also for 800 people. At the time I was also writing for a newspaper and I was the only journalist on Hedwig’s guest list. It seemed crazy that we were both organising festivals so close together so we agreed to work together for the next year and because there was more opportunity in Werchter – basically, less neighbours to complain – we moved things there. So that led to the first Rock Werchter festival, which was 1974.” De Meyer explains, “I started out organising parties and once a year I’d have one in a big tent, so one year I used it to put on some bands the next day, and that’s how I first met Herman and we quickly joined forces.” He continues, “From the start, it was a good partnership, with each of us playing our own part – I took care of production, logistics and contact with the local mayor, while Herman concentrated on booking the artists.” Schueremans recalls being inspired by watching the documentary Woodstock. “In those days, Belgium didn’t have a lot of rock music, it was all singer-songwriters trying to copy people like Bob Dylan. Artists might pass through Belgium, but they didn’t stop here. So I thought it was my mission to change that and I regularly travelled to Amsterdam to try to persuade acts to visit Belgium. My family were also into culture and were very supportive. They had to be because I stayed at ‘Hotel Mamma’ because I couldn’t afford to move out. So I started promoting some club gigs, but when I

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Herman Schueremans

Neil Young at Rock Werchter in 2008

Testimonials Rod MacSween, ITB

Herman Schueremans is a gentleman, a man of his word and one of the best promoters in the world. The way he has established the excellent Werchter festival is extraordinary and he always manages to put together a really strong, diverse and eclectic bill. I enjoy working with him tremendously and congratulate him wholeheartedly on his fantastic achievements. Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits

Dear Herman – many congratulations on your well deserved lifetime achievement tribute. You were always honest and efficient in the music world, and a pleasure to work with. So you must have been a rare species in politics! All the best. Mark. John Illsley, Dire Straits

In all the years working with Dire Straits, and with many different and occasionally unusual characters in the music business, I would say that Herman was one of the most decent and enjoyable people to work with, always with a smile despite having to deal with the odd difficult and demanding manager!! A true gentleman in every sense of the word and deserving of this lifetime achievement tribute. Well done Herman, with very best regards, John. Barrie Marshall, Marshall Arts

look back I was a festival promoter first and then did gigs later – it wasn’t the usual promoter’s route. I picked up some interesting bands and that’s what kick-started everything.” As Belgium’s first true rock promoter, Schueremans had to juggle his passion, first with studying, and then with paid employment, as both he and de Meyer struggled to make a living through putting on shows. “Hedwig was working as an engineer at Philips and I was studying modern history at university. But because I was promoting shows at night, I failed, and had to do the year again. But I quickly lost interest and decided to concentrate on music. In those days, I was promoting a lot of Dutch bands. In fact, one of the earliest bands I booked was [Flemish act] De Kreuners, who I was still working with when they finished their career last year, with two sell-out shows at the Sportpaleis,” he smiles. “When I finished university, I took an exam and got a job as a VAT controller for a few months, but I hated it, so I studied journalism at night school and started organising a few more gigs.” Schueremans’ pioneering work in live music soon caught the eye of the Belgian arm of Warner Records, where he started working in A&R and was able to tap into some of the rising stars of the day. “We were doing promo for Sire acts such as the Ramones and Talking Heads and I was able to get those acts to play at the festival, as well as acts on Stiff Records, such as Elvis Costello,” he says. “By year three or four, the festival was up to about 9,000-capacity, but with the help of those acts and many others, it grew organically and step-by-step we got to where we are today, at a capacity of 85,000.”

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Herman certainly deserves the lifetime achievement award for European festivals. He has built Rock Werchter and Werchter Classic – they are worldwide calendar events now for any major artist, and all the new exciting artists coming up. He has masterminded so many big concerts, multiple arena shows and festivals over so many years with tremendous success. He obviously has The Promoters’ Handbook in his back pocket. The first chapter reads ‘how to get out of trouble’. I sneaked a look in it one day and there was nothing written on the first chapter, as he always seems to avoid problems! If he does get into trouble… I have never noticed it. His contribution to music over so many years stands him alongside other legendary figures in our industry. He has always been a huge supporter of all our artists and we are privileged to have worked with him for so long. Much respect from Barrie, Doris, Jenny and all the Marshall Arters! John Giddings, Solo Agency

When I started in this industry no one in Europe was interested in booking my punk bands until Herman came along. Since then, he has developed into a Belgian legend (alongside Tintin, Poirot and chocolates) and he has created one of the best festivals in the world. A great bloke, promoter, businessman, politician. He is even funny!’ Mike Greek, Creative Artists Agency

I’ve known Herman from the start of my career and he’s always been very supportive. It’s never that straightforward doing a deal with him, but you always get there in the end. He is a fantastic promoter, he always has the best production and he’s incredibly diplomatic. Herman is a bit like Switzerland – he’s very neutral. Continued on page 43

Herman Schueremans

Schueremans and de Meyer on one of Stageco’s first stages

Continued from page 40 Anthony Addis, manager of Muse

In Rock Werchter, Herman has built the best festival by far in Europe, both in terms of the experience for fans and the way it is organised behind the scenes – it has the best dressing rooms and backstage area of anywhere I’ve ever been. He’s the tightest bastard in the world and he obviously runs a good business. I really like the man, although he also has the ability to infuriate me, I have a great deal of time for Herman and huge respect for him. He is a very good promoter, a very nice family man and he generates a lot of respect from others – people are always willing to listen to him and his opinions. Nick Matthews, Coda Agency

Herman has been ever-present since I started as an agent. He would always be respectful and fair even when I was a younger agent. The sheer amount of tours and festivals under his stewardship and the fact he manages to make them all work is a large part of the reason Belgium has such a vibrant and consistent live music scene. Scumeck Sabottka, MCT Agentur

I started out as a tour manager, working for ATB (All Trade Booking, which was run by Mike Hince, Nick Hobbs, etc). Mike gave me a job as European tour manager for the Violent Femmes (I think in 1982 or 1983) and we played Brussels, where Herman was the promoter and he treated us really well. It was surprising how well he took care of us. Then I met Herman again at Torhout and Werchter, where I visited to see the Ramones (who I promoted in Germany). I had never seen such a well run festival, with a massive stage set-up. And then I ran into him at early ILMCs and also with Kraftwerk (where he helped to find the cycle wear manufacturer for the shirts of the band) and for a couple of years now, he has been our promoter for Rammstein. Herman always has an ear for reasoning and will always try to help; he has a superb team around him and it makes working in Belgium first-class. Max Mollinger, Agents After All

Herman was one of the founding fathers of popular Dutch band Gruppo Sportivo in 1976, and along with manager, John van Vueren, he organised some successful tours in Belgium. At that time, Nederpop was real hot in the Dutch speaking countries (Things have changed, alas!). Herman often visited the Netherlands and when Gruppo performed in Belgium, he loved to come along: modest, kind, smiling constantly, talking quietly as people from Belgium used to do, never late and always in control. Of course, we were all bewildered when Herman stormed into the dressing room of Rock Werchter in 1978, his face all red with excitement. He turned up late at his own festival! In order to be on time at Rock Werchter, he had decided there was no need to visit a gas station as he was going downhill from the Mountains of the Ardennes, and could turn the motor off every now and then, instead. When this method resulted into the steering wheel lock being activated, he lost control of the wheel and the car went off the road. According to rumours, there is still a large sign in his office saying: ‘It’s better to be just a little late, if you have a tank full of gas!’ Gruppo Sportivo says: “Thanks, Herman!” Continued on page 45

The Birth of Stageco Thriving on the pent-up demand for live music, Schueremans and de Meyer saw Rock Werchter develop yearon-year, creating the issue of how to host bigger and bigger crowds. “When we started, the festival was in one marquee where we could squeeze in about 3,000 people maximum,” says Schueremans. “When it grew, we rolled up the sides of the marquee, but the stage wasn’t high enough and people couldn’t see, so we decided to move outdoors, and Hedwig designed the stage, which was the birth of Stageco as a business. For about the first 15 years of Rock Werchter, all the profits were invested back into Stageco, while, because there was no decent PA or lighting available in Belgium, we also set up EML.” Those investment decisions proved a wise move, with others quick to pick up on the expertise offered by Stageco. “Steve Hedges, the agent for Genesis, was at one of our festivals and was so impressed by our stages that he put us in contact with the band and that led to us getting the deal to supply staging for a Genesis European tour,” says Schueremans. “The deal with Genesis was a big step for us,” notes de Meyer. “It took us abroad and we even got as far as New Zealand – we’d conquered the world,” he laughs. “It was one big adventure for me and Herman. We were having so much fun that we didn’t look at it as a proper business.” And the success of Rock Werchter was also getting Herman and Hedwig noticed. “When we were about five or six years in to Rock Werchter, Noël Steen, who organised the Torhout festival, came up with the idea that we should do the same festival at either end of the country. So Torhout-Werchter started,” de Meyer tells IQ. “At that time, both festivals were just one day each, so we’d move everything overnight from Torhout to Werchter – that’s 140 kilometres – and we used the same PA system back then, so, as crazy as it seems, we’d have to take everything down in Torhout, transport it through the traffic and have it built in Werchter by the next day. We did that for 15 years, which seems hard to believe now.” Torhout stopped in 1998 for a number of reasons, while the festival became the stand-alone Rock Werchter the

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Herman Schueremans Continued from page 43 following year. “In the early days, the twin event helped me attract bands because I was able to offer two shows rather than just one, but Werchter became bigger and bigger and booking two festivals started to become a disadvantage because there were so many other festivals springing up as competition to Torhout,” says Schueremans. “Because we were very production-focussed through operating Stageco and EML, that meant we wanted to do the best job possible both in terms of the way the festival looked and the set-up for the audience. But it also became bloody expensive to run a festival at two different sites. 34 years ago in our small Belgian thinking, 140 kilometres seemed like a hell of a distance, but that’s obviously not the case anymore, and in 1996 and 97 we made quite a loss at Torhout, and since we were not subsidised, I took the decision to concentrate just on Werchter. To be honest, I should have pulled the plug on Torhout three or four years earlier.”

Career Crossroads Being a massive music fan, Schueremans was all too aware of the way in which the paying public were taken for granted by certain promoters – a situation he was determined to change. “Very early on we figured out that the audience

Michael Rapino, Live Nation

Herman is one of the most creative entrepreneurs in the business, yet also one of the most humble. He has been an incredible partner and his consistent innovation in the festival space continues to inspire us all. Chokri Mahassine, Pukkelpop

Herman put Belgium on the festival map. Rock Werchter has been a shining example for years, inspiring many concert and festival organisations in Belgium, and even more internationally. Herman is our wise advisor; my mentor. Every encounter, every talk, is an inspiring learning experience, whether it’s about music, politics or sports. Simply stated, Herman is an exceptional man and I am very proud to call him my friend. Phil Banfield, Coda Agency

I have been doing what I do for over 40 years and in that time I don’t think I have spoken to let alone dealt with another promoter in Belgium. Why would you? He is professional, honest and one of the good guys. He deserves whatever awards come his way because he has earned them. Geoff Meall, The Agency Group

He’s my favourite cycling promoter, especially as he sends me a box-fresh, top-quality Team RockWerchter cycling kit each year. Continued on page 46

Herman Schueremans Continued from page 45 De Meyer and Schueremans enjoy the calm before the storm at an early Rock Werchter

Martin Hopewell, ILMC

are the kings and queens and therefore you should serve them as best you can, not only when they are watching the bands, but in the camping and all over the site,” Schueremans says. “That philosophy has served us well and continues to do so. We’ve always been inspired by other festivals around the world, but we also felt there were a lot of things wrong at those festivals. For example, we didn’t think it was the best idea to use Hells Angels as security.” As the festival and Schueremans other promoting efforts took off, it prompted one of the biggest decisions of his life, although he recalls it was also one of the simplest. “I was at Warner for four or five years and became head of promo and A&R, but my evening job was promoting shows and at a certain point the managing director forced me to make a choice about what I wanted to do. Most people get fired by record companies when they reach their thirties, but I left at 26 to become a full-time promoter. It was a very easy decision. I loved promoting and I was spending more and more time at my day job on promoting, so I left Warner and I was free. Basically, my hobby became my job. It has its difficult moments, but most days are a joy and I still perceive what I do as a gift from God, or that I’ve won the lottery. The youngsters in my team inspire me on a daily basis and I love it.” While Rock Werchter quickly established itself into the European summer season, doing likewise with Belgium’s venue circuit was a separate challenge, given that there wasn’t much of a foundation for Schueremans to work with. But his can-do attitude quickly found a solution. “We didn’t have a company name when we first started, but we set up a foundation known as Alt-Scene to reflect what we were doing – we were working with alternative acts and using alternative venues. I was using venues at universities in cities like Leuven, Brussels, Ghent, Liege, Hasselt and Mechelen where I had a deal to use the venue of the Christian Union. So I was promoting then-small acts such as the Human League, Dead Kennedys and U2. “When I think of the poor infrastructure that we had to use in those days, it seems medieval, but it was great fun. You could easily lose £300 on a show, which was a month’s wages, but you quickly learned from your mistakes. It was important to grow organically, but also naturally – you couldn’t grow too fast because you were confronted by your mistakes.”

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Now that Herman is such an established figure – top European promoter, major festival boss, Live Nation executive, politician, award winner, etc – it might seem odd to a lot of people that he was once regarded as the ‘young turk’ of the European circuit. As a junior agent, Herman was the guy you’d book your up-and-coming alternative acts with, while the agency bosses were dealing with his predecessors. I remember the first times he appeared at our office in London – full of enthusiasm and carrying a rucksack on his back. I think he said he’d been staying at the YMCA to save money. We shared some fairly crazy times back then – and since – but it’s fair to say that it was usually the acts who were causing the craziness – not me or him! Herman would always be calm and reasonable – there were never any of the histrionics that you’d get when dealing with some promoters. It’s hard to argue with people who are being calm and reasonable, so he usually got his way... Herman was always big on detail too. Back in the days of telexes I remember that his show offers would always be the longest. I could have wallpapered my office with some of them. Charlie Myatt, 13 Artists

Herman has worked tirelessly to build up a company which is universally recognised as the leading concert promoter in Belgium, and over the years he has helped to create some of the best live music events in the world. He has been an integral part of building the careers of many artists that we work with, and his loyalty and support over the years to these artists can not be understated. Always a pleasure to deal with we look forward to many more years of work with Herman in the future.” Steve Strange, X-ray Touring

Herman is one of my fave promoters of all time, a small but iconic human being who has always supported my belief in music from the start. He is a realist and a straightforward chap, and without him, I think it would have been hard for me as an agent to gain confidence in myself in the early days. He is fundamentally a genius in every sense. Bob Gold, Gold Artists

I cannot think of anything funny to say about Herman, after all he is Belgian… But what I can say it that is always a sheer delight and pleasure to work alongside him on a show. He has endless depth and knowledge and perception of live music and he knows to execute the perfect show. On reflection, I have never encountered a negative show promoted by Herman Schueremans. He is a music man, a business man and a gentleman. Bertis Downs and all at R.E.M. headquarters

Every time R.E.M. toured Europe in the summers from 1985 until 2008, the band played Werchter (and when it was in play, Torhout). It was always a highlight of the tour, every time, even amidst the thunderstorms we sometimes encountered. At last count it was seven times, which must be some kind of record! It’s hard to imagine a better-run festival, in terms of crowds, professionalism, overall fan and artist experience and, of course, pure joy and fun. All that is down to Herman, who has such indispensible qualities of intelligence, independence, optimism, love of music and people, and a keen organisational mind. He is truly one of a kind and we count ourselves very lucky to be among his many friends.

Schueremans’ love of cycling is captured by ‘Back Stage’ magazine in June, 1988

Herman Schueremans

European Powerhouse With Rock Werchter set to mark its 40th anniversary next year, Schueremans is rightly renowned for the development of that event and, indeed, the rest of his festival portfolio which also includes Werchter Boutique, Werchter Classic, Graspop Metal Meeting and I Love Techno, as well as partnerships with the likes of Pukkelpop. Additionally, Live Nation Belgium promotes about 200 shows per year, as well as numerous club nights. “Everyone in the company has to be a music lover, but there also has to be a harmony with business,” he tells IQ. “There’s a Pretenders’ song I liken it to: There’s a Thin Line Between Love and Hate; the same is true with what we do – if you’re too much into the music as a promoter, you’ll go bankrupt. But if you’re too business-oriented, you won’t have a clue about the music, so you’ll make big mistakes. I don’t want my company to ever become like a record company or a bureaucracy, so although we are a big company, we’re still only 34 people. If someone becomes ill or is away on holiday, someone else is ready to take on that job as well. In that way, people have a wider interest in the business and feel more responsible for the company. It’s better to be driven in a guerrilla fashion, rather than a big army simply following orders.” Those values have served Schueremans and his company well, as his admirers are widespread. “Herman Schueremans is one of the most complete promoters I deal with,” states The Agency Group founder, Neil Warnock. “He has vision, compassion, the ability to accommodate when a show is needed, but without harming the artists’ long-term reputation. It may be seen as old-fashioned, but Herman’s word is his bond, and in the commercial world, that says a lot. In fact, it says it all.” Rob Markus at William Morris Endeavor says, “Herman is always an absolute pleasure to deal with and I am sure

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his incredible success can be attributed to many things, but most importantly, throughout it all, he never fails to be a real gentleman.” On behalf of the band, Depeche Mode manager Jonathan Kessler says, “We love Herman, because not only does he stand on the side of the stage and dance, but also at dinner he can teach us about Greek and Roman antiquities.” And Andrew Zweck at Sensible Events comments, “The things I like most about Herman are not only does he have as much wisdom and experience in the concert business of anyone I know, but he is always calm and measured, so on the rare occasions that Herman asks for something, you know it’s actually necessary. Above all, I like his sense of humour; even though he is one of the most serious and successful businessmen in our industry, underneath there lies a cynical, questioning streak, which makes him the wonderful character that he is!” Schueremans’ popularity among agents, managers and artists is undeniable, but he is modest about his dealings with the acts he promotes, attributing any success they derived to his landmark festival. “Werchter managed to break careers for bands,” he notes. “Belgium is a small country and never used to attract the big bands, so I concentrated on the small acts with potential and they were able to quickly become the bigger acts. Torhout-Werchter was often the first place for many acts to play in continental Europe – people like Talking Heads, the Ramones, Simple Minds, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Dire Straits and U2 all played the festival in the very early days.” Those big breaks didn’t go unnoticed. “After playing to about 30,000 people, Bono said to me it was an eyeopener because he realised U2 could be bigger than the 3,000-capacity venues they had been doing. So lots of acts kept coming back to the festival and working their way up the bill to headliners – R.E.M. played Werchter five times, Metallica have been five or six times, and Coldplay have been three or four times, for instance,” Schueremans reports. “From our point of view, we treat the acts well and give them a bigger platform, so a lot of them keep coming back because they see this as the place where their careers took off. I’ve always wanted to create careers so that I could put an act in a bigger venue each time they come back. I remember doing an early tour with Dire Straits. It was six sell-out dates in Belgium, and Ed Bicknell was happy because he didn’t have to worry for a week. After the shows, we’d go and have pizza with the band or take them home for meals with the family. It was great fun and it built a really good friendship with the band.” But while Schueremans has enjoyed some great friendships with certain acts, he hasn’t let his desire to meet his heroes take precedent over business. “It’s fantastic that you can help artists to build careers through putting a band on the right slot at the right festival or show,” he says. “We’re always interested in new acts, but there are some acts that you try to book for years and before you know it they become less relevant to your audience. C’est la vie. I can remember 20 years ago I dreamt of having Tom Petty play, but as the years rolled by, that became less relevant, so sometimes it’s wiser to buy a ticket to go and see an act in a country where they are big.”

From Small Beginnings… Schueremans’ work in developing the Belgian live music scene has transformed the once-sleepy backwater into a mustvisit location on any European tour. “There’s now a good club scene in Belgium and our bookers, some of whom are just 22 or 23, can spot great acts and tap into the underground culture so that we still pick up bands that bigger countries don’t bother looking at. The philosophy for us remains the same – we help build careers and that also breeds loyalty,” Schueremans declares. A decade ago, Schueremans’ company became part of the Live Nation operation and under that corporate umbrella he has seen the firm more than triple in size. “Being part of Live Nation means there are more people to liaise with, which can give you a better insight on things,” he states. Recalling how the deal came about, he reveals, “Live Nation – or SFX, as it was then – first approached me in 2000. My first reaction was ‘No, No, No!’ but I was honoured that such a big company felt Belgium was important enough to have a business there. So, in May 2001, I became part of Live Nation. The great thing is I can be even more creative because I don’t have to risk my own money. Michael Rapino allows us full creative freedom. And when we do a good job, we get even more freedom and that’s perhaps why I’m still a boss at a Live Nation company.”

He continues, “A bigger structure has the best of both worlds. Promoting shows is an art. I don’t have to do it for money any more, but I do want to be successful, so I still operate as an entrepreneur. Under Live Nation, the company has had more success and we’ve grown from about ten people to 34. I still love what I do – I’m at the office early every morning and I’m last to leave and lock up at night. I’m also still in the trenches with my bookers and I love booking acts every day.” Part of that team is Schueremans’ daughter. “Sarah started going to shows when she was still in the belly of her mum, so it wasn’t a huge shock when she said she wanted to make a career in the business,” he observes. “Just like everyone else, she had to start from scratch as an assistant and start working her way up, building up her credibility first in the office and, of course,

Schueremans’ sporting his Rock Werchter cycling lycra

Herman Schueremans

One of Stageco’s Werchter stages

Herman Schueremans

in the business as well. But that is exactly what she has done – she has had some good results and has proven herself well.” The Live Nation acquisition also signalled de Meyer’s withdrawal from the Rock Werchter set-up, but Schueremans and de Meyer remain close and the latter has many fond memories of working on the festivals. “I pulled back from Werchter when it was sold to SFX, but Herman and I are still great friends and we only live about 15km from each other.” Recalling one of the minor catastrophes that they had to deal with, de Meyer laughs, “One year Toots and the Maytals showed up in the wrong town – they went to Turnhout instead of Torhout. But it was reggae, so we just put them on a little later than planned.” Schueremans recalls another Werchter moment. “In 1991, I was standing at the side of the stage when Bob Dylan was coming off. He walked straight in my direction and I feared that maybe the young audience had been unkind to him. But he came up to me and said, ‘Hey son, did you organise all this?’ When I replied that I did, he shook me by the hand and said,‘Fantastic. Congratulations.’ That was very special – it’s things like that which make it all worthwhile.”

Political Leanings His deal with Live Nation also coincided with Schueremans developing an interest in politics, but he confesses that the move to become a member of parliament was a direct result of his working life.“Over the years, we worked hard to establish a good music business in Belgium, but bureaucrats start to interfere and impose regulations, so I got involved in politics,” he says. “My perception was that the politicians kept doing stupid things and were trying to destroy what we’d worked so hard to build. So I got myself elected to parliament in 2002 to make sure that we could avoid some big mistakes, which I think I did. For instance, we now have a decibel law which measures average noise levels over the course of an hour, allowing a show to peak at 102 Db. We’re also close to having a ticketing law.” Having committed to a further four years at the helm of Live Nation Belgium, Schueremans gave up his political life at the start of this year and explaining his decision to quit, he admits, “I should have left politics three or four years ago. I rarely attended – usually just for voting. But if there was a debate about culture, of course I went. It wasn’t that easy to leave because it’s a bit like being in a sect.” Although being a promoter and being a politician both rely on tapping into the public consciousness, the comparisons between the two worlds just about ends there. “We’re all used to getting a lot of emails in the music business, but in politics you get documents in the mail. Sometimes I’d get home from a show at 1am and there would be a pile of letters that would take half an hour to open, never mind read. Politics and business don’t go together. Politics and religion divide. Music unites. If you like a band, no matter where you live or what background you come from, you can talk to people about that band. If a father hears a son’s music he can tell

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him that the band was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, so it brings generations together too.” Outside of music, Schueremans’ hobby, like many of his countrymen including de Meyer, is cycling, while he also has a passion for art. “When I was 15 or 16 I either wanted to be a musician or a cyclist, but my parents thought cycling was too dangerous, so I went toward the musical side,” Schueremans says. I love cycling. In 1986 we sponsored a team in the Tour de France and on the same day as Werchter, one of our riders won a stage of the race, so it was a great day for us. Cycling is a big part of Belgian life and we now sponsor an amateur team. It’s a fantastic sport. It puts you in a different mindset, it’s good for the body and you meet some great people. I was cycling in the Belgian Ardennes in the pouring rain and stopped for some shelter and got talking to this guy Philip who was working as an accountant (I think at Esso). At the time we needed a good accountant so I asked him to come and work with me. That was 16 years ago and he’s still with us.”

ILMC Pioneer With ILMC celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2013, Schueremans is one of the few Platinum members that have attended every edition. Indeed, he reveals that he was with Martin Hopewell when the concept of organising such a gathering was first mooted – and, but for Hopewell’s determination, the conference may well have found itself based in Belgium.“I was invited to a conference and showcase event in New York and I went there with Martin Hopewell as speakers and we had a great time. On the way back in the plane we agreed that there should be something similar for the business in Europe, but I thought it should be in Brussels and Martin thought it should be in London. The difference is that Martin went ahead and organised it. I was there when the baby was born, so I feel compelled to keep going to ILMC.” He adds, “For me, there are three great events for the business – ILMC, Eurosonic Noorderslaag and SXSW. At Eurosonic, for instance, you can see a lot of great young bands and you claim for another year that you are hip and on the case. It’s very exciting.” Looking ahead, Schueremans’ ambitions for both himself and Live Nation Belgium are simple: to keep finding exciting new acts to promote and to continue developing his portfolio of festivals.“The business is becoming more complex,” he states. “There are more bands to take care of and a lot more festivals, but the fact that I don’t have to go to Parliament every Wednesday is a big bonus because it gives me more time to spend on music. But there are only 24 hours in the day, not 26.”

Herman Schueremans

Ed Bicknell I can clearly remember a rather scruffy little Belgian, smelling slightly of piss, hanging about the top floor office at NEMS, circa 1977, for as long as possible rather than returning to his dank and lonely room at the YMCA to eat cold baked beans and fart. But since I haven’t been asked to write about the drum roadie for Golden Earring, let’s move on to a few thoughts about Herman Schueremans, one of my true heroes, the man who put the musical sprout back into Brussels. After some local shows in early 1977, Herman decided to go global or at least ‘go Belgium’. After all, he had nothing to lose. He had nothing. Being a bright young chap he realised very early on that he needed to stand out from the other Belgian promoters of the time, not a difficult task since none of them were ever destined for their own talk show. He correctly deduced that flattery would have to get him everywhere since he didn’t have enough money to offer bribes. Eager to ingratiate himself, he started calling me ‘Godfather’ almost immediately. Having tested him with an early Talking Heads club show in January 1978 (in truth he was the only promoter who would book them), I browbeat him into taking Dire Straits for their first tour of Belgium in October 1978 with promises of a future Beatles’ tour which I knew I could not deliver. We set up the dates. A mega-tour of Belgium. Six shows. In Brussels, the band were due to play The Really Old Public Toilet or ‘Ancien Shitshowburg’ with a capacity of 36 of which 10 could sit on cold, hard porcelain. The other venues were of similar capacity and previous use. I did not believe in taking risks. Herman was not experienced then, and readily agreed to a flat fee of 1million Belgian florins for the six shows (about €600,000 now), based on him getting the next Beatles’ tour of Belgium AND Luxembourg. The tickets went on sale and a week later I got a call. “Oh Godfather. I am worried. You must help me. We have sold out in Leuven (or wherever). We must move the show – we can sell maybe 500 tickets,” he told me. “That’s nothing to be worried about. Great. Let’s do it,” I said. A few days later he called again. “Oh Godfather, we have sold out the show. We must move it to a tent. 2,000 capacity,” he said. A day later, he rang again. “Oh Godfather. I am so worried. I cannot sleep. I am ashamed. I AM MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY!!” he confessed. “HERMAN!” I said. “Pay attention. You must never, ever tell anyone that. Not a record company idiot, not a

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manager and NEVER, EVER an agent! EVER!” In the end, Dire Straits played that show in a field in a tent with the sides rolled up, to about 5,000 punters. Because I liked him so much, because he’d been so honest, and, joking aside, had taken quite a risk, I did not renegotiate the fee. It was still twice the GNP of Belgium anyway, but in an act of unparalleled generosity and foresight on his part, Herman paid the band a bonus. Herman promoted every show in Belgium by every act I represented from that point on. We NEVER had a contract. He NEVER let me down. Dire Straits (and our gaseous and overweight crew) came not only to respect him as a total professional, but to have enormous and genuine affection for him, and for Yo. Because, behind every successful Belgian man is, well, a Belgian woman. In fact, the band, in an act of quite startling generosity for musicians, paid for his honeymoon with Yo in 1982. ONE passion-filled night at the Portobello Hotel in London (£19.99 + VAT), complete with a gift-wrapped, illustrated instructional booklet entitled The First Night, which those of the band who could write, signed. I don’t know if either or both of them read it or looked at the pictures, but in any event their beautiful daughter Sarah duly followed nine months later. Now of course he’s ‘the man’. From Shitshowburg to Big Shit. But he’s just the same. Hasn’t changed one bit. Still in love with music, musicians, the Biz, on top of it all, up to date, hip and relevant. When I think of Herman I think of ‘a good bloke’, a REAL friend and I don’t mean a music biz acquaintance. Someone I’d buy a Wimpy for, knowing that if I really needed it, he’d buy one for me. Herman, your peers and colleagues hold you in the highest respect and with the greatest of affection – deservedly so. You reached the very top of your chosen profession and you did it honestly, with humour, style and without screwing anybody over... and you always looked after the road crew. When American agents ask me now “what’s Belgium REALLY like?” I respond, “Well, it produced the greatest living Belgian...Herman Schueremans, plus chocolates and lace. Just a shame it needs painting.” So congratulations for making it into Incorrect Quotes magazine and being given this long overdue tribute. You may have been elected King of Belgium but you’ll always be the Capo do Tutti Capi to me. Your Godfather Don Edwardo. X.

IQ’s European Arena Report marks its fifth year in 2013 and judging by the number of arenas eager to share their data for the last year with us, the findings of the report are now more eagerly awaited than ever. Certainly, the ability to compare a venue with the average statistics of compatible buildings across the continent can be very useful, while keeping tabs on the competition and what they have planned for the months ahead might prove invaluable. The number of venues participating in this year’s survey increased by about 11% over last year and we’d like to thank each of the 51 arenas, across 16 countries, who took time to share such sensitive information with IQ. As usual, we have not published figures regarding individual arenas so that we can concentrate on annual trends, as well as speaking with various key executives across Europe to gauge their opinion on those movements. And without wishing to give too much away, the results of this year’s survey throws up some interesting facts, which point to some intriguing, and successful strategies being employed by the promoters of non-music events... Gordon Masson, Editor

At a quick glance, the findings of this year’s European Arena Report might appear fairly heartening for the live music industry – and the venues sector as a whole. A significant increase in overall arena attendance, a boost to overall capacity, plans for refurbishment, and construction projects would all, on the surface, signal positive signs for the business, especially in the midst of economic uncertainty. However, scratch the surface and the picture isn’t quite so rosy. In our 2012 report, we reported an 11% increase in total attendance, following a 7% decline the year before – the brunt of which was felt by the live music sector. In our latest survey, our 51 arenas reported total attendances of 31,497,045 – an 8.3% rise on the collective audience of 29,089,382 that attended those same arenas a year earlier. Those healthy results do not paint the whole picture though, and a quick delve into the numbers reveals that live music was almost flat year-on-year in terms of audience totals. During 2012, our arena participants had overall live

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music audiences of 13,234,219. That represented a marginal 0.5% rise on the previous year’s 13,160,191. That, by itself, isn’t too shabby given we’re still in the midst of economic uncertainty, but in the context of how live music fared with non-music events, it’s something of an eye-opener. “These things are always cyclical,” comments Philippe 35

Millions

Attendance and Capacity

Attendance: 2011 v 2012

2012

2011

20 15 10 5 0

Total attendance: all shows

Total attendance: music

Total attendance: non-music

5 0

Total attendance: music

Total attendance: non-music

What are the first and second most important factors affecting the arena industry currently?

Most important

Second most important

10 5

Licen regulatisoing ns

Producti on costs

Competi tio artist tonufor rs

A lack o f suit headlinaeble rs

Com other vepetition from nues/are nas

State economof y

0 Artist es/ ticket pfe rice

Number of responses

Total attendance: all shows

Ventadour, director general at the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy. “From my experience, every three years you have one where the numbers go into regression, so while last year was not great, my figures for 2013 are going to be enormously high and I’m expecting better-than-ever results, so I will be curious to compare Bercy’s results to Europe as a whole.” While music flatlined, non-music events attracted total audiences of 16,748,592 in 2012, compared to 14,031,663 in 2011. That’s an audience increase of 19.4% in just one year visiting non-music events. So what are the promoters of nonmusic events doing that live music promoters are not? Well, more on that later... Although not a like-for-like comparison, Pollstar’s end-ofyear data provides a gauge of the health of the overall global business and its list of the Top 50 Worldwide Tours points to an overall gross of $3billion (€2.24bn) during 2012, marginally down on 2011’s total gross numbers. But ticket sales across those 50 best-selling tours continued the downward decline, falling from 35.48m in 2011 to 34.9m last year. In North America, Pollstar reported that the concert business hit a record $4.7bn (€3.5bn) in 2012 – an increase of 8% on 2011 – and observed that much of that growth came via “artists touring at the more modest levels below the superstar strata.” Total tickets sold in North America increased to 36.7m, up 5% on 2011’s 34.74m, but still well short of the industry record, 40.49m in 2009. When it comes to European arenas, the bottom line is that management are having to work harder to remain sustainable, while at those venues still trying to firmly establish themselves on the tour circuit, times are proving tough, especially when there aren’t enough acts out on the road. Vladica Radević at the Kombank Arena in Serbia tells IQ, “Last year was very difficult – the worst ever in our case – especially in the first half of the year due to lack of artists touring Europe. Most of those from the States played festivals during summer.” Bemoaning the ongoing global and local economic crisis

and recession, Radević continues, “The market survived and is recovering slowly, and we have strong demand for both international and local artists. The market, itself, however, has become a very late market i.e. we sell the vast majority of tickets in the last few weeks prior to the show.”

Plans for Expansion Although most markets are still officially in recession, that doesn’t seem to have stymied arena refurbishment plans, nor indeed construction projects for new arenas and stadia around the world, so while economic difficulties show no sign of easing up any time soon, confidence in the arenas business appears unwavering. All but one of our surveys included capacity details. But those 50 arena respondents had total capacities in 2012 of 614,805, compared to 606,786 the previous year, adding another 8,000-plus seats to major venues across the continent and pointing to an average capacity of 12,055, highlighting a year-on-year trend of capacity growth: this year’s capacity growth of about 1.3% matches a similar increase last year. And there are refurb schemes continuing into 2013, while the level of development due to get under way this year or in the future is also heartening, because of the 50 arenas who responded, more than half indicated plans to upgrade in some shape or form in the year ahead. For example, the SECC in Scotland has a new venue, The Hydro, opening in September and will be offering VIP/club seat options, although the venue’s Julie McKinnon admits the exact offerings have not been decided yet. Similarly, further north in Sweden, a new arena is being constructed next to the existing Scandinavium venue; while in Padova, Italy, the 6,000-capacity Gran Teatro Geox is “planning a new arena, capable of 12,000 seats and renewing entirely the seats on the [existing venue].” And while such construction projects can now easily swallow tens of millions of Euros, or even triple-figure budgets, some existing venues are thinking outside of the box to find innovative solutions to keep the punters visiting. The Salzburgarena in Austria is a case in point, where Stefan Pichler reports, “From 2013, a new section is born – a combination between an open-air and indoor show in the arena is possible, allowing open-air shows for up to 15,000 people and an arena configuration of 6,000 people.” The solution for such an initiative? A retractable wall, perhaps? No, the simple solution is using land adjacent to the arena to stage outdoor concerts – surely a solution that many other venues could adopt to increase their offering to promoters. They might have to relinquish car park revenues, mind you. Environmental regulations are set to have an impact on business in the future and in our survey responses, the 02 World Berlin disclosed it is ahead of the curve through plans to invest in a green initiative that will involve “A combined heating and power station, fuelled by biogas on the roof, which allows the system to heat the building while generating power.” Of course, the opportunity to redevelop existing space to tap into the lucrative VIP and sponsorship end of the market continues apace across Europe. NEC Group’s Guy Dunstan says, “Redevelopment of the NIA will offer increased

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26-50%

29%

Proportion of ticket sales via in-house box office

76-100%

Other

14.7%

Family

13.6%

0-10%

14%

hospitality Comedyoptions and capacity, due for completion at Comedy the end6.5% of 2014. Growth in hospitality membership at LG 9.4% Arena and NIA is leading to creation and diversification of packages and membership.” 11-2 And Dunstan believes the European-wide investments in Other 17 arena construction and refurbishment are set to be an ongoing 13.9% 51-75% part of the business, predicting, “Increase in refurbished Music 31% Music and facilities venues to offer enhanced visitor experience 35.3% and to drive improved ancillary revenue41.5% per head,” as one of the trends for the future. He also cites, “Naming rights and 26-50% sponsorship deals to support refurbished venue programmes.” 29% Family As we highlighted in last year’s report, the importance of 16.8% Proportion of ticket sales offering VIP packages has become a vital strategy for venue management and the responses in this year’s survey indicate via in-house box office Sport that, like NEC Group, many companies are enhancing their 24.6% Sport to bring in more high-spending customers. facilities Venue Usage 23.7% Jeanette Annfeldt, event manager at Forum Copenhagen Venue Usage notes that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, commenting, 2011 2012 “Depending on the type of event, we will offer VIP packages which fit the event.” Across the border in Mannheim, Germany, the SAP Arena is planning construction of a new Comedy business club and VIP areas, while at the Hartwall Areena in 6.5% Finland, Anders Backman says, “We finalised an additional 2,000 square metres of VIP areas in April and now we are working on finding new VIP corporate customer groups.” And even the most established businesses are targeting Other the additional revenues that VIPs can generate, with a 14.7% spokesperson for the 142-year-old Royal Albert Hall in Music London commenting, “[We are] continually looking at 41.5% Full time packages and what we offer and the best way to sell/upsell 29% these to customers.” Across the city of London, although it has been the world’s busiest arena since it opened in 2007, The Part time Family O2 has continually 71% moved to keep developing and is hopeful 13.6% that an adjacent construction project can further elevate its status as an entertainment hub. “A hotel and conference centre is being developed next to The O2 and is scheduled Sport to open in 2015,” reports the arena’s Stephanie Moses. “The 23.7% Venue Usage hotel will be a 452-bedroom luxury development and the 2012 conference centre is set to have 30,000 sq ft of conference space and a 3,000-seat ballroom.” 3.2%, comedy slipping 2.9%, while sports events faltered Venue Usage slightly, down 0.9%. However, the all-encompassing ‘Other’ category, which includes the likes of awards ceremonies and After a slip in usage domination in 2011, when music exhibitions, nudged up a notch to 14.7% over 2011’s 13.9%. events made up just 35.3% of events in European arenas In terms of return, however, live music appears to be (compared to 43.3% in 2010), the live music sector more losing its sparkle and analysing all of our survey data, one than recovered that ground in 2012, taking a 41.5% slice of obvious conclusion to reach might be that artist fees and, the available slots across Europe. therefore, ticket prices have a major part to play amongst But once again, that increase in bookings belies punters looking to decide where to spend their entertainment Full tim what is actually going on, because when cross-referenced budgets. In other words, while live music has increased its 29% with other data from our 51 arenas, the picture looks a tad usage at venues by more than 6%, attendance at those events more troublesome. has risen by only 0.5%. Non-music events, on the other hand, Part time Although non-music events accounted for 58.5% of relinquished more than 6% of venue usage share, but at the 71% everything passing through European arenas, live music, same time managed to boost attendance by almost 20%. unsurprisingly, retains the crown as the most popular form It should be noted that not every venue is set-up to cater of entertainment, as it has been for many years. Indeed, for events across the board, meaning the analysis of such when you scrutinise other competing sectors, it was a trends for some arenas is a moot point. “We do more or less mixed bag, with family entertainment bookings falling by 100% music at Rockhal – hence the name,” says the arena’s

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Thomas Roscheck. “Family entertainment doesn’t make much sense due to the configuration of the venue, although we have We Will Rock You visiting as a musical this year and we have done some Chinese National Circus shows in the past.”

Ticketing Undoubtedly, one of the most intriguing parts of this year’s arena report was ticketing, both in terms of how venues are going about selling seats for shows, as well as how events were priced during 2012. And the cost of tickets appears to be an important factor, with promoters of nonmusic events perhaps trailblazing the way to persuade more punters to choose their shows over rival entertainment. But in an attempt to maintain suspense, we’ll get to fingerpointing, presently. So, first to sales points. Again, in keeping with last year’s findings, more and more European arenas appear intent on taking control of their ticketing procedures for shows. Of our 51 surveyed venues, 38 say they have in-house box offices, or a ratio of 74.5%, about 4% more than in last year’s report. In terms of the numbers of tickets sold through those operations, however, there has been a great deal of movement. In 2011, the number of venues claiming that they sold upward of 50% of tickets through their own box office was 38% – incredibly, double that of the year before. Our 2012 survey saw that figure nudge higher to 40%, which, although nowhere near as impressive as a year ago, still suggests that venues are spending more on marketing their in-house ticketing facilities. Two years ago, 41% of the arenas that took part in our report said that they sold less than 10% of their tickets inhouse. Last year, that statistic dropped to 25% and in our 2012 report, only five arenas – or 14% – with in-house box offices, said that less than 10% of tickets are sold by their own operations. Indeed, this year’s survey shows that a whopping 69% of those buildings with in-house box offices now sell more than 25% of all tickets themselves, suggesting 76-100%

0-10%

14%

11-25%

17%

51-75%

31% 26-50%

29%

Proportion of ticket sales via in-house box office

the battle for control is all but won. Pavilhão Atlântico general manager Jorge Vinha da Silva believes the arenas business will become dependent on inhouse ticketing initiatives and exploiting social networking to strengthen bonds with customers. “The next few years will be marked by economic constraints due to the global economic environment. Families will have less money for entertainment and there will be fierce competition among all the entertainment operators (travel agencies, venues, cinema, f&b facilities, exhibition centres) to get that budget,” da Silva says. He continues, “Arenas must invest in related services, like premium ticketing services and pre-show activities to retain customers in or around the venue and take advantage of that in merchandise, f&b and parking. To achieve this, I believe ticketing and social media is a key factor to establish close and strong bonds with customers and their habits and preferences. So I agree with the recent trend around Europe to bring ticketing home, from the arena’s point of view. Beyond all this, the global trend to put artists on tour is irreversible due to customers wanting the live experience and proximity with their idol. Artists cannot support a long-term career just selling records as we are living in a new era supported by digital music, social media, and YouTube, and I don’t believe that reality will change in the near future.” According to Pollstar, the average ticket price on the Top 50 Worldwide Tours dropped 60 cents to $85.93 (€64.21) in 2012. The average ticket price in North America hit a record $68.76 (€51.19), an increase of $1.54 (€1.15) over last year’s $67.22 (€50.00). It appears that much of the increase was driven by the A-list superstar tours with triple-digit average prices, such as the average $140 (€104.70) ticket for Madonna’s MDNA tour – the highest grossing worldwide tour of 2012. Indeed, according to Pollstar, there were 24 tours with tickets priced above the $100 mark during 2012, compared to 18 such tours in 2011. However, as many of those outings will have been at stadium-level, there perhaps isn’t too much to read into that comparison. IQ’s European Arena Report reveals that for tours visiting European arenas, the average ticket price also fell slightly. In 2012, the average ticket price for music events across our surveyed venues was €43.65, a miniscule drop on last year’s average €43.85. That followed a marginal 1.2% hike the previous year. All of which sounds fairly modest – inflationbased, almost – and indicates that live music promoters are reluctant to push prices up when consumer spending is at such a low ebb. However, when live music tickets are compared to nonmusic events, the difference is astonishing. Non-music events, including sports, family entertainment and comedy slashed ticket prices by 15.8% on average, from €36.86 in 2011 to €31.04 in 2012. Whether by accident or design, that’s even lower than the €32.41 average price in 2010 and flies in the face of last year’s report when a handful of arena executives suggested that the likes of family shows – and the multimillion Euro productions that they often involve – were starting to catch up with the prices for live music. A price hike of 13.7% didn’t result in lower attendance at non-music events in 2011 – customers visiting non-music

60 | IQ Magazine March 2013 Comedy

6.5%

Comedy

9.4%

events actually increased in the same year. But rather than exploit that situation, promoters across the board last year slashed ticket prices and the resulting upturn for non-music events has backed that policy to the hilt, with an increase of more than 19% in audiences. Cross referencing that with our Venue Usage section, that attendance jump is all the more impressive given the share of arena nights that non-music events dropped to in the past 12 months. But not everyone believes it has been a conscious strategy. “These figures tell us how the arenas business is developing, but without an accurate breakdown of attendances in each sector – family entertainment, comedy, sports – it’s difficult to read too much into it, so in future, perhaps arenas should provide that kind of breakdown so we can better assess trends in each part of the content business,” observes Koen Melis, managing director of NEC Group International. “But a near 16% drop in non-music tickets is a major development. I don’t know that it is a deliberate strategy though, because unfortunately, across Europe there have been a significant number of promoters and producers of family shows who have realised that they’re not going to meet the targets expected of them, so I’m seeing them discounting a lot of tickets through the likes of family pricing, as a last resort.” Melis continues, “The problem with that is, although it’s a short-term fix; in the minds of a consumer, it can be seen as a structural manoeuvre and they will therefore wait the next time too for the price to drop. So if the industry doesn’t do something collectively to address that issue, before you know it, ticket prices will have to fall another 16% so that people will buy them.” Sceptical about the success of cheaper tickets driving higher attendances, Melis nonetheless reveals that he, and others, are looking at alternative ways to price tickets for shows. “I’ve been involved in some dynamic pricing experiments and I can see the industry using these more often in the future because the practice involves tickets starting with a low price, therefore rewarding the early buyer, and then getting more expensive as the event gets closer, he tells IQ. “It’s a much better system than discounting at the last minute, which gives entirely the wrong message to the audience.

Business Concerns It was hardly an earth shattering revelation in our report a year ago that the state of the economy was the issue causing most arena managers to lose sleep. This year among our polled arenas, the most niggling aspect for arena bosses has reverted to artist fees/ticket prices, somewhat backing up the theory that certain acts and tours could be pricing themselves out of contention for fans feeling the financial pinch. Another change in the running order of factors affecting the business is the fact that many venue managers believe that competition from other venues is a growing concern. In our Herman Schueremans tribute (see page 38), the Belgian promoter observes that people are now accustomed to travelling fairly long distances to go to [in his case] festivals.

But cheaper airline travel, budget hotel chains and the whole concept of basing a short break around an arena show are now becoming commonplace and fans might not opt to buy tickets for their local arena these days – preferring instead to travel longer distances, perhaps to see the same act at a recently upgraded, state-of-the-art venue. In the UK, NEC’s Dunstan comments, “New venues in Leeds, Glasgow and Bristol will increase options for promoters and artists and increase the earning potential for touring artists, whilst increasing competition amongst venues for one-off events.” Although most of the arenas in our survey are constantly working to improve facilities, pressure to keep up with their competitors is surely increasing and the fact that competition is now deemed a bigger concern than ‘a lack of suitable headliners’ points to the arenas sector perhaps becoming a victim of its own success. And certain venues are doing better than others when it comes to convincing the public that they are an entertainment destination. “The results of 2012’s customer research has revealed that our visitors are not just coming to The O2 for events in the main arena, but are in fact utilising all of the venue’s assets,” reveals The O2 arena’s Stephanie Moses. “More than 8.5 million people visited the venue in 2012 with 1.8 million of them heading into the arena. This means more than 6 million customers visited the venue for its bars and restaurants in the Entertainment District, the British Music Experience, Up at The O2 and Cineworld. The results also revealed that our customers travel to the venue from the surrounding communities, the rest of the capital, across the UK, and from overseas.” Across in mainland Europe, o2 World Hamburg’s Kai Müller believes we are set for consolidation in the European arenas sector, stating, “There will be a correction in some markets regarding the quantity of arenas,” adding that the onus will be on venue management to be more active in identifying new content and marketing their events. Perhaps for that reason, he believes that, “national content will continue to grow (comedy and music).” Martina Kuso, head of corporate communications at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, contends that technology still has a major part to play in transforming the live entertainment business, including in “ticketing and distribution; increase in communications and marketing efforts; higher flexibility/multifunctional venues; and outsourcing of divisions.” Meanwhile, at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, Ian Congdon

Ticket Prices 2011/12 Average ticket price (music) 2012: €43.65 Average ticket price (music) 2011: €43.85

0.5%

Average ticket price (non-music) 2012: €31.04 Average ticket price (non-music) 2011: €36.86

15.8%

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believes the business has ridden the financial storm of the past few years and that better times lie around the corner. “The economy is showing signs of improvement,” he tells IQ. “In Liverpool, we have proven over the past five years, in a recession, that there is a discreet and robust market for ticketed events here. We hope that concert promoters, agents, managers and artists continue to have faith and confidence in confirming their touring plans for the future and tour more often. After all, the only thing we are short of are more headline artists touring.” While business concerns change from year to year and there are always issues for European venues to resolve, one of the absolute trends of our arena reports over the years is the sector’s ability to create jobs. Our gang of 51 had total staff of 6,118 in 2012, 1,979 of whom were full-time. Comparing that to the European Arena Report 2011 – and the conclusion that one of the safest careers to be working in during the current economic downturn is the arena sector – the percentage of fulltime staff at European arenas in 2012 was 32.3%. That figure was just 23% in 2010 and 29% a year ago, pointing to a more professional attitude among venue management and, perhaps, a more determined tactic to control operations in-house. Thomas Roscheck at Luxembourg’s Rockhal underlines the importance of staff training. “We are a comparatively small venue – 6,500-capacity – and we have to attract visitors from across our borders for shows. We have a very professional team of staff and because we need everything we provide to be perfect, we invest a lot in our HR policies so that people are constantly training and can adapt to new systems.” However, highlighting the vagaries of employment legislation from one country to another, Paris Bercy’s Philippe Ventadour confesses, “We are preparing to refurbish Bercy next year and as part of the legal process, we’re having to increase staff. So part-time roles are being converted into full-time so that those roles are protected when we close the arena. But at the same time we are training people, helping people retire and retraining people for other things, so there will be fewer full-time posts when the process is finished.”

Conclusion Another year, another report, and on the face of things 2012 was pretty good for the European arenas business. An 8.3% rise in audience numbers overall must be music to the ears of venue managers throughout the continent – and any arenas falling short of those numbers will no doubt be internalising how they can make up lost ground in the year ahead.

The argument about whether discounting ticket prices works will go on, but certainly the popularity of non-music events soared during the past year, while the entry fee to those entertainments was slashed by nearly 16%. But at the same time, the prices for live music shows was virtually frozen and so was the resulting attendance for those gigs, so in terms of pure economics, the lower-prices-equal-more-bums-onseats-model does seem to hold some water. What is also apparent from looking back over the last few years of our annual reports is that venues are casting a wider net to fill up dates in an attempt to maximise yield. Whereas in our results two years ago, the ‘Other’ category for venue usage languished at 9.6%, this year that figure grew to 14.7% during 2012, suggesting that arena sales teams are successfully marketing their building space to a more diverse client base. Talking to a variety of people in the arena business around the continent, certainly there seems to be a positive vibe looking at the calendar for 2013, with the number of international touring artists scheduling European legs already filling multiple dates. But there could also be some radical changes to the arena landscape as the year progresses, not the least of which could be the sale of AEG and its assets, should someone with deep enough pockets be interested. Optimism remains high throughout the arenas sector, proven by the many ongoing refurb and upgrading projects that the majority of buildings appear to be immersed in. But some of the deeper thinkers are already pinpointing hidden dangers and taking arena management to a whole different level, so we’ll sign off here, thank all the individual arenas for taking part in this year’s survey, and leave the final words to two of our contributors. Despite a strong year, Dan Roberts at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff believes arenas are now looking over their shoulders at a bigger potential problem – competition from festivals. He predicts, “More competition for tours,” adding the warning, “More festivals will take the larger headliners.” Not wishing to leave you on such a negative note, however, here’s a final thought on where the business might be headed, from NEC Group’s Koen Melis. “In the future, I think arenas will start moving toward a 24/7 model,” he says. “What I mean by that is, because such huge sums are invested in arena complexes, management have to make a business case that works on more than just events so that they can make the venue more of a destination 24/7, as a place where people go to enjoy themselves – using the bars, food and beverage outlets and whatever other entertainment they have to offer.” We’ll monitor that prediction when it comes to next year’s European Arena Report…

PARTICIPATING ARENAS Aberdeen Arena (UK), Ahoy Rotterdam (NL), Alexandra Palace (UK), Ancienne Belgique (BE), Arena Berlin (DE), Arena Leipzig (DE), Brighton Centre (UK), Capital FM Arena Nottingham (UK), CEZ Arena (CZ), Earls Court Exhibition Centre (UK), Echo Arena Liverpool (UK), E-Werk Cologne (DE), Forum Copenhagen (DK), Gran Teatro Geox (IT), Hallenstadion Zürich (CH), Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (DE), Hartwall Areena (FI), ISS Dome (DE), Kombank Arena (RS), Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Jahrhunderthalle (DE), LG Arena (UK), Lotto Arena (BE), Malmö Arena (SE), Manchester Evening News Arena (UK), Max-Schmeling-Halle (DE), Metro Radio Arena (UK), Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (UK), Motorpoint Arena Sheffield (UK), O2 arena (CZ), o2 World Berlin (DE), o2 World Hamburg (DE), Odyssey Arena (UK), ÖVB-Arena Bremen (DE), Palais Omnisports De Paris Bercy (FR), Pavilhão Atlântico (PT), Porsche Arena (DE), Rittal Arena (DE), Rockhal (LU), Royal Albert Hall (UK), Salzburgarena (AT), SAP Arena (DE), Scandinavium (SE), SECC (UK), Sportpaleis Antwerpen (BE), The NIA (UK), The O2 arena (UK), The O2 Dublin (IE), Tipsport Arena Liberec (CZ), Velodrom (DE), Westpoint Arena (UK), Wiener Stadthalle (AT).

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Venues at 25

66 | IQ Magazine March 2013

Venues at 25

Venues 25 years of...

As ILMC 25’s time travellers prepare to touch down at the Royal Garden Hotel, Christopher Austin documents the evolution in the venues sector over the past 25 years… The venue business has undergone a complete transformation since the ILMC’s inception a quarter of a decade ago, having arguably seen more change than any other sector of the live entertainment market. Venues are the bedrock of the business and the story of their evolution over the last 25 years is one of remarkable improvement and growth. While myriad new venues have sprung up around the world, in both emerging and established markets, many existing venues have been expanded and enhanced for the benefit of punters, performers and promoters. New York’s Madison Square Garden, London’s Wembley Arena and the Hollywood Bowl in LA are iconic venues with a combined age of more than 200 years, yet they remain state-of-the-art facilities thanks to ongoing investment by their management companies. Meanwhile, the influx of new venues has made the business more competitive than ever. Hardly a month goes by without the opening of a new venue. Recent newcomers include Istanbul’s ÜlkerArena, the Perth Arena in Australia, the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NYC, and Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome. While in the UK alone, 2013 will see the arrival of the Leeds Arena and the Scottish Hydro Arena. Meanwhile, new stadiums are opening for business as far and wide as Madagascar and Minneapolis. “In the UK, 25 years ago we had a handful of arenas, now

there are 16, and the same is happening in Europe. It used to be that every city wanted a cathedral, now it seems they all want to have an arena,” says NEC Group International managing director, Koen Melis. Johan Pagerup manages the 14,000-capacity Scandinavium Arena in Göteborg, Sweden, and says that when the venue opened in 1971, it had hardly any competition in the Nordic region. But that is far from the case now. “The biggest challenge is attracting promoters and tours to the venue,” says Pagerup, explaining that in order to maintain the arena’s competitive edge, more than SEK100million (€11.5m) has been pumped into the venue over the last 12 years. Live Nation Entertainment COO international, Paul Latham, first began working in the venue business in 1984 in the role of assistant manager at the Apollo Theatre Oxford in the UK. At the time, Apollo owned six UK theatres. Nearly 30 years later at Live Nation, Latham oversees more than 20 major venues across Europe. “The buildings have changed very much for the better. We as owners have needed to work hard to ensure better comfort and amenities for our customers – both artists and ticket buyers – to remain competitive in the leisure market,” says Latham. Charlie Shun, founder of CSC Live Events & Special Projects, is another UK-based veteran. He joined Rank

March 2013 IQ Magazine | 67

Venues at 25 AsiaWorld-Expo Arena

Leisure in 1973 where he booked events for the company’s chain of theatres and clubs, including London’s Hammersmith Odeon (now Hammersmith Apollo). Later roles saw him program shows at Wembley Arena, Wembley Stadium and Earls Court. Looking back over his 40 years in the business, Shun recalls how he was tasked with booking concerts in and around the film program at Rank’s string of Odeon cinemas, which ranged from the 1,200-capacity Odeon in Derby to the 5,000-capacity Hammersmith venue. “Most of the Rank venue circuit was built in the 1930s and when pop concerts began in the late 1950s, the venues were already 25-yearsold. They weren’t built to stage concerts, they were built for cinema and were out of date already,” says Shun. “When I started at Rank there were no arenas aside from Wembley and now there are numerous purpose-built, stateof-the-art venues that are versatile enough to stage different forms of entertainment on a huge scale. The quality of the customer experience is so different now, it has changed hugely, every aspect of the experience is high quality; you are well looked after from the moment you buy a ticket, to leaving the venue. The live experience now is the best it has ever been,” says Shun.

Technological breakthroughs Steve Romer, general manager of the Sydney Entertainment Centre has worked in the venue management business for almost 30 years. He believes that one of the most notable impacts on the venue business has been the introduction of new technologies that are able to deliver fully integrated ticketing, multimedia and CRM systems. “In less than two decades, we’ve gone from lining up at the box office to ordering tickets online. These days, most contemporary venues invest significantly in the ongoing development and

aspect of the experience is “ Every high quality; you are well looked

after from the moment you buy a ticket, to leaving the venue. The live experience now is the best it has ever been.

”

– Charles Shun, CSC

68 | IQ Magazine March 2013

upgrading of the fans’ social media experience, way beyond just Facebook and Twitter,” says Romer. “Gone are the days of traditional signage and billboards – they are being quickly replaced by sophisticated LED screens, electronic variable messaging boards, giant lighting displays and video monitor panels – both inside and outside of the arena.” Stuart Clumpas has been running venues since he was a 19-year-old student entertainments officer in the late 1970s at Dundee University in Scotland. He founded promoters DF Concerts as an extension of that activity and in 1990 opened small Glasgow venue King Tut’s. Four years later he launched the hugely successful T In The Park festival in Scotland, before heading south 11 years ago to New Zealand. Aged 53, Clumpas now operates the 12,000-capacity Vector Arena in Auckland. He recalls the venue market being dominated by theatres in the 70s, prior to the opening in the 80s of large halls able to stage concerts. But he points out that it was not until the new millennium that an international circuit of purpose-built entertainment arenas began to take shape. “25 years ago, arenas didn’t really exist; they only started appearing in the early 80s and were generally converted exhibition halls like London’s Earls Court or the SECC in Scotland,” he says. Clumpas believes the biggest single improvement across venues of all sizes has been in sound quality. “You can look back fondly at gigs in the 1970s but the sound was shit. The sound in a theatre now is 20 times better than it was. It is inordinately better in arenas too; you used to have huge exhibition spaces with a PA system and the sound would reverberate off the walls. Now you have arenas that have been built for purpose and sonically tested,” says Clumpas. He adds that there have also been vast improvements in health and safety. “When I started there was no such thing as a barrier. To form a barrier we used to get flight cases, upturn them so the wheels stuck out, and ratchet them together. I would run along the top, throwing people off them,” laughs Clumpas. Across the Tasman Sea, Don Elford, head of corporate partnerships for venue operator AEG Ogden, sees other positive developments. “There have definitely been major advances in the way shows are produced, enhancing the fan experience,” says Elford. “The way we market shows to the potential audience is much more interactive and we now have a better gauge of how a show might do in our respective territories. The ‘well’ of talent is unbelievable these days with some potential stars having already done their ‘10,000 hours’ before they are too far into their teens. The most important change is that the revenue now predominately comes from live performance, who would have thought?!”

Increased competition While the huge growth in the number of venues around the world has in some regions, such as the US, begun to saturate the market, operators in many territories have

Venues at 25

used only to be about “ Sponsorship brand awareness, but now it is very much about customer interaction. It is the duty of the venue manager and marketing people to make sure they can help deliver that.

”

– Koen Melis, NEC Group Sydney Entertainment Centre’s Romer says food and beverage services at venues are continually evolving and the ability to remotely order in-seat refreshment via mobile applications is the latest initiative being implemented at many venues. “The introduction of tailored menus, show and dinner packages, and sophisticated corporate suites has influenced a change in the way food and beverage services are delivered. Two decades ago it was a one-size-fits-all philosophy,” says Romer. AsiaWorld-Expo opened in late 2005 and houses Hong Kong’s largest purpose-built indoor arena, the AsiaWorld Arena, with a capacity of 14,000. Karen Kwan is the venue’s assistant director of business development and during her 12 years in the industry she has seen a new generation of affluent concert-goers, looking for an immersive entertainment experience, emerge in the region. “The younger generations treat a concert like a day out or a ritual, nowadays – they are looking for a total concert experience, rather than just the concert itself,” observes Kwan. “The pre-show and after-show engagement with the audience are very important and form part of the concert experience, so we have implemented preshow entertainment and extended after-show operation times.”

What’s in a name? To help facilitate and fund improvements to venues and the increased range of entertainment on offer, sponsors are now

Auckland’s Vector Arena

warmly welcomed the new competition. Among them is Anders Backman, managing director of the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland. “There have been many new multipurpose arena openings in the Baltic countries, Russia and Europe,” notes Backman. “As a result, we are no longer at a dead-end here in Finland; you can book the venue as part of a good logistical route to the Baltic countries, the Scandinavian countries and Russia. That is definitely affecting our business and has enabled an improvement in the level of productions coming through.” One of the highest profile additions to the international venue map was The O2 arena in June 2007. Not only was the 20,000-capacity London arena a state-of-the-art facility in every way, but AEG’s strategy of positioning it at the heart of a multi-entertainment district paid off handsomely. With 32 restaurants and bars, an 11-screen cinema and interactive exhibition, The British Music Experience, on site, around eight million people visit the complex every year. AEG has rolled out the concept across its portfolio and venue owners and operators around the world have looked to the North Greenwich arena for inspiration. Almost two decades older than the London venue is The Singapore Indoor Stadium (SIS), which has been operating successfully since 1989, but, like the UK market leader, it will soon become part of a wider sports, entertainment and lifestyle complex. Due to open in April 2014, the Singapore Sports Hub will house the 12,000-capacity SIS alongside a new 55,000-capacity national stadium with a retractable roof, a 3,000-capacity, multi-purpose indoor arena and 41,000 square metres of commercial space for leisure, retail and restaurants. Global Spectrum Asia sales director Joanna Leong has been working at the SIS since 1995 and believes it is more important than ever that a venue is established as a multientertainment destination. “Venues now need to be selfcontained destinations,” she says. “This means creating unique food and beverage, hospitality and retail merchandising experiences. Without creating unique experiences and offerings to our guests, we become just another option, rather than a must-visit venue.” The Ahoy Rotterdam opened in 1971 and in 2011 celebrated its 40th anniversary in style when the results of a five-year, €60m refurbishment were revealed. Originally built as an indoor cycling arena, the Ahoy is now a cutting-edge multi-entertainment venue with a capacity of 15,000. Peter van der Veer has worked there since 2005 and believes it is vital that visitors are well catered for. With that in mind, the Ahoy does not work with contractors. “We do all our catering ourselves so it is entirely in our own hands,” states van der Veer. “We have great partnerships with our beer and beverage brands, but also develop our own brands within the arena. We have our own people behind the bars and we check their performance standards regularly. It is something we are developing day by day.”

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Venues at 25 Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena

playing a bigger role than ever before. Over the past decade, countless venues around the world have happily had their identity blended with huge corporations including O2, CocaCola, HSBC, Mercedes Benz and LG. Naming-rights deals provide venue owners with a considerable cash injection and if a working partnership is formed between venue owners and sponsors, it can lead to mutually beneficial, multi-faceted collaborations that go far beyond a name change. “25 years ago there was no such thing as naming rights: it is remarkable how it has developed. Within the NEC Group we look at it as a financial model, but also as a way of enhancing the visitor experience,” says Melis. “Sponsorship used only to be about brand awareness, but now it is very much about customer interaction. It is the duty of the venue manager and marketing people to make sure they can help deliver that.” Many venues, including the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, Wembley Arena and the Ahoy have so far withstood the temptations of a naming rights deal, while in some regions the marketing mechanism is yet to be fully explored. “Naming rights sponsorship is very immature in this market, but seeing the success of this in other countries, it is definitely something we are interested in exploring,” says AsiaWorld’s Kwan. For the Ahoy, it has been a matter of choosing to stick by a well-established identity. “We think a naming rights deal could be interesting, but only if it attracts more business. There has to be added value,” says van der Veer. “The Ahoy brand is so well known, the deal would have to help us market the arena and not just simply be about the money.” However, Shun believes that the trend for naming rights deals could well slow if deals end uncomfortably at venues. “Depending on the terms, a naming rights deal can be very important financially, but the downside is that the venue can lose its identity, and what happens at the end of the term? If a sponsor does not want to renew and another brand takes over it will create a considerable marketing challenge to convince people it is the same venue,” says Shun. With a concert capacity of more than 19,000, the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg is one of South Africa’s leading venues. Carol Weaving has been managing the venue since 2004. She points out that sponsorship deals, including naming rights agreements, play an increasingly important role in the business, not least due to global economic uncertainly and local issues

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such as huge rises in electricity costs and rising fuel levies. “With high annual increases in operating costs and property rental, we battle with trying to meet our clients’ needs and our budget,” she tells IQ. “We cannot annually increase the venue hire rental to our clients at the same percentage increase, as they are also struggling through this tough time. We therefore rely on sponsorship to assist.” Weaving continues, “As in any business, venue managers have felt the pinch of tough economic times in recent years. We have had to be innovative in our offerings at the venue to be sustainable and grow, constantly seeking new and exciting ways to draw clientele.” Among those new and exciting offerings have been productions including Disney on Ice and Cirque du Soleil and Weaving says she would welcome more non-music events.

Looking outside music While the majority of leading international venues now balance music events with sport, family and comedy shows, Clumpas believes that the shift toward non-music events will grow considerably if a new generation of top-level artists is not swiftly found. In a nod toward his days at King Tut’s, Clumpas is now developing a 400-capacity venue within the Vector to provide a stage for emerging acts. “Rock and roll is coming to the end of its generational span and something is desperately needed to fill in because there is not enough music,” says Clumpas. “When I first started going to gigs in the early 70s at the Glasgow Apollo, 95% of the acts playing were in their twenties. We are doing a lot of gigs at the Vector and more than 50% of the bands are in their sixties. We can’t continue with a situation like that; how many tours have they got left? If we want to be around in ten years, we need to fill the venues with nonmusic events.” AEG Ogden’s Elford is a tad more optimistic. “For years I have heard people say that the big acts will disappear and there won’t be anyone to play the big arenas. Well that is clearly not going to be the case going by this year’s Grammy awards and looking at the nomination list for the upcoming Brit Awards. It is a truly global business and is as exciting now as it has ever been.” Elford adds, “The model may have changed, but the essence of what we do remains the same. It is tribal, communal and above all, when you are in the room, it is unique. It makes me glad to be alive and doing this right now. I learnt a lesson years ago from my grandfather and it stills it applies today: ‘reflect on the past, but don’t live in it...live in the moment, the right now, and absolutely enjoy it...always plan ahead, that is important, but not too far, because someone will come along and throw a spanner in the works for sure!’. As true today as it has ever been.”

Switzerland

Switzerland Switzerland’s wealth and the local population’s demand for festivals have always seen the country punch way above its weight. But as Adam Woods discovers, the nation is not immune to the economic difficulties affecting other parts of the world…

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Switzerland

Introduction In a placid, prosperous live market such as Switzerland’s, a year that begins with the death of a figure as significant as Montreux Jazz Festival founder, Claude Nobs, is immediately the worst year it has had in quite some time. “You can imagine, it was a shock for everybody,” says Matthias Müller, president of Basel’s Baloise Session series of concerts. “It was a strange start to the year. On the same day Claude died, [Swiss jazz pianist] George Gruntz died. It was really a very sad thing – two icons on the same day.” Montreux will go on, just as Switzerland’s other diverse festivals – Paléo, Frauenfeld, Gampel, Gurtenfestival, Openair St. Gallen and the rest – look set to run and run. Tributes to ‘Funky Claude’ focused on his contribution to the world of jazz and the town of Montreux, but he is surely also due some credit for the fact that, 46 years after his legendary event blazed a trail, the Swiss populace maintains an insatiable appetite for music festivals of all kinds. Where the rest of the live industry is concerned, however, not everything is necessarily quite as comfortable as usual in the country that remains, in terms of average wealth per inhabitant, the most prosperous country in the world. Buffeted slightly by the neighbouring Eurozone, the economy is a bit less confident than usual, the outlook not entirely cloudless. “We aren’t immune to economic problems around us, and

as I expected, it has started here as well,” says Philippe Cornu of Appalooza Productions, the promoter behind Gurtenfestival. “Telecoms companies are cutting back staff, banks aren’t in the same shape they used to be. People don’t necessarily realise it, but the wind is blowing stronger in Switzerland as well.” There’s no rash of notoriously disastrous shows, no epidemic of collapsing companies, but there is a trace of a chill in the air, and anecdotal evidence of a market that is planning its moves slightly more carefully than usual. “My feeling is that it’s harder for the bigger shows, and as usual, I think that is mainly because of ticket prices,” says Seb Vuignier of promoter Takk Productions, in Lausanne. “I don’t think there have been cancellations because of low ticket sales, and we haven’t felt the crisis yet, though I know it exists, and I know some promoters have been affected. At this stage, for us, it’s more like a feeling.” Figures for 2012 won’t appear for a few weeks yet, but if the past seven years of Swiss Music Promoters Association (SMPA) figures offer any guide, we’re unlikely to be looking at precipitous falls. Show and festival revenues generated by the association’s members were up once again in 2011, to a high of CHF281million (€225.5m), based on 2,958,388 tickets sold – another record. Meanwhile, the number of gig-goers for all events, including free ones, exceeded 4.5m after the tiniest dip in 2010.

Switzerland

Promoters

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Marc Lambelet, Mainland Music In spite of the troubling European economy, there’s an upwardly mobile spirit among Swiss promoters these days, buoyed by a sense that, in their own market, there may be room at the top. Switzerland’s smaller promoters have generally claimed that they don’t consider themselves to be in competition with the country’s largest promoter, Good News, whose recent and imminent shows include Justin Bieber, Walking With Dinosaurs, Depeche Mode, Pink and Rihanna. However, the departure at the end of last year of founder and latter-day senior advisor, André Béchir, combined with the impending conclusion of Good News’s longstanding exclusivity deal with Zürich’s Hallenstadion, stirs up a status quo that has been in place for many years. Of course, Good News, now under the stewardship of CEO Gérard Jenni, who took over from Thomas Kastl last year, has no plans to loosen its grip on the market, and Béchir, who has yet to announce any new venture of his own, will continue to run the promoter’s Moon and Stars Festival in Locarno. It may indeed be coincidental that Swiss promoters appear to share a particular sense of purpose right now, but some things are certainly changing, if only among the handful of smaller promoters that have merged to create Mainland. A new entity incorporating Marc Lambelet’s Black Lamb (based in Lausanne); Derrick Thomson’s Cult Concerts Agency (Winterthur); Santosh Aerthott and Martin Schrader of Zürich’s Redda Music; and Christian Gremelmayr of the just-closed Abart Club (also in Zürich), will promote from club to arena level, with a focus on ), Basel, Bern and the Lake of Geneva region. “I have always felt a bit sorry about our business becoming more corporate, and now I realise I am doing it myself,” laughs Lambelet. “I think this is the way the world is going, but it is not like we have to do it because otherwise we are dead. It’s more about imagining a new future working with your friends, rather than just forming a big company in order to survive.” The new organisation has deals in place with Zürich venues Komplex 457, Hafenkneipe and Eldorado, as well as with six festivals, including Gampel and Metropop. “Being active at all levels, from very small club shows to arenas and festivals, I think is the only way of working now, if you want to take proper care of your acts,” says Lambelet. Other key Swiss promoters include Nyon’s Live Music Production, which has Michel Sardou and Mylène Farmer respectively booked into the Geneva Arena and Geneva Palexpo, and the same city’s Opus One, which will bring Bruce Springsteen to the Stade de Genève with Good News in May. “This is his first concert ever in the French part of Switzerland, and sales so far are pretty good,” says Opus One managing director Vincent Sager, whose firm celebrates is 20th anniversary this year in good

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shape. But he is conscious that the market is getting tougher. “We did well last year with most of our productions, but we still had this feeling that ticket prices are rising and the offer is growing all the time,” says Sager. “For the fans, there is a limit to the budget they can invest in entertainment. That’s my concern: where is it going to stop?” Béchir was a founding partner of Opus One two decades ago and remains a close associate. Rumours abound that he has another venture planned, but Sager will do no more than hint. “André and Good News have been very good friends to us for a long time, and I think there might be some exciting things coming up sometime,” he says. Other significant promoters include Lausanne’s expanding Soldout Productions and the indie-leaning Takk, which put on Amy Macdonald for five nights at Zürich’s 2,000-capacity Komplex 457 in February. Takk will promote Muse at Bern’s Stade de Suisse in May in partnership with Appalooza, which will also stage Robbie Williams at Zürich’s Stadio Letzigrund in August. AllBlues mines an interesting seam of jazz, country, world and alternative music on the German side of Switzerland, with Grizzly Bear, Melody Gardot and Jan Garbarek among a busy line-up for 2013. “Our concert programming makes sense and fits our niche, so we’ve been able to acquire a faithful audience over the last 20 years,” says managing director Johannes Vogel. “The artist fees for concerts with a capacity up to 2,000 people have gone up, but not too much. Since we’ve always been able to charge higher prices for our concerts, we can deal with it. And as we operate in a niche and don’t promote purely commercial pop and rock concerts, competition with other promoters is not as high.” In 2011, Good News owners Ringier and DEAG launched Starclick, a new niche rock and metal promoter under the management of the bankrupt promoter Free & Virgin. In December, Switzerland’s collection society, Suisa, filed criminal proceedings against Harry Sprenger and another former Free & Virgin director, accusing Free & Virgin of causing “seven-digit losses to composers, lyricists and publishers”. The claim is ongoing. Starclick, meanwhile, is enjoying a busy year, according to director Stefan Matthey. “We had a good start in 2013, with a sold-out show with The Script at the Volkshaus in Zürich,” says Matthey. “We are happy to look forward to great shows coming up, including Nelly Furtado, Korn, The Darkness, some sold-out shows with Eels at the Volkshaus and some at the Hallenstadion in Zürich with Unheilig and Iron Maiden.”

Hallenstadion in Zürich

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Being active at all levels, from very small club shows to arenas and festivals, I think is the only way of working now, if you want to take proper care of your acts.

Switzerland

Festivals Artists’ fees are becoming a “problem, especially for small- and

medium-sized festivals, because on the artists’ side, this is the only remaining way to make money now, and on the booking side, there is really strong competition across the whole of Europe.

”

Philippe Cornu, Gurten Festival Switzerland’s particular love of festivals can’t be easily explained. Better just to accept the fact that this country of eight million, with strictly defined and notoriously independent French, German and Italian regions, is united not just by a 165-year-old federal constitution, but also by a love of outdoor music. From Paléo and Montreux in the Frenchspeaking west to Gampel, Gurten, St. Gallen and Frauenfeld in the larger German-speaking north, east and central regions, a fairly core certainty of the Swiss live business is the reliable demand for festival tickets. That doesn’t mean, of course, that the main players automatically assume the market will tolerate just anything. Paléo, Switzerland’s largest festival, has sold out for 12 years in a row and last year moved 210,000 tickets within an hour-and-a-half of the six-day event going on sale. “There is no sign of weakness at Paléo,” says booker Dany Hassenstein, reasonably enough, but he notes that there is nevertheless no room for complacency. “Switzerland is a pretty healthy place, but I think everyone still has to be careful. I know ticket sales haven’t been as huge as expected for a lot of single-headline shows. On the other hand, every festival I have been talking to tells me things are going great – better than ever.” Paléo has announced Neil Young and Crazy Horse for this year’s edition, tickets for which go on sale in April, a week after the full line-up is unveiled. With infrastructural capacity offering no potential for further expansion, Paléo’s developments now tend to be more like tweaks. The festival’s print-at-home ticketing system now accounts for 50% of tickets and has made a significant dent in re-selling, while next year the second stage will come out from under cover. In the late-1990s, Openair Frauenfeld hosted David Bowie and the Rolling Stones in consecutive years, but these days it focuses on hip hop. Staged in the north-east canton of Thurgau, it draws up to 50,000 a day, giving it the largest daily capacity of any of Switzerland’s festivals. Openair St. Gallen, with a 30,000 daily gate, is the secondlargest festival in the German part of Switzerland, and is in rude health. Sigur Rós, Kings of Leon and Britain’s continental favourites, Archive, are confirmed for 2013. At Bern’s mountaintop festival Gurten, last year’s big acts included Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones and Snow Patrol, and a turn-out of 76,000 over four days represented a new event

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record. This year is the festival’s 30th anniversary, though Philippe Cornu, while no less passionate than usual about his event, is reluctant to shout about the fact. “To be honest, big plans for an anniversary edition are always kind of dangerous,” says Cornu. “To maintain the quality and the standard of the festival is already a big challenge every year, so to communicate special plans is to raise people’s expectations too high. If anyone asks, we just say that every year is a kind of anniversary.” Like many others, Cornu is clear on the point that, if there are problems in the festival market, they aren’t generally to do with basic demand. “We just feel that everywhere, budgets are getting smaller, and sponsors who have been partners for several festivals might just choose one or two,” he says. “The interest of the people is really good, really high, but the economics are getting more difficult than they used to be. Artists’ fees are becoming a problem, especially for small- and medium-sized festivals, because on the artists’ side, this is the only remaining way to make money now, and on the booking side, there is really strong competition across the whole of Europe.” The coming of Zürich Openair, the brainchild of ambitious young entrepreneur Rolf Ronner, represents the arrival of a bit more competition in Switzerland itself. It staged its second edition last summer, drawing 63,000 to Rümlang over four days with a line-up that included The Killers, The Prodigy and Kraftwerk. Mutterings in the industry suggested that the newcomer’s generous fees could potentially distort the market. Ronner, son of a wealthy family, robustly defended his practices to the Swiss press, denying that the festival was subsidised with private money and insisting it needed to turn a significant profit. A festival of a different kind, the former AVO Session Basel relaunches this year as Baloise Session, having lost its cigar-making sponsor and smartly found a new one in the shape of another hometown brand, Basler Insurance. “Searching for another partner these days – to be honest, it makes you nervous,” says president Matthias Müller, clearly happy and relieved at the outcome. “But things are running very smoothly now and we are looking forward to launching the new festival, which remains the same as the old festival, obviously.” In fact, while the DNA may remain the same, in Müller’s words, the venue, at least, will change, as this October/November’s Baloise Session will inaugurate a new, Herzog & de Meuron-designed hall in the Congress Center Basel.

sales haven’t been as “hugeTicket as expected for a lot of singleheadline shows. On the other hand, every festival I have been talking to tells me things are going great – better than ever.

”

Dany Hassenstein, Paleo Festival

Switzerland

Venues “But we are also looking forward to having more hard rock, more metal, more independent artists.” Elsewhere in Zürich, the 2,000-capacity Komplex 457, opened in 2010, continues to thrive, and will soon give over its basement to a new 400-capacity venue operated by Mainland, which will effectively be a successor to the Abart. Zürich, and Switzerland as a whole, still suffers from a gap between theatres and arenas, but Papiersaal, X-TRA, Plaza, Hafenkneipe, Eldorado and Mascotte are among the clubs that regularly host quality live music, fulfilling a role served elsewhere by clubs and theatres such as PTR, Salle des Fêtes and Pachinko (Geneva); Kofmehl, Les Docks and D! Club (Lausanne); and Kaserne and Hinterhof (Basel). Other wellused Swiss arenas, meanwhile, include Basel’s 9,000-capacity St Jakobshalle and the 9,500-capacity Geneva Arena. Switzerland’s club scene is broadly a thriving thing, but if there is a sign of weakness in the market, says Lambelet, it is at the smallest shows. “Huge shows like Robbie Williams and Muse sell out very, very quickly – tens of thousand tickets in a few hours, at a very high ticket price – but then there are tiny shows that seem to interest no-one,” he says. “Two or three punters in a club is something I thought had disappeared, but it seems to be coming back again.” Lenny Kravitz at Paleo Festival last year

The Hallenstadion, the biggest venue in the biggest Swiss city, is the closest thing Switzerland has to a magnet for large international acts. And inevitably, the news that the 14,000-capacity hall will be accessible to promoters other than Good News is of great interest to ambitious smaller promoters. “It’s a good opportunity, I’m sure, because it will give more opportunity to younger promoters like ourselves who have small acts that are on their way up,” says Vuignier. For his own part, Hallenstadion director Felix Frei explains the thinking. “We have had a strategic partnership with Good News for decades, and as Good News has been looking for a successor to André Béchir for a good while, so we have also been doing our strategic homework. We are convinced that, for our situation as an arena, it’s better to have more possible promoters than just one. If you have just one, you are depending very strongly on them, and that’s a big risk.” The arena has been busy in the past year, says Frei, though it has had a relatively quiet time musically speaking, and harbours ambitions to present a broader spectrum of genres, which is where it hopes the wider community will come in, and Good News too, of course. “It was absolutely a win-win situation for many years, and we are still looking forward to having them as the biggest promoter in our house, no discussion,” says Frei.

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Switzerland

Local issues I want to get to Berlin, it costs “meIfmaybe 100 quid and I’m there in two-and-a-half hours. Getting to Geneva takes me the same amount of time or even more, and when I get there they talk a different language.

”

Philipp Schnyder, m4music Swiss music enjoys a relatively low profile worldwide, with recent decades offering only occasional breakthroughs such as Yello; hard-rockers Gotthard and Krokus; techno-industrial legends The Young Gods; and divisive continental dance-pop star, DJ BoBo. Of the newer generation, Sophie Hunger is the most prominent Swiss artist in quite some time, having played both Glastonbury and Montreal’s International Jazz Festival. Swiss music may still be looking for its definitive figurehead, but there is, all the same, a reasonable amount of it. Swiss Music Export last year estimated that there are 100 internationally active Swiss acts. When the SMPA broke out the numbers of domestic acts active in Switzerland for the first time last year, it revealed that 475 Swiss artists played in 2011, against 1,896 foreign artists. It always bears noting, particularly in view of its perhaps unfairly beige reputation, just what an unusual country Switzerland is. A federal patchwork comprising 26 selfgoverning cantons, it has four national languages, of which German is the most spoken (by 64% of the population), followed by French (20%), Italian (6.5%) and Romansh (0.5%), which is,

remarkably, a descendent from the Latin of the Romans. What it all means, in the case of Switzerland, is a country whose regions might as well be divided by walls, so limited is the recreational traffic between them. “If I want to get to Berlin, it costs me maybe 100 quid and I’m there in two-anda-half hours,” says Zürich-based Philipp Schnyder, organiser of the city’s m4music-Festival and Conference. “Getting to Geneva takes me the same amount of time or even more, and when I get there they talk a different language.” So it is that while English-speaking international acts can do well in most major Swiss cities – though tastes in such things are by no means uniform – French and German acts find a market only in the part with which they share a language. And needless to say, major domestic acts from one culture have little to no appeal in the others. M4music, as it happens, was launched 16 years ago to address the atomisation of the Swiss music scene. “We wanted to build a festival that brought everyone together,” says Schnyder. “Switzerland is incredibly decentralised, with a tradition of every city doing its own thing. It’s not like France or Spain or these bigger countries where there is one major centre. Switzerland had musical scenes in every city, and they didn’t interfere with each other at all.” Having spent years mingling all types of Swiss music, m4music now also addresses itself to drawing the international industry to its shows and panel discussions. Last year, there were 700 delegates, on top of 6,600 punters, over the course of three days. Another initiative with local music in mind is due to launch this year under the banner of Swiss Live Talents, a new international promotional platform organised by industry veteran (and ILMC platinum member) François Moreillon. In its first month, 440 Swiss bands have signed up to the new organisation’s website to win a spot on a summer promotional tour, culminating in a gala evening in November when nine awards will be presented, chosen variously by an international industry jury and by the public. “There is a scene in every city in Switzerland,” says Moreillon. “It is an exciting scene and a growing scene, and I think people will start to realise that, but we know the international profile of Swiss music is low, so we are working to involve international programme directors, as well as the live industry in Switzerland – the clubs, the festivals.”

Last year’s m4music winners show off their trophies

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In Focus... Do you have a photo for inclusion? email info@iq-mag.net 1

1. C ountry star Keith Urban receives a bespoke Tomkins guitar from Allphones Arena’s Phil King, Guy Ngata and Steve Knuth, to mark his two dates at the Sydney venue as part of his The Story So Far Tour. 2. Trussing manufacturer MILOS recently staged a successful Product Seminar and Safety Awareness Workshop at its facility in Guangzhou, China, attended by delegates from Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia and China. The event was led by MILOS China’s Marek Zubor, Michal Zykan and Stephen Huang. 3. Key members of Swedish House Mafia’s crew became Movember Mo Bros, cultivating an eclectic array of moustaches to raise money for the Movember men’s health awareness campaign. The initiative was spearheaded by tour manager Michael ‘Curly’ Jobson, whose father-in-law was diagnosed with prostate cancer. 4. Master of ceremonies Ben Challis raises a glass of Pálinka to toast the team from Heineken Balaton Sound in Hungary for their triumph in the Best Medium-Sized Festival category at the European Festival Awards, held during Eurosonic Noorderslag. 5. Journalist Manfred Tari quizzes insurance experts Paul Twomey (Robertson Taylor), Stuart Davis (Aon Risk Solutions) and Matthias Grischke (Novitas) on the thorny subject of festival insurance during Eurosonic. (Photo: Bart Heemskerk) 6. Showsec MD Mark Harding celebrates a new five-year contract with SMG Europe MD John Sutherland, which will see the company provide its services at all of SMG’s mainland UK venues, including Manchester Evening News Arena, Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena, the new Leeds Arena and five regional theatres. 7. Panellists Gary Pitt (Get In Bed), Freddie Fellowes (Secret Garden Party), Chris McCormick (Bluepeg), moderator Greg Parmley (Intellitix), Dan Walsh (Full Fat PR) and Ben Lane (Arts Council) met to discuss the world of sponsorship and branding during the Association of Independent Festivals’ seminars at London’s Royal Festival Hall on 6 February. 6

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Your Shout

“ What are your favourite memories of Henning Tögel and Claude Nobs?”

I vividly remember driving with Henning on the Autobahn at 230 km/h to an Alice Cooper show in Freiburg. We were already late so he ‘wasn’t happy’ to get into a major traffic jam. The cars were forming a lane for an ambulance and to my absolute horror, he pulled out after the ambulance passed by and tailed it for 8km between lanes until traffic was back to normal again. Of course, we made it in time for dinner. I wasn’t hungry. David Garcia, Moderne Welt Henning was a good friend, while at the same time the worst person I had to do business with in terms of negotiations. He would fight over the very last penny. However, once we had our screaming matches, we could always meet for a red wine. He will be sorely missed. Andrew Leighton-Pope, Leighton-Pope Organisation I first met Claude when I was tour manager of the Soft Machine. I was also at Montreux with John McLoughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and we were all treated exceptionally well. I am not afraid to admit that I shed some tears when I heard the news of the passing of Claude. In regard to Henning, I saw him many times at the ILMC and he was both a loyal and very active member. Both Claude and Henning are a great loss to our community and will be very much missed. Gerry Stevens, Talent Care International

Henning: It’s not so much that I have one story about Henning, but it’s all about the character of the man. For all the years I knew him, he never gave up on trying to start new businesses, his enthusiasm for the business never diminished. He was never cynical but knew his capabilities, and never stopped moving forward. Claude: So many memories of Claude, but one of the early ones is being up at his house and being shown his library of Montreux shows, and him picking out Aretha Franklin to show us, absolutely incredible. Claude’s contacts and his real love of music permeated everything that is Montreux, and then there’s the Deep Purple story… Neil Warnock, The Agency Group It’s 1981 and I am a young agent in the first flush of success and guess what… I have a band on the famous Montreux Jazz Festival! UB40 and I arrive together for soundcheck around 4pm. The initial disappointment of the small, dark, dingy casino with its tiny stage soon turns to anger when the group discover the equipment being provided is not exactly as per the rider. Misplaced confidence and youthful petulance took over and the band refused to play. We returned to the Eden Palace Hotel and commenced an evening of laughter and frolics. Things soon sobered up when in through the door marched Claude with the local police superintendent demanding that the group either play or be arrested. From such a fractious start a great friendship was born, we went on to work together on Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Youssou N’Dour, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Diane Reeves, Cheikh Lo, Jacky Terrasson, The Headhunters, Ernest Ranglin, Blackstreet, Mary J Blige, Maxwell, Prince, Leonard Cohen – the list is endless. I would always strive to have an artist on the festival every year and Claude was such a gentleman on every occasion it reminded me of how obnoxious I must have been on that summer’s night in 1981 and to try to never behave in that same manner again. Rob Hallett, AEG Live

Henning: My history with Henning was never smooth, he was aggressive, argumentative and probably one of the most annoying people I’ve done business with. However, we worked together on Chippendales and Harlem Globetrotters, and he found me more dates than any other promoter in Germany. Some of the places were so small, we would think he had imagined them and that they didn’t really exist, but when we got there the place was packed and he always did a great job. We were friends who both had a passion for the business and never held back. It was his way and my way. I’ll miss him, he was one of the great characters. Claude: Everyone who knew Claude could honestly say they loved him. We went to Montreux many times and sat up at the house, talking about great players, great music and great times. A couple of years ago he presented me with his autobiography, four volumes of pure history. It took me forever to read, but the photo of Claude running with a hose pipe when the casino caught fire, which inspired Deep Purple to write Smoke On The Water will always stay with me and I watched him play harmonica at the anniversary gig. I hope that Montreux lives on in his honour and I will certainly drink a glass of champagne in his name many, many times. Carl Leighton Pope, Leighton-Pope Organisation

If you would like to send feedback, comments or suggestions for future Your Shout topics, please email: info@iq-mag.net

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Young artist manager Henning Tögel with his band, Cannock