1 VIP-BOOKING.COM PREMIUM ›› VOL. 128 ›› SEPTEMBER 2010 WWW.VIP-BOOKING.COM Some of the VIP crew have recently re- turned from long and wide corridors of Tempelhof. The almost monumental pas- senger areas of this legendary Berlin air- port are now the new home of Popkomm, and facilitate the business of internation- al music business people rather than the devious journeying of the international spies and men and women of mystery of yesteryear – although, come to think of it I have met a few characters at various music conferences who might quality for the latter descriptions! In fact if I’m hon- est I do get the “What exactly do you do?” query myself every now and again – still as I’m not even sure myself what I want to be when I grow up how can I expect anybody else to know? Anyway, I didn’t make it to Popkomm myself, as I was dou- ble booked into a cabin with a sauna by a lake in Finland – don’t ask! Bit you’ll be glad to know that you will find reports on the return of Popkomm in this issue. I will however be heading to Hamburg to take part in various panels during Reep- erbahn Campus in the next few days, fol- lowed by a trip to ‘You Are In Control’ in Reykjavik at the start of October, then to Paris for the MaMA event in mid October – again details are in this issue and we’ll report back from all of these events in the October issue. Some of the panels in these upcoming conferences will no doubt address live music topics, festivals, touring, ticket prices and the like, and it’ll be interest- ing to see, considering certain develop- ments whether the sector continues to be referred to in the upbeat tones which we have become used to. Following a summer of cutting ticket prices Live Na- tion’s 4th quarter returns are expected to make even more distressing reading, par- ticularly for shareholders, than the ‘disap- pointing’ 3rd quarter figures. AEG, who seemed to be quietly getting on with it have just been sued by Michael Jackson’s mother, who is seeking unspecified dam- ages alleging the firm failed to provide life-saving equipment and oversee a doc- tor who was hired to look out for the pop star’s well-being as he prepared for what were intended to be his comeback con- certs in London. Even HMV who seemed to have sorted out the shortfall problems in their core music retail business by moving into live with the purchase of the Mama Group are having their problems (see report in this issue). To add to it all, UK Collection So- ciety PRS are proposing to raise Perform- ance Royalty Rates, at the moment UK promoters pay 3% on concert returns, in other territories this is a lot higher, with Italian promoters for instance paying 10%, so there are fears that this could rate could escalate dramatically, responses to an industry open consultation document are due in the next month. In the light of all this Music Tank, a busi- ness development network for the UK music industry, owned and operated by 1 McGowan’s Musings: Allan McGowan 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 VIP- News
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1
VIP-BOOKING.COM
PreMIuM ›› VOl. 128 ›› SePTeMBer 2010
www.VIP-BOOKING.COM
Some of the VIP crew have recently re-
turned from long and wide corridors of
Tempelhof. The almost monumental pas-
senger areas of this legendary Berlin air-
port are now the new home of Popkomm,
and facilitate the business of internation-
al music business people rather than the
devious journeying of the international
spies and men and women of mystery of
yesteryear – although, come to think of
it I have met a few characters at various
music conferences who might quality for
the latter descriptions! In fact if I’m hon-
est I do get the “What exactly do you do?”
query myself every now and again – still
as I’m not even sure myself what I want
to be when I grow up how can I expect
anybody else to know? Anyway, I didn’t
make it to Popkomm myself, as I was dou-
ble booked into a cabin with a sauna by
a lake in Finland – don’t ask! Bit you’ll be
glad to know that you will find reports on
the return of Popkomm in this issue.
I will however be heading to Hamburg to
take part in various panels during Reep-
erbahn Campus in the next few days, fol-
lowed by a trip to ‘You Are In Control’ in
Reykjavik at the start of October, then to
Paris for the MaMA event in mid October
– again details are in this issue and we’ll
report back from all of these events in the
October issue.
Some of the panels in these upcoming
conferences will no doubt address live
music topics, festivals, touring, ticket
prices and the like, and it’ll be interest-
ing to see, considering certain develop-
ments whether the sector continues to
be referred to in the upbeat tones which
we have become used to. Following a
summer of cutting ticket prices Live Na-
tion’s 4th quarter returns are expected to
make even more distressing reading, par-
ticularly for shareholders, than the ‘disap-
pointing’ 3rd quarter figures. AEG, who
seemed to be quietly getting on with it
have just been sued by Michael Jackson’s
mother, who is seeking unspecified dam-
ages alleging the firm failed to provide
life-saving equipment and oversee a doc-
tor who was hired to look out for the pop
star’s well-being as he prepared for what
were intended to be his comeback con-
certs in London.
Even HMV who seemed to have sorted
out the shortfall problems in their core
music retail business by moving into live
with the purchase of the Mama Group are
having their problems (see report in this
issue). To add to it all, UK Collection So-
ciety PRS are proposing to raise Perform-
ance Royalty Rates, at the moment UK
promoters pay 3% on concert returns, in
other territories this is a lot higher, with
Italian promoters for instance paying
10%, so there are fears that this could rate
could escalate dramatically, responses to
an industry open consultation document
are due in the next month.
In the light of all this Music Tank, a busi-
ness development network for the UK
music industry, owned and operated by
1
McGowan’s Musings:
Allan McGowan
The VIP-Booking european live entertainment BookAdvertising 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.
VIP-News: Please tell us about the network of supporters. Who are these people and what are there motives?
Beatrice Stirnimann: We have a group of
commercial sponsors who can buy a limit-
ed number of tickets. They pay an upfront
fee to be part of the festival. Further, we
have a very prestigious members club. We
have a lot of applications for participation
but keep the club limited to 40 people.
They support us in order we are in the po-
sition to afford our most expensive artists.
Said support by Basel residents is unique
and I doubt that such a members’ club
consisting of festival fans could be found-
ed in another city.
VIP-News: How is the supporters network involved in the development of the AVO SESSIONS?
Matthias Mueller: The festival format,
program and concept is our idea and crea-
tion. We are quite experienced in balanc-
ing artist’s needs and requests and realize
whether an artist fits our format or not.
Therefore, a direct contact between artist
and sponsor is not necessary.
VIP-News: Does the supporters network also have an impact on the booking poli-cy?
Beatrice Stirnimann: Not directly, but if
they have an input, we are happy to have a
drink with them.
VIP-News: How many people are working full time and how is the company struc-tured?
Matthias Mueller: For all operational work
it’s Beatrice who is in charge with a team of 9
full time managers. So I have the privilege to
focus on the program and special projects
or to help wherever we have a problem.
VIP-News: Does it become more difficult to convince artists to accept the production settings?
Beatrice Stirnimann: No, we used to have
more problems in the earlier days when
our format was not yet known. Today,
all big agencies and many different art-
ist managers have experienced our high
standards of production and they usually
are very happy here.
VIP-News: Which stage riders and produc-tions caused you to raise your eyebrows?
Matthias Mueller: James Brown wanted to
use a helicopter to come to town from the
airport. As I explained to his manager that
it would take the same time from the air-
field to the helicopter as it takes to get to
the venue via car, he accepted our stretch
limo… But basically, if an act accepts to
play our format, he does this for a special
reason and we always found ways of com-
promise so far. Our production director is
Christoph Stahel, who is also in charge at
the Montreux Jazz Festival, so this is a very
experienced and relaxed guy.
VIP-News: The AVO Sessions are widely ex-ploited media wise in terms of broadcast ar-rangements. You even managed to estab-lish your own media format. Can you please explain the settings for this part of the AVO Sessions; how does it work and how long did it take to develop this format?
Beatrice Stirnimann: This is a long story
and without all the legends that have al-
ready played our festival, we would never
have reached this level. A lot of our success
is based on a system of classical WIN-WIN
situations. If the artist gets what he wants,
he is prepared to grant rights to the festi-
val in order that the festival can finance the
high production costs of such high level TV
recordings. We do not earn money from
the broadcasts; we just want cost recovery
for us and for the artist. We want to control
what happens so that the artist can trust
us.
VIP-News: Has the demand for live concert recordings by TV stations risen in the re-cent past and how many media partners do you work together with?
Matthias Mueller: No, the number of slots
for live music has decreased so you need
to offer the TV channels more for less
money. That’s what they get: More quality,
more variety of genres and a very reliable
service. On the other hand we can create
a huge impact for acts with new products
what makes our festival sexy.
VIP-News: How much do you have to deal with affiliated partners of artists such as record companies, publishers & manag-ers when it comes to broadcasting agree-ments?
Beatrice Stirnimann: Every artist has a dif-
ferent procedure and system of work. You
have to understand a lot of different com-
panies and personalities. You need to be
able to travel and convince people. Based
on 25 years of successful work we have
achieved what it needs for this.
Beatrice Stirnimann and Matthias Muller with Grace Jones
14
VIP-BOOKING.COM
VIP- News - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 0
VIP-News: In which way have these kind of arrangements evolved in the last of couple of years, in particular since you have to consider more and various media formats for clearance?
Matthias Mueller: You can’t move in gi-
ant steps. Managers need to understand
what’s in it for their clients and then they
push the agents to book their artist at our
festival. But one more time: If you don’t de-
liver the top-level quality at first, you won’t
achieve managers’ attention.
VIP-News: When you are intent on book-ing a certain artist, who do you approach first, the particular concert agent or the manager of the artist or even his record company?
Matthias Mueller: Of course it’s the agent
who is our contact person. In special cas-
es – for example with new products – we
have direct contact with band managers
and record companies. But it’s not our
goal to go around the agent, that would
confuse the process.
VIP-News: Quite early on you developed hospitality packages for corporate clients. What do these packages include and do these arrangements still sell well these days?
Beatrice Stirnimann: You have to put
more into a package than in the earlier
days. But basically it’s the same: The price
earning ratio has to be fair compared to
other music festivals or similar events. The
companies like our event, as they know
exactly what they get. We again sold all
hospitality packages in 2010.
VIP-News: AVO Sessions became a brand for concerts of top artists in a more or less exclusive environment due to the limited capacity of the Festsaal Basel. What does this means for the ultimate fans of certain
artists? Where does the audience comes from and what is your point of view on sec-ondary ticketing platforms?
Beatrice Stirnimann: Fans have to be es-
pecially well informed and have to secure
their tickets fast. We sell out some shows
within minutes or hours. Our sold capacity
is regularly between 97 and 100% of the
whole ticket capacity and this has been
our tradition for years.
VIP-News: Were there any shows that ever caused you sleepless nights?
VIP-News: What is the most important is-sues that IDKV has dealt with since it’s be-ginning in 1985?
We are proud that we were able to pro-
vide professional education of the young
generation through the establishment
of an official apprenticeship. More then
8.000 (!) young people were approved
as “Event Managers” since 2001. We had
decisive influence in the German tax leg-
islation, mainly the withholding taxation
in the beginning of this century and the
later transfer of the ruling of the European
Court into German Law as well as the art-
ist social security fund legislation, which
we constantly try to keep as practicable as
possible.
We started in the 80’s to develop standard
form contracts for promoters, agents and
managers, which are used today by almost
all companies. Since 1995 we have been
releasing constant statistical data on the
German concert and event market provid-
ing the only statistic information available
to the branch.
Just now we are working on the foundation
of a bdv-collecting society in the interest
of more efficient recognition of the ancil-
lary copyright of the promoter. This will be
unique in Europe. Our members are paying
the monthly artist social fund contribution
via an association ruled organisation. This is
a unique relief on administration.
And finally we succeeded in establishing,
with LEA - The German Live Entertain¬ment
Award, a highly renowned media event,
which inimitably gathers every participant
of the branch for one night in one location.
By this, LEA has become ‘the’ yearly Ger-
man meeting point for the whole industry
and a most helpful voice for all issues of
our business.
VIP-News: What is the biggest challenge for bdv in the years to come?
Jens Michow: Every year brings new chal-
lenges. If you had asked me five years ago,
I wouldn’t have dreamt of what we have to
deal with today. One of my personal aims
is that the withholding taxation system
gets totally abolished as in the Nether-
lands for example. I can’t see any reason,
why at least European artists and produc-
tion companies shouldn’t be taxed in their
country of residence as is common proce-
dure for all other companies.
I am personally most involved as a lecturer
in business education - be it in business
schools or universities like the Pop-Acade-
my Mannheim or the high school in Muni-
que. Also the 2 ½ year apprenticeship of the
event manager must become a more highly
recognised qualification in the school sys-
tem responsible for the theoretical part as
well as by the companies responsible for
the practical part of the education. The time
of learning by doing has long expired. The
industry needs real professionals, mainly
with serious mercantile knowledge.
Last but not least: although an association
can’t do much about it: the industry has to
make strong efforts in order to maintain
control over artist fees and in consequence
ticket prices. In Germany for two years in a
row we have been faced with a substantial
downturn in the turnover of the concert
and event market. So far, it might not have
led to severe consequences for many pro-
moters, as sometimes less may even mean
more, however: the writing is on the wall!
VIP-BOOKING.COM THE VIP-BOOK VIP-NEWS
Having the right tools for the job is often the key to success. Through our ongoing communication with key Live
Entertainment Industry Professionals, we have developed a range of services to meet the demands of agents, pro-
moters, talent buyers, venue bookers etc. It’s no coincidence that we are now considered to be the No. 1 information
provider for this thriving industry.
The VIP-BookThe ultimate print directory for the Eu-ropean Entertainment Industry, packedwith contacts and easy to use. An es-sential reference book for every offi ceproviding basic contact informationand a solid overview.
VIP-Booking.com VIP-NewsWritten by our highly merited journalists, Al-lan McGowan and Manfred Tari, with over 50years of experience between them in the En-tertainment Industry, VIP-News brings the lat-est news and views directly to your computerkeeping you up to date at all times.
VIP-Booking.com is now the most widely used online information service for the European Live Entertainment Industry with subscribers in over 25 countries. Using the latest technology and state of the art tools, the service provides in-depth information streamlining the day-to-day operations of industry professionals, saving both time and money.
deadmau5Territory: UK / EuropePeriod: UK Winter 2010 Europe Spring - Summer 2011Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Ent.Agent: Steve HoganE-mail: [email protected]: www.deadmau5.com
within TemptationTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: March 2011 and onwardsAgency: X-Ray TouringAgent: Paul BoltonPhone: + 44 (0) 20 7749 3500E-mail: [email protected]: www.xraytouring.com
Adler’s AppetiteTerritory: EuropePeriod: 1/2/2011 - 1/3/2011Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: [email protected]: www.adlersappetiteonline.com
Groove ArmadaTerritory: Europe / WorldwidePeriod: Europe Winter 2010 Worldwide 2011Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Ent.Agent: Steve HoganE-mail: [email protected]: www.groovearmada.com
Music Exporters South Africa: “Popkomm 2010 was very helpful
for us because we were able to meet people from different cultures,
with whom we will exchange music in the future, among them Ger-
many, Denmark, China, Austria and India.”
www.popkomm.com
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, buy-ing and selling notices, inquiries or alike. Announcements should be emailed to [email protected]
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 0 5
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VIP- News - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 0
Popkomm 2010 upbeat after relaunch
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
In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-News readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at [email protected]
MeMber presentation ››
In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-News readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at [email protected]
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About Our Company
VIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and largest data-base for the European Live Entertainment Industry www.vip-book-ing.com developed as a tool for industry professionals. Since it’s launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered our subscrib-ers 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 – inclu-ding VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract.
Please visit vip-booking.com for further information.
Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.
VIP- News - S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 0
european Talent Broker AB
European Talent Broker is an independent company within the
Swedish music industry. Our main activities are to exclusively repre-
sent record-artists as tour agents, tour producers and/or as manage-
ment. The company represents 10 artists today. (enclosure: roster)
History/ The company Siljemark Production was founded by Lars
Telbrant and Jonas Siljemark in 1992 and grew to one of the bigger
agency’s in Europé within it’s niche during the 1990s, with clients
such as Ace of Base, Dr Alban, E-type, Haddaway, Culture Beat, Red-
nex, Lutricia McNeal and many more. During the autumn of 1997
Siljemark Production merged with Sweden based United Stage and
formed one of the largest agency’s in Scandinavia called United
Stage Artists 2001. Lars Telbrant sells his stocks in United Stage and
founds the new agency and management company European Tal-
ent Broker AB Geographic/ The Company is situated in Rosersberg
just outside of Stockholm, Sweden, its focus is on the World wide
market Activity/ European Talent Broker is a service company for its
client. The agency part of the company’s responsibilities include…
* Booking tours and concerts * Economising the project * Renting of
technical equipment / hiring of personnel * Arranging travel, trans-
port and accommodation * Project direction and co-ordination
* Sponsorships * Consultation in general management with the
project * Consultation in marketing and copyright legislation * Con-
sultation with record companies. Current Roster/ ALCAZAR / Top 3
in Germany, Top 2 in Italy, Top 13 in UK etc during 2001 with the
song “Dancing in the discoteque” ARMY OF LOVERS / New album
out “Le Grand docu-Soup” BOBBY FARRELL / Former member of
Boney M with more than 150 million sold units and hits like “Daddy
Cool”, “Sunny, Ma Baker”, “Rivers of Babylon”, “ Rasputin” and many
more. Bobby is currently working in the studio on his new album
together with parts of the “Army of Lovers/Alcazar/Vacuum” pro-
duction team. This is something to look up for. BOSSON / Top ten
in 10 country’s in Europé with the song “One in a million” DEE / The
sidekick of E-type has gone solo, now with two released singel’s in
the luggage. The new upcoming singel is the titel team from the
American movie “Blade” DR ALBAN / World wide mega star with
over 11 million albums sold. Hits: “Its my life” “Sing halleluja”, “Hello
Africa”, “No coke” and many more. LUTRICIA MCNEAL / 1,2 million of
the debut album “My side of town” and 1,5 million of the first singel
“ Aint it just a way” sold throughout the world. New album released
during 2002 partly produced by Brian Rawling (Tina Turner, Cheer,
Enrique Iglesias etc.) REDNEX / Number 1 in the German chart for 10
weeks with the song “spirit of the hawk” autumn 2000. Other hits
“Cotton eye joe”, “Old pop in an oak”, Wish you where here”. New
singel of the upcoming album is released during march 2002 RICHI
M / Released his debut album 1998 and the second album “Songs of
tomorrow” the year after. Both of them top 20 in the Swedish chart
and was also nominated to the Swedish Grammy Award in the cat-
egory of “Modern dance”. Richi M makes us dance. A few people are
born to make people dance and he is one of them. The first singel of
the new album will be released soon. VACUUM / Biggest territory’s,
Scandinavia and Russia. Biggest hit: “II breathe” Specialization /
Dance & pop oriented festivals Rantarock festival in Vaasa Finland
Beat machine festival / Beiruth, Dubai Gorgy park dance festival /