VIP NEWS > FEBRUARY 2013 VIP NEWS PREMIUM > VOLUME 154 > FEBRUARY 2013 2 3 4 17 6 15 22 6 10 20 8 14 7 13 6
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
VIPNEWS PREMIUM > VOLUME 154 > FEBRUARY 2013
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
January was a busy month for the VIP team –
we all went to Groningen for what appeared
to be an extremely successful editio n of
Eurosonic /Noorderslag (see report in this
issue ). Our sales team went to Cannes for
Midem, where despite another decrease in
numbers, many found it easier to do business
in the less crowded marketplace, and came
away satisfied with the outcome.
The varying fortunes of these two events are a
good example of the rapidly changing shape
of the music industry; Midem is without
doubt the original music business market,
starting up in one hotel suite in the late 60’s
and was in its heydays in the 70’s and 80’s,
attracting 12000 plus professionals from all
over the world (now these are down to half
that) at a time when the music busines s –
few used the word industry in those days –
convinced itself that it had settled on a set
format, with the major record companies
pulling in vast sums, (with execs spending
ridiculous amounts in Cannes!) and ruling
the roost. Then came pirac y, downloads etc,
all the well documented attacks that brought
the stronghold down, with the power passing
to the live industry (note the acceptance of
the term by that sector – I think the ILMC
had a lot to do with that..) – at least for a
while. However Midem still clings on to a
business model with pretensions of grandeur
– it wants to associate with the high rollers
(after all it’s an expensive event to stage
and to attend!) – hence it’s courting of the
moneyed sectors of associated industries,
and technologies, which is not necessarily a
bad thing, this is show business and a bit of
glamour attracts!
Eurosonic, although having been part of
a developing event for 27 years, has really
established its position over the last ten
years, building its artist showcase schedules
into a festival event (Midem introduced a
tentative move in this direction a couple
of years ago) and making itself accessible
and affordable to the newly developing
businesses , and this year sold out with 3500
international delegates – still less than the
totals claimed by Midem - but definitely made
up of independents and those constructing
tomorrow’s formats. Not to say though that
Eurosonic is averse to a bit of glamour , as well
demonstrated by the excellent production
and hosting of the Border Breakers Awards
and the European Festival Awards and the
event’s shrewd and effective courting of
the EU’s Brussels based creative industries
decision makers and paymasters.
So, excuse me going off on one, but I
suppos e what I’m getting at is the fact that
today we have a two tier business, and
that this is not necessarily a bad thing as
long as we maintain the balance and avoid
the excesses of the past. The Office of Fair
Trading in the UK have obviously been on
the lookout for this and are scrutinising the
situation regarding ownership of London’s
large venues and the dominance of AEG and
Live Nation. (See story in this issue)
Of course whatever sector or level of the
music business you look at one of the things
that make it attractive is the presence of
truly individual characters; unfortunately we
recently lost two of these with the sad passing
of Claude Nobs in Switzerland and Henning
Togel in Germany – they will both be missed.
So, a somewhat serious Musings, but these
are also two-tier and no doubt I’ll be banging
on about incontinent seagulls and the like
again soon – in the meantime Ladies and
Gentlemen – The News!
McGowan’s Musings
COLOPHON >
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
UK Government Proposes Amendments to Live Music Act Allan McGowan [email protected]
The UK Government has issued a new proposal to raise the Live
Musi c Act audience threshold from 200 to 500 in on-licensed
premises .
The proposal comes in a response from the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport to its consultation on entertainment deregulation .
Also among the conclusions of the response is the decision to
treat recorded music in the same way as live music in on-licensed
premises between 08:00 to 23:00 (i.e. with an audience limit of
500 and the prospect of a Review if noise nuisance is caused).
Live and recorded music held on premises owned by the above
organisations will be exempt from licensing requirements for
audiences up to 500 people. Community premises such as church
and village halls and community centres will be exempt from
licensing requirements for live and recorded music for audiences
of up to 500 people.
Circuses, however, will be exempt from regulation for live and
recorded music, plays, dance and indoor sport between 08:00 to
23:00 with no audience restrictions.
Regulation will remain in place for all activities that exceed the
audience limits and timings listed above.
Although this is good news for many, there is still a worry amongst
many venues that rely on ticket sales that more pub venues could
present live music for free, or for very low ticket prices, hoping
to make their profits from increases wet sales, leading to more
competition for venues that are struggling in the present economic
climate.
The Live Music Forum’s Phil Little said:
“The Live Music Forum campaigned for almost twenty years to
bring about these changes and they are more than we hoped for.
However , it is plain that much of the damage to the scene has
already been done. Without an improvement in audience attend-
ance across the board we have an awful long way to go to match
the vibrancy of live music performance in previous decades.”
The full DCMS response can be found here.
The Live Music Forum Downing Street Petition Party (Photo by Anderson Photography)Left to right - Lord Clement-Jones, John Whittingdale MP, John Otway, Phil Little, Hamish Birchall, Tom Kiehl, Lord Colwyn
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Pop Most Popular Genre in The UK in 2012Allan McGowan [email protected]
Stats from the Official Charts Company and BPI have revealed that, for the second year
running , Pop lives up to the term as the most popular type of music in the UK for the second
year running in 2012.
The genre dominated in both album and singles sales, accounting for 33.5% of album sales
(down just slightly on 33.6% in 2011), and 38.5% of singles, its highest share for a decade.
There was some optimism for those predicting a return to rock as this genre did account for a
bigger share of album sales in 2012 than in 2011 - 31.3% compared to 29.4%., still trailing
the heady days of 2006 when 41.5% of album sales came from rock releases.
OCC MD Martin Talbot added:
“It is apt that, in the year that we celebrated 60 years of the Official Singles Chart, pop music
remained as robust as ever in 2012 - through the likes of Emeli Sandé, Carly Rae Jepsen, Adele,
One Direction, Olly Murs and Lana Del Rey, among others. But, with many commentators
predicting that guitar music will return over the next couple of years, it is also notable that
rock music in its broadest sense also rebounded with Coldplay, Mumford & Sons and Gotye
enjoying very successful years in their own right. Green shoots which are destined to grow over
the coming months, perhaps.”
The beautiful and nominated Rita OraRock-genre
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Best British Male:
Calvin Harris, Plan B, Richard Hawley, Olly Murs, Ben Howard
Best British Female:
Emeli Sandé, Paloma Faith, Bat For Lashes, Jessie Ware,
Amy Winehouse
Best British Group:
Mumford & Sons, The xx, Muse, One Direction, Alt-J
Best Live Act:
Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Muse, The Vaccines, The Rolling Stones
Best British Breakthrough:
Jake Bugg, Jessie Ware, Alt-J, Ben Howard, Rita Ora
Best International Group:
The Black Keys, The Script, Alabama Shakes, Fun, The Killers
Best International Male:
Jack White, Gotye, Michael Buble, Frank Ocean, Bruce Springsteen
Best International Female:
Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Cat Power, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift
British Album Of The Year:
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave, Emeli Sandé - Our Version of Events,
Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace, Plan B - iLL Manors , Mumford & Sons
- Babel
Best British Single:
Adele - Skyfall, Alex Clare - Too Close, Coldplay & Rihanna -
Princess of China, DJ Fresh feat Rita Ora - Hot Right Now, Emeli
Sandé - Next To Me, Florence And The Machine - Spectrum,
James Arthur - Impossible, Jessie J - Domino, Rizzle Kicks -
Mama Do The Hump, Labrinth & Emeli Sandé - Beneath Your
Beautiful, Robbie Williams - Candy, Olly Murs feat Flo Rida -
Troublemaker , Rita Ora feat Tine Tempah - RIP, Stooshe - Black
Heart, Rudimental feat John Newman - Feel The Love
So – will these trends have an effect on the outcome of the BRIT Awards?
– the following shortlists may give us a clue: The event will take place on February 20th.
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
New Head Announced for Montreux Jazz FestivalAllan McGowan [email protected]
Following the tragic death of the founder
of the Montreux Jazz Festival, Claude Nobs,
Mathieu Jaton has been named as the new
head of the world famous event.
A hugely popular figure, Claude Nobs went
into a coma following a skiing accident at
Christmas. Mathieu Jaton took over for what
was hoped to be a temporary period while
Claude recovered, however this was not
to be, and Jaton will now assume the job
permanently . This year’s Festival is due to take
place from 5-20 Jul.
A tribute concert for Nobs will take place at
the Stravinsky Auditorium in Montreux on 8
Feb, followed by another event in New York
this spring. An event at the Royal Opera
House in London, which Nobs was working
on prior to his death, is scheduled to go
ahead on 26-27 July.
Mathieu Jaton is the new head of Montreux Jazz, photo Lionel Flusin
Claude Nobs, photo Getty Images
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
War Child and O2 host The War Child BRIT Awards ConcertAllan McGowan [email protected]
War Child and O2 have announced Muse as the headline act for the
much anticipated annual event at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, two
nights before the 2013 BRIT Awards. This event marks the start of
War Child’s 20th Anniversary Year, and comes ahead of War Child’s
Special Recognition Award to be presented at the BRIT Awards, while
Muse are nominated for British Group and British Live Act.
Matt Bellamy says;
“We are proud to have a continuing association with War Child, who
have been doing amazing work over the last 20 years. It’s great to
see their efforts being recognised at this year’s BRITs and we are really
looking forward to playing this special show for them”.
This is the fifth year of War Child and O2’s annual BRIT Awards
Concert, hosted at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Having raised over
£600,000 in the last four years, the night is a firm fixture on the
music calendar and has staged unique performances from Coldplay,
The Killers, Blur, Kasabian, Ed Sheeran and Mark Ronson. All ticket
proceeds will go to aid War Child’s work with children in war zones
across the world.
Ben Knowles, Director of Fundraising and Music at War Child, says:
“This year is a special one for War Child and we’re delighted to
welcome one of the world’s biggest and best live bands play for
us to launch our 20th Anniversary year and celebrate our Special
Recognition BRIT Award. Music gives War Child an incredible platform
to talk about the unacceptable impact that conflict has on innocent
children and it helps us engage the support we need to do something
about it. We are very grateful to Muse for joining us, and to O2 for
their ongoing support.”
Sally Cowdry, Marketing and Consumer Director at O2 said:
“This is a very special year for us - it’s our 5th year of working with War
Child and what better way to recognise this and help them celebrat e
their 20th anniversary than by announcing such an incredible event?
We are proud to continue to support the fantastic work that they do
and to be able to offer our customers Priority Tickets for what will
undoubtedly be one of the biggest gigs of the year “.
For more information on War Child go to www.warchild.org.uk
Text SAFE to 70444 to donate £3 to War Child’s Appeal for children
in Syria.
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War Child and O2 have announced Muse with Matt Belamy in front as the headline act
Sally Cowdry, Marketing and Consumer Director at O2
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
PR Merger Produces Factory 92Allan McGowan [email protected]
PR agencies The Rocking Factory and Queen About Music, both based in Hamburg- have announced
that they are merging to become Factory 92. The new company will offer PR services throughout
Europe .
Two brands will operate under the Factory 92 banner: Queen About Music, dealing with on radio, tour
and festival promotion in Germany, and The Scoop Engine (previously run by The Rocking Factory),
providing pan-European PR services.
For more information:
QUEEN ABOUT MUSIC @ Facebook
[www.facebook.com/QueenAboutMusic]
THE SCOOP ENGINE @ Facebook
[www.facebook.com/thescoopengine]
... and soon www.factory92.eu
MAMA Take Ownership of LoveboxAllan McGowan [email protected]
On Wednesday 23rd January 2013; MAMA & Company reported
the completion of a deal to take on sole ownership of Lovebox, the
London festival founded by DJs Andy Cato and Tom Findlay of Groove
Armada in 2002. The event held in Victoria Park has grown from a
club night to become an award-winning, three-day event. Originally
devoted to dance music, over the last 10 years Lovebox has expanded
into other genres including hip hop, indie, rock and pop. MAMA has
been working with the DJ’s since 2007, and the acquisition follows
news of the company’s management buyout and partnership with
LDC in December 2012.
Dean James CEO of MAMA & Company says;
“We have enjoyed working with Tom and Andy over the years, but
the reality is that we have been running this festival since 2009. Two
of the original founders, Tim Harvey and Jools Butterfield are still very
much part of the fabric of the event and working with Rob Silver, Rich
McGinnis and Dave McCalmont, the future of the show is in good
hands. Lovebox is London’s best and most creative festival and we
look forward to putting on a great party in Victoria Park this summer
on what will be Lovebox’s 10th anniversary.”
Lovebox 2013 will take place between 19th – 21st July.
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Live Nation, AEG Square Up in London and the OFT Moves in to RefereeAllan McGowan [email protected]
After last year’s ‘soggy summer’, which
affected many festivals and nearly made
the grass in Hyde Park extinct, we could
be looking at a ‘sultry summer’ with the
temperature being raised by the two giants
of live music slugging it out over competing
venues and events.
The situation regarding control of major
London venues, Hyde Park, Wembley Arena
and the Olympic Stadium has alerted The
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which will carry
out an investigation of concerns that the
potential ownership structure could result
in higher ticket prices and less choice of big
name acts.
The dominant Companies, Live Nation and
AEG, owners of the East London O2 Arena,
have been very active of late; Live Nation
recently secured the rights to stage gigs at
the Olympic stadium complex in east London ,
and as well as joining a consortium to buy the
Hammersmith Apollo from the beleaguered
retailer HMV, rival AEG secured the contract
to stage events in Hyde Park, replacing Live
Nation, which had been responsible for
events such as Live 8 and Hard Rock Calling
in the central London park for 10 years Then,
before Christmas, AEG moved in on Wemble
Arena in North London, which Live Nation
had held the management contract for the
previous six years. They do love their sparring
and their shopping these giants!
Anyway, AEG’s ambitious London expansion
came to the attention of the OFT which
launched an investigation into whether the
proposed but not yet completed Wembley
deal, could lead to a “substantial lessening
of competition” for live music in the capital,
and will decide whether to refer the issue of
AEG controlling London’s two biggest arenas
to the Competition Commission.
The regulatory body can impose restrictions
if it elects to do so, such as it did in 2007,
when it ruled that because of potential
concerns over ticket pricing control, Live
Nation and Gaiety Investments must sell off
Hammersmith Apollo and The Forum before
buying into Academy Music Group. AEG’s
prospective control over the two biggest
venues could give them the muscle to
increase ticket prices and give them greater
control over obtaining artists.
Park Wars!
We now seem to be observing the first foray s
of Park Wars! Live Nation announced that it
had pulled out of the Hyde Park tendering
process in the autumn. Following the
dramatic imposition of a curfew, which saw
the unplugging of Paul McCartney and Bruce
Springsteen mid jam, Head of Events for The
Royal Parks, James Russell, said: Curfew s
would remain the same as last year, but
hoped that there will not be a repeat of that
cutting off. Live Nation said there were too
many problems with noise levels amongst
other problems. However a spokesman
for The Royal Parks Agency, said that “Live
Natio n participated in the tender process
from start to finish but was not selected as
the preferred bidder”.
Live Nation responded by announcing an
exclusive deal to host gigs at the Olympic
Park and stadium in east London this
summe r, with the Wireless Festival and Hard
Rock Calling defecting from Hyde Park, a
number of concerts to be held in the stadium
during the summer. The London Legacy
Developmen t Corporation today confirmed it
has entered into a contract to bring a series
of concerts and festivals to Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park this summer, ahead of its full
opening in spring 2014.
The deal gives Live Nation exclusive rights to
host major music concerts in the North Park
and stadium in summer 2013.
John Reid, President of Concerts at Live
Nation Europe, said:
“As the world’s leading provider of music
festivals and outdoor events, Live Nation
is delighted to have won the inaugural
contrac t for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
In the coming weeks, we will unveil the
headline acts for the first Wireless and Hard
Rock festivals to be staged in London’s new
John Reid
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
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flagship venue, which promise to be the UK’s
blockbuster events of 2013.”
Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of
the London Legacy Development
Corporation said:
“This summer Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park will once again host some of the
greatest shows on earth. I’m delighted that
leadin g global companies like Live Nation
are interested in the stadium and the Park.
We’re thrilled to be working with them this
summer .”
On 23 January 2013. AEG Live and The
Royal Parks announced “Barclaycard British
Summer Time - a ground-breaking new event
for 2013, to be held at the greatest outdoor
venue in the world - Hyde Park”. The event
promises to give music fans throughout
the capital the chance to see many of their
favourite headlining and supporting music
artists play over back to back weekends in
ticketed events. Bon Jovi were named as the
first headline act with more ‘high profile’ acts
to be announced in the coming weeks.
Event Director Jim King of AEG Live said:
“After a great deal of planning and hard
work, we are so proud to announce what
will no doubt be an incredible event for
London . Barclaycard British Summer Time
takes everything we have learned indoors at
our other venues - in creating the amazin g
experience s at The O2 - and shares it within
the world’s greatest outdoor venue, Hyde
Park. We literally started with a blank canvas
and in Barclaycard British Summer Time,
we have created what we believe to be
the ultimate in Summer events - fantastic
music, great food, drinks, farmers markets,
theatre, film - and much more incredible
entertainmen t across a full 10 days. The list
is endless!”
James Russell, The Royal Parks, Head of
Events said:
“This is a new era for entertainment in
Hyde Park. Hyde Park has such a wonderful
heritage in hosting world class concerts in the
heart of London, dating back to 1969. Today,
we are looking forward, and along with AEG
Live, we are very excited to be bringing the
Barclaycard British Summer Time event to
this iconic location that is recognised around
the world.”
Well – spot the similarities? It could be an
interesting summer for a stroll in the park…
Turning up to 11?
Although some of the Hyde Park problems
Live Nation were confronted with involved
noise complaints from local residents, AEG
intend to raise the volume, with Bon Jovi
claiming in Spinal Tap fashion to turn up to
11.
Last year, fans complained that gigs by Blur
and Madonna were too quiet, as a result of
noise restrictions imposed by Westminster
council, but AEG says a repositioned stage
will allow the volume to be turned up withou t
disturbing local residents. Events Director Jim
King says that an independent report makes
it very clear that the “orientation and position
of the stage” was of crucial importance, and
the new set-up will be “better for residents,
customers and bands. We worked the plan in
terms of relocating that stage and orienting
it away from the residents because previously
it had been firing straight at them.” The new
Great Oak Stage with LED panels and screens
will be camouflaged within the park setting,
and the lighting control booth will be set in
a tree house.
Residents will have to wait to see if AEG’s
confidence in the report and the changes are
justified.
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Record International Attendance at Eurosonic Noorderslag Conference 2013Allan McGowan [email protected]
Over the four days of the 27th edition
of Eurosonic Noorderslag which came to
an end in the early hours of Sunday the
13th of January, 304 European acts and
bands and an audience of 35,000 music
lovers and professionals came together in
in Groningen , Holland.
The number of international delegates
to the conference increased by 1,100 on
last year to 1,500., combining with local
delegates to produce a sell out figure
of 3500 delegates. A comprehensiv e
conference programme concentrated
on music of course, but addresse more
and more themes from other related
businesses, such as creative policy and
new technologies. A good number
of panels packed out, including the Agents
Panel – chaired by yours truly, many were
surprised that they couldn’t get in.
The conference and showcase festival
was broadcast internationally on radio ,
television and internet. Radio and
televisio n channels broadcasting from
Eurosonic were among others BBC (UK),
DR Musik (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RTBF
Pure FM (Belgium), Le Mouv’(France), RUV
(Iceland) , RTE (Ireland), Radio Belgrade
(Serbia) and WDR (Germany). In the
Netherlands NOS, NTR, 3FM, Radio 6,
3voor12 and de Volkskrant presented
comprehensive reporting on radio,
television and the Internet . The EBBA
Awards presented by Jools Holland were
broadcast live on YouTube and recorded
for TV.
Official Figures:
Total number of visitors
Eurosonic Noorderslag:
35,000 (sold out)
Visitors Conference:
3,250 (sold out)
Nationalities: 45
Acts: 304
Media and journalists: 404
EBU radio stations: 31
ETEP festivals: 78
International festivals: 417
Number of stages Eurosonic: 36
Number of stages Noorderslag:
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Comments on Eurosonic Noorderslag 2013
Intelitix acts as service provider for Eurosonic
Noorderslag and supplies the event with
an RFID-system. Serge Grimau x himself
is the founder and CEO of the company
that runs offices in Canada, the UK and
the US. Beside s Eurosonic Noorderslag the
compan y serve festival s such as Coachella,
Bonnaroo or Lolapalooz with its service,
ranging from cashless payment functions ,
entrance control and social media
application s for festival visitors .
VIP News ask Serge Grimaux… What is
your impression of Eurosonic this year?
– I think it went amazingly well; it’s my
third time here. Most impressive for me
is the energy that is in this whole event.
You cannot start the year in a better way,
if you’re in this business, that’s the way to
start the year.
Looking around and comparing
Eurosoni c Noorderslag with other
conventions – what is particular and
remarkable about this event?
– The settings. The way that they’ve set
up the festival, the way that they’ve set
the stage in the middle of the conference-
are a. The Oosterpoort is really a fantastic
venue, it’s a real chameleon, you have bars
and stages, people performing in all sorts
of places , they change every day, they’re
taking al lot of attention for all sorts of
details. Then you go in town, everything
is in walking distance, you have 26 venues
in walking distance, which is impossible to
imagine in another place in the world. All
these surroundings, it’s a charming city, it’s
a place where you learn to meet people,
to discover things, you know, it’s a breath
of fresh air.
How did business go for you?
– I’m very happy about what we’ve done
here, I think people have appreciated what
we’ve done. The “where was I last night”-
email, that the delegates received, that
gave them a summary of all the bands they
saw and enjoyed, all these venues where a
big plus. It went even better, the receptions
were in thousands every day. The panel-list,
that could link people with each other, the
people attending the panels because they
could live click. The presentation of the
panel-list went excessively well, on the
first day it doubled my expectation, on the
second day more than 1200 people used
it. It was interesting , because they used it
in a way I didn’t think about. We designed
that, because we were thinking it would
be a great reminder for the delegates of
the panel they were at. But some people
pick it up quickly and they walked into the
pane l, live-click, get the presentation on
their iPad and following the presentation
of the panel-list during the panel by using
this gadget. They reversed the method,
which is brilliant.
Do you know any figures off the top
of your head about the usage of your
systems?
– I can tell you that an average of about
1500 delegates received the “where was
I last night”-email and I can tell you that
from the panel-level it’s an even higher
amount of people that interacted with the
service. It could not be better.
Which convention will be the next one
you attend?
The next convention for me will be the ILMC,
the international live music conference in
London. We’ll be there for the third year
and I’ve been there personally for the last
15 years.
EBBA-host Jools Holland and co-host Birgit Schuurman, photo René Keijzer Winners at EBBA, Photo René Keijzer
Serge Grimaux, CEO of Intellitix
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
The International Music Manager Forum
is just one of many music industry
organisations that regularly attend the
Eurosonic Noorderslag. Jake Beaumont-
Nesbitt is the Executive Director and
furthermore manages the Dutch band Go
Back To The Zoo....
VIP News ask Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt …
What were your impressions oft
Eurosonic Noorderslag 2013?
– There are very exciting people here,
exciting to discover new music and a lot
of interchanges to cross borders. A lot of
border breaker acts here and Eurosonic’s
aim of bringing the Europeans together
and sharing their music is really coming
true.
Did you get any business out of this
year’s edition already?
– Yes, I think so. I got business in the
contacts and connections and I’m just
refreshing existing connections. It used to
be that you’ve come to a conference a year
ago and you meet someone for the first time
and you got a new contact, then you get
home and you’ve lost the business-
card or you are too busy to make a call.
So, sometime s you need to meet them
a second time and then you can build it
up. And that is what happens here, you
can couple up with people for a stronger
relationship on the lighter side.
How do you use Eurosonic Noorderslag
for IMMF?
– We have a good quotient of Eastern-
European managers, it is very difficult, for
example, to form a music-managers forum
in Poland. But here you can find Bratislava,
Poland, Estonia and we start to help them
to share information with the rest of us.
We’re now beginning to find a critical mass
in the industry of the countries in the east,
that’s just got to build up. That’s a thing
that really worked here for us; we’ve found
eastern Europeans and connected them to
our network.
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
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Anzeige_VIPMag_ProSky_X4.pdf 1 09.12.10 10:43
Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt - Executive Director of the IMMF
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Robert Meijerink looks after the booking
of the Eurosonic-Festival in Groningen and
as ever VIP News asks Meijerink at the end
of each festival about the current edition
of the music convention that meanwhile
has probably become to one of the most
important industry events in Europe.
VIP News ask Robert Meijerink… 5000
applications, how do you manage to
get through all this?
– Work hard, take a good listen and start
early.
When do you start on it?
– We open the applications every year
from the 1st of May and from then on
I’m listening to all the applications. Not
only once, more times, because I think it
changes a lot in your listening-process.
Sometimes I’m listening to a band and I
don’t like it, but maybe one week later I
think, oh, maybe it’s not as bad as I thought
by my first impression. That process lasts till
the deadline on November 1st.
Do most of the bands get in from of
these applications?
– Yes.
What about recommendations of
record labels, managements or agents,
are they considered separately?
– No, of course there are people who
offer advice, we’re connected with the
EBU-radio station, they’re our partners.
These people are also making suggestions
to me, more than one. All these sugges-
tions are interested to play at Eurosonic,
not every band is interested to play at
Eurosonic. So, for me as a booker it’s not
only considering these bands, I have to find
out if these bands would love to play at
Eurosonic. In other words, are they open
for them to make an assessment in their
career, because after all these years it’s still
a showcase-festival.
From the ETEP Programme, how have
those chosen progressed?
– Yes, you know, I’m always surprised, in a
good way, about the first vote. But it’s only
a first vote.
Did you expect C2C to get so many… ?
– Yes I think so. They won an award,
but it all went very fast for them. They
had a summer hit in France and now it’s
spreading all over Europe. And for all the
other mentioned etep-bands, I will say, they
have a good story in their home country .
At the time where we selected these bands
they were not as big as they are now.
These bands were booked maybe four
or five month ago, so in this time frame
something happens. ???...it builds up very
slowly or hard. For example, Palma Violets,
I like this band very much, it’s a very good
band, but on the other hand it could have
been me who say on this evening that it is
still a great band with the backing of the
BBC and stuff like that. So, it’s always out
of the hands of a booker, you know.
Did anything change on the level of
the applications? Has that become
different in the recent years?
– Actually not, the booking process is very
much the same as in the last years. Since
I’m a booker it’s the same process.
5000 applications, has that set a new
record?
– No, it’s the same as last year, just a little
bit more. Last year it was about 4700,
something like that. This year it’s a little bit
more than 5000.
More venues, more slots?
– Yes, on Wednesday evening we used two
more venues, we had the Rockpalast-co
-hosting-night, Rockpalast presenting in
the Huize Maas, and we used the Minerva
again. We used it for a very long time when
we had a focus on Germany, but then they
were reconstructing the building, so we
decided to add the museum for the very
first time. That was great, because the
museum was on the top of our list, we
wanted to collaborate with the museum
but the former director was not open for
that, the new director just said “okay, let’s
do it!”
Is this now the maximum capacity you
can run here?
– No, I don’t think so, but we are not
looking for a maximum capacity. Eurosoni c
is still a festival where so many bands
with diverse music-styles are playing. Our
festival is there to serve the radio-stations,
it’s not for selling more tickets. We think,
it is a festival for the professionals. Of
course, we welcome all the people who
love music , they are very important for us
as well, but the main thing is to serve the
new radio-station s . That has nothing to do
with quantity , more with quality.
Will there be any changes in terms
of your collaborations with Yourope,
do you reinvent anything, perhaps
improv e the selection-procedure
in terms of more internal talks and
discussions ?
– Well, we’re working on that Ceetep
program , as you know. For my point of
view, the Ceetep is very important for the
future of European music in general. After
one year I can say, we have many years to
go, there’s many work to do, there are no
problems to be solved but we really need
to stay connected with each other. I follow
it, I’m a part of it, but for me, as a booker
of Eurosonic I think there is something
Robert Meijerink, Head of Booking at Eurosonic
15
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
16
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
going on over there. We have to focus and
invest in central Europe in terms of talents,
generate talents and make them visible
over there. For me as a booker it’s great to
have such a project involved, I think that
the future is in these kinds of projects. In
order to have a great balance in Europe,
it’s not only just the Nordic or the western
part of Europe, we have to move a little bit
more to the east and try to locate and spot
new talents, book them in the right time
and in the right venue.
How do you do this? Do you travel
more often to Romania, Bulgaria or
other countries in Eastern Europe or to
other conventions and festivals there?
– During the last couple of years I’ve
visited a lot of festivals over there but
I’m not in Eastern Europe in every week,
that is not possible. But we are connect-
ed with each other, my colleague Douwe
is connected with people, who are in the
Ceetep festival- pool and there are also
journalists who are part of it. For me as
a booker the information from this pro-
ject is very interesting . Douwe is part of
the booking team of Eurosonic and based
here in Groninge n. But it’s not only Eastern
Europe, also Southern Europe, let’s focus
on Italy, there is so much going on. But
you still have to explain what Eurosonic is
about, what kind of opportunities we offer.
If there are people who love to play Euro-
sonic I always say something like: “It’s great
if you want to play Eurosonic, but are you
ready for it?”
As a booker I always have to explain that it
is even better to wait another year instead of
playing this year. So, there’s much more going
on than just listening and slating the acts.
Can you already say that there’s a shift
towards bigger and better awareness
for central European artists, not only
US- or UK-Artists?
– I don’t think that we can say that. We are
aware of the fact that we need to build on
this, that we try to build it together with
all these countries. Because even these
countries are not naturally connected with
each other, they speak different languages,
they got their own culture, some countries
were at war and it’s not a long time ago.
So, there is much to talk about, much to
discuss.
So, it is still not the case that we got
something like a change in terms of the
acceptance of European talents versus
UK/US-Talents?
– Well, not versus – okay, if you want to
compare to the UK or US, of course. But,
for example, we always have a couple of
bands from the Eastern part that really got
a high quality. You know, they can match
with bands from the US and the UK. They
have their own culture and their own style
of music. Of course, Bands from the US and
UK are very important, very influential on
the European music. But if you really dive
into the music and the culture, you will find
out, that there is such a thing like European
culture or a national culture from a country
which influences the pop artist nowadays.
They don’t copy a band from America;
they reinvent their own culture or heritage
from thirty or forty years ago. They make
something different with it and use it as a
style.
European and national politicians are
considering the value of popular music
in terms of culture. Do you wish that
there would be a stronger support for
popular music by politicians and people
in administrations?
– Yes, I think it’s needed. The pop-culture
is still a young culture and if you compare
pop-culture with theatre, classical music
or jazz – there is so much money going to
these cultural sectors. We are now in the
moment, where we show the people that
this is a new sector. I hope, that the people
from the European commission consider
pop-music officially as a sector in order of
investments and improvements, show the
people in Europe that they believe in it
and try to stimulate the local festival, the
local clubs, even the artist. In the end it’s
like a circle with the clubs, the artist, it’s
all needed. It’s a professional sector, there
is a lot of money in it, and there are many
people who earn money in the music-
business nowadays. Also there are people
who don’t earn anything, they work very
hard because they love it, they love to play,
they love to book, they love to promote or
to make records, whatever. So, I definitely
think it is time; we need the backup of the
politicians.
The First ETEP-Selection (Name of the acts and number bookings):
Palma Violets (11) C2C (9) Churches (8) Jake Bugg (8)
Ragleklods (6) Villagers (5) The Royal Concept (5)
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Mid Level Touring – What Does it Actually Cost?Allan McGowan [email protected]
FISH Reveals the Figures:… Some years ago when I was doing some work with the management
of the rock band Saxon, our neighbours in a West London office were
the managers of the then particularly successful UK band, Marillion.
As a result I got to meet and spend the odd half hour with their
formidable Scottish singer Derek Dick, much better known as Fish. I
recall one particular incident when halfway through a number at a gig
in Hong Kong he caught sight of me entering the venue, replacing
some lyrics with the greeting, “McGowan – what the fuck are you
doing here!”…As many will know Fish parted company with Marillion
a few years ago taking up a solo career and fronting his own bands.
Fish is now based back in Scotland and is still musically active and in
demand, and on his site I happened to come across this very detailed
and informative break down of what it costs the artist, in both
financial and labour terms, to undertake a mid level tour in the UK,
this particular example was his spring 2012 tour . I figured this would
interest a lot of VIP readers, so called him to ask if we could use the
article, fortunately he was happy to oblige. So, Ladies and Gentlemen
I hand you over to the informative writing of Fish… Allan McGowan.
I’m sitting here in the control room listening to the rough mixes of the
Saturday night performance at the Leamington Spa convention last
year while contemplating the May touring figures in the UK. Many
of you were interested and surprised at the last blog regarding the
state of the music industry with regards to distribution and my survival
ideas. I touched on the touring situation and the difficulties therein
and after talking to Yatta (Tour Manager) I have decided to take it a
step further and open up with some details that may surprise you.
What I am about to disclose is a picture of a typical tour costs
assessment using an unnamed venue from the May tour with
explanations where needed as to the figures and what they mean.
Firstly I am showing the costs from the promoters perspective
and where the money goes. As I said this is a “typical” venue but
sometimes there are variations, which I’ll point out, and explain:
Venue:
Capacity: 700 (on the tour we are playing venues from 400 cap ( x3)
to 1200 (1) the rest average around 650-700).
Ticket price (all prices in pounds sterling) 22.50 net after VAT 18.75
net after PRS (publishing on songs played during performance,
takes over a year to come back minus percentages to society):
£18.19.
Total receipts at Box office on capacity sell out £12,731.
Expenditure
Support: 50: (standard fee)
Catering: 300: for 10 people (sandwiches, teas coffees, soft drinks,
water -lunch, main meal at night (normally a 10 “buyout” = fend
for yourselves), 6 bottles of wine + soft drinks, water and snacks for
dressing room.
Venue Hire: 1100: normally this is inclusive of PA and lights as most
venues have their own installations, it also includes security, local
crew (‘humpers’), towels etc. Cheapest venue hire is 250 but PA
and security add on 950. Most expensive is 2250 (and that is a 400
capacity ) Average is around 1500.
PA/Lights/Security/Crew/Barriers/Towels: as I said are inclusive at this
level of gigging. Next one up they become extras or venue hire rates
go up accordingly.
Rep: 120: this what we pay per show for the promoters representative
who liaises with the venue and ourselves and takes care of the fees
due on the night of show.
Local/National press budget: 700: this is based on the total budget
split between the 12 shows The Gig Cartel are promoting for me. This
covers ads and the cost of a press officer who deals with the tour in
advance setting up interviews and notifying local and national press.
Insurance: 75: this is the insurance the promoter takes out for
cancellation/ public liability etc etc again split across 12 shows. It does
not cover me.
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
19
Ticketing: as with most venues nowadays the ticketing is outsourced
to agencies who charge what I consider exorbitant fees and earn a
tidy profit for very little in my opinion. A 4.50 charge in some cases to
process a ticket plus postage, which again appears more than enough
to cover delivery. Just more middlemen eating the ever decreasing
pie.
Total expenses for this example are £2245.
The Gig Cartel has dealt with my last couple of tours and they are
easy guys to get on with and total pros, well versed at dealing with
bands at this level. There are no hidden office expenses or extras that
seep away at the expenditure. They guarantee a fee to Yatta and
myself , cover their rep and like me hope that we ‘break percentage’
on the show. That means we
earn more money as we pass
the ‘break even’ figure where
all venue costs and expenditur e
is met. The guarantee is based
on the numbe r of tickets they
expect to sell. It is in no ones’
interests for promoters to go
out on a limb with unrealistic
figures as that means busted
promoters , and busted pro-
moters can mean busted and
potentially derailed tours and
other bands getting hit in the
aftermath if they are going
through the same promote r (as
happened to me in 91 when I
took a kicking on the Exile tour
through a bankrupted company called Bandstand who’d booked me,
sold my tickets and lost the money before they went down as a result
of other busted tours just as I hit the road with my tour! I took a 75k
hit to the head with no comeback available).
Yatta haggles over the guarantee as our costs have to be met within
that but after all I have said above realism has to exist on all sides. The
percentage splits after the break work accordingly, usually 70-30 in
favour of the artist with the Gig Cartel not making any money itself
until after the break even is hit.
My guarantee on every gig on this tour is £2250.
The break even on this show requires 273 tickets.
And now we move onto my costs! (all minus VAT):
Band wages: 750: 5 musicians, I am not included in calculations for
wages.
Crew wages: 400: 4.Sound tech; backline tech; video/light tech and
Yatta. As with the musicians these are not top-notch wages but what
I can afford and I am lucky I have great band and crew guys that have
remained loyal and give and make time for me.
Agency: 113: This is Yatta’s fee of 5% of the gig guarantee for setting
up and booking the tour with the Gig Cartel, booking hotel s, sorting
out transport, organising and printing itineraries, phone bills, laminate s
and all the other work that goes into organising a tour before we go
out. It can take months sometimes when dealing with Europea n bus
tours across a 6-7 week itinerary. The agency percentage also covers
my side of earnings after we pass the ‘break even’ point. A mainline
London booking agent can take between 10-20% of a show fee and
they generally don’t do anything apart from book the gig and only
liaise with the band’s production
manager with regards to all the
other details.
Mainline agents (especially the
good ones) are more in demand
and more difficult to get than
record deals these days as the
live scene takes over as the
artist’s main income supplier
from selling recorded product.
As I said in the previous blog the
album sells the tour and not the
other way around as it used to
be years ago when I started in
the business. I couldn’t afford
to deal with a mainline agent
as it would mean it would be
unlikely to get the numbers of gigs I do get as promoters either
couldn’t afford the fees (re read the busted promoters section above)
or I couldn’t fit the agents percentage in my budget at the level I work
on. (Add a manager’s 20% on top and you understand why I don’t
have management!).
Yatta and I have been around the block enough times to know a
good selection of European promoters, the ones we trust, the ones
we want and like to work with and who Yatta can pick up the phone
and put together a tour with. By not having ‘London’ representation
we might lose out on some festivals and other gigs but we have our
‘meat and potatoes’ and the lower costs mean we can work more
often. With no major record company behind me and at 55 years old
with the numbers I normally do it would be highly unlikely that either
a mainline agent or decent manager would look at me anyway. I don’t
take it personally. I am just realistic which is why we operate as we do.
Anyway back to the costs!
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VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Hotel (4 twin and 2 single) 400: ranges again go from 280 up to 550.
This UK tour is not on a sleeper bus. The journeys are only a matter
of a couple of hours, which would mean sleeping parked up outside
venues. On European tours the distances are greater and we couldn’t
travel those hours on a gig day. On bus tours we get a hotel every 4
days unless there’s horrendous travelling involved ( as we have on a
long section of the September tour with only a ferry cabin in 8 days).
Bus tours can mean a day room on gig day where everyone showers
etc unless there are facilities in the venue. Bus costs are around 450 a
day for something not luxurious! This UK tour requires doubles, which
means sharing for the band and crew. Yatta and I have singles.. It’s the
only thing I ‘pull rank’ on as I need my sleep to recover the voice and
need the peace and quiet to chill and steady myself. Yatta deals with
after show figures, advancing gigs etc and also needs his own space.
Not ideal but a necessity as you’ll see further down the page.
Insurance: 42: this is another of those figures split over 12 shows.
This is my cover for public liability and cancelled shows in the main.
It only covers the guarantees not any potential percentage break no
matter how many tickets are sold in advance. It doesn’t cover merch
loss or anything else. Only the costs I have incurred and lost through
a ‘no show’.. Luckily my history has been relatively clean in recent
years so although I don’t have a ‘no claims’ bonus the premiums are
not horrendous.
Splitter Van Hire: 110: the new all singing and dancing ‘Clown Carrier’,
a 9-seater Merc van that also carries all our backline equipment and my
merchandise driven by Shaun the ‘FTC’ who also, as most of you well
know, is our sound tech. On a “big bus ” tour it goes in a trailer behind
the bus, which is an additional cost, about the same as a splitter van hire!
Fuel for Van: 47: an average as you’d expect.
Fuel for Car: 25 Yes you did the figures right! There are 10 in the party
and a 9-seater Splitter van. This means yours truly will be following
the Clown Carrier again driving to gigs with whatever passenger
decide s to join me. We haven’t even registered a hire cost here!
Strings/Skins etc: 42: Not drug paraphernalia but the ‘throwaways’
the musos go through again averaged out over the 12 days. Drum
skins, drumsticks, guitar strings and bass strings break, wear out
and have to be replaced. It’s a tour cost not an individual’s. Normal
procedure .
Catering – Breakfast: 25: The only meal we pay for on gig days and
days off; sometimes inclusive in the hotel charge and sometimes
not. Some of us do and some of us – mainly me – don’t. Again an
average.
Video Hire 75: This is for the equipment we use to provide the
backscreen projections. I don’t have the budgets to go for a
‘Porcupine Tree’ visual extravaganza but we do what we can within
the constraints to put something up to make more of the show. I
use ‘in house’ lighting techs on the night who are briefed on what
we need from what we get provided with in the venue. There are
some fine guys out there on the circuit and quite a few I would
like to have kidnapped! Again at this level I can’t afford a Lighting
designer (LD) with another wage and another hotel room etc. I use
‘apps’ in the form of the video operated by ‘Secret’ on this tour.
(He did 13th Star and is a talent!) Again this figure is averaged out
over the 12 shows.
The Scottish singer Derek Dick, better known as FISH
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
Merchandising facility fee: 50: The fee we pay to venues to allow
me to sell my merchandise. We get a space we need to set up a stall
provided by the house and lighting. I can deal with that! I can’t deal
and refuse to deal with percentages of the revenue. My average take
at a venue is 3 a head, which means on average I sell 3 pounds for
every ticket holder. In a 400 crowd I therefore would take 1200, which
includes VAT. Take off the VAT and it’s 1000. T shirts have roughly a
35% profit margin so that’s 350 but as there’s DVD’s and albums
with slightly bigger margins and I don’t only sell T’s say the take after
VAT is 500.If the venue takes their 25% then it’s off the 1200 figure.
That’s 300! Then they charge VAT at 20%. That’s 360. Ok I can claim
the VAT back my end but it means the venue makes more than me
from my merch. Rough figures but you get the idea! If only I could
get a percentage of the beer they sell to the audience I bring in? .2
pints on average each, 600 pints, 25% =150 pints @ 3 each? If I had
a separate merchandiser he’d be on 100 a show plus a hotel room/
breakfast so another 150 a night comes out the nett to give me 300
after the facility charge of 50. Once again I have to take the ‘guerilla’
approach and Yatta will be handling the merch stall on this UK tour
with the rest of us helping set ups.
Rehearsals: 416: The average taken from 12 shows for just under 2
weeks full band rehearsals on half wages with a hotel room (I have
2 rooms here and potentially 3 are ‘out of towners’ with Shaun up
for the last few days) catering for the band and fuel to and from the
farm. It comes in around 5k.
And that ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls is only the rough costing
without any allowance for miscellaneous! It doesn’t take into account
the days off of which there are 3 that have no income but still have
crew wages (the guys get paid by the week, the band by show), the
hotels, the splitter van hire (it’s out with us for the duration) the fuel,
breakfasts coming in at around 1100. These all go into the overall
tour budget! But I am getting slightly ahead of myself. Meanwhile
back at the venue it’s gig day so let’s add up the Fishy costs!
In total the rough costs on my end are approximately £2496.
This gives me a loss of 246 on the guarantee but 254 ahead if I bring
the merchandise into the equation!
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Remember these figures are
on the guarantee that requires 273 people to buy tickets out of
a potentia l 700. For every extra 100 tickets I’d sell here I’d make
another 1200 with a potential of 4800 if I sold it out! And there’s
extra heads buying merch? But realistically, in both my eyes and
those of the promoters, that is unlikely to happen. 500 maybe
with a fair wind and a walk up. Maybe, maybe, maybe! I’ve been
hit before and ran a tour with only about 5 breaks in 20 shows.
I never gamble. I nearly lost a house before being way, way too
optimistic . And it’s a recession and there are a lot of bands all
chasing the same pie!
On the figures I have across the 12 dates with Gig cartel based on
guarantees and without any merchandise sales in the equation and
adding those empty 3 days off I am looking at a loss of 6.5k.
The lottery win of a complete sell out tour would be around 45k
profit . Those numbers aren’t coming up! Half that and I would be
a happy man but that’s doubtful. If it did hit say 25k there’s still the
bogeyman of HMRC and corporation tax at 24% taking 6k and
leavin g 19k. It’s still a lot of money which I would be lucky to be able
to make in this day and age and which I’d be exceedingly grateful for.
But to throw that figure in perspective in the big picture it’s the only
UK tour I could safely command for at least another 18 months
withou t another new album and apart from the Fishheads Club tour
that closed in 2011 my first full electric band touring since 2008 with
only around 10 or so shows in 2012.
The European tour in the Autumn is a completely different ball game.
Slightly bigger fees but way more expense with the added kick off
witholding taxes by relative countries. And again it will be the last
one for at least another 18 months. It’s a harvest of sorts after years
preparing the ground and you have to make sure you gather what
you can as it has to last a while. Unlike the band and crew I only get
one hit at this while they can move onto other bands and tours.
No matter how you look at it it’s all a gamble which in previous
scenarios I have lost my shirt and underpants by taking. If it comes off
then everyone is happy. I just wanted to share this with you to give
you a better idea of how it works and what lies behind the scenes
of touring at the level I am working on. It’s not a cry for sympathy or
anything else of that nature. It’s how it is and as I said before I have to
deal with it the best I can and hope the sun shines on me occasionally
and makes it a good night for walk ups on the doors!
I am eternally grateful to have made it this far down the road and to
still be able to even pull a crowd after over 30 years as a professional
singer. There are a lot of burnt out wrecks in the ditch and even more
musicians that never even got a ride that were left standing holding
dreams a long way back. I got lucky but there’s gonna come a time
when I have to pull over and park up and cut down on the driving as I
don’t want to end up a casualty. I’d like to slow down and take in the
view for a change as there’s still a lot of things I want to see and do. I
am very aware of the changes that are occurring and not all of them I
like or want to be part of. It’s always been a rough ride being an artist
but there’s only so long I can keep this ‘off – roading’ up for. This year
will be a challenging year for us all and it’s going to be interesting to
see where I end up when the dust clears!
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A Surprising DealManfred Tari [email protected]
The announcement that Mehr! Entertainment was to take over A.S.S.
Concerts was made in December 2012, and the deal has been in
place since early this year. It could be said that A.S S.was one of the
very first companies in Germany to adopt the type of company struc-
tures that have been in place in the UK or the US for a long time.
Now with Mehr! Entertainment on board, the set up has been taken
to a new level.
On one hand the purchase had a surprising element. Mehr! Is Germa-
ny’s second biggest producer of musicals (Cats and Starlight Express)
and also operates several music and event locations all over Germany
(Admiralspalast in Berlin, the Musical Dome in Cologne). The Com-
pany’s acquisition of a national promoter was an unexpected move.
VIP News asked Michael Bisping of a.s.s. concerts and Maik Klokow
of Mehr! Entertainment about their motives and their plans for this
new concert consortium...
What lead you to the deal with Mehr! Entertainment?
– On one hand the changing market situation, which makes it harder
for an independent company to stand alone …on the other the fact
that Mehr! Entertainment and A.S.S. share the same sort of business
philosophy…very hands on, value oriented, artist related…it fits!
VIP News: Where do you see the added value for being part of
the network of Mehr! Entertainment?
– Stronger marketing and sponsorship possibilities, access to the
company owned venues, creative exchange…especially because we
all come from different backgrounds.
Does the joint venture with Mehr!-Entertainment require a
change in the A&R policy of A.S.S Concerts?
– No…the diversity of our roster holds artists that would fit the venue
structure of Mehr! Entertainment perfectly. Also we have a young
team with young artists and ideas, and this was one of the reasons
for this joint venture.
Can A.S.S. keep its current staff structure?
– Nothing else is planned!
After 26 years of A.S.S. Concert being a stand-alone company,
how much are you looking forward to providing reports and
forecasts to your new stake holder?
– Will I enjoy it? I guess not, but how do they say…”With every wish,
there comes a curse!”
Do you already have an idea how this new construct will affect
yours and Dieter’s (Schubert) daily business?
– Since we will have a third M.D., purely for the commercial part of
the company, I guess we will have more time to do what we are good
at…A&R, new ideas/strategies and development of live careers!
A.S.S. also recently entered a joint venture with the music con-
vention C/O Pop in Cologne. Can you please explain about that
set up?
– The joint venture is not with the convention itself, but with the
booking agency of c/o pop. The idea behind it is simple…get in touch
with young talent early and help them develop their career by joining
forces and supporting each other.
Mehr! Entertainment has its own ticketing portal and system.
Are there already any plans in place for this to alter the current
ticketing set up of A.S.S. concerts?
– Not concretely…we still have a 2 year exclusive contract with CTS,
apart from our metal tours through Dragon Productions and our local
shows. In 2 years time we will see.
In general, do you expect that the market concentration and
consolidation will reach a new level?
– Yes…look at the acquisition of the Lanxess Arena. There will be
more like this…officially or in terms of cooperations.
Michael Bisping teams up with Mehr! Entertainment.
Photo musikmarkt.de
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
VIP News asked Maik Klokow, CEO of Mehr! Entertainment…
Mehr! Entertainment is so far highly specialized within Family
Entertainment sector, which is structured very differently than
the concert and touring sector. How is A.S.S concerts going to
be embedded within the current framework of your Company?
– Mehr! Entertainment operates several live entertainment locations
and a ticketing organization. In these areas we have already worked
together a lot with rock and pop promoters. If a promoter rents one of
our locations he is free to use our local market know how or his own.
Our resources and know how at ME is always very much welcomed
by the promoter. Next to it A.S.S. will operate his own business and
we will try to implement some synergies to boost both businesses.
The marketing and PR-strategies for family entertainment pro-
ductions is also different. Is it foreseen that concerts and tours
by A.S.S will be integrated within PR- and marketing cam-
paigns of M.E.?
– Yes, where it makes sense. We have large deals with TV stations and
other media channels so if it makes sense for one or more artists at
A.S.S. to be integrated in such a huge marketing campaign we will
do so. On the other hand if we talk about finding young artists and
helping them to become more known in the market place there we
can add competence, network, ideas and budgets as well from the
ME side.
Does the takeover require taking on new administrative staff?
– No, A.S.S will be run by Dieter and Michael, we just add a functional
GM next to them to give ME a better understanding of the daily work
and the requirements to get synergies in place.
Isn’t the family entertainment sector currently under pressure
due to the economical situation?
– Not at all; our Cats tent tour is nearly sold out; Starlight Express
celebrates its 25 anniversary and has been successful with growing
revenues in the last 4 years. Our bookings in the Theatre like, Ballet
the Revolution from BB promotion or, Heisse Zeiten, Rock, the ballet
from Thomas Collien are doing great business. So although it was
never easy to market shows it is no more difficult than in the past, you
just need a great show.
Once again referring to the differences between the family
entertainment and the concert and touring business, can you
explain the advantages and the difficulties of the musical busi-
ness?
– We are a company who works on the 3-pillar structure. The first
column is content in all fields of entertainment, like musicals, shows,
exhibitions, rock pop, heavy metal…
Second is our venue network where we present, as much as possible,
different live entertainment concepts. Some of these productions are
coming directly out of the ME world but most are coming from other
producers and presenters.
Our third column is our independent ticketing organization, which
offers an independent infrastructure to all market players for the best
way to market and sell a ticket. So having said this it is obvious that
there is more to achieve in finding the synergies which will help the
artists at A.S.S. to get a faster and more successful grip on than oth-
ers. And our venues and ticketing organization will get a push from
the booking activities of A.S.S.
When putting on a new musical, how do you investigate and
identify the market potential of a musical production?
– It’s a secret.
Is it rather your passion that determines such decisions or ra-
tional market analysis?
– Both parts are important. I don’t want to work just for the money. I
love what I do which means I look for people with the same attitude
and enthusiasm and with the same passion for live entertainment. So
the business case study is as important as the human factor and of
course sometimes is just “Bauchgefuehl”* to make the right choice
for a partner and a product.
* German word for instinct
Maik Klokow
23
VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013
THE EUROPEAN MUSIC CONFERENCE AND SHOWCASE FESTIVALwww.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl
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VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > FEBRUARY 2013 MUSIC IN SHARES
Music in SharesManfred Tari [email protected]
25
CTS EventimRuns Ticketing for the Olympic Winter Games 2014
The CTS Eventim subsidiary Partner.ru will handle the ticketing for
the Olympic Winter Games in Sotchi in Russia in 2014. The company
announced that that contract has been signed but no information
was given about the ticket volume the deal includes.
The share of CTS Eventim at Frankfurt Stock Exchange currently stood
(XETRA) at 26.35 Euro.
Live NationOpens Ticketmaster Branch in United Arab Emirates
A new Ticketmaster subsidiary in Dubai should help the Company access
new markets in the Middle East and North Africa for the company .
“We have been operating our concert business in the Middle East for
five years and in that time have seen a significant increase in the number
of concerts and sporting events taking place in the UAE and elsewhere
in the region.’ commented Alan Ridgeway, Live Nation President of
International and Emerging Markets on the move and added: “ I am
pleased that we are now in a position to offer event organisers and
ticket buyers in the region the level of service that they have grown
accustomed to in our other markets around the globe.”
David Gisham, from Ticketmaster Canada has been appointed as
managing director for the new branch which will be located in
Dubai Media City. The website for the new unit can be accessed at
www.ticketmaster .ae and already has tickets on sale for shows of Kanye
West, Dubai Jazz Festival, Metallica, Chris Tucker and Creamfields.
Since the end of 2012 the share price of Live Nation at NYSE went from
$9.31 up to $10.33.
DEAGAcquires Fred Handwerker Promotion
DEAG purchased a 51 percent stake of Fred Handwerker Promotion ,
one of the leading local promoters in North Rhine Westphalia.
According to DEAG, the company expects that new acquisition
will contribute a two digit million figure towards DEAG turnover in
2013. Handwerker Promotion has existed for more than 20 years and
achieves a turnover of 10 million Euro per year. The company director
Fred Handwerker will remain with the company.
The share price of DEAG since the end of November 2012 rose from
2.87 up to 3.50 Euro.
Alan Ridgeway, Live Nation President of International and Emerging Markets. Photo Getty Images
MONTHLY FEATURED ARTIST POWERED BY
Nina Hagen Territory: Europe Period: 2013 Agency: GLP Agent: Georg Leitner E-mail: [email protected]
Dub SyndicateTerritory: Europe Period: August Agency: Paperclip Agency Agent: Rob Berends Phone: +31 24 323 9322 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.paperclip-agency.com
Barclay James Harvest feat. Les HolroydTerritory: W orld Period: Summer 2013, Autumn/Winter 2013 Agency: Kultopolis Agent: Markus Sollner Phone: 0049-6861-939980 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.kultopolis.com
Foreigner Territory: Europe Period: 2013 Agency: GLP Agent: Georg Leitner E-mail: [email protected]
THE DOORS ALIVE - BEST DOORS TRIBUTE ACT IN WORLDTerritory: WORLD Period: 2013 Agency: VALUE ADDED TALENT Agent: DAN SILVER Phone: +44 207 704 9720 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.vathq.co.uk
MUSICAL YOUTH Territory: THE WORLD Period: MARCH 2013 - MARCH 2014 Agency: STRATOSPHERE MUSIC Agent: STEVE HUGHES Phone: +447779257295 E-mail: [email protected]
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THE DOORS ALIVE
The Joe Class Experience
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Rider Information:
Tavs Enderleit - Guitar
Simon Stougaard - Vocals
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Lars Mårtensson - Bass
Read more about The Joe Class Experience:
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