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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 135 ›› APrIl 2011

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The never-ending pursuit of music indus-

try knowledge and news for your infor-

mation and, hopefully, entertainment has

taken me to Estonia, Scotland and France

since the last issue of VIP-News. The first

of these trips, to Tallinn Music Week, also

attended by VIPs Ronni and Peter, cer-

tainly had its thrills and spills; Eurosonic/

Noorderslag’s Peter Smidt and Ruud Ber-

ends and myself found ourselves staring at

the still iced over sea from the roof of what

looked like a Soviet era concert hall with

some very ominous cracking noises com-

ing from under our feet. I joined several

others slipping on treacherously icy pave-

ments – I’d show you the bruises but we’d

have to know each other very well! – but

the worst casualty was Martin Elbourne

of the Great Escape and Glastonbury who

unfortunately broke three ribs in a fall – we

wish him a speedy recovery! However, as

you will see from our extensive report the

event itself was certainly worth visiting.

The visit to the ‘Athens of the North’, Scot-

land’s second biggest City and it’s capital,

Edinburgh was completely opposite in

terms of weather, unseasonably warm and

sunny, but ‘Wide Days’ was also a confer-

ence and showcase event worth attend-

ing. I’ve always been impressed – and I

don’t say this purely because of my family

connections, honest! – by the concentra-

tion of the panel audiences at events like

this and GoNorth, and by their willingness

to ask questions. I was quite surprised in

Tallinn by the numbers of lap-tops and

smart phones in use during the panels

– some were taking notes of course but

certainly many were doing other things.

Much has been written about a generation

of ‘multi-taskers’, so maybe this is what

we’re seeing and maybe we’ll just have to

get used to it – or make panels so dynamic

and interesting that everyone will be to-

tally absorbed!

Paris by the way was to discuss plans for

the second edition of the MaMA Event,

which will again be based in the venues

along Pigalle and in the cafes and bars of

Montmartre and will take place on Octo-

ber 21-22 – watch this space!

With the festival season not far off and

with the US business in particular hoping

to avoid the slow sales, cancellations and

postponements of last year the 2011 buzz

phrase appears to be ‘value for money’.

Following the news that U2’s 360° tour has

overtaken the Rolling Stones’ Bigger Bang,

making £341m with 20 gigs to go, Manag-

er Paul McGuinness said he and the band

were proud of the tour. “That dollar figure

for the gross looks enormous,” he said. “Of

course I can’t tell you what the net is, but

I can tell you that the band spend enor-

mous sums on production for their audi-

ence. Fans all over the world agree that a

ticket to U2 360° is good value for money.”

Talking about the 2011 US Festival season

John D’Esposito, founder of US festival

Bamboozle planned for April 29-May 1 in

East Rutherford, N.J, remarked, “It’s like a

Walmart/Costco kind of scenario,we are

providing so much entertainment. If you

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McGowan’s Musings:

Allan McGowan

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professionals all over europe. You will find no better place to expose your

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added up the eight bands on every-

body’s main stage and put their average

ticket prices together, then match that

to the (entry cost), it’s a value.”

Certainly Festivals internationally gener-

ally held up well last year so maybe the

fan is looking for a measurably higher

return for his or her money, this year’s

Coachella, for example will present more

than 150 bands (does anybody actually

get around to seeing them all?) includ-

ing Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye

West and The Strokes.

On the touring circuits there is a return

to ‘packaging’, New Kids on the Block

and the Backstreet Boys for instance are

presenting a double bill (I can’t wait!).

So, as long as it’s not just a case of ‘Never

mind the quality – feel the width’ I sup-

pose you can’t deny that these types

of bills are value for money, but it’s not

always the ‘All You Can Eat’ restaurants

that send you home feeling good about

what you’ve consumed.

On that note Ladies and Gentlemen,

here’s an absolutely huge edition of the

News to get your teeth into!

InitiativeMusik to support eTePManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

The German organisation Initiative

Musik has announced that it will pro-

vide funding for the European Talent

Exchange Programme. ETEP recently

received EU Culture Fund support of

about 2.1 million Euro receive and will

now receive 50.000 Euro per annum

from Initiative Musik for a buy on that

will ensure that for the next five years 4

German bands will play at the Euroson-

ic festival in Groningen.

1st Top Ten Booking Chart by ETEP

The organizers of the ETEP have re-

vealed the first official booking chart

for the festival season 2011. So far The

Great Escape has confirmed the most

bookings confirming 9 acts, followed

by Europavox and Printemps De Bourg-

es with 7 bookings each and the only

US-festival Coachella with 6 bookings.

Anna Calvi GB 8

White Lies GB 5

Crystal Fighters ES 4

James Vincent

Mc Morrow IE 3

Kvelertak NO 3

Selah Sue BE 3

Moss NL 3

James Blake GB 2

Mount Kimbie GB 2

SBTRKT (Live) GB 2

Anna Calvi part of the ETEP

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The German Live Entertainment Awards (LEA) this year held in

Frankfurt for the first time as part of the Musikmesse Frankfurt,

attracted some unexpected additional media awareness.

The 6th edition of the LEA definitely didn’t turn out as the organ-

izers and its jury expected. The prominent German promoter

Marek Lieberberg refused all awards that he was supposed to be

honoured with. Instead Lieberberg delivered an attack on almost

everything to do with the Awards and in particular Jens Michow

and the LEA Jury. The trade magazine Pollstar quoted him as say-

ing, “We want our achievements to be taken seriously and not ridi-

culed by this dubious conglomerate.”

This statement was only one of many. Launched by Michow,

president of the trade organisation bdv (Bundesverband Veran-

staltungswirtschaft) in recent years the LEA has been generally

accepted as an annual platform to recognise the various players

of the German live music industry. But this year’s edition mainly

turned out to be perfect platform for Lieberberg to undertake a

thorough media bashing blaming Michow, the LEA Jury, the cer-

emony itself and the rest of the German live music industry, tell-

ing Pollstar that the LEA is a: “so-called award show with obscure

categories and c-grade prominence.”

In an interview in the daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt

Lieberberg said that the organizers of the LEA were not able even

to evaluate Lieberberg’s lifetime of work. In 2007 the promoter

was very upset when he attended the award show and didn’t win

a best festival LEA for Rock Am Ring in that year.

Michow, who could be said to have a Lieberberg sized ego, re-

sponded to his many media interview statements with a press re-

lease in responding to what he considered insulting accusations

made by Lieberberg.

One of the 1.100 visitors that had been in Frankfurt commented

afterwards that Lieberberg probably wrongly thought this year’s

LEA edition stood for Lieberberg Entertainment Award.

However, leA 2010 winners at a Glance

• BestArena-Tour-HeleneFischer

-„Sowieichbin“-Tournee2010

By Dieter Semmelmann for Semmel Concerts

• BestFestival2010-M´eraLuna

By Folkert Koopmans for FKP Scorpio

Konzertproduktionen

• Club-Tour2010-BenL OncleSoulTour

By Hamed Shahi-Moghanni for SSC Group

• ConcertoftheYear-JamieCullumatStadtpark

Hamburg

By Ossy Hoppe for Wizard Promotions Konzertagentur

• BestTourpromoteroftheyear-WizardPromotions

Konzertagentur

Ossy Hoppe

• Bestlocalpromoteroftheyear-HannoverConcerts

GmbH

Michael Lohmann

• Bestagent/manager-SundanceCommunications

Oliver Wirtz

• BestNewcomerSupport-ReeperbahnFestivalGbR

Alexander Schulz

• ConcertCluboftheYear-Jazz-ClubA-Trane

Sedal Sardan

• Concerthalloftheyear-Kuppelsaal

by Joachim König for Hannover Congress

• JuryAward–SafteyconceptforRockAmRing

Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur

• LifetimeArchivementAward-MarekLieberberg

ShowoftheYear-BülentCeylan

by Silke Marthen and Stefan Schornstein for

KULTURBUREAU & S-Promotion

• NewStyleEventoftheYear-30SecondstoMars

sponsoredbythefashionbrandNewYorker

Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur

Personality Clash surrounds leA-AwardManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

Helene Fischer and Michael Bolton performed at LEA 2011 Ossy Hoppe wins concert of the year at LEA 2011

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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

VIP-News attended the City Session

organized by Festival Awards at the Is-

lington O2 Academy on April 15, which

dealt with two areas of financial con-

cern for Festivals, PRS and Policing.

In June last year PRS announced a re-

view of the tariff for live music events.

Although the existing tariff is at 3% one

of the lowest in the world, the Collec-

tion Society’s timing for this announce-

ment was not good, coming at a time

when ticket sales were dropping off

and a VAT rise was due to make these

tickets even more expensive.

PRS set in place a consultation system,

calling for comment and opinion from

the business concerning the Live Music

Tariff.

As yet no decision on the rate has been

taken, but following approaches from

a worried festival industry about the

effects that any rises would have on al-

ready high budgets concessions have

been announced for Festivals for the

element of the ticket price covering

non-music content, such as comedy

and theatre, and accommodation and

camping.

At the Session Director of Public Per-

formance Sales Keith Gilbert said he

could not predict the outcome of the

PRS For Music Board’s decision – ex-

pected later this year, but he told del-

egates it was quite likely there would

be no change to the tariff in the near

future. He stressed that PRS wishes

to continue a dialogue with the busi-

ness, and even though the formal

consultation period is closed urged

festival organisers to get in touch with

thoughts and concerns so that PRS

could institute the best solution for all

concerned.

Continuing dialogue was also the mes-

sage from Derek Smith, Director of Fi-

nance, West Midlands Police, the officer

with overall responsibility for Charging

for Police Services.

The City Sessions is a series of regional

mini-conferences produced by Festival

Awards Ltd, organiser of the UK Festi-

val Awards and Conference in Novem-

ber. It is supported by AcademyMusic

Group, Doodson Entertainment and

MusicTank.

No Change to Prs FOr Music Fees for Festivals this YearAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Pop Up, the music convention based

in Leipzig has announced the can-

cellation of the exhibition part of

the music fair. While the festival and

conference program will go on as

scheduled, the exhibition, until now

considered one of the key assets

for this business event, has suffered

from a lack of demand by potential

exhibitors.

The tenth edition of the event will

take place on May 20/21. For further

information please check:

www.leipzig-popup.de

Pop up Cancels exhibitionManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

Leipzig Pop Up 2010

Keith Gilbert - PRS

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For many years, and particularly during

the ‘golden’ period when live music was

riding high as the ‘cash cow’ of the music

industry, it was often said, and accepted

pretty much as fact that “You cannot rep-

licate the live experience.” However many

fans that attend concerts in major venues

or festivals have become more and more

used to watching the artists on giant

screens, rather than straining to see those

tiny figures off in the distance.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that there

seem to be more and more instances of

live shows being made available on a vari-

ety of remote screens: Prodigy have been

screening a concert film, entitled ‘World’s

On Fire’ and recorded at the Milton Key-

nes Bowl last July, in cinemas from 31 Mar.

Also a new AC/DC concert film will be pre-

miered on the UK’s largest cinema screen,

apparently. The movie, called ‘AC/DC Live

At River Plate’, will be screened at London’s

Hammersmith Apollo on 6 May. The film is

of a 2009 concert in Buenos Aires, Argen-

tina, and features performances of no less

than 19 songs. The screening is really to

promote the DVD and Blu-Ray release of

the live show, which will follow on 9 May.

Also Spotify has streamed performances

by Delphic, The Naked And Famous and

Pony Pony Run Run, plus a DJ set by La

Roux’s Elly Jackson, from London’s Koko

venue on 5 Apr. The event is a co-promo-

tion with Nissan, as part of its Nissan Juke

‘Behind The Hit’ campaign. Spotify’s Gen-

eral Manager, Jonathan Foster said of the

event: “Giving our users access to great

live music in their own home is the next

step in the Spotify experience. We hope to

see many more in the near future!”

So, what with improvements in sound in

cinemas and on smaller screens plus all

sorts of other effects including 3-D and

holograms, maybe we can no longer take it

for granted that “You can’t recreate the live

experience.” Let’s see what happens next...

recreating the live experienceAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

AC/DC Movie screened at cinemas

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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

“Wide Days is the type of event I would

like to attend myself. Like our regular Born

To Be Wide nights, the aim is to provide

a focal point for all elements of the Scot-

tish music business/scene, and provide

a bridge to the rest of the UK and Conti-

nental Europe. This is how Olaf Furniss,

journalist and founder of Born To Be Wide,

sums up the aspirations of his organisation

and this event.

This was the second edition of an intimate

but highly effective one day event, mainly

attracting the Scottish music industry but

with a few, like myself, making the trip

across the border – from down south.

The 2010 edition produced results for the

small number of showcasing acts, with

Meursault playing Glastonbury, and Car-

rie Mac, supporting Alexandra Burke on a

nationwide arena tour. Found went on to

sign to Chemikal Underground and Hope-

less Heroic landed a management deal

with Scott Cohen. This year’s gigs attract-

ed capacity audiences at Cabaret Voltaire

for Withered Hand and Rachel Sermanni

– who also played a couple of numbers in

the crowded front room of the flat which

hosted a welcoming party for delegates

on the night before the main day of the

event - and Sneaky Pete’s for Letters and

Paws, while the Electric Circus was 80% full

for Capitals and Gogobot.

Panels took place in the wood panelled

splendour of Teviot Row House included

and were all well attended and lively – it

appeared to me that those who wished to

be informed were and took away good in-

formation from sessions such as ‘Not Just

SXSW’, which yours truly took part in, Mu-

sic Making Money (there’s a novel idea!),

with The Orchard’s Scott Cohen and Music

in Films – some really good tips on getting

music on to film and TV soundtracks. The

keynote interview featured Regular Mu-

sic co-founder Barry Wright – some great

stories of the early days of promoting Pink

Floyd in 1968 and finding Edinburgh floors

for The Ramones, Iggy Pop and others to

sleep on, before progressing to putting on

shows with the likes of U2, Oasis and Frank

Sinatra.

Furniss, who like Helen Sildna of Tallin Mu-

sic Week is a well known figure at many of

the international conference and show-

case events told VIP-News, “The panels

are intended to be entertaining, as well

as informative, while the workshops are

geared to providing information which

will be useful to young bands and veter-

ans alike. Our events are designed to act as

a leveller and give senior industry figures

an insight into new ideas and approaches

happening at grassroots level. This year

we set up a facility whereby delegates

could book appointments with many of

the speakers and the idea is to get people

to socialise during the day and later in the

evening. With the showcases we prefer

to have a small number of acts and work

closely with them to make the best use of

the opportunities. It is important that the

industry guests should be able to enjoy

the music, rather than feeling that they are

being initiated in some kind of brainwash-

ing cult.”

This was a very enjoyable event and its

compactness allows you to relax whilst ac-

tually seeing and hearing a lot. As I said in

the panel, SXSW started off as a localised

and reasonably compact event and look at

it now, so lets hope that Wide Days doesn’t

get enormously wider, but it has some

way to go before that happens, and in the

meantime definitely merits support.

More Information: www.widedays.com

‘wide days’ in edinburghAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Rachel Sermanni

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A PRS survey has revealed that over three

quarters of people interviewed in Man-

chester were happy that the local music

scene offered a good variety of gigs to

choose from. Newcastle was close behind

on the percentage of satisfied live music

fans, but Manchester can now claim offi-

cial recognition of having the best music

scene in the country, beating all other UK

cities and regions.

However it may really depend on how

easily the interviewees are satisfied as op-

posed to the actual share of available live

music. It would seem that London must

have more gigs – albeit over a larger area

– but only came fifth in the live music sat-

isfaction survey.

Londoners are notoriously hard to please!

Thefulllistingis:

1. Manchester - 77%

2. Newcastle - 77%

3. Nottingham - 73%

4. Lancashire - 70%

5. London - 68%

Meanwhile,thosesurveyedinthefollow-

ingareasfeltthereweren’tenoughlocal

gigs:

1. Derbyshire - 71%

2. Somerset - 65%

3. Yorkshire - 59%

4. Kent - 56%

5. Essex - 54%

PRS spokesman Barney Hooper told CMU:

“Local live music gigs are a great way to

bring communities together and for peo-

ple to discover local talent. Manchester

has always been a hot contender as music

capital of the UK, but we also thoroughly

encourage venues in the surrounding ar-

eas, such as Derbyshire, to seek local talent

and host more live gigs”.

Manchester Tops Prs surveyof local Gig sceneAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Manchester tops UK Local Gig Scene

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FesTIVAls

The Green evolutionManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

Julie’s Bicycle Announce New Industry

GreenAwards:

London, 18th April 2011 – Julie’s Bicycle,

the not-for-profit organisation working

with the creative industries to support en-

vironmental sustainability, has announced

the award of their prestigious Industry

Green (IG) certificates to fourteen UK mu-

sic festivals.

Thesepioneeringfestivalsare:

Big Chill

Glastonbury

Grass Roots

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Isle of Wight

Latitude

Leeds

Lovebox

Reading

Shambala

Sonisphere

T in the Park

Truck

Wood

The IG certification scheme recognises

evidenced commitment to understand-

ing, measuring, improving and communi-

cating environmental initiatives with an

emphasis on lowering carbon emissions

year on year. IG certifications are awarded

on a 1 to 3 star basis, with 3 stars being the

highest award.

Shambala is the first festival to receive

3 star IG certification. The festival, run

on almost 100% renewable energy, has

proven reductions of 63% in its primary

emissions from 2009 - 2010, and is com-

mended for its innovative approach to

sustainability including locally sourced

and ethical food, 100% FSC certified con-

struction timber used on site, research

into audience attitude towards sustain-

ability, an offsetting scheme offered to

those driving by car to the festival; and a

sustainability checklist for suppliers ap-

plying for festival tenders.

Of the fourteen festivals, four have been

awarded 2 star IG: Lovebox Weekender,

Isle of Wight Festival, TRUCK and Wood.

Lovebox achieved CO2e emissions reduc-

tions of 38% between 2009 – 2010, despite

almost doubling ticket sales in the same

year. The Isle of Wight Festival made re-

ductions of 22% due to improvements to

audience travel emissions and have suc-

cessfully restored bee populations to the

island with their Let it Bee campaign.

TRUCK decreased its emissions by 10%

and has been encouraging audiences to

travel green through subsidised bus travel

and rewards for cyclists. Its smaller sibling,

Wood is the first UK festival to go fossil fuel

free, and is aiming to be 100% renewably

powered within the next three years. Wood

managed to decrease bio diesel demand

by 30% from 2009 – 2010 despite audience

numbers almost doubling, and promoted

sustainable living with composting toilets,

showers heated by wood-burning stove

and a solar-powered stage.

Nine festivals have been developing ‘base-

lines’ for 2010 and are implementing strat-

egies for 2011 festivals. Together they are

committing to a range of sustainability

initiatives, many of which are new. These

festivals all achieved 1 star in 2010

Examples of initiatives range across staff

and audiences campaigns, recycling, pub-

lic transport, locally sourced merchandise

and food, renewable and low carbon ener-

gy, and reduced water and landfill waste.

IG provides the festivals with a common

framework that means Julie’s Bicycle can

develop the first industry average bench-

marks working with this pioneering group

of festivals. They also join a host of other

creative companies across music and per-

forming arts which are leading the cultural

response to climate change by becoming

IG certified.

These initiatives and achievements send

clear messages from a community of in-

fluential organisations to the rest of the

creative industries (and wider audience of

artists and fans) about the importance of

building a sustainable, low-carbon future

for the creative industries. Shambala festival received a Green Award

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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

Alison Tickell, Director of Julies Bicycle

said: The challenge of reducing impacts

while growing the business is being tack-

led head on by this brave group of festi-

vals, It’s not always comfortable to put the

green brand to the test. This group of fes-

tivals are doing it for real.

Chris Johnson, Director, Kambe Events

said: ‘Finally there is a credible approach to

benchmarking and assessing sustainable

practice in the events sector. We think the

Ig is worthwhile - its robust, but easy to use

for promoters, and importantly, it places an

emphasis on continual improvement.’

GO-Grouplaunchnewthinktankproject

forthelivemusicindustry.

Of course these days all festivals, tours and

concerts worldwide are already optimised

for consideration as being totally environ-

mentally friendly. But there a few that are

doing just bit better than the others.

For many years conferences such as ILMC,

Eurosonic Noorderslag and even Midem

have put green issues related to live music

on their agenda. Often these panels only

attract a very small numbers of attendees.

But lets face facts. Folkert Koopmans told

VIP-News recently, “Heavy weather condi-

tions are meanwhile one of the biggest

risks festival promoters have to deal with.”

It is not only the weather that changes; it is

a fact that the climate is also doing so.

Time for a proper workshop that deals

with these issues perfectly timed just

before the new festival season takes off.

In February some of those activists con-

cerned with green issues met in Berlin and

agreed on the subjects that will be on the

agenda for this workshop that also acts as

think tank.

The workshop is an outcome from the

GO Group founded in Bonn in November

last year at the GreenEvents Conference.

GO stands for “Green Operation” and the

founders are Bucks University, Green-

Events Conference, Green Music Initiative

(GMI), Julie’s Bicycle (tbc) and Yourope.

Alison Tickell - Julies Bicycle

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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

The first GO Group Workshop for Sustain-

able Festivals & Events will take place in

Amsterdam on May 23/24, and will work

to the following agenda received from the

organisers.

On Day 1 (23 May) we will discuss best prac-

tise cases on how to overcome dirty and

expensive generators, how to apply renew-

able energy sources practically and how to

run operations more efficiently and thereby

reduce costs and CO2 emissions. Day 1 will

be hosted and moderated by Teresa Moore

(Bucks University, UK) and Jacob Bilabel

(Green Music Initiative, Germany).

On Day 2 (24 May) we will share effective

communication tools on how to involve

the audience in your green efforts, how to

communicate sustainability to your visitors

before, during and after the event. We will

share information how the audience can be

informed, guided, encouraged and stimu-

lated. Let´s discuss what worked and what

did not. Day 2 will be hosted and moder-

ated by Linnea Svensson (Öya Festival, Nor-

way) and Holger Jan Schmidt (RhEINKUL-

TUR Festival & GreenEvents Conference,

Germany).

In addition the founders of this new or-

ganisation also set up a working agenda

which contains the following topics:

1)Identify international best practices

insustainableinnovationsforthemusic

festivalandeventindustry.

2)BuildaSustainabilityTrainingCurricu-

lum for festival andeventpromoters in

collaborationwithBucksUniversity.

3) Aggregate, communicate and share

thecollectiveknowledgewithinterested

stakeholdersfromalloverEurope.

4) Establish working relationships be-

tweendifferent industrygroupstoena-

blepracticalandspontaneousexchange

ofpersonalexperiences.

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Live music is by no means a new thing for

the countries of Eastern Europe, and major

acts have been including shows in the re-

gion since the 70’s. In many territories there

are established promoters and good ven-

ues, however problems varying from overly

zealous state controls and low incomes have

held back realisation of the potential that

these markets hold in terms of lucrative ad-

ditions to international tour schedules and

local talent, apart from classical, jazz, and

traditional folk music, most are still consid-

ered ‘emerging markets’, however over the

last few years ‘emergence’ has been very

noticeable. The festival market with events

like Sziget in Hungary and Exit in Budapest

has grown year on year, attracting more

and more fans from the West. Venues too

have developed, offering attractive rates

for both corporate and music events.

This year’s Emerging Markets panel at

ILMC was co-chaired by veteran Hungar-

ian promoter Laszlo Hegedus, who along

with Estonia’s Juri Makarov and others

have been long term regulars at this lead-

ing live music conference event. Laszlo

highlighted the presence of many new,

young, promoters from the region includ-

ing them in the discussion. In fact there

were 110 delegates from 16 Eastern Eu-

ropean countries at ILMC 23, around 10%

of the entire international attendance. It

would appear that things are on the move

in the region.

In this and future issues VIP-News will take

a look at what is happening in these mar-

kets. Just to be contrary we will start in

the Baltic region in Northern Europe with

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia.

It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of

Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to

the south by Latvia,and to the east by Lake

Peipsi and the Russian Federation. Sweden

lies to the west and Finland to the north.

The sole official language, Estonian, is

closely related to Finnish. With a popula-

tion of 1.34 million, Estonia is one of the

least-populous members of the European

Union, Eurozone and NATO. Today, Esto-

nia has the highest GDP per person of any

country that used to be part of the Soviet

Union.

VIP-News joined invited international del-

egates at the 3rd edition of Tallinn Music

Week, at the time when Tallinn received

confirmation of becoming European Capi-

tal of Culture, to see what the country’s

music industry has to offer.

eastern europe– Active emerging MarketsAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

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Tallinn Music Week started out in 2009 in

partnership with the Foundation of “Tal-

linn 2011” and in all 3 years has remained

one of the key events of the Capital of

Culture’s programme. “Back in 2009 the

Capital of Culture’s partnership was in

fact the first piece of support that gave us

the courage to put the crazy idea of a mu-

sic industry conference and a showcase-

festival into action and make it happen,”

comments Helen Sildna, the organizer of

Tallinn Music Week. “A lot has happened

ever since and we now have a newly formed

organization Estonian Music Development

Centre in place and together with the Acad-

emy of Music and Theatre we are working

on a music manager’s training programme

to enhance and develop the growth of our

industry and talent. The Estonian music sec-

tor has joined forces and we are determined

to make it work for ourselves and the artists’

scene.”

The third edition of Tallinn Music Week

took place on 24. - 26. March – the event

brought 194 international delegates to Tal-

linn and was close to being sold out with

423 delegates in total. The festival show-

cased 147 artists, including 123 from Esto-

nia and the others from 9 different coun-

tries to 7600 enthusiastic music lovers over

3 nights in 11 music venues.

TallinnMusicWeek2011innumber:

- 3 nights

- 16 stages / 11 clubs

- 147 artists from 10 countries

- 123 artists from Estonia

- 7600 festival visitors

- 423 delegates (229 Estonian)

- 194 international delegates

- 52,483 unique homepage visits from 88

countries

TallinnMusicWeek2010innumbers:

- 3 nights

- 100 artists

- 6000 visitors

- 352 delegates

- 107 international delegates from 17 coun-

tries

- 29 608 unique homepage visits from 74

countries

Organiser Helen Sildna has become a well-

known face at many of the major music

trade events and has been instrumental in

convincing international professionals to

attend TMW. She told VIP-News:

“As for my own comments or thoughts – I

think I can really say it was in a way a break-

through year for us, first of all locally – for

the first time I really had the feeling that

the local music scene was actively taking

part of the event and the bands and art-

ists in the line-up were much more active in

promoting themselves. In terms of interna-

tional communication, I am glad we were

lucky to have the Capital of Culture news

together with our 3rd edition – exactly the

kind of a build-up we really needed also in

our own development cycle. What I am ex-

tremely happy about is that there seems to

be suddenly quite a lot of interest interna-

tionally in the Estonian music and this has

really escalated within these 3 years. Today

I can say, we just got the promising singer-

songwriter IIRIS confirmed for the Great Es-

cape this year, and we are looking forward

to having our bands play MaMA, Musiikki

& Media, Iceland Airwaves, Popkomm and

EuroSonic. And I just saw the news the Esto-

nian indie-pop band Ewert & the Two Drag-

ons have made a deal with the Icelandic

online store Gogoyoko. What it all means is

that Estonian music is suddenly spreading

out there into the world, bit by bit. There is

definitely excitement in the air.”

The importance of the music industry to

Estonia was made clear by the presence

of the country’s President, Toomas Hen-

drik Ilves. It was obvious from his opening

speech that he had an active interest in

various styles of music.

VIP-News spoke to President Ilves:

VIP-News: Music, particularly live music, appears to have been an essential ele-ment for the bringing about of change and the securing of independence in Esto-nia - I am involved with the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in Lon-don and have got to know Juri Makarov quite well, I also met Rein Lang briefly in Tampere last year, so know a little about Rocksummer Festival and the ‘singing revolution’. Do you think that music re-mains as important to Estonians and do you think that both the export and import of artists and commercial music is a desir-able thing in both cultural and economic terms for the country?

»I do not believe that music or artists are exportable

or importable. People and especially artists are not

commodities«

- Toomas Hendrik Ilves

President Ilves: Music remains important

as ever in Estonia even as its social/politi-

cal function (if we want to speak of music

so crudely) has changed over time. Our

song-festivals began in the middle of the

19th Century as form of social cohesion

building: peasants came to understand

they had and were a culture. Under Soviet

occupation, song-festivals, concerts, etc.

similarly allowed Estonians to feel Estonian

and not just a part of an atomised mass of

Soviet People. This kind of negative pres-

sure is missing today yet concert-going

from avant-garde rock to classical remains

popular. Especially in the latter case, visi-

tors to Estonia frequently remark on how

many young people attend serious music

concerts. A visiting conductor recently la-

mented to me that if one looks at classical

music audiences in Europe today, in anoth-

er twenty years the only place to perform

classical music will be Tallinn. While this is

an exaggeration, of course, but the remark

does capture a bit of the distinctiveness of

the Estonian music scene.

Tallinn Music weekAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Helen Sildna - organiser at Tallinn Muisc Week

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I do not believe that music or artists are

exportable or importable. People and es-

pecially artists are not commodities. The

art they produce, however, either finds

acceptance and popularity elsewhere or

it doesn’t. I do believe, moreover, that we

need to recognize that music and creative

endeavours more broadly are an impor-

tant sector of the economy. Arvo Pärt’s

(renowned Estonian classical composer)

music probably does not generate much

money for the Estonian economy but it

does make Estonia a recognizable place

on the world map, which in turn does con-

tribute to the economy.

Until IceSave, (The diplomatic dispute that

began in 2008 between Iceland on one

hand and the and the UK and the Nether-

lands centred on the creditors of the pri-

vately owned (since 2003) Icelandic bank

Landsbanki, which offered online savings

accounts under the “Icesave” brand.) tiny

Iceland (1/3 of ‘tiny Estonia’ ) was known

above all for Björk and Sigur Ros; there’s no

doubt as to which is the preferred brand.

VIP-News: You obviously take an interest in music yourself, you mentioned Arcade Fire in your speech, what other artists have

stimulated your interest, both Estonian and international? Do you play yourself? You have I think, some background in ra-dio, was music a part of this?

President Ilves: Ever since I can remem-

ber anything at all music has been a core

interest. Melomane is the French; I am

not sure, though, if melomaniac would

be the appropriate translation, but since

childhood my friends have remarked that

I have an inordinate if not obsessional

interest in music. For me it’s just part of

life. Which means also that I have rather

catholic (small ‘c’ there) tastes and always

have, with little regard for genre. “Help me

Rhonda” clicks just as much as the Gold-

berg Variations. I discovered Arvo Pärt lis-

tening to a new music programme on CBC

in my car in the early 1980. I was mesmer-

ized, pulled over to the side of the road to

listen to the end and was dumbstruck to

hear that the piece (“Cantus in memory of

Benjamin Britten”) had been written by an

Estonian composer. In other words, I listen

without regard to categories. Eubie Blake

and Steve Reich, Georgian choirmusic and

Gregorian chants, Indian ragas, Pearl Jam,

the Band, I really like them all.

I am alas completely talentless as far as

playing anything, however. I have played

piano, saxophone and guitar, all with abys-

mal results. My experience in radio was

strictly journalistic.

VIP-News: What are your opinions of the relevance and importance of Tallinn Mu-sic Week. Did you get the opportunity to attend any other parts of the event this year?

President Ilves: TMW is for me a fantas-

tic showcase for new music and musi-

cians in the Nordic/Baltic region, which

I hope also leads to new synergies - yes

that sounds like ad copy but I do believe

that regional interplay and influences

can make for something more than by

just listening to records. In Vienna in the

18th-19th century there was no recorded

music so it’s not a surprise that proximity

played a large role in musical develop-

ment but San Francisco in the 1960s and

Seattle in the 1990s became creative caul-

drons from people just playing together,

even though by then recorded music

was the rule. I hope TMW does the same.

I attended one concert at the Von Krahl

theatre the night before the opening and

managed to listen to four bands - Finnish,

Lithuanian and Estonian. I was especially

taken by Alan McKim. So much power in

just a voice and a single acoustic guitar:

simply amazing and precisely the kind of

experience TMW is for.

Nokia Concert Hall - Tallinn

Aivar Sirelpuu is General Manager of the

Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn’s state of the

art venue, and a man with long experi-

ence in the concert business. VIP-News

spoke to him in Tallinn:

VIP-News: Did you find Tallinn Music Week useful for networking purposes? How did it compare to other events that you attend?

Aivar Sirelpuu: This year definitely was

the most interesting year of Tallinn Music

Week – in the music & networking sense.

Of course it’s different from huge events

like the ILMC, but a very necessary and de-

veloping event, which is a much needed in

our region too.

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Tallinn Music Week

Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn

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VIP-News: I hear that you were involved with Juri Makarov, who I know quite well from ILMC, and Rein Lang in the early days of using music and I think a music festival to bring about political change in your country. Is this what got you into the music and events business? What have you done between then and now in your career?

Sirelpuu: Indeed I had the pleasure of

working with both Jüri & Rein during the

early days of the Estonian Republic and

even before that. With Rein I had the plea-

sure to organise a music festival in the

town of Tartu, in South-Estonia, which dur-

ing the late 80s was one of the main ‘rebel’

events against the Soviet occupation here.

We just celebrated the event’s 30th birth-

day a few years back, so we did another

festival with Rein & the crew from back

then. I’m glad Rein has also continued on

the culture path now, becoming the cul-

tural minister of Estonia.

With Jüri we organized a huge rock festi-

val called Rock Summer at the legendary

Song Festival Ground in 1988, one of the

first major international festivals in the So-

viet Union. Probably being apart of those

festivals and meeting the artists we man-

aged to get there is one of the fondest

memories I will ever have.

During the 90’s, I ventured to different

paths but still worked as a production

manager and promoter with some huge

concerts in Estonia like Michael Jackson,

Tina Turner & Rolling Stones. From 2004

to 2008, I worked at Saku Arena as the GM

there. In late 2008 Peeter Rebane from the

BDG group asked me to come and work

with a new venue at the Solaris centre. The

ambition and investments really made it

appealing, so here I am today...

VIP-News: Are the Solaris venue and the Nokia Concert Hall one and the same, or is the Concert Hall just a part of the overall facility?

Sirelpuu: Nokia Concert Hall is one of the

entertainment establishments situated in

the Solaris Center. Solaris also features two

hi-tech cinemas, shops, restaurants etc.; A

true centre of Tallinn.

VIP-News: When did Nokia come in as a sponsor? The Solaris brochure mainly seems to refer to Conferences and Cor-porate events, what concert events have taken place in the last few years.

»I’m very optimistic.I can see new enthusiastic faces coming up in recent

years, who have a fresh approach & who could really

make big things happen«

- Aivar Sirelpuu

Sirelpuu: We approached Nokia as we

were trying to name the hall. As I had

previously worked closely with Nokia dur-

ing the 90’s, I sat down with them and we

worked out a deal that made both sides

happy. We’ve had hundreds of events al-

ready, most of them actually are concerts

and shows – most known performers in-

clude Macy Gray, Procol Harum, Joe Bona-

massa, Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N’Dour,

Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Marillion,

Rufus Wainwright etc.

VIP-News: Do you think that more interna-tional acts will come to play in Tallinn and is there an audience that wants to see and can afford to buy tickets for these acts?

Sirelpuu: Of course, with a small market

doing shows and budgeting is of great

importance. If you have a known good act

in a good venue with a reasonable ticket

price – people will come.

VIP-News: Do you see the music industry growing in Estonia, and are you optimistic about the future?

Sirelpuu: I’m very optimistic. I can see new

enthusiastic faces coming up in recent

years, who have a fresh approach & who

could really make big things happen. The

music scene is the most vibrant in decades,

there are more venues (club and concert)

being built, more bands breaking out of

Estonia & a fresh approach to promoting

and organizing events.

Comments from TMw delegates

VIP-News asked various delegates for their

opinions of the event and its impact on the

Estonian music business. Starting with an

Estonian artist manager. Rein Kutsar man-

ages the Nikns Suns:

I have attended TMW every year since it

started and I can see that due to the Tal-

linn Music Week Estonian artists are more

into experimenting and the festival itself

actually helps artists to grow their wings. In

my opinion those wings are getting bigger

and bigger every year. However, this festi-

val is still quite young and it needs some

upgrading. But I think that this is only ques-

tion of few years and it will adapt itself as a

full-grown plant reaching towards the sun,

because of Estonian music and musician’s

needs to be discovered by other coun-

tries, promoters and fans. As our President

Toomas-Hendrik Ilves said at the opening,

Tallinn Music Week

Aivar Sirelpuu GM of Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn

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there’s no reason to look away and try to

find “this” from abroad because “it” is hap-

pening right here at this very moment.

Most of the international delegates ap-

peared impressed by TMW:

Rob Berends, Network Europe and Paper-

clip Agency, Netherlands:

My last visit to Estonia was exactly 20 years

ago, when one of my Dutch bands (Poppi

Uk, also favoured by John Peel who record-

ed them for the BBC in his famous ‘Peel

Sessions’) was asked to play Jüri Makarov’s

Rock Summer Festival, about a month be-

fore formal independence of Estonia from

the Soviet Union.

Tallinn Music Week 2011 gave me the op-

portunity to recognize many spots in Tal-

linn, and at the same be amazed at the

pace of change in Estonia. Despite all the

IT-modernity (Skype is from there, and cell

phones were abundant there a long time

ago), Estonia has still retained its tradition-

al love for singing and music. Singing and

music have been instrumental in keeping

Estonian culture alive despite centuries

of oppression and slavery by the Teutonic

Knights from Germany, the Swedes, the

Russian czars, the Nazi’s and Stalin. In the

decade before independence (which came

in 1991), singing Estonian songs in public

became a form of mass-protest against the

Soviet occupation. The Rock Summer Fes-

tivals fitted into that protest.

With 1.3 million inhabitants, Estonia is a

small country. Nevertheless, the impor-

tance of the musical history promises a

wealth of good music. Tallinn Music Week

is a much-needed initiative to present Es-

tonian music to the world. Hats off to the

organization for starting this in 2009, and

hats off for the 2011-edition that presented

a very useful list of international delegates,

very interesting panels (although the one

I thought was the most interesting, was

the only one in Estonian…), and the right

amount of showcase events.

Most Estonian musicians and industry peo-

ple are still a bit shy when it comes to sell-

ing themselves and their music. The TMW

organization is focusing on trying to help

change this, and that’s excellent. Shake off

the shyness, shake off the modesty next

to assumed Big Brother Finland, and show

the world that Estonian culture shines!

Ilya Bortnuk, Light Music, St.Petersburg –

Russia:

This year Ilya’s Company is promoting

concerts with Mogwai, Cut Copy, Oi-Va-

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Voi, Gogol Bordello, Gotan Project, Mati-

syahu, Morcheeba and Richard Galliano in

St.Petersburg, as well as 2 festivals: Stereo-

leto - June, 25, July, 2 with APPARAT BAND,

Chinawoman, Architecture in Helsinki,

Uusi Fantasia, Casiokids, etc, and Muzatsi-

ya - July, 23 - Asian Dub Foundation, Los

Del Abajo and others.

As Tallinn is very close to St.Petersburg I

see a lot of way for communications - to

plan a join routing for the artists, Helsinki -

St.Petersburg - Tallinn for example.

As for the local bands - I’ve seen some good

artists, and we’ll consider the ways that

we can do their shows in St.Petersburg.

Of course the event is not yet as effective

as Music and Media for example, but it’s

good chance to meet the new partners -

especially from Estonia.

Paulina Ahokas, Executive Director Music

Export Finland:

It is hard to remember that this was only

the third Tallinn Music Week: it is already

such an important date in the calendar

for Baltic-Nordic networking and a really

wholesome update on the most important

and timely Estonian music on a broad base.

I thought adding even more genre spread

to the showcase programme worked pret-

ty well, as it seemed all of the programme

was presented by the right sub-promoters:

all of the key Estonian festivals and promot-

ers had collected their strength and this is

incredibly wise of them. Thus, each of the

showcases seemed to collect the right

crowd both locally and internationally. My

personal highlights were President Ilves´s

opening speech (what an inspirational and

passionate person!), Ismo Alanko & Teho

gig at VonKrahl Rabarock showcase, James

Reipas showcase at Rock Café (great venue

as well), our Music & Media VIP reception

at Sfäär Restaurant, the energy of Mimicry

at Rock Café, wonderful Iiris: thanks to

Helen Sildna and all the Estonian team and

partners Tallinn Music Week is really full of

fruitful encounters.

Alex Knight, Fat Cat Records: Brighton (UK):

As far as the music was concerned I must

admit to having had my preconceptions

blown out of the water, I had been tipped

off about Mari Kalkun and band but the

live performance surpassed my expec-

tations, beautiful instrumentation, gor-

geous 3 part vocal harmonies and an

exceptionally talented pool of musicians,

I’ve bought her CD and look forward to

settling down and giving her a good lis-

ten. Pastacas also created a phenomenal

live experience, exceptional musicianship

linked with a creative mind and a taste for

the avant-garde made for a very enjoyable

experience. On a whole the artists I saw

were far more than a pastiche of western

bands and scenes, I was excited to hear

people foraging in new found- sounds

and exploring their Estonian roots to

create complex, original and sometimes

beautiful new music, they seemed to be

blessed with a strong support network

and a whole array of original venues in

which to ply their craft!

Paul Cheetham, Popkomm - Berlin:

“What I see in Tallinn Music Week is a pure

realisation of Helen’s original vision; the

event is cultured, passionate, dynamic,

intriguing, inclusive, and soulful - every-

thing she would insist on. The seamless

mixture of classical, jazz, rock and pop is

surely unique amongst the myriad music

events already in the calendar. Despite its

rapid growth, Tallinn Music Week remains

a truly bespoke occasion. There is a feeling

of specialness about being a delegate. I al-

ways return from Tallinn feeling satisfied,

with new contacts, fresh perspective, and

having discovered 1 or 2 fascinating new

acts to explore further”.

»The seamless mixture of classical, jazz, rock and pop

is surely unique amongst the myriad music events already

in the calendar. Despite its rapid growth, Tallinn

Music Week remains a truly bespoke occasion«

- Paul Cheetham

Jesper Borup, Spot Festival - Denmark:

I´ve attended TMW since the first issue

in 2009, and it has been very interesting

to monitor the explosive development

the festival has gone through. 2011 has

Paul Cheetham at Tallinn Music Week

Paulina Ahokas at Tallinn Music Week

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definitely been the best so far, with many

good bands and a production-team that

takes good care of the delegates. The Es-

tonian music scene is indeed very interest-

ing with many original artists, and it seems

that with TMW it has grown to trust its own

cultural musical origins. That has resulted

in a high amount of Estonian bands now

doing their own thing, and not trying to

copycat what has become mainstream.

Artists like Abrahams Cafe, Mari Kalkun,

Pastacas and Ewert and the Two Dragons

was some of the highlights of the festival.

Joe Porn, Music Glue: (UK)

I was extremely impressed with my first

visit to Tallinn, I found the people warm

and friendly, the city wonderful to explore

and the local music scene to be of a very

high standard. The Tallinn Music Week

program was very interesting and diverse,

the selection of venues to be great too.

Delegates were treated very well and I

found it very helpful to meet music in-

dustry professionals from around Europe.

I certainly hope to be coming again next

year and would have no problems seeing

Estonia artists perform to a UK audience

Jan Sneum, Danish Radio:

After having the great pleasure of being

present at three editions of Tallinn Music

Week my interest in Estonian music is still

growing. I simply want to know, learn, see

and hear more. About the music scene and

about Estonian art and culture at a much

larger scale. During Tallinn Music Week

2011 I heard more music, made more inter-

views and bought more records and book

than ever before. I do hope to be back in

2012!

John Rogers, Brainlove Records:

As a debutante at Tallinn Music Week, I

was struck first by the beauty of the city of

Tallinn and the depth and richness of the

music on show - from stunning contempo-

rary classical performances in spectacular

vaulted spaces to experimental industrial

music in dark basements: there was a very

impressive range of music to engage with.

I think several of the acts I came across

could appeal to existing audiences in Eu-

rope, the UK and the USA, where inter-

national variants on avant-garde musical

practice are an interest already. The Odes-

sa Pop night started with a trilogy of ex-

cellent acts in Multiphonic Rodent, Pasta-

cas and Kreatiivmootor: three thrillingly

inventive projects. Cleaning WOmen was

a very interesting avant-garde band. The

performance of “North Wind, South Wind”

by Helena Tulve was also a highlight.

Peter Smidt, Buma Cultur: Eurosonic, Am-

sterdam Dance Event:

I think Tallinn Music Week offers a great

opportunity to meet the music sector of

the fast developing region of Estonia and

surrounding territories. You also can wit-

ness a high number of acts this region has

to offer in a nice and very well organized

setting.

Grimur Atlasson, Iceland Airwaves:

Regarding the Estonian music scene I have

to say it has some years yet to develop on

the popside of matters - but in the tradi-

tional and classical/jazz front you are really

on top level. I liked most the bands that had

the unique sound and did what was their

stuff: Kreatiivmootor and Mari Kalkun. I will

probably try to book Kreatiivmootor. I’m

going to have one more look at Iiris before I

book her - she’s has a huge talent.

Shain Shapiro, Canadian Blast:

I really enjoyed TMW. The hospitality

shown by everyone and the ardour on dis-

play from the bands displayed Estonia as

one of the most exciting hubs for new mu-

sic in Europe. I hope they invite me again’

Martin Elbourne, Great Escape:

I thought the level of organization and

hospitality Tallinn Music Week provided

was superb. Tallinn’s concert venues were

great. It was one of the most enjoyable

conference showcase events I have been

to (and I have been to a few!).

www.tallinnmusicweek.ee

Artist applications for TallinnMusicWeek

2012 together with delegates’ registration

will open up in September 2011.Jan Sneum at Tallinn Music Week

Peter Smidt at Tallinn Music Week

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Business NewsManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

New contract last until 2016 and

covers100concertswiththepop-

ularviolinist

DEAG has announced that it has

signed another exclusive agree-

ment with its top artist David Gar-

rett. The deal is said to guarantee

the artist the highest payment ever

had paid to a classical music artist.

Nevertheless the company has not

released definite information about

the payment. DEAG declared that

180.000 tickets have already been

sold for Garrett’s current Rock-

Symphonies tour starting in May. In

2012 the artist will play a tour with

8 concerts where he will only play

classical pieces.

deAG Prolong its deal with david Garrett

Becoming one of the very few invest-

ments by a foreign company in the

German live music market, UK compa-

ny Festival Republic Ltd has purchased

a 51 percent stake in the Berlin Festival

GmbH & Co KG. Following the acquisi-

tion Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn

has been appointed joint managing

director for the company alongside

Matthias Hörstmann, both have a 50

percent voting rights.

In 2009 Hörstmann invested in the

event and involved Stefan Lehmkuhl as

the artistic director. Lehmkuhl who is

also in charge of the Melt! Festival and

Melt Booking managed with his team

to establish a successful music festival

in the German capital for the first time.

The event itself was launched in 2005

by Hilary Kavanagh and Cornelius Op-

per, and is meanwhile located in the

inoperative airport Tempelhof.

Last years festival edition suffered

from a questionable decision by local

authorities to interrupt the event as

they assumed that one of the hangars

where concerts took place was over-

crowded. The decision had been made

in the light of the fatal incident at the

Loveparade in Duisburg and meant

that almost half of the program of the

festival had to been rescheduled dur-

ing the event. But it also revealed the

very limited experience of the Berlin

authorities with music festivals and

their audience.

However, the upcoming edition of the

festival will be expanded significantly.

Lehmkuhl will continue as the artistic

director for the event and also oversee

as well the nighttime extension to in-

clude various concert clubs and ven-

ues in the Kreuzberg district. The basic

idea is to continue the festival after

its curfew on the Tempelhof site. The

name of this part of the festival is “Club

Xberg” clubs such as Arena, Arena Club,

Glashaus, Lido, Magnet, Comet and As-

tra Kulturhaus are already confirmed

for the event.Another possible exten-

sion is cooperation with the “Club-

nacht” by the Berlin Club Commission

that will go on in 30 venues.

The taking on board of Festival Repub-

lic by the Berlin Festival could have a

significant impact on the German festi-

val landscape. The team around Hörst-

mann and Lehmkuhl have already

proved with the success of the Melt!

festival that they are able to establish

in short time an event that managed

to attract international visitors and

be successful. Taking into considera-

tion that Berlin has become a tourist

hotspot especially for young visitors is

another element that could contribute

to the success of this festival.

Festival republic Acquires Majority in Berlin Festival

Melvin Benn appointed MD for Berlin Festival

David Garrett

20

VIP-BOOKING.COM

dub syndicate(feat. Adrian sherwood and style scott)Territory: EuropePeriod: November - December 2011Agency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Rob BerendsPhone: +31 24 323 9322E-mail: rob@paperclip-agency.comHomepage: www.paperclip-agency.com

rahzel (The roots)Territory: Europe, AfrikaPeriod: May 7th - 28th and JulyAgency: Frero Music EntertainmentAgent: JF EhrhartPhone: +33 611 503 615E-mail: freromxt@gmail.com booking@freromusic.comHomepage: www.freromusic.com

Anthony B Territory: EuropePeriod: 24th of June to 23rd of July 2011Agency: MagicboxAgent: Pedro PontesPhone: +31 5 915 378 951 E-mail: pedropontes@magicbox.pt Homepage: www.magicbox.pt

Barclay Jame Harvest feat. les HolroydTerritory: EuropePeriod: Summer 2011, October 201Agency: Kultopolis GmbHAgent: Markus SollnerPhone: +49 6 861 939 980E-mail: booking@kultopolis.comHomepage: www.kultopolis.com

lA Guns (feat. Phil lewis & steve riley)Territory: EuropePeriod: 01.09 - 31.10.2011Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: ds@armentertainment.comHomepage: www.laguns.net

Groove ArmadaTerritory: Europe / Worldwide Period: Worldwide 2011 Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Agent: Steve Hogan E-mail: SHogan@wmeentertainment.com Homepage: www.groovearmada.com

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artist avails ››

MOREARTISTAvAILSON:WWW.vIP-BOOKING.COM

POSTYOURARTISTAvAILSON:WWW.vIP-BOOKING.COM

VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

notiCe board ››

AnothernewserviceintheimprovedandredesignedvIP-NewsistheNotice-board,whichisavailableforallreaders.Reader’smessageswillbepostedontheNotice-boardasafreeservice,passing on announcements, job postings, buying and sellingnotices, inquiriesoralike.Announcements shouldbeemailedtonoticeboard@vip-booking.com

LIvE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5rJrvdn0gk

Original Foundingmembers JerryMartini, Cynthia Robinson andGreg

ErricobringyouthehitsofSly&TheFamilyStone.

Keeping the legacy true to its original sound and raw funk groove, these

Everyday People will leave you Taken Higher. Cynthia, Jerry & Greg contin-

ues giving you the musical experience that has brought them in front of

over half a million people through Europe and the US; spreading the roots

of funk that is The Family Stone Project.

The Family Stone is available for touring in Europe around September4!

I look forward to your respective proposals and remain with best regards

Nina Pernica

THe FAMIlY sTONe

The Family Stone

21

VIP-BOOKING.COM

THESELECTER is fronted by the original singing duo of Arthur

‘Gaps’ Hendrickson and the female icon of the two-tone era

Pauline Black. Classic hits like ‘Three Minute Hero’, ‘Missing

Words’, ‘Too Much Pressure’’ ,“ On My Radio” and of course ‘Too

Much Pressure’ will herald the return of one of the most vital, vis-

ceral and important Ska acts ever, who will deliver what prom-

ises to be a stunning performance and a must see for any Two-

Tone fan.

Monthly featured artist ››

Origin: UKStyle: Ska - WorldmusicTourperiod: May 2011 - December 2011Territory: Europe - Asia

Agency: ArtistagencyName: Bart QuintensEmail: bart@artistagency.bePhone: +32 16 777 670

VIP- News - August 2005

21

VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

THe seleCTer

The Selecter

selector’s Pauline Black andArthur “Gaps” Hendrickson reunite

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.

›› reserVe YOur Ad NOw ON www.VIP-BOOKING.COM

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MeMber presentation ››

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®

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VIP-BOOKING.COMVIP-BOOKING.COM | 145-157 St John Street | UK - London Ec1V 4PW | Phone +44 870 755 0092 | Fax +44 870 622 1953 | e-mail: vip@vip-booking.com

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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 - A p r i l 2 0 1 1

Cult Concerts Agency GmbHSince 1993, we have booked more than 3000 shows for national

and mainly international artists in Switzerland and Europe. Cult

Concerts Agency and Black Lamb Productions have now become

one of the main Swiss booking agencies for festivals and tours.

Our clients include The Metropop Festival, Sound Arena, Baregg

Festival, AVO Session, Open Air Gampel, Outside Zürich Festival,

Bex Rock Festival, Balélec, Out-in-the-Green festival, Open Air St.

Gallen, Paléo Festival, Gurtenfestival, X-Tra Limmathaus, Kaserne

Basel, Fri-Son, Bierhübeli, AlpenRock House and many others.

TheToursandoff-dates:

We act as local promoters for international acts performing in

Switzerland, either on the promoters requests or on agent¹s re-

quest. Our job is to look for artists for the clubs/venues/promot-

ers/special events/festivals or to look for places to play for the

Artists on tour.

We also are exclusive booking agents for several Swiss and In-

ternational acts.

TheFestivals,corporateandspecialevents:

We have exclusive deals with some of the most important fes-

tivals in Switzerland as well as with a growing number of cor-

porate events. What we do for them varies from case to case:

it goes from the making of the programme to the coordination

of the overall organisation, Production Management, Artist Rela-

tions, Backstage management (dressing rooms & catering), Art-

ist Transports, Press Office, Security, etc.

Management&publishing:

We are managing and taking care of the publishing of some art-

ists

Futuredevelopments:

We intend to consolidate our position on the Swiss market in

terms of festivals and corporate bookings as well as developping

our booking activities for Swiss and International acts in Europe.