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premium ›› Vol. 131 ›› DECEMBER 2010
McGowan’s Musings: So here we go with the very last News of the year, also the last of the first decade of the twenty first century. They say time flies when you’re having fun so at the rate this last year seems to have shot past I must be having the time of my life! I’ll probably consider that when I’m snowed in somewhere for Christmas. Of course one of the worst things about snow is that it provides perfect camouflage for seagulls – they can creep right up on you before you know and they’re famous for pecking the eyes out of snowmen! Well, they’re not really, but I just thought I’d have another go at them to wind up the year! It’s not been the greatest year for everyone in the live music industry, particularly in the US. However it’s not been too bad for Bon Jovi who were the most successful live act of the year with takings of $146.5m. The hard work on coming up with these and many other sets of figures, which the industry finds fascinating and useful, is often undertaken by Billboard magazine, but even this seemingly rock solid journal of the music industry is having its problems and had announced the closure of its London office. Advertising revenues, the lifeblood of print
prices because presumably in an uncertain economic climate people didn’t have disposable dollars to spend?! Oh well Jon’s got lots of disposable dollars of his own now to do as he wants with, and more to come as the tour when it finishes in Portugal on 31 July 2011, will have played 135 shows in 30 countries. Allan McGowan
magazines have dropped off in all areas during the economic crisis, but of course the music industry has been particularly hit with the demise of the majors and the space left where the new album release full pages used to be is harder and harder to fill. Still back to Bon Jovi who sold 1,591,154 tickets for 69 gigs between 20 November 2009 and 28 November 2010 on their ‘The Circle’ tour, they were also the highestgrossing live act of 2008, having taken $210m (£133.4m) on its Lost Highway tour. Jon Bon Jovi is reported as saying that fans bought tickets “because they’re willing to spend their disposable dollars”. Which is a bit strange when the likes of Live Nation spent the better part of last year cutting
So it seems that some people are definitely still making money out of playing live even though worldwide figures indicate a 26.4 percent decrease in gross, a 12.3 percent decrease in attendance and a 14 percent decrease in the number of shows reported. It was not an easy year, but it should still be remembered that these worrying figures still report concert attendances of slightly more than 65 million people. That’s a big market! The US figures were down by twice the drop off reflected in global numbers. But even there some still reported success, Certain sectors, including country, most major festivals and tours by superstars in pop, urban and dance/electronicperformed well and whilst Live Nation languished AEG had one of its best years yet. As AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips says. “If an artist is hot, people are motivated to find a
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way to go. If they’re not, I don’t care how much money you spend on marketing or how you package things, it’s not going to work.” So the live music industry, for so many years now, the sector that others in the music industry looked to for salvation, enters 2011 leaner and more wary than it has for some time, but maybe this is not such a bad thing, There are pitfalls to be looked out for, such as alienation of fans through overpricing in both primary and definitely secondary ticketing, and the fact that younger fans are dropping off in attending live shows, and maybe as an industry more concentration will be brought to bear on these areas, which will be good for the future. So, lets start the new decade on a positive note, we wish you all a great holiday and health and prosperity in the New Year. And as ever, let us know what you’re doing, there is no News without you!
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Interview with Ticketscript Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
Ticketing has become a tough market, software for distributing tickets is something everyone can make easily nowadays. So what does it take to be a player in this competitive market? Ticketscript is a fast growing operator in Europe, VIP-News asked CEO Frans Jonker about the way to success… VIP-News: Please give us a few facts on your company; you have offices in Germany, UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, right? Frans Jonker: Ticketscript is a European market leader in the next generation of ticket sales through SaaS (software as a service) solutions. Ticketscript is a multinational company as a result of mer-ging Ticketscript (pan European) with Trinity Mobile, the leading UK mobile ticketing platform provider. Ticketscript now operates across 5 European countries. A new office has recently opened in London and we will soon be operating out of Manchester as well. In addition to this, we have offices in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Berlin and Dusseldorf in Germany and Antwerp in Belgium. The company provides events with an online plug-and-play ticket shop for selling e- and mobile tickets from the event’s own website. The company is actively involved across music events, nightclubs, pop venues, festivals, fairs, sporting and other events. Ticketscript was runner-up in the 2008 Accenture Innovation Award and has been nominated for the Van Speijk Innovation Prize.
Managing Director: Ronni Didriksen rd@vip-booking.com General Manager: Peter Briggs pb@vip-booking.com Writer and editorial: Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com Writer: Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
VIP-News: In a world with a lot of competition in the ticketing market, why should a promoter choose your service instead of some of the other service providers?
For advertising enquiries pls. contact Peter Briggs pb@vip-booking.com or +44 870 755 0092
Frans Jonker: To receive our service, there is no cost to set up the ticketshop and no hidden costs at all. We also
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boast very low service fees. Our service includes mobile ticketing so all customers need to do is bring their phone to the event and not worry about any paper tickets. Through mobile ticke-ting we can collect data on ticket buyers for marketing purposes. Customers are able to set up their own online ticket shop. There are over 50 national and inter-national payment methods for transactions. We can also connect your ticket shop with social media networks to promote ticket sales. We provide free entrance solutions and an unmatched personal service for our clients. Payout is also extremely fast. Since its launch in 2006, more than 2000 event organizers across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and UK have utilized ticketscript’s free web application. VIP-News: Mobile ticketing, will that be the next big thing or what do you think?
Frans Jonker: Since our recent merge, our focus has turned to increasing the usage of mobile tickets across Europe and utilizing the mobile database for event promotion/customer contact to drive ticket sales. Ticketing is the ideal product for mobile phones, it is efficient and there is no need to see it, try it out or anything else before you buy! Not only that, we will be able to offer mobile marke-ting capabilities, the ability to buy tickets via mobile phones and provide mobile entrance Apps. We feel that over the next two years, mobile will be very important and big in the ticketing and event industry. VIP-News: What is your goal for the future, do you intend to expand to the rest of Europe or will you fo-cus on the countries you are now represented in? Frans Jonker: Having recently received significant investment, we will continue to grow in 2011 and by the end of 2011 will
Frans Jonker
have a presence in at least one more large European destination. Our goal is to remain one of the market leaders in Europe. We will be a pan-European company but our solution and service for each location will be tailor-made for that country.
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German Promoter Fights Fake Tickets Resellers Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
The upcoming three Take That shows in Germany in July 2011 have set new standards in many terms. Except for the Munich show all ticketing is handled exclusively by Smart Tickets and as such excludes not only the market leader CTS Eventim and its rival Ticketmaster.de from selling Take That tickets, apart from a small number of high price VIP-packages. MCT, the German promoter of the three shows in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich have undertaken a promising attempt to exclude secondary ticketing platforms. Smart Tickets provides a state of the art ticketing platform and MCT is using all possible features to make the ticketing for these concerts very different. All tickets will be sold personalized and ticket buyers need to produce ID-cards at the shows. Another remarkable move involves the business terms that accompany purchase of these tickets. Conditions for the resale of tickets are clearly defined and can only be done through a ticket exchange provided by Smart Tickets. Resale is made consumer friendly by restricting surcharges to a maximum of 15 percent of the original purchase price. But what has upset many promoters since resale platforms such as Ebay, Fansale.de, Seatwave and Viagogo entered the ticketing market has happened again. While all the afore mentioned business terms and
conditions that go with Take That-tickets are well displayed on the website of Smart Tickets and MCT, there are, as usual, lots of overpriced tickets on sale at the mentioned resale platforms. When asked about this Scumeck Sabottka, MD of MCT said: “MCT and our assigned law firm CMS Hasche Sigle will take action against every unauthorized vendor that is offering tickets.” To further confirm that Seatwave & Co aren’t eligible to sell Take That tickets, Sabottka said: “There are, apart from Tickets.de and München Ticket (Munich Ticket) no other authorised platforms.” In reference to the legal consequences arising from the unwanted resale of tickets, Sabottka said: “There are manifold legal options, which we prefer not to make public in detail.” One problem is communication 2.0. In the beginning when tickets went on sale for the tour, the German version of the search engine Google ranked the official website takethat.tickets.de in places five to seven in the top ten search results. Meanwhile this has changed and the official ticket sale website is in first place. But with Seatwave and Viagogo placing online advertisements at Google linked with the match words ‘take that’ & “tickets”, Goog-
le.de also benefits indirectly very well from the upcoming Take That tour. The search results for the tour are spiked with several advertisements of questionable ticket sellers that certainly can’t be considered as legal ticketing platforms at all. As regards the business terms of MCT and Smart Tickets for this tour, Google simply misdirects punters to non-eligible ticketing platforms for this tour. Adapting the search words ‘Take That’ & ‘tickets’ & ‘Düsseldorf’ bring up at least two referrals to press articles in the newspapers Rheinische Post and the tabloid paper Bild, warning about extortionate prices for Take Thattickets by not only the usual suspects. But this is only the case for search results for the show in Düsseldorf. Top ten search results by Google.de for shows in Hamburg and Munich do not display any articles warning about the strict business terms that are linked with these tickets. The main problem is that punters can’t see on the first view who legally sells these tickets. Besides this, normal concertgoers in general have no idea how secondary ticketing works and they are fooled by touts on many of these platforms. Having asked Sabottka about the communication strategy regarding the business terms he said: “Before the pre-ticket sale started a press release with information about ‘regulated pre ticket sale’ was send out. Additionally on our website mctagentur.com we display information about this too. Furthermore we are going to do interviews regarding this matter.” While Seatwave has a disclaimer on the web site informing that Take That tickets are only sold personalized, Viagogo only inform purchasers about this restriction after they have bought a Take That ticket. But that’s it. Both companies actually undertake no efforts to inform that they are actually not allowed to sell Take That-tickets. And of course, ticket prices are rising on these platforms. The most expensive ticket for a single ticket in the standing room in Hamburg is 550 Euro plus a serv-
Take That
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ice charge of 82.50 Euro for Viagogo plus postal service charges.
to be the very first promoter that is able to cut out ticket resellers.
However, the law firm that Sabottka have engaged is an international company that employ 600 lawyers and is specialized in antitrust and competition right. Bearing this in mind and considering the very strict terms and conditions that apply for Take That tickets in Germany, Sabottka seems
Unfortunately other promoters like Marek Lieberberg do not seem to back Sabottka’s efforts in doing something against secondary ticketing. In the trade paper Musikwoche Lieberberg said in a press conference regarding the upcoming Herbert Grönemeyer tour in Germany in 2011, “On the
Grönemeyer 2011 tour there are already tickets available for just only 36 Euro, this is very reasonable for a stadium concert compared to U2 or other international artists” Lieberberg furthermore says in Musikwoche that he does not work with these ticketing platforms. Whatever he means by that, the fact is that Viagogo and Seatwave are selling tickets for this tour as well.
A Viagogo View on Secondary Ticketing and the German Take That-Tour Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Peter Feldmeier is the national manager of Viagogo in Germany. He has had a career in economic science and of course was a banker for a short time before he started working for Viagogo. VIP-News: How would you describe the secondary ticketing market these days?
»Over the last four years, the secondary market has been widely embraced by major sporting, music and festival organisers« - Peter Feldmeier
Peter Feldmeier: Since Viagogo launched in 2006, the business has grown in multiples as opposed to percentages which is a testament to how much consumers value the safe and secure service viagogo offers in the secondary market. Over the last four years, the secondary market has been widely embraced by major sporting, music and festival organisers and this is evident from the partnerships Viagogo has formed. Viagogo holds partnerships with many of Germany’s leading sports, music and publishing properties, including FC Bayern Munich, Kaiserslautern and Bild and has partnered with artists such as Madonna on major European concert tours. By working with Viagogo, event organisers are able to manage how their tickets are
resold and protect fans from online fraud and ticket scams by offering a safe and secure place to buy and sell tickets. VIP-News: Has Viagogo experienced a change in terms of consumer behaviour recently? Feldmeier: Prior to Viagogo, there was little choice for consumers who wanted to purchase tickets to sold-out events. Many consumers met touts on street corners or dingy pubs with no idea if the ticket was ‘fake’ and/or how much to pay for the ticket. The service Viagogo offers has been widely accepted by consumers as they understand that they if they buy a ticket on Viagogo that they are guaranteed to get the ticket they paid for in time for the event. This level of service and security didn’t exist before and consumers have welcomed this change.
Viagogo’s own research confirms that the majority of consumers agree, that if they cannot use a ticket, they should have the right to recoup the cost of that ticket. Viagogo believes that T&Cs that prevent people from reselling their unwanted tickets are unfair on consumers. Consumers would not accept such restrictions on any other item, why should they accept such restrictions on tickets. VIP-News: Has Viagogo had to lay off any staff in the last couple of months? Feldmeier: As highlighted above, Viagogo has grown in multiples as opposed to percentages in the past four years and now operates local language websites in 26 countries and local offices in the UK, Germany, France and Holland. Viagogo is headquartered in London and employs over 100 people in the UK.
VIP-News: The German promoter for the upcoming Take That tour included in his business terms that the resale of tickets for these three concerts in Germany, other than at Tickets.de, is forbidden. Are you concerned that more tour & concert promoters might adopt such a sales policy? Feldmeier: Viagogo believes that once a person has purchased a ticket, it is their property and they should be allowed to sell it if they wish. In the same way that someone who has purchased a book or a car that they no longer need can resell it on, they should be able to resell a ticket. Peter Feldmeier - Viagogo
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Joybringer Concerts Celebrates 40 Years In Business Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
To survive in a business as volatile as the Live Music Business is something that not many people do but to survive for 40 years with the same company and with the same man at the helm is an achievement worthy of recognition. VIP-News asked Dragan Nikitovic, the man behind Joybringer Concerts, about his experiences along the road from 1970 – 2010. VIP-News: How did you come into the concert business and what was your first show? Dragan: I started promoting shows already when I was at school. We started Joybringer in 1970. Our first show was a concert with the German act Guru Guru on November 3, 1970 at the University in SAARBRÜCKEN / Germany. VIP-News: What have been the major changes in the business from the early days until today? Dragan: Due to the technical evolution and the development of communication tools the promotion of concerts has become much easier and more effective. Doing concerts in the Seventies used to be much more adventurous. We considered
promoting concerts as being fun rather than just being a business. VIP-News: Which concerts, artists or maybe stage riders have provided you with the most remarkable memories in your career? Dragan: We did a show with the Rolling Stones in the late eighties. In their stage rider they requested 40 phone lines on the site. We had to go all the way to the former Post Minister to fulfill this request, as everybody at the Deutsche Telekom just laughed about it and asked us, “do the Rolling Stones want to play a concert or do they just want to make phone calls”? VIP-News: Who are the artists you’ve enjoyed working with for many years? Dragan: BB King and Joe Cocker. After many concerts BB King gave us one of his guitars as present. The guitar is named Lucille and has been hanging in my office ever since. VIP-News: Joybringer runs offices in three markets. Please tell us about the differences between these markets.
Dragan
Dragan: In fact there aren’t that many differences between these markets as our offices are located close to each other. But since ten years back we have also been promoting shows in the East in countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and also in Albania, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia. VIP-News: Are there differences in terms of the audience’s demands and in particular also in terms of their behavior in these markets? Dragan: At the end of the nineties there was a strong demand only for classic rock acts in Eastern Europe, artists who had their biggest success in the seventies and eighties. But over the years this has changed and now the audience over there wants to see the same acts that are popular in Western Europe. VIP-News: As a local promoter you are mainly active in provincial regions. Is this an advantage business wise in these times and if so why? Dragan: No, I wouldn’t say so, it is almost the same as in more urban regions. VIP-News: What kind of productions do you like the most, small or big ones? Dragan: Small, because these kind of concerts are more intimate and personally I enjoy this. I feel like the music is near to the people...
Elton & Dragan
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VIP-News: Would you say that business has become more competitive over the years? Dragan: Yes. VIP-News: Joybringer is an independent company. What is your opinion of corporate concert companies? Dragan: We have to persist alongside those companies and nonetheless have to find interesting artists we are able to do business with. VIP-News: What are your personal recommendations to newcomers in the Live Music Industry? Dragan: The concert industry is now much more difficult than it was 40 years ago. Today there is a lot of competition and new players on the market have to bring loads of money with them in order to launch a new concert company successfully. Dragan with his wife and son
ILMC 23 to ‘Explore the Unknown’ Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
The 23rd edition of the International Live Music Conference will again take place at The Royal Garden Hotel, London, UK from 11th – 13th March 2011. As usual the ILMC which has seen attendance grow every year for last three editions, will continue its tradition of balancing the serious intent of the Conference Agenda with a tongue-in-cheek approach to the look and feel of the décor and dressing of the conference rooms and related events. Next year’s theme will centre on ‘Lost Worlds’. The following press release says it all really…. Legend tells of a lost world cut off from civilization by the towering cliff face of a forgotten plateau and the impenetrable jungle that surrounds it. Forever shrouded from curious eyes by a veil of mist, it is a land where for aeons time has stood still, where the once great edifices of long lost civilizations now lie in ruins and where savage prehistoric beasts still roam, feeding on each other for their sur-
vival. A mysterious place where fortunes are to be won and lives lost... In March 2011, the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) is launching its 23rd major expedition – a voyage of discovery to explore and chart this realm beyond the imagination. With 1000 of the most celebrated and intrepid adventurers on the planet expected to land at the adventures starting point in London we expect the journey to be a perilous undertaking.
ness since the dawn of time! For those of you who don’t know, The Arthurs are the awards for the international live music industry which started off as a bit of irreverent fun but recently have become highly sought after accolades.
With a year of doubt ahead of us the potential perils and pitfalls will be discussed across the reaches of the ILMC’s home the Royal Garden Hotel. With three days of panels, networking events and awards dinners the journey should be a memorable one. The “Lost Supper and Arthur Awards” will be at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knishtsbridge, London and promises to be the biggest celebration of the leaders in the international live music busiMartin Hopewell as Indiana Jones at ILMC 23
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Market Features ITALY: An Overview Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
Continuing our occasional series of spotlights on European Markets, we take a brief look at the state of the live business in Italy, with the help of Claudio Trotta of Barley Arts and Attilio Perissinotti of Virus Concerts. We also feature an article by guest writer, Christoph Storbeck of Striker Entertainment. A recent (Oct. 26), report produced by Milan-based university Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione (IULM) in association with collecting societies SIAE, SCF and publishers trade body FEM, estimated the total financial worth of the Italian music industry in 2009 at €3.7 billion ($5.1 billion) - a 9% decline on the previous year. According to the report the 2009 turnover on physical music sales retail of €375 million (518.2 million) indicated a drop of 25% from the previous year. On a more positive note IULM professor Luca Barbarito, who presented the report’s finding’s in Milan yesterday identified growth of 13% in the digital market with online sales generating €44 million ($60.8 million) in 2009. But, he noted that despite the growth in sales revenue, the market remained “a tenth the size of the British market and a fifth of the French and German markets.”
Politics, right or wrong certainly appear to figure prominently in music industry events in Italy; recently The European Commission investigated the spending of approximately 600,000 euros of European Union regional development funding on an Elton John concert held in Naples last year. The organisers of the Piedigrotta festival, of which the concert was part, claim it helped promote Naples, and brought in new custom for local businesses, but controversial right wing Euro MP Mario Borghezio from the north of the country, says the gig was a “shameful” misuse of EU funds. The money may have to be repaid.
The Professionals’ Point of View: Claudio Trotta of Barley Arts is one of Italy’s most established and well-known characters, having promoted some 5000 concerts in a thirty-year plus career. Italy was not seen as an organised or trustworthy market by US and UK agents when he started making offers for international acts. But starting off with mid-level acts he built up trust in both his Company and the territory, and soon progressed to presenting major artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Kiss, Elvis Costello and many others.
The Report produced overall figures for the live industry indicating an overall worth of €781 ($1.07 billion) in 2009, an increase of 3% on 2008. However Barbarito cited an increase in ticket prices as a key factor in the sector’s growth.
In November this year, Attilio Perissinotti of Virus Concerti was presented with the official Italian independent music prize PIMI 2010 at the 14th edition of the annual M.E.I (Independent Labels Meeting Festival). The Award recognises his work as an Agent, and a promoter, over the last twenty years. His roster includes Il Teatro Degli Orrori, Linea 77, T.A.R.M., Casino Royale, One Dimensional Man. In the mid 1990’s he started the Music in Village Festival and the Beach Bum Rock Festival. He promotes Italian and international artists such as Placebo, Simple Minds and Iggy & The Stooges. In 2007 he founded TIJ Events in London, to bring the best Italian musicians, such as Ligabue, Roberto Benigni, Franco Battiato, Giovanni Allevi, Beppe Grillo, Tiromancino, Negramaro, Vinicio Capossela to the city. VIP-News asked Claudio and Attilio to give us their views on business in Italy today and in the future: VIP-News: Currently the live industry is facing problems in certain sectors and particularly in certain territories. The US and some European territories are suffering due to the economic downturn. How do you see the overall state of the market in Italy at the moment?
»The Italian Music Market is suffering a public crisis due to a lack of investment by the Government, particularly in small capacity venues«
Commenting on the report Claudio Buja, MD of Italian publisher Universal Music Ricordi Publishing, noted that the French music industry, “…which has reported growth for the last four quarters, is clearly doing better. This is not because their industry is better than ours, but because their politicians actually help it. Politics in Italy is, across the spectrum, pure demagoguery.” He continued, “We need legislation that will help the music industry and we need responsible politicians who aren’t scared of the electorate.”
- Attilio
Claudio: Quite bad, most of the shows are not selling out and not even getting close and I believe the worst has still to come... Attilio: The Italian Music Market is suffering a public crisis due to a lack of investment by the Government, particularly in small capacity venues. Concerts with capacities of 4000 and more are doing pretty well. Attilio
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VIP-News: Are certain sectors doing particularly well, or particularly badly at the moment? It appears to me that Italy should be a good territory for Festivals, but apart from Arezzo Wave and some City events the Festival market seems to be, shall we say, inconsistent? What is your view? Attilio: Alternative music is doing well now, but has never been a good territory for festivals. There are a lot of new free events under 5000 capacity that are doing well but are really unlike events in the rest of Europe. It’s a problem of our culture, and I don’t think it’s only a matter of music culture! Claudio: Italy is NOT the country for festivals...people are too conservative and snobby, locations are not guaranteed for years as they should be to create a real following, not dependent only on headliners. On the top of this HEINEKEN JAMMIN FESTIVAL have illogically overpaid acts for the last 10 years, going nowhere, and using wrong sites, like the one in Venice recently. This all makes it impossible for real entrepreneurs to develop events based on reality and not on simply throwing money away...the only sectors still doing well are a few big Italian acts, a few new acts, outstanding rock superstars like Bruce Springsteen, AC/Dc, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden, and a few high class acts performing in high class venues both in and outdoors. VIP-News: How are major concerts doing is there a worry as elsewhere that there is a lack of headliners, or that the available headliners are trying to play the same cities too often? Claudio: Yes, it is getting worse with a lack of acts able to play arenas, stadium and open air sites and I guess this is an international issue and not only an Italian one Attilio: Major Concerts are going well, but yes, there is a lack of headliners or better new bands/artists that could be future headliners. VIP-News: How is the club and middlesized venue circuit doing? Do any of these venues receive subsidies or other support? Is sponsorship still readily available in Italy?
Claudio Trotta with Springsteen
Attilio: Club and mid-size venues are closing or book cover bands. It’s unlikely that anyone receives subsidies from the Government. Claudio: They are suffering, no support or subsidies, sponsors are only on big acts and they do not support new music and newcomers at all VIP-News: How is the market for local acts? Are there many Italian acts becoming ‘export-ready’? Claudio: Now the only new acts breaking are the ones from reality shows like X Factor, Amici and so on. Most of the time they do not have any skill or personality unfortunately and I personally hate these horrible TV shows and the way they treat music and musicians. Not really any new acts ready to be exported, we still have only a few acts with international appeal, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazotti, Paolo Conte, Zucchero and that’s it...
as a key factor in the sector’s growth. Do you agree with this and do you feel that the live market is actually growing? How is your own business at the moment? Have you had to adapt the way you do things recently or is business much the same? Attilio: The Market is not growing , the ticket price yes! My own business has increased by 45% in 2010 because all of our artists toured across Italy, three of them with great new albums. Claudio: It is not so easy to change the way you work as a booking agent but we are developing some projects with sponsors, as well as expanding beyond Italy setting up offices in major European capital cities. Claudio: Yes it grows only because of the crazy ticket prices we all charge. My business is stable but all is so very very difficult and the costs are too high to make real money and to think happily about the future.
Attilio: At the moment there are some new acts that could be ‘exportable artists, that don’t sing in Italian or produce a specific ‘melodic’ sound. Acts such as Crookers, Bloody Beatroots, ZU, Aucan, Motel Connection, Heike Has The Giggles are surely the new generation of music that is ready, and European Promoters are becoming aware of it.
VIP-News: How do you see the future?
VIP-News: A recent IULM report (see intro) said that although the overall music market had declined, Italy’s live music industry was worth €781 ($1.07 billion) in 2009, an increase of 3% with respect to 2008. The report cited an increase in ticket prices
For several years now, I have been touring and running around international fairs and events; either for my own artists and business, or representing the international affairs of AudioCoop, MMF Italy, or of course being hired as a booker or tour
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Attilio: Hard for new acts and promoters will not be so big. Claudio: Tough, tough and tough!
Christoph Storbeck Striker Entertainment:
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manager. Exchanging opinions about Italian music and culture with people from all around the world has been inspiring and has raised one question in particular: What is needed to generate hope in the midst of a cultural and economic crisis, not just specific to the music industry?
important festival in Italy, with exclusive acts and international first class booking, which generated a huge turnover in that little northern Italian region. To deny the licenses and to finally expel the festival the organizers were accused of promoting drug abuse.
Politics and music
Cultural distinctions
Italy is generally threatened by bureaucratic and political problems. Public funding is an obscure experience. The FUS, the public funding for performing arts and music, has been widely discussed by politicians. It has been increased, decreased and might be totally cut. Right now almost half of it supports Opera, and less than 14% goes to all other kinds of music. In Italy a public funding of popular music through the FUS will probably remain at best science fiction, or even more remote regarding the tendency towards constant cuts.
Besides the cultural and geographical differences between north and south, there’s another problem that comes to light when promoting acts abroad. The music management educational programs have only been introduced within the past few years, so there’s still a lack of professionalism in the industry. Also the artists, and not only the Italians, have to decide: Stay in the box or get out of it.
A dubious driver of the current Italian Live business are the free public funded shows staged in squares, streets, town parties and at religious events. Here the artists perform as a grand finale and are mostly pretty overpaid. This business often suffers from favouritism and supports only the commissioners, which include political and other organizations. There is no official export bureau. Past initiatives between the trade associations have come to a bad end. Any public funding through other entities like the chamber of commerce, the Ministry for Youth, appears erratic – so it’s best not to count on it. Artistic and business criteria are often secondary and success is often related to how good the political connections are. As in some other European countries, a huge drift to right wing, ultra conservative and sometimes just profit-oriented power politics have been affecting Italy for quite some time now. This obviously hinders concerts, Milan for example, has an almost ridiculous dB limit of 78 (!). A recent fatal example is the migration of Rototom Sunsplash from Osoppo to Benicassim in Spain: After 16 years, Europe’s biggest reggae festival was kicked out of the country. Rototom had been the most
For international export, the language barrier is still a problem. Especially in the contemporary rock/indie scene, English is a must. Artists that are accepted both in Italy and in English speaking countries are rare. To succeed, the only card they can play is to be seen as cool and exotic. For a long time the Italian market has been self-sufficient. Realizing that markets other than Italy are necessary partners and that the rules are not made in Italy must be a shock. Here is another: To play a role in the 21st century, the Italian music market has to change. If it does not, sooner or later the international business, and potential audiences, will move on and it will be a matter of “next please”.
Excellent! However there are many good things about Italy, everybody loves Italy! Bill Emmott former director of the English journal The Economist obviously does so and makes some supportive suggestions on Italy’s development in his new book ‘Forza, Italia’. According to him, Italians need to gain a positive ‘can-do’ attitude. It is not surprising that at a music conference organised by AudioCoop/MEI at Sangiorgi in north-Italian Como the consensus was pretty much the same. The Italians excel in producing romantic love songs delivered by outstandingly
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gifted voices. Some songs appear to be squeeze thousands of years of melodramatic history into three-and-a-half minutes. Eros, Gianna, Laura, Tiziano… like it or not: it is undeniably well produced and succeeds in international markets.
Bloody Beetroots
There are a lot of Italian acts that definitely could make it internationally. Some have done well so far: The Crookers and the Bloody Beetroots are definitely poster boys of a let us call it ‘Italo-Dance’ revival. Reggae-Star Alborosie attracts huge attention in the reggae community worldwide. Lacuna Coil has always had a huge fanbase abroad. For international success it seems important to have some particular international link like heritage, residence or management. Funnily enough most of these international careers do not automatically include national success within Italy. Yet there is hope. Today the number of international careers starting from an Italian career increases. You might know the excellent Jovanotti, Vinicio Capossela and Carmen Consoli who frequently perform in the US and have gained some serious media coverage (NY times, NPR). For all three the same NY PR and marketing-company MG Limited does a great job. Also ‘Very Italian’ Roy Paci, Bandabardò and Modena City Ramblers tour pretty successfully abroad, as do Italo-Alternative #1 Afterhours sometimes. Lately, Italo-stadium-softrocker Vasco Rossi filled out the Tempeldrome in Berlin and Italian ‘Bruce Springsteen Ligabue has his eye on foreign countries as well. Vasco‘UK’-shirts are sold at the Italian megastores and the news speak about the “conquering of foreign lands”. This sounds very promising but let us take a look behind the scenes: Thanks to discount airlines fans can follow their idols all over Europe.
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It is quite common for crowds of Italian fans to jump on a plane for the chance to meet face to face with their Italian superstar in a small club in London, Paris or Berlin. The recruitment of the strong Italian ex-pat communities plays an important role, too. True or false - it is the news of ‘Italy touring the world’ that encourages Italian musicians and that can generate a ‘real’ international audience in the end. Thanks to the increasing interest, International promoter TIJ Events very successfully promotes Italian artists around Europe. Italo-music promo event Hitweek looks into the States (LA and NY, for 2010 in the two weeks before CMJ) and features big names, supported by FIMI (major record company association), trade commissions and government as well. The problem for the artist is how to make up in a short time for what has not been treated properly in the past. So thumbs up to those, who have the courage to set up international careers from the beginning: Ghost Records who have great returns; Calibro 35 who have just been merged into RED with Bruce Willis and Mojomatics who must be exhausted after touring the globe.
Second Grace
insights on that in all-italian onlinemag www.rockit.it) Definitely a place to be is the Sicilian Ypsigrock festival which is set up in the medieval castle of Sicily’s most avantguard town Castelbuono. The festival surprises with a selective indie/electro/ rock-line up and has built a fine reputation over the last years. Those of you who already have been touring in Italy will confirm: For the major part it’s good fun, nice clubs, great food and cool people. And these days you get paid as well, even if you’re almost unknown!
How to become rich and wealthy
Highlights in Italy
For sure Italian artists can refer inherited assets such as their understanding of melody and vocal traditions, which are to their comparative advantage, and to my mind, something to be proud of. Do Italians write the better songs? Not necessarily, but including the Italian heart and soul in a business-plan seems a good idea to me.
Let get to heart of the aspiring Italian music business where the Indie-Label La Tempesta provides excellent taste and spirit. Having a strong focus on Italian language, La Tempesta has been signing many of the most popular Italian speaking Indie/Rock music. Their portfolio might turnout as the jackpot. (More
It is necessary to open up and understand where the actual status quo in the international network: Being ‘Famous in Italy’ doesn’t really matter right now. Considering foreign culture and habits in everyday business is what I am trying to do in my small, grass roots business with Second Grace, Waines and others. Installing a solid ground in the home country through a change of politics and offering good international education to professionals could definitely improve the situation, particularly for working abroad. Anyway, if I had already found the passepar-tout-solution I would probably be rich and wealthy, instead of muddling through all the time, but I believe myself, and Italy, to be on the right track.
Calibro 35
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Business News Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Music In Shares – the Annual Round Up Live Nation – Looking Forward to 2011 One year ago the share price of Live Nation was $8.0. Until April 26 the share price only went up, even reaching the level of $16.70 before melting down on August 16 to $8.17. But since then the share price was on the rise again and recovered up to $11.50. Live Nation still is alive, but a bit less kicking as the company has had to dismiss staff. In the Netherlands the subsidiary Mojo Concerts laid off 11 of the 90 staff. The attempt by Live Nation to set up an office in Germany failed. However, in a research report by Goldman Sachs from the beginning of December the share price recommendation for the next 6 months was $12.50. In reference to Live Nation and the concert market in general the analysts came to some interesting conclusions. One is: “Further
constraining demand, we believe that the North American concert industry is losing the young concert-goer. Roughly 2/3rds of the acts that made up the top 50 tours in 2009 were over the age of 45.” In addition to this the analysts prdict, “After an expected doubledigit attendance decline for the industry in North America in 2010, we do expect attendance to grow modestly in 2011, especially as U2, Prince, Lady Gaga and Kenny Chesney return to the road.”
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CTS Eventim – Moving Up As usual, the share price of the German market leader is on its way up. One year ago at 33.10 Euro, the share is now at 45.50 Euro. After maintaining its price level until end of February, the share maintained from March onwards to mid July when it dropped down to 34.40 Euro until August. But since then it has climbed more than 11 Euro. The financial market seems to be impressed by latest business reports and forgets that CTS Eventim once intended to become a global ticketing concern due to its deal with Live Nation. Now the company is focusing on expansion in Europe only, but nevertheless is able therewith to compensate income expectations linked with that deal.
DEAG – The December Increase It took the DEAG share until the middle of August to raise the price level. In 2009 on December 15 the share was just hitting the two Euro border at 2.01. On May 24 it even went down to 1.6 Euro, but on November 30 the share climbed up to 2.74 Euro before it went down until November 15 to 2.47 Euro. Basically the share prices of these three companies are better than one year ago. While the market in the US appears to be experiencing more difficult times than in Europe, it is the case that market over here is also shifting. Lower sales of high price shows and in general less stadium and arena shows have an impact on the big ones of this industry. So far it is too early to do an outlook for 2011 but it seems to be like 2010. The announcements for very big shows in the top segment of this business are not in sight yet except for a very few such as Take That. However, the progress of these companies in the last two years is already a good sign because it is not so long ago that the world economy was considered crushed.
artist avails ›› Alannah Myles - Acoustic/Unplugged Tour Territory: Europe Period: 1/3/2011 - 30/4/2011 Agency: ARM Entertainment Phone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: ds@armentertainment.com Homepage: www.alannahmyles.com Sass Jordan Territory: Period: Agency: Agent: Phone: E-mail: Homepage:
Europe February / March Paperclip Agency Hilde Spille +31 24 323 9322 hilde@paperclip-agency.com www.paperclip-agency.com
Admiral T Territory: Period: Agency: Agent: Phone: E-mail: Homepage:
Worldwide 2011 CARAMBA Spectacles Clotaire +33 1 4218 1718 caramba@clotaire.fr www.caramba.fr
LA Guns (feat. Phil Lewis & Steve Riley) Territory: Europe Period: 1/9/2011 - 30/11/2011 Agency: ARM Entertainment Agent: Dana Strutz Phone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: ds@armentertainment.com Homepage: www.armentertainment.com Ledfoot Territory: Period: Agency: Agent: E-mail: Homepage:
Europe March - August Vox Artist Eivind Brydoy eivind@voxartist.no www.ledfoot.no
Martha Reeves and The Vendellas Territory: Europe Period: 15/02/2011 - 30/03/2011 Agency: Sport Star Management ApS Agent: Carsten Hilding Larsen Phone: +45 4071 7722 E-mail: chl@sportstarmanagement.dk Homepage: www.sportstarmanagement.dk
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Monthly featured Artist ››
NEIL BROPHY BAND Origin: England Style: Folk Roots Rock / Celtic Tour period: Summer 2011 Territory: Scandinavia / UK / Benelux / Germany
EIL BROPHY BAND (based in Copenhagen) would like to play at your festival in 2011. NEIL BROPHY BAND are currently recording new tracks for next years CD RAG & BONE. Some of these tracks are taken from the solo album ROOTS BOOTS & BARS. Earlier on this year The Record Collector 7” EP Red Vinyl Single was released on Record Collector 7. on international Record Store Day. This label will also be releasing all of Neil’s back catologue on CD and MP3. NEIL BROPHY BAND 2011 Songsmiths, Crowdsmiths, Folksmiths & Rocksmiths are what make this band boil. Both Brian Armstrong & Martin Dale are tradesmen of live performance coming from a rich woolly background of folk / rock and backed by the driving rythms of the native New Zealander Sharne Nathan. The band always deliver an energetic upbeat
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performance with their anthemic choruses and catchy melodies fronted by Neil Brophy and his charmful approach to personally delivering his songs to the audience. THE RECORD COLLECTOR 7” EP was released on International Record Store Day in april and received some great reviews and national airplay in Denmark & the UK where it was played on BBC 2’s Glory Days program hosted by record producer Pete Waterman. “Another gem from one of the unsung heroes of English songwriting. Essential listening for everyone who enjoys proper music.” - GRAHAM JONES author of Last Shop Standing (Whatever Happened to Record Shops?) One to watch, On this 4-track EP. Brophy’s Billy Bragg-like social commentary covers collecting records, football and life in general, Paul Rigby’s Most Wanted. - THE RECORD COLLECTOR
Brophy Bookings Neil Brophy info@brophybookings.com +45 2023 7149
Festival Reviews Oysterbands Big Session Festival: Following Curtis is Denmark based Neil Brophy. Neil is a man with a unique voice, versed in the traditions of English folk and Dylan-esque protest. His songs talk of a land where the Devil can be found in a whisky jar and brave honest local lads defend their jobs and homes against wicked Iron Masters. Its great stuff, entirely predictable, and all the better for it. www.virtualfetsival.com Levellers Beautiful Days Festival: Neil is known for his English/Celtic acoustic folk anthems, catchy, lively charming songs that have been going down a storm across Europes festivals. His charismatic stage presence oozes warmth, the songs push out the melody and the choruses are irrepressible. Flitting across the musical mores, a little folk here, a little rock there a lot of fun everywhere, he is a real crowd pleaser. Middlewich Festival So, Neil Brophy, not only one of the nice guys in the business but a competent performer who’s songs paint pictures. He’s your real contemporary folkie not out of place on folk club or main stage and he has been around a bit, seen a bit of life and sings about it because it means something to him, a genuine professional. He opened up for Nick Harper at Middlewich this year and audience wanted more. Main stage for Neil next year without a doubt. .........Liz Rosenfield Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival Event Organiser
Niel Brophy Band
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Member presentation ›› In In this this section section we we offer offer members members of of VIP-Booking.com VIP-Booking.com some some space space to to present present their their company company to to VIP-News VIP-News readers. readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at pb@vip-booking.com If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at pb@vip-booking.com
Christopher Entertainment Christopher Entertainment is a Danish owned management, promotor and booking agency, established in 1986. Christopher Entertainment has over the years presented some of the world’s finest artists such as: Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Santana, Boyzone, The Corrs etc. As a booking agency Christopher Entertainment has delivered artists to major festivals such as: The Roskilde Festival, The Midtfyns Festival, The Langeland Festival, The Skanderborg Festival, The Jelling Musicfestival etc. Christopher Entertainment is management for mostly Danish
artists: Stig Rossen, Gudrun, Jacob Andersen etc and we represent Andrew Strong and Barrage in Scandinavia. For more info please see www.christopher.dk
About Our Company VIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and largest database for the European Live Entertainment Industry www.vip-booking.com developed as a tool for industry professionals. Since it’s launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered our subscribers the very best in database services and now boast subscribers in over 30 countries.
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