99 An ILMC Publication MAY 2021 | £25 | €25
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IQ99 CONTENTS
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NEWS
FEATURES
COMMENT AND COLUMNS
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Index In Brief The main headlines over the last two months Analysis Key stories and news analysis from around the live music world New Signings & New Music A roundup of the latest acts that have found agents during the pandemic
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NFTs - Ticketing's Interactive Future? IQ examines the hype around nonfungible tokens and the exciting possibilities they can bring to ticketing Building Back Greener Jon Chapple discovers some of the ways that live entertainment can embrace sustainability in its return to action
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Leading by Example Laura Davidson explains the driving force behind her new female-led live services consultancy Running the Risk Julia Robinson warns that a lack of government-backed insurance could impact business confidence PULSE Mike Malak keeps tabs on the new technology impacting the music industry IPM Production Notes Tour manager Rebecca Travis reflects on of Thousands 20 years on the road –professionals and one year offread Your Shout IQ every day. Make What’s been your biggestsure culinary you get the triumph during lockdown?
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A MONTHLY HALF-DAY WEBINAR UPDATING THE LIVE MUSIC INDUSTRY ON THE CURRENT STATE OF COVID PANDEMIC AND THE ROADMAP TO RE-OPENING
Key principals from science, health & safety, technology and the business, present the latest advances, updates and information around live music’s recovery.
2021 DATES 13 MAY 10 JUNE 8 JULY 5 AUGUST
The Recovery Sessions will be free to attend for all subscribers
The latest COVID mitigation strategies Market comparisons and updates on vaccines and testing Reports on recent pilots and tests COVID-related technology solutions that assist in protecting concert goers, artists, crew and teams Projected reopening schedules Invited Q&As with scientists, epidemiologists and other experts, and industry heads.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO GET INVOLVED, CONTACT CHRIS PROSSER chris@iq-mag.net Click here to subscribe to
now
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
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s I write, London is enjoying its third week of partly relaxed restrictions, with bars and restaurants allowed to operate their outdoor areas, hairdressers reopened, and non-essential shops back to something approaching normal, although many are limiting the number of customers in-store at any one time. Live music is still, sadly, missing, but as the spring sunshine begins to buoy our emotions, it feels like we’re beginning to bathe in that light at the end of the tunnel. The next big date in the calendar for England (the four home nations in the UK are all handling their timetables differently) is 17 May, when most legal restrictions on meeting others outdoors will be lifted (although gatherings of over 30 people will remain illegal) and indoors, the ‘Rule of 6’ or two households coming together, will apply. Should that all go to plan, 21 June will herald the end of all restrictions: no more mandatory face masks; an end to social distancing; and venues will be allowed to reopen their doors without any legal limitations, meaning live music can return. But all that promise comes with the caveat that the infection rate and hospitalisation numbers must not increase. And that will definitely rely on keeping out any new variants of Covid, so personally, I will be hanging on to my masks for the foreseeable future, especially if I’m using public transport, or even one of those giant iron birds that used to be so prevalent in the London sky. Looking at what is currently going on in India, where hundreds of thousands of new infections are being reported daily, is a sobering reminder of how quickly things can go wrong, and just how fragile our freedom is in this new world order. Taking things for granted is very much at our own peril and I would urge anyone who can afford it to give generously to the Indian aid appeals, as the nightmare they are currently enduring could well become the world’s, without more help. Having been able to meet friends for the first time in months has underlined that a clear run of ‘normal’ is much needed, and, with any luck, as nations start to reap the results of vaccination programmes, we may even find confidence returning to the insurance markets, which, in turn, could finally give festival organisers the green-light to go ahead with their sold-out events. As with anything to do with this wretched virus, any kind of statement or guidance comes with a dose of ifs, buts and howevers. And with international touring still a distant pipedream, there will probably be as many setbacks as steps forward toward the recovery for live events. So, with that in mind, IQ is launching a series of monthly mini-conferences – the Recovery Sessions – so that subscribers can dissect data and discuss results from test events, while learning from epidemiologists and scientists about how we can plan a safe path back to operations around the world. The first of these sessions is scheduled for 13 May and will only be available to IQ subscribers, so if you know anyone who is yet to renew their subscription, best give them a gentle nudge before then.
ISSUE 99 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE IQ Magazine Unit 31 Tileyard Road London, N7 9AH info@iq-mag.net www.iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0300 Twitter: @iq_mag Publisher ILMC and Suspicious Marketing Editor Gordon Masson News Editor Jon Chapple Staff Writer Lisa Henderson Advertising Manager Steve Woollett Design Rather Nice Design Sub Editor Michael Muldoon Head of Digital Ben Delger Contributors Laura Davidson, Mike Malak, Julia Robinson, Rebecca Travis Editorial Contact Gordon Masson gordon@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0303 Advertising Contact Steve Woollett steve@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0304 ISSN 2633-0636
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IN BRIEF INDEX The concert business digest
APRIL Hamburg’s Barclaycard Arena prepares to open its doors for the first time in a year to host the Restart concert series, organised by Hamburg Concerts. The US Small Business Administration is forced to close the portal for Shuttered Venue Operating Grants before a single application is received. AmazeVR, the LA-based startup, raises $9.5m (€7.9m) in new funding to accelerate the company’s growth in the world of virtual reality concerts. Brussels venue KVS plans to open its doors on 26 April, defying current restrictions, in a bid to increase pressure on the Belgian government to reopen the cultural sector. Frontier Touring announces the second edition of Music from the Home Front, a special Anzac Day concert spearheaded by the late Australian industry icon Michael Gudinski. Live Nation and Veeps equip more than 60 venues around the US with a permanent live-streaming set-up.
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Denmark’s Smash!Bang!Pow! hires one of the country’s most experienced concert promoters, Xenia Grigat. Norway’s biggest rock and metal festival, Tons of Rock, is the first major Norwegian festival to cancel its 2021 edition. Ken Watts, a much-loved tour director for the likes of George Michael, Duran Duran, Natalie Imbruglia, Bond, Blues Brothers, Jamiroquai and Duran Duran, passes away. Fieldlab, the Dutch initiative behind the Back to Live series, receives permission from the government to scale-up its forthcoming test events. Dutch DJ Don Diablo sells what is thought to be the first-ever fulllength concert NFT (non-fungible token) for cryptocurrency to the value of $1.2million (€1m). Stagehand’s Covid-19 relief fund is bolstered by a £75,000 (€11,000) donation from PPL, the UK’s music licensing company for performers and recording rights holders. Ten historic independent venues in the US, as well as NIVA, will benefit from more than $200,000 (€165,343) raised through a ‘golden ticket’ NFT fundraiser.
Working guidance for UK festival organisers is updated to provide “support and strategic direction” in the planning of events ahead of the ERP. Fieldlab’s largest test event yet, the 10,000-capacity 538 Koningsdag festival in the Netherlands, receives more than a million applications. Finland’s 2021 festival season shrinks dramatically with the cancellations of major festivals such as Ruisrock, Ilosaarirock, Provinssirock, and Sideways. Switzerland’s cultural industry welcomes the federal government’s decision to allow audiences at concerts again amid a wider rollback of restrictions. iconic UK venue, Forum Birmingham, which previously welcomed artists ranging from Bob Marley to Ed Sheeran is set to open its doors for the first time in a decade. The organisers of a surprise AJ Tracey gig are fined £10,000 (€11,503) after huge crowds gathered in a park in Manchester to see the rapper perform.
ASM Global signs on to comanage operations, run the commercialisation, and oversee the development of a new entertainment and sports arena in Cantù, Italy. Sefton Park in Liverpool will host a new music festival, simply called the Sefton Park Pilot, as part of the British government-backed Events Research Programme. 5B Artists and Media, the international music management company that is home to hard rock/metal acts, hires artist manager James Vitalo. Color Sound, the long-running Italian booking agency, sells a “significant stake” in the company to Milan-based record label and music distributor Artist First. Live Nation Spain president Pino Sagliocco galvanises celebrities for a benefit campaign supporting the music industry. Fieldlab’s 10,000-person test event, 538 Koningsdag, is cancelled by local authorities. FKP Scorpio joins forces with Berlin-based booking agency Area One to form new agency business FKP Area One. Thousands of
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Analysis
PILOTS PROVE SAFE RETURN TO LIVE IS POSSIBLE
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n the eve of two major UK test events (Festival Republic's 5,000-cap Blossoms' show on 2 May, and The Brit Awards on 11 May), findings from clinically monitored test gigs in Spain and the Netherlands present further evidence that indoor concerts needn’t increase the potential for new coronavirus infections. Festivals per la Cultura Segura, the organiser of the show in Barcelona on 27 March, announced that the event had no impact on Covid-19 transmission among attendees, despite the lack of social distancing observed at the 5,000-person show. Having analysed the data, doctors from the show’s medical partners (the Germans Trias Hospital and the Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation), have concluded that the indoor concert setting did not increase the coronavirus risk – with concertgoers exhibiting a lower incidence of Covid-19 than the general population in Barcelona at the time. Taking place at the 17,000-capacity Palau Sant Jordi arena, the event saw popular local rock act Love of Lesbian perform to an audience of 4,994
fans, all of whom had tested negative for Covid-19 on the day (six people were turned away after testing positive). While the use of a medical-grade FFP2 mask was mandatory, there was no social distancing among fans, who were separated into three areas once the show got underway. Compliance with the measures that were in place was “scrupulous,” say organisers. Of the 4,592 concert attendees who gave consent for the doctors to analyse Covid-19 tests taken after the event, six tested positive for Covid-19 within 14 days of the show. All six cases had mild symptoms, or were asymptomatic, and no secondary transmission was observed; additionally, analysis suggests that four of the cases originated outside the concert. The six cases, say the scientists, represent a cumulative incidence (at 14 days after the show) of 130.7 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants. Compared to Barcelona as a whole, this is lower than the 259.5 cases/100,000 people in the city’s population at the time. In a statement, Festivals per la Cultura Segura – comprising Primavera Sound, Sónar, Cruïlla, Canet Rock, TheProject and Vida Festival – say they view the experiment “very positively,”
“The aim is for this established model to generate new proposals within the framework of a strategic plan of pilot studies. such as the one carried out on 27 March at the Palau Sant Jordi” Festivals per la Cultura Segura
stating their intention to use the lessons of the Love of Lesbian show to push for the safe return of full-capacity live concerts. “We will continue to work under the guidance of the scientific community in order to make further progress,” they say. “The aim is for this established model to generate new proposals within the framework of a strategic plan of pilot studies, such as the one carried out on 27 March at the Palau Sant Jordi.” In the Netherlands, seated indoor events can take place as soon as possible – even with a high prevalence of Covid-19 locally – provided certain measures are adhered to, according to the findings of Fieldlab Evenementen. The Dutch initiative shared the results from the first part of its Back to Live test series, which involved a business conference and a cabaret show by the Dutch comedian Guido Weijers. Each event took place during February at the Beatrix Theater, Utrecht, with around 500 attendees. Based on the results of the study, Fieldlab says that these so-called ‘type-one events,’ which take place indoors, with seats, and where the public behaves calmly, can take place with 50% occupancy and without social distancing. However, visitors must be tested before and after the event and wear a mask while walking around the venue. The recommendations are also based on a venue having good ventilation and separating large groups of visitors. Fieldlab researchers say the results of the study are “encouraging,” noting that 98.4% of the visitors who attended the events adhered to the instructions, and 80% of the visitors downloaded the CoronaMelder (CoronaDetector) app in advance, so that track-and-trace could be carried out easily. The number of contacts within 1.5 metres and lasting longer than 15 minutes was limited, especially during the theatre test. This number was higher at the conference because people actively sought out colleagues and peers. The Back to Live series, which has so far included concerts, festivals and other live events, will continue with the Eurovision Song Contest in May. A planned 10,000-person music festival, 538 Oranjedag, which would have been the series' biggest event to date, was planned for 24 April but was called off amid local opposition. A petition calling on organisers to cancel the event had drawn nearly 400,000 signatures, with campaigners stating that “[having] a party with 10,000 people, 400 metres from a hospital overloaded by Covid-19, is a blow to patients and caregivers.” Ultimately, the Dutch government left the decision to city authorities, which decided to decline a permit for the event, citingThousands the potentialof for disruption at the festival.professionals read
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NEW SIGNINGS & NEW MUSIC
LISTEN TO ’S ‘NEW MUSIC’ AGENCY PLAYLIST HERE
works with agency partners to compile a monthly playlist of new music, much of it released by the new additions to their rosters. Among the tracks on May’s playlist are submissions from ATC Live, CAA, ICM Partners, ITB, Mother Artists, Paradigm, Primary Talent, UTA, and WME.
LIRAZ
André Marmot Earth Agency
© Ronen Fadida
AGENT
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(IL)
IMANBEK AGENTS
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Paul McQueen Primary Talent; Simon Clarkson & Paul Gongaware ICM Partners
iq-mag.net
(KZ)
or Liraz’s second album, Zan (‘Women’ in Farsi), she collaborated online with composers and musicians from Iran, meaning everything had to be secretive to avoid the gaze of Tehran’s mullahs and secret police. Her family, Iranian Jews, moved to Tel Aviv in the 1970s, but Liraz always believed her culture to be Iranian. After moving to the US to act in several movies, she found a huge Iranian community in LA. “There are a million Iranians there, so many I started to call it ‘Tehrangeles,’” she says. “I heard this music from before the revolution and I started to collect it. Some was by women who didn’t stop singing after the revolution, as they were supposed to do. I heard the courage in their voices. That made me realise I didn’t want to act, I wanted to sing.” In 2018, Liraz released Naz, writing and singing in Farsi. When the album was done, she knew she wanted to take things even deeper – to work with Iranian musicians and let her music resonate further. As a result, Zan is underground music in the very best sense: true political pop with names withheld for safety. Clandestine collaborations that mix traditional Persian instruments, club beats and call-to-action melodies.
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aving miraculously broken all possible music charts with his multi-platinum Roses remix, Imanbek Zeikenov (from Aksu in Kazakhstan) despite being just 20 has already changed the history of EDM by becoming the first Eastern European musician to enter the top 5 of the Billboard HOT 100. SAINt JHN’s single, Roses, remixed by Imanbek, was originally an unofficial upload to YouTube before he was signed by Russian label Effective Records in 2019. However, Imanbek won a Grammy for the remix. Roses has clocked up more than one billion streams on Spotify and topped charts around the world, making Imanbek one of the most popular musical collaborators on the planet, with projects alongside the likes of Usher, Tory Lanez, Sean Paul, of Thousands and DJs Marshmello, Don Diablo, Afrojack,professionals Martin Jansen,read VIZE, Zara Larsson, Trevor Daniel, Goodboys,IQFetty Wap andMake every day. more, while superstar J Balvin also joined the Roses remix sure you get the bandwagon with his Latino Gang version.
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New Signings
ARTIST LISTINGS 1-800 GIRLS (UK) A1 x J1 (UK) ADELINE (FR) Allison Russell (CA) Angel Haze (US) Armand Hammer (US) ArrDee (UK) Astrid Canales (ES) Batida (AN/PT) Beren Olivia (UK) Brynn Elliott (US) Cashh (UK) Cassandra Jenkins (US) Cherym (UK) Coco & Clair Clair (US) Conor Albert (UK) Cookiee Kawaii (US) Deyaz (UK) Dreya Mac (UK) Ducks Ltd. (CA) Eddie Benjamin (AU) Editrix (US) English Teacher (UK) FEET (UK) Gaff (IE) Gaidaa (NL) General Levy (UK) GIRLI (UK) girlpuppy (UK) God’s Hate (US)
Jason O’Regan, Earth Agency Max Lee, Earth Agency Beth Morton & James Wright, UTA Rob Challice & Olly Hodgson, Paradigm Guillaume Brevers, Hometown Talent Serena Parsons, Earth Agency Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Felipe Mina Calvo, ATC Live Clementine Bunel, Paradigm Ryan Penty, Paradigm Nick Matthews, Paradigm Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Alice Hogg & Will Church, ATC Live Olivia Sime, ITB Guillaume Brevers, Hometown Talent Steve Nickolls & James Wright, UTA Sally Dunstone, Primary Talent Alex Hardee, Paradigm Sam Gill, Earth Agency Guillaume Brevers, Hometown Talent Noah Simon, UTA Graham Clews & Sarah Besnard, ATC Live Matt Bates, Primary Talent Skully Sullivan-Kaplan, ATC Live Nikos Kazoleas & James Osgood, UTA Kevin Jergenson, ICM Partners Darren James-Thomas, FMLY Agency Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Graham Clews & Will Church, ATC Live Tom Taaffe, Paradigm
HOTTEST NEW ACTS THIS MONTH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
LAST MONTH 17 21 1 11 22 5 34 30 10 6 29 9
PREDICTIONS FOR MAY 2021
ARTIST YOUNG STONER LIFE (US) YOT CLUB (US) BIG SCARR (US) MIMI WEBB (UK) SOFAYGO (US) POUTYFACE (US) MASKED WOLF (AU) LAURA LES (100 GECS) (US) DRY CLEANING (UK) IAMDOECHII (US) TAI VERDES (US) SPOTEMGOTTEM (US) A1 X J1 (UK) FRED AGAIN.. (UK) CENTRAL CEE (UK) CHLOE GEORGE (US), MOOSKI (US), PARIS TEXAS (US), LAKEYAH (US), DAINE (AU)
Artists not in the current top 15, but growing quickly
Fastest growing artists in terms of music consumption, aggregated across a number of online sources.
APRIL 2021
Gotts Street Park (UK) Sam Gill, Earth Agency Here at Last (UK) Ryan Penty, Paradigm Indigo De Souza (US) Matt Pickering-Copley, Primary Talent Jerro (BE) Kevin Jergenson & Paul Gongaware, ICM Partners Joe Turner (UK) Michael Harvey-Bray & Cris Hearn, Paradigm Kassa Overall (US) Naomi Palmer, Earth Agency Kessler (UK) Michael Harvey-Bray, Paradigm Kinkajous (UK) Darren James-Thomas, FMLY Agency L’Objectif (UK) David Exley, Paradigm Le Couleur (CA) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Lea Heart (IE) Alex Hardee, Paradigm Linda Diaz (US) James Wright, UTA Lucy Gooch (UK) Dave Jennings, Art & Industry Malady (UK) Matt Bates, Primary Talent MPH (UK) Lauren Kaye, Earth Agency Nix Northwest (UK) Felipe Mina Calvo & Marlon Burton, ATC Live Opus (UK) Danny Misell, Earth Agency Oscar Welsh (UK) Andy Clayton, Paradigm Phoenix Laoutaris (UK) Max Lee, Earth Agency Poutyface (US) Noah Simon & Jules de Lattre, UTA Ratboys (US) Graham Clews, ATC Live Reuben Gray (UK) Sol Parker, Paradigm Rosehip Teahouse (UK) Nikos Kazoleas, UTA Rosie Alena (UK) Roxane Dumoulin & Sarah Joy, ATC Live Sophia Kennedy (DE) Roxane Dumoulin, ATC Live Spirit of the Beehive (UK) Graham Clews, ATC Live Tanerélle (US) Kevin Jergenson, ICM Partners Tarzsa (UK) Alasdair Howie, FMLY Agency Teenage Halloween (US) Ed Sellers, Primary Talent The Rills (UK) Steve Taylor, ATC Live Theon Cross (UK) Darren James-Thomas, FMLY Agency Tiberius b (CA) David Exley, Paradigm Touching Bass (UK) Alasdair Howie, FMLY Agency Tygapaw (US) Simon Clarkson & Paul Gongaware, ICM Partners Visionist (UK) Peter Beer, FMLY Agency WheelUp (UK) André Marmot, Earth Agency
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Comment
Leading by example Laura Davidson (ex Goldenvoice UK/AEG, All Points East) explains the driving force behind her new female-led live services consultancy, Amigas.
I
left the UK for Spain and Portugal back in July when everything was so uncertain and we had no idea if and when live events would return. The music industry is usually so fast paced, but because of the pandemic it had ground to a halt. We had cancelled All Points East and were working towards booking 2021, but there were so many factors out of our control that it meant it was almost impossible. After nearly 20 years of working at full speed, I was fortunate to be at a place in my career to be able to have a break – plus I really needed it. I was burnt out, to the point that I was wondering if music was what I wanted to go back to when things eventually start back up again. I was looking at my life and what I wanted my future to look like. Having considered a career change, I realised that music is my passion as well as my job, and it runs too deep for me to do anything else. With the catastrophic events of the past year and the devastating effect it has had on the health and livelihoods of all of those connected to the music and events industries, I was left wanting to do more. I want to find a better way to operate so that we don’t just go back to ‘normal’ when we return. So, I created Amigas; a new live consultancy and events business, one that is kind, and socially and environmentally conscious. I have been told a number of times over my career that I am “too nice.” I feel like we all are going to have to be kind to each other more than ever coming out of this. Let’s be nicer. Amigas is a growing collective of women professionals; we are producers, promoters, curators, and creatives. We want to build back the live sector better and believe that a collaborative and integrated approach with everyone working toward a common goal, in an environment that allows them to reach their maximum potential, is the best way to achieve this. We want to work alongside artists, labels, agents, management, and venues on all their live needs. We offer everything from consultancy and development of strategy; event planning and production; curation and booking; and marketing and promotion. One of the most amazing parts of the job for me, is seeing an artist going from playing in the back room of a pub to sell-
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ing out arenas, and being there at every step of the way. We want to help create the next generation of headliners. We are looking at new ways to innovate in the live space, and bring artists and fans together through bespoke events and new tech. We are excited by the endless opportunities and how we can look to futureproof the live music industry. It’s no secret that the live industry is still very much a boys’ club. With Amigas, I want to create a space that supports a new generation of women in live music, as well as nurturing and connecting talent. I have seen so many women come and go from this industry, and I feel that this is because they do not have the right support around them. I also want to make live music more accessible for women from all backgrounds. We need to think about diversity across all intersections; beyond sex and gender, there’s a lot of work to be done to ensure that the industry represents society. During my time away, I briefly lived on a permaculture farm. I’ve always wanted to live a sustainable life, and it left me thinking about the environmental impact of the industry, and even now, how little is being done to rectify this. If I was to return to working on events, I was going to have to ensure they had minimal – or ideally, no – negative impact. Sustainability is absolutely at the heart of Amigas and along with looking at how we minimise our environmental impact, we should also be carbon offsetting all events as standard. I feel lucky to have had the experiences I have over the years. I was the only woman in the room for most of my career, and I’m now in a position to step-up and try to change things for the better. I want other women to have the same opportunities that I did; as a music fan, there is no better job, and by building a more diverse workforce, we are creating a stronger industry. We all have a lot to learn from each other. We need the whole industry onboard and pulling in the same direction in order to turn it around. The terrible events of the last year or so have presented us with an opportunity to change the way we do things, to make this industry that we love fairer, kinder, and more financially secure. It may take us a while to get there, but that is what I hope Thousands of Amigas will do. professionals read
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Enabling the Safe Return of Live Events We long for the feeling of togetherness, enjoying those shared moments at events, festivals, concerts and sports. Nothing beats the live experience and Health Passport Worldwide helps to get the show back on the road and fans back together.
Test. Protect. Enjoy. www.healthpassportworldwide.com
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Comment
Running the risk Following the last-minute cancellation of Bluesfest, the Australian Festival Association’s Julia Robinson warns that a lack of government-backed insurance could impact business confidence.
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y the time a festival is ready to open gates, up to 70% of its costs can already be spent. While health risks are understandable, they remain uninsurable. Given Australia’s appetite for risk in this pandemic, it means every festival promoter, supplier, and sole trader is sometimes gambling everything on the daily Covid announcements. As we’ve seen, just a single positive test can lead to cancellation. After a year of near-zero income and reserves eaten up by last year’s cancellations and postponements, the risk-versus-reward argument has a clear outcome. It’s risky. One promoter has told the Australian Festival Association that it’s so risky that the company’s board will have their homes on the line to proceed with this year’s show. Cancellation would mean the end of a beloved festival brand paired with the loss of personal assets. Some have pivoted to smaller shows, which carry less risk, but they also receive less income or may only break even. Others might be ‘lucky’ enough to continue hibernating. But at what cost? Will audiences remain loyal? Will they lose their place in the market? Targeted industry funding has been welcomed and has helped, to an extent. Those lucky enough to receive a grant for excess Covid costs (some over 40% higher than pre-Covid) have been able to continue planning events. Funding has also been available to festivals shifting their format to small concert series or digital events. Promoters who continue have been handsomely rewarded for persevering too. Fans want to get out to shows. Consumer confidence is high. It’s great that audiences are keen to come out. Though it begs a number of questions, such as: What happens when consumer confidence is high and business confidence is low? Is that how you get a missed opportunity? At the time of writing, some €3.2billion (or nearly AU$5bn) has been committed in shared risk or insurance schemes across Europe for festivals and live events. The UK industry has been pushing for something too. While shows may be a long way off in some of those markets, planning could continue without as much risk with a cancellation fund.
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By comparison, Australia, and more specifically only two states, have implemented a combined AU$17m festival and event cancellation fund. Those states are Western Australia and Tasmania. So far, nothing has been committed for the largest markets on the East Coast. As the industry knows all too well, this is a national ecosystem. Whether you are a solo artist playing locally or a festival promoter touring nationally, everyone is impacted when one part isn’t functioning. Financial ramifications aside, the recent cancellation of Bluesfest had a devastating emotional impact on the industry. We all felt the collective slump of shoulders. The suppliers, crew and vendors who work these shows all know each other from working the same festival circuits. Often, they follow the weather, moving from show to show, as if in migration. For many who work in festivals, it’s more than a job. It is their passion and their community. At times gigs in the festival industry have to be substituted with corporate shows or events. So many do it for love, not for money. Recently, I was reminded of that love when onsite at the first biggish outdoor show I’d been to in well over a year. It was like being home. I knew the promoter, site crew, security, suppliers, venue and staff from my days working the circuits. Trigger warning for those in lockdown or missing physical connection: There were more hugs given and received in the first five minutes than since the beginning of the pandemic. These weren’t polite obligatory greetings either. This was a genuine and joyous reunion that left me giddy. Everyone was excited to be there and talking about other upcoming shows with enthusiasm. It was a few weeks before Easter. Fast-forward to Bluesfest, and I can only imagine the feeling of being onsite when it was cancelled. A far cry from the exuberant homecoming I had witnessed. Sure, an insurance fund doesn’t guarantee these disappointing setbacks won’t happen. We have a long climb out of this pandemic. But if business confidence was increased, there would be more shows in the pipeline. At least that could lessen the blow on an industry whose primary function is to Thousands of deliver happiness to people. professionals read
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On the back of the popular PULSE sessions that took place at ILMC, Mike Malak, who in addition to being a senior agent at Paradigm runs his own label and publishing operations, casts an eye over the technology impacting the music industry.
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s the world begins to open up at a steady (or not so steady) pace, the questions around technology and how it will impact the live business when we are back in full swing remains. That being said, the reason we are starting this monthly column is to keep you all informed and up to date as to the changes around technology that may very well become part and parcel of the live industry. Change is real and although there may be some fatigue around live-streams, which dominated much of 2020, it is vital to remember that this technology in itself will become part of how we structure deals and open up new revenue streams for our artists. We must learn, adapt and look to the future. Nobody wants to be the next dinosaur. Never before has it been so vital for an industry to get in the middle of this new opportunity – and indeed view it as an opportunity and not a hindrance. Agents and promoters worldwide have a chance to be part of something new, or face losing out. On a personal level, I see us being at a crossroad and view the impact of technology in the live music industry as a way for us to better ourselves and our business. The pandemic has been devastating to this sector, to put it lightly, and therefore technology, from live-streams to the new excitement around NFT’s, gives us a chance to create new paradigms that I believe can help us give the live industry a cushion should such an event happen again. This is why I feel so strongly and passionately about it all – we must protect and improve our ecosystem. In order to make change, we need to do something that is unheard of in the music industry – work together, putting our individual egos to the side and focusing on how we can create these new models and put live front and centre in artist planning. This column will look into specific market news on a monthly basis and analyse the impact it will have on our business whilst looking at both the pros and cons around each scenario and aim to problem solve. Live-stream is probably not the word on everyone’s lips right now, but I am glad they are present. Not only have they been an
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opportunity for artists to have a creative output, but more importantly, as a whole, we have started to shift the conversation forwards when it comes to the public paying for artist content. There should be no shame in artists charging for content that they put time and effort into in the future, as there is no issue in sports and other sectors that charge for content. Therefore, with that in mind, the excitement will be working out how we can incorporate an element of live-streaming into our artist touring in the near future. The live industry has been working on a largely copy/paste model for the last few decades, with artists touring Europe and hitting the “key cities” – but who said this was effective? What if your fans are spread out across a country? How do you reach everyone whilst also building your artists fanbase bigger and truly engaging fans? Geo-locking could be that way forward. Imagine putting on a tour and playing your shows in the usual cities where you expect most traffic and sales but giving fans located in the nearby regions an opportunity to tune in to that show with their friends and family at home at a discounted rate and also allowing them to engage with the artist in some manner, whether through a pre-show element in the dressing room, Q&A sessions or chat rooms with other fans. This opens the door to valuable revenue for artists of all levels through live-stream ticketing income, exclusive merchandise income, tipping, brand deals, virtual meet and greets and more. My concern is, that in conversations I sense people feel this would only apply to artists of a certain level, however, I strongly believe that this model will be key for new bands starting out, and those coming from territories such as North America and Australia into Europe for the first time. As we all know, the pandemic means that most likely touring in the future will become more costly and thus any extra income your act can generate through a few t-shirt sales, livestream access and so on will be valuable to their bottom line. It is our duty as those that defend artist careers to look at how we can both engage their audiences and increase the revenue streams.
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PRODUCTION NOTES
Rebecca Travis After 20 years on the road with artists including Florence + The Machine, Ellie Goulding and Arcade Fire, tour manager Rebecca Travis shares the reflections and revelations she’s had during the enforced downtime.
What was the last tour you did before the pandemic took effect in 2020?
I was in Australia with Freya Ridings, and the fear of the pandemic was definitely bubbling. After our second show, in Melbourne on 12 March, we knew we had to get everybody home. We got back and they shut the Australian border shortly after – the timing was so tight. How has lockdown treated you?
My partner and I moved to the Scottish borders and it’s a beautiful part of the world. I’ve been on tour for 20 years and this is the longest I’ve been at home. There are parts of this that are really positive. There were so many years where I decided to have a quiet year but was then offered an amazing opportunity I couldn’t turn down, so the enforced downtime has definitely had positives. But enough already... can we please get back to work now? During lockdown you joined the newly formed Touring Production Group (TPG). Can you tell us more about that?
TPG started as weekly Zooms with production and tour managers (organised and chaired by Wob Roberts) getting together to produce a document on how we might tour post-Covid. It developed into something bigger and subgroups were formed in sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion; and mental welfare and personal wellbeing. We have now opened up membership and have had a great response from people keen to make positive changes in touring. It’s important that people in this sector support each other and share knowledge and values and ideas about how we can make the industry a better place to be. I really hope when we finally get back on the road that we can actually put these ideas into practice and make a difference. In which areas of touring do you hope TPG will make an impact?
Hopefully, in all of the areas we are working on. For example, sustainability. If we’re all asking venues for certain
things to make the industry greener, hopefully it’ll become the norm to provide them. I think a lot of these changes have to come from the artist and then it’ll just become a part of what we have to do – it’ll be normal to say “we’re not going to do that trip” or “we’ll offset that trip.” We’ve also spoken to agents about routing tours in a greener way, asking that they don’t make us double back on ourselves, but we have to be realistic – post-Covid tour routing will be a challenge for agents. We’ve spoken about sustainability all this time; we have to start now and at least implement small changes and keep the discussions going even when we’re back to work. Have you had any revelations about the way the touring industry operates?
There have been a lot of revelations about the madness of zipping all over the world; moving in ten trucks’ worth of equipment, setting it up for a show and then putting it back in the trucks and moving it to the next place. Perhaps we will see bands adopt a more simple stage set-up, rather than lugging around all these bells and whistles. Also, Covid-wise, are we going to want to have 14 or 16 people on a tour bus? Maybe things will be scaled down a bit when we return. Has the enforced downtime put into perspective just how demanding your job is?
Yes. It would be ideal to perhaps do a little less touring and maybe not take 18 months of solid work at a time. We do long hours on the road – you might get up at six in the morning and might not get back into the bunk until 3 am, and you’re going to do that three times in a row before you have a day off and can collapse in a heap. In the TPG’s mental health and welfare chats, we’re discussing how to make that better, especially because we’ve just had completely different lives throughout the pandemic. We can’t just jump straight back on a bus and do 18-hour days. We’re not match fit. I think, in terms of all these things like mental health and sustainability, it’s about gently easing ourselvesThousands of back into this. Baby steps. professionals read
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Feature_NFTs – Ticketing’s Interactive Future?
NFTs
TICKETING’S INTERACTIVE FUTURE? Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, have been grabbing the headlines over the past few months, and with artists and other sectors of the music industry capitalising on the opportunities, Gordon Masson takes a closer look at the ticketing possibilities.
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rt auctions, album launches, video clips, gaming characters, and even historic Twitter tweets have helped to put the concept of NFTs on the map, with hundreds of millions of dollars changing hands already this year for all manner of collectible digital assets. The rush to become a part of this lucrative 21st century phenomena has seen a raft of startup enterprises amassing impressive sums in funding from eager investors, while the publicity that art auctions in particular have enjoyed, has helped NFTs become one of the most searched for terms on Google. As a result, when it comes to leveraging the power of NFTs for ticketing, there is an ever-increasing pool of hopefuls trying to entice artists, venues, event organisers, and established ticket operators to put their faith in the blockchain-based technology. The multinational ticketing giants are cautious. Ticketmaster’s EVP of enterprise and revenue, Brendan Lynch, sums up their view on the use of blockchain-based operations. “Ticketmaster jumped into blockchain early, acquiring Upgraded back in 2018 and furthering our focus in the space through other investments and de-
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velopment,” he says. “Blockchain ticketing is still in experimental stages and not yet scalable for broad ticketing delivery but is useful for specific low volume situations. Right now, digital ticketing offers the same level of tokenisation, terms, and security with way more scale – and since less than 10% of tickets get resold, a traditional blockchain still isn’t worthwhile for large on-sales. But our cryptographers and engineers will continue to explore blockchain ticketing delivery to see where it can differentiate and add value in the future.” However, the excitement among those who are helping to develop the NFT ticketing market is palpable and as the myriad applications and transparency that the blockchain can offer become more apparent, investment is flooding in to drive that development – including from the likes of Ticketmaster. One company that has been working with blockchain for the last five years is Netherlands-based GET Protocol, which is also home to in-house ticketing operation GUTS Tickets. “It’s a little bit derogatory to say, but GUTS is sort of our ticket store asset to show what GET Protocol can do,” explains Olivier Biggs, the company’s head of marketing. “All of our tickets are NFTs
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NFTs – Ticketing’s Interactive Future?_Feature
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PROMOTED CONTENT
HEARBY.COM WANTS YOU BACK IN LIVE MUSIC VENUES
W
e all miss the thrill of seeing artists and bands in small venues. With the rollout of vaccinations, it’s time to consider how 2021 can be the beginning of the revival of live music. One thing is clear. It will be the smaller, grassroots venues that will lead the comeback, while international touring, stadium events, and massive festivals continue to assess investmentand risks and safety risks, and longer lead times to return. But how can we best find out what’s going on in small local venues around us, or as we start to travel again? The founders of new data company Heraby.com have the answer. Hearby.com is a new local live music discovery platform that aims to cover all venues, large and small. They’ve begun by covering over 6,500 venues in 100+ of the largest metropolitan areas across North America and the UK, and they bring a unique approach. “We aim to cover everything,” says co-founder and serial data entrepreneur Gary Halliwell. “From intimate places like grassroots venues, pubs, reastaurants, and outdoor spaces where music is happening, where there are undiscovered treasures in our music scenes. We want to get just a few more people to a lot more shows by taking out the friction in finding what live music is going on in our amazing and diverse live music scenes as things return. “Before the pandemic, [Hearby co-founder Ian Condry] and I went out to see a lot of live music, and we were always frustrated by how time-consuming and inefficient it is to find all the shows going on around us. “Google’s coverage of events is spotty; Facebook is inefficient for
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searching by area; Bandsintown, Songkick and others provide partial listings, but these depend on ticket services or bands uploading info. Hearing a sample of the band is always several clicks away. Local free papers have gone out of business, and even the flagship city newspapers no longer provide listings,” notes Halliwell.
What’s the secret sauce?
“It’s our integration of big data with anthropology that makes us unique,” says MIT professor and Hearby co-founder Condry. “Our foundation is data science. We use
PROMOTED CONTENT
our in-house AI, data extraction. to source, crosss-reference, and clean event data to create the most accurate and largest database of upcoming live music events possible. “We’re powered by the thrill of discovery, the joy of sharing, and the satisfaction of a great night out,” states Condry. His anthropology research focuses on how cultural movements go global from below, in media cultures like Japan where it’s often said the future is already happening. Condry is a media scholar and his research is authored in books about how hiphop took root in Japan and how Japanese animation became a global phenomenon. “It’s small local networks of passionate people that provide the spark that makes new forms of artistry spread and reach new audiences. So many people in the music industry focus on a narrow understanding of scale to mean reaching a huge audience. That’s a backwards-looking approach focus-
ing primarily on what was already successful in the past,” says Condry. “The future is driven by passionate groups at the margins of our awareness,” he adds. “It’s these networks of passion that drive new kinds of scale. And it’s bringing those networks into our awareness that is today’s challenge – a challenge both digital and social.” Halliwell explains, “With Hearby, we’re building a product designed to reach the people who will get their friends off the couch, away from the screen, and out to the lively neighbourhood venues that have been dark through the pandemic. It’s human connection that makes going out to see music so exciting and fun. “With map navigation, power search, and discovery carousels, we want to make it easy and fun to explore local music scenes. When you look at Hearby not only do you see about four times more shows than any other aggregator of up-coming live shows data: you also see new
“It’s our integration of big data with anthropology that makes us unique” Ian Condry | Hearby
pathways to the discovery of live music,” says Halliwell. Technological development is led by MIT alum and seasoned CTO Karen Elliott, who notes that Hearby is also ready for fans to submit their own favorite local venues as well. “Tell us about a venue we don’t have, and we can quickly add it,” she says. “If you want to track and share lists of shows to friends, you can do that, too.” In the coming weeks, Hearby will be rolling out new features to allow users to track and share the shows of their favourite venues and artists that they can share publicly or with friends, and even visitors from out of town. They are also building tools to help the larger mid-portion of the pyramid of venues and artists that make up the bulk of the live music industry reach their fans directly. “We’ve been speaking with venue owners and musicians, and we keep hearing about the frustrations with various services out there, especially the inability to know if I am reaching my followers and fans, or whether I have to keep paying more in the hopes of reaching them,” notes Elliott. Halliwell adds, “We’ve been
getting a strong response in our discussions to partner with news publishers, tourism and travel, music streaming services, and leading brands who want to get behind and support the return to live music.” He concludes, “As we see the proliferation of infotainment screens everywhere, including car dashboards, we see many opportunities to deliver live music event information directly to people in all sorts of settings.” www.hearby.com is the creation of Boston, Massachusetts-based Area4 Labs, which has raised over $3 million to expand it’s AI tools and geographic coverage from seed investors, including Namier Capital and Simon Murdoch – a seed stage investor in Shazam. Hearby currently tracks all the live music going on across 100+ of the largest cities and metro-markets in North America and the UK with European coverage scheduled to start later in the year. The company is working with partners in the news media, travel and tourism sectors who see the value and opportunity in providing this information to readers, guests and users to build community and services to passionate networks of music lovers.
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Feature_Building Back Greener
BUILDING BACK GRE 28
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Building Back Greener_Feature
With the clock ticking on the climate time bomb, a growing number of touring professionals are looking to restart their operations in a more environmentally friendly manner. Jon Chapple speaks to the experts helping the live industry plan for a more sustainable future
ENER
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Feature_Building Back Greener
Natural Resources Inspired to go green but still not sure where to start? Meet some of the organisations offering practical steps to ensure touring doesn’t cost the Earth. AUSTRALIA Sustainable Event Alliance Sustainable-event-alliance.org Based in New South Wales but with partners all over the globe, the Sustainable Event Alliance (SEA) unites live events professionals who are focused on improving the sustainability of the sector. In addition to its online knowledge bank, the SEA’s activities include accrediting sustainability professionals, helping events become greener, and providing spaces for networking and discussion. GERMANY GO Group Go-group.org Green Operations Europe, known as GO Group, is a pan-European think tank that aims to inspire industry professionals to make their operations greener, smarter, and more sustainable. Initiated at the first International Green Events Conference in Bonn in November 2010, as a joint initiative of Yourope (the European Festival Association), Bucks New University in the UK, and Jacob Bilabel and Holger Jan Schmidt’s Green Music Initiative, the organisation connects festivals with scientists and environmental initiatives; delivers workshops and contributes to panel discussions; organises festival field trips; and helps certify Yourope’s member festivals as Clean’n’Green, among other activities. THE NETHERLANDS Green Events International Greenevents.nl Formed in 2014, Green Events works with Dutch and international partners to share knowledge, resources, and best practice for event organisers, artists, suppliers, vendors and more. Its areas of focus include water, energy, transport, and waste, with past projects having included the Plastic Promise, which saw leading festivals commit to eliminating single-use plastics, and ADE Green, a ‘green deal’ for European festivals launched at Amsterdam Dance Event 2019.
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NORWAY Greener Events Greener-events.com Greener Events, in full the Greener Events Foundation, was established in 2009 by international snowboarding ace Terje Håkonsen, and businessman and philanthropist Jan Christian Sundt. Offering environmental consultation and expertise in making events sustainable, Greener Events has worked with events including Tons of Rock, Øya Festival, Hove Festival, and Way Out West in Sweden, and consulted for Yourope and the European Festival Association. UNITED KINGDOM A Greener Festival Agreenerfestival.com A Greener Festival (AGF) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the sustainability of the events sector. In addition to its annual Green Events and Innovations Conference – which returns for a special summer edition on 16 September – AGF provides certification, training, CO2 analysis, and consultation for organisers, venues, tours, artists, festivals, sports, suppliers, and local authorities for all event types internationally, and also presents the annual International AGF Awards. LIVE Green Livemusic.biz Chaired by John Langford, COO of AEG Europe, LIVE Green is one of four newly formed specialist subcommittees for Live music Industry Venues and Entertainment (LIVE), the umbrella organisation representing 13 UK live music industry associations. Bringing together the leading sustainability practitioners across the sector to produce a single environmental vision for live music, it sits alongside LIVE Touring, LIVE Venues, and an as-yet unnamed group focusing on diversity and inclusion. SiPA Sipa.global Sustainability in Production Alliance (SiPA) is a global association of individuals and organisations across the production sector, including stage managers, manufacturers, tour & production managers, venues, producers, engineers, and technicians, who are working towards creating a sustainable future for the industry and a ‘triple bottom line’ of people, planet, and profit. It offers a range of resources free of charge to industry professionals, including ‘ten easy wins’ that can be implemented as a starting point today.
CONTRIBUTORS
HADI AHMADZADEH | ECODISCO JAMAL CHALABI | BRING ME THE HORIZON/ TOUR PRODUCTION GROUP PHILIPPA ATTWOOD | TREE-NATION CLAIRE O’NEILL | A GREENER FESTIVAL/ Thousands of GREEN EVENTS & INNOVATIONSprofessionals read TONE ØSTERDAL | NORWEGIAN LIVE MUSIC ASSOCIATION IQ every day. Make RICHARD VEVERS | THE OCEAN AGENCYsure you get the whole picture… SUBSCRIBE HERE
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ONLINE THURSDAY 16 SEPTEMBER www.agreenerfestival.com/gei • hello@agreenerfestival.com
Your Shout
“What’s been your biggest culinary triumph during lockdown?”
TOP SHOUT
We established Veganistra (www.facebook.com/Veganistra). It’s not a business, it’s more of a social project to show the world lots of plant-based deliciousness, and the impact this kind of lifestyle has on a person. We accept donations, but it is not real kitchen – you are basically visiting us in our home and we cook for you (and whoever you bring with you). We’re also really happy if someone brings something in exchange. We’ve had a lot of homeless people, who had nothing, come for lunch or dinner, and months later they brought us some apples they found, or just made us a painting, or whatever… it’s a great thing. Nika Brunet & Boban Milunović, Music Holiday
I’ve actually gone a little bit further with my culinary experiments… I’m currently in Switzerland studying to become a pastry chef! Stefan Juhlin | Pitch & Smith I actually wrote a very popular Facebook post on my quarantine culinary creations (facebook. com/semyon.galperin). This dish was crayfish, and I obviously serve them with beer! Not too much culinary art in this one, you just boil ‘em… Semyon Galperin | Tele-Club Having been brought up in a family of bakers, I’ve been baking since I can remember. I used to take fresh dough from my grandad’s bakery to bring home and make little bread rolls with, it was always so exciting. I had only just started working at Indigo at The O2 when lockdown hit us, and I had to channel both the excitement and the frustration somehow. Baking quickly became my main outlet and I started baking surprise cakes for my friends, as the idea of bringing happiness to peo-
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One of Nika and Boban’s delicious Veganistra dishes
ple is one of my drives in life. It didn’t take long until I decided to try and turn it into a small business, which has kept me very busy, especially until before the last lockdown, since I was baking for a local café, as well as taking custom orders. Although this will never replace my love for my job in the music industry, it has definitely helped keep me afloat during such a weird time. I’ll be looking forward to gifting random cakes to my friends and colleagues once we’re back. Angela Curiello | Indigo at The O2 The recipe for my grandmother Carla’s rabbit: one rabbit cleaned and cut into pieces; 100g lardons; 10 small silver-skin onions; 30g butter; 1 tablespoon flour; 2 cloves garlic; a bay leaf and lots of thyme and parsley; 1 glass dry white wine; 150g white or any chanterelle mushrooms. Put the diced bacon in a casserole with butter and brown it. Peel the onions, leave them whole, and add them. When all is well browned, set aside. In the same casserole, brown the rabbit then
spread the tablespoon of flour and stir thoroughly. Add the remaining ingredients and salt and pepper and simmer gently for one hour. Chop the mushrooms, add them to the casserole and cook for a further 15 minutes. Philippe Tassart | Ginger Lately, we have been cooking paella at home. Sophie has mastered her skills in cooking paella, while my latest is prawns wrapped in seaweed, slightly buttered, tempura style, and sprinkled with sea salt and matcha. Our culinary journey continues! Oleg Gaidar (& Sophie Amable) | World Touring Artists Consulting Sausage sandwich made with Beyond Sausages and ketchup – so good that even the most determined carnivore can’t tell the difference. Plus, of Thousands they use 99% less water than theprofessionals meat equivalent,read so are much better for the environment; IQ everycontain day. Make no nitrates or hormones; and no one died. sure you get the Mooncat | ILMC
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Stefan’s pastry skills have been taken to a new level thanks to his enrolment at the Culinary Arts Academy in Lucerne
Sophie’s seafood paella is a thing of beauty
Philippe’s Lapin Carla
Angela’s bakery heritage has seen her spending more time in her Happy Go Baking kitchen during lockdown
Semyon’s Facebook page includes this fabulous crayfish creation, served with ice-cold beer
Mooncat’s meat-free sausage sarnie
Oleg has been honing his sushi credentials in recent months
92 An ILMC Publication SEPTEMBER 2020 | £25 | €25
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