Index In Brief

IN BRIEFINDEX

The concert business digest

Insomniac and ALDA announce a new location for their Romanian festival, Saga.

Jim King says the 2022 edition of BST Hyde Park is “set up to be the biggest we have ever seen.”

Blockfest’s founder and CEO, Kalle Kallone, is charged with money laundering.

Live Performance Australia says the country’s cautious reopening has left it facing a shortage of touring artists over the summer months.

A hybrid planning application is submitted for the proposed new 17,000-capacity arena in Cardiff.

ASM Global hires Tom Saunders as programming manager and Katie Morgan as programming assistant.

Bilbao promoter Last Tour announces new international festival in Caja Mijas, Spain.

Epic Games acquires Rock Band and Guitar Hero creator Harmonix “to create musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite.”

The list of nominees is revealed for the Oscars of the international live ASM Global APAC expands its footprint in Asia Pacific with the announcement of new Singapore headquarters.

DEAG reports a 126% increase in sales for Q3 2021, thanks largely to the performance of its UK business.

OneRepublic becomes the first major-label US act to accept the cryptocurrency bitcoin as full payment for a concert.

DF Concerts is to revive Connect, a music festival that took place in Scotland in the mid-noughties.

OVG completes its acquisition of Philadelphia-based venue management firm Spectra.

music business, the 2022 Arthur Awards.

Music Venue Trust reveals noise complaints have been made against more than 40 UK venues since lockdown lifted in July.

Denmark gains a new agency, Queer Music Agency, that will exclusively represent queer artists.

Venue Group CEO Ben Lovett says over 250 shows are booked for each of his London venues in 2022.

Netherlands-based CM.com launches a new ticketing solution for the live events sector in the UK and Ireland.

Ed Sheeran partners with Amazon Music for a global live-streamed concert from London’s Alexandra Palace.

Crypto.com’s currency surges almost 70% in the wake of the platform’s naming rights deal for AEG’s Staples Center.

DreamHaus announces an exclusive collaboration with Alex Ritcher, the former MD of Four Artists agency. AEG Presents France head Arnaud Meersseman tells IQ he is hopeful of a strong summer ‘22 for the touring business.

Glastonbury Festival receives a share of £10million (€12m) from the latest round of the UK government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

Tampere Deck Arena in Finland becomes the Nokia Arena under a new naming-rights deal. Goodlive Artists Austria co-MD Silvio Huber says the domestic live business has cause for optimism despite the country’s lockdown.

Ocaso Festival is to be the first government-approved mass event in Costa Rica since the pandemic started.

Wacken Open Air promoter ICS Festival Service announces a heavy metal cruise across the Mediterranean.

CTS Eventim posts “encouraging” financial results for Q3 2021, powered by improved ticket sales.

Pokémon Go announces an exclusive performance from Ed Sheeran.

House of Vans expands its live interests by opening a new venue in Mexico’s capital.

The world’s first global crew network, Entourage Pro, launches for freelance production crew.

ILMC announces a new five-star venue for the highly anticipated in-person 2022 event.

Spain announces that British artists will no longer need a visa when entering the country to

undertake a short-term tour.

Loud and Live hires Wesley Elizabeth Cullen as managing director of entertainment.

France will no longer have to limit standing at live events to 75% capacity in the wake of a government ruling.

Harry Styles is confirmed as the first music artist to perform at OVG’s new UBS Arena in New York.

The VNPF hits out at plans to impose a partial lockdown in the Netherlands.

At least eight people die and hundreds are injured after a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas. (page 22)

UTA confirms the appointment of Scott Clayton, who joins as co-head of its global music division and as a partner.

Scores of concerts in the Netherlands are postponed after the Dutch government imposes a new partial lockdown.

Moment House launches in Japan through a partnership with digital ticketing platform Zaiko.

UMG capitalises on two of the biggest trends of the last year with the formation of a new NFT Supergroup.

A 22-year-old student who was critically injured in the deadly crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival dies. (page 22)

WME agents Marissa Smith, Matthew Morgan and Buster Phillips reportedly leave the company and are set to join former colleague Scott Clayton at UTA.

Bring Me The Horizon announces plans to curate a four-day festival in Malta next year. A nine-year-old boy becomes the 10th person to die from injuries sustained at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival. (page 22)

Festival Internacional de Benicàssim sells more than 30,000 tickets in just 24 hours for next year’s event.

A concert safety taskforce is formed in the US in the wake of the Astroworld Festival tragedy in Houston. (page 22)

Bahrain’s first and only open-air, purpose-built live music venue, Al Dana Amphitheatre, opens.

The NEC Group announces a new outdoor event space as part of a major redevelopment of the NEC Campus in Birmingham.

Phyllis Belezos launches a new international talent booking and consultancy agency, Heliocentric Entertainment.

A trio of events is planned to commemorate Steve Strange, the X-ray Touring director and cofounder who died in October.

Justin Bieber partners with virtual concert company Wave for an “interactive virtual experience” in the metaverse.

Concert ticket prices in Germany are set to rise by up to 30% as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

Live at Leeds announces the first wave of acts for its new one-day festival, Live At Leeds: In The Park.

Loud and Live names Claudia Arcay as SVP of entertainment.

Live Nation and subsidiary Scoremore set up a health fund to cover the medical expenses of Astroworld Festival attendees. (page 22) AEG Presents agrees a 25-year deal with the City of Wolverhampton Council to run the UK city’s Civic Halls.

Lawsuits are filed over the deadly crowd surge at Astroworld Festival. (page 22)

Live Nation’s share price rockets to an all-time high less than 24 hours after the firm released its Q3 financial results.

Rolling Loud organisers introduce an 18+ age policy for its 2021 California leg in an apparent response to the Astroworld tragedy.

London’s Saville Theatre could be set to host live music once again after it is acquired by investment firm Yoo Capital.

UTA appoints Erika Savage as SVP of global music operations.

CAA bolsters its music touring department with the hiring of agent Mark Bennett.

Toronto’s newest venue, the 2,500cap History, officially opens.

Interactive content hub LIVENow announces upcoming presentations with Lizzo and Gorillaz.

UK booking platform Encore Musicians says it has become the world’s first carbon-negative music agency.

Atlanta, Georgia-based Carissa Scott admits scamming a charity out of $100,000 (€117,000) by posing as a booking agent.

Japan eases its 10,000-capacity limit on mass gatherings such as concerts following a steady decline in coronavirus cases.

Wembley Stadium creates a second concert window for the summer of 2022 as it bids to meet the “incredible” demand for live shows. The UK’s APPG announces a crossparty inquiry into the barriers facing musicians touring the EU.

Two people die and another person is injured after a man falls seven storeys before an ABBA tribute show at the Uppsala Konsert & Kongress Hall in Sweden.

Various Artists Management

appoints John Dawkins to the position of UK MD.

The VNPF warns that the sector will remain in need of financial support as long as Covid-19 restrictions remain in place.

Four Swedish trade bodies form an alliance in a bid to strengthen knowledge about the country’s live events industry and how it can be developed.

Ticketek simplifies entry for Australian live events by integrating mobile tickets with Covid check-in and vaccinationstatus apps.

CAA announces a raft of promotions within its music touring division.

Kiss strongly denies allegations of lax Covid protocols after their long-serving guitar tech died earlier this month after testing positive for coronavirus.

OVG’s new east Manchester development, Co-op Live, will become the UK’s first all-electric arena when it opens in 2023.

Live Nation collaborates with artists to launch digital collectable NFT ticket stubs.

Rebecca Nichols departs FKP Scorpio UK to join Mother Artists as an agent.