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VIP- News premium ›› Vol. 138 ›› AUGUST 2011
McGowan’s Musings: Usually, as you know, this opening section tends to be in the main quite light hearted, and in fact I had already written a piece that was at least partially in that vein. It was definitely more sombre than usual as it referred to the deaths of three important and well-loved members of the live music community – we include obituaries in this issue. I also mentioned the recent rioting and looting that went on in London and the rest of England and its awful and lasting effects on individuals, and communities and businesses, including the independent record industry as a result of the fire at the Sony warehouse that stored the stock of a huge number of independent record companies. Then came reports of stage collapses in the US, with the worst disaster being at the Indiana State Fair, with five killed and many badly injured. But then as all was due to go to print came the news from Belgium with more horrifying evidence of the destruction that the elements can bring, with further deaths and multiple injuries at the Pukkelpop Festival. All thoughts of
being light hearted evaporated with this further terrible incident and I and all at VIP would prefer to use this space to convey our heartfelt condolences to all those directly affected by these terrible events and to all of their families and friends. We hope that all of you that are involved with those open-air events still to take place are favoured by the weather and all proceeds safely and successfully.
Allan McGowan
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Obituaries Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
Willie Robertson: Willie Robertson, who died of cancer aged 67 on Saturday the 9th July, virtually single-handedly created insurance cover for entertainers in the 1970s, when he introduced non-appearance and equipment cover for rock’n’roll bands. With his partner Bob Taylor, he went on to create an international company – Robertson Taylor – that insured almost every big concert (including Michael Jackson’s last series in 2009 at the O2 arena). An omnipresent and charming figure at the ILMC and other events Willie was a true legend from the live music industry, and both at work and at play was a charming, considerate, entertaining and hardworking friend, a most excellent host, and a valued colleague who will be so very much missed by so many.
Jean-Francois Michel Founder of the Bureau Export De La Musique Française and head of the European Music Office, died at the age of 69 on 23 July in Paris.
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With the death of Jean Francois Michel not only the French but the whole European music community lost one of its most ardent advocates. Even if the definition of lobbyists is sometimes considered a critical term, Jean Michel represented the exception in this type of profession. Almost incomparable, Michel seemed to work like no one else for the good of the music industry, first in France and later at the European level. He was definitely not one to make a big fuss about himself; on the contrary, Michel was more of a subtle diplomat who worked in the background. Right up until recently, Michel was still taking care of business, working on the various projects he often started or was involved in, too many to mention in this obituary. Yes, Michel was a functionary, but a functionary that impressed by his integrity, his perseverance, reliability and foremost by his personality.
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Willie Robertson
Although Michel never presented himself as an industry power player in the public spotlight, he was always behind the scenes moving miraculously big things. He was the opposite of power-hungry power brokers being too unselfish, which distinguished him. As the foster father of the Bureau Export De La Musique Francaise he had already developed structures in the early nineties which much of the French music industry still benefits from today. He was one of the very few persons with an institutional background that for the first time provided access to public funding for popular music artists and the business behind them. Funding which was previously reserved for public cultural institutions. He succeeded in creating actually quite transparent and equally fair conditions for all eligibility criteria. Jean Francois was also a staunch supporter of the European ideal. Even on the politically sophisticated parquet in Brussels, where he operated besides professional bodies such as CIESAC, IFPI or IMPALA, he opened up doors for the support of pop music . He opened up minds in a highly bureaucratic environment for music issues. He belonged to those who managed for the first time to raise awareness among the rank and file in politics and the administration for the profession and the art of popular music. Together with Otto Donner, the former chairman of the Finnish copyright collection society Teosto he set up the European Music Office. He succeeded in even convincing the EU Commission to promote the European Border Breaker Award, the one and only popcultural project on the official agenda of the EU. He was also an important pioneer
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and supporter of the European Talent Exchange Program of the Dutch Buma Cultuur foundation and Noorderslag Foundation in the political world of Brussels. The death of Jean Francois is unfortunately a very sad occasion on which to value his work and his legacy. Much of what he has done for the music industry in France, in Europe and even in Africa is not selfevident. He was a musical cosmopolitan, very open-minded and remarkably free of vanity, someone who has actually selflessly created things and championed causes that can be considered as truly sustainable and meaningful, even in the fast-paced music industry. Jean-Francois Michel
A close associate, who met him the day before his death, reports that Jean-Francois Michel was still concerned with upcoming projects and plans. He was still full of hope and confidence that these projects will grow positively. With this in mind, it is probably quite likely that he certainly wished that his colleagues and former and current employees will be able to continue his work, maintaining the meaning and spirit of the admirable attitude of Jean-Francois Michel. The funeral took place on 30 July in Normandy. In September there will also be a commemorative ceremony at the Eglise Saint-Eustache Church in Paris. Statements and Comments on the loss of Jean-Francois Michel Maria Agnes Beau, BAM! Global Music Services: So much to say about Jean-Francois, especially after working for 12 years with him launching the French Music and European offices. A true visionary; one of his greatest talents was to gather the most diverse people around a table to set up very improbable but necessary co operations: he created the first joint venture between the French government and the music industry which worked as a model and led to the European Music Office and Diversites. I can remember that what led me to work with him was when he gathered French and US cops and rappers in Harlem in the very early 90s... and it worked !!!
Emmanuel Legrand, Journalist: Jean-Francois was a friend and someone I knew I could rely on. I’ve known him since I started in journalism in the mid80s. He was then running the FCM. We started working on projects together when, alongside a few partners, I had the crazy idea to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution on July 14, 1989 in New York with French artists. Jean-Francois backed the project immediately and helped us go through the hurdles of the financing. The event was a success and helped him “sell” the idea to the music industry and the French government to set up the FMO. We have since seen each other as regularly as our schedules allowed. I always enjoyed our encounters. We always had projects to discuss, but once the order of the day was over, we would engage in long conversations about “tout et rien” as the French say, “everything and nothing”, over tasty food and a good bottle of wine.* * Taken from: legrandnetwork.blogspot.com Peter Smidt, Buma Cultuur: He was a pioneer in the development of the cooperations in favour of European music. He was one of the first ones lobbying the EU-commission and explained
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to them the relevance of European repertoire. Jean-Francois Michel was for me a very inspirational person and it was very impressive to see that he worked with a long term vision regarding collaborations that are of benefit for music.
»Jean-Francois was a charismatic fighter for the European idea to let music cross borders. He was a great leader for the European Music Office« - Christof Huber
Christof Huber, General Secretary Yourope: Jean-Francois was a charismatic fighter for the European idea to let music cross borders. He was a great leader for the European Music Office. We have taken the news of his death with great sadness. He will be missed!
John Northcote: John Northcote, Chief Operating Officer (CEO), Academy Music Group (AMG), passed away on Wednesday 10th August 2011 at the age of 62 after pro-longed illness. John will be remembered by many as the man who reinvented the live venue circuit, music was his passion and the driving force in his life, right to the end. His vi-
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sion to create a network of entertainment venues across the UK made him such a remarkable figure, alongside his commitment to supporting new music, building smaller venues and ‘giving new bands a platform to play’. He started out at the Break For The Border Group in the early ‘90s running the Border Line in Charing Cross, booking acts like Sheryl Crow, Blur and Lenny Kravitz. In 1994 he acquired Shepherd’s Bush Empire to reopen as a live music venue, quickly followed by the purchase of the famous Brixton Academy. By 2000 he expanded AMG, working with promoters to establish a network of Academy venues across the United Kingdom with investment from SJM Concerts and Metropolis Music, soon followed by Live Nation/Gaiety Investments as shareholders. He will be greatly missed, and as a release from friends and colleagues at The Academy Group stated, “Long may his legacy continue.” Paul Cheetham
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Songkick Launches I Phone APP
UK Concert Took a Drop in 2010 After the Boom Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
According to the now annual music industry report from PRS For Music, box office takings for pop and rock concerts in the UK fell for the first time in more than a decade in 2010, with fans spending £844m on face value tickets in 2010, down from £957m in 2009, a drop of 12%.
Live music web service Songkick has launched a new iPhone and iPad app which will allow users to track their favourite bands, browse live listings by location, and share concert plans, all via their portable devices. At launch, the app scans the user’s music library to find artists to track (the scanning screen is worth downloading the software for on its own), but probably most interesting is the ‘what gigs are happening near me tonight’ function which, although an obvious service to offer, is pretty cool nevertheless, benefiting, of course, from all the listings on the main Songkick platform.
But before we all panic and become used car salesmen or the like, it appears that there were however mitigating factors, so we can relax – but only a bit, it never does to become complacent! Part of the drop was blamed on the fact that big selling acts including The Rolling Stones and Take That did not tour last year – which obviously they can’t – not every year. Also some major artists, such as Kings of Leon and Rod Stewart, opted to play in arenas instead of stadiums as a result of the economic downturn, PRS said. Will Page and Chris Carey at PRS who put these reports together with of course the cooperation of the industry
do very good work and have provided a barometer for the consideration of the overall state of the industry – particularly the live business which, in the UK, has not previously been great at producing, considering and acting upon, the relevant figures. Reassuringly the report does not see the UK business taking hits as big as those suffered by the US live business in the last couple of years – and even there the signs of recovery seem good at the moment. The report projects that revenues were likely to bounce back this year thanks to tours by Rihanna, Westlife and Justin Bieber, along with Take That’s record-breaking stadium shows. This summer, the band played to 1.8 million people in the UK, and that tour is likely to make a noticeable difference to the figures for 2011. As the report said: “It would be very tempting to look at these numbers and jump towards a knee jerk reaction that the live music bubble has burst. We should not.”
Confirming the app launch, Songkick founder Ian Hogarth told reporters: “We’re on a mission to make sure music fans never miss another concert by one of their favourite artists. The Songkick Concerts app makes it easy for music lovers to know when their favourite bands are coming to town, quickly check out ticket options, and share concert information with friends on Facebook and Twitter”.
Kings of Leon
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Festivals “performed strongly” in 2010, while arenas and mid-sized venues “held up”, it said. But there was a “striking decline” in the number of stadium gigs compared with the previous year.” In 2010, a number of stadium- and arena-filling bands were not on tour and many of those that did tour opted to play smaller venues in order to limit their risk,” the report said. “This risk-averse behaviour is rational in the current economic climate. It feels as though the economic downturn has caught up with the live music industry,
and promoters and bands alike have responded accordingly.” The PRS for Music report, taking into account secondary ticketing income and atthe-event spending estimated the worth of the live music sector to be £1.48bn last year. That is more than the recorded music sector, with £1.24bn spent on CDs and digital downloads in 2010 - an annual drop of 8%. The report concludes, “Our view is that the live music business is not entering a
cycle of boom and bust, but rather showing signs of maturity and cooling to a more sustainable growth path, after a period of unprecedented growth.”
Autumn Falls Festival Extends for 2cnd Edition in Brussels Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
This year’s Autumn Falls Festival will take place from Monday November 21st to Sunday November 27th. After the successful first edition the Brussels indoor music festival will extend from three to seven nights. The mission is still the same: presenting quality live music to passionate music fans and concert goers.
the bill were Lambchop, Beach House, Caribou, Junip, Factory Floor, Atari Teenage Riot, Olafur Arnalds and Baths.
European booking agency and Benelux promoter TOUTPARTOUT will once again cooperate with a selection of renowned Brussels concert venues. Ancienne Belgique, Botanique, Cirque Royal, Magasin 4 and VK* have already confirmed their participation. More to be confirmed. Last year’s edition accounted for three sold out nights, 6200 visitors and took place over 10 different venues which welcomed a total of 41 international acts. Some of the names on
First Acts announced are:
This year a limited amount of early bird tickets will be available giving access to every possible Autumn Falls show for 50 euro.
LOW / PINBACK / BILL CALLAHAN / METRONOMY / PINK MOUNTAINTOPS / PORTUGAL THE MAN / SCOTT MATTHEW / OKKERVIL RIVER / FOOL’S GOLD / SX www.autumnfalls.be
Pinback will plat at the Autumn Falls Festival
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FESTIVAL REPORT Major UK Festival Promoters Express Concerns for the Future Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
A recent report from the BBC stated that a total of 31 music festivals have been cancelled or postponed in the UK this year, and a surplus of events has resulted in slower tickets sales than in previousyears.
In recent interviews both Michael Eavis and John Giddings have ventured concerns about the current and future prospects for festivals in the UK. Glastonbury founder Eavis is quoted in an article in The Times regarding the future of probably the best known open air event, saying, “It’s on the way out”. Eavis assume that the festival has “probably got another three or four years”. He considers that there are economic reasons but also that, ”there is a feeling that people have seen it all before.” Like Eavis Giddings, organiser of the Isle of Wight Festival also assumes that the UKFestival faces difficulties: “There are just too many events now in the UK and it’s im-
John Giddings
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possible for them all to survive. The market is saturated” he said in an interview with the BBC earlier on in August. Melvin Benn of Festival Republic said in the same interview session “There’s no question that tickets have sold slower than they previously did. Money is definitely tighter.” But Benn is more upbeat about the future, saying: “There will be a million people that go to festivals this year. The idea that somehow festivals are no longer popular is quite frankly ludicrous.” Nevertheless Giddings adds: “It gets more difficult every year because the UK music industry isn’t making new stars so you end
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up with the same acts going round and round,” and concludes very much like Eavis: “Muse are a fantastic act but you can’t have them at a festival every summer.” Previously in an interview with BBC6, Ben Turner said on behalf of the UK Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) that: “Prices for talent increases and increases and increases every single year.” He furthermore added: “I think it’s something that agents, managers and artists need to be more aware of, that these festivals that they supposedly love, they need to show some support for that.”
Apparently slower and lower ticket sales for festivals are not only a UK phenomenon. In Germany Rock Am Ring wasn’t sold out this year after a record-breaking edition of the biggest German festival in 2010. Also in our interview with Gunnar Lagerman of the revamped Hultsfred Festival in Sweden he explained about the difficulties in the Swedish festival market. Still there are many festivals doing extremely well this year, (see article on T in the Park in DF Concerts story in this issue.) but factors like higher fees for artists, rising production costs and the overall eco-
Rock am Ring
nomical climate are increasing challenges that festival promoters have to deal with these days.
Wacken 2011 - Once Again 75.000 Tickets Sold Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
The Wacken festival celebrated its 22nd edition this year. According to the promoter ICS Festival Service GmbH, the event was actually visited by 85.870 people - although this official estimate also includes artists, crew and guests. For this year’s event the promoter undertook several new environmentally friendly
efforts. Entitled “Metal 4 Nature” the program utilised 3 additional so called “Trash Mobiles” – pick up trucks that drove on the camping sites to pick up waste. On the site itself there are 5 more waste collecting points. Also the promoter installed 4 km of power cables on the site and therefore was able to reduce the previous amount of 93 diesel generators.
Glass bottles are banned completely from the entire festival site. The promoter offer free PET-bottles to visitors asking them to decant beverages into these bottles. This resulted in an 80 % reduction in cuts. Together with the charity organization Viva Con Aqua, Wacken launched a water brand called, “Wacken Aqua.” Viva Con Aqua supports water supply systems in third world countries. Additionally Wacken visitors were asked to donate their deposit on beer cups to the organization by dropping off cups to Viva Con Aqua teams on the site. In a previous VIP-News edition we reported that together with the University of Osnabrück and the support of RegionNord Büro and Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) Wacken had developed a sustainable program to reduce the soilcompaction of the festival site. The event itself took place from July 31 to August 2. The pre-ticket sales for the next edition started on August 8, The first confirmed acts for 2012 are Ministry, Hammerfall, U.D.O, Amon Amarth, GammaRay, Cradle of Filth and the German band Scorpions. For more information please check: www.wacken.com
Wacken 2011
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The Italia Wave Festival Contends with Adversity Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
The Italia Wave Festival is a peripatetic (not often I get a chance to use that word!) event, which moves to different sites in Italy, taking the spirit of the original Arezzo Wave Love Festival with it. I attended this fifth edition of the Italia Wave Festival 14-17 July in Lecce, Puglia, being aware that for director Mauro Valenti and his team, and for the many aware of the history of this cultural event, that this was actually the 25th anniversary of the event that began life in Tuscany in 1987, entitled ‘Provincia insonne’.Arezzo Wave earned the name of “Italian Woodstock” over the years, attracting thousands of young people each year. Italian fans has not embraced the music festival as we know it now in the rest of Europe, but Arezzo Wave, which became Italia Wave on moving to Florence in 2007, then moving on to Livorno for the next three editions, has a fine tradition. Remaining in the main a free event presenting not only music but other cultural events it has presented an impressive array of international acts including, Mano Negra, the Leningrad Cowboys, David Byrne, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Moby, Tricky, Ben Harper. Most of the major Italian rock artists have passed through the Arezzo Wave. Mauro Valenti and the team have also acted as ambassadors for Italian music at many international events, acting as an Italian Export Office and being involved with the ETEP programme from an early stage.
This first edition in Lecce however had its problems and did not work out as planned, although the bill was fine, with artists such as Lou Reed, Jimmy Cliff and Paulo Nutini performing fine sets with a great production, the numbers were down, with only the free night of Italian acts pulling a large crowd to the dauntingly large Lecce Stadium. The smaller Psycho Stage was well attended during the day, but for strangers to the City and the area like myself, it was difficult to locate and more difficult to travel easily between the sites. Although the area has some beautiful surroundings and should be an attraction to tourists, not a lot seemed to be being done to attract tourists. I asked Mauro Valenti to explain what he thought had caused the setbacks: “I agree about the quality of the shows. Doing the festival in the deep South of Italy was a huge risk. The poverty of this territory and the Italian financial crisis together with a lack of curiosity toward new things are the symbol of our country. We are the only Italian festival at an European level and if next year we repeat our experiment in Puglia, our decision will depend very much on local and Regional authorities and how much they want to bet on the local marketing of this territory and on how much they will be able to contribute to becoming like Exit or other festivals loved and wanted by worldwide music globetrotters.
Marco Valenti - director Arezzo Wave
We had to use the only available locations of the city, even if far away one from each other in order to realize all our proposals. We had to face many inconveniences that one could call boycotts… The Province of Lecce told us officially that they would guarantee to finance us with a certain amount of Euros, but then they changed their mind and by today they have given only 75% of what they had promised. Guarantees of connections and shuttles never realized, and the police did not remove the illegal vendors of food and drinks outside the stadium. If their prices were lower than ours probably people would buy from them rather than from our own concessions. Despite all of the above, we were determined to do our 25th festival, maybe we were doped by the music! I think that the unique performances in Italy of Paolo Nutini and Kaiser Chiefs and the concerts of Jimmy Cliff and Lou Reed were flowers in the desert of this country. In September we will think about what to do now that we have had time to consider, for the moment we really thank you and everyone for having been with us.” Despite this year’s disappointments there were high points and I certainly don’t think we have seen the last of Italia Wave, or the Arezzo Wave spirit!
Italia Wave Festival
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Sziget Reports 77.000 Cashless Visitors Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Sziget Festival makes Budapest a hot spot for festival tourism. According to a press report issued by the festival the 19th edition of the event attracted 77.000 people coming from 61 countries. Particularly festival goers from the Netherlands turned the festival site into a “Dutch island on the River Danube” the day before the open air event started. The reason for this was the arrival of two of three chartered trains. While the Dutch community apparently came by train visitors from France, Italy and Belgium arrived one day later by bus. In the press release the Sziget organization declared that the festival: “has a strong reason to claim the title ‘global village’… or even ‘global town’, judging by the massive size of the venue and the number of inhabitants.” Another new topic on the agenda of this festival was the introduction of a so-called Festivalcard. The promoter decided that during the event and on the site festival visitors could only pay for goods with this card. As in some European football stadiums where cashless payment systems are already in place, this enables organisers to control the entire money flow and management within their events. The card is issued by Sziget Cultural Management Ltd. and is also being used at other festivals by the company such as Budai Gourmet, VOLT and the Heineken Balaton Sound. Unfortunately cardholders won’t be able to transfer the balance on the card onto the other festivals. For the cash free management Sziget Cultural Management Ltd. had to install a complete network of card readers and payment terminals known as Top Up Points. The maximum amount of money that could be uploaded on this card is 240,000 Hungarian Forints, which is about 890 Euro. For every money upload Sziget charges 100 Forints. To charge the card, festival visitors can pay with cash or with bank or credit cards.
In addition to the festival card punters can also buy a Festival Watch, another catchy cash gadget promoted as being “rain and shower resistant and also beer and mud proof”. This specially designed watch offers the same payment functionalities as the card and can be purchased for 30 Euro. However, refunding will only be given at the Top Up Points during the duration of the festival. For protection in the case of loss or robbery of the card, festival goers have to register the card or watch by a text message to a mobile phone number or online at the website www.metapay.hu/fesztivalkartya. Cashless payment systems on large-scale events such as Sziget or Football stadiums became possible due to the invention of so-called near field communication chips (NFC). These chips enable the transfer of data in short range distance. Besides payment functionalities these chips also can manage paperless ticketing, access controlling or online streaming or downloads. Several smart phone producers such as Blackberry, Nokia or Samsung meanwhile offer cell phones that include such a chip. In the future these chips could also be used as car keys. But in terms of consumer satisfaction these kind of money management devices have limits. In many cases it is just a bargain for the card issuer who makes a profit on non- reimbursed funds. Otherwise it is more likely that cardholders rather lose track of their money spending within the system of cash free payments. Another advantage for the card issuer is that with the installation of such a system he controls the entire cash flow management of an event. It also means that merchants on the site completely lose overall control of payment for their goods. Not to forget the difficulties if a merchant charges you wrongly and your overpayment vanishes into a virtual account… Sizegt 2011 took place on August 8 to August 15. For further information please go to the very proper website of this festival at www.sziget.hu
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20.000 Visitors for M’era Luna and one more Festival for FKP Scorpio Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
The FKP Scorpio promoted M’era Luna attracted 20.000 visitors this year, down on the 24.000 one year ago. Primarily promoted as festival for Dark Wave and Gothic this festival put on musically different acts such as Atari Teenage Riot, Apocalyptica, Hurts or Patrick Wolf.
volume of about 1.5 million Euros according to the local newspaper Cuxhavener Nachrichten. Cuxhaven is located in Northern Germany and the festival side is located directly by the sea. For further information please check www.deichbrand.de
With the Deichbrand Festival in Cuxhaven FKP Scorpio added yet another festival to its portfolio. As Pollstar recently reported FKP together with former promoters and founders of the festival Scorpio formed a new company ESK Events & Promotion GmbH. The Deichbrand festival has operated since 2005 and is located in an industrial zone in Cuxhaven. FKP Scorpio launched the new company in June 2010, the directors are Folkert Koopmans, Marc Engelke and Daniel Schneider. The festival hit financial trouble in 2008 into after the festival site suffered from damage due to bad weather, a situation repeated in 2009. This year the event pulled 18.000 visitors and a production M’era Luna
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Hultsfred Festival – The Comeback of a Festival? Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Last year the Swedish festival market saw the departure of not one, but two of its major festivals, Hultsfred and the Arvika. But at least the Hultsfred festival was rescued and re-appeared on the market with the backing of the biggest European festival promoter, FKP Scorpio. Former Hultsfred-manager Gunnar Lagerman was persuaded to abandon his beloved tomato-plants in order to return to his position as boss of Hultsfred again. VIP-News spoke with him. VIP-News: Mission impossible completed? Gunnar Lagerman: Well, we’ve started six feet under but we succeeded very well with this festival. In a very short time we’ve had to build a line-up, the media was not so positive as usual but I would say we’ve made it anyhow. VIP-News: How many visitors did you finally have? Lagerman: About 11.000 people in the end, which is almost three times more than the festival had on account last year.
»Many people still were afraid of buying tickets because they thought it might be cancelled again« - Gunnar Lagerman
VIP-News: How did the pre-sales do this year? Lagerman: They were slow; most of them were sold during the last two weeks. Many people still were afraid of buying tickets because they thought it might be cancelled again.
Gunnar Lagerman
the price of two. Something that we could maybe have done earlier, if we had more time. I mean, we only decided in Mid-January to go on with Hultsfred and that was already very late.
we worked together with Klangpiraten, a man power supplier that works closely together with FKP Scorpio. VIP-News: Did you sell tickets abroad this year or was it mainly a Swedish audience?
VIP-News: How were the media reactions? Lagerman: Well, most of the media didn’t believe that this was going to work. VIP-News: So, there was a large amount of scepticism everywhere? Lagerman: Yes…but we managed to have a really good program, so last month some of the media finally changed their minds but it was too late. VIP-News: The program was pretty much pop and dance and not so much rockacts…is that your new booking-policy at Hultsfred? Lagerman: Well, to an extent, we would have taken on more rock-acts but we couldn’t get them when we started with the booking. VIP-News: Who took care of the booking? Lagerman: I have done all of the bookings.
VIP-News: Did last year’s ticket buyer get their money back?
VIP-News: So FKP Scorpio mainly looked after the logistical stuff?
Lagerman: No…. and that is definitely six feet under. We started unfortunately too late with a campaign whereby last year’s ticket-buyers could buy three tickets for
Lagerman: Yes. We had several things that we looked after here in the Swedish office but when it comes to the practical things FKP Scorpio took care of it. Among others
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Lagerman: Mainly Swedish, we’ve had a connection to the Hurricane festival, which then brought a bus of Germans up to Hultsfred. VIP-News: And how was the media reception afterwards? Lagerman: Well, I mean, some said we’ve done good, some said the area wasn’t crowded, of course the area could have taken 20.000 people and we had heavy rain the first day, like 16 hours….we could have had a better start, yes. VIP-News: How has the collaboration with the local city council worked out? Lagerman: It worked very well. I mean, we planned to work out the festival-area in six weeks, in the end we built the area in six days. And it worked out very well, in terms of practicalities it was probably the best festival ever. I have the feeling that 95% of those who bought tickets for this year will come back next year. I believe in the past four, five years there might have 60% of newcomers, which of course is a problem for a festival. VIP-News: Do you know much about the audience, were they younger than before, were they a different audience?
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Lagerman: No, we definitely had an older audience than before. VIP-News: Do you know the average age? Lagerman: Not yet for sure, but there were probably more like 24 year olds rather than 19 as it used to be. We managed to get the license for serving beer all over the infield. In Sweden as you may know It used to be
the situation, that you have to fence areas where you can drink your beer. That’s the case at most festivals in Sweden, and that is something that maybe is okay when you’re 20 – 22, but if you are 26 it sucks. Now we had alcohol served all over the infield, people where not as drunk as it used to be, no accidents or fighting, whatever. It was a very positive atmosphere.
VIP-News: So, what is on your agenda for 2012? Lagerman: It’s a little bit early to say, but we will do an even better festival and a bigger audience.
For further information please check: www.hultsfredsfestivalen.se
Melt! A Class Of Its Own Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
The 14th edition of the Melt! Festival reported a sold out edition with 22.000 visitors. This festival is very special indeed. Located in the very far east of Germany the Melt! has become one of the most credible open-air pop events in Germany and has managed to attract one third of its audience from abroad. Melt! Is a festival where even veggie and organic food is no longer an exception. No, at Melt! these kind of visitor friendly amenities are part of the standard repertoire and among others just another asset to keep its visitors happy. VIP-News spoke with Stefan Lehmkuhl about the efforts made to ensure the sustainability of this in many ways, very different festival. VIP-News: What is different at Melt! 2011 compared to previous years? Stefan Lehmkuhl: Not too much, we’ve sold out much earlier, about one and a half months before, at the end of May. The rest didn’t change too much, we have the same stage-setup, many more LEDLights, not only to save more energy, also to make it look more stylish and I think the stage-designs are pretty well done this year. VIP-News: You are setting some remarkable standards with Melt! when it comes to environmentally friendly concepts for open air events. How do you proceed with these kinds of activities?
Lehmkuhl: Last year we already focused on the mobility concept for Melt!. We maintained this concept featuring train & bus transportation offers and discounted ticket prices on Deutsche Bahn. We offer bicycles to hire here, which is very ecofriendly to get an idea of the region. This year the biggest news in regards of green music, and that is a really great thing, is that in cooperation with Ferropolis and the solar-industry company Q-Cells, we installed solar-panels on the roofs that we have here. So most of the energy we use here this year is coming from our own solar panels, it is sun energy and I think that is a big thing for a festival. That’s not only for Melt!, that is something that is for all shows that will take place here in the future on our site. VIP-News: You are also involved in Metropolis, the company that actually takes care of the bookings for the Ferropolis site. What are your plans for the site?
cated to German Schlager, folk music and maybe even comedy. VIP-News: Any follow-ups in terms of the consequences that love-parade caused for the German live-industry? Lehmkuhl: Yes, officially there is a much bigger awareness of security-concerns here with Melt! I mean Ferropolis is a pretty safe venue anyway as it is built for events and therefore fulfils high security standards. So here at Melt we didn’t have big knock-on effects from love-parade, but our own awareness to even look into things and keep a closer eye on the movements of crowds on each floor. The program of the festival is the most important thing that helps to steer the movement of the crowd on the site. For further information please check: www.meltfestival.de
Lehmkuhl: We are working on improving the amount of events taking place here, this year we had not too many concerts, mainly industry-events, some sportsevents and theatre productions. For next year we’re working on improving the number of concerts and we will establish some of our own formats for next year. Some different festival formats for totally different audiences, especially for regional audience. So I think next year we will have about 6 weekend events from Melt to Splash, some rock festivals, events dediStefan Lemkuhl
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New service for musicians: MyMusicMailer.com launches! MyMusicMailer.com is a tool that enables artists to DISTRIBUTE their music to more than 6.000 venues and agencies worldwide at the click of the mouse!
VIP-Booking.com has recently expanded its services by launching MyMusicMailer.com - a new online promotion tool directed towards artists within the live music industry. Thus VIP-Booking.com has moved beyond being a business-to-business resource reserved for entertainment industry professionals only, as performing artists are now given the opportunity to access parts of the VIP network database and thereby distribute and promote their own music. According to Ronni Didriksen, founder and director of VIP-Booking.com, MyMusicMailer.com has risen as a natural development of VIP-Booking.com’s already existing services. Previously, chosen subscribers of VIP-Booking.com were given the opportunity to present and distribute their artists’ material to other professionals in the VIP network database through VIP-Showcase. com. This proved to be a success and contributed to the rising demand for such a service – not only amongst professionals but also amongst performing artists. “The concept of MyMusicMailer.com is quite simple”, Ronni says, “When you register on MyMusicMailer.com you get access to part of the VIP-Booking.com database which is Europe’s most comprehensive internet database containing information on more than 10.000 venues and agencies all over the world. When registered, you createan EPK (Electronic Press Kit), where you can upload your picture, audio/video and biography and email it directly to the venues, festivals or management companies of your choice”, he explains.
an EPK to the entire network without being selective would be costly and the fee would no longer be symbolic”, he says. Ronni has – as he is busy running the thriving VIP-Booking.com - chosen to leave the marketing of MyMusicMailer.com to his two new employees – Marie Weiergang and Laura Skriver, who have taken on the job with great enthusiasm. “We are spreading the word about MyMusicMailer.com”, Marie says, “and I truly believe in the concept, because MyMusicMailer.com really is the perfect tool for musicians to distribute their music to the live music industry and to get through to the right people – and besides that, there are currently no existing services like it in Europe, so there is an actual need for this kind of service amongst musicians”, she says. Laura agrees “This tool makes it so much easier for musicians to be independent and promote themselves, because it provides them with the needed information and connections that otherwise takes lots and lots of hard work and not the least time to acquire. Besides that it’s very easy to search and navigate the database – you just select and connect – it’s that easy! In that way musicians who subscribe to MyMusicMailer.com are given a head start”, she says. According to Marie, what separates MyMusicMailer.com from other sites, such as MySpace and others alike, is the fact that
It´s free to sign up, but MyMusicMailer.com charges a symbolic fee for each EPK sent. According to Ronni this is partly to ensure that artists are selective about whom they contact and thus that the professionals don’t experience an overload of EPK’s that are not relevant to them. “Choosing to send
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The team behind MyMusicMailer - ready to shout it out!
MyMusicMailer.com lets you distribute your EPK directly to venues and agencies. The receiver gets all information in one presentation and the EPK has a very professional appearance – it’s a classy yet simple presentation of the artist and their music, she says. Ronni points to the fact that the role of the record labels is diminishing in terms of breaking new artists. The record labels no longer have the same recourses and funds available for promoting new talent as they used to. Therefore there is a need for a service like MyMusicMailer.com for artists, who want to make an effort themselves and get their music out. “As US music blogger Bob Lefsetz said at a conference recently: “It’s no longer about content, it’s about distribution” Ronni adds. “I’m confident that both the professionals within the live music industry as well as the artists will welcome our initiative and make it a success”, he says.
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Showdown for Popkomm 2011 Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Popkomm is by far extent the best know music industry trade event in Germany. This year’s event will take place from September 7 to 9 at the former airport Tempelhof in Berlin. But Popkomm is no longer a stand-alone event, like the Berlin Festival it is now an embedded event within Berlin Music Week. Berlin Music Week is basically a political, or perhaps better said, a city marketing product. It remains a bit of a mystery what those responsible in Berlin are aiming to establish and to invest into this new brand. For the music industry Popkomm is still seen as the destination to head to in Berlin. VIP-News spoke with Daniel Barkowski, who has been head of industry convention for two years, about the difficulties and challenges presented by the upcoming edition and the future of this event. VIP-News: How are things looking for Popkomm 2011? Daniel Barkowski: Popkomm 2011 is very promising. We are extremely proud to announce that for the first time a foreign minister is attending the Popkomm Opening. Ewa Björling the Swedish Minister of Trade opens the Popkomm conference with a keynote on Wednesday, September 7 th. On Wednesday and Thursday the Popkomm conference focuses on the digital music industry with various keynotes and panels at the Popkomm Media_Gate. Popkomm Media_Gate is a format for the digital music industry with companies such as Google, Microsoft, Napster, Finetunes and Gracenote discussing the latest trends and topics in panels and workshops. Furthermore we involved in many music and media industry cooperations. One partnership is with the medienboard Berlin–Brandenburg where Popkomm will be hosting a panel called ‘Music_Media_ New Radio: Business Models and Digital Strategies on Tuesday,
Daniela Barkowski
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September 6th, from 4.30 pm – 6.30 pm. Professionals within the music industry will showcase all the new formats and programmes that a renaissance in the music business holds in store. Thursday is dedicated to more general music topics and on Friday we are expecting Melvin Benn from Festival Republic as a keynote speaker focusing on the live sector. We are very pleased about our two innovative event formats Media_Gate and Networking_Gate, our networking and matchmaking platform, which confirm that Popkomm has become even more multi-faceted and provides a strong impact into future developments. We cover topics of fundamental interest to the music industry and with the Popkomm showcases help to promote artists from every continent. Vip News: Was it difficult to assemble exhibitors and delegates for this year’s Popkomm? Was it more difficult than in previous years? Barkowski: This is my second Popkomm and I’m very pleased with the expected audience. Exhibitors from 22 countries including, for the first time, Israel and Argentina, will attend Popkomm, along
with industry experts from music export agencies, national and international associations and 115 selected Popkomm artists. We are also happy to announce the cooperation with the Berlin based organisation Berlin Music Commission. With the networking formats such as one-on-one matchmaking and round table discussions delegates are invited to MEET BERLIN on September, 7th at the Networking_Gate. The Berlin Music Commission invites to network, to gain new insights, to learn ideas from other industries and last but not least to make premium contacts. Special highlights are the music supervisor sessions with Tess Taylor from NARIP and Andrea von Foerster and Gary Calamar will meet Popkomm delegates for direct pitches. Andrea von Foerster is responsible for The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, Dollhouse, Stargate Universe, Gary Calamar for the soundtrack of True Blood, Dexter and House. Vip News: Many People outside of Germany and even Germans, who are not from Berlin have problems understanding the difference between Berlin Music Week, the Berlin Festival, Popkomm and All Together Now. What is the overall goal for it? Popkomm is internationally the best known trademark, so why does it need another brand entitled Berlin Music Week? Barkowski: Last year was a little bit difficult for foreign people to understand what Berlin Music Week stands for as it was a kind of creation process for all the different partners. But I think we’ve made it very clear this year. Berlin Music Week is the umbrella brand whereas Popkomm is the B2B-platform within the Berlin Music Week. We’re concentrating on matchmaking, B2B sessions such as our daytime showcases for a B2B audience. We are the only partner within the Berlin Music Week offering special networking formats and conference topics to international and national music and creative industry delegates. Vip News: In terms of partners, there are a couple of former Popkomm partners such as Buma Cultuur or the BPI that won’t have Popkomm stand this year. How do
Daniela Barkowski
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you re-approach these organisations, are you going to invite them? Barkowski: We are very pleased to welcome them as delegates at Popkomm 2011. We have been working with international partners and especially the music export offices for years and it is our aim to support their national artists. This year’s showcase programme will be fully promoted to all Popkomm delegates to assist artists to gather the attention of the right people in the right place at the right time. Our music manager Paul Cheetham places as many artists as possible on to the Berlin Festival, various Berlin Music Week events, club nights and parties that will take place throughout the city during this exciting week of music and entertainment. Vip News: In terms of booking procedures, I have been told, that artists only can play at Popkomm showcases if they have a record company or an agent that also has a stand. Is that correct? Barkowski: Artists have to be linked to an exhibitor or co-exhibitor at Popkomm to play at the Popkomm Showcases. That’s why we are working very closely with the international music export offices to support their artists. The link to the exhibition part allows them to get the best exposure when they come to Popkomm and benefit from the support of the structure while attending. Vip News: How many people are you expecting at this year’s Popkomm?
»This year’s Popkomm once again provides a vibrant and creative setting for the worldwide music industry« - Daniela Barkowski
Barkowski: Definitely not less than last year and I’m looking forward seeing everyone at Popkomm from 7th - 9th September. And of course, everyone is also invited to the ‘European Music and Media Night’ in the E-Werk Berlin. This year’s Popkomm once again provides a vibrant and creative setting for the worldwide music industry.
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ETEP 2.0 Looks East with CEETEP Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
With the help of the recent grant from the European Commission ETEP (European Talent Exchange Program*) has announced a new development and expansion as ETEP 2.0. The new version will welcome the involvement of eight new festivals from Central Eastern Europe (CEE) joining ETEP in 2012, and it is planned that ETEP 2.0 will grow from 60 participating festivals in 2011 to 100 in 2015. Together with in total 13 CEE-ETEP festivals in the CEE region and around 26 media partners, Eurosonic Noorderslag and co-organisers Sziget and Exit Festival will develop a scheme for the circulation of CEE artists and repertoire in Central Eastern Europe at the festivals and in the media, called CEETEP (Central and Eastern European Talent Exchange Program). By working together the organisers and their media partners will help more CEE artists perform across borders within Central Eastern Europe and via shows at Eurosonic Noorderslag in the Netherlands throughout the whole of Europe and beyond. Fruzsina Szép from Sziget Festival says: “A long wish and a plan that has developed during former Region Conferences in Budapest is finally taking shape by placing CEE talents on the European musical map.” Ivan Milivojev from Exit says: “CEETEP has started, festivals confirmed, media joined, I can feel the stir of a new project being born out of great idea. Bands will start to circulate, I am delighted that all this happened at EXIT festival, to see this potent and beautiful cooperation at work. CEETEP has started. You`ll certainly hear more about it.” Peter Smidt from Eurosonic Noorderslag says: “With radio stations and media from all countries confirming their participation I am confident CEETEP will have an impact for talent in the CEE countries. This is another step in better circulation of European repertoire in Europe.” At the first CEE-ETEP (CEETEP) meeting in Budapest in May this year the following 13 festivals agreed to work together on this
project: Coke Live Festival – Poland, Podoha – Slovakia, Rock For People – Czechia, Taksirat – R. Macedonia, T-Mobile INmusic Festival – Croatia, , B’estfest – Romania, Exit – Serbia, Wilsonic – Slovakia, Sziget – Hungary, Heineken Opener Festival – Poland, Positivus Festival – Latvia, Spirit Of Burgas – Bulgaria, and Woodstock Festival – Poland. Certainly it appears that the Festival promoters are taking the lead in trying to develop both acts and industry in the Eastern markets, many of them also promote at small and mid level venues, and it seems that their motives are not only to fill the venues and attract bigger audiences to their festivals, but to open up the possibilities for local talent to play in neighbouring territories and eventually into Western Europe. Girts Majors of Latvia’s Positivus Festival told VIP-News at The Great Escape in Brighton this year, “Besides organising Positivus, the biggest music and arts festival in the Baltic states, with a capacity of 20,000+ festival goers, as promoters we have been operating for 8 years now focusing on Western artists concerts in Riga. The 1990’s saw the dawn of the music industry in Latvia. At the moment/currently recorded music business has almost ceased to exist. Most of the business is foreign artist live shows and majority of them being arena-level. Some of the Western artists have enjoyed the highest attendance of their shows exceptionally in Riga. Club-level shows are rare and undeveloped due to infrastructure problems. The good sign in recent years is that some of the local artists have also managed to secure sold out arena-level shows.Our plan for the near future is to focus on 2,000 capacity gigs. We’re about to open and run our own venue like that in Riga.
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Piotr Miazek of the Zloty Melon Concert Agency, and a representative of Woodstock Festival Poland told VIP-News , “I would like to say that we are proud to be taking part in the CEETEP program. It is our deep conviction that music made in Poland and elsewhere in this part of Europe is just as good as in the western music, and that our talent pool is just as big. It would be great to hear Polish radio stations playing good quality music from Romania, Hungary, Serbia, etc. Thanks to the kind hospitality of the Exit Festival,VIP-News attended the second CEETEP meeting in Serbia at which the following mediapartners of the 13 CEETEP festivals joined the program: MR2-Petőfi Radio – Hungary, KOMMPOT Communication – Hungary, Neston – Hungary, First Macedonian net portal – Macedonia, Radio 103 – Macedonia, Antyradio – Poland, Czech Radio - Radio Wave – Czech Republic, Radio 101 – Latvia, Metropotam portal – Romania, Radio Belgrade 1 – Serbia, Darik Radio – Bulgaria, 24 hours news paper – Bulgaria, Croation Radio – Croatia. Laurent Marceau, Head of Eurosonic/Radio Plus at the European Broadcasting Union, told VIP-News, “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst… I don’t know who said this but this cannot apply to the CEETEP programme. Joining forces between festivals and (public) broadcasters makes real sense, it contributes to cross-border distribution of music, and that’s simply great, full stop. This scheme has a great future!” … A sentiment that we at VIP greatly support – Watch this space!
*ETEP 2.0 Eurosonic Noorderslag will work together on more exposure for the selected ETEP acts with the following partners: Euro-
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pean Commission / Sena Performers / Buma Cultuur / EBU. And with Co-organisers: Yourope / Initiative Musik Gmbh / European Music Office (EMO) / Festival Exit / Festival Sziget / Bureau Export de la Musique Française (Burex) / Catalan Institute for the Cultural Industries (ICIC) / Fondazione Arezzo Wave Italia (FAWI) / Finnish Music Information center (FIMIC) / Music Information Centre Austria
(MICA) / Music Centre Flanders / Music Export Norway / Wallonie Bruxelles Musiques (WBM). With the exchange and support of new European music in Europe being one of the main goals of Eurosonic Noorderslag, the special European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) was introduced in 2003. Each year ETEP brings together the leading Eu-
ropean festivals, radio and other media at Eurosonic Noorderslag and stimulates them to ‘exchange’ a selection of artists. Since the start of the ETEP program in 2003 a total of 1330 shows by 489 European artists were presented at the 60 ETEP festivals (2003 – 2011) The updated ETEP website will be online in September 2011 - www.etep.nl
Reeperbahn Campus Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
As organiser Detlef Schwarte explains The Reeperbahn Campus as a B2B-platform and conference is one of three elements of the “Reeperbahn Festival - Music / Campus / Arts” which will take place in Hamburg, from 22 –24 of September. For the first time the B2B-platform provides several networking services for the delegates. Most importantly are the “Networking Sessions” titled Meet the Managers, Meet the Festival, Meet the Agents and Meet the Promoters. These Networking Sessions are open for the delegates, but online-registration is required. They take place in the Reeperbahn Campus Lounge on Spielbudenplatz. Also new in 2011: the Reeperbahn Campus Showcases. Israel, Switzerland, Canada, Holland and some German organisations and companies will invite delegates and punters to check out their acts. The showcases will take place during the daytime in Reeperbahn Campus Pubs at Spielbudenplatz next door to the Reeperbahn Campus Lounge and the conference.These two elements are the most important parts of the B2B function of Reeperbahn Campus.
cus on the Recorded Music Industry and Live Entertainment Business. The traditional panel format will be complemented by presentations, keynote-statements and -interviews. Schwarte says, “The Reeperbahn Campus aims to establish itself as the central and most important forum for the interests of the music industry and live biz in Germany. We want to provide the platform for a yearly gathering of the relevant representatives of these two sectors to reflect on current technical, economical and cultural developments that affect their businesses.” Panels will include: Festival-Season 2011/12 with Stefan Lehmkuhl (Melt! Festival, DE), Gunnar Lagerman (Hultsfred Festival, SWE), Rob Challice (Association of Independent Festivals, UK), Peter Smidt (Buma Cultuur, NL), Christophe Platel (Paleo Festival, CH). Moderation: Greg Parmley (IQ Magazine, UK)
Conference:
In the course of the subject block THE AGENT´S AGENDA the Reeperbahn Campus will present a view of the music agency business in the year 2011 in three parts. In a keynote interview with Allan McGowan, editor of the British VIP magazine, the legendary agent Barry Dickins will explain his personal view of the current situation of the music agency business and of tours, talents and ticket prices.
Even more than in the last two years the Reeperbahn Campus conference will fo-
Subsequently the question of “How Do We Keep the Business Going and Growing?”
Besides this several German and international partners will invite delegatesto receptions, parties or closed shop matchmakings.
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Detlef Schwarte
will be discussed by a panel composed of international music agents, including Emma Hogan (ITB, UK), Rense Van Kessel (Friendly Fire, NL), Alexander Kralisch (Melt! Booking, DE) and Michael Löffler (Target Concerts, DE). As an introduction to the subject block, Charlie Pressburg of the US American music journal Pollstar will provide a detailed overview of the Pollstar Boxoffice Half Year Results 2011, the most important key figures for the international concert and tour business. More information: www.reeperbancampus.com
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DF Concerts – Live on All Levels in Scotland Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
Every now and then VIP-News will take a look at the activities of some of Europe’s best known promotion companies. Many of these enterprises are involved with a much wider range of events than you might think, and are extremely busy people! In this issue we take a look at the activities of Scotland’s DF Concerts. DF was founded in Dundee as Dance Factory Concerts, and is one of Scotland’s three major promoters. For a time DF was majority-owned by Irish promoter Denis Desmond’s Dublin company, Gaiety Investments, but in April 2008 Desmond sold his company’s 67% holding to US entertainment giant Live Nation, which acquired the stake through LN-Gaiety Holdings, its UK joint venture with Desmond. Geoff Ellis and promoter Simon Moran retained the remaining 33% shareholding in DF and the Company still retains the image and ethics of an independent promoter, operating from club level right through to major festivals. The Company owns and manages legendary, and imaginatively named Glasgow club, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, promotes major international acts, such as Take That, AC/DC, The Eagles, Coldplay and Jay-Z around the country and is responsible for one of Europe’s leading open air events, T in the Park, plus The Edge Festival (originally T on the Fringe) which combines forces with the Edinburgh Comedy Festival to bring Music and Comedy together at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The current CEO of DF Concerts is Geoff Ellis, originally from Manchester, he joined DF in 1992 to run King Tut’s Wah Wah Club which had opened in Glasgow’s St Vincent Street two years earlier, his office is still above the club. Since then King Tut’s has become one of the most popular music venues in the country. Geoff Ellis told VIPNewsabout the history and the present success of “Since opening in 1990 our ethos has been to use King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut as a platform for unsigned and up and coming bands as well as showcasing some of the hottest talent from around the globe. Artists such as Radiohead, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Florence and the Machine and Oasis, who were famously signed at the venue in 1993, all played in King Tut’s in the early part of their careers.” Currently the Club is absolutely central to the ‘Your Sound’ initiative to promote unsigned acts in Scotland and King Tut’s Records. Both of these ventures form an essential part of DF’s overall plan to develop the music scene in Scotland. Ellis considers it a testament to the hard work and professionalism of the King Tut’s team that many bands continue to return to play in the venue, including some that are now headlining their own stadium shows and festivals. For the venue’s 20th Birthday the Manic Street Preachers and
Paulo Nutini returned to perform and Biffy Clyro presented the venue with a birthday cake. King Tut’s prides itself on the level of service it provides both bands and customers with food (always important in Scotland!) being a very important part of the business. The venue’s chefs are dedicated to maintaining very high standards when feeding touring artists or providing seasonal menus for the customers. This has led to another extension of the business with the recent development of King Tut’s Catering, which provides catering services to a wide range of clients from weddings and corporate events to crew and artist catering at other venues including the O2 Academy and S.E.C.C. Ellis continues, “King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut staff have always had a great camaraderie with many becoming close friends over the years. I think this has a big impact on the welcoming atmosphere the venue has. DF Concert’s own King Tuts Wah Wah Hut and our staff continually work with those in King Tut’s as part of a wider team. We all know each other and some of our current staff in the DF office previously worked in King Tut’s. In fact, I met my wife when she was managing the venue!” The Club was recently nominated as the UK’s Best Small Venue by music magazine NME. Ellis told VIP what he thought of this. “Being at the forefront of live music in Scotland whilst remaining an exceptional venue for our customers is something we take great pride in. I am very proud of everyone at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and pleased with this recognition, which follows on from similar awards from Radio 1 and Radio Clyde.”
Festivals: T in the Park is definitely DF’s flagship event, being responsible for more than half of the company’s turnover. It was acknowledged in the Scottish Parliament some years ago that the event contributed some £13 million to the country’s economy. The risk that Ellis and his partners King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
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took when they staged the first event in 1994 when the event drew an audience of 18,000 a day has paid off, and now attracts more like 80,000. Main sponsor, Tennents, the brewer, signed a five-year extension to its sponsorship in 2009. This year’s edition was considered one of the best yet, perhaps the best ever, in terms of atmosphere. The 18-year-old festival closed on Sunday 11th July, after fullon performances from some of the greatest acts in the world including arguably, six headliners: Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, The Strokes, Beyonce & Pulp, as well as outstanding sets from the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Primal Scream, Plan B, The Script, Slash, My Chemical Romance, Tom Jones and Tinie Tempah. T in the Park also offered music from Scottish Opera, covering a variety of genres. The festival also supported home grown grassroots talent through its T-Break initiative and the best of up and coming UK talent through BBC Introducing.
In his role as Festival Director, Geoff Ellis said, “We were delighted with the behaviour of the fans throughout T in The Park. Even a deluge of rain on Sunday failed to dampen the great-natured and carnival spirit of the crowd.Event Commander Chief Superintendent Craig Suttie and his team led the way with the community style policing of his officers and it worked superbly well. This, along with the excellent work of the stewards, made this one of the best – and safest – T in the Parks ever.” The Festival’s Citizen T initiative introduced last year also played its part. An innovative programme that encourages people to look out for their neighbours and the environment around the festival site, Festival goers are encouraged to sign up to the Citizen T manifesto, which is based around the following five-points
1: This is our Festival: We pledge allegiance to T in the Park and believe in being good citizens. 2: Everybody needs good neighbours; we pledge to look after each other. 3: It’s all about the T Community Festival staff are here to help. Have fun but stay safe. 4: Bin it; Rubbish belongs in the bin. We’ll make sure it gets there. 5: A Tent is for life not just for T; We’ll take it home and re-use it
The Festival remained trouble free; crime figures were down with 53 arrests being made between Thursday’s opening night and top billing Foo Fighters closing the event at midnight on Sunday. This figure compares with 64 arrests at the same time last year, 59 in 2009 and 69 in 2008. Most of the arrests were for misuse of drugs, theft and breach of the peace.
The Edge Festivaltakes place throughout the month of August, and is a series of over 40 gigs, taking place across various venues in Edinburgh alongside the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, part of one of the most famous Arts Festivals in the world, in a move which brings together two of the strongest forms of entertainment. Highlights of this year’s edition include The National, Jimmy Eat World, Example, Wiz Khalifa, Gomez, The Vaccines, Panic! At The Disco, Morcheeba, Tim Booth, Guillemots, Newton Faulkner, Heather Peace, Charlie Simpson, Admiral Fallow, Willy Mason, Jackie Leven and king of comedy show Jackass, Steve–O. Speaking on the morning of the programme launch, promoter Dave Corbet said: “We’re delighted to be joining forces with the Edinburgh Comedy Festival this year and are pleased to be in such good company. Music and Comedy have always been great bedfellows and from the feedback we’ve had previously, people attending the festival like to build an evening of entertainment so what better than to catch a comedy show AND attend a gig? DF has also involved itself with shows outside the music industry, such as Glasgow On Ice and Radiance Glasgow’s inaugural festival of light. And it steps outside of Scotland every now and then, having worked on outdoor events in Prague, Berlin, Val d’Isere and Moscow, and staged music and extreme sports festivals in Valencia and Versailles.
Geoff Ellis commented: “Citizen T generates a feeling of being part of one big family – it harnesses the already legendary campsite atmosphere and is an initiative which has been embraced by our audience. We will certainly be looking to expand on this again next year.” Following this outstanding festival weekend, T in the Park’s early bird tickets for the 2012 edition sold out once again, proving that demand for the festival remains as high as ever. T in the Park 2012 will take place from 6 – 8th July as usual at Balado, by Kinross for the festival’s 19th year. Geoff Ellis CEO DF Concerts
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The promoting business is not always an easy business and profit margins are not what they were in the heydays of the 70’s and DF has like many had its problems at times, like going into the red in 2008 when trying to establish The Hydro Connect Festival - the antidote to T in the Park, a boutique gathering on the grounds of the Duke of Argyll’s Inveraray Castle, but the Company bounced back and continues to build. DF has certainly built a reputation, and it continues to involve itself in industry issues with Geoff Ellis serving as an executive member of the Concert Promoter’s Association in the UK. www.gigsinscotland.com
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Business News - Music in Shares Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Halfyear Results from CTS Eventim
Halfyear Results from Live Nation
Lower revenue and profit results for the second biggest concert company. For many years CTS Eventim had been an investors’ darling, consciously pleasing shareholders with rising revenue and earnings results. Still CTS Eventim compared to Live Nation is highly profitable but has to deal with the departure of FKP Scorpio as revenue contributor and ongoing expenses due to the arbitration case with Live Nation at the International Chamber of Commerce in London.
“2011 has shown solid performance for two quarters, with improved results across most of our key financial metrics, providing the basis for profit growth over the full year,” is how Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation described the company situation within the latest business report of the world’s biggest concert company.
The overall company revenue went down from 270.9 to 263.8 million Euro, the Earnings before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) decreased 5.4 % from 43.6 to 41.2 million Euro. The EBIT even went down minus 20.4 % from 37.9 in H1-2010 to this year’s result of 30.1 million Euro. Within the ticketing segment, CTS Eventim managed to maintain its growth policy very well, even without a global ticketing service deal with Live Nation. The revenue went up from 81.5 to 104.1 million Euro, which is a plus of 27.7 %. Instead the results of the Live Entertainment division of CTS Eventim went down 15.5 % from 192.8 to 162.9 million Euro. Regarding the arbitration case CTS Eventim reported that the first hearing took place at the end of July. The trial is apparently supposed to last until the end of the year.
The revenue climbed this year in the second quarter (Q2) up to $1.558 billion compared to last year’s revenue result in the same period of $1.266 billion. The revenues gained by company division Concerts alone jumped by about 25 % and reached the level of $1.082.2 billion as opposed to $859.5 million. The half-year turnover result for the ongoing business year (H1) grew 21% from $1.99 billion up to $2.4 billion. In almost every business segment Live Nation had been able to report two digit figures growth rates. However, almost unusually for Live Nation the company also reported a net profit. Okay, only for Q2 where the company earned $13.25 million instead of a net loss of $32.78 million in Q2-2010, but still a profit. Taking a look at H1 results still reveals a net loss of $35.2 million which is still much better than a minus of $155 million in H1-2010. Since the beginning of August the share price of Live Nation went down from $11.4 to $9.38 when this article went to press.
Due to 1:2 share splitting the share price of CTS Eventim meanwhile is at 22.50 Euro.
artist avails ›› Groove Armada Territory: Europe / Worldwide Period: Worldwide 2011 Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Agent: Steve Hogan E-mail: SHogan@wmeentertainment.com Homepage: www.groovearmada.com Dub Syndicate (feat. Adrian Sherwood and Style Scott) Territory: Europe Period: November - December 2011 Agency: Paperclip Agency Agent: Rob Berends Phone: +31 24 323 9322 E-mail: rob@paperclip-agency.com Homepage: www.paperclip-agency.com Firehouse Territory: Europe Period: 1/2/2012 - 31/3/2012 Agency: ARM Entertainment Agent: Dana Strutz Phone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: ds@armentertainment.com Homepage: www.firehousemusic.com Ghetonia Territory: Worldwide Period: Generally available Agency: Maffucci Music Agent: Canio Rosario Maffucci Phone: +39 339 485 8107 E-mail: info@italianworldmusic.com Homepage: www.italianworldmusic.com LA Guns (feat. Phil Lewis & Steve Riley) Territory: UK - Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool Period: 28/09/2011 - 29/09/2011 Agency: ARM Entertainment Agent: Dana Strutz Phone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: ds@armentertainment.com Homepage: www.laguns.net Thieves Like Us Territory: GAS Period: Generally available Agency: Solar Penguin Agency Agent: Michèl Dion Baltin Phone: +49 (0) 69 2562 6960 E-mail: michel_dion@solarpenguin.de Homepage: www.solarpenguin.de
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notice board ›› Another new service in the improved and redesigned VIP-News is the Notice-board, which is available for all readers. Reader’s messages will be posted on the Notice-board as a free service, passing on announcements, job postings, buying and selling notices, inquiries or alike. Announcements should be emailed to noticeboard@vip-booking.com
Tune in Tel Aviv at Reeperbahn Festival Israel, especially Tel Aviv, is full of musical talents and some of them - like Balkan Beat Box or Asaf Avidan - have been seen in the past years performing across the world. Now it’s time to present some fresh acts which are stars at home, but still unknown abroad. The “Tune in Tel Aviv” showcase on Thursday, September 22nd 2011, from the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute (IEICI) within this year’s Reeperbahn Festival present some of the most exciting newcomers. A perfect chance to acquire a taste of pop and rock music from the young vivacious Middle Eastern metropolis. “Our partnership with the Reeperbahn Festival this year is a first step in bringing together the European and Israeli music market,” says Mira Geshel from IEICI. “We are pleased to finally present these bands to the music fans and professionals in Germany.”
Line-up: 16:05 UZI RAMIREZ, www.myspace.com/uziramirez 16:50 LORENA B, www.myspace.com/LorenaBGood 17:35 BILLY AND THE FIRM, www.myspace.com/billyandthefirm 18:20 WATER KNOT, www.myspace.com/waterknot 19:05 PHOTOTAXIS, phototaxis.bandcamp.com 19:50 FELIDEA TRICK, www.myspace.com/felidae.trick 20:35 UMLALA, www.myspace.com/umlalainuse 21:20 THE RAW MEN EMPIRE, www.myspace.com/therawmenempire „Tune in Tel Aviv“ – Showcase, Thursday September 22nd, 4-10pm, Kukuun, Spielbudenplatz 22, Reeperbahn, Hamburg.
The bands selected for the showcase present a mixture of energetically pop and rock sounds with tastes of hard electronic beats as well as danceable pop-hymns, Blues, Indie, Soul, Funk or Rock’n’Roll. They mix up intense sounds with reflective lyrics, nonsense and self-criticism and prove Israel’s unique sound in pop music. All bands and some more are presented on the comilation “Tune in Tel Aviv” (Finetunes) which will be released on September 16th digitally.
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Website: www.tune-in-tel-aviv.com
The Raw Men Empire - by Tsvika Frosh
Water Knot
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Uzi Ramirez By Dorel Gillerman
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Monthly featured Artist ›› Powered by MyMusicMailer
Ninet Tayeb Origin: Style: Agency:
Israel Rock, Alternative Tedy LTD
Name: Website: Phone:
Rotem Vahnnich www.ninet.co.il +972-52-600-33-12
Looking for: Booking, Management, Record Lable, Festivals Ninet Tayeb won the first Israeli Idol in 2003. Since then she became one of the biggest artists in Israel. Her first album, released in 2006, sold Gold after only 24 hours. In 2009 she released her second album “Communicative”, a Rock Alternative album which received amazing reviews. The Communicative Live Tour was also praised by the press, making Ninet one of the best stage performers In the Local Music industry. Ninet is currently staring in the Musical “Spring Awaking – Israel”, and working on her first Album in English.
Ninet Tayeb
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RWE Arena Mülheim an der Ruhr RWE Halle - a multi functional Venue focused in Concerts, Galas, Conferences & Sport Events offering a perfect service to visitors, Artists and Promoters.
Showbiz-Management & Booking Agency is the exclusive Marketer & tenant for the RWE Halle - 45468 Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany
In the Heart of Germany with best infrastructure and Cities around like Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen, Cologne and Düsseldorf – 15 million people catchment area.
All kind of booking enquiries could be sent by e-mail to: rwe-halle@showbiz-management.com
Capacity from 1000 to 4000, seated 3500 and 3 variable Tribunes gives multiple potentialities. Some Facts and services we offer: - Large Foyer incl. separate Ticket Entries, Bars, Guest Wardrobes and culinary offers - Luxury VIP Lounge - 3 tiers variable to use - Externally roofed huge Terrace - Close to City Centre and Central Station & Airport - 14 Wardrobes incl. Showers and Lounge Furniture - Sauna area - Weight & Sport room - Production Offices incl. LAN, ISDN & Fax, WLAN all over the Venue - Press & Conference & Catering Rooms - Short distance (under 10 meter) from Loading Dock to Stage ground level - Bus and Tram stations named “RWE HALLE” are immediately outside the Venue
RWE Halle
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