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ILMC28: The Game Begins The Great Rebates Debate Bob Angus: 30 Years in Music Sweden Market Focus Violetta: Best In Show Virtual Reality

WILL YOU STILL NEED ME, WILL YOU STILL READ ME... ISSUE 64

The top players in the international live music industry are coming to London in March 2016. Turn the pages of this handy gamers guide to find out more...

Eight- page Registration Special Eight- page Registration Special Eight- page Registration Special Eight- page Registration Special Eight- page Registration

Industry Champions Edition

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The Game Begins… ’ S A LL ITPacking more punch than Streetfighter and AT than Sonic, the ILMC 28 agenda is in place. In ONLINE more energy

28.ILMC.COM between Q&As with Live Nation president and CEO Michael AT REGIS Rapino on Friday morning andTER WME’s head of music Marc C.COM 28.ILM Geiger on Sunday, we span the breadth of the contemporary live music business. From new technology, festivals, branding and safety, to EDM, venues, emerging markets and even loyalty, it’s a busy arcade of workshops, panels, meetings and our intimate Dragon’s Den mentoring sessions. As always though, the most important ingredient of any discussion is the people in the room… and that means you! If you’re present at an ILMC session, you’re part of the discussion. We can provide the framework for the conversations and line up guest speakers, but the sessions need your input to work. So please do get involved in the discussion and to get the most from them, please get involved.

Friday 4 March 10:00 – 10:30 NEW DELEGATES’ ORIENTATION Hosts: Tom Hopewell | Lou Percival, ILMC (UK)

Lou Percival and Tom Hopewell open the doors to all new ILMC delegates and explain how the conference is structured and how to get the most out of it. An important introduction for first-timers, or those long-timers who just need reminding, this informal session gives the necessary lowdown on ILMC and how to get the most from the conference.

10:00 – 11:00 WORKSHOP: SELLING TICKETS WITH GOOGLE & YOUTUBE Hosts: Stephanie Kovach | Matias Llort Lorenz, Google (UK)

Thursday 3 March ILMC PRODUCTION MEETING The eighth annual IPM will see production professionals from across the globe converge for a day of panel sessions, discussion and networking. To accommodate increasing demand for delegate places, IPM is moving home in 2016 and will be held at the Copthorne Tara Hotel which is just five minutes walk from the Royal Garden Hotel. The IPM Closing Drinks party will still take place at the Royal Garden Hotel, in order to retain IPM’s close association with ILMC. IPM includes a five-star buffet lunch, tea, coffee and a closing drinks party. Panel topics this year include communication across all sectors of tours, international travel planning, transport, and venue management and safety. Sponsored by eps, EFM and Megaforce, registration is separate to the main ILMC conference, but ILMC delegates benefit from a discounted rate. See 28.ilmc.com/ipm for more info.

GREEN EVENTS & INNOVATIONS CONFERENCE (GEI) Presented by A Greener Festival, Bucks New University and ILMC, the GEI – now in its eighth year – is a leading conference for sustainability at live events. GEI demonstrates the latest solutions and technologies for practical event management the 2016 edition features Lake of Stars (Malawi), T in the Park, Fuji Rock Festival, Shamabala, Love Support Unite Foundation and a keynote address from Joanna Haigh, director of the Grantham Institute of Climate Change and the Environment. Registration is separate to the main ILMC conference but ILMC delegates benefit from a discounted rate. See 28.ilmc. com/gei for more info.

ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

Google and YouTube are the top two search engines in the world, and vital platforms for selling concert and festival tickets. Google’s Stephanie Kovach, and Matias Llort Lorenz present a 60-minute workshop examining how promoters can sell more tickets through audience insight and create an immersive experience at every point of the journey. As well as highlighting disruptive new tools and features of both services, topics will include search, maps, retargeting and GooglePay.

11:00 – 11:15 THE PLAYER’S GUIDE TO ILMC 28 Chair: Greg Parmley, ILMC (UK)

Greg Parmley welcomes all the gamers and players of the live music world to ILMC 28. This 15-minute session marks the official start of the conference, points out a few ground rules, and highlights the key information you need to get the most from your ILMC.

11:15 – 12:45 THE OPEN FORUM: THE BOSSES LEVEL Chairs: Phil Bowdery, Live Nation (UK) | Greg Parmley, ILMC (UK)

As the main session to kick off ILMC 28, The Open Forum sets the tone for the weekend’s discussions. This year’s session will be split into two parts and begins with a unique Q&A with Live Nation Entertainment president and CEO Michael Rapino. The second half of the session will see Live Nation’s Phil Bowdery return to the chairman’s seat for a discussion on the key issues in the international live music business with Australian music business legend Michael Gudinski (Frontier Touring/The Mushroom Group), Superfly co-founder Rick Farnam (Bonnaroo, Outside Lands), ITB’s Lucy Dickins (Adele, Mumford & Sons, Jamie T), CAA’s co-head Mike Greek (One Direction, Sigur Rós, Sam Smith), and Red Light Management’s UK MD James Sandom (Bastille, Kaiser Chiefs, The Vaccines). Got a question for the session? Email greg@ilmc.com.

15:30 – 16:45

PERFORMANCE ROYALTIES: SHOWS, SONGS AND SETTLEMENTS

MARKET FOCUS: AUSTRALIA

Chair: Jon Webster, MMF (UK)

Without songwriters there would be no music business and nothing to tour. But with recent rate increases and reviews, and the distribution of income unclear in some markets, it’s a complex and changing system. Jon Webster leads a cast of guest speakers and specialists as we examine the present state of the relationship between international collection societies, artist and writer managers, and the concert and festival promoters who foot the bill.

The touring market in Australia experienced another blustery high in 2016, with promoters reporting solid results. So how does the land Down Under consistently punch above its weight for live entertainment? Continuing our annual Market Focus series, this year it’s the turn of our Antipodean friends, who will discuss this vibrant territory. From currency fluctuations and ticketing, to promotion, venue operations and the development of domestic artists, find out what makes the Australian live scene tick.

14:00 – 15:00

17:00 – 18:00

14:00 – 15:00

Chair: Tim Worton, AEG Ogden (AU)

WORKSHOP: A GREENER LIVE

THE DANCE CLUB: THE BEAT GOES ON?

Hosts: Claire O’Neill, A Greener Festival/GEI (UK) | Chiara Badiali, Julie’s Bicycle (UK)

As the drive to be more efficient and environmentally responsible is gathering pace, Claire O’Neill and Chiara Badiali are on hand to guide delegates through all the tools and services currently available, and discuss the best routes to going green. With some illuminating case studies and practical tips, their workshop will tackle the best options for saving money, energy and time, while doing the right thing.

14:15 - 15:15

THE DIGITAL AUDIENCE: CROSSING STREAMS

For several editions, The Dance Club has discussed the seemingly unstoppable rise of the electronic dance music scene. Yet with its largest corporate player having recently filed for bankruptcy, and the future of some US events uncertain, has the tide finally turned? With some noting that DJ fees have risen to more unachievable heights than their guitar-playing counterparts, and with competition between events stiffer than ever, what does 2016 and beyond hold for this seductive sector? And what lessons can the wider live music sector learn from its electronic cousins?

Host: Jeremy Paterson, IF Media Consultancy (UK) | Lars-Oliver Vogt, The Sponsor People GmbH (DE)

Brand engagement at festivals and concerts is increasing year on year and the consumer’s expectations are higher than ever. Jeremy Paterson hosts a 60-minute workshop giving advice on how to create, execute and maintain those key, lucrative sponsorship deals. The session highlights the most successful and innovative activations over the last year, including FMCG, specialist brands and A LL IT’Stechnology, as the route to connect with the consumer mind.

ONLINE AT 28.ILMC.COM

C.COM 28.ILM FESTIVAL FORUM: OPEN SPACE INVADERS

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15:30 – 16:45 REGISTER AT

Chairs: Codruţa Vulcu, ARTmania (RO) | Anders Wahrén, Roskilde Festival (DK)

With some artist fees reported as having increased by 50% on last year, and many festivals now dramatically reducing their musical content, there are some who believe we’ve finally killed the golden goose. The festival juggernaut rolls on, but with a competitive US market, new entrants launching and more competition for calendar dates then ever, just how sustainable is it? Beyond the headliners, chairs Codruţa Vulcu and Anders Wahrén examine the relationship between the multinationals and the local festivals they agent for, and ask what cultural purpose festivals serve.

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17:00 – 18:15 Chair: Joanna Young, Live Nation (UK)

WORKSHOP: BETTER BRAND PARTNERSHIPS

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Chair: Maria May, CAA (UK)

The opportunities afforded by social media and digital marketing are embraced by many in the live music business. So just how are streaming services and new online trends in music discovery changing gig-going habits? And is the live music business making the most of the newly available tools and opportunities? Joanna Young assembles an all-star cast of digital evangelists and users to explore the latest ways to keep live music at the epicenter of fans’ busy digital lives.

Saturday 5 March 10:00 – 11:15 THE EMERGING MARKETS’ PLACE: CHANGING GAMES Chairs: Michal Kaščák, Pohoda Festival (SK) | Barış Başaran, URU Group (TR)/ ArtMania (RO)

Many promoters and festivals in emerging markets are both surviving and growing, despite higher artist fees and lower ticket prices. Drawing input from Europe to Asia, this year’s session looks at the opportunities these markets have to offer, and the headway that some are now making in exporting talent. Alongside these successes though, and in the wake of several incidents last year, questions of regulation, licensing and sufficient industry training will also be posed by our long-serving chairs Kaščák and Başaran.

ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

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10:00 – 11:15 THE VENUE’S VENUE: THE CONTROL PADS Chair: Brian Kabatznick, AEG Facilities (UK)

This year’s Venue’s Venue discussion will focus on several strands including whether, in the ongoing drive for quality facilities, to renovate or rebuild. What forms the decision to make this capital investment and when it is appropriate to knock down and start from scratch? Also tabled is a discussion about penciling dates, and whether a fairer method could be adopted across the industry. And how might venues adopt more of the creativity witnessed in the festival sector? Finally, the session presents exclusive annual figures from IQ’s European Arena Report, EAA and NAA to help quantify the key trends discussed with newly released market data.

11:30 – 12:45 TICKETING: THE DISRUPTORS

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WORKSHOP: TWITTER AND FAN ENGAGEMENT Host: Georgina Parnell, Twitter (UK)

With over 300 million active users, Twitter is the world’s public messaging network, with music the most discussed topic. Georgina Parnell, head of entertainment partnerships at Twitter, presents a 60-minute workshop that will examine how promoters, festivals and artists can better engage and monetise fans using the social networking service. Find out how to get more from the service, in addition to the latest and forthcoming tools for professionals.

14:00 – 15:15

Chair: Tim Chambers, TJ Chambers Consultancy (UK)

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14:00 - 15:00

SHOW SAFETY: HEALTH POINTS

Facilitated by the rapid global adoption of digital technology, the ticketing industry has never had lower barriers for entry. The result is scores of new companies springing up – each claiming to offer venues, festivals, promoters and artists a better solution than the incumbent giants. But as allocating tickets (for fan club, presale, on sale, and secondary) becomes evermore tangled, does the time and effort outweigh the results? With artists, agencies, labels and managers now in the ticketing game, Tim Chambers examines the potential and the innovators, while also asking whether you can have too much of a good thing.

The terror attack in Paris in November was in many ways a first for the live music business. The repercussions have been felt widely across the industry as venues review their security procedures; cancellation and terrorism clauses in contracts face scrutiny; and borders are tightened. So what changes have already been implemented, and ultimately, how much more can be done? From counter-terrorism experts to those on the frontline, we consider what the industry can, and perhaps must do, in order to keep fans, bands and crew safer.

11:30 – 12:30

14:00 – 15:15

WORKSHOP: THE GRASSROOTS VENUE Hosts: Mark Davyd, Music Venue’s Trust (UK) | Karsten Schölermann, Livekomm (DE)

Underfunded, underappreciated and under threat, the breeding ground of the live music business is in dire straits in many countries. But a number of initiatives to aid the grass-roots venue scene are now gaining traction, and picking up political support along the way. Mark Davyd and Karsten Schölermann discuss new tools and resources and outline a number of measures that can safeguard this critical sector of the live music business.

Chair: Okan Tombulca, eps (DE)

ALTERNATIVE ENTERTAINMENT: NEW GAMES TO PLAY Chair: Christoph Scholz, Semmel Concerts (DE)

A new format for our family show/exhibitions session this year sees a multitude of quick-fire presentations on the best alternative content available for touring. Split into four non-music categories, the spotlight falls on YouTube stars, sports, touring exhibitions, and theatre and family shows. Tired of demanding rock stars and slim margins? Looking for world-class productions ready to do business? Christoph Scholz reveals the best alternative content currently on the market.

15:30 – 16:45

11:30 – 12:30 THE DRAGON’S DEN WITH OSSY HOPPE

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four decades, expect 60 minutes of touring tales and deep insight.

NEW TECHNOLOGY: BITS AND BOTS Chair: Steve Machin, .Tickets (UK)

ILMC’s resident technology guru Steve Machin releases his inner geek once more to reveal the best new widgets and gadgets in the business. Each invited company has just four minutes to make their mark on the audience, so expect tears, laughter, mishaps and mayhem from this quick-fire session. From production wizardry and virtual reality, to ticketing technology, apps, hacks and widgets, it’s the only place to get ahead of the tech curve.

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ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

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Sunday 6 March 15:30 – 16:30

10:30 – 12:00

INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIPS: SETTING THE MORAL COMPASS

THE BREAKFAST MEETING WITH MARC GEIGER

Chairs: Stephan Thanscheidt, FKP Scorpio (DE) | Marc Lambelet, Mainland Music (CH)

There are few figures in the agency world who command as much respect as Marc Geiger. As head of the music division at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, Geiger oversees 2000+ clients, while his own diverse roster includes Jack White, Tony Bennett, LCD Soundsystem, Outkast, David Byrne, Neil Diamond, Rihanna, Tom Petty and Nine Inch Nails. Opposite the hot seat will be raconteur, industry legend and interviewer extraordinaire Ed Bicknell. Ed opened the WME office in London back in 2007, so is reunited with his former colleague to host what promises to be a fascinating and insightful 90 minutes. If there’s a better reason to get out of bed on a Sunday morning, we can’t think of one… early arrival is advised.

Stephan Thanscheidt and Marc Lambelet consider whether ‘loyalty’ has become a lost word in the wider live music business. As the traditional boundaries between agent, local agent and local promoter have become blurred, are too many conflicts of interest and financial pressures affecting the way we work with and trust each other? Is it open season for doing deals, or should the chain of command be respected? And as the make-up of the business moves further into corporatisation and income levels rise, just what is the value of longstanding relationships these days?

15:30 – 16:30 THE DRAGON’S DEN WITH MICHAEL GUDINSKI Having recently joined the small number of live music luminaries to have their own published biography, Australian entrepreneur and music industry figurehead Michael Gudinski will be on hand for what promises to be a fascinating Dragon’s Den session. From Mushroom Records to Frontier Touring and The Harbour Agency/Premier Artists, Gudinski’s experience crosses the breadth of the contemporary music business, so this is a rare opportunity to get up close and personal in an intimate setting.

17:00 – 18:15 INDUSTRY OUT-TAKES: ‘IT’LL BE ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT’ PT. II Chair: Carl Leighton–Pope, LPO (UK)

Introduced last year, Industry Out-takes concludes the Saturday afternoon agenda by concentrating on that essential tool for practitioners of the live music industry – a sense of humour. Anecdotes abound in this sector of the entertainment business, so expect more than a few tall touring tales and laughs. Calling on an all-star cast from across the business to recount their finest, worst or most pivotal moments, it’s the final session of the day, and the only way to wind down into the evening…

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ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

Host: Ed Bicknell, Damage Management (UK)

12:30 – 14:00 THE BOOKING RING: THE STREETFIGHTERS Chair: Anna Sjölund, Live Nation Sweden

Among the topics in this year’s annual showdown between promoters and agents, is ongoing consolidation in the agency sector. Are these larger entities rewriting the rules for promoters? And with an increasingly two-tier agency world, how are the boutique agencies competing? Cancellation clauses, particularly in light of the recent Paris attacks, are scrutinised, and the panel also discusses volatile exchange rates and whether more flexibility on deals is needed. Finally, there’s the perennial problem of overtouring, and whether both agents and promotes should present a united front (for once) and ask a few clients to simply stay home…

12:30 – 13:30 THE UNCONFERENCE: TACKLING INDUSTRY HANGOVERS Chair: Gordon Masson, IQ Magazine (UK)

As one of ILMC 28’s final sessions, IQ’s Gordon Masson moderates a panel without an agenda, plucking random delegate-submitted questions from the ILMC tombola. Giving an insight into the way that tomorrow’s generation of professionals view the business, the Unconference will also invite some gig goers and young audience members to feedback on their experiences attending concerts and festivals. And Gordon will even be serving a range of special hangover cures…

15:30 – 16:15 THE ILMC 28 AUTOPSY

’ S A LL T I Winding up the weekend, ILMC head Greg Parmley N E A T I MC.COM ON8.Land invites all delegates to first share their thoughts IL

Chair: Greg Parmley, ILMC (UK)

then a glass of something as the conference wraps up. A chance to give feedback on any aspect of ILMC, participation is encouraged in this informal final session. From the conversation in the panels to the highest scores in the Barcade – anything and everything is up for discussion.

Events

Before Friday night’s schedule of dinners and events kicks off, the guys and gals at United Talent Agency have stepped up to lay-on their very own Happy Hour. Taking place in the York Suite on the mezzanine level of the hotel, it’s a chance to meet the outfit until recently known as The Agency Group, while enjoying a complimentary beverage or three… turn up early as this is likely to be packed... 17:30 - 18:30

Thursday 3 March

The United Talent Happy Hour

ILMC Production Meeting (IPM)

The 9th ILMC Production Meeting moves to a new venue this year to accommodate increasing demand from production professionals who converge from across the globe for this annual event. With a full day of panel sessions, discussion, and networking, IPM 9 also sees the addition of a programme of short presentations to the schedule, while increasing in size to accommodate 250 delegates. Hosted by eps, EFM Logistics and Megaforce, registration is separate to the main conference but ILMC delegates can benefit from a discounted rate. Visit 28.ilmc.com/ipm for more info. 10:00 - 18:00

Green Events and Innovations Conference (GEI)

ILMC Association Summit

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The eighth edition of the UK’s leading conference for sustainability at live events will welcome around 150 professionals working in, or with an interest in, environmental initiatives at live events. The conference mixes practical case studies and presentations from around the world, alongside complimentary refreshments, lunch and a closing party. ILMC delegates are entitled to a discounted rate and should sign-up when registering for ILMC. Visit 28.ilmc.com/gei for more info. 10:00 - 17:45

ILMC invites many key live music associations from around the world to London for a one-off meeting. The idea of the meeting is to draw together the leading, active live music association from each market, as well as a small number of pan-European sector associations, to meet, network and present best-case ideas and initiatives. The summit is a closed meeting – for further information, or to represent your association at the meeting, please email ben@ilmc.com. 11:00 - 16:00

The Space Invaders Opening Party

Complimentary treats, bites, bubbles and drinks await as the weird and wonderful characters of the live music game invade the hotel’s space at ILMC’s Opening Party. With prizes up for grabs and arcade game competitions to start the party, ILMC members are reunited after 12 months of missions and gameplaying around the world. Hosted by those fine folks at Dot Tickets, it’s a must-attend event. 18:00 - 20:00

Friday 4 March The IEG Power-Up Lunch

With the Friday conference programme now packed more tightly than a Tetris block, and proving that there is such a thing as a free lunch, Istanbul Entertainment Group’s Power-Up Lunch offers delegates a welcome two-hour window in which to load-up on energy pellets and boost their energy before the afternoon sessions begin. Everyone loves a free lunch, so early arrival is a must! 12:30 - 14:30

ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

The Dutch Impact Party

Music, drinks, presentations, snacks, competitions...Friday night at ILMC would not be complete without the Dutch Impact Party which this year presents showcases from Bombay, Pauw, The Deaf, and DeWolff. In addition, there’s a Eurosonic Noorderslag 2016 registration up for grabs, as well as enough drinks and nibbles to keep the most hardcore player powered up. It all takes place at Bodo’s Schloss, which is conveniently located right next door to the Royal Garden Hotel. 18:00 - 21:30

The Hi-Score Texas Hold’em Poker Tourney

With ILMC’s delegates partial to a high score now and again, the Poker Tourney is always a popular event. Bluff, bravado, high stakes… it’s a great way to make new friends, lie to their faces and win the shirts off their backs! It costs £20 to enter (with all proceeds going to the Nikos Fund) – so sign-up when you register or email marketing@ilmc.com for a chance to win one of the bar tab prizes on offer. 21:30 - 00:00

The Multiplayers Table Football Coupe du Monde

The best video games work better in multiplayer mode, which is also true of ’the Table Football Coupe du Monde. A late-night competition of dubious moral and physical calibre, players signup in pairs to fight it out during a series of nail-biting rounds, bravely 28.ILMC.COM battling to win the smallest World Cup known to mankind. Be in the bar by 10pm to sign-up, as Wembley Stadium host this annual showdown. 00:00 - 03:00

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Saturday 5 March Complimentary Lunch

The European Arenas Association hosts Saturday’s five-star lunch, when the hotel chefs showcase their talents at a buffet feast to remember. Share a glass of wine with the venues, or just make like pacman and gobble gobble gobble your fill – from sushi to hot delights and more, you won’t want to miss it. 12:30 - 14:30

Feld’s Ice-Cream Reboot

Chasing coins and getting to the next level is always hard work, but Feld Entertainment provide some welcome relief on Saturday afternoon. The Ice-Cream Reboot is the perfect chance to take five during a busy afternoon’s conferencing, while adding to the kids’ collection of bizarre plastic cups at home. 16:00 - 17:00

Match of the Year Football

The Match of the Year showdown sees the UK take on the Rest of the World in a match of epic proportions, as the giants of the live industry get together for 90-minutes of analogue gameplay. Coaches will transport gameboys (gamegirls are encouraged to play too) from the Royal Garden Hotel and back again. Places are limited and must be booked in advance, so contact peter@ aikenpromotions.com to get involved. 19:30 - 21:30

The Mario Bros. Gala Dinner & Super Arthurio Awards

The heart of every ILMC and the pinnacle of the live music calendar, The ILMC Gala Dinner welcomes the power players and bosses of the international business to meet, dine and celebrate its most worthy. It all takes place at London’s finest and most iconic hotel, The Savoy, with guests treated to a champagne reception followed by a fourcourse feast with fine wines, as well as hair-raising entertainment and the annual Arthur Awards ceremony…more details at 28.ilmc. com/gala-dinner. 19:30 - 00:00

Grand Theft Auto-Tune Karaoke

A favourite for the frustrated pop stars, the karaoke hardcore, the tambourine shakers or anyone drunk enough, the Grand Theft Auto-Tune Karaoke will be the scene of a multitude of crimes, all against music. Largely offensive to anyone with perfect pitch, with a hotel room directly above the bar, or who is sober, expect outrageous ‘performances’ and downright hilarity. 22:30 - game over

Sunday 6 March Complimentary Lunch

A second opportunity to partake of the delights offered by the Royal Garden Hotel’s chefs as they showcase their culinary expertise in another impressive buffet offering everything from traditional English roast dinner to salads, sushi and an exceptional range of desserts. It really is a magnificent spread, so make like Pacman and Ms Pacman (waka waka waka!) and get stuck in. 13:30 - 15:30

Nikos Fund Grand Prize Draw

The ILMC raises a significant amount of money every year for a charity of its choice in honour of the Nikos Fund. Hand in your business cards to the ILMC girls and boys rattling their collection tins and turn up for a 14:45 start for the chance to win some colossal prizes as our chosen charity Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders benefits. But don’t forget – you must be in the room to win. 14:45 - 15:15

The Game-Over Dinner

With many ILMCers still around on Sunday night, we’ll be reserving tables for a Mexican meal at Lupita, not far from the Royal Garden Hotel. Anyone who’d like to join the ILMC team for this informal supper is welcome. Sign up at the Help Desk over the weekend to come. It’s a final bonus stage before facing the boss on Monday morning...even if you are the boss. 19:00 - home

ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

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Provisional Schedule “Computer games don’t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.” - Kristian Wilson, Nintendo. 1989

Thursday 3 March

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09:00 - 17:00 IPM Registration 10:00 - 18:00 IPM (ILMC Production Meeting) 10:00 - 18:00 GEI (Green Events & Innovations Conference) 11:00 - 16:00 Association Summit (invitation only) 13:00 - 21:00 ILMC Early-Bird Registration 13:00 - 18:00 Travel Desk 14:30 - 18:00 Association Meetings (invitation only) 18:00 - 20:00 IPM Closing Drinks Party 18:00 onwards Park Terrace Table Reservations 18:00 - 20:00 The Space Invaders Opening Party Various Access All Areas Shows

Friday 4 March

09:00 - 20:00 Registration Desk & Help Desk 09:00 - 18:00 Travel Desk 09:30 - 11:00 Virtual Reali-Tea & Coffee Break 10:00 onwards The Tech Laboratory 10:00 - 10:30 New Delegates’ Orientation 10:00 - 17:00 Association Meetings (invitation only) 10:00 - 18:15 Conference Sessions 12:00 - late AEG’s Barcade 12:30 - 14:30 The IEG Power-Up Lunch 17:30 - 18:30 The United Talent Happy Hour 18:00 - 21:30 The Dutch Impact Party 18:30 Dinner in The Garden Various Access All Areas Shows 21:30 - 00:00 The Hi-Score Texas Hold ‘em Poker Tourney 00:00 - 03:00 The Multiplayers Table Football Coupe du Monde

Saturday 5 March 07:00 - 13:00 Breakfast Available 09:00 - 18:00 Registration Desk & Travel Desk 09:00 - 19:30 Help Desk 09:30 - 10:30 Virtual Reali-Tea & Coffee Break 10:00 - 13:00 Conference Sessions 11:00 - late AEG’s Barcade 12:30 - 14:30 Complimentary Lunch with EAA 14:00 - 18:15 Conference Sessions 16:00 - 17:00 Feld’s Ice-Cream Reboot 19:30 - 21:30 Match of the Year Football 19:30 - 00:00 The Mario Bros. Gala Dinner & Super Arthurio Awards Access All Areas Shows Various 22:30 - late Grand Theft Auto-Tune Karaoke

Sunday 6 March

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07:00 - 13:00 Breakfast on the Mezzanine 10:00 - 11:00 Virtual Reali-Tea & Coffee Break 10:00 - 12:00 Registration Desk Travel & Help Desk 10:00 - 16:00 10:30 - 13:30 The Breakfast Meeting & Conference Sessions 11:00 - late AEG’s Barcade 13:30 - 15:30 Complimentary Lunch & Pay Bar 14:45 - 15:15 Nikos Fund Grand Prize Draw The ILMC 28 Autopsy 15:30 - 16:15 19:00 - home The Game-Over Dinner

THE NOT-SO-SMALL PRINT A full list of terms and conditions can be found online, but please note: • ILMC conference sessions may not be videoed or recorded • Children are not allowed in the conference areas

ILMC28 Registration Walkthrough

• Conference passes must be worn at all times • Lost passes will incur a replacement fee

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Contents IQ Magazine Issue 64

News and Developments

22 In Tweets The main headlines over the last two months 24 In Depth Key stories from around the live music world 30 Rebates Controversy over performance fee rebates to European promoters 38 Busy Bodies Industry associations share business concerns and news 39 New Signings A round-up of the latest acts that have been added to the rosters of international agents

EUROPEAN

40 Techno Files Revealing the hottest new technology in live entertainment

Features

3 ILMC 28 The International Legendary Multiplayers Congress 42 Metropolitan Man Bob Angus Marks 30 years in the live music business 58 Your New Favourite Land Adam Woods examines the health, and wealth, of the business in Sweden 70 European Arena Report 2016 Live music drives moderate growth across Europe’s major indoor venues

2016 ARENA REPORT

EUROPEAN

2016 ARENA REPORT

82 Best In Show: Violetta Live Europe embraces Argentine superstar Martina Stoessel 92 Virtual Becomes Reality Richard Smirke takes a 3D look at the opportunities for Virtual Reality to exploit live music performances

58 82

Comments and Columns

32 Commissioning Future Success Corinne Rigaud outlines some of the European Commission’s plans to support the music sector 33 Live is on the Air András Berta provides a crash course in the pros and cons of live-streaming from festivals 34 Engendering Equality! Esther Rieger-Breuer asks whether the music industry needs to address gender equality 35 Empowering Fans to Help Venues Stephen Budd details simple ways in which affiliate marketing can connect fans, artists and venues 36 Getting Started David O’Keefe asks if access to careers in the live music industry has become harder for young people 96 Members’ Noticeboard Keeping you posted on what ILMC members are up to 98 Your Shout “What’s your best memory of working with an artist who recently left us?”

IQ Magazine March 2016

EUROPEAN

2016 ARENA REPORT

70 92

Marchons, marchons! Gordon Masson laments the passing of time, but is relishing our forthcoming annual gathering to meet friends, old and new, at ILMC 28

Issue 64 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE

THE ILMC JOURNAL, March 2016

It must be something to do with getting older, but the speed that time passes these days is frightening. How on earth can we be just a couple of weeks away from our annual live-music pilgrimage to the Royal Garden Hotel, when it seems like just a few months since we packed away our superhero capes at ILMC 27? Of course, as you read this, it’ll likely only be a few days until the great and the good of the live music industry make their way to Kensington in West London – and as you’ll see from our agenda guide at the front of this magazine, we’ve got an amazing line-up of topics to get through, as well as some stellar brains to pick – bookended by Live Nation supremo Michael Rapino to get things underway on Friday, and William Morris’s head of music Marc Geiger at the Breakfast Meeting on Sunday. Here at IQ Towers, the team has been boosted by the addition of news editor Jon Chapple who joined us in January and has been instrumental in the launch of our new website, daily news coverage and the recently launched weekly Index newsletter that you’ve all hopefully been receiving in your email inbox. If you haven’t received the Index and would like to, please email jon@iqmag.net and he will sort you out. As you’ll see in the following pages, this issue of IQ is so packed that for the first time we’ve gone into three figures with our page count – 100 to be exact. Within this veritable tome you’ll find that our Best In Show award goes to Argentine sensation Violetta (see page 82), while we also celebrate the 30th anniversary of promoter, and music industry innovator, Bob Angus (page 42). On page 70, we learn that live music has driven attendance growth, while venue managers are finding new and exciting genres to entice new audiences to their buildings, in our annual European Arena Report.

IQ Magazine March 2016

Adam Woods takes his market reporting skills to Sweden (page 58), where the country’s various companies and entrepreneurs are enjoying impressive results, thanks, in no small part, to the local population’s demand for music. Elsewhere, Richard Smirke examines the opportunities that the development of virtual reality technology could bring to the live music industry (page 92), with experts predicting that buying passes to concerts and festivals using VR systems could quickly become normal practice. And we also have an extended news feature on the great rebates debate, looking at the controversial discounts programme that certain performance rights organisations are giving to promoters. The debate will continue at ILMC 28, so if you’re unaware of the rebates, kickbacks, discounts, or whatever you’d like to call it, be sure to read the background to this subject on pages 30-31. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention some of the artists the world has lost since we last published. Lemmy, Glenn Frey, Maurice White, and of course, David Bowie, have all touched the lives of countless millions and the world is a poorer place without them. But as we go to press, the horrific news about Viola Beach has shocked us all. The four piece – Kris Leonard (20), River Reeves (19), Tomas Lowe (19) and Jack Dakin (27) – along with manager Craig Tarry (32), were killed when their car plunged 25 metres from a bridge into a canal in Stockholm as they returned from the Where’s The Music? festival. The tragic loss of such young talent, on the cusp of breaking through into the public consciousness, is difficult to come to terms with, and IQ hopes the campaign to have the band’s latest single Swings and Waterslides reach No.1 in the UK is successful.

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

Associate Editor Allan McGowan

Marketing & Advertising Director Terry McNally

Design

Martin Hughes

Sub Editor

Michael Muldoon

Editorial Assistants

Ben Delger and Sina Klüver

Contributors

András Berta, Stephen Budd, Eugenia Durante, Eamonn Forde, David O’Keefe, Greg Parmley, Esther Rieger-Breuer, Corrine Rigaud, Richard Smirke, Manfred Tari, Adam Woods

Editorial Contact

Gordon Masson, gordon@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0303

Advertising Contact

Terry McNally, terry@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0304

To subscribe to IQ Magazine: sina@iq-mag.net An annual subscription to IQ is £75 (print) or £60 (electronic).

News

In Tweets... JANUARY

Songkick’s Ian Hogarth announces move to chairman role, with Matt Jones becoming CEO (see page 24). Tomorrowland announces it will expand again in 2016, this time with a new edition in Spain. Paul McCartney’s final Out There show adds $4.7m (€4.2m) in ticket revenue, bringing the tour’s gross to $196m (€175m) from 60 concerts. NSW Government threatens music festival shutdown following drug overdoses at Field Day. The US’s Santa Barbara Bowl cedes control to Goldenvoice after a decade under the stewardship of Nederlander Concerts. Famed Bee Gees and Cream manager, and musical producer Robert Stigwood dies. He is 81. The Guardian Media Group is reportedly considering abandoning its multimillion-pound Kings Cross, London, events venue amid possible job cuts. German indie-promoter Moderne Welt closes operations, three years on from the passing of its founder, Henning Tögel. Security upgrades are implemented at Live Nation arenas, including metal detectors and limits on bags allowances. The UK’s Labour Party appoints Maria Eagle as shadow culture secretary following a top team reshuffle. AEG and MGM Resorts announce T-Mobile as naming rights sponsor for the Las Vegas Arena.

SFX Entertainment considers filing for bankruptcy, in wake of massive debts totalling more than $490m (€438m). Fans and the music industry mourn the loss of David Bowie, who passes away, aged 69, after an 18-month battle with cancer. Over 230,000 people watch a live stream of Lemmy’s Los Angeles funeral on YouTube. The Motörhead frontman died after a short illness. The Sri Lankan capital sues Enrique Iglesias concert organiser Live Events for $214k (€191k) in alleged unpaid taxes. Swedish police are accused of covering up sex crimes at the We Are Sthlm music festival last August. Walk-in magnetometers are among the new security measures introduced by the Verizon Arena in Arkansas in wake of recent terror attacks.

@iq_mag The O2 arena in London retains its title of world’s busiest arena for the eighth year in a row, selling more than 1.8m tickets in 2015. Lady Gaga leaves William Morris to sign with CAA for representation in all areas. Concert promoter Live Nation reports sales of 29m tickets in 2015, almost twice as many as nearest rival AEG Live. The Eagles founding member and guitarist Glenn Frey dies in New York, aged 67. .tickets unveils initiative to prevent ‘cyber-squatting’ on .tickets URLs by non-ticketing-related sites. Eagles of Death Metal announce plans to give free concert tickets to Le Bataclan survivors. Live Nation brings in C3 Presents to manage New Orleans’ Voodoo Music + Arts Experience.

Lemmy

IQ Magazine March 2016

News

Paul McCartney

Dutch live entertainment giant Stage Entertainment says it will cut up to 350 jobs after losing approximately €19m last year. Madison Square Garden fires senior execs after discovering they were reselling tickets for profit on StubHub. AEG Live’s British Summer Time is granted a two-year extension to stay in London’s Hyde Park until 2019. European festivals association Yourope forms a Creative Europe initiative to ensure the European Union follows up on creative industry promises. Neil Warnock, head of music worldwide at United Talent Agency is confirmed as the keynote speaker for MIDEM 2016. Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium is renamed the Principality Stadium in a new deal with the Principality Building Society. Dutch-based logistics company Saan Trucking, whose customers include ID&T and Cirque du Soleil, relocates its HQ to Romania. German society GWVR says it is negotiating with digital broadcasters, as it seeks remuneration for live concert footage.

FEBRUARY

Lollapalooza Berlin organisers admit they are looking for a new location as the original site is now being used to shelter refugees.

Beatport tells partners it’s ‘business as usual’ following parent company SFX’s bankruptcy filing. European RFID provider Playpass confirms Eastern Electrics as the first 100% cashless UK festival. 22 UK music festivals launch a scheme to raise funds for refugees currently in camps in Calais, France. Philadelphia politician Mark Squilla withdraws his controversial bill that would compel venues to give performers’ information to police, on request. Cuban music festival Musicabana begins to market travel packages, including Cuban visas, for American visitors. Dubai-based promoter 117 Live confirms Nicki Minaj to play at its newly opened, 20,000-capacity site – The Venue. Shanghai’s Mercedez-Benz Arena, operated by AEG, reports that 2015 was its biggest year ever for performances. DEAG’s Rock im Revier festival announces a move to Dortmund’s Westfalenhallen stadium for its second event. Long-running Dutch EDM festival Mysteryland confirms its return in 2016, despite the bankruptcy of parent company SFX Entertainment. The main stage at Download Festival will be renamed ‘The Lemmy Stage’ in 2016 as a tribute to the late rock icon. An appeals judge affirms dismissal of an anti-competition lawsuit against Live

Nation by indie promoter IMP. AEG Facilities wins the contract to operate Arizona’s Gila River Arena. After a triumphant Superbowl performance, Beyoncé announces a 40-date stadium tour of North America and Europe. SFX is granted access to $80m (€72m) of $115m (€103m) debtor-in-possession financing and begins the search for a new CEO. StubHub moves into primary ticketing with new platform combining primary & secondary markets (see page 26). Matthew Lazarus-Hall is standing down as CEO and co-director of Australian concert promoter Chugg Entertainment. Giorgio Gomelsky, promoter for the Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds, among many others, dies in New york. He is 81 years old. Self-service ticketing and registration platform Eventbrite acquires venue and event ticket app Queue (see page 24). Up-and-coming British band Viola Beach, along with their manager, are killed in a car accident coming back from Where’s The Music? Festival in Sweden. To subscribe to IQ Magazine: sina@iq-mag.net An annual subscription to IQ is £75 (print) or £60 (electronic).

Beyoncé

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IQ Magazine March 2016

News

Taxes hit Burning Man Prices

Movers and Shakers Former Elastic Agency staffer Paul McQueen has joined Primary Talent and has relocated from Glasgow to London. He brings with him a roster of acts including The Jillionaire, Walshy Fire, DJ Sliink, The Partysquad and Branko. ATC Live has taken on a trio of new agents in the form of Clemence Renaut, Roxane Dumoulin and Chris Meredith. With a roster including Queen Kwong, Kaki King, Big Deal and Hannah Trigwell, Meredith previously ran his own agency We Are Building a Religion. Renaut and Dumoulin were formerly at Elastic Artists, where they built an excellent roster including Mac DeMarco, Of Montreal, Natalie Prass, Porches, Beach Fossils, Frankie Cosmos and Cavern of Anti Matter.

The price of individual tickets to this year’s Burning Man will increase to US$424 while the non-profit festival appeals a decision by authorities in Nevada to make it pay the state’s live entertainment tax. The festival says it “had hoped to resolve this matter before selling tickets so that participants would not have to pay the tax, but the state is taking longer than we expected to issue an opinion. Unfortunately, this means we will have to collect the tax at the time of purchase, as per the law.” Organisers have pledged to refund the extra money if the tax is found not to apply after ticket sales commence on 23 March. Nevada Senate Bill No. 266 removes an exemption from live entertainment tax for non-profit events that offer for sale 7,500 tickets or more and which have patrons “participating” in the entertainment. However, Burning Man general counsel Ray Allen contends, “Burning Man is not a concert. It’s not an arena event. It’s not a casino show. At Burning Man, people come for the experience that they bring themselves. Obviously, some of our members do things that others may find entertaining. However, the statute says that the organisation that’s going to be taxed has to provide those activities. Our organisation – we provide infrastructure.”

Echo Arena Liverpool has appointed Kay Wilson head of sales for concerts, entertainment and sport and Kofi Ohene-Djan as consumer marketing manager. Wilson joins from the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), where she was general manager of live entertainment sales. Ohene-Djan was previously at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham. Joel Crouch has joined Eventbrite as its new general manager for the UK and Ireland with a remit that includes driving growth throughout the region for the self-service ticketing platform. Crouch previously worked with technology giants EMC and Google and most recently with Lanyon. His experience includes applying technology to respond to customer demands. The European Arenas Association has appointed Nancy Skipper as its new general manager. A popular figure in the live entertainment industry, Skipper was administrator for the UK’s National Arenas Association for the past eight years and is also a founding partner in live events company, Ginger Owl Productions, which works as artist liaison at several large festivals including Download, Wireless and Hard Rock Calling. Songkick announces that Ian Hogarth is moving into a chairman role at the company, leaving Matt Jones as soul CEO of the ticketing operation. Former Soundwave general manager Chris O’Brien switches roles to become the new general manager of touring for leading Australian promoter Destroy All Lines. Hip-hop mega agent Cara Lewis launches her own agency, CL Group, which will be based in New York. Lewis left CAA in late 2015 and has reportedly been speaking to other agents about possible opportunities. Among Lewis’s roster at CAA were Eminem, Kanye West and Iggy Azalea. The Ticket Factory promotes Daniel Handley as its new group sales manager and welcomes Rachel Floyd as account manager. Handley has 11 years’ experience and was previously the company’s client services account manager. Floyd was previously at another primary ticketing agency. Both will work from The Ticket Factory’s Birmingham, UK headquarters.

Eventbrite Lines Up Queue Integration Eventbrite has acquired event-management tech start-up Queue through an asset-purchase agreement. Sacramento, Californiabased Queue’s app – “built by nerds, for nerds” – combines tools for event booking; box office and guest list administration; socialmedia marketing; and realtime analytics. Self-service ticketing business Eventbrite will integrate Queue’s technology into both its web

platform and mobile boxoffice solution, Eventbrite Neon, later this year. “Queue builds on Eventbrite’s commitment to deliver the most innovative event solutions to our broad range of customers,” says Randy Befumo, Eventbrite’s vice-president of strategy. “Queue has built a suite of industry leading products, designed specifically with the complex needs of venues in mind. We are thrilled to

welcome their talented team to the Eventbrite family and believe their expertise in music will substantially enhance our ability to deliver for customers.” Greg Patterson, CEO and co-founder of Queue, adds. “Queue shares Eventbrite’s passion for live experiences and a maniacal focus on providing customers with innovative products and datadriven insights that improve their business.”

IQ Magazine March 2016

News

Stubhub moves into Primary ticketing StubHub, the world’s largest ticket resale marketplace, is taking on Ticketmaster with the launch of its first primary ticketing platform. The eBay-owned brand’s launch partnership will be with basketball team the Philadelphia 76ers, with StubHub becoming the 76ers’ official ticketing partner and the team’s tickets available on the new platform ahead of the 2016–17 season. The new-look StubHub marketplace will show all available tickets on a single seating map, with no indica-

tion as to which are being offered by resellers. Buyers will be able to purchase tickets from multiple sellers in one transaction. StubHub will also offer a white-label service for primary sellers. As part of the partnership, the 76ers will direct all buyers to their team-branded “experience” on StubHub, and both parties will “work closely to optimise the ticketing experience over time while capitalising on their collective strengths and assets to grow the ticket-buying audience and

ultimately the team’s season ticket-holder base.” “We’re excited to launch a groundbreaking ticketing marketplace with StubHub that for the first time, seamlessly integrates and makes available primary and secondary seats in one marketplace, on one seating map, with one blendedpricing purchase process,” says 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil. “This game-changing platform will provide Sixers fans unparallelled access to available seats with a world-class, fanfriendly mobile experience.” StubHub attempted to

sue Ticketmaster last year over its similar primary/ secondary ticketing agreement with another basketball team, the Golden State Warriors, arguing that the status of Ticketmaster’s Ticket Exchange as the sole resale outlet for Warriors games was monopolistic and in violation of competition laws. The lawsuit was thrown out in November. It is unclear if StubHub will attempt to enforce a similar arrangement on 76ers fans or allow tickets to be sold on third-party marketplaces.

European Commission Offers Funding for Live Music Without a doubt, the European Union is under pressure. The rise of antiEuropean tendencies in France, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the UK is gaining momentum, but – arguably – being a part of the EU has had its benefits as far as the live music industry is concerned. Border-free travelling, thanks to the Schengen Agreement, has supported the rise

of European festivals significantly, and a plan that is currently in the administrative pipeline of the European Commission could lead to another boost that will top everything. The plan entails the development of a specially tailored support programme as already exists for the film and media sector. At present, only a handful of projects dedicated to

popular music receive European funding, such as the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) and Liveurope. But last year, the European Commission approached the Budget- and Culture-Committee at the European Parliament in order to introduce its proposal, and this year the Commission will launch formal procedures to pave the political

way for this new programme. Using the film and media sector as a blueprint to create a similar support scheme could lead to significant access to public funding for the live music industry. The Commission’s Creative Europe scheme has a budget of €1.46billion for the years 2014-2020, of which 56% is currently allocated toward the film and media sectors.

Russian Promoters Battle Artists over Self-Regulation Russian promoters’ association Soyz Concert has expressed its disappointment that a number of prominent artists have torpedoed its plans for a self-regulatory body for the country’s concert industry. Promoters SAV Entertainment, PMI and NCA had already signed up to Soyuzkontsert (the Concert Alliance) when it was abandoned in its current form following criticism from prominent musicians including Yuri Shevchuk, Boris Grebenshchikov, Alla Pugacheva and Grigory

Leps, who believed artists’ interests were not being suitably represented. According to Vladimir Kozlov, Soyuzkontsert would regulate relations between members, lobby government for the industry’s interests and deal collectively with issues such simplifying the process of obtaining visas for foreign artists and resolving taxation issues related to their fees. Shevchuck, Pugacheva et al apparently bristled at not being consulted when the body was conceived and pro-

posed to Russian legislators. “We think that the main thing for the artists now is to read this document,” a spokesman for Soyuz Concert tells IQ. “Apparently they did not, and instead succumbed to the rumours that this law is directed against them or somehow restricts them. But if they had examined the document, they would have realised that this law is not about them and not for them – but for and about the promoters.” The idea for Soyuzkontsert comes at a time when Rus-

sian tours by international artists are increasingly under threat as the country’s concert industry suffers in the face of Western sanctions and a collapsing ruble. Soyuz Concert isn’t giving up what it calls its “timely and proper” proposal. Its spokesman says it’s in Russia’s interest “to have trade unions of promoters who actually create legislation. Any further regulation [of the live music sector] will take place within these trade unions, which [will be] a boon for the industry.”

Have you got a viewpoint on any of these articles? Then get involved in the discussion on our Twitter account @iq_mag

IQ Magazine March 2016

News

Hellfest Loses Subsidy for Refusal to Drop Anselmo French metal festival Hellfest Open Air will lose €20,000 in local-government funding for refusing to drop Phil Anselmo-fronted supergroup Down from its 2016 line-up. Bruno Retailleau, a senator from the Vendée who serves as president of the regional council of Pays de la Loire, issued the ultimatum to Hellfest promoter Benjamin Barbaud, telling him that the region will not subsidise any event associated with “incitement to racial or religious hatred”. Ex-Pantera frontman Anselmo was widely con-

demned earlier this month after being filmed at Dimebash, on 22 January, shouting “white power” and giving a Nazi-style salute. It also emerged that in March 1995, during a Pantera show in Montreal, Anselmo had condemned rappers for “pissing all over white culture” and told the crowd: “Tonight is a white thing.” According to Barbaud, the first he heard about Retailleau’s comments was in a press release from the senator’s office. “Any partner worthy of the name would have phoned me to discuss this,” he told Ouest France. “We did

not receive any call. Let them keep their subsidy.” According Ouest France, Hellfest’s budget is around €16million. Barbaud says he believes Retailleau, a member of the centre-right Republicans (Les Républicains) party, “wanted to please his electorate” and “found a perfect excuse” to axe the grant. “Anselmo apologised repeatedly,” he continues. “He even offered to leave the band to do no harm to his com-

rades, who must also be disgusted with what happened. Everyone agrees that this is unacceptable and that the metal scene is neither racist nor antisemitic. “I know Phil Anselmo very well, and I am convinced that his apologies are sincere.” Hellfest 2016 takes place in Clisson, Pays de la Loire, from 17 to 19 June. Headlining are Rammstein, Twisted Sister and, on their final The End tour, Black Sabbath.

News

Promoters and Suppliers High on SFX Creditors List

Creditors holding on for pay-outs will likely see bankrupt SFX continue through debt restructuring as $300million (€267m) is wiped from the books Many of SFX Entertainment’s largest creditors are SFX-owned promoters awaiting deferred purchase price payments, according to a 476-page creditor matrix seen by IQ. The document reveals that 11 of SFX’s 13 largest ‘noninsider’ creditors – that is, ones that aren’t associated with the company’s founder and former CEO, Robert FX Sillerman – are the owners of some of the many companies purchased by the now-bankrupt EDM promotion giant since its founding in 2012. SFX currently lists assets of $661.6m (€588.3m) and debts of $490.2m (€436.0m) Sillerman and funds controlled by him own 37.8% of the company’s common stock. This means that a large proportion of SFX Entertainment’s creditors are still deeply involved in the company – and have a vested interest in seeing it continue in one form or another.

The largest unsecured creditor is Dutch EDM firm Alda Events, the promoter behind Amsterdam Music Festival and The Flying Dutch, which is owed $23.6m (€21.0m) SFX also owes $10m (€8.9m) to Made Events, creators of Electric Zoo in New York, Electric Zoo Mexico City and Electric Zoo Beach Tokyo. Chicago promoter React Presents, which organises Summer Set Music & Camping Festival and Spring Awakening, and also owns Clubtix, Inc is out $5.8m (€5.2m).

Principals at Australia’s Totem OneLove Group, which promotes Stereosonic festival, are owed $10.7m (€9.5m) (through Artists Alliance Australia Pty Ltd, Beggars Canyon Investments, Deyson Pty Ltd, Sellmark International Pty Ltd & Peter John Raftopoulos). Hoeksema Holdings, run by Theo Hoeksema, the former CEO of Paylogic, is owed $2.5m (€2.2m), while co-founder Jan Willem van der Meer is short $792,000 (€704,000), and co-founder

and former CTO Berco Beute $528,000 (€470.000). Trade creditors are also facing a shortfall, with those listed on the top 40 creditors list including private air-charter firm Vistajet, owed $1m (€890,000); Epic Tents of Georgia, $442,650 (€394,000); PRS for Music, $327,680 (€291,600); NYCbased app-builder Postlight, $315,000 (€280,300); Front Gate Ticketing, $301,400 (€268,200); and event medical services company CrowdRX, $269,600 (€239,900).

New events put Madrid on the festival map In a period of less than two weeks in late January, it emerged that Madrid suddenly had two new music festivals for 2016: Mad Cool Festival, headlined by Neil Young, Two Door Cinema Club and The Prodigy; and Utopía (subtitled Madrid Dance Island), with David Guetta, Maceo Plex and Nicky Romero. This means the Spanish capital will host no less than four festivals in a three-week period in the summer: Utopia 4-5 June; Mad Music City and Mad Cool 15-19 June and 16-19 June, respectively; and Mulafest 23-26 June. The Live Nation Spain-promoted Dcode

will follow in September. Several factors have led to the sudden proliferation of major festivals in Madrid. Perhaps the most important is the support of the city council: during 2015, councillors sat with festival promoters on several occasions in order to pledge their support for music, culture and tourism in Madrid. Another important factor is the arrival of several new promoters to the Spanish live music industry. Utopía is organised by Glaciar Music – a new promoter created late last year by Héctor Fina, formerly director of SOS 4.8 promoter Legal Music, – and Albert

Salmerón’s Animated Productions. Pedro Martinez, formerly of Legal Music, is responsible for marketing and sponsorship. Mad Cool is the brainchild of Live Nation, film-maker Zircozine, TV production company La Competencia and festival director Javier Arnaiz. Arnaiz is an ex-partner of Last Tour, the promoter of BBK Live and BIME, among others. “Primavera Sound and Sónar in Barcelona are important reference points [for Spanish festivals] but we think that Madrid needs something adapted to its idiosyncrasies,” says Live Nation Spain presi-

dent and head promoter Roberto Grima. “Madrid is an ideal city for another type of tourism [music] – many people know Madrid exists, but do not know it.” No less important is the recent upturn in the Spanish economy. Last year, the Association of Music Promoters (APM) reported growth in the live music sector for the first time in four years. Continuing support from public institutions and local government will be essential to keeping the Madrid festival scene thriving into 2017 and turning the city into a major European festival landmark.

IQ Magazine March 2016

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THE GREAT REBATES DEBATE The controversial practice of European collection societies giving promoters rebates is peaking interest among a growing number of artist managers and agents, with many now exploring the possibilities for self-administering performance royalties, rather than relying on the local societies. The issue was highlighted as far back as five years ago when tour accountants flagged up to UK society, PRS For Music, that the figures it was receiving from sister societies in Europe for performance royalties did not match the sums that were actually being paid to certain collection societies at the end of concerts. However, Irish rockers U2 have famously been concerned about performance royalties since the 1990s and even attempted to set-up their own collection society. Research by the UK-based Music Managers’ Forum revealed that Dutch society BUMA regularly gives promoters 25% rebates on their performance fee payments – money that is meant for songwriters, composers and music publishers. The society justifies these rebates by claiming

that the promoters were helping BUMA to administer the process and therefore were entitled to compensation. Further investigation, however, has disclosed that such practices are commonplace throughout Europe, meaning that many promoters are being refunded fees earmarked as revenue for songwriters and composers. But the rebate schemes also mean that performing artists and agents are losing out on funds, because the show settlements that tour accountants are signing off on, do not reflect the true position of the finances for everyone involved. For its part, the UK’s PRS For Music (which does not have a rebate scheme for promoters) states that it does not have any say over the ways in which similar societies carry out their operations. But the society is examining the fees it is paid by sister societies and is in discussions with the likes of GEMA in Germany and BUMA over the differences in fees deducted from the box office gross, compared to those being repatriated by overseas collection societies. “There may be good reason for a discount, such as to

encourage a new market or to incentivise more use of music,” explains PRS For Music’s senior international manager, Iain Black. “These discounts exist in many countries, are explained in the published tariffs, and are normally listed in the invoices to licensees.” He adds, “We have asked societies to review any discounts within their concert tariffs with a view to simplifying the tariff and making them easier to understand for all parties, and we are already seeing some improvements in key markets.” Nevertheless, the subject is becoming a hot topic and one that will be discussed at the ILMC in March during the Performance Royalties: Shows, songs and settlements panel where MMF president Jon Webster will lead the debate. Adam Elfin, of Londonbased AEmusic, has been involved in the rebates debate for nearly three years, having worked with the MMF on the issue. He says that PRS For Music has stated that while rebates are not permitted under their reciprocal agreement with BUMA (the Dutch performing rights organisation), “discounts” are permitted.

PRS For Music highlights on its website that the rates of other societies are not all that they appear. Regarding what it refers to as the “published tariff”, PRS explains, “This normally consists of a headline percentage rate applied to the box office value, and discounts or other conditions may apply which reduce the rate. There may also be alternative calculation methods which can change the rate.” In another area of the PRS site, the society discloses exactly what some of those “discounts” are, with no fewer than 13 European societies offering such schemes, while elsewhere, the likes of Australia, Brazil, Japan and Thailand also offer discounts and a significant number of territories have a “to be confirmed” status on potential promoter discount programmes. Frustrated by such practices, certain artists and their representatives are looking to self administer their performance fees to ensure that the maximum revenues find their way back to the relevant rights owners. Indeed, the lack of transparency over performance

IQ Magazine March 2016

Rebates fee rebates, has prompted Elfin to set up a business that will allow artists to direct licence their rights. “Basically, I can manage the live rights on behalf of the artist. We can reassign their live rights and those of their publishers, from their performing rights organisation (PRO), and can then licence those rights directly to the venue/promoter,” he explains. “When the artist performs a cover version, then a payment is made by the promoter to the local PRO for that cover, just as they normally would.” Elfin adds, “I’m getting a lot of interest regarding this from managers and accountants on both sides of the Atlantic. The lift pitch is; Do you want more money, do you want it quicker, and do you want it more transparently? And who doesn’t want those things? As with direct licensing, other that not suffering the promoter kickbacks, artists also don’t suffer the PRO deductions and support deductions. On top of which, I can provide them with transparent accounting, as well as process their payments within days or weeks, rather than the months or even years it can presently take.” One artist manager who has become a self-educated expert on the subject is Brontone Management’s Anthony Addis, who believes that the discount schemes are just another example of the industry screwing over the creators. “I’ve been aware of the rebates situation for about seven or eight years through managing Muse and other acts,” says Addis. “These things move about – at one time it was the black box in Germany where lump sums would be paid to publishers by the collection societies, but they wouldn’t know how to distribute it, so they just kept it.”

IQ Magazine March 2016

However, Addis reveals that the rebates situation has never affected his acts. “I dealt directly with the promoters to get our fair share. The publishers might have lost out, but people should be looking out for their own, and most people don’t seem to be interested.” Addis says that he has worked closely with PRS For Music’s international department in the past, telling them exactly what was paid as performance fees at the end of a show, so that these could be checked against what each overseas society actually delivered back to PRS. While that is one option open to acts, there is, in theory, another whereby PRS can directly license shows in other countries for acts that have assigned their collection rights to the society. Black confirms such procedures are possible. “PRS can license its own repertoire in any EU territory (and is free to determine the fee for doing so), but would typically rely on the local society to do this, as that society has the infrastructure to properly monitor and enforce rights locally, as well as being able to license the world repertoire in that territory.” However, Addis believes the rebates controversy is not the only issue, as even the societies that do not have discount schemes are taking other significant revenues. “Most societies abroad are not as well run as PRS and therefore their admin costs are higher,” states Addis. “I call it ‘the waterfall effect’ – the more water that drops out, the more they need, and that’s why I think the overseas societies charge more than PRS in the first place. But people don’t think through the amount of money that is levied as admin deductions – it’s time that was looked at as well.”

Live Tariff Discounts Offered to Promoters Belgium (SABAM) Discounts: 5% to 12.5% volume discount for large concert organisers, included in the licence fee invoice.

Bulgaria (MUSICAUTOR) Discounts: • 10% if a 3-year licensing agreement has been signed. • 5% if a licensing agreement of less than 3 years has been signed. • 5% volume discount if the licensee had accounted to MUSICAUTOR over BGN 120,000 the previous calendar year. • an additional discount based on the licence fee due (excl. VAT) in BGN: • 10% if 700 to 2,500 and increasing increments up to... • 40% if 160,001 to 300,000.

Czech Republic (OSA) Discounts: • 5% to 20% according to the population of the municipality (the lower the population the higher the discount). • 5% to 10% volume discount for multiple concerts. • 30% for providing full playlist and application for licence in advance.

France (SACEM) Discounts: • 20% if the licence is applied for in advance of the concert. • 5% for members of the two unions of professional show and concert producers, which have a national agreement with SACEM. • 10% for members of a union of community associations or of local non-professional organisers which has a national agreement with SACEM, or 12.5% if the association is classed as for popular education.

Germany (GEMA) iscounts applied to the above? rates: D • 10% volume discount if promoting 16 to 30 events per year, or 14.5% if promoting 31 or more events per year; calculated in advance and included in licence fee invoice. • 20% discount for members of a trade organisation. • (10% discount for fund-raising events).

Hungary (ARTISJUS) • a licensee must sign a licensing agreement in advance of the event to qualify for any discounts. • a volume discount based on the licensee’s total annual licence fees in the previous year: • if less than HUF2m (€6,457) a 20% discount is applied, and increasing increments up to... • if HUF21m (€67,806) or above then the headline rate is reduced from 9% to 3.8% (or from 6% to 3.2%).

Italy (SIAE) Discounts: Our current understanding is of a 15% discount for members of trade organisation Assomusica, and that promoters also pay 5% to Assomusica, which is not part of the performing rights licence fee that goes to SIAE. Lithuania (LATGA-A) Discounts: 20% discount for major live events subject to up front payment. Netherlands (BUMA) Discounts: volume discounts depending on the value invoiced by BUMA to the promoter in the previous calendar year: • 10% if the above value was €75,000 to €250,000. • 15% if the above value was €250,000 to €750,000. • 20% if the above value was €750,000 to €1,000,000. • 25% if the above value was over €1,000,000. The above discounts are included in the licence fee invoice to the promoter.

Portugal (SPA) Discounts: 5% for touristic or public interest events.

Serbia (SOKOJ) Discounts: a 10% discount is available to some promoters, and is deducted from the total box office figure and included in the licence fee invoice. Spain (SGAE) • 5% for submitting a complete set-list within 10 days of the concert, • 5% for declaring the box office and paying the licence fee within 10 days of the concert, • 5% for paying 50% of the licence fee before the concert, • 5% for members of the ARTE trade association. Switzerland (SUISA) Discounts for SUISA’s 10% tariff: • 5% volume discount for a minimum of 11 concerts in the previous year, or 10% discount for a minimum of 26; calculated in advance and included in licence fee invoice. • 10% for members of the Swiss trade association. • 2% prompt payment discount. Discounts for SUISA’s 9.5% tariff (if venue has a capacity below 1,000 and ticket sales are below CHF15,000 (€16,639): • 5 to 20% volume discount. • 10% discount if customer is member of a user’s association.

The above data is taken from an information sheet on the PRS For Music website.

Comment

Commissioning Future Success Corinne Rigaud, policy officer and programme manager for the European Commission’s Creative Europe Culture programme, outlines some of the plans for its future support for the music sector.

or once, I won’t have to go on too much about our funding programme1, but, rather, just give you an overview of what is going on here, at the European Commission (EC) in Brussels, and more precisely at the Directorate-General for Education and Culture. Hopefully, this will also convince you that Andy Carling was right when he wrote “The European Commission is groovier than you think…in a changing world and a faster changing music scene [EU financial support] can help secure work for those in the industry, from the top line acts to those who toil behind the bar or the backstage, and it might just keep Europe on top of the cultural map.” 2 Europe’s position in the world is not merely determined by its political, economic, social and geographical standing, but also by the position and strength of its cultural values. This is a simple explanation of why the EU has always supported cultural activities, even prior to the Maastricht Treaty (1992), which for the first time officially made culture an EU concern. Article 151 provides a legal basis for the EU to encourage, support and supplement the activities of Member States, while respecting national and regional diversity, and bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore.

“The European Commission – with the full support and cooperation of the European Parliament – is proposing to initiate specific actions and to reflect further on how to refine and redefine EU support for the music sector.” Over the years, while the ‘mission’ has remained the same, tools, means, priorities and philosophy have evolved. To cut a long story short, EU support for culture moved from ad hoc initiatives to framework funding programmes, from cultural actions to cultural policy and strategy, notably with the adoption of the European Agenda for Culture, in 2007. Despite the occasional setback, EU support for culture has proved to be an enduring success story, to the extent that today it is perceived as not only legitimate but also essential. Still, there is a lot more to do – and so little money in terms of the share of the overall EU budget dedicated to culture. Although we’ve seen progress – the culture budget has increased from 0.03% to 0.14% today3 – there is room for improvement. By broadening its scope to include the cultural and creative

industries, the current Creative Europe programme has offered new funding opportunities. By implementing a new scheme designed to promote and stimulate emerging talent, Creative Europe has shown that it is not afraid of supporting what has not been tried before. In addition to its traditional mandates covering areas such as audience development, intercultural dialogue, mobility of artists and social cohesion, among others, it is clear that there is a demand for EU support to go further in terms of driving creation and empowering creators by helping them make a living. ‘Remuneration’, ‘monetisation’, ‘financing creation’ may sound like technical phrases to some, but to people at the sharp end in culture these are crucial issues, which the EC wants to put at the top of its cultural agenda to deliver concrete results. Even if it is obvious to say that music is an important contributor to Europe’s overall economic and social objectives, the EU’s unstinting support for the music sector over the past decades was not always as visible and concrete as it is today.4 As I write these words, the EC – with the full support and cooperation of the European Parliament – is proposing to initiate specific actions and to reflect further on how to refine and redefine EU support for the music sector. The music industry is going through a period of rethinking itself too and the EU needs to be ready to respond effectively. There is an increasing need to mobilise the sector as well as policymakers to face the new challenges in the sector and explore new opportunities. The European Commission is ready to facilitate this discussion and to be a part of it. To get a better understanding of the new music industry ecosystem, the EC has opened dialogue with representatives of the music industry to identify and fine-tune the possibilities for action in the short- and medium-term. This discussion will take place in informal working groups. Some policy orientations could also be shaped in parallel with the EC’s work on the digital single market package. The proposals of the working groups will feed into the 2017 Creative Europe work programme, as well as to the conclusions of the mid-term review of the programme. Finally, setting up these working groups should be seen as the first stage of the European Music Forum to be held at MIDEM in Cannes, France, in June 2016. Readmore at http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/creative-europe/; FB and Twitter. ‘ Liveurope set to rock the Union. EU support for upcoming musicians to perform.’ New Europe, 9 April 2015. 3 Culture budget as a percentage of the total EU budget from the first culture framework programme (Culture 2000) to the current one (Creative Europe 2014-2020). 4 To have an insight into some Creative Europe co-funded projects in the field of music go to : http://liveurope.eu/; http://www.etep.nl/; http://shapeplatform.eu/. 1 2

IQ Magazine March 2016

Comment

Live is on the Air A crash course in festival live-streaming by András Berta, international relations director of Sziget Festival, provides a fascinating crash course in festival live-streaming and the pros and cons of broadcasting such footage.

n 2012, Sziget was approached by Google to be amongst the first European festivals offering live-stream coverage. Bit of a challenge for us live guys, but definitely an exciting one. The deal was OK, so we started to get familiar with terms like ‘rebroadcast’ or ‘redundant signal transmission’. The studio at the festival looked like Kennedy Space Center, we had three camera crews working on site and some of the country’s best sound engineers made sure the audio stream was as good as it gets. The result was five million viewers in one week, one third of them apparently from Russia, where – in that year – we barely sold 500 tickets. Sounds like fun. But… The tech part is manageable. You find the right guys, at least the ones that shoot for your LED screens, and today it is not even important to run your signal through satellites. You’ll find a few good streaming platforms online, so it is definitely not just YouTube. If you’re big enough and able to switch your coverage between different stages, you can stay pretty confident that the afternoon programme will be complete. Of course, you can also include recorded materials, nice image videos, games, ads, whatever you can find. So what is the tough part? As always with festivals, the real challenge begins at 6pm, the time when the industry stakeholders are starting to look for income. And if you think booking is hard, well, clearing the live-stream rights is maybe even harder, as there are simply no standard business and legal terms. Typical attitudes you will encounter are: The band you love: happy to cooperate, management a) signing a simple one-page contract, then on the air you go; b) The band you can work with: management in charge, maybe even signing your own contract form, but already asking for extra money and perhaps restrictions, like geo-blocking; c) The major label band: label claims it has all the rights and will decide… but the light never seems to go green. Of course, there are so many reasons why a band wants or doesn’t want to be in a live-stream. For instance, you can always respect the wish to protect new songs. I personally ran over from main stage to stream centre a few times, radio in hand, trying to stay in touch with the tour manager to make sure we keep the new hit out of that stream. I’ve no problems with that! I think the problem zone begins with example c) when major labels basically start to misuse the term ‘360 degree’. As an idealist I thought the 360 idea was about providing a

IQ Magazine March 2016

professional service for your bands, even if your original label role has gone. But when talking to a giant – no, actually not the head, but the local branch – you can easily find yourself in 1992, facing constant arrogant and confusing answers: “you have no idea what you are talking about”, “we own all the rights”; “we need to ask management first”; “no, you can’t talk to management”; “our HQ has decided against it without giving us the reasons” and so on. So, after long months you are still not sure the right guy at the right NY office ever got a proper briefing about your festival and about what livestreaming actually means.

“If you think booking is hard, well, clearing the live-stream rights is maybe even harder, as there are simply no standard business and legal terms.” Besides, the legal basis of the label’s disapproval might be the contract between them and the band that – of course – you cannot see. You must simply accept the label’s final word because they say so. I guess I want to believe, but does it really have to be so difficult? And then, if lucky, you might get a contract that talks about recorded footage for a brief 15 pages… while all you want is one live-stream, promoting their band at your expense. Also, maybe the most important point is: we’re trying to create valuable content, worth pure gold nowadays, for all involved. So it is just not easy to accept that we are doing so in a strong headwind, created by a label’s shortsighted policies. The result is not good for anyone, as the content will suffer, while the viewer and the sponsor will stay away. In 2016, I think we still face a grey zone when it comes to clearing streaming rights, simply because the industry is far from being homogeneous. Different players hold different cards and this can result in a losing hand in many cases. You can try to push agents when booking to include streaming rights in the deal. Is that realistic? Not sure. Maybe the whole potential of live-streaming is slowly but surely evaporating, so what’s the fuss? Maybe 1.5 million Russian kids you cannot reach any other way…

Comment

Engendering Equality! Esther Rieger-Breuer, founder of the WomenVentures network, asks whether we are in need of a discussion on gender equality in the music industry.

ately I have been working extensively with the subject of feminism and women’s networks in the music industry, as I’d been feeling for a few years that the industry lacked such a support structure. Having grown up in the music industry, I count myself among the few second-generation women who are actually working as concert promoters. As such, I know exactly what it means to be working in a male-dominated field and the challenges inherent with gaining acceptance or being assertive, ideally without having to raise the gender question, since it’s often associated with feminism. Honestly, using the word ‘feminism’ also used to make my hair stand on end, but feminism simply means:

network immediately pledged their assistance and resources upon hearing my idea of starting a networking platform for women in the creative industries, especially since they have actively supported female colleagues throughout the years. As an artist manager and concert promoter, I made a conscious decision to develop a network within the creative industries, since I have built and maintained numerous points of contact with other industries and especially because diversification within the music industry has become increasingly crucial to longevity. Nowadays, companies are as much of a brand themselves as the artists they represent and establishing a strong brand requires being sustainable and building synergies with other fields.

1: The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. 2: Organised activity in support of women’s rights and interests.

“In talks with other professional women on this issue, it became clear rather quickly that there is a demand for a medium of sorts, to exchange ideas and share experiences.”

I recently read a Forbes article about women not wanting to feel or be excluded by broaching the topic of gender differences, but in talks with other professional women on this issue, it became clear rather quickly that there is a demand for a medium of sorts, to exchange ideas and share experiences. These women feel underpaid, unappreciated, undervalued, miscast, or have lower positions than their male counterparts (eg junior instead of senior positions), or encounter may I speak to your boss-type situations. They are often cross-examined regarding their ability to combine work/family life/kids or to perform their responsibilities adequately if they have children, and are therefore often passed over in favour of, or treated differently from, their male counterparts. Case in point, Yahoo’s shares fell by 2% after CEO Marissa Mayer recently announced her second pregnancy, even though she’ll only be taking 2 weeks maternity leave. This level of expected efficiency is always centred around the individual and their actual or perceived productivity, commitment, and loyalty, which is why I hope providing women with a forum to exchange thoughts, share ideas and connect, away from prejudices, will empower them. The traditions of going to gentlemen’s clubs, making deals on the golf course, and old-boys-club style nepotism, are an acceptable and tacitly approved means of men doing business, so why should a woman be ashamed to claim the same right for herself in a setting which is accessible to women? It should be noted that it does not mean that men will be excluded from the network. Men within my own professional

Implementing a female-to-male quota system in our industry, something recently discussed for the German Lollapalooza festival line-up, seems ridiculous and sends the wrong message. Women are not the weaker sex. Although having historically emancipated themselves from many anachronistic ways of thinking, change has been extremely slow in our line of business. It speaks volumes that there are few women in technical positions in our industry. So why is a women-specific network vital? Because we still lack socially accepted gender equality standards. Because communication and rhetoric standards are orientated towards men. Because women often forfeit their value and fall into stereotypical gender hierarchy roles, and practice verbal and nonverbal submission rituals more frequently than men who tend to adopt dominant conversational styles. Do we need to debate the merits of feminism or gender equality? No. Why engage a topic that lacks acceptance, even amongst some women? It should be obvious that we can engage in women-specific networks and mediums to build synergies, exchange ideas, share experiences, offer expertise, and provide guidance and mentoring, just like men have traditionally done for years. Ultimately, we have to create more networking opportunities and emancipate ourselves.

IQ Magazine March 2016

Comment

Empowering Fans to Help Venues Artist manager Stephen Budd (NH7 Weekender Festivals India/Africa Express/Passport Back To The Bars) details simple ways in which affiliate marketing can connect fans, artists, and venues.

enues up and down the UK are facing a grim challenge. Capacities are fixed, so you can only make so much from the door, bar take is what it is, and other revenues are minimal. And the clamour for more residential property sites in central urban areas, where most venues are located, is bringing plenty of tempting offers from developers so that the buildings’ owners are seriously considering selling up. Grass-roots venues are important and need to be nurtured, not sold off to the highest bidding developer, thus ending years of history and important ties for the local community. All bands have to start somewhere. Big venues like The O2, wouldn’t have the likes of Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Oasis playing if it wasn’t for grass-roots venues giving bands and artists that initial platform in which to practise, hone their craft and build a fan base. To my mind, the solution lies in engaging the most loyal and committed live music fans, and those who have a strong affinity to venues. Everyone remembers their first gig, or that venue where they met their future wife/husband, where they saw a now-huge act for the first time, along with just 20 other people. The power and pull of these emotional moments create an affinity that lasts a lifetime. And an affinity that people love to tell others about, so that they might experience the same magical connection between artist, fan and venue that only live music brings.

Venues can create powerful communities with their most ardent fans – whether they still gig or not. Offer community benefits for the most loyal and influential fans – those who get others to join the community, those who get others to go to gigs, those who get others to buy merchandise, those who get others to buy partner brands’ products – all the time yielding sales commissions for the venues that don’t otherwise exist. Find these people, give them the tools to tell their friends, reward them for their efforts – buy them a drink, give them a tour of the venue, a free ticket for a friend, a signed poster. And get the artists involved too. Every artist that plays a venue should tell their fan-base about the venue, about the cultural value it has and about how a vibrant community of like-minded people is building around that venue – a rising tide that lifts all boats. Luckily….venues, bands and fans can now do all of this through technology. Such technology is one of the main tools that a venue or band can implement going forward. A small venue with its cultural heritage and a vibrant community of loyal, active enthusiasts should be able to make valuable new revenue streams by connecting the community and its networks to other transactional revenue streams utilising affiliate marketing technology.

Comment

Getting Started David O’Keefe of the National Foundation for Youth Music in the UK asks if access to careers in the live music industry has become harder for young people.

couple of decades ago, long before the term ‘austerity measures’ had become widely known, young people who wanted to devote their life to music could also devote their dole money to buying an amp or hiring a van in order to get to an unpaid gig. Many top international acts have emerged from such humble beginnings, claiming government subsidy during early stages of musical development. Times have changed and you can certainly no longer claim the dole whilst you hang out in your bedroom practising guitar riffs. With funding cuts across the arts sector also taking their toll, financial support for nurturing talent has become harder to find. True, the industry offers some bursaries, apprenticeships and internships, but for many young people nowadays, it’s the bank of mum and dad filling the gap. But what if you don’t have a dad, and mum stacks shelves in the local supermarket? What if you’ve been brought up in care? Or you’re disabled and simply can’t afford music lessons to overcome the challenges you face? Embarking on a career in the music business also has its risks. Coming from a moneyed or comfortable background often means that you can follow this path safe in the knowledge that there’s family backup if it goes horribly wrong. However, many don’t have this support network and end up sacrificing their dream to focus on taking regular, reliable work that pays the bills. It seems so unfair that these potentially talented musicians, managers, producers and promoters of the future never get beyond go. At Youth Music, we know what a life-changer it can be to fulfil your potential in music. We’re a leading national music charity offering music-making opportunities to young people in challenging circumstances. For example, they might be living with mental health issues, facing poverty or experiencing life as a young refugee. Since 1999, the projects we support throughout the UK have offered regular workshops in instrument learning, music production, singing, song-writing and performance, across all musical genres. Every year we take over 75,000 young people on a journey that helps them build their confidence and self-esteem alongside their musical know-how. The goal isn’t necessarily to support their entry into the music business, though for many that becomes their aim. Through music, we help them to overcome the significant challenges they face in their lives. Take Darren, a young man who took part in one of our music projects run by Skimstone Arts in Newcastle. We’ve seen how live music making has changed his life from despair and homelessness to independent living with hope for the future.

In Darren’s words: “I was in a really bad situation, really low. I was living in hostels and it was miserable but I had no choice. I never saw my family and only had two friends. People would kick my door and punch me when I was walking to the toilet or kitchen. I just used to stay in my room all day. No one even said ‘hello’.”

“If it wasn’t for the project, I’d still be depressed, on my own, on Jobseekers [Allowance] and going to the Job Centre. I couldn’t believe that my life could change for the better like this: I feel like a different person.” That all began to change when a friend suggested he go along to Skimstone Arts. Two years on from joining the project, Darren now has a job and recently moved into a flat. He saved up to buy a bass guitar and plans for his new band to go on tour locally and make a name for themselves. Darren adds: “If it wasn’t for the project, I’d still be depressed, on my own, on Jobseekers [Allowance] and going to the Job Centre. I couldn’t believe that my life could change for the better like this: I feel like a different person.” Darren is just one the many thousand lives we help transform every year. So how could the live music industry help us to help young people like him? One way would be to offer us your corporate support by, for example, making us your charity partner for a live music festival, major gig or concert tour. Or you could support our Give a Gig fundraising initiative. In 2016, we’re building on the grass-roots success of Give a Gig, which has seen gigs put on across the UK in every possible venue from back gardens to Bush Hall in West London, and from Arundel Cathedral to the Rock Bar in Leeds. Give a Gig doesn’t necessarily mean just putting on a special gig, although we’d really like that. You can also support the initiative by providing a venue for free, offering your services to help promote or run the gig on the night or donating just some of the proceeds to Youth Music. So join us in our mission to help disadvantaged young people like Darren, through music. Visit www.giveagig.org. uk or find out more about Youth Music at www.youthmusic. org.uk.

IQ Magazine March 2016

Comment

BUSY BODIES News fr om live music associations ar ound the world

ILMC Association Summit

More than 20 industry trade bodies and associations will gather for a special meeting on the eve of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), as part of the Busy Bodies ongoing campaign to foster greater communication and liaison between societies. The idea of the informal meeting is to draw together the leading, active live music associations from each market, as well as a small number of pan-European sector associations. Discussion topics will include: • How to improve working relationships between associations. • Adopting successful initiatives across borders. The establishment of • global working groups for national associations. • Promoting healthy dialogue and information exchange between associations. Among the country-specific organisations so far confirmed to attend are the Association of Independent Festivals (UK), National Association of Concert Pro-

moters (US), Concert Promoters Association (UK), Prodiss (France), BDV (Germany), Assomusica (Italy), Livemusik Sverige (Sweden), FMIV (Belgium), A Ve F Tanitim Prodüksiyon (Turkey), Music Estonia, Japan Concert & Live Entertainment Promoters, Swiss Music Promoters Association and Music Canada Live. Meanwhile, a number of sector associations have also registered for the Thursday, 3 March event, which will be held in the Royal Garden Hotel from 11hrs to 16hrs. They include Yourope (European festivals); LiveEurope (venues); Live DMA (European venues); European Arenas Association; De Concert! (festivals); IFEA Europe (festivals); European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals; and the International Music Managers’ Forum. Any live music business associations are welcome to attend.” For further information or to attend the meeting, please email Ben@ilmc.com.

Yourope Aims to Create European Consciousness Members of European festivals association, Yourope, met during Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen in January to set the organisation’s agenda for 2016 and agreed that concentrating on the importance of festivals on the continent is a key goal. Aware that the upper echelons of politics are zeroing in on the music business, under the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, Yourope’s members have undertaken to follow developments closely and engage with politicians to ensure the dialogue with the festival community doesn’t dry up. While the Creative Europe programme has been criticised in certain circles over its plan to use MIDEM 2016 in June as a platform – at the start of Europe’s music festival season – Yourope will be proactive, welcoming members of the European Parliament at the gather-

ing in Cannes, France, to drive home the point that festivals can contribute to a diverse and humane Europe; a Europe, which Yourope contends has never seemed more fragile. Among the workshops at the gathering was a panel that discussed insuring live events in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks and the Colectiv fire in Bucharest. Another session addressed the need for a network of live industry professionals dealing with all questions and trends related to marketing, sponsoring and communications. Led by Philippe Cornu (Gurtenfestival) and András Berta (Sziget), participants agreed that there was a definite need for such a group, which would be based on the working model of Yourope’s Event Safety Group. The next Yourope members’ meeting will take place during ILMC 28 on 3 March 2016, in London.

Taskforce Addresses US Visa Problems The Musicians’ Union (MU) and British Underground (BU) have assembled a music industry task force in an attempt to resolve some of the American visa issues that last year claimed a number of tours as victims and cost artists and musicians needless expense in rearranged travel and hotel costs. Following discussions with USA Homeland Security, MU and BU released a guidance note

for musicians travelling under the Visa Waiver Programme or ESTA and showcasing at events in the States such as SXWS and CMJ. With the task force now in place, it is hoped that the process for working musicians can be simplified, while lobbying for greater parity between UK and US visa costs and processes is a priority. Under new US visa regulations, the cost of a four-piece band requiring work visas

and petitions is in the region of £6,000 (€7,860), excluding any crew costs or flights and accommodation. In contrast, the UK’s tier 5 visa can cost just £900 (€1,180) or a sponsored work permit just £84 (€110). In November 2015, politician Nigel Adams initiated a debate in Parliament on UK musicians performing overseas. Subsequently, the MU is seeking a meeting with UK

Culture Secretary Ed Vaizey to further discuss the visa issues. The MU’s Dave Webster, who is chairman of the Music Industry Visa Task Force, says, “The aim of the task force is to persuade the US authorities to work with us to find workable solutions to the problems musicians encounter. UK musicians have always fared well in the US and it’s a significant market for our members.”

Does your association have any news or issues to share? Email gordon@iq-mag.net to be considered for the next edition of IQ...

IQ Magazine March 2016

The latest trades and handshakes from the agency world

GORDI

Agent: Rob Challice, Coda Music Agency Folktronica songstress Gordi caused a stir recently fuelling further anticipation around the release of her upcoming EP. The 22-year-old artist (Sophie Payten) has been on rotation on radio around her native Australia helping elevate awareness overseas. Showcase sets at BIGSOUND in Brisbane and CMJ in New York further helped Gordi gain traction and Stereogum wrapped up 2015 by naming her latest single Can We Work It Out in its best tracks of the year. 12th Planet (US) Alex Cameron (AU) Avelino (UK) Ben Hobbs (UK) Big Spring (UK) Blinkie (UK) Bowling For Soup (US) Broadway Sounds (AU) Cadet (UK) Cavern of Anti-Matter (UK) Chairlift (US) Chris Brown (US) Chrome Sparks (AU) Cigarettes After Sex (US) Cœur de pirate (CA) D.R.A.M. (US) Dakota (UK) Desert Planes (UK) Dread.D (UK) Eddie Prové (UK) Eli & Fur (UK) Elias (SE) Fish (UK) Flamingods (UK) Fletcher Jackson (UK) Flowers (UK) George Taylor (UK) Glass Gang (US) Got Some (UK) Gudrun von Laxenburg (AT) Heather Small (UK) Hidden Orchestra (UK) Howie Payne (UK) Jarreau Vandal (NL) J-Cush (UK) Jerry Williams (UK) Johnny Lloyd (UK) Joy Again (US) Keep Up (UK) Khruangbin (UK/US)

After a stint writing and working in Tanzania, Gordi relocated to Sydney to pursue her musical career. There she transformed the shells of demos into dynamic and full-bodied indie-folk songs with the help of producer Benjamin McCarthy. Gordi will be in the UK and Europe for The Great Escape will be supporting Highasakite (one of Norway’s biggest new acts).

Nick Reddick, Primary Talent Clémence Renaut, ATC Live Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Steve Backman, Primary Talent Steve Zapp, ITB Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Ed Sellers, Primary Talent Serena Parsons, Primary Talent Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Clémence Renaut, ATC Live Peter Elliott, Primary Talent Jbeau Lewis & Natasha Bent, UTA Steve Nickolls, UTA Matt Bates, Primary Talent Oliver Ward, UTA Mike Malak, Coda Steve Backman, Primary Talent Steve Backman, Primary Talent Tom Dodd, Coda Phyllis Belezos, ITB Kane Dansie, Coda Lucy Dickins, ITB Matt Bates, Primary Talent Rob Gibbs, Live It Out Agency Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring Rob Gibbs, Live It Out Agency Matt Bates, Primary Talent Sally Dunstone, X-ray Touring Tom Dodd, Coda Andy Duggan, Primary Talent Georg Leitner, GLP Steve Nickolls, UTA Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring Sol Parker, Coda Paul McQueen, Primary Talent Sol Parker, Coda Mel Young, X-ray Touring Dave Chumbley, Primary Talent Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring Steve Nickolls, UTA

LET’S EAT GRANDMA Agents: Natasha Bent & Christian Bernhardt, United Talent Agency

Recently signed to Transgressive records, Let’s Eat Grandma are multi-instramentalist best friends Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth (aged 16 and 17). The duo create imaginative music that crosses the worlds of experimental pop and progressive weirdness. Let’s Eat Grandma’s first single Deep Six Textbook is available now on iTunes and will be released on limited edition vinyl in March. Filmed at Cromer near their hometown of Norwich, the video to accompany the track is an excellent introduction to Kiwi (UK) Louis The Child (US) Lucas DiPasquale (CA) Meridian Dan (UK) Monster Treasure (US) Moscoman (IL) MoStack (UK) Mykki Blanco (US) Nimmo (UK) NZCA LINES (UK) Ozzie (UK) Powell (UK) Sam Fermin (US) Sango (US) Sean Paul (JM) Second City (UK/US) Selah Sue (BE) Serine (UK) SikTh (UK) Sorority Noise (US) Strong Asian Mothers (UK) Sweat (UK) T. Williams (UK) Ta-ku (AU) The Gospel Youth (UK) The Manor (UK) The Strumbellas (CA) Tiger Army (US) Tigertown (AU) Tough Love (UK) Trudy (UK) TVAM (UK) UZ (??) VENIOR (FI) Vivaldiano (CZ) Vynce (UK) WSTR (UK)

the world of Rosa and Jenny – otherworldly, confounding, eerie and completely captivating. The teenagers will be performing at The Forge in London on Monday 21 March. Details of the band’s debut album, due for release this summer, will be announced soon.

Martje Kremers, Primary Talent Sinan Ors, UTA Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Tom Dodd, Coda Serena Parsons, Primary Talent Lucinda Runham, Primary Talent Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Nick Reddick, Primary Talent Jason Edwards & Cris Hearn, Coda Matt Bates, Primary Talent Paul McQueen, Primary Talent David Exley, Coda Rob Challice, Coda Cris Hearn, Coda Walter Laurer, GLP Cris Hearn & Tom Dodd, Coda Peter Elliott, Primary Talent Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring Shaun Faulkner, X-ray Touring Ed Sellers, Primary Talent Andy Duggan, Primary Talent Nick Holroyd, Primary Talent Tom Dodd, Coda Cris Hearn, Coda Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Paul Buck, Coda Ed Sellers, Primary Talent Andy Duggan, Primary Talent Mike Malak, Coda Rob Gibbs, Live It Out Agency Rebecca Lewis, Primary Talent Paul McQueen, Primary Talent Mark Bennett, UTA? Roland Theierl, GLP Ryan Penty, Coda Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring

Has your agency signed the year’s hottest new act? Email gordon@iq-mag.net to be considered for the next issue…

IQ Magazine March 2016

Gig Gadgetry from the Frontline...

With more than 30,000 acts currently using its services, gigmit is quickly becoming the go-to booking facilitator for artists seeking live work and promoters looking for talent to fill vacant gig slots. The web-based nature of the system means gigmit shows can theoretically take place anywhere around the world. And far from being an adversary for agencies, many agents are now using the service to provide a bigger marketing platform for their baby bands.

LiveXLive LiveXLive claims to be “the world’s first premium live music-streaming network that will deliver around the clock live music to viewers on any connected device as an authentic and experiential platform.” Offering music festivals multiday and multi-stage coverage, unique concerts, intimate performances and cutting-edge programming, its services extend the live experience to fans on computers mobiles, tablets,

Ontourcloud Ontourcloud is an intelligent scheduling and touring system that helps artist managers and agents build tours from the ground up by following a few simple steps. If there is already an initial plan for a tour route but a significant time gap between events in two cities, the system can find additional destinations with vacant venues (and promoters ready to

For promoters, gigmit can help find the right bands/DJs with an option that allows bookers to search for a specific type of artist. Alternatively, promoters can offer a gig and then browse the responses from available acts. While there is no charge for promoters, there is a tiered structure for artists, starting off with a free service that allows acts to create their own electronic press kit, right up to Gold plans priced from €129 per month, which guarantee at least one gig per month. “We have about 2,500 promoters currently using our service to find artists or discover up-and-coming musicians,” explains Bea Lindhorst,

gigmit’s marketing communications manager. “Musicians are using the possibilities of the Internet to boost their careers very actively and effectively. They are not afraid to use new online tools to get more out of their business.” Festivals are also tapping into gigmit’s database. “Sziget, Melt!, Deichbrand Festival, Jazzahead! and BIME have all used gigmit to fill slots,” adds Lindhorst. “Liverpool Sound City has done the whole application process via gigmit for the last two years, and were nominated for this year’s UK Festival Awards in the category ‘Best Use Of New Technology’ because of gigmit.”

consoles, connected TVs and virtual reality platforms. Last September’s Rock in Rio festival in Brazil was the inaugural live-streaming event for LiveXLive in conjunction with AOL, LiveXLive covered the full seven days of the event with more than 70 artists performing and over 60 hours of live music streamed. The next festival on LiveXLive’s slate is Rock in Rio Lisboa in May, while the company is also finalising its eventstreaming schedule for the next year and is expecting to confirm other events soon.

As the owner and operator of London’s Koko venue, LiveXLive says it is also partnering with venues in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and Miami, to stream live performances from must-see shows and iconic stages.

organise an event) based on convenient flights and comfortable hotels available for the gap dates. After tapping on the ‘Build Tour’ button a manager gets a ready-made route that highlights new gig opportunities for the artist/band. The app also enables event promoters to see approximate final costs for booking performers, including artist fees, riders, hotels, excess baggage, transportation and so on. For instance, artist A is located in the mountains nearby, but it could be cheaper to bring artist B from overseas as there are huge

discounts for flights for the dates the event is on. Thus, the system provides promoters with all the information they need to decide which artists to send offers to. Using extremely complex algorithms, the company works hand in hand with partners in the travel industry to deliver its efficient tour-route building service. Every day Ontourcloud monitors tours of 500,000+ artists, 13,000+ venue event schedules and 5,000+ flights delivering the best possible value for both artist/ band managers and event promoters.

Do you have a new product or technology to contribute to this page? Email gordon@iq-mag.net to be considered for the next issue…

IQ Magazine March 2016

Bob Angus

Metropolitan Man

Having recently celebrated 30 years of Metropolis Music, Bob Angus is one of the most experienced promoters in the UK. But, as he tells Eamonn Forde, he is preparing to take a stand against the volume game that promoting seems to have become…

ob Angus walks into his North London kitchen with his arm in a complex cast, the result of a Christmas Eve fall putting out the rubbish. IQ jokes that he now looks like Mean Machine, the psychotic, metal-armed, arch enemy of Judge Dredd. This goes down well with Angus as he is a huge fan of 2000 AD, the eagle logo on Dredd’s badge directly inspiring the logo for Metropolis Music, the company he set-up just over 30 years ago, and which has grown to be one of the UK’s biggest and most respected live promoters. We are here to talk about how the company was started; how it became the powerhouse it is today; why it has diversified in recent years into management; where the live business has changed (not always for the better); and why his company has stayed determinedly independent. Angus grew up in Tottenham, not far from where he lives now, and the first music he got into was glam. “Then David Bowie – that was the thing,” he says of his epiphany on hearing The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars. “He was the first serious artist that got me into music.” He recalls how he and his brother would obsess over the chart show on radio and it was through radio that he got to his first gig, Dutch prog rock band Focus at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park, after winning tickets on Capital Radio when he was 15. “They weren’t that visually stunning,” he says of the band that introduced him to live music. “They just happened to be the first show I went to.” He was the prime age for punk when it happened and jumped in with both feet, seeing The Clash more times than

IQ Magazine March 2016

he can remember, but didn’t see the Sex Pistols until their first reformation. His boot camp as a promoter happened outside of London when he went to Surrey University in Guildford to do a degree in chemical physics. Three months into his studies, he took over as social secretary at the student union, replacing the incumbent who was struggling in the post. He carried the post over into his second year as well. He found himself tasked with filling an 800-capacity venue, booking acts like Reckless Eric, John Martyn, local band The Vapours and, most notoriously, the UK Subs. During the UK Subs’ show, a fight broke out between two rival factions. “It was like the Wild West,” says Angus, still somewhat gripped by disbelief at what happened. “Someone ripped the cigarette machine off the wall, someone stuck a chair through a window and suddenly all the other windows got knocked out.” Hauled up in front of the dean to explain, the university introduced an alcohol ban for three weeks. He says it was only later in his career that he realised how important the bar take was to venues. Due to the reputation of some punk shows, Angus was keen to replace the students who acted as security with proper paid security guards, seeing a problem and solving it with professionalism – a strategy he has carried with him since those student days. A year out during his course on industrial training saw him working on a Ministry of Defence project (“I had to sign the Official Secrets Acts – it didn’t sit well with me”) amid a growing awareness that he wanted to work outside of what

Bob Angus Bob circa 1985

“I got told I wasn’t allowed to meet clients as I had tattoos and earrings. That’s when the light bulb went off.” - Bob Angus his degree was preparing him for. “I was a bit disillusioned with the course,” he says. After graduation he got a job as a computer programmer, following his brother into the profession. He lasted a year. “I got told I wasn’t allowed to meet clients as I had tattoos and earrings,” he says. “That’s when the light bulb went off.” He worked with Steve Walsh, former Radio London DJ, putting on shows at the Lyceum and the odd show at The Clarendon in Hammersmith. “We did a show with Afrika Bambaataa at The Lyceum,” he recalls. “We virtually sold the show out but managed to lose money. I thought I could do better than that.” In 1985, he borrowed £1,000 (€1,300) from his brother and was awarded a Manpower Services Grant (an initiative set-up under the Thatcher government), getting £40 (€53) a week for a year and working out of his mother’s front room. “I’d like to say I had this fantastic business plan and career path, but I’d be lying,” he says. “I was just going to put on some shows.” His first show at The Clarendon in Hammersmith was Dr & The Medics, then riding high with their cover of Spirit In The Sky. His second show was The Godfathers. His third was The Pogues on St Patrick’s Day, with Elvis Costello as a

surprise guest. “Phil Lynott was there,” says Angus, “but he bottled it and didn’t go on.” Rob Hallett, now owner of Robomagic, was starting out as a promoter at the same time as Angus. “He’d be standing outside, in his biker jacket and with his tattoos and his long hair – looking like a real thug – handling out leaflets about the acts he was promoting,” he says. “My fondest memory of Bob is him dressed like a Hell’s Angel, standing by a roundabout and handing out leaflets.” It was a time of immense potential for smaller players who were smart enough and swift enough to seize on things. “We were living in a world of small operators in those days,” says Hallett. “People like me, Bob and Simon Moran [MD of SJM Concerts] were all trying to get ahead then. It was a time of opportunity. We were all independent.” The problem, however, was that small operators took the risk on new acts and once they had built them up to a certain level, bigger players would swoop in and poach them. “It was a struggle in the early days,” says Angus. “It was a struggle to get business. It was a struggle to do anything. Once I’d get acts to a certain level, I’d get them nicked off me!” Putting on shows at the University of London Union (ULU) meant Angus met Paul Hutton who was the entertainments secretary there. Hutton joined as Metropolis’s first employee and remains there today as director of the company. The roster was growing and Metropolis had a knack for spotting acts from the left field who were soon to crossover – notably Pixies, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Mission (their first act to play at arena level). They were also the first company to put on a hip hop act at an arena in the UK when Public Enemy played Docklands Arena in 1991. “About 90% of the acts we have worked with today we have worked with from day one,” says Angus of the trust and loyalty he has engendered. “There are no long-term contacts. We just work show by show.” Geoff Ellis, now chief executive of DF Concerts, first met Angus when he was ents manager at Middlesex Poly before progressing to promote his own nights in London in the 1990s. “They used ULU a lot in the early days,” he says of Metropolis. “They were almost like the in-house promoter at ULU. They had a big impact in terms of being adaptable. They were one of the new kids on the block as far as the industry regarded them back then. They were a bit rebellious and would do stuff that some of the mainstream promoters wouldn’t necessarily touch. They were particularly instrumental in the rise of shoegazing with acts like Ride, Lush and My Bloody Valentine. They had a very good early handle on that, which was a strong scene in London.” A link with Phil McIntyre helped Metropolis step out of London properly for the first time and put on shows

“My fondest memory of Bob is him dressed like a Hell’s Angel, standing by a roundabout and handing out leaflets.” - Rob Hallet, Robomagic

IQ Magazine March 2016

Bob Angus

nationally. Things were accelerating and taking a chance on a former boy-band member, whose debut album was initially struggling to sell, sent Metropolis into hyperdrive. The wife of Metropolis employee Raye Cosbert was working at EMI and brokered an introduction to the team around Robbie Williams. Working with his agent Ian Huffam, they put Robbie on a tour of UK ballrooms. “As soon as he put out Angels, that’s when it banged straight up to arenas,” says Angus of his meteoric rise. “The biggest thing we ever did was Robbie Williams doing three nights at Knebworth [in 2003]. It was 125,000 people per night.” Those record-breaking shows were, however, far from plain sailing. “Things went wrong with Rob on the first night of Knebworth,” recalls Angus. “The Highways Authority thought the traffic was running fine and so they took us from two [assigned] lanes to one. That caused a huge tailback on the first night. That wasn’t great as a lot of people were late getting there. Fortunately, we didn’t have any problems on the next two nights.”

V for Victory

oncurrently, Angus, Simon Moran, Denis Desmond and Stuart Clumpas came together to create the V Festival in 1995 – creating a new model in the British festival scene with two locations, one in the north and one in the south, that rotated line-ups. “Simon and myself had been promoting all these acts and getting them up to a high level, but then they’d all go to Glastonbury or Reading and we’d be twiddling our thumbs as we had no summer work,” says Angus of its origins. “The idea was to put a festival together and do it on two sites. We did it because it gave us a USP. You can offer the acts two shows – and if the bill is strong enough you’ll do the numbers.” Moran says he and Angus were contemporaries and business rivals but the V deal brought them together over a common goal. “We were competitors to begin with so it probably took a few years to gain trust in everything – which we definitely do have now,” reflects Moran. The festival was built around wanting to do something with Pulp, who SJM looked after in the north and Metropolis looked after in the south. “V Festival was the first thing we did,” says Moran. “We had done many tours where we did the northern dates and Metropolis did the London dates. We worked with a lot of the same artists. V became a huge part of the business for both of us.”

Robert Guterman, now MD of Big Fish Music Partnerships, started working with V in 1998 to deal with the event’s sponsorship. “Bob looked after that part of the event from the board’s point of view,” he says. “Between us, we changed a lot of the way that festival sponsorship was done. There was a move away from events just thinking that, by having the festival, the sponsor would pay money to be there and you didn’t have to do anything for it – that they could stick their name on it and that was it. It has to be a partnership and both parties have to understand that the other one is trying to achieve something. Bob fully got that and fully understood that there was a trade off there.” Now approaching its 21st year, V has been a huge success and changed the festival market. “With V we made it more mainstream, more accessible and more fashionable,” suggests Angus. “I wouldn’t say we have drawn in a different audience but we have given them an alternative.”

“Between us, we changed a lot of the way that festival sponsorship was done.” - Robert Guterman, Big Fish Music Partnerships

Bob and his friend Rob do their best to create a 1980s album cover

Bob Angus

Summer in the City

etropolis also took over the summer shows at Somerset House in central London, turning its courtyard into an open-air venue and creating a different type of metropolitan festival in the process. Starting out with just five nights in 2004, it has grown to 11 nights a year now. Angus says it is essential to try new things like this. “As concert promoters, we are intrinsically taking a risk,” he says. “Someone said it’s like betting on the horses, but the form looks a bit better.” While Angus is fiercely proud of his and his company’s independence (“That’s the way it is and that’s not changing.”) he accepts that working with, rather than around, the changing industry landscape is a modern necessity. “It’s become more corporate with SFX/Clear Channel/Live Nation and lately AEG,” he says. “They are global companies.”

Angus Stakes

e describes the selling of a stake in V to Live Nation as a “strategic move” that benefits the festival. “When you have global players buying acts globally, we felt it was better that we align ourselves with one of the global operators to make sure that, hopefully, we can maintain the ability to get bigger acts. You could imagine the scenario where we might not be able to get an act.” V was just the first phase in the expansion of Metropolis and it has been gathering pace in recent years. It opened its Metropolis Music Management arm in 2008. “We were promoting Amy Winehouse and she asked Raye [Cosbert] to manage her,” says Angus of its origins. They now have four managers working in the company. “Will it grow in the coming years?” asks Angus. “It’ll be nice if it does.” With a festival already under the company’s belt, Metropolis then moved into venue ownership with Academy Music Group. Together with Simon Moran and Denis

Testimonials Bob Angus is one of the great characters of our business – a smile always guaranteed when we meet. He’s had major success in many areas and, of course, was very influential in developing festivals in the UK. Great to see him recognised in this feature. Barrie Marshall & team, Marshall Arts I have known Sir Bob for some 25 or so years. One of the most impressive things about him is that he enjoys what he does, and the respect that he gives artist and crew is just outstanding. Back in the day when there were not many promoters that would take on punk or new wave, he did. He has been a big influence on the music scene and I wish Bob and all at Metropolis all the best for their 30th anniversary and for years to come. Josh Rosen, O2 Academy Brixton I’ve known and worked with Bob for over 20 years now, having met him for the first time promoting two nights of the Sisters Of Mercy at Wembley Arena back in 1990. Bob is a true professional and extremely dedicated to our business, it’s always a pleasure to work with him at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and at all venues in the Academy Music Group estate. Sending our very best wishes and congratulations on 30 years. Billl Marshall, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Bob Angus is a good friend of mine, and one of the country’s best promoters. I met him over 25 years ago and we had some great times at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Congratulations to Bob on 30 years in the business. Vince Power, Promoter

Bionic Bob at a recent Maccabees show in Brixton Academy

IQ Magazine March 2016

Bob Angus

Desmond, Angus bought an initial 35% in Mackenzie Group that operated the Brixton Academy and Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London. It steadily expanded into Bristol, Birmingham and beyond – now covering 15 venues. The VCs behind Mackenzie, at the time, looked to cash out and Live Nation looked to buy-in. Angus and Moran as shareholders used their preemption rights to up their stakes in the company in a way that would allow Live Nation to buy-in and give the corporation a controlling stake. “We could have preempted ourselves the whole way but I preempted myself up to just under a quarter,” says Angus. “It was an amicable thing.”

Angus Steaks

ob also personally invested in a restaurant, but that ultimately failed. “It’s a classic thing when people retire, they open a restaurant and it closes,” he says of the lessons it taught him. “But I am glad I tried it then [before I retired]. I learned with restaurants that you have to be on it all the time.” Bob was also a founding shareholder in the Fine Burger Company, which started life as an up-market restaurant chain before he persuaded them to target outdoor catering - a move he is convinced was a catalyst for improving the quality of food at outdoor events. The catering business has since been sold and the restaurants rebranded as Prime Burger with outlets in Euston and St Pancras railway stations in London.

Angus States

is latest investment play is far from music – and also far from the UK. “I now have a major land development business in Australia,” he says. “I have a partner and we buy plots of land in the urban growth corridor to the west of Melbourne as well as in and around Adelaide.” While Metropolis has done deals on certain projects and events with some of the biggest names in live music, it has remained fiercely independent and those who have seen its rise over the last 30 years believe this is to its eternal credit and strength. “They were always a good company to deal with and Bob was an inventive promoter,” says Nick Blackburn, chairman of Eventim UK, who first dealt with Metropolis in the late 1980s when he was head of ticketing at Keith Prowse. “One of the things I don’t like about the way the business is going

I started at Metropolis in 1996, initially in a somewhat loosely defined role that seemed to involve being called “hippy” frequently, and making lots of tea at Metropolis’s small offices on the Holloway Road. What followed was a crash course in the live music business thanks to the most varied group of characters you could ever meet – all led by Bob Angus. Metropolis had a brilliant ethos, a punk-rock attitude and Bob was a genial, tolerant leader with a ruthless edge that he only showed when strictly necessary. As we all know, concert promotion is a tough game, and Bob has been at the leading edge. It’s easy to forget how much V Festival changed the festival market and the way the Academy venues improved the experience for the gig-goer at a time when venues were struggling to stay afloat. Bob has driven that change as much as anyone, and remained one of the nicest guys in the business while doing so. Neil Wyatt, BBC Radio I first met Bob when he was social secretary at Surrey University in the 80s. I had no idea he would go on to become the promoting behemoth at the helm of Metropolis and sit astride the music business like a pierced, tattooed god. Bob has always been unfailingly honest, forwardthinking, loyal, hard-working… and the only regret I have is that I don’t do enough business with him. He is a truly stand-up guy in a business where that is unusual. Paul Crockford, Crockford Management Bob just does it a little differently. He avoids the growing tendency to morph into what I refer to as an “EBITDA” promoter. We need more of his kind who put the music first. Thanks Bob for all your support and efforts over the years – it is appreciated. Ian Huffam, X-ray Touring When I think of Bob Angus I think of his infamous Bob’s Bar at the V Festival and many happy nights of chat and gossip. Bob has been instrumental in building the V Festival to the major player that it is now, along with all the many shows he and his Metropolis colleagues promote. He’s a very safe pair of hands and the acts that he works with are incredibly loyal to him, which is a tribute to the man himself. Congratulations, Bob! Emma Banks, CAA

Bob Angus

is [consolidation]. I think promoters are best when they are independent. I don’t like the corporate giants promoting things. It is good to have independent promoters with independent ideas. I think Bob is one of those. Unfortunately, a lot of them have disappeared now from the business.” Hallett adds, “The independents have always maintained the flame of independence. Bob has always carried that torch whereas others have succumbed. I respect Bob for continuing to carry the torch of independence as others, including me, succumbed to the Yankee dollar. I have a lot of respect and a lot of time for Bob. I consider him a personal friend – not just a business colleague. He is a genuine bloke. A genuine geezer.”

I call him Bob the Builder because... Can he fix it? Yes he can! And he continues to build upon his success, though I wouldn’t like him sneaking up on me wearing a hardhat. Generous to a fault, honourable beyond measure, Bob is a real friend who I know would be there to help if it all went tits up. I remember once he got so out of his box at MEN Arena watching Rammstein that he couldn’t walk. I, along with Mags Revell, had to carry him back to his room. What a laugh! To this day he still can’t remember how he got there and why his wallet was empty. All the very best, Bob. Keep building mate. Donald MacLeod, Triple G Music

Angus Slates

Metropolis Music and Bob have run through my life in music. From going to gigs as a teenage herbert [a naïve youth] – seemingly all promoted by Metropolis or SJM. (So much so that I was a bit in awe during my first meetings with anyone from Metropolis. That soon wore off…!) Then the Carling days when Bob and the gang had it completely sussed early on about how to work with a brand in music, through to Wembley with Oasis, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Eminem – a true highlight for all of us. Ultimately, it was one of the times that everybody came together to create something special – artist, management, agent, promoter, venue. The kind of occasion that gives you real faith in the industry. Jim Frayling, Wembley Stadium

sked about the state of the live industry he has been working in for three decades, Angus feels overpopulation of festivals and ticketing issues are the time bombs the sector as a whole is facing down. “I think it is very saturated and there could well be some casualties,” he says of UK festivals. “There have been a few already.” Ticketing, however, is where he sees the real problems and is partly why he was an early investor in, and backer of, Dice, the mobile ticketing platform that is looking to eradicate booking fees. “You can’t stand still,” he says of why the company appealed as an investment opportunity. “It just seemed like a really interesting concept.”

Bob Angus

Secondary ticketing is something he has very forthright views on. “I am not a fan,” he says bluntly. “I wish the government had done something about it, but they never will. There is no positive influence for the industry. There is legislation against it in certain other countries so there is no reason there couldn’t be legislation against it here.” As a related topic, ticketing pricing and frequency of touring are issues he feels the industry needs to keep a very keen eye on. “Ticket prices are possibly being pushed too high,” he warns. “As an industry, we need to watch what the ticket prices are, because people only have so much disposable income. The other thing artists need to watch is that, because they are now so dependent on live, they are not overplaying. There might be some managers that will hate me for that comment, but I am just talking about the sheer economics. If a promoter goes bust because they don’t make any money, there won’t be anyone to do the shows.” A byproduct of this is that margins are getting squeezed. “The deals were easier,” he says of the early days of Metropolis. “They are getting tighter now. I remember doing 70/30 splits, but now they are 85/15. What seems to have happened is the percentages have gone up and you therefore have to do higher volume business. It does force you to work more volume in order to maintain margin.”

Angus Brakes

his is all leading to him making a conscious decision to pull Metropolis back a little from the accelerating steeplechase that is happening here. “I am thinking of taking the company back a notch and be more bespoke,” he reveals. “Not particularly playing the volume game. Just not playing the game [at all]. I’ll play my own game, thank you.” When asked what Angus’s impact has been on the industry, Guterman says it is his attention to detail and the fact that he remains on the audience’s side. “In every gig I’ve ever worked with him on, the one thing that always comes out is his care for the audience and ensuring that they are being looked after – and him fully taking on board the level of responsibility you have for people when you put on an event and have 70,000 people in a field. You have to do things properly and can’t cut corners. There is that genuine respect for the people that are paying the money.”

Unassuming, great to work with, and honest. Bob is a wonderful man and has achieved so much – it’s great to see one of our independent promoters still thriving and growing, taking on new challenges all the time. Congratulations, Bob, and thanks for 30 years of amazing shows at the Royal Albert Hall! Lucy Noble, Royal Albert Hall Bob has been Robbie Williams’ ‘southern’ promoter right from the beginning. His team are always brilliant, honest and go the extra nine yards to make the best show possible. Bob was in charge of the record-breaking three nights at Knebworth when Rob played to 375,000 happy fans. David Enthoven, IE Music I’ve known Bob since the 90s when he was a relative newcomer to promoting in arenas. He’s a one-off whose passion for the business infects those around him, which has made Metropolis the success it now is. Never anything but a pleasure to deal with, a Metropolis show is always a treat. One of my first short hall deals was for a Garbage show with Bob – deal done on 6,000 sales, but we ended up selling 10,000. That new approach from promoters and venues has given us all more business, and Bob was one of the pioneers. He’s also prone to random acts of kindness – when my wife wanted to see Robbie Williams at one of his huge Knebworth shows, Bob not only sorted us out even though the guest list was full to bursting, but collected us from the car park in his buggy and generally treated us like royalty. Mind you, we’ve been paying for that favour ever since… John Drury, The SSE Arena Wembley Metropolis was one of the first companies I worked with as a promoter and I love all the guys there – Paul, big Raye, Conal, but especially Bob who has become a good personal friend. I’ve shared many a bottle of wine with him at his house and enjoyed a few Sunday dinners too. Bob is methodical and takes his job very seriously – he loves the art of being a promoter. His attention to detail is extraordinary and I’ve done some great shows with him on the likes of Eminem and Coldplay, among many others. He’s a great man with a great legacy. Steve Strange, X-ray Touring

Load-in for Robbie Williams’ ‘Take the Crown’ shows at Wembley Stadium, promoted by Metropolis Music

IQ Magazine March 2016

Bob Angus

Bob and wife Vicki return from a climb up Vesuvius with children Kitty, Max and Bea

I first met Bob at the very start of his career when I was a humble venue manager and he was co-promoting a gig at the Apollo in Manchester. He was most affable which has been the cornerstone of my dealings with him. I really got to know him when Live Nation was about to buy into the Academy Music Group. Bob, as ever, wanted to consider the implications of us becoming his partner and he wanted to be sure we weren’t going to go against his philosophies. I think I finally convinced him at 5am on a Parisian sidewalk after a barrel of consoling beers after our team lost to Barça in the European Cup Final. We have never had a cross word since, other than when I have a bet on the opposition scoring against Arsenal at matches we attend!! Paul Latham, Live Nation

Ellis says it’s the very things that made him a poor fit, with his tattoos and piercings, in the computer industry in the 1970s that make him ideal for the live industry. “Bob was never a suit and tie man, which fits well with the rock ‘n’ spirit,” he says. “He’s never been flashy. He is not a corporate man. He tells it like it is. He isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. As he’s got more successful, it has not changed him. He is still the same Bob Angus.” Moran adds, “The artists really like working with him. I really like Bob and trust him implicitly. We are competitors on some things, but we also work on a lot of mutually beneficial things. People really like Bob. He’s one of the nice guys.” 30 years on, it is a long way from seeing Focus at the Rainbow. Even though his company has grown significantly and he’s been to countless gigs over the decades, he says he still loves going to shows and finding new acts, citing Mura Masa, Neo and Black Honey as examples of the next generation of artists he is most excited to be working with. “It’s what we do,” he says of having that hunger to keep finding new artists. “You can’t get away from that. I am in this because I love it. I love music and I love going to live shows. That’s the way it is.”

“He’s never been flashy. He is not a corporate man. He tells it like it is. He isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. As he’s got more successful, it has not changed him. He is still the same Bob Angus.” - Geoff Ellis, DF Concerts

I have worked with Bob for the last 30 years, from the old Clarendon Ballroom in Hammersmith with an audience of 300 people, to looking after V Festival for the last 20 years. And in all this time, Bob’s professionalism and integrity, have never wavered – the safety of the audience has always come first. It has been an honour to work with you for the last 30 years, Bob, and here is to the next 30. Tony Ball & team, Show and Event Security Bob is one of the most approachable, balanced and honest people in our business. A few years ago, our CEO asked Bob how he saw the live entertainment business developing over the next 3-5 years. Bob responded: “I don’t know what it will be like next year, let alone in five years’ time – it will be, what it will be.” I’ve used this line ever since, when I’m challenged by our board to forecast how many concerts we’ll do in the future – thanks, Bob! He doesn’t over-complicate things and has impressively built Metropolis into one of our major promoters; and the team he has built at Metropolis reflect his values and approach. Congratulations on 30 successful years in the business, Bob. Guy Dunstan, NEC Group I have been lucky to have worked with Bob for over 20 years. From the first ever NME Brat Bus Tour, to Carling Live 24 to V Festival. We’ve shared some great times together and I am proud to call him one of my best friends nowadays. Congratulations, Bob! Here’s to many more fantastic years. Adrian Pettett, Cake Group Bob Angus is a great promoter who it has been a pleasure to work with. Bob was also a great collector of wine and I remember well meeting him in France with the boot almost exploding with all the wine he had bought. I still think that he is the double of Blakey from On The Buses tv show. Congratulations on 30 years… is that all?! You upstart! Barry Dickins, ITB

IQ Magazine March 2016

Sweden Map Key Promoter Agent Agent/Promoter Venue Festival

22. Ostersund Storsjöyran

28. Sundsvall Tonhallen

23. Rättvik Dalhalla Into The Valley

29. Umeå Idunteatern Väven

24. Rosersberg European Talent Broker AB

30. Uppsala Katalin Uppsala Konsert & Kongress

1. Alnarp Julius Production

25. Sandviken Göransson Arena

2. Bollnäs Bollnäs Kulturhuset

26. Sölvesborg Sweden Rock Festival

3. Borlänge Peace & Love

27. Stockholm FKP Scorpio Jelly Palm Laurel Canyon AB PJP Redin Amusement Tuna Music Eriksson Music Touring Exhibitions HPM Entertainment Live Nation Sweden Luger Monstera Agency & Promoter United Stage Annexet Berwaldhallen Cirkus Debaser Medis Debaser Strand Dramaten Ericsson Globe Arena Fasching Friends Arena Fryhuset Gröna Lund Hovet Kägelbanan Kafe 44 Konserthuset Münchenbryggeriet Nalen Södra Teatern Stockholm Stadium Studion, Kulturhuset Tele 2 Arena Waterfront Dans Dakar Gröna Lund Music & Arts Popaganda Stockholm Kulturfestival Sonar Stockholm Summerburst The Cultural Festival of Stockholm

4. Eskilstuna HPM Entertainment Lokomotivet 5. Gävle Konserthuset Gävle Metal Festival 6. Göteborg Storan Motor Sweden Triffid and Danger Concerts Göteborg Konserthuset Liseberg Lisebergshallen Pustervik Storan Scandinavium Trädgårn Ullevi Stadium Summerburst Way Out West 7. Helsingborg Helsingborg Arena Kulturhuset 8. Hultsfred Skrikhult Production 9. Jönköping Spira Kulturhuset 10. Karlskrona Konserthusteatern 11. Karlstad CCC Löfbergs Lila Arena Nöjesfabriken 12. Kristianstad Kristianstad Arena 13. Linköping Linkopings Konsert och Kongress Saab Arena 14. Lidingö FELD Entertainment Maloney Concerts 15. Lund Mejeriet

31. Vara Konserthuset

33. Ystad Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival Teater

29.UMEÅ

22.OSTERSUND

28.SUNDSVALL

2.BOLLNÄS 23.RÄTTVIK 25.SANDVIKEN 5.GÄVLE 3.BORLÄNGE 3O.UPPSALA 24.ROSERSBERG 14.LIDINGÖ

OSLO

NORWAY

16. Malmö United Talent Agency Babel Kulturbolaget Malmö Arena Malmö Live

32. Västerås Västerås Konserthus

11.KARLSTAD

17. Munka-Ljungby European Arena Sport & Entertainment

31.VARA

18. Nässjö Kulturhuset Pigalle 19. Norrköping Louis de Geer konsert & kongress Värmekyrken Bråvalla

6.GÖTEBORG

32.VÄSTERÅS

4.ESKILSTUNA 27.STOCKHOLM 21.ÖREBRO

19.NORRKÖPING 13.LINKÖPING

20.NYKÖPING

9.JÖNKÖPING 18.NÄSSJÖ 8.HULTSFRED

20. Nyköping Campus Nyköping 21. Örebro Konserthuset Ritz

DENMARK

10.KARLSKRONA 15.LUND 12.KRISTIANSTAD 7.HELSINGBORG 1.ALNARP 26.SÖLVESBORG 16.MALMÖ 33.YSTAD

17.MUNKA-LJUNGBY

COPENHAGEN

IQ Magazine March 2016

Sweden

Your New

Favourite Land FINLAND

The international king when it comes to producing the composers of pop hits, Sweden has been a hotbed of talent since the early 70s. And the good news is that the live music scene is just as vibrant, with the country’s promoters enjoying continued success. Adam Woods reports. How thoughtful of ABBA to reunite onstage after 30 years in order to provide a topical hook for a Swedish market report! And indeed, what better demonstration of the things that make Sweden the world’s biggest per-capita exporter of pop music is there? With incredible tunes, perfect English, and enough ambition to splash the whole effort across the globe in sold-out tours, hit records, musicals, movies and, new in Stockholm, one Greek-themed musical restaurant (its curtain raised by four familiar Swedes). The Swedish music business at large, however, has no need to trade on past glories. Anyone can muster up a number of significant contemporary musical Swedes, from a list that includes Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Robyn, First Aid Kit, Icona Pop, Tove Lo, Roxette, Europe and The Hives. Along with local stars like Håkan Hellströmm, Darin and Veronica Maggio, and ubiquitous hit-makers such as Max Martin and Shellback, who do much to power the pop output of the western world. Down on the ground in wealthy, stable Sweden, the live music business is as sturdy and profitable as you would expect. Its festival scene thrives, all the big tours come through Stockholm, and a healthy proportion of local acts have the firepower to match international stars ticket for ticket. “I would call it a very harmonious market,” says Thomas

IQ Magazine March 2016

Johansson, former ABBA promoter, latterly Live Nation’s chairman of international music, but still based in Stockholm. “I have been doing it for 47 years; it is strong and solid, and we built it like that.” And it is not only the market leaders who are pleased with how Sweden is jogging along. “You see this every year: how do we beat a year like the one we had last year?” says David Maloney of boutique promoter Maloney Concerts, which has a long-term co-operation agreement with challenger FKP Scorpio. “But I mean, for me, I had a really good year last year and I’m having a great year this year.” All these good years come on the back of already decent growth in recent times, Scandinavia never having been hit too hard by the recessionary winds still whistling around Europe. In 2014, the Swedish concert business turned over 4.2bn kronor (€450million) – up 2% on the previous year, with 10% of those revenues pulled in from overseas touring [source: Musiksverige]. There is a loophole in the latter figure, however, given the increasing number of Swedish acts that contract with overseas management, putting them beyond Musiksverige’s measurement method. This trend has led to an apparent decline in the proportionate value of exports (from 18% in 2007), even

Sweden

“ We were home-grown, we were domestic, and we had to fight very hard to develop our network, but a player like Scorpio, who has got all the contacts – that’s a whole different ball game.” Tobbe Lorentz, United Talent Agency

Promoters

Contributors Clockwise from top left Daniel Stålbo (Stockholm Globe Arenas), Edward Janson (Triffid and Danger Concerts), Folkert Koopmans (FKP Scorpio), David Maloney (Maloney Concerts), Ola Broquist (Luger), Thomas Johansson (Live Nation), Thomas Perslund (Friends Arena), Tobbe Lorentz (United Talent Agency)

as Swedish music continues to thrive on the global stage. Of course, the market has its challenges. The famous Scandinavian tax burden makes casual employment expensive; a widely scattered population makes domestic touring tricky and northern Europe offers a stern routing challenge any tour manager will tell you about. Meanwhile, strict age limits at shows frustrate promoters in certain sectors, and, as we find everywhere else, an over-supply of touring bands can undermine the business at busy times. Other than that, Sweden might be the perfect market.

According to trade body Musiksverige’s most recent figures, barely 1% of companies account for more than half of Swedish concert revenue. Without wishing to read too much into the figures: they’re talking about Live Nation. Meanwhile, just 3% of companies account for 70% of revenue. Step forward FKP Scorpio and a small handful of others. On the promoting side, Sweden is more competitive than it has ever been, but that doesn’t mean it is particularly competitive. What does appear certain is that the encroachment in the past five years of the well-funded FKP Scorpio, built on an increasingly broad international network and a strong collection of Scandinavian festivals and tours, is not the kind that will be repelled. And the chances are, the rebels will gather strength. “The ongoing festival and promoter wars – I think we will see more of those in the future,” says Tobbe Lorentz, United Talent Agency’s Malmö-based senior vicepresident. “It is a very strong monopoly market here, but there are strong new players in the market now, and I see more in the future. “Obviously, Live Nation is very big, but FKP Scorpio are starting to do more shows outside the festivals. I came up with Motor, which challenged EMA Telstar and ended up as part of Live Nation. We were home-grown, we were domestic, and we had to fight very hard to develop our network, but

Virtually unknown outside of Sweden, Håkan Hellström can sell out the likes of Ullevi Stadium. Photo © Marcus Erixson

IQ Magazine March 2016

Sweden

a player like Scorpio, who has got all the contacts – that’s a whole different ball game.” The Scandinavian ambition of Scorpio’s Folkert Koopmans is fairly easily distilled into an action plan. “In five or ten years’ time, we will run approximately eight to ten festivals in the Nordic countries and have a great roster of talent, including various stadium acts,” he says. The German group’s Nordic interests mean that it is already en route to that total. In Sweden, it runs the country’s biggest festival, Bråvalla in Norrköping, along with Northside and Tinderbox in Denmark; and Provinssirock, Sideways and Kotkan Meripäivät in Finland, where Fullsteam has been part of the empire since 2014. “It’s slow but steady,” says Koopmans of the company’s Swedish growth. “We have established the biggest festival in Bråvalla, this year with a line-up including Rammstein, Mumford & Sons and Tenacious D. We have set-up a showcase and conference festival [Where’s The Music in Norrköping], which didn’t exist in Sweden. We have had shows with Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and many more.” Live Nation, in fairness, isn’t simply resting on its laurels. Last year, it picked up dance promoter SPG Live, organiser of the Summerburst festivals in Stockholm and Gothenburg. The giant also maintains a majority share in Luger, whose festivals include Gothenburg’s much-admired Way Out West, Stockholm Music & Arts and Popaganda. By Johansson’s reckoning, 2016 is looking to be every bit as

Triffid and Danger Concerts promoted Tom Keifer at Stockholm’s Debaser Medis in October 2015. Photo © Kristian Reuter

“ In five or ten years’ time, we will run approximately eight to ten festivals in the Nordic countries and have a great roster of talent, including various stadium acts.” Folkert Koopmans, FKP Scorpio solid as 2015 for the foremost Swedish promoter, with Adele, 5 Seconds of Summer, Rod Stewart, Coldplay, Rihanna, Neil Young, Muse and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all heading north at some point, and eight festivals looking healthy. “We are doing about 1,000 concerts in Sweden, and we are about 80% or 85% of the international market and about 40% of the local market,” Johansson says. As in every other market, smaller promoters are both consumed by the larger players and spun off from them.

IQ Magazine March 2016

Sweden

Maloney launched Maloney Concerts with backing from FKP Scorpio after a stint there as head promoter. “I’m trying to do a mix of not too many shows a year, so we can focus and concentrate on doing a great job,” says Maloney, whose shows this year include Justin Bieber at Tele2 Arena in September. “That’s the charming thing about being a boutique promoter. I’m trying to also develop younger acts and put effort into club shows. It’s a fun challenge.” Rock promoter Triffid, meanwhile, was launched in 2012 by former Live Nation man Edward Janson and now operates as Triffid and Danger Concerts, having merged last year with Danger Music & Media. “It is kind of a friendly environment,” Janson says of the Swedish concert promotion business. “We are competitors but it is still done in a friendly manner. Obviously, we are not that big. On the other hand, there are some agents that prefer to deal with independents.” Other active players include indie and dance promoter Monstera Agency & Promoters, rock and punk outfit Tuna Music and veteran promoters PJP and Julius Production.

Festivals One key to success in Sweden’s festival market is an understanding that the Swedes aren’t sentimental about their festivals. Where festival brands in many countries rumble on unimpeded, even the biggest Swedish names are disposable to a marketplace that thrives on the new and exciting. Peace & Love, not long ago the biggest festival in Sweden,

Live Nation’s Summerburst festival attracted the crowds to Stockholm for the fifth year running, in June 2015. Photo © Engström Nyström

was cancelled and declared bankrupt in 2013 after a 60% shortfall in expected ticket sales ahead of its 14th edition, which was to feature crowd-pullers Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys, along with Swedish darlings First Aid Kit and Håkan Hellström. In 2010, another vintage brand, Hultsfred, took the bankruptcy option, only to be saved by FKP, who erroneously assumed that Swedes were just like Germans. “I estimated that the brand was much stronger than it actually was,” Koopmans told IQ in 2013, before calling time on the festival for good. “In Germany, with a festival like this, that would have been the case, but I think Swedish people tend to move on to new things much quicker than German people.” Speaking today, Koopmans hasn’t changed his view. “Swedish people are always going for the newest adventure and they are not very loyal, either to an artist or to a festival,” he says. Which doesn’t mean there’s no appetite for the right event. “Sweden is a very big country for festivals,” says Maloney. “Every weekend in the summertime you have three or four events, from city festivals to small rock and metal festivals to mixed Swedish and international festivals. “The downside is there are so many festivals that have gone out of business, which is frightening – from the big ones like Peace & Love and Hultsfred to smaller festivals that have to compete with not only the bigger festivals, but also all the headline shows that go on in summertime.” In addition to the Live Nation/Luger and FKP Scorpio portfolios, other major Swedish events include Storsjöyran, which draws 55,000 visitors to the independent-spirited

IQ Magazine March 2016

Sweden

“ If there is one thing that is a bit challenging, it is the age limit thing. There’s a bunch of shows where we would want to mix over- and under-18, but in many places you find that hard.” Ola Broquist, Luger province of Jämtland in northern Sweden. The festival, a self-proclaimed ‘republic’ in its own right, took the Best Event prize at the Sweden Live trade fair in January, and it is one of Sweden’s oldest, having launched in 1963 (and restarted in 1983). Last year, the headliners at the two-day ‘Yran’ included Sting and Swedish favourites Seinabo Sey and Tove Styrke. The Getaway Rock Festival in Gävle, whose 2015 event was its last under plug-pulling FKP Scorpio, will effectively be replaced in 2016 by Triffid and Danger’s Gävle Metal Festival, which will take place at the same site. “The focus of their festival was kind of broad, when it comes to rock,” says Janson. “We will do a more narrow event: thrash metal, death metal, black metal. We expect somewhere like 4,000 or 5,000.”

Taxes and Tickets In a country tipped to be the world’s first cash-free society – where four out of five purchases are already made electronically and many Swedes have entirely given up carrying cash – it is no surprise that paper money is on its way out at venues, too. Friends Arena, the new national football stadium in Solna, just north of Stockholm’s centre, announced last year that it will go entirely cashless in 2016, eschewing even credit cards for a cloud-based payment system that will work with a mobile app or with ‘cash points’ attached to tickets. “It will mean more money for us because when people use their credit card, we have to pay a percentage to the bank,” says stadium CEO Thomas Perslund. Needless to say, physical tickets have all but vanished in Sweden, replaced by printable and mobile e-tickets, though the decision is not one that has been made by promoters. Swedish venues manage the ticketing function, striking exclusive deals with the agent of their choice. Ticketmaster’s market leader Ticnet, whose venue partners include Friends Arena and Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium, sells around 12m tickets a year across 25,000 events. AEG, meanwhile, uses AXS for ticketing at the Tele2 Arena and the neighbouring Ericsson Globe. Cashless, Sweden may increasingly be, but it remains expensive. Artist tax stands at 16%, while VAT is between 6% and 25%, depending on what you’re selling. Concerts are in the cheapest band, but the real killers for employers, according to Maloney, are employment tax and social security.

IQ Magazine March 2016

Sweden

“Those are really high in Sweden, so the cost of manpower such as riggers and security is really expensive compared to other markets,” notes Maloney. Needless to say, all this is passed on in the form of some of Europe’s highest ticket prices.

Venues Getting your big venues in order is the key to any country’s sustained success on the international live circuit, and considering its size, Sweden has as good a collection as virtually any major European nation. At the top end, Stockholm has two new stadiums in AEG’s 40,000-capacity Tele2 Arena and the 65,000-capacity Friends Arena. The Tele2 Arena is getting the full Adele/ Rihanna/Bieber treatment this summer, while the Friends Arena welcomes Coldplay and the Black Sabbath-headlined Monsters of Rock in July. In Gothenburg, the Ullevi Stadium will be the site of an impressive feat in June from local hero Håkan Hellström – who at the time of writing was on the verge of selling out two nights at the 65,000-capacity spot. Iron Maiden will be hot on the heels of Hellström, following on from performances by One Direction and Metallica last year. Meanwhile, the 16,000-capacity Ericsson Globe, part of the Stockholm Globe City complex that includes the Tele2, the multi-use Hovet and smaller hall Annexet, is due for a discreet renovation in 2016, with a technology upgrade encompassing new public wi-fi and cashless payment systems, as well as new rigging and other such investments in the hall itself. “It will be like a small relaunch for the

Ericsson Globe,” says Daniel Stålbo, Stockholm Globe Arenas director of marketing and communications, who notes that this year, with Eurovision coming, will be one for experimenting with the full capacity of the complex.“For Eurovision, for the first time, we will have all our four arenas in use for one show, which is something we have been longing to do,” he says. When the whole thing is opened up, Stålbo explains, the capacity will be 70,000. “We have had Avicii and Drake on the same night in different arenas, so 60,000 people-plus, but never this. It is going to be a whole lot of coordination.” Malmö’s busiest venues are Babel and Kulturbolaget, to add to the high-end Malmö Arena, while Gothenburg’s clubs include the key Pustervik venue and the rock-leaning Trädgårn. Stockholm’s medium-sized venues include the Münchenbryggeriet hall and Cirkus, as well as clubs such as the two Debaser venues (the 850-cap Debaser Medis and the smaller, newer Debaser Strand) and youth centre Fryshuset, a major rock centre which can scale between 3,500 and 1,000 in its Arenan room while taking 700 in its Klubben venues. “It’s been a bit static in Stockholm for a while,” says Luger co-founder Ola Broquist, who says a new space or two wouldn’t go amiss. He also adds that a more concrete frustration for promoters is the age limit on shows, which is set at 13, although many venues impose a limit of 18 or even 20 to steer well clear of underage drinking. “If there is one thing that is a bit challenging, it is the age limit thing,” says Broquist. “There’s a bunch of shows where we would want to mix over- and under-18, but in many places you find that hard.”

The Ericsson Globe Arena in concert mode

IQ Magazine March 2016

Attendance: 2014 v 2015

Millions

35 30

2015

2014

20 15 10

appearances by YouTube stars and gaming competitions. 5 But more on that and much, much more, to follow. We hope you 0find both the data and the observations of our arena Total attendance: Total attendance: Total attendance: experts useful in the year ahead, and that at least some of the all shows music non-music information will inform your business decisions during 2016. Gordon Masson, Editor

15 12 9

First and second most important factors affecting the arena industry currently Most important Second most important

6 3

Other

In consoliddustry ation

0 Artist es/ ticket pfe rice Com other vepetition from nues/are nas State of econom y Licensin regulatio g ns A lack o f suitable headline rs Competi tion for artist tou rs Producti on costs

Number of responses

As Europe’s top-end live music venue scene becomes ever more congested with the opening of new arenas – and with plans for others in the pipeline – competition has never been greater. Exacerbated by the finite pool of headline acts, as well as a growing trend by artists to use the continent’s massive festival circuit to tour internationally, the pressure is on arena managers to devise increasingly creative ways to fill their calendars. However, despite such potential sleep-depriving challenges, this year’s European Arena Report suggests that venue hierarchies are indeed getting their strategies right, while any fears that live music events are on the slide certainly did not find any traction in 2015, as the halls that took part in this year’s survey enjoyed a stellar year on the rock & roll front. As you’ll discover in the following pages, 2015 was a prosperous 12 months for the continent’s arenas business. Our survey was completed by 49 venues across 16 European countries (or 19 if your prefer to split the UK into its constituent parts – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), and to those participants we’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you. At press time, our friends at the European Arenas Association (EAA) and the UK’s National Arenas Association (NAA) were compiling their annual member stats, meaning that we at IQ Towers haven’t been able to compare and contract results to fully identify universal trends, but for those of you attending the ILMC in March, these joint conclusions will be revealed during the Venue’s Venue panel, chaired by EAA chairman Brian Kabatznick. That session will also look at the various new event bookings that arenas are tapping into, such as hosting personal

IQ Magazine March 2016

EUROPEAN

2016 ARENA REPORT

Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin hosted the finals of the ‘League Of Legends’ tournament

IQ Magazine March 2016

challenges though, not least raising the profile of the venues and reinforcing their new names. Taking on new and engaged partners who understand the way you work is crucial to both business performance and a successful partnership, in our case, making it a much simpler process. Over the last year, we have worked closely with the respective teams to embed these identities and ensure our arenas’ reputations have further improved as a result.” Having the marketing muscle of such major corporations as Barclaycard, Mercedes Benz, O2 and the likes, provides

Avg Attendence

800

700

600

Total Music Non-Music

500

400

300

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

200

2009

Attendance

It’s been yet another big year for Europe’s arenas and in compiling this report IQ aims to delve beyond the numbers to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s going on across the continent. One common cross-border trend in the past couple of years has been the number of buildings that have seen their name sponsor change. Venues such as the Genting Arena (former LG Arena) and Barclaycard Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England; power company SSE taking over the naming rights of Wembley Arena in London and the Odyssey Arena in Belfast; the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid becoming the Barclaycard Center; the Pavilhão Atlântico in neighbouring Portugal morphing into the MEO Arena; and the former O2 World arenas in Berlin and Hamburg becoming the Mercedes Benz Arena and Barclaycard Arena, respectively. Such sponsorship deals also suggest there may have been a widespread change in public perception, with consumers more open to accepting naming rights deals to support their live entertainment demands. That phenomena is perhaps boosted by the knowledge that the quality of public services in venues has improved markedly in the past decade, thanks in no small part to the multi-million Euro deals that naming rights now command. But such changes also involve well-constructed marketing strategies and the finance to drive home such messages. “We already had two of the country’s top live event destinations, but we’ve now cemented two brand-new arena identities within the market place and with the support of high profile commercial sponsors, re-launched them as world class venues,” says NEC Group general manager Guy Dunstan. “The introduction of two new naming rights partners [at the Barclaycard Arena and Genting Arena] brought its own

arena management with another weapon in their armoury, as the employee numbers at what are often the biggest buildings in cities can be surprisingly low. A total of 45 venues divulged their staffing details for IQ’s annual report, and although these figures can vary wildly from year to year, for the record, our respondents on average employed 52 full-time staff and 186 part-timers during 2015.

Ticket Prices 2014/15 Average ticket price (music) 2015: €52.89 Average ticket price (music) 2014: €50.86

4% Average ticket price (non-music) 2015: €36.82 Average ticket price (non-music) 2014: €39.05

But on to the headline numbers…

5.7%

Attendance and Capacity For the first time in a number of years, average capacity across our survey’s participating venues fell year-on-year. The average capacity for our respondent arenas in 2015 was 14,573 – a 1.7% drop on 2014’s average capacity of 14,826. Quite why those figures fell is not clear, however, with a significant number of venues undergoing refurbishment programmes, it is possible that may have adversely affected capacity numbers, albeit temporarily. But the removal of seating to create high yield VIP areas such as restaurants, bars and executive boxes may also be taking a toll. When it comes to the all-important question of visitor numbers, it was again good news for the European arenas scene. At a glance, the total visitor numbers make for heartening reading. The total attendance numbers for our venues in 2015 was 32.8million visitors, compared to 31.1million in 2014. However, before the calculators start celebrating a 5% rise in

Attendance: 2014 v 2015

Millions

35 30

2015

2014

Ticketing

20 15 10 5 0

Total attendance: music

Total attendance: non-music

First and second most important factors affecting the arena industry currently Most important

Second most important

9 6 3

Other

Indus olidatiotrny

tion cos ts

icens g gulatioin ns f suita le eadlinebrs tition fo tist toursr

0 rtist fees ket price/ tion fr es/arenoam s State of conomy

Number of responses

Total attendance: all shows

audiences, it should be noted that more venues reported their 2015 data, than they did for 2014. More reliable, then, is extrapolating average statistics for each year, which delivers a more sobering overview. On average total visitor numbers in 2015 increased to 713,290 among our surveyed venues, compared to 706,491 the year before – a year-on-year boost of roughly 1%. But while the arenas’ managers suggest that 2015 was a fairly quiet year, in terms of live music, compared to their expectations for this year, in reality, music was the runaway arena success across Europe last year. Our arena respondents, on average, welcomed 378,645 fans to concerts during 2015, compared with just 328,264 in 2014 – a 15% increase in attendance for live music events. And with Europe’s live music industry buzzing about the number of A-list acts that are scheduled to be out on the road during 2016, it appears that the numbers in next year’s arena report should be even healthier, providing the sector with what could turn out to be a record 12 months.

Unsurprisingly, ticket prices for live music shows across Europe in 2015 continued to rise. The average cost of a ticket to a concert at our surveyed venues hit €52.89, a price rise of 3.8% on the €50.86 average price that was reported for 2014. Last year’s number marked the first time that the average cost of a concert ticket in Europe’s arenas had breached the psychological €50 mark. But as the audience numbers grew in 2014, promoters may have been emboldened by the continent’s economic recovery to push prices higher again for the 3th year in a row.

2015

2014

2013

their children at family shows, it’s also likely that some of the newer revenue spinners that arena managers are turning to for content have helped haul the average price southwards. John Drury at the SSE Arena Wembley notes the variances in price points that new events inevitably bring. “Few of us knew e-gaming would be arena-sized by 2014/15,” he comments, “but League of Legends was huge.” More on that later in our Venue Usage breakout.

Ticket Prices

Music Non-Music

Box Office and Sales Outlets

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2008

2009

20 2007

Cost in Euros

2012

2011

2010

2009

200

Those figures don’t reflect the global picture, however. Our comrades at Pollstar monitored a similar price increase for concerts in North America during 2015 – reporting a new record average ticket price of $74.25, an increase of $2.81, or 4%, over the previous year. But globally, Pollstar said average prices for the Top 100 tours declined by 4%, or $3.30 (€2.90) to $78.77 (€69.57). Although there are a great many more tours than Pollstar’s Top 100, at arena level that number of acts represents a sizeable chunk of the business, suggesting that prices outside of the traditional touring strongholds of Europe and North America may have witnessed dramatic price cuts to lure fans to shows. Back in Europe, ticket prices for non-music events dipped significantly with 2015’s average of €36.82, 5.7% lower than 2014’s €39.05. While such decreasing costs will be welcomed by the likes of parents who look forward to days out with 76-100%

14%

0-10%

42%

Of the 48 venues that told us about their ticket sales setup, only eight arenas said they did not have their own inhouse box office operations. That 17% of our respondents fits pretty neatly against the 18% who reported a box office-free environment in our 2014 report. When it comes to the importance of those box offices to Europe’s arenas, there appeared to be a shift in 2015 in the volumes of tickets being sold by the venues themselves. The number of venues reporting that they had sold more than 50% of event tickets through the box office fell to 28% of our respondents in 2015, compared to 40% in the previous year. At the bottom end, more venues said that up to 10% of ticket sales were processed through the box office – the figure growing from 30 to 42% for our surveyed arenas, year-on-year. In recent years there has been a push by the more modern venues in particular to take greater control of their ticketing arrangements, hence the investment in box office facilities around Europe. In 2015, however, that growth seemed to flatline, hinting that the make-up of ticket sales outlets may have found its balance, at least for now. As before, those venues who opt not to have their own box office operations will have differing reasons for that strategic decision. In a number of territories, for instance, venues can be tied into exclusivity deals with ticketing partners. While at venues that do not host regular events, having staff man a box office simply doesn’t make financial sense. Venues without box offices in this year’s survey included Heineken Music Hall and Ziggo Dome in the Netherlands, 3Arena in Ireland and Serbia’s Kombank Arena. It’ll be interesting to hear from those venues in the coming months whether that disclosure will lead to ticketing sales reps knocking on the doors of arena management to tout the advantages of their in-house systems…

51-75%

14%

Venue Usage

11-25%

26-50%

22%

Proportion of ticket sales via in-house box office 2015

Live music once again enjoyed a triumphant year when it comes to the share of venue nights that it accrued across Europe during 2015. Music events accounted for a 48% share on average across our surveyed arenas (up 3% on 2014’s 45% share), while family entertainment suffered a 2.9% fall in overall calendar activity. Our chart on page 76 provides a more detailed insight into the shifts in venue usage, but one of the trends among venue sales teams in the past year has been to look completely outside of the traditional events that have populated the ‘what’s on’ calendars, to investigate the possibilities of tapping into new phenomena that can entice a new generation of consumers.

IQ Magazine March 2016

74 Comedy

6.4% Other

IQ Magazine March 2016

26-50%

22%

26-50%

25%

Proportion of ticket sales via in-house box office 2015

Proportion of ticket sales via in-house box office 2014

Comedy

6% Other

Music

48% Family

14%

Sport

23%

Venue Usage 2015

Just as comedy has become a mainstay tenant in a number of European territories, the popularity of certain YouTube stars has captured the imagination of savvy promoters, while the likes of super agency William Morris Endeavor has agents dedicated to these new ‘artists’ – a wise move now that the more popular personalities are moving from theatre appearances to arenas, providing a welcome boost to venue operators. And then there are the games tournaments. As our photo on page 70 shows, the popularity of electronic gaming tournaments is truly one of the most encouraging phenomena to hit arenas in years. John Drury at the SSE Arena Wembley has witnessed the development of the League Of Legends tournament over the past two years. “When they came to the arena for two days in June 2014, they didn’t even have merchandise and we told them they were missing a trick,” Drury tells IQ. “In October 2015 they came back for four days, for the tournament’s quarter finals, and they turned up with 82 pallets of merch – we thought they were crazy, but the sales were huge.” Drury reports that tickets for the League Of Legends audience – who the organisers refer to as ‘players’ – were priced at £10, £15 and £25 and attracted a sold-out crowd of more than 27,000 over the four days. “Beer sales were average, but soft drinks and hot dogs were big sellers, and the merch was remarkable – it was a better spend per head than WWE or any of the rock shows that we do.” The League Of Legends final in 2015 was held in Berlin – the first time that the Mercedes-Benz Arena had hosted such an electronic gaming event. “Luckily John at Wembley and our other AEG venue in Paris had hosted the quarter and semi-finals, so we knew a bit of what we should expect – including the 80 pallets of merch,” says Michael Hapka, managing director of the Berlin venue. “The final was just one day, but there were seven days of installation before that – it’s a huge production. And the buzz at the event was incredible: the e-gaming community comes from all over the world, so we had a multi-lingual crowd, many of whom were in costume.” Highlighting the popularity of this new entertainment genre, broadcaster BBC 3 streamed coverage live. “It was

watched by millions of people worldwide,” says Drury. Hapka Comedy adds, “There were around 70 cinemas in Germany alone that 6.4% were streaming live coverage.” Both Drury and Other Hapka reveal they are in preliminary discussions 9.1% with other e-gaming formats, but nothing is confirmed as yet for 2016. But the popularity of League Of Legends provides hope for the arenas, even thought this year’s finals will be held elsewhere. “The finals are not in Europe, but there is still the potential to use Music the arena for viewing parties,” adds Drury. Looking at future venue usage, Julia Mücke at the45% Family Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt believes the amount of corporate events will16.7% rise; in the UK, Metro Radio Arena’s Paul Tappenden foresees “less big music headliners and more family shows”; Jeannine Matthys at Zurich’s Hallenstadion adds new sports events to a developing roster of non-music content; and Martina Kuso at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna Sport thinks more crossover events, attracting fans from different 22.8% forms of entertainment, couldVenue become Usage a trend.

VIP

2014

While the lure of generating additional revenues through VIP packages and luxury ticketing offers has been a growing priority for venue operators in recent years, there is little in this year’s report to suggest that this will change in the months ahead. Around one third of the respondents to this year’s survey stated that they are looking to develop further VIP initiatives in 2016. But it’s not just the creation of luxury lounges and the provision of high-end catering that can boost VIP revenues. At The O2 arena in London, staff are already working handin-hand with certain promoters to create hospitality options. “As an example, we recently sold packages to the public for the NBA,” comments the venue’s Barnaby Hooper. “We are also always on the hunt for new spaces which could allow some type of product development. At present, I am working on a European-wide product that would allow members access to premium seats across our European venues.” When it comes to major construction projects, VIP of course plays a role in any modern investment. Hilary MacDonald at the GE Oil & Gas Arena in Aberdeen flags up the city’s plans for a new venue to attract more tours and events to the north east of Scotland. “The new venue in 2019 will have 20 boxes, a club lounge and club seats,” says MacDonald. At Sweden’s Scandinavium building, Charlotta Jacobsson discloses plans to “develop and expand the skyboxes, the restaurants and other commercial areas within existing walls.” On a similar theme, Switzerland’s Hallenstadion has opened a new StarLounge. “It’s a large VIP box with 60 seats,” says Jeannine Matthys, adding that other VIP areas are also being upgraded.

Plans for Expansion When asked about future plans for developing buildings to either increase floor space or potential audience numbers, it’s looking like 2016 may be one of the quieter years for building contractors, with only a handful of arenas divulging details of construction projects.

IQ Magazine March 2016

New Tech Asked if they had trialled, installed or were planning to introduce new technology in their buildings, it’s perhaps surprising that more that 38% of our surveyed arenas stated that new technology did not figure in their current management strategies. However, the majority of our respondents admitted that keeping abreast of new technology was a fundamental part of their business, while upgrades to existing hi-tech services, such as Wi-Fi networks appear to have become ongoing programmes, as developments allow ever greater leaps in bandwidth and services.

The Kombank Arena in Belgrade in concert mode

Nevertheless, NEC Group’s Guy Dunstan highlights the fact that rolling refurbishment programmes have become the norm among venue operators. These include, “Continued investment in facilities to remain competitive and maximise revenues,” says Dunstan, adding, “increased focus and reliance on sponsorship, providing compelling offers for sponsors through quality facilities, customer engagement, enhancement of customer experience and activation opportunities.” Underlining the necessity to keep moving with the times, the world’s most popular venue – The O2 arena in London – is working hard to maintain its No.1 status. “The O2 is undertaking a massive development completing the vision for the building when AEG first took it over in 2007,” comments Hooper. “This year we’ll embark on our retail project, which will see some 90 outlets constructed within the building, scheduled to open in early 2018.” Also informing IQ of expansion plans for the year ahead, María Vidal at the Barclaycard Center in Madrid, Spain, reveals that plans are in place to increase the venue capacity by 16% from its current 15,000 base. “We are growing to 17,400 due to an improvement of our floor capacity,” she reports. “This new capacity is already available for promoters and new hires.” Meanwhile, at the Scandinavium in Sweden, Charlotta Jacobsson says there are plans to expand capacity on the arena floor to 5,000. At Belgium’s Vorst Nationaal (Forest National) arena, Jan Van Esbroeck tells IQ that the current 8,400-capacity will grow to 11,000, depending on its new licence; while in the Welsh capital, Dan Roberts at Motorpoint Arena Cardiff says that management at the 7,500-cap venue are currently “in the process of looking at capacity options” – a similar response to that of Jeannine Matthys at Hallenstadion Zürich who reports that the venue is awaiting clarification on the possibility to increase its existing 13,000-capacity. And at the Amsterdam ArenA, Jeroen van Iersel refers to the building’s €20million renovation scheme, which involves, “big modernisation and addition of an east-side stadium for VIP.” That programme of works will triple the size of the venue’s concourses. Flexibility remains a key factor in the arena strategy when it comes to attracting customers to buildings, and London’s Alexandra Palace is hoping that it can capitalise on developing an existing space to secure its future prosperity. The Palace’s Lucy Fenner notes, “The restoration project of our 1,300-capacity victorian theatre and BBC studios began in January 2016. The opening season will be April 2018.”

NEC Group’s Dunstan was a typical respondent, citing, “Improved Wi-Fi in the bowl at the Barclaycard Arena.” Detailing some of the other tech-driven services that NEC is developing, he added, “Pre-ordering via mobile app facility at both the Genting and Barclaycard Arenas.” Taking its Wi-Fi system to the next level, Amsterdam ArenA’s Van Iersel states that the building is introducing an “internet of things network and iBeacons” to deliver additional services to its clients. On a more materialistic level, Vidal at the Barclaycard Center in Madrid reports, “We have installed a Jumbotron, 200 square metres of LED screens all around the arena, LED lighting for basketball and a brand new basketball [court].” Perhaps with iBeacon technology, such as that at the Amsterdam ArenA in mind, Vidal predicts that, “Digital signals and advertisements will totally replace other kinds of [billboard] panels, giving arenas the opportunity of a higher commercialisation and live interaction with the audiences.” We’ll certainly keep an eye on the deployment of such networks in the months ahead. Of course, it’s not just the hi-tech solutions that keep Europe’s arenas at the forefront of the business (20 of Pollstar’s top 50 arenas are in European cities). Among some of the low-tech ideas introduced to improve services include Zénith De Lille in France bundling lunch boxes with the ticket and the Tempodrom in Berlin offering consumers packages that can include cloakroom, fast-lane, and various food and drinks packages with their tickets.

Important Factors As usual, we asked the arenas that took the time to fill in our questionnaire for 2015 exactly what the main issues are that are being discussed by senior management (see chart page 70). Once again, Artist Fees/Ticket Prices were the number one concern for Europe’s arena operators, maintaining a trend across all but one of our annual reports over the last eight years. The only time that another matter made it to the top of the tree was in our 2012 report when the State of the Economy loomed large. As economic confidence has returned to Europe and, more to the point, the minds of the all-important ticket buying public, worries about finance have rescinded. Last year, the State of the Economy category was high – behind only Artist Fees and Competition from Other Venues, but with many European countries now out of recession, the issue this year dropped down the scale to only the seventh most pressing concern. Leapfrogging economic anxieties are such matters as a lack of suitable headliners, licensing regulations and industry

IQ Magazine March 2016

The Wiener Stadthalle hosted ‘Eurovision’ in 2015

consolidation, with the latter category also climbing the ladder in terms of popularity, for want of a better word, as the number of respondents uneasy about their potential client lists – be that agents or promoters – compacting, rose year-on-year. Interestingly, when it came to the secondary concerns of our surveyed arenas, however, the state of the economy still looms large – second only to artist fees – while almost as concerning for venue management is the competition for artist tours, polling the same total number of responses as those venues who highlighted a lack of suitable headliners among their chief business impediments.

Conclusion All in all, 2015 was a fairly positive year for the European arenas business and with all the signs pointing to more big name acts hitting the road during the next few months, 2016 looks as if it will deliver the continent’s live music industry some fantastic results. However, with a number of major stadium tours coming to Europe this summer, arena management will be aware that those shows will drain substantial sums of disposable income from the market, making it all the more important for them to confirm must-see events for their halls. National Arenas Association chairman Ingham, who runs Motorpoint Arena Nottingham in the UK, underlines this point by suggesting venues need to secure, “A broader range of events both within music and a greater proportion of events being non-music.” That’s an idea that’s already in the minds of venue managers across Europe. Marie-Amélie Ammeux at the Zénith De Lille in France highlights the importance of diversification: “more events for private societies, improving public/artists quality reception and becoming a real brand,” she states. Elsewhere, trying to keep consumers on the premises for as long as possible (in order to maximise spend) is becoming a priority for arenas. Tibor Lak says the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena is trying to achieve this through “Afterparty events in our VIP bar and lounge area”, while Madrid’s Barclaycard Arena is going one step further with both pre-show and after-show parties. But with most arena boardrooms arguing that the European market is reaching saturation point when it comes to the pressures of competition between existing businesses, one concern voiced by a number of our recipients is that plans for future new arenas could cause long-term damage to the industry. “Another venue is planned in Poland, which may greatly affect our market share,” comments Marek Plawgo at the Atlas Arena in Łódź. Further north in Sweden, Karin Mårtensson at the Malmö Arena observes, “More arenas will be built by

municipalities and managed by private companies.” Should that prediction come true, it’s an obvious worry for those businesses that receive government subsidies, with Jan Van Esbroeck, whose remit includes a portfolio of venues such as the Ethias Arena, Antwerps Sportpaleis, Lotto Arena and Vorst Nationaal, noting that more private venues could go hand-inhand with less public funding. Meanwhile, Martina Kuso at the Wiener Stadthalle goes as far as to suggest that “consolidation of venues” could soon be an industry development. But savvy marketing executives are already devising plans to ensure the sustainability of their arena spaces. “Arenas will be more proactive in co-promoting or promoting their own content,” says Kai Müller at the Barclaycard Arena Hamburg, when asked to forecast future trends. And some are already developing such in-house promotions. “There has to be a focus on diversification of content as venues cannot rely on touring product alone,” says NEC’s Dunstan. “The Barclaycard Arena co-promoted Pantomime at the Barclaycard Arena in December for the first time, attracting over 40,000 customers. Arenas will continue to seek opportunities to develop and enable new content in their venues.” The O2 arena’s Hooper concludes, “We think there will be continued investment in the arena market as fans expect more from their gig-going experience. There may be some additional new entrants into the market, but certainly the UK is well served by a range of arenas catering for all ends of the market. We expect it to be a stable 3-5 years with hopefully reasonable growth in the sector.” That optimistic expectation may prove true for the biggest fish of all, but for those arenas that have to battle to attract promoters and artists to include them on their tour routes, it’s an altogether more daunting prospect. Attracting engaged sponsors and partners, adopting new technology, devising innovative marketing campaigns and embracing new event concepts will become ever more important, as will hiring skilled and creative staff to develop sustainable business strategies to ensure the continued health of Europe’s arenas sector.

PARTICIPATING ARENAS 3Arena Dublin (IE), Ahoy Rotterdam (NL), Alexandra Palace (UK), Amsterdam ArenA (NL), Antwerps Sportpaleis (BE), Arena Leipzig (DE), Atlas Arena (PL), Barclaycard Arena Hamburg (DE), Barclaycard Center (ES), Echo Arena Liverpool (UK), Ergo Arena (PL), Ethias Arena (BE), GE Oil & Gas Arena (UK), GelreDome (NL), Genting Arena (UK), Barclaycard Arena (UK), Hallenstadion Zürich (CH), Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle (DE), Heineken Music Hall (NL), Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt (DE), Kombank Arena (RS), König-Pilsener-ARENA (DE), Lotto Arena (BE), Malmö Arena (SE), Manchester Arena (UK), Max-Schmeling-Halle (DE), Mediolanum Forum (IT), Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin (DE), Metro Radio Arena (UK), Motorpoint Arena Cardiff (UK), Motorpoint Arena Nottingham (UK), O2 arena (CZ), Olympic Parc Munich (UK), Palau Sant Jordi (ES), Papp László Budapest Sportaréna (HU), Royal Albert Hall (UK), Siemens Arena (LT), Tauron Arena Krakow (PL), Tempodrom (DE), The O2 (UK), The SSE Arena, Belfast (UK), The SSE Arena, Wembley (UK), The SSE Hydro (UK), The SECC (UK), Vorst Nationaal (BE), Westfalenhalle 1 Dortmund (DE), Wiener Stadthalle (AT), Zenith De Lille (FR), Ziggo Dome (NL).

IQ Magazine March 2016

Best In Show

Having started out as a television novella, tweens phenomenon Violetta has become an international touring sensation. Eugenia Durante finds out the secrets to the winner of this year’s Arthur Award for Best In Show...

ith 367 performances in 26 countries throughout South America and Europe between July 2013 and November 2015, and with around 2.2 million tickets sold, it’s no wonder that Violetta Live scooped this year’s Best In Show award. Such statistics would please the team behind a world-class pop star, let alone a family show targeting kids and teens. Nevertheless, the Argentinian Disney concept has managed to win Europe over with its young cast and amazing production. Originally a Spanish soap opera that was filmed in Buenos Aires, Violetta was co-produced by Disney Channel Latin America (LATAM) and Disney Channels Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Launched in May 2012, the series was the first collaboration of its kind between Disney LATAM and EMEA, and immediately became a huge success, firstly in Latin America and then in south-western Europe (The merchandise range alone runs from clothing and stationery to Easter eggs and scooters). The show follows an Argentinian teenage girl who is typically passionate about music, as she experiences the highs and lows of growing up. Given its immense popularity amongst young girls, it was not long before the decision was made to turn Violetta first into a theatre show and later an arena show. As Alberto Bravo Ruiz of the Spanish company Sold Out explains, “Due to the rapid success of the series in Latin America, Spain and Italy, it was quickly developed into a musical in Argentina to be shown in a theatre with a capacity of 2,500, with text and songs taken from the TV series. Upon its release, it immediately sold-out

IQ Magazine March 2016

for many months and therefore, a spin-off of the live show was developed to tour Latin America.” Working closely with DG Entertainment and Sold Out, in 2013 Disney launched a live show that it had adapted for European tastes and that would meet arena standards, evolving more into a pop-rock show rather than a traditional musical. With a touring staff of 131 people, 80 costume changes, and 8 double-decker buses, Violetta Live toured Europe extensively over a three-year period, becoming one of the most successful arena productions worldwide and a marketing phenomenon.

A European Triumph When asked if she was expecting such a success, Disney’s executive producer Martina Plesec replies frankly, “I don’t think anyone ever expects this level of success.” In fact, bringing a show in Spanish to countries such as Romania, Poland and Germany was a brave move for the company, which required thorough market research and localisation strategies, as well as extensive networking with local promoters. EMEA appointed DG Entertainment’s Daniel Grinbank as the tour promoter for the show. “We partnered with Daniel as he shared Disney’s commitment to quality and our excitement around Violetta,” Plesec reveals. “He has a proven track record in the concert business, and being Argentinian and based in Buenos Aires, he was able to create a bridge between the LATAM and EMEA tours that made the project

IQ Magazine March 2016 83

Best In Show

“I don’t think anyone ever expects this level of success.” Martina Plesec, Disney work more seamlessly across both regions. As you can imagine, there were many aspects of the tours that had to be jointly coordinated between regions (ie cast-related matters and content). And then other aspects of the tour that were very much region-specific (ie local operations and marketing) – so having a partner who operates across both continents was a great fit.” Grinbank played an important role in Violetta Live’s success. “It was a real challenge to bring up a Spanish live show in markets that don’t speak Spanish. The truth is that we were always optimistic, but as no South American artist had ever been so successful before, we realised the magnitude of the accomplishment only once the sales reports started to arrive,” Grinbank tells IQ. “The main challenge, though, was trying to improve the show’s level of production for Europe and turn it into a real top-notch show for its debut in Barcelona in December 2013. For this tour we partnered with Sold Out for technical production and logistics. I must highlight the amazing work of our partners and local promoters: besides Sold Out, there was Adolfo Galli and Mimmo D’Alessandro, Lazslo Boros, Pascal Van De Velde, Pascal Bernardin, Alvaro Covões, Steven Todd, Leon Ramakers, Dieter Semmelmann and, of course, our partner The Walt Disney Co.” In 2014, Violetta Live became the highest grossing international show tour in Spain, earning nearly €8million from 155,000 tickets. But the real surprise was its popularity in non-Spanish-speaking countries such as Portugal, Italy,

France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Austria. Pascal Van De Velde of Greenhouse Talent reveals that they sold 52,000 tickets in Belgium and 15,000 in Holland. In Germany, the market that DG Entertainment feared the most, the show was performed in 14 cities to more than 125,000 fans, thanks to Semmel Concerts’ knowledge of the market. According to Semmel’s Dieter Semmelmann, “Violetta Live was an impressive production that combined extremely catchy tunes and a cast that knows how to entertain, and the Austrian and German response to it was frenetic and passionate.” Grzegorz Kurant of Live Nation Poland, who promoted the tour in Hungary, Romania and, of course, Poland, called the show spectacular. “People were singing the lyrics by heart and screaming all through the performance. It was an exciting product that we had to sell to an audience who had probably never attended events of this magnitude before. Being involved in this tour was a great experience,” he tells IQ.

Hi-tech, Hi-res

he European show was a state-of-the-art production that included a 240 square-metre HD LED system with three moving curved LED screens, spectacular visual effects including snow, 4,500kg of confetti and 20,000kg of pyrotechnics, all transported around Europe by eight trailers covering more than 20,000 km. In some countries, this created some issues from a practical point of view. “The main challenge during the tour was the adaptation of our rigging plot in some arenas without a technical roof or with a roof without enough weigh capacity,” Sold Out’s Alberto Bravo explains. “For our production, we needed a technical roof with a weight capacity of 40 metric tonnes,

IQ Magazine March 2016

Best In Show

and rigging points over the audience for Violetta’s flight – something really difficult if the venue doesn’t have a technical roof. But we managed to do it everywhere.” Benito Rico of Pro Rigging España stresses the importance of preparation before the actual start of the tour, noting, “The first, and one of the most difficult issues we had to cope with, was making a proper project composition to give shape to this huge production, in order to fit into many different venues with their own peculiarities, while developing a safe show and [load] out in a safe mode, all with a very tight schedule. Afterwards, during the tour, we were happy that the preproduction challenge was well achieved, as we wouldn’t have had time to correct errors once on tour. This was possible thanks to the professionalism and experience of our team and, above all, the indispensable help and care of our production team, composed of DG Entertainment and Sold Out.” Regarding special effects, Disney had a very clear design in mind and put Oscar Cervera of Biefec in charge of bringing these effects to life. “What I did was provide the effects they were looking for and suggest some changes that, according to my personal experience, would lead to an even more spectacular show,” Cervera relates. “Working on such an enormous production was challenging but also very rewarding. At Disney they are very strict but they listen and take advice. In some countries it was harder than others because they were not used to working on such a big scale. Sometimes they didn’t have the means, others lacked

Best In Show

Violetta Live’s tour was an 8-metre curved led screen. “The screen that was used on the tour didn’t exist in the market,” he explains. “We looked for a screen that was most like what the production needed and the Fluge Audiovisuales technical team made all the necessary improvements to enhance the quality of the image and the mechanisation for the tour – which means that we also had to modify the control software.” On the topic of sound, they also had to emulate a live pop-rock experience, despite all the vocalists using miniature microphones.

¿Hablas Español?

S “As no South American artist had ever been so successful before, we realised the magnitude of the accomplishment only once the sales reports started to arrive.” Daniel Grinbank, DG Entertainment experience. However, we managed to always find a solution and everything went really well. But the most demanding part was the public, as the audience was composed of young people who have very high expectations. To surprise the audience, we used smoke, fog, pyrotechnics, flamethrowers and heartshaped confetti, and it was a huge success,” Cervera says. Enrique Jimenéz, communications director of Fluge Audiovisuales, which handled the tour’s audio visual effects, says that the most obvious technology introduced during

peaking with the people behind Violetta Live, the thing that confounds them most is that a Spanish show could capture the hearts and souls of such a varied audience. Recalling the pre-production phase, Plesec recounts that language was a key challenge in the development of the show. In fact, in the TV series, the songs are always sung in Spanish whilst the dialogue is dubbed over with the local language. Although very much a concert, the live show involved some dialogue in Spanish, but also needed to allow interaction between the audience and the cast. Therefore, the cast had to learn some lines in the local tongue of wherever they were touring, and in countries where learning the language was too difficult, a local host was employed to interact with the public in their own language. This, of course, meant extra rehearsal time that had to be accommodated in an already very tight touring schedule that consisted of 240 episodes of the TV series being filmed whilst 367 performances were staged across 26 countries. According to DG Entertainment’s Florencia Juri, Violetta Live received recognition from Spanish Embassies in France, Germany and Poland for helping to promote the Spanish language in their countries. “We were even told that the demand for Spanish lessons in schools has increased since Violetta’s popularity!” Juri tells IQ.

Violetta Live’s promoters: Carlos Geniso (DG Medios, Chile), Adolfo Galli (Dalessandro e Galli, Italy), Pascal Van De Velde (Greenhouse Talent, Benelux), show producer Daniel Grinbank (DG Entertainment), Pascal Bernardin (Encore Productions, France) and Rafael Gimenez Amaya (Sold Out, Spain)

IQ Magazine March 2016

Best In Show

“People were singing the lyrics by heart and screaming all through the performance. It was an exciting product that we had to sell to an audience who had probably never attended events of this magnitude before.” Grzegorz Kurant, Live Nation Poland “I once had an interesting conversation with a mother in France. She told me that parents were happy because most of the shows for kids and teens are produced in the USA, and she liked the fact that her children could watch something different – a series in Spanish, with a Latin American and European cast and content, with Latin rhythms and songs... I truly believe this is something that has helped awaken the audience’s imagination.” According to Carla Armogida, who (along with Natascia Galli), was in charge of the promotion and marketing of Violetta in Europe, another surprising element of the tour was the age range of the audience. “We were expecting a public ranging from 6 to 14 years old,” she tells IQ, “but actually, in some countries, such as France, we even had 18 year olds in the crowd. While in others, the youngest were 4 years old. It was also quite shocking to see parents singing the lyrics by heart and attending the meet & greet events as real fans. I have worked for Sony Music, so I’ve seen a lot of big productions but I had to admit that Violetta’s popularity puzzled me. You could really see that both parents and kids could relate to the show: it was truly exciting.” Perhaps the secret of Violetta Live is that it speaks directly to the heart of the kids and their families. Plesec says that when the tour was brought to Europe, Violetta was trending higher than is typical for a tween property at that point in its lifecycle, especially in Spain and Italy. The funny thing was that, at the time, many adults in those markets hadn’t heard of Violetta, despite the fact that Disney was already seeing amazing business results. “It seems that the teen audience had already decided that Violetta was a hit, but it was going to

IQ Magazine March 2016

take a little more time for adults to catch on,” Plesec adds. In this regard, Semmel Concert’s Semmelmann notes that this tour proves how behind the times mainstream media can be when it comes to awareness of current pop phenomena. “Most media outlets had no idea who Violetta was, despite the show and the tour being so successful. Its strength is that it’s an impressive production that doesn’t have to hide behind the Rihannas and Katy Perrys in this business,” Semmelmann says.

What’s next?

ccording to everyone we interviewed, one of the key factors behind Violetta’s success is the talent of its protagonist, Martina Stoessel. “Martina is an amazing performer, loved by her fans who have been following her career since the very beginning. She gives her best in every show,” Juri observes. But now that Martina has turned 18, what does the future hold for Violetta? “2016 will see the release of Tini – El Gran Cambio de Violetta [Violetta’s big change], the new fulllength feature film starring Martina ‘Tini’ Stoessel,” Plesec reveals. “It’s a coming-of-age story that reflects the teen star’s own life. Tini will leave behind the world depicted in Violetta, striking out alone and embarking on a brand new adventure over one amazing summer that will define her as a person and see her emerge as a new solo artist.” Although not a musical, the film will feature an original soundtrack that will be released when the film premieres. Stoessel, who’s now signed to Hollywood Records, has also begun to work on her first solo album which is set to be released in early 2016, so discussions around tour plans for the future are ongoing. According to DG Entertainment’s Grinbank, the next big challenge will be Asia and the United States, where the show has started to receive recognition through Netflix, who have already bought the rights for the film. But a return to European shores for another tour is high on the list of priorities, with Disney keen to exploit Stoessel’s popularity with her young audience as they grow up alongside the young star. A special thanks to Daniel Grinbank’s assistant Rocio Zurbano for the linguistic help.

VIRTUAL

BECOMES

REALITY

Virtual Reality

A raft of virtual reality gizmos and systems are scheduled to launch in the coming months, promising all kinds of opportunities in the live entertainment sector. But as Richard Smirke discovers, the billions of dollars invested in the technology will amount to little without the content to drive consumer adoption. “Today we stand on the precipice of a new era,” declared McCartney, who partnered with Californian VR company HTC chairwoman and CEO Cher Wang at the launch of Vive Jaunt in 2014 for a 360-degree recording of a concert in San Pre – the Taiwan technology company’s second-generation Francisco’s Candlestick Park, distributed by smart phone app virtual reality system, which was unveiled at last month’s and accessed through Google’s Cardboard virtual glasses. Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “It’s like nothing you have seen, heard or felt before,” said After decades of hype, speculation and multi-billion dollar Jaunt’s co-founder Jens Christensen at the time of the gig. investment and acquisition, 2016 is tipped to be the year that Other artists who have previously utilised virtual reality virtual reality finally breaks into the mainstream with half a for their live shows include Beck, Jack White, rock/pop band dozen tech companies set to commercially release boundary- R5 and Coldplay, who partnered with NextVR in late 2014 pushing VR devices in the next 12 months. to shoot what was hailed as “the first ever broadcast-quality Some of the biggest players in the market are the Facebook- VR experience” of a music concert. “You’re literally inside owned market leader Oculus Rift (launching in 20 countries the show, front of stage with the band. The quality of this in March), Sony PlayStation VR (expected first half of 2016), virtual reality experience is far superior to anything else out Visus VR (April) and HTC’s Vive Pre (also April) with Google there. It’s pretty mind-blowing,” eulogised Coldplay creative planning to release a successor to its existing Google Cardboard director Phil Harvey. platform in the near future, and Apple investing heavily in the Festival and club promoters have also been among the next big technology platform. While the obvious and primary first to spot the technology’s capabilities as a groundtarget for these systems is the lucrative video games market breaking marketing tool, with events like Coachella, South (HTC’s Vive Pre was developed in by Southwest and Budapest’s partnership with games developer Sziget all producing virtual reality Valve, for instance) the technology promotional films in recent years. also carries huge and potentially “We always try to do game-changing ramifications for something different and for the live music business. an event like TomorrowLand “There is huge potential for those virtual reality is a great tool to that do it right,” believes Sagor let the world experience the Mešković, chief communications atmosphere of the festival,” says officer for Serbia’s EXIT Festival. Debby Wilmsen, part of the “You will be able to experience team behind Belgium’s biggest – Sagor Mešković, EXIT Festival festivals and music events in a way electronic music festival. Last that has never been done before. year, the dance event partnered We are stepping into an age when with Amsterdam-based Scopic to this is going to become a cinematic experience, not just for produce a short immersive video – 360 Degrees of Madness music and festivals but for blockbuster movies too. It’s only – that gave viewers the chance to relive 2014’s festival from a matter of time before virtual reality becomes a mainstream multiple points of view including an onstage DJ, a blearyentertainment platform.” eyed camper and, at one point, a helicopter passenger flying Moves in that space are already underway. Last month, over the site. Distributed by YouTube on its 360-degree Universal Music Group announced that it had partnered platform, the four-minute long movie could also be watched with American media conglomerate iHeartMedia to create a with Google Cardboard, making it one of the first European series of immersive virtual reality music shows that will be festivals to be accessible in the virtual realm. “For us, it was broadcast later this year, including full concerts from four a very good investment. Our audience is all over the world Universal artists. and it enabled them to experience the festival on another They will follow on the heels of early adopters like Paul level,” says Wilmsen, who says that while a VR experience

“It’s only a matter of time before virtual reality becomes a mainstream entertainment platform.”

IQ Magazine March 2016

Virtual Reality

can never equal or replace the real Inition, who produced the thing, it is an effective tool for Philharmonia’s VR experience. engaging with ticket buyers. “Not everyone can afford tickets EXIT Festival has also to an NBA game or Thin Lizzy experimented with the medium, concert – or maybe the concert teaming up with London’s East is somewhere that they cannot City Films to produce a six-minute attend. That access and remote 360-degree 4K after-movie of last presence is what virtual reality year’s event. The viewer response can bring.” was overwhelmingly positive However, Leu warns that says Mešković, who predicts that advanced technology alone in the future VR films will enable will not be enough to drive customers to take a virtual tour consumer uptake of VR music of a festival before purchasing a events. “You have to have good ticket. “Maybe people will visit content,” he states. “Nothing two or three festivals a year in real becomes a fad quicker than life and dozens through virtual technology that doesn’t serve a reality. Those that nail it will be purpose. Future developments able to turn those VR spectators have to be content-led rather into ticket-buying fans.” than technology-led experiences That same ethos is driving if they are to work.” London’s Philharmonia High production costs Orchestra to experiment with combined with the technology’s VR technology. Working in current limitations are also conjunction with The Southbank obstacles to be overcome if VR Centre and London-based is to ever deliver a significant Inition, the classical company new source of revenue for has created the first major artists and promoters. “We VR production from a British began experimenting with the symphony orchestra. “It’s a 360-degree recorded technology new way of giving you a seat around five years ago, but didn’t that you would never be able really think the download and to access,” says Luke Ritchie, operation speeds were up to Philharmonia’s digital director. the users’ needs,” says András Berta, international relations “You can sit right in the centre of director of Budapest’s Sziget the orchestra. Walk through and Festival. He says that although listen to just the cello section technology has vastly improved or the woodwind and you can since then, virtual reality really see and hear what it’s like performance capture is not to be there.” something that the team behind Key to that experience Sziget are considering for the is the development of fully immediate future. immersive 360-degree sound, – Adrian Leu, Inition “I think the potential is there,” developed using bespoke binaural says Berta. “The question is about microphones that enable the the resources it takes to switch to viewer to feel the audio move around them as they turn their head. “You hear the baton 360-degree [filming] for live stream or video on demand, flicking through the air, the conductor podium creak and the because maybe the same resources could be utilised a lot manuscript paper being turned,” explains Ritchie. “It’s not more efficiently on other technologically and financially less some slick audio mix. It’s a very different audio experience demanding channels of communication.” That’s not the only caveat. “One of the main challenges of that gives you an actual idea of what it feels like to be there.” So far, VR music experiences have been mostly limited VR is that until you have tried it, you don’t really know how to short edited recordings of live events, but it won’t be long great it is,” says Ritchie, who concedes that it “could take until audiences will be able to experience virtual streams of ten years” for the platform to be adopted by the mainstream live shows from the comfort of their own home. Last year’s public, but when it does it will “have huge implications for MTV EMAs was the first global awards show to be streamed the live music experience.” Mešković agrees. “At this point, the technology is not in VR, and with interest in live VR streams gaining traction quite there and it’s still competing with traditional 2D others are sure to follow. “I’m sure that in the future you will be able to go to media,” he says. “But in the decades to come I think real Ticketmaster and buy virtual tickets to a concert,” predicts commercial opportunities will arrive. We are now in the Adrian Leu, managing director at London tech company pioneering days of virtual reality.”

“I’m sure that in the future you will be able to go to Ticketmaster and buy virtual tickets to a concert.”

IQ Magazine March 2016

Members’ Noticeboard

Arthur’s Arthur – The Gaffer winner for 2015, Arthur Kemish returns home to Las Vegas after a long year on the road with Taylor Swift, to discover his Arthur Award waiting for him.

Scott Cohen (The Orchard), Dartsya Tarkovska (Soundbuzz), Simon Wheeler (Beggars Group) and András Bodrogi (Google Ground) participate in the Lost & Found In Digital panel at February’s MENT Showcase Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Live Nation supremo Michael Rapino will be hoping that his return to ILMC will land him similar selfie opportunities to his recent meeting with Madonna at the starstudded Help Haiti Home gala fundraiser in Beverley Hills.

partner Sophie e takes it easy after world. the o son Asher int rd work in bringing y’s Tom Taaff

nc United Talent Age

has done all the ha

The global debut of European supergroup, The Natural Peace and Love Orchestra, who brought the hippy movement back into vogue at the European Festival Awards. Pictured in their serene haven (dressing room) are Gordon Masson (IQ), Ben Challis (Glastonbury Festival), Christof Huber (Open Air St. Gallen Festival), Philippe Cornu (Gurtenfestival), Steve Jenner (Playpass), Ivan Milivojev (EXIT Festival), Jan Holger Schmidt (Green Events Europe), Michal Kaščák (Pohoda Festival) and the levitating Fruszina Szép (Berlin Festival).

Rock-it Cargo’s Dave “The Stuntman” Stone relaxes at home with partner Aoife and baby Grace after one of Dave’s more productive stays in hospital (thanks to Aoife).

If you or any of your ILMC colleagues have any notices or updates to include on the noticeboard, please contact the club secretary, Gordon Masson, via gordon@iq-mag.net

IQ Magazine March 2016

Your Shout

“What’s your best memory of working with an artist who recently left us?” TOP SHOUT 1997 was the first Motörhead tour in Russia and the first show was in Rostovon-Don [Russia]. At this time we had no infrastructure or proper support services – no logistic companies, no custom brokers. For backline and crew internal transportation, I hired a military cargo plane (we called it ‘the bomber’). I remember Lem standing angrily near the bomber with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a bottle of Amsterdam beer in the other, trying to calm himself down. But he said he wouldn’t fly on that plane. So I sent the backline, crew and luggage on the bomber to Rostov and took Lem and the band back to the hotel and bought tickets for a scheduled flight. But we found out that Lemmy’s passport was in the luggage we sent with the bomber… So I spoke to airport security and police, gave them some swag and finally they agreed to accept a Motörhead CD with Lemmy’s picture on it as his ID. Ed Ratnikov, TCI

1982 – John Taylor and I were sharing a flat and my mother came to stay with me. That night John and I went to the Embassy Club and the manager, Stephen Hayter, asked us to come to his office as he wanted us to meet someone. We walked in to see David Bowie sitting there. That was at 10pm. We left at 6am, dancing down Regent Street, having spent nearly 8 hours chatting about everything from cubism to surrealism to DD to music in general to politics and on. I just kept stuttering… “that was David Bowie, can you believe that was David Bowie?... We just spent hours with DAVID BOWIE!” He was a total hero to both of us. I came home in a daze around 6:30. Poor Mum didn’t have a clue. I couldn’t believe that incredible night and now can’t believe he is gone. RIP David, your music is alive and well and you will live in our hearts forever. Rob Hallett, Robomagic

After the show in Bogotá and before leaving for the airport, Lemmy gave me his half-full Jack Daniel’s bottle. The bottle is enjoying a nice place on my shelf, and it still has some of Lemmy’s whiskey in it. I am sure it is getting better with age. Christian Krämer, CKConcerts

Joe Cocker in Samara, Russia in 2002. Back then, the best hotel in Samara was a hunting lodge next to the airport. On a day off, we were supposed to get Joe to a press conference in the city but there was no sign of him anywhere. The area was huge and we were running around shouting for him for about an hour. When we reached the lake, we saw two old guys in tracksuits with fishing rods and one of them was a hardly recognisable Joe Cocker. He woke up early, went fishing and didn’t tell anyone. The other guy was a local villager who didn’t speak a word of English, but the two fishing mates still maintained a basic conversation for a couple of hours! Dmitry Zaretsky, Pop Farm

Colin Vearncombe, aka Black, was tragically taken from us in January after a road accident. I knew Colin since the 1980s as both a friend and a client – a rare combination. My best memory about working for and with him is quite recent. Last year, shortly after I joined up with Sunil Chopra, Colin sent me an e-mail and said, “Ed, I would be thrilled to entertain more of your high-octane verbosity at my occasional cost (and God help me speaking of an accountant in this way but....) I’ve missed you.” Ed Grossman, Brackman Chopra LLP

Motörhead were scheduled to play a festival in Holland, and a week or so before, a show called Naked TV request an interview with Lemmy at the festival. So I call Lemmy, knowing I needed an immediate decision and told him that two hot naked chicks wanted to interview him in Holland... only to get a “NO! That’s fucking stupid… etc etc” reply. So I call [drummer] Mikkey Dee, ask him same question and he says “sure, sounds like fun!”. Come the day of the show, I am discussing some business with Lem in the dressing room corridor when we walk past the open dressing room door, just as Mikkey is sitting, legs apart in an arm chair with two stunning girls on his knees, totally naked apart from a pair of stilettos each… Lemmy, seeing this, says “Eh, I think this is for me” at which point I reminded him he said no and this was Mikkey’s interview. Lemmy proceeds over the next 45 seconds to get in on the action by intertwining himself with the girls. Anyway the interview went ahead with a grinning Lemmy sitting on top of Mikkey, who was straining to be seen on camera. Myself and Ute (Motörhead’s PR) are just cracking up watching this! Thank you Lem for all the memories – you are a true Legend, forever in our hearts. Adam Parsons, Siren Artist Management

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

IQ Magazine March 2016