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VIP- News premium ›› Vol. 137 ›› JUNE 2011
McGowan’s Musings: So there I was, crossing a wide and fast flowing river on bridge that looked perfectly solid from the river bank but began to sway from side to side in a strangely disturbing fashion when supporting the weight of a man in full Scottish highland dress playing the bagpipes and being followed by a trail of music industry folk looking forward to the first drink of the evening. I was however temporarily distracted from concerns about the stability of the bridge by the sight of the man up to his chest in the centre of this rushing river unconcernedly wielding a very substantial fishing rod and also wearing a highland ‘bunnet’ while he attempted to catch fish on their way to the one and only Loch Ness. Scottish seagulls were of course hanging around looking for a chance to steal anything he caught! No, I wasn’t dreaming or under the influence, I was of course in Inverness at this year’s edition of Go North, a fine event!(See report in this issue) The Festival season has kicked off with the weather again playing its leading part; in the UK the Isle of Wight Festival had a sunny Saturday but suffered from heavy rain and low temperatures on the Sunday, but by all reports high spirits prevailed, with the reformed Pulp scoring a big hit. At the other end of the meteorological scale across the Atlantic at the Bonnaroo
Allan McGowan
Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, temperatures stayed in the 90s (F), 30s (C) for almost the whole four days of the event, with reports of about 1,500 of the 80,000 attendees being treated for heat-related illnesses. Two deaths were reported, whether or not these were as a result of the heat was still to be confirmed. Lets hope the rest of the season wherever festivals takes place, stays free of such unfortunate casualties, and that the weather gods are kind. In other festival news the irrepressible Vince Power, the man who set up the Mean Fiddler in the 1980s, is going public with his festival interests; Benicassim in Spain, the Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent and the first Feis Festival in London, (I’m off to see Bob Dylan there tonight - as I write)
collectively known, strangely enough, as Music Festivals. Encouraged by a Hop Farm sell-out with Prince, extending this year’s edition in July by a day, Power has filed the application for Music Festival’s admission to Aim, the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies, which will raise £6.5m. (See Business News in this issue) Although there are some worries being expressed about the fortunes of many of this season’s events with Reading tickets selling for less than face value on the secondary market and audiences being spread thin by a combination of a lack on new acts on the bills and increased competition (there were 715 events last year in the UK alone) other festivals and businesses have already been marked for Power’s expansion – watch this space! Talking about making money from music - there was a time when lots of people did you know! – I see that Forbes, the US magazine that concerns itself with the fortunes (literally) of the rich and famous has produced a new list of the highest earners in the music business (we’ve included the list just in case you’re interested or might be thinking of calling on someone to borrow a few dollars, pounds or Euros!). The first thing that is obvious is that, even though there have been drop offs in concert ticket
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buying, these days the best way to make big bucks in the music business is touring. The lists of the top earners are very similar to the lists of top grossing tours - U2, Bon Jovi, Lady Gaga and Michael Bublé are all in the top five. How accurate these figures are is of course in question, but according to Forbes, they represent pre-tax income earned from May 2010 to May 2011, before subtracting agent and manager fees (they’d be interesting to see!). As well as compiling data from Pollstar, RIAA and others, apparently lawyers, managers, concert promoters, agents and, in some cases, the musicians themselves were interviewed – so the figures must be completely accurate – right?! 68 year old Granddad Paul McCartney’s in there, but so is that young whippersnapper Justin Bieber – what do you do with those millions when you’re 17? The Americans are as usual ahead of the game with 17 of them in the list - although hang on, one might be Canadian… Well, I’d better bring this to a close and let you all get on with making your millions – but only after you’ve read this issue of The News! We won’t be here next month, but we’ll be back in August, so seriously I wish you all sunshine and success in the next few weeks!
Forbes list of the world’s 25 highestpaid musicians
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1. U2 2. Bon Jovi 3. Elton John $100 million 4. Lady Gaga $90 million 5. Michael Buble ($70 million) 6. Paul McCartney ($67 million) 7. Black Eyed Peas ($61 million) 8. Eagles ($60 million) 9. Justin Bieber ($53 million) 10. Dave Matthews Band ($51 million) 11. Toby Keith ($50 million) 12. Usher ($46 million) 13. Taylor Swift $45 million) 14. Katy Perry ($44 million) 15. Brad Paisley ($40 million) 16. Tom Petty & the Heartbreaks ($38 million) 17. Jay-Z ($38 million) 18. AC/DC ($35 million) 18. Sean “Diddy” Combs ($35 million) 18. Beyonce ($35 million) 18. Tim McGraw ($35 million) 18. Muse ($35 million) 23. Rascal Flatts ($34 million) 24. Kenny Chesney ($30 million) 25. Rihanna ($29 million)
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Trade Event Roundup Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
Just as the Summer Festival season is upon us we find ourselves being regularly reminded that the round of Conference and showcase events continues. We report on VIP’s visit to last week’s (June 9/10) Scottish event GoNorth, and follow up with news on the events planned for September and October in Germany, France and Finland:
Go North 2011 goNORTH 2011was launched in 2001 to provide a platform for artists from the north of Scotland to showcase for music industry and media representatives on their own patch. Originally hosted in several venues on Aberdeen’s Belmont Street, the event briefly relocated to Dundee, before settling in Scotland’s most northerly city, Inverness. The event has since widened its remit becoming a Creative Industries Festivals, covering Screen and Broadcast to Designer Fashion and Publishing. goNorth delivers a programme of panels, workshops, film screenings, training opportunities, Q&A sessions, camera equipment and special effects showcases and live music showcases featuring over 50 bands in 9 city venues. Alongside the Scottish acts this year’s programme also presented artists from England, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Latvia and Australia. A change this year, after five successful years of programming a goNorth stage at the RockNess Festival, is a return to the event’s roots by supporting emerging talent at five independent festivals in Scotland: Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, The Wickerman Festival, Loopallu, Summer In The City 2011 and Wizard Festival.
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All acts selected to showcase at goNORTH 2011 had the opportunity to showcase at one or more of these independent festivals featured on the goNORTH Festival tour. The panels, some of which were organised and chaired by Olaf Furniss of Edinburgh’s Born To Be Wide, featured a high level of panellists and chairmen – including a session on Modern Management chaired by yours truly. I was impressed, as I have been at Scottish events in the past by the enthusiastic attendance and involvement of delegates - people seem more prepared to gather information and to ask questions than at some other events. Although I thought I was reasonably aware, I learnt a lot more about the workings of Public Performance Ltd – PPL for instance, and I recommend artists and managers to find out more as you may well have money waiting for you! Keynote interviews with Feargal Sharkey of UK Music (who did for a change get to talk about his Undertones days as well as his present position as head of UK Music!) and Alex Knight, founder of Brighton based Fat Cat Records were also well attended and enthusiastically received. VIP-News asked organiser Shaun Arnold what he thought about this year’s edition.
Panel at goNorth
Our tenth anniversary last year was particularly strong, but I am delighted to say that goNORTH 2011 proved our most successful event to date. This year’s programme was the most ambitious we have delivered and boasted more cross creative industry activity than ever before. Furthermore, from the data we have managed to reconcile thus far, we are thrilled to confirm that attendance figures for our seminar schedule were also up on last year’s impressive turnout. The volume of submissions we received for our 2011 campaign was up by forty percent on 2010, and we feel it was perhaps our strongest live showcase schedule to date, again generating a huge buzz around the city and a fantastic public response. Having introduced the goNORTH Festival Tour for 2011, we are also placed in a fantastic position to offer all the artists selected to showcase some great opportunities throughout the season. VIP-News also asked three of the delegate/ speakers for their opinions: Sat Bisla - President/Founder A&R Worldwide & MUSEXPO. Go North 2011 showcases the rich musical heritage of Scotland, the UK and the world. This year’s event delivered a smorgasbord of captivating sounds and very talented acts. The caliber of artistry at this year’s event reinforced Go North’s place as one of the UK’s premier new talent launching pads. Congratulations to Shaun Arnold
Shaun Arnold organiser goNorth
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and his team for delivering a stellar event! I look forward to Go North 2012.
»This year’s programme was the most ambitious we have delivered and boasted more cross creative industry activity than ever before« - Shaun Arnold
Julia Jones – Music Hub - UK My inaugural visit to Go North proved to be one of the most valuable networking events I have attended this year. The standard of guest speakers and performers was exceptional and it gave me the opportunity to catch up with business associates from around the world. I will certainly be returning next year. Adam Lewis – Planetary Group - US I thought that this years Go North Event was really strong. The panels were streamlined into one big panel at a time – so made for good attendance. The bands that I saw were strong, with the highlight being Scotland’s Kid Canaveral’s packed show at The Flames. Also Modi from Norway really impressed with his quirky pop. This is my third year at the event and I wouldn’t miss it. Small. Good music. Good people that you are actually able to network with. I felt that this year’s version was the best yet.
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Popkomm Berlin, Tempelhof 7-9 September: Paul Cheetham is in charge of the showcases and the live element of Popkomm – he brings VIP-News up to date on this year’s plans: The key to Popkomm showcases this year is for us to get right into the roots of making opportunities happen for artists. We want results for them. We want to see them get the deals they are looking for and we want to see them become the buzz bands of the following 12 months. We will present acts that we know are worthy of the attention of decision-makers from the music business and place them in fully-equipped, small venues at Tempelhof during each afternoon of Popkomm. Our main role will be to spend the weeks leading up to Popkomm promoting each artist to delegates and people in the music business in a way that could be described as “match-making”. We
experimented with this concept last year and had good success so we will build on this as a unique aspect of what Popkomm can deliver. We will continue to have shows and events in the evenings but these will be absorbed entirely into Berlin Music Week and promoted to the public mainly through that channel. Berlin Festival continues to be part of Berlin Music Week and we will carry on our relationship with the sister event by presenting a handful of Popkomm acts on the festival line-up. In addition to the Popkomm showcases taking place at the same time as the networking and meeting events at Tempelhof, we have organised a “live music business” conference on the last day of Popkomm/ first day of Berlin Festival which includes a set of panels to discuss aspects of the live segment of the industry. The full line-up is to be announced shortly, but we have confirmed Melvin Benn of Festival Republic as our keynote guest for that day. Melvin
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Paul Cheetham
is a man I find fascinating and incredibly engaging so we are delighted to have him as our guest. More info will be found at: www.popkommlive2011.com
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Reeperbahn Campus Hamburg - 22 to 24 September: Following the cancellation of the music industry event Popkomm in 2009 the overall situation for German music conferences changed somewhat. In Cologne c/o pop filled the gap left by Popkomm’s move to Berlin in 2004. The annual alternative music convention Pop Up in Leipzig had unfortunately to cancel its 10th edition its exhibition this year. The hottest newcomer in this area is the Reeperbahn Campus, added as the B2B contribution towards the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, and located in the famous red light district. Since the debut of the Reeperbahn Campus in 2009, the industry event has in particular addressed the live music business and music publishers.
now seems to be biggest market in Europe might give even more tailwind. VIP-News: What about German visitors, who are they and from which part of the music industry do they come from? Schwarte: We are cooperating closely with some of the most important organizations of the music industry in Germany, e.g. the Association of German Promoters (bdv) and the Association of German Publishers (DMV). So besides lots of label people, managers and agents these fields will be well represented. VIP-News: Who else makes up the partner network of Reeperbahn Campus? Schwarte: There are dozens of partners who take the opportunity to be part of the Reeperbahn Campus and to present themselves to the rest of the music and live biz industry or just to meet internally. There are international organizations like IMMF, Yourope or Network Europe who are having meetings at Reeperbahn and several Music Export Offices will attend and present showcases. Other partners like SXSW or the European Broadcast Union will have receptions within the scope of the Reeperbahn Campus. VIP-News: Who are the main target groups for Reeperbahn Campus?
Detlef Schwarte
VIP-News spoke with Detlef Schwarte, head of the Reeperbahn Campus about this year’s settings and the environment of this convention.
»We are expecting more than 1500, about one third being international guests from more than 20 nations« - Detlef Schwarte
VIP-News: Germany now ranks as the third biggest music market for recorded music in the world. Does this fact have any impact on Reeperbahn Campus, do you expect more international visitors?
Schwarte: Delegates are mainly from the music and live entertainment industry and media. We are expecting more than 1500, about one third being international guests from more than 20 nations.
Detlef Schwarte: Yes, we are expecting more international guests, but this is primarily due to the growing importance of the Reeperbahn Festival as a spring board for new international acts and as platform for industry people to meet and network. However the consideration that Germany
VIP-News: Can you already tell us what are this year’s main conference issues for Reeperbahn Campus? Schwarte: As in the previous years we will again try to cover the most important and immediate topics that are currently
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Reeperbahn Campus
moving the music and live entertainment industry and not to lose ourselves in too much general talking. So we will have discussions about trends at Festivals and Ticketing, Keynotes and presentations about how to monetize music in the future and - as a national focus - we will review how politics might support Pop in Germany. And as in the last years a highlight will definitely be Ray’s Reeperbahn Revue - three shows nonpareil in Europe. VIP-News: Reeperbahn Campus is linked with the Reeperbahn Festival. How does that work and what should we know about the Reeperbahn Festival? Schwarte: The Reeperbahn Festival consists of three elements: Music, Campus and Arts. Concerning music you should know that it is the biggest Club Festival in Germany with about 180 international acts playing in 25 indoor venues. For many acts the Festival served and serves as gateway to the German market. The Campus we’ve discussed, and the Arts program involves Europe’s biggest rock poster convention, several exhibitions and guided tours. All that happens in St. Pauli, the harbour district of Hamburg. Everything is within walking distance. So forget shuttle buses or taxis. www.reeperbahncampus.com
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MaMA Event Pigalle-Montmartre Paris 21 & 22 October: This will be the third MaMa Event, the second in Paris. MaMA was instigated in response to the fact that although France is the fifth largest market in the world and the third in Europe behind Britain and Germany, there was no cross-sector platform in France that combined networking and showcases, such as The Great Escape - UK, Eurosonic - NL, Reeperbahn – DE, SXSW – USA, Canadian Music Week etc. So, the MaMA music and convention festival for the international music industry offers a gateway to the French music market. The Program features: live, acoustic gigs, international meetings, conferences, workshops, talks, speed-meetings, networking lunches and drinks in the red-light district (seems to be a bit of a theme this – what with Reeperbahn being in a similar environment! – Ed.) of Pigalle & Montmartre.. The first themes of MaMA 2011 have just been announced and will address: Live 2025: The future of Live Music: Does Music still have Value?: The Relationship between Politics and Music. First artists and announced are: Caravan Palace, The Bewitched Hands, Monogrenade (CA) and Rodeo Massacre (SE-UK-FR). More than 500 applications have been received for this second Paris edition and
Elysée Montmartre Mama Event
submissions are now closed, although there is apparently one more chance to be part of the 2011’s line up to be announced in the next newsletter on-line at: www.mama-event.com
to make sure that both are well attended I’m sure!
Music & Media Tampere, Finland 20-23 October:
MaMA 2011 launched on June 20th; delegate passes are now on sale. c/o Pop and MaMA are partners for the 2011 edition, so if you are reading this in Cologne from 22.-25.June MaMA will be happy to meet you there. There are now, you may have noticed, a plethora of these events, and the chances of them coinciding increase every year – you may also have noticed that MaMA and Music and Media take place at the same time – a dilemma for some I am sure, but they are both extremely worthwhile events and there are enough of us
As announced in our last issue Music & Media Finland has confirmed an interview with legendary concert promoter and producer Harvey Goldsmith as its first speaker and a Celebrity Guest of Honour for this year’s 22nd edition of the event. The event has now added Martin Mills, Chairman of The Beggars Group and champion of the independent record company sector, to the Programme. Martin Mills has worked with numerous world class artists including Radiohead, The White Stripes, Pixies, Interpol, Cat Power, Basement Jaxx, The Prodigy, Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio and Adele. He was instrumental in setting up the Independent Music Companies Association IMPALA in 2000, and more recently the Worldwide Independent Network WIN. Among many of his industry activities, Mills has been the Vice Chairman of AIM and Chairman of IMPALA as well as a board member of WIN and A2IM in the USA, while also participating in the British government’s Music Industry Forum. The Music & Media Finland conference will be accompanied by the Lost in Music Festival presenting 100 Finnish and international acts during the three conference days. Registration is open at: www.musiikkimedia.fi
Harvey Goldsmith Keynote Speaker at Music & Media
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Italia Wave Love Festival 2011 Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
The Italia Wave Love Festival will celebrate its 25th birthday under the sun of Puglia, Italy from 14th to 17th July in the elegant town of Lecce for the first time. The Festival is organized by the Arezzo Wave Italia Foundation powered by the Puglia Regional Authority, Provincial Authority of Lecce, the Municipality of Lecce, the Chamber of Commerce of Lecce and the Local Tourism Board, within the frame work of Puglia Sounds, the program of the Puglia Region for the development of the regional music system. The four day event will include concerts, exhibitions, movies, comics, installations and workshops in one of the most beautiful regions of Italy – Salento. Bands will play from 10 a.m. till night and the festival will include exclusive performances in Italy by Paolo Nutini and Kaiser Chiefs; plus an unseen concert by Giovanni Lindo Ferretti at dawn, and the first performances in Italy by the Moroccan Oudaden and Emel Mathlouthi, a Tunisian singer; The Serge Gainsburg Experience from France and the Vivendo do Ócio from Brazil. The Main Stage is situated inside the “Via del Mare” football Stadium will also present Lou Reed & band with the new ‘Sweet Tooth’ show, Jimmy Cliff, the Joy Formi-
dable from England, (selected through the ETEP (European Talent Exchange Program)) and the Verdena, Bud Spencer Blues Explosion, Sud Sound System, Zina from Italy and all the artists who will perform on Sunday July 17th for the closing evening of the festival : Daniele Silvestri, Mau Mau, Modena City Ramblers, Cristina Donà, the naked music by Petra Magoni & Ferruccio Spinetti, Fausto Mesolella, Marta sui Tubi and Paolo Benvegnù. Tickets for the Main stage are among the cheapest in Europe : on Thursday 14th July the ticket is 15 euro, on Friday 15th July 23 euro, on Saturday 16th July 25 euro. Sunday 17th July, the Italian day celebrating the birthday of the festival, is free thanks to Puglia Sounds that will give away 20 thousand free tickets. Instructions on how to get these will be available on the Italia Wave Love Festival web site.
Lou Reed headline Italia Wave Love
work of Italia Wave, at the Lido York, on the beach. From 5 till 7 p.m. the audience of the festival can take part in meetings, interviews and readings, including the celebration of the well-known comics protagonist Dylan Dog.
Other highlights will feature DJ’s at Elettrowave 2011, and at Ostello del Sole area situated in San Cataldo di Lecce, a few kilometers from the town centre all the winner bands of the “Italia Wave Band” contest will perform.
Italia Wave we will give a great visibility to the artists of Southern Mediterranean Countries. The MedWave stage (main stage, July 14th) will present creativity from the countries situated South of Italy, and discuss Mediterranean, sounds and noises produced by the Mediterranean new wave with Giorgio Ficarelli, official of the Directorate-General for Development and Culture of the European Commission, Silvia Godelli, Councilor for Cooperation with the Mediterranean Countries, Peace and Culture of the Puglia Region.
A few meters from the concert area will be the CultWave space, the cultural frame-
The whole program of Italia Wave is online at www.italiawave.com.
PRS for Music Performance Rates Consultation Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
It is the intention to share a summary of these responses publicly in the near future. For now no decisions have been made regarding changes to either Tariff DP or Tariff LP, but PRS for Music confirms that neither tariff will change (apart from the usual inflationary increases) in 2011. The consultation regarding the performance rates charged for Popular Music Events by UK Collection Society, PRS for Music closed on the 31st December 2010. The Society received 53 responses in total and state that it has been reviewing each response in detail, learning from the information and views that have been shared.
A communication to all of those who have expressed an interest in the consultation, which many expected to precede a substantial hike in the rates charged, affecting the overheads of promoters and venues alike, states that the Society recognises the importance of the live music industry, and
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each of its constituent parts. PRS intends to share the summary and to continue to work with the industry to further understand the topics raised within the consultation document, and those raised in the responses. As part of this process, it will ensure that there will be reasonable notice for customers of any changes that are made to the tariff (if any) , and concludes that, “…we are aware that budgeting for shows can take place well in advance of the show occurring. We will provide further updates as discussions progress.
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European Music Festival Study Names Oxegen Best Festival Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
According to a study carried out by leading brand engagement network Havas Sports & Entertainment, Ireland’s Oxegen Festival is the best in Europe, The company’s summer 2011 European Music Festival study analyses 64 large music festivals, collecting data via online research and direct contact with organisers and attendees. Festivals were ranked on criteria including line-up, value and organisation, with the aim being to offer a guide to festivals for consumers and brands. It says Oxegen comes out as best festival, followed by the UK’s Glastonbury and V Festivals, with Belgium’s Rock Werchter in fourth place. Oxegen has the best line-up for 2011, according to Havas research, fol-
lowed by the V festivals, Rock Werchter, Belgium’s Pukkelpop and Glastonbury. Live Nation chief ops officer John Probyn, who’s also Oxegen’s festival director, says this year’s Oxegen has got most of the artists headlining the UK’s major festivals on one bill. “We have definitely pulled out all the stops to deliver our best ever line-up. A tremendous amount of work also goes on behind the scenes to ensure that every aspect of the festival meets the very highest standard,” he said. “Oxegen has a really strong bond with its fanbase and the feedback we receive from them allows us to improve the festival experience year on year.”
clude Coldplay, Foo Fighters, The Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Paolo Nutini, My Chemical Romance and Plan B. The other European festivals to make the Havas Top 10 were Roskilde (Denmark), Exit (Serbia), Sziget (Hungary), Coke Live (Poland) and Oya in Norway.
The acts at Punchestown racecourse for this year’s Oxegen Festival July 8-10 inOxegen Festival
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News from German Festivals
The 26th Edition of Summerjam Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Summerjam is a classic event and one of the very first festivals in Germany that attracted visitors from abroad. Initially dedicated primarily to reggae music, the promoter Contour Festival Organisations has since expanded into other black music genres such music, hip hop or world music. Rock Am Ring
The news that Rock Am Ring wasn’t sold out this year was a bit of a surprise. This year’s edition only attracted 84,100 visitors. Tickets for last year’s festival had already sold out in March, producing a visitor record of 86.500. The Melt-Festival however has reported that the upcoming edition of the festival in July sold out in record breaking time. The site can accommodate about 27.000 people while the event itself is increasingly regarded as one of the best festivals in Germany and is also gaining more and more of an international reputation.
VIP-News spoke with Klaus Maack about those matters that concern successful festival promoters. VIP-News: How easy was it to compile this years Summerjam line-up? Klaus Maack: Quiet easy, because in the past years we’ve had big successes and that always helps to get good acts, because everyone wants to play the festival.
know that there are a lot of people, there must be a lot of turnover, then they ask for more money and it’s hard to negotiate. VIP-News: You’ve got 1Live and Rockpalast as media-partners on board. Are you pleased with these or do you wish you could have a little bit more? Maack: No, I couldn’t wish for more because for the area of Cologne it’s ideal to have partners in the radio stations like 1Live. Also Rockpalast is a legendary thing, the people know what they’re doing, they are into the music and it’s not under such commercial aspects as if you have a private TV station involved. No, I’m a hundred percent happy with this.
VIP-News: Have the artist-fees risen over the last three years?
VIP-News: Besides the fees are the artists requests becoming more difficult too?
Maack: Yes, sure. This is one of the not very good things about it, if it’s internationally known that the festival is a big success, the managers and agents
Maack: Yes, this year I had more difficulties as part of the booking procedures to sort out broadcasting rights. Even though it is sometimes easier if
According to a police report The Hurricane Festival gained 75.000 visitors. The event, promoted by FKP Scorpio, the German festival market leader, proceeded peacefully for an event of its its size. The sister event Southside Festival this year drew 50.000 visitors. Rock Am Ring and Hurricane Festival both announced next year’s headliners shortly after the festivals finished. In 2012 The Toten Hosen will play at Rock Am Ring, while Die Ärzte will appear at the Hurricane Festival.
Klaus Maack
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you deal directly with artists or with managers, it becomes different when you have happening acts like Joy Denalane, Madcon, Culcha Candela or Patrice. For some of these acts, where many people are involved in the business-affairs, it is not so easy to find out who is responsible, who is the decision maker; normally everybody wants to have a word in this, so, yes, it is difficult to sort out permissions and broadcasting rights. VIP-News: Do you have also to invest more in health and safety-measures than before? Maack: Yes, this increases every year. We have a very good relationship with the city-council and the departments who are locally involved. So, months before we actually start to plan the festival we sit together and we discuss last year’s festival edition and if there is something that should be done better we try to improve
this for the following edition. But also due to the tragedy of Loveparade, everybody officially involved now looks at things in more detail, which of course creates higher efforts to fulfill all the requirements. VIP-News: Did you read the results of the study on festival-tourism by UK-Music? Maack: If you have a festival which has the same billing in Germany and nearly the same billing in the Netherlands or nearby in the European country then the tourism element isn’t so strong. But if you have an event that has a billing which is very origi-
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nal and which is not happening elsewhere in Europe then you attract festival-tourism. We have such a billing, therefore we have many visitors even coming from Denmark, from Holland, from England, from France – we even sell about 5.000 tickets in France via record store chain FNAC. So, yes, with this mind we also benefit from festivaltourism but I assume it is not the same as in the UK, where the people just travel because of the festival and the event, they don’t mind if they see nearly the same billing at the festivals, they travel because of the event itself. I don’t see this in Germany.
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Hamburg Court Forbids Resale of German Take That Tickets Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
In March this year the Hamburg District Court ruled against Viagogo on the resale of tickets for the German Take That dates promoted by MCT, as a result of the interim injunction filed against the operator of the ticketing resale platform by the German promoter in December 2010. In mid June the court issued a press release detailing the reasons for its decision to take action against the secondary ticket platform. In order to prevent secondary ticketing MCT via its ticketing partner Smart Tickets sold only personalized tickets and created very strict terms and conditions attaching these tickets. Without mentioning Viagogo in the press release by name, the court nevertheless argues clearly why it refused arguments made by the law firm Latham & Watkins on behalf of Viagogo, which of course appealed against this interim injunction. Among other conclusions the court considers that the secondary ticketing platform operator infringed competition regulations through not respecting measures against the resale of these tickets whilst being aware of these terms and conditions. As these tickets are sold personalized the promoter will only vali-
date tickets after production of an IDcard by the holder. This being the case, the secondary ticketing platform should have alerted sellers and buyers of the tickets they traded, informing them that the promoter considered these invalid. Instead the court noted that the platform operator informed their ticket buyers that personalized tickets would not cause problems for the holders as in the Company’s experience there would be no event control for actual identification. Viagogo even guaranteed that those particular tickets were considered one hundred percent valid. The court also refused the Viagogo argument that a ban of the commercial resale market is invalid, as it would discriminate against primary buyers. The court considered that restraint of the resale of tickets in order to prevent exorbitant ticket prices is the promoter’s legitimate interest The ruling is not sentential yet, for a reappeal the Hanseatic Appellate Court has to be approached. Currently Viagogo is still offering Take That German concert tickets without a notice warning that they are personalized and the resale is prohibited.
Take That
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Festival Motorbike Marathon Man to set new Guinness World Record Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
A truly marathon record attempt is being made this summer when my friend and colleague music business journalist Greg Parmley will try something never done before: visiting 26 festivals across Europe in just 30 days. Travelling on a 1200cc BMW motorcycle (an R1200R Classic) in pursuit of a new world record, Parmley plans to visit 13 countries, travelling over 5,500 miles in the process. He starts at Glastonbury on 24 June before riding all the way to Croatia and back, returning on 23 July. This is the first record attempt ever related to a music festival and Guinness World Records has opened a new category for the trip: ‘Most Festivals Visited in 30 Days’. After long weeks of training and preparation, and faced with travelling up to a gruelling 400 miles per day, Parmley, who edits the leading live music industry publication IQ magazine, will be taking in the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland on his unique Euro escapade.
He says: “I was trying to think of an excuse to get out of the office and onto a motorbike for a few weeks, and then I started joining the dots around festivals in Europe. No-one’s ever attempted to visit this many before, although there may well be a good reason why not! I’ve always been a huge festival fan but I may have gone a little overboard this time…” Music festivals are now playing an ever-important role each summer. In the UK alone, they account for over 25% of all concert tickets sold, with a total audience spend of £546million*. The German festival market is estimated at €340million** while including local events, France now boasts a staggering 3,800 festivals annually. The trip is being supported by RFID and access control specialists Intellitix. Company MD and veteran concert promoter Serge Grimaux adds: “Intellitix is thrilled to be sponsoring this brilliant idea. I think this is the beginning of a trend; next year I bet several people will be joining Greg or simply following the path he
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will open this summer. Intellitix is all about innovation and great ideas so I wanted to get involved. I can’t wait to start reading the blog!” Greg is available for radio, TV and press interviews before and during the trip. He will also be blogging and documenting the trip as he goes via www.facebook.com/RidetoLive2011 and other outlets. The list of festival dates are below and for more information, please contact Greg directly: All at VIP wish him a successful and safe adventure!
Ride to Live 2011 June 24. Glastonbury Pilton UK 24. Hard Rock Calling London UK 25. Graspop Metal Meeting Dessel Belgium 26. Rock a Field Roeser Luxembourg 28. Pennenzakkenrock Mol Belgium 30. Rock Werchter Werchter Belgium
July 1. Summerjam Fuehlinger See 2. Rheinkultur Bonn 3. With Full Force Leipzig 4. Rock for People Hradec Králové 5. Malta Poznań 7. Bažant Pohoda Trenčín 8. Heineken Balaton Sound Zamárdi 9. EXIT Festival Novi Sad 11. Metalcamp Tolmin 12. The Garden Festival Petrcane 14. Umbria Jazz Perugia 15. Moon and Stars Locarno 16. Montreux Jazz Montreux 17. Gurtenfestival Gurten 18. Live at Sunset Zurich 19. Paleo Festival Nyon Nyon 21. Secret Garden Party Huntingdon 22. Redfest Redhill 23. I’ll Be Your Mirror London 23. High Voltage Festival London
Germany Germany Germany Czech Rep Poland Slovakia Hungary Serbia Slovenia Croatia Italy Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland UK UK UK UK
* Source: UK Music report Destination: Music ** Source: BDV (German promoter’s association)
Greg Parmley
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The Artist Speaks! Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com
VIP-News always attempts to present a wide spread of views, experience and opinions in it’s reporting on the live music industry, but perhaps the least heard voice in this and other business to business publications is that of the most central figure – the artist. In particular we feel that it is interesting to hear from artists that are in the early stages of building their careers, what are their views of their interaction with our industry as they take to the stage
in their own countries and abroad as they strive to become noticed in this incredibly competitive and over subscribed music business. We will attempt to address this from time to time by offering a forum to artists from various territories to tell their stories in their own words. I became aware of the Australian act, All Mankind when they appeared at
The Great Escape in Brighton, and then I ran into them again in Inverness at goNorth. I was interested in what was the motivation and what was involved in travelling around the world to play small-scale venues in the UK. I asked the band for some information of how their career stands at the moment and for their take on the experiences of this trip. I’m grateful for the informative and interesting responses which follow:
All Mankind – Halfway Around the World and Back Rich Beeston – (vocals/piano) gives us some background on the band: All Mankind is from a small town called Eastwood in Sydney, Australia. The band consists of 2 brothers, Rich Beeston & Dave Beeston, together with childhood friends Gavin Perkins & Dorny. The band was formed in 2008. Since forming, the band have gained a loyal fan base in Australia, but have had an international outlook from the very beginning. The band put together 2 EPs between 2009-2010. Songs from the EPs found their way onto radio stations across the globe (Indie 103.1FM Los Angeles, WRXP New York, MotorFM Germany, KNRK-FM Portland, OR, ABC Radio Australia) while also gaining fans such as Mike Walsh, Music Director Xfm (UK).
A number of tracks from the EPs also featured in prime time Australian & US television shows. “Open Your Eyes” was featured as the theme song in the TV promo for Emmy Award-winning ABC TV show “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.” In addition, their tune “Hollywood Tonight” has been heard regularly on MTV’s “The Hills.” The band’s song “Can you hear me” was also featured in number 1 Australian show ‘Winners and Losers’.
ing early spins on tastemaker radio and tv stations on three continents including Australia (ABC, Channel V, MTV, RAGE, Nova, 2Dayfm, FOX, B105, SAFM, 929 Perth, MMM), USA (KROQ L.A., KNRK Portland OR, KTCL Denver, WCNR Charlottesville VA, plus CHMA, KCRW, KFMA, KPNT, KTCV, WEQX, WNRN, WXPN), Europe (Absolute Radio, MotorFM, Flux FM, Delta Radio Germany), as well as stations in South America and Asia.
The band have recently completed their debut album, ‘Simple Desire’. The first single from the new album, ‘Break the Spell’, has recently been released independently in the US, UK & Australia. Initially intended as a soft, promotion-only release, the single has had unexpected success captur-
With attention from video games giant EA Sports, ‘Break The Spell’ will soon be featured in a top-selling game being released later in the year. Some comments from around the world include: Australian radio personality (and former Xfm UK DJ) Byron Cooke from Australia’s Austereo (MMM, 2DAYFM): “Meet Sydney four-piece All Mankind. I’ve just been played five tracks from the band’s forthcoming debut album. These guys are legit. They mean what they sing. The songs are huge and the album is deep with radio singles. Expect them everywhere, sooner than you think!” US-based blogger Arjanwrites says, “With ‘Break the Spell,’ this Sydney quartet delivers a grand, emotive sound that easily matches
All Mankind
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the atmospheric qualities of Keane and the propulsive, arena-sized anthems of Coldplay.” England’s Record of the Day states, “All Mankind has the sound of being Australia’s next biggest export.”
are used to, but that is exactly how we had to start in Australia as well. We were really keen to just get on the road, play to as many people as possible, and see if the UK crowds liked our music. We saw the tour as a sort of test - if the reaction from crowds was positive, then we knew the UK would be a good place for us to focus our attention longer term.
Comments on our trip; Including: our experiences touring, and observations as a young band looking to expand our international fan base (covering coping with a long journey, differences from Australia, overall impressions of start up level touring, has it been worthwhile, successes to report, looking forward to coming back). Rich, Dave, and Gav all have UK passports, with parents who were born in the UK. From early on, the band saw the UK as a key place to get to. All Mankind’s sound is strongly influenced by a large amount of UK bands. In early 2011, songs from our upcoming album ‘simple desire’ were shown to a booking agent in the UK. The booking agent, Ben Hylands from IAA Touring, immediately contacted our management, and suggested setting up the band’s first UK tour, with a view to more tours in the future if things went well.
»We were really keen to just get on the road, play to as many people as possible, and see if the UK crowds liked our music«
We were booked into 3 festivals - the Great Escape in Brighton, Liverpool Sound City, and Go North in Inverness, Scotland. Alongside these were smaller club shows in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and lots of other places. We also had a small side trip to Berlin, to see how the German crowds responded to us. One of the important things in the band is that we knew each other as friends before we became a band. So, when we began the long slog of travelling around, and staying in no-star hotels, it was pretty smooth sailing amongst the four of us. The reaction from crowds in the UK has been a little different to Australia. I think that because the UK has such a long, rich, musical heritage, people are really well educated in pop and rock music history, and they have a really great appreciation of songwriting and live shows. They can be more critical if you get it wrong, but if you get it right, they are really nice at letting you know you’ve done a good job. They’ll also come up and talk about things like songwriting, and discuss vintage guitars and amps, and at times it felt like everyone in the UK owned a guitar, because people just knew so much about music and instruments.
- Rich Beeston
We were aware that the first tour was always going to be smaller shows than we
During an overnight stay in London, our tour van was broken into. Fortunately for us, we had taken all of our guitars and other expensive gear inside for the night, so nothing of much value was taken. The main problem with the break-in was that our GPS was stolen. The GPS was our best friend and closest companion on our tour, because otherwise we were getting completely lost amongst all the numbered roads and one-way streets. So we went straight out that morning and bought a brand new GPS, otherwise the rest of the tour would have been a nightmare.
All Mankind
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Some of the venues we played were actually pretty impressive. The sound guys, and the level of gear at a 250 capacity venue like the 02 Academy 3 in Birmingham, or another smaller room like the Classic Grand in Glasgow really blew us away. There were a number of these kinds of venues, where the quality of production was far superior than we would have expected for such small venues. It really was a great pleasure to play in these venues. One of the shows was at a tiny little room, which probably couldn’t hold more than 50 people. The sound desk & cabling was not exactly perfect. At first we lost sound from the keyboard, then the bass amp went down. Next the vocals disappeared, and finally the acoustic guitar went silent. All of this happened very quickly, and could have caused a complete meltdown. Dave (drums) and Dorny (lead guitar) were the only ones unaffected, so they just kept riffing, and while they kept the audience entertained on their own, the sound guy switched out all these cables, and managed to get the sound back to full strength for us to finish the song, and complete the set. As part of Liverpool Sound City, we were invited to play an acoustic set in the Presidential Suite of the Hilton Hotel, alongside a couple of other Australian acts, Cloud Control & Seekae. When I was a kid learning piano, the teacher would often set aside a Saturday morning, where all the kids and their parents came to the teacher’s house. The kids had to play a
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song or 2 each, in front of all these people. This gig was a little like that, but with amazing views over Albert Dock and the water. We had a lot of fun playing that show in the end, as the crowd really got into it. Fortunately my fears of screwing up the song mid-way and having to start again (like I did sometimes at piano recitals), were unfounded.
Some of the outcomes from the tour: - Having about 50 pieces of press, featur ing the band in lots of regional press across the UK. - Getting the attention of a major UK pro moter, who is now working with us on a return tour. - Making the playlist on England’s largest national commercial radio station, Abso lute Radio, as well as on Q radio.
- Loads of new fans, who are keen to help promote the band on return tours. - Getting heard by a major European pro moter when we played in Brighton. They are now booking us for a European tour in a few months time. - Some great reviews of the single and re views of shows in the UK press & online. We are really pleased with how well the UK tour has gone. We were expecting much less than what we got, and were really blown away by how positive the audiences were at each show. We plan to return to the UK to tour a number of times in the next 12 months, and really build up our fan base, and our live touring experience across the UK & Europe. Dave Beeston - (drums/backing vocals) The Go North festival, I found, I was totally refreshing. Firstly being set in Inverness,
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a place I’d never heard of before we had been booked to play there, was just beautiful. It was small but had a lot of character. With the river running right through and all the great buildings and restaurant and pubs everywhere, the place was buzzing. I found myself thinking this could be a great area to raise a family and trust me, that’s the first time I’ve ever thought that! I can honestly say that of all the places that we played on our tour and all of the towns we have seen, Inverness is personally in my top 5. I loved it. Go North was a great festival too. There was a real vibe about it that I enjoyed. The fact that it is a smaller conference in a small but beautiful town led to a really relaxed atmosphere that seemed to really put good focus on the music. Our show at Hootenanny’s was one of the highlights of the tour. The venue was fantastic, the audience was really great and enthusiastic and it all came together to make a really great show. I can’t say enough about
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how much I loved our time at Go North and Inverness. Observations of a young band looking to expand their international fan base and of course their experience. Our tour of the UK in May - April was hard work but definitely a worthwhile trip. As a band from Australia with no real presence in the UK it was daunting to be going out to venues all over England and Scotland and playing to people who have never heard of you and in some instances didn’t at all care that you were there - though we find this a good challenge to rise to. At every show we had the mindset to play the best we could, to put as much energy into our set as we could and win people over. It felt like we were constantly able to do this everywhere we went and I am proud of the fact we were on our game for every show. As we went from venue to venue I was struck between the difference of Australian venues and UK venues. So many of the venues in the UK are put together with the intention of being a live music venue. This might sound obvious but most of the places we have played in Australia are pubs first and then someone has thought “let’s put a PA in the corner and get bands to play so we can sell more beer”. A lot of the time this does not lead to vibrant, exciting places to play. Most of the places in the UK felt like the thought was “lets set up a great venue for bands to play and also put a bar in the corner”. A total reversal of thinking and it was really exciting to see places like this; I wish we had more in Australia.
Another thing that has struck me about the UK and how they like their bands is that people want bands to be cool. It almost seems like they look at bands and their image and decide if it’s cool and then they listen to the music. In my mind it’s always just been “do I like this song/album or not?” So it’s been a bit of an adjustment personally. What I do think people respond to is authenticity. We were able to bring this to everything we did in the UK and people responded well and I think in the long term being authentic is what will keep people engaged. On the whole the tour was great! We all had a good time and all though some shows were downers, the majority were fantastic and we can’t wait to head back to the UK in August and do it all again. Hopefully this time we will have more friends coming to more of the shows! Dorny (guitar) It was exciting to play at so many venues where so many great bands started playing and visit town’s were great musicians grew up. We come from a small town in Sydney know for producing the Granny Smith apple but not for great music! Visiting Birmingham thinking about a young Ozzy Osborne roaming the streets seeing the things he would have seen and what influenced him. Playing the Bull’n’Gate and Dublin Castle and thinking about all the great bands that have played there and would have loaded in the same way we did and taken a wizz in the same toilets with the same smell! Bands would have driven the same routes we drove
from London to Brighton right up to Inverness and stayed in the same hostel we stayed in and eaten at the same roadside diners.
»It was exciting to play at so many venues where so many great bands started playing and visit town’s were great musicians grew up« - Dorny
Thinking about how they dealt with all these situations from the high’s of having people come up saying we were one of the best things they had seen in a long time and sound guy’s saying mixing us was a pleasure to the lows of the van being broken into and our crap being stolen, night after night of sharing beds and having to make sandwiches for dinner cause we can’t afford to eat at Weatherspoons. I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing from this tour and feel so lucky to get the chance to go to country with such a rich musical history and future to play songs that we created together in an old church in the suburbs of Sydney. VIP-News will keep you informed on All Mankind’s future progress in the UK and Europe, and we wish the band all the best! As a follow up to this it could be good to find a UK or European act going to Australia and we’ll get their comments. Let us know if you’re working with a band with such a tour in the planning.
All Mankind
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Music In Shares IPO for Music Festivals PLC at AIM £ 6.5 million is the assumed market capitalization for the IPO (Initial Public Offering) of the Music Festivals PLC on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at London Stock Exchange (LSE). For industry veteran Vince Power it is his come back as CEO of a stock market listed company that will be listed on LSE on June 28. While the official website supposed to be www.musicfestivalsplc.co.uk is so far not accessible, the business prospect displayed at the stock exchange website says that the company intents to acquire five companies “which own and operate music festivals”. The festival portfolio consists of Festival Internacional de Benicassim in Spain, the Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent and the Feis Festival in Finsbury Park. Two more festivals, both located in the South East of the UK will be added to the company list, one of which will be dedicated to classical music the other one to popular music. The first emission price will be 65 pence, another £3.5 million should be raised through the issuing of convertible loans bringing 8 percent.
Business News Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com
Update on ETEP The news that the European Commission has agreed to support ETEP with a funding of 2.7 million Euro for the next three years for the European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) can be considered quite a coup. Popular music and the European Commission are definitely two very different things. The forms necessary to apply for funding at the European Commission already requires massive efforts and a very great understanding of bureaucratic demands. Since its launch in 2003 ETEP has delivered a very valuable contribution towards the European ideal. While the program received financial support from the European Commission in its beginning, when the first funding period expired it became clear how difficult the European Commission is to deal with as regards popular music. So far the commission only have one project that is dedicated to popular music; the European Borders Breaker Award, originally invented by the music journalist Emmanuel Legrand and the European Music Office in Brussels, is now run by the European Commission and is presented at Eurosonic Noorderslag, the artistic gateway for ETEP. VIP-News spoke to Peter Smidt, head of project at ETEP and the spin-doctor who helped to navigate the latest developments that accompany new financial backing of ETEP through the bureaucratic labyrinth of Brussels.
Peter Smidt: What has changed is that we are now able to add more festivals. We have a long waiting list of events and so, in the coming years, we can slowly add more until we reach a hundred participating festivals. That is basically the most important thing that has changed. We can enlarge the programme and we have of course also raised the contributions to the festivals. In this way of course we expect to have a lot more acts benefiting from the program. But I think that most people in the Rock ‘n’ Roll-Business don’t realize the number of paperwork and administration and controls involved when you receive a European grant. This demands particular care and understanding because it is taxpayers money, so the commission wants to be sure that there is nothing remiss happening with the handling of the money – but there’s a lot of paperwork and a lot of rules. Especially all the rules in the application make it more time consuming. VIP-News: Can you please explain the settings and conditions for Cetep? Smidt: Cetep is basically a programme in which we would like to create better connections between Central-EasternEurope and Western-Europe. So, one of the things is that we have added a number of festivals from the Central Eastern region and we are working together with these festivals to have a circulation of repertoire from this region,
Peter Smidt
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both within the region and eventually coming to Eurosonic. We feel that if you look at the ETEP results, there are not enough acts coming from this region represented in the results and we want to boost that. Together with our partners Sziget Festival and Exit Festival we developed a programme where we feel, and we will have to see it in the coming years, that we are able to help acts from the Central Eastern market to cross borders, like I said, both in the region itself and beyond to the western part of Europe. VIP-News: What happens to the political impact of ETEP, does it change your work a lot, does it mean you have to go to Brussels more often? And is the perception of ETEP in Brussels a different one than before? Smidt: I can’t say that at this moment because we are currently working to establish some of the new items, so I cannot judge that yet. VIP-News: What about other musicindustry partners, such as music publishers or the record-companies. Do they ever approach you to say that they are pleased with the results of ETEP? Smidt: Hmm…actually no! Well, if I were a record-company, I would stay very close to the results of ETEP because basically the ETEP-program does a lot of the things that usually a record-company would undertake. And I’m surprised that no recordcompanies are working on this. VIP-News: Do you think that may change in the future? Smidt: I have no clue. One more thing, that is interesting, we’re guarded as regards the political impact but its too early in time to tell right now. But what I hope is that in Central Eastern-Europe, because of the fact that ETEP is running with the festivals at the moment when some
of the acts began to have some success, then I think it’s time to involve governments and copyright-collection societies in this area and say, hey, this is what is happening, this is what we are doing, it might be some advantage in you joining and helping. But it’s too short now, you know, we can only do that in two years time or something like that. VIP-News: Until now it’s the case that the live music industry is not organized like CESAC for copyright collection societies or the IFPI in the recording-industry and there is no joint European body that looks after the political interest of the live music industry. Could you imagine that ETEP could be a helpful tool in helping to develop such an organisation? Smidt: Well, ETEP reflects just a very small part of the live music-business. All the venues in the world putting on shows everyday, arenas putting on shows everyday, all the festivals – it’s such a large market and ETEP is a very small item in this very large sector. So no, to be honest, I don’t think so. The current ETEP Top Twenty Artist/County/ No. of bookings Anna Calvi (GB) 12 James Blake (GB) 11 Crystal Fighters (ES) 10 Selah Sue (BE) 7 Agnes Obel (DK) 6 White Lies (GB) 6 The Joy Formidable (GB) 5 Cocoon (FR) 4 James Vincent McMorrow (IE) 4 Junip (SE) 4 Kvellertak (NO) 4 Moss (NL) 4 Pulled Apart by Horses GB 4 Stromae (BE) 4 Adept (SE) 3 Dry The River (GB) 3 Francis International Airport (AT) 3 Mount Kimbie (GB) 3 Retro Stefson (IS) 3
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artist avails ›› 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: 1/5/2012 - 31/5/2012 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 Hairball Territory: Europe Period: 01/06/2011 - 31/12/2011 Agency: ARM Entertainment Agent: Dana Strutz Phone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: ds@armentertainment.com Homepage: www.hairballonline.com Wu-Tang Clan Territory: Europe Period: June/July Agency: Paperclip Agency (in cooperation with Eva Ries Inc.) Agent: Rob Berends Phone: +31 24 323 9322 E-mail: rob@paperclip-agency.com Homepage: www.paperclip-agency.com 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
More Artist avails on: www.vip-booking.com Post your Artist avails on: www.vip-booking.com
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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
North Sea Jazz and Buma Cultuur co-operate for the promotion of Dutch jazz Today, North Sea Jazz and Buma Cultuur announced their cooperation to promote jazz music from the Netherlands. By joining forces, both parties hope the give Dutch jazz artists an extra boost during Jazz Day and North Sea Jazz. ‘Your Guide To Dutch Jazz at North Sea’ symbolizes the co-operation. Buma Cultuur, promoter of Dutch music copyright in the Netherlands and abroad, kicks off two weeks of jazz in Rotterdam with their fifth edition of the Jazz Day. The event, taking place on Friday June 24, consists of a conference and a festival program. The latter program, consisting of 24 showcases by Dutch jazz artists, is part of North Sea Round Town. “ By also working together with North Sea Jazz, Buma Cultuur hopes to expand its reach even further and to bring jazz from the Netherlands to the attention of international professionals and visitors.”, according Ikaros van Duppen, manager jazz music at Buma Cultuur.
Guide to Dutch Jazz By using a special guide, both parties hope that they make shows of the Dutch artists stand out in between the immense program of North Sea Jazz. By spreading Your Guide To Dutch Jazz at North Sea among the international professionals and media during North Sea Jazz, taking place 8 – 10 July, the artists will get extra attention. Should you require further information please contact: boudewijn.hagemans@bumacultuur.nl / +31 (0) 35 672 74 00 Should you require further information about North Sea Jazz please contact: Junior van der Stel / J.van.der.Stel@mojo.nl / +31 (0)15 212 19 80
Jan Willem Luyken, director North Sea Jazz, is also happy with the cooperation. “Together with Buma Cultuur we are going to bring Dutch Jazz under the attention of our visitors and the international music industry, who will be present at North Sea Jazz in large numbers. Next to this, Jazz Day moving to Rotterdam is of great value for North Sea Round Town and our festival. We can’t wish for a better start of the jazz season.”
VIP-Booking ApS cannot be held responsible for loss or damages incurred as a result of transactions with individuals or companies through the notice board. We recommend all to make the necessary enquiries before entering into any agreements. VIP-Booking ApS may not, for reason of space, be able to post all announcements received. Announcements should be emailed to noticeboard@vip-booking.com, including name and email address. Please shorten your message to the extent possible, to make room for as many notices as possible.
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Monthly featured Artist ››
MARY BLACK Origin: Style: Tour period: Territory:
Ireland October 2011 Europe
Agency: Name: Email: Phone:
Sport Star Management Carsten Hilding Larsen chl@sportstarmanagement.dk +45 4071 7722
We are planing dates for Mary in October 2011, please let us know your level of interest for Mary. For the last quarter-century, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence in Irish music, both at home and abroad. She has shared stages, tv shows and recording studios with some of the most revered performers of her time. She has also played a frontline role in bringing Irish music, past and present, to an increasingly appreciative and ever-growing global audience. The San Francisco Chronicle has described her as “One of the best interpretative singers around”. At a time when less adventurous performers preferred to stick exclusively to the well-worn ballads from Ireland’s rich music heritage and the more obvious hits from contemporary writers, Mary explored the best work available from new composers and mined the rich seams they offered. That commitment to fresh material, combined with her unique interpretations of the songs she chooses, saw her release numerous albums that achieved platinum sales status and spawned countless hits. Indeed, one of Mary’s albums - No Frontiers- spent more than a year in the Irish Top 30!
Mary Black
The VIP-Booking European Live Entertainment Book Advertising in the VIP Book will make you visible to 10.000 business professionals all over Europe. You will find no better place to expose your company to the whole European Live Entertainment Industry. ›› Reserve your ad now on www.vip-booking.com 23 VIP-BOOKING.COM
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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.
Today VIP-Booking offers a range of tools for the industry – including VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract. Please visit vip-booking.com for further information. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.
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