vip-news premium - vol. 138 august 2011
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VIP-News is sent to the desks of key decision makers in over 70 countries and reaches: 6000+ agents - 2000+ concert & tour promoters - 1500+ artist managers 10.000+ talent buyers - 2000+ record labels - 1700+ music journalistsTRANSCRIPT
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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 138 ›› AuGuST 2011
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Usually, as you know, this opening section
tends to be in the main quite light hearted,
and in fact I had already written a piece
that was at least partially in that vein. It
was definitely more sombre than usual as
it referred to the deaths of three important
and well-loved members of the live music
community – we include obituaries in this
issue. I also mentioned the recent rioting
and looting that went on in London and
the rest of England and its awful and last-
ing effects on individuals, and communi-
ties and businesses, including the inde-
pendent record industry as a result of the
fire at the Sony warehouse that stored the
stock of a huge number of independent
record companies.
Then came reports of stage collapses in
the US, with the worst disaster being at
the Indiana State Fair, with five killed and
many badly injured. But then as all was
due to go to print came the news from Bel-
gium with more horrifying evidence of the
destruction that the elements can bring,
with further deaths and multiple injuries
at the Pukkelpop Festival. All thoughts of
being light hearted evaporated with this
further terrible incident and I and all at VIP
would prefer to use this space to convey
our heartfelt condolences to all those di-
rectly affected by these terrible events and
to all of their families and friends.
We hope that all of you that are involved
with those open-air events still to take
place are favoured by the weather and all
proceeds safely and successfully.
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ObituariesAllan McGowan [email protected]
willie robertson:
Willie Robertson, who died of cancer aged
67 on Saturday the 9th July, virtually sin-
gle-handedly created insurance cover for
entertainers in the 1970s, when he intro-
duced non-appearance and equipment
cover for rock’n’roll bands. With his part-
ner Bob Taylor, he went on to create an
international company – Robertson Taylor
– that insured almost every big concert
(including Michael Jackson’s last series
in 2009 at the O2 arena). An omnipres-
ent and charming figure at the ILMC and
other events Willie was a true legend from
the live music industry, and both at work
and at play was a charming, considerate,
entertaining and hardworking friend, a
most excellent host, and a valued col-
league who will be so very much missed
by so many.
Jean-Francois Michel
Founder of the Bureau Export De La Mu-
sique Française and head of the European
Music Office, died at the age of 69 on 23
July in Paris.
With the death of Jean Francois Michel not
only the French but the whole European
music community lost one of its most ar-
dent advocates.
Even if the definition of lobbyists is some-
times considered a critical term, Jean
Michel represented the exception in this
type of profession. Almost incompara-
ble, Michel seemed to work like no one
else for the good of the music industry,
first in France and later at the European
level. He was definitely not one to make
a big fuss about himself; on the contrary,
Michel was more of a subtle diplomat
who worked in the background. Right
up until recently, Michel was still taking
care of business, working on the various
projects he often started or was involved
in, too many to mention in this obituary.
Yes, Michel was a functionary, but a func-
tionary that impressed by his integrity, his
perseverance, reliability and foremost by
his personality.
Although Michel never presented himself
as an industry power player in the pub-
lic spotlight, he was always behind the
scenes moving miraculously big things.
He was the opposite of power-hungry
power brokers being too unselfish, which
distinguished him. As the foster father of
the Bureau Export De La Musique Fran-
caise he had already developed structures
in the early nineties which much of the
French music industry still benefits from
today. He was one of the very few persons
with an institutional background that for
the first time provided access to public
funding for popular music artists and the
business behind them. Funding which
was previously reserved for public cultural
institutions. He succeeded in creating ac-
tually quite transparent and equally fair
conditions for all eligibility criteria.
Jean Francois was also a staunch support-
er of the European ideal. Even on the po-
litically sophisticated parquet in Brussels,
where he operated besides professional
bodies such as CIESAC, IFPI or IMPALA, he
opened up doors for the support of pop
music . He opened up minds in a highly
bureaucratic environment for music is-
sues. He belonged to those who man-
aged for the first time to raise awareness
among the rank and file in politics and the
administration for the profession and the
art of popular music. Together with Otto
Donner, the former chairman of the Finn-
ish copyright collection society Teosto he
set up the European Music Office. He suc-
ceeded in even convincing the EU Com-
mission to promote the European Border
Breaker Award, the one and only pop-
cultural project on the official agenda of
the EU. He was also an important pioneer
Willie Robertson
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and supporter of the European Talent Ex-
change Program of the Dutch Buma Cul-
tuur foundation and Noorderslag Founda-
tion in the political world of Brussels.
The death of Jean Francois is unfortunate-
ly a very sad occasion on which to value
his work and his legacy. Much of what he
has done for the music industry in France,
in Europe and even in Africa is not self-
evident. He was a musical cosmopolitan,
very open-minded and remarkably free
of vanity, someone who has actually self-
lessly created things and championed
causes that can be considered as truly
sustainable and meaningful, even in the
fast-paced music industry.
A close associate, who met him the day be-
fore his death, reports that Jean-Francois
Michel was still concerned with upcom-
ing projects and plans. He was still full of
hope and confidence that these projects
will grow positively. With this in mind, it
is probably quite likely that he certainly
wished that his colleagues and former
and current employees will be able to
continue his work, maintaining the mean-
ing and spirit of the admirable attitude of
Jean-Francois Michel.
The funeral took place on 30 July in Nor-
mandy. In September there will also be a
commemorative ceremony at the Eglise
Saint-Eustache Church in Paris.
Statements and Comments on the loss of
Jean-Francois Michel
Maria Agnes Beau,
BAM! Global Music Services:
So much to say about Jean-Francois, espe-
cially after working for 12 years with him
launching the French Music and European
offices. A true visionary; one of his great-
est talents was to gather the most diverse
people around a table to set up very im-
probable but necessary co operations: he
created the first joint venture between the
French government and the music indus-
try which worked as a model and led to
the European Music Office and Diversites.
I can remember that what led me to work
with him was when he gathered French
and US cops and rappers in Harlem in the
very early 90s... and it worked !!!
Emmanuel Legrand,
Journalist:
Jean-Francois was a friend and someone
I knew I could rely on. I’ve known him
since I started in journalism in the mid-
80s. He was then running the FCM. We
started working on projects together
when, alongside a few partners, I had the
crazy idea to celebrate the bicentennial of
the French Revolution on July 14, 1989 in
New York with French artists. Jean-Fran-
cois backed the project immediately and
helped us go through the hurdles of the
financing. The event was a success and
helped him “sell” the idea to the music in-
dustry and the French government to set
up the FMO.
We have since seen each other as regularly
as our schedules allowed. I always enjoyed
our encounters. We always had projects to
discuss, but once the order of the day was
over, we would engage in long conversa-
tions about “tout et rien” as the French
say, “everything and nothing”, over tasty
food and a good bottle of wine.*
* Taken from:
legrandnetwork.blogspot.com
Peter Smidt,
Buma Cultuur:
He was a pioneer in the development of
the cooperations in favour of European
music. He was one of the first ones lob-
bying the EU-commission and explained
to them the relevance of European reper-
toire. Jean-Francois Michel was for me a
very inspirational person and it was very
impressive to see that he worked with a
long term vision regarding collaborations
that are of benefit for music.
»Jean-Francois was a charismatic fighter for the European idea to let music
cross borders. He was a great leader for the European
Music Office«
- Christof Huber
Christof Huber,
General Secretary Yourope:
Jean-Francois was a charismatic fighter
for the European idea to let music cross
borders. He was a great leader for the Eu-
ropean Music Office. We have taken the
news of his death with great sadness. He
will be missed!
John Northcote:
John Northcote, Chief Operating Officer
(CEO), Academy Music Group (AMG),
passed away on Wednesday 10th August
2011 at the age of 62 after pro-longed ill-
ness. John will be remembered by many
as the man who reinvented the live venue
circuit, music was his passion and the driv-
ing force in his life, right to the end. His vi-
Jean-Francois Michel
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sion to create a network of entertainment
venues across the UK made him such a
remarkable figure, alongside his commit-
ment to supporting new music, building
smaller venues and ‘giving new bands
a platform to play’. He started out at the
Break For The Border Group in the early
‘90s running the Border Line in Charing
Cross, booking acts like Sheryl Crow, Blur
and Lenny Kravitz. In 1994 he acquired
Shepherd’s Bush Empire to reopen as a
live music venue, quickly followed by the
purchase of the famous Brixton Academy.
By 2000 he expanded AMG, working with
promoters to establish a network of Acad-
emy venues across the United Kingdom
with investment from SJM Concerts and
Metropolis Music, soon followed by Live
Nation/Gaiety Investments as sharehold-
ers. He will be greatly missed, and as a
release from friends and colleagues at The
Academy Group stated, “Long may his
legacy continue.”Paul Cheetham
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According to the now annual music in-
dustry report from PRS For Music, box
office takings for pop and rock con-
certs in the UK fell for the first time in
more than a decade in 2010, with fans
spending £844m on face value tickets
in 2010, down from £957m in 2009, a
drop of 12%.
But before we all panic and become
used car salesmen or the like, it ap-
pears that there were however miti-
gating factors, so we can relax – but
only a bit, it never does to become
complacent! Part of the drop was
blamed on the fact that big selling
acts including The Rolling Stones
and Take That did not tour last year –
which obviously they can’t – not every
year. Also some major artists, such as
Kings of Leon and Rod Stewart, opted
to play in arenas instead of stadiums
as a result of the economic downturn,
PRS said.
Will Page and Chris Carey at PRS who
put these reports together with of
course the cooperation of the industry
do very good work and have provided
a barometer for the consideration of
the overall state of the industry – par-
ticularly the live business which, in
the UK, has not previously been great
at producing, considering and acting
upon, the relevant figures.
Reassuringly the report does not see
the UK business taking hits as big as
those suffered by the US live business
in the last couple of years – and even
there the signs of recovery seem good
at the moment. The report projects that
revenues were likely to bounce back
this year thanks to tours by Rihanna,
Westlife and Justin Bieber, along with
Take That’s record-breaking stadium
shows. This summer, the band played
to 1.8 million people in the UK, and that
tour is likely to make a noticeable dif-
ference to the figures for 2011.
As the report said: “It would be very
tempting to look at these numbers and
jump towards a knee jerk reaction that
the live music bubble has burst. We
should not.”
uK Concert Took a drop in 2010 After the BoomAllan McGowan [email protected]
Live music web service Songkick has
launched a new iPhone and iPad app
which will allow users to track their
favourite bands, browse live listings
by location, and share concert plans,
all via their portable devices.
At launch, the app scans the user’s
music library to find artists to track
(the scanning screen is worth down-
loading the software for on its own),
but probably most interesting is the
‘what gigs are happening near me
tonight’ function which, although
an obvious service to offer, is pretty
cool nevertheless, benefiting, of
course, from all the listings on the
main Songkick platform.
Confirming the app launch, Song-
kick founder Ian Hogarth told re-
porters: “We’re on a mission to
make sure music fans never miss
another concert by one of their fa-
vourite artists. The Songkick Con-
certs app makes it easy for music
lovers to know when their favourite
bands are coming to town, quickly
check out ticket options, and share
concert information with friends on
Facebook and Twitter”.
Songkick launches I - Phone APPAllan McGowan [email protected]
Kings of Leon
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Festivals “performed strongly” in 2010,
while arenas and mid-sized venues “held
up”, it said. But there was a “striking de-
cline” in the number of stadium gigs com-
pared with the previous year.” In 2010,
a number of stadium- and arena-filling
bands were not on tour and many of those
that did tour opted to play smaller ven-
ues in order to limit their risk,” the report
said. “This risk-averse behaviour is rational
in the current economic climate. It feels
as though the economic downturn has
caught up with the live music industry,
and promoters and bands alike have re-
sponded accordingly.”
The PRS for Music report, taking into ac-
count secondary ticketing income and at-
the-event spending estimated the worth of
the live music sector to be £1.48bn last year.
That is more than the recorded music sec-
tor, with £1.24bn spent on CDs and digital
downloads in 2010 - an annual drop of 8%.
The report concludes, “Our view is that
the live music business is not entering a
cycle of boom and bust, but rather show-
ing signs of maturity and cooling to a more
sustainable growth path, after a period of
unprecedented growth.”
This year’s Autumn Falls Festival will take place from Monday No-
vember 21st to Sunday November 27th. After the successful first
edition the Brussels indoor music festival will extend from three to
seven nights. The mission is still the same: presenting quality live
music to passionate music fans and concert goers.
European booking agency and Benelux promoter TOUTPARTOUT
will once again cooperate with a selection of renowned Brussels
concert venues. Ancienne Belgique, Botanique, Cirque Royal, Ma-
gasin 4 and VK* have already confirmed their participation. More
to be confirmed. Last year’s edition accounted for three sold out
nights, 6200 visitors and took place over 10 different venues which
welcomed a total of 41 international acts. Some of the names on
the bill were Lambchop, Beach House, Caribou, Junip, Factory
Floor, Atari Teenage Riot, Olafur Arnalds and Baths.
This year a limited amount of early bird tickets will be available
giving access to every possible Autumn Falls show for 50 euro.
First Acts announced are:
LOW / PINBACK / BILL CALLAHAN / METRONOMY / PINK MOUN-
TAINTOPS / PORTUGAL THE MAN / SCOTT MATTHEW / OKKERVIL
RIVER / FOOL’S GOLD / SX
www.autumnfalls.be
Autumn Falls Festival extends for 2cnd editionin BrusselsAllan McGowan [email protected]
Pinback will plat at the Autumn Falls Festival
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A recent report from the BBC stated that a
total of 31 music festivals have been can-
celled or postponed in the UK this year,
and a surplus of events has resulted in
slower tickets sales than in previousyears.
In recent interviews both Michael Eavis and
John Giddings have ventured concerns
about the current and future prospects for
festivals in the UK. Glastonbury founder
Eavis is quoted in an article in The Times
regarding the future of probably the best
known open air event, saying, “It’s on the
way out”. Eavis assume that the festival has
“probably got another three or four years”.
He considers that there are economic rea-
sons but also that, ”there is a feeling that
people have seen it all before.”
Like Eavis Giddings, organiser of the Isle of
Wight Festival also assumes that the UK-
Festival faces difficulties: “There are just
too many events now in the UK and it’s im-
possible for them all to survive. The market
is saturated” he said in an interview with
the BBC earlier on in August. Melvin Benn
of Festival Republic said in the same in-
terview session “There’s no question that
tickets have sold slower than they previ-
ously did. Money is definitely tighter.”
But Benn is more upbeat about the future,
saying: “There will be a million people
that go to festivals this year. The idea that
somehow festivals are no longer popular
is quite frankly ludicrous.”
Nevertheless Giddings adds: “It gets more
difficult every year because the UK music
industry isn’t making new stars so you end
Major uK Festival Promoters express Concerns for the FutureManfred Tari [email protected]
FeSTIVAl rePOrT
John Giddings
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up with the same acts going round and
round,” and concludes very much like Eavis:
“Muse are a fantastic act but you can’t have
them at a festival every summer.”
Previously in an interview with BBC6, Ben
Turner said on behalf of the UK Associa-
tion of Independent Festivals (AIF) that:
“Prices for talent increases and increases
and increases every single year.” He fur-
thermore added: “I think it’s something
that agents, managers and artists need to
be more aware of, that these festivals that
they supposedly love, they need to show
some support for that.”
Apparently slower and lower ticket sales
for festivals are not only a UK phenom-
enon. In Germany Rock Am Ring wasn’t
sold out this year after a record-breaking
edition of the biggest German festival in
2010. Also in our interview with Gunnar
Lagerman of the revamped Hultsfred Fes-
tival in Sweden he explained about the dif-
ficulties in the Swedish festival market.
Still there are many festivals doing ex-
tremely well this year, (see article on T in
the Park in DF Concerts story in this issue.)
but factors like higher fees for artists, ris-
ing production costs and the overall eco-
nomical climate are increasing challenges
that festival promoters have to deal with
these days.
Rock am Ring
The Wacken festival celebrated its 22nd
edition this year. According to the promot-
er ICS Festival Service GmbH, the event
was actually visited by 85.870 people - al-
though this official estimate also includes
artists, crew and guests.
For this year’s event the promoter under-
took several new environmentally friendly
efforts. Entitled “Metal 4 Nature” the pro-
gram utilised 3 additional so called “Trash
Mobiles” – pick up trucks that drove on
the camping sites to pick up waste. On the
site itself there are 5 more waste collecting
points. Also the promoter installed 4 km of
power cables on the site and therefore was
able to reduce the previous amount of 93
diesel generators.
Glass bottles are banned completely from
the entire festival site. The promoter offer
free PET-bottles to visitors asking them to
decant beverages into these bottles. This
resulted in an 80 % reduction in cuts.
Together with the charity organization
Viva Con Aqua, Wacken launched a water
brand called, “Wacken Aqua.” Viva Con
Aqua supports water supply systems in
third world countries. Additionally Wacken
visitors were asked to donate their deposit
on beer cups to the organization by drop-
ping off cups to Viva Con Aqua teams on
the site.
In a previous VIP-News edition we re-
ported that together with the University
of Osnabrück and the support of Region-
Nord Büro and Deutsche Bundesstiftung
Umwelt (DBU) Wacken had developed a
sustainable program to reduce the soil-
compaction of the festival site.
The event itself took place from July 31
to August 2. The pre-ticket sales for the
next edition started on August 8, The first
confirmed acts for 2012 are Ministry, Ham-
merfall, U.D.O, Amon Amarth, GammaRay,
Cradle of Filth and the German band Scor-
pions.
For more information please check:
www.wacken.com
wacken 2011 - Once Again 75.000 Tickets SoldManfred Tari [email protected]
Wacken 2011
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The Italia wave Festival Contends with AdversityAllan McGowan [email protected]
The Italia Wave Festival is a peripatetic
(not often I get a chance to use that word!)
event, which moves to different sites in It-
aly, taking the spirit of the original Arezzo
Wave Love Festival with it. I attended this
fifth edition of the Italia Wave Festival 14-17
July in Lecce, Puglia, being aware that for
director Mauro Valenti and his team, and
for the many aware of the history of this
cultural event, that this was actually the
25th anniversary of the event that began
life in Tuscany in 1987, entitled ‘Provincia
insonne’.Arezzo Wave earned the name of
“Italian Woodstock” over the years, attract-
ing thousands of young people each year.
Italian fans has not embraced the music
festival as we know it now in the rest of Eu-
rope, but Arezzo Wave, which became Italia
Wave on moving to Florence in 2007, then
moving on to Livorno for the next three
editions, has a fine tradition. Remaining in
the main a free event presenting not only
music but other cultural events it has pre-
sented an impressive array of international
acts including, Mano Negra, the Lenin-
grad Cowboys, David Byrne, Nick Cave,
Sonic Youth, Moby, Tricky, Ben Harper.
Most of the major Italian rock artists have
passed through the Arezzo Wave.
Mauro Valenti and the team have also acted
as ambassadors for Italian music at many
international events, acting as an Italian
Export Office and being involved with the
ETEP programme from an early stage.
This first edition in Lecce however had its
problems and did not work out as planned,
although the bill was fine, with artists such
as Lou Reed, Jimmy Cliff and Paulo Nutini
performing fine sets with a great produc-
tion, the numbers were down, with only
the free night of Italian acts pulling a large
crowd to the dauntingly large Lecce Sta-
dium. The smaller Psycho Stage was well
attended during the day, but for strangers
to the City and the area like myself, it was
difficult to locate and more difficult to
travel easily between the sites. Although
the area has some beautiful surroundings
and should be an attraction to tourists, not
a lot seemed to be being done to attract
tourists.
I asked Mauro Valenti to explain what he
thought had caused the setbacks:
“I agree about the quality of the shows. Do-
ing the festival in the deep South of Italy was
a huge risk. The poverty of this territory and
the Italian financial crisis together with a
lack of curiosity toward new things are the
symbol of our country. We are the only Ital-
ian festival at an European level and if next
year we repeat our experiment in Puglia, our
decision will depend very much on local and
Regional authorities and how much they
want to bet on the local marketing of this ter-
ritory and on how much they will be able to
contribute to becoming like Exit or other fes-
tivals loved and wanted by worldwide music
globetrotters.
We had to use the only available locations of
the city, even if far away one from each other
in order to realize all our proposals. We had
to face many inconveniences that one could
call boycotts… The Province of Lecce told
us officially that they would guarantee to fi-
nance us with a certain amount of Euros, but
then they changed their mind and by today
they have given only 75% of what they had
promised.
Guarantees of connections and shuttles nev-
er realized, and the police did not remove the
illegal vendors of food and drinks outside the
stadium. If their prices were lower than ours
probably people would buy from them rath-
er than from our own concessions.
Despite all of the above, we were determined
to do our 25th festival, maybe we were doped
by the music! I think that the unique perform-
ances in Italy of Paolo Nutini and Kaiser Chiefs
and the concerts of Jimmy Cliff and Lou Reed
were flowers in the desert of this country. In
September we will think about what to do
now that we have had time to consider, for
the moment we really thank you and every-
one for having been with us.”
Despite this year’s disappointments there
were high points and I certainly don’t think
we have seen the last of Italia Wave, or the
Arezzo Wave spirit!Italia Wave Festival
Marco Valenti - director Arezzo Wave
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Sziget Festival makes Budapest a hot
spot for festival tourism. According to
a press report issued by the festival
the 19th edition of the event attracted
77.000 people coming from 61 coun-
tries. Particularly festival goers from the
Netherlands turned the festival site into
a “Dutch island on the River Danube” the
day before the open air event started.
The reason for this was the arrival of two
of three chartered trains.
While the Dutch community appar-
ently came by train visitors from France,
Italy and Belgium arrived one day later
by bus. In the press release the Sziget
organization declared that the festival:
“has a strong reason to claim the title
‘global village’… or even ‘global town’,
judging by the massive size of the ven-
ue and the number of inhabitants.”
Another new topic on the agenda of
this festival was the introduction of a
so-called Festivalcard. The promoter de-
cided that during the event and on the
site festival visitors could only pay for
goods with this card. As in some Euro-
pean football stadiums where cashless
payment systems are already in place,
this enables organisers to control the
entire money flow and management
within their events.
The card is issued by Sziget Cultural
Management Ltd. and is also being
used at other festivals by the company
such as Budai Gourmet, VOLT and the
Heineken Balaton Sound. Unfortunate-
ly cardholders won’t be able to trans-
fer the balance on the card onto the
other festivals. For the cash free man-
agement Sziget Cultural Management
Ltd. had to install a complete network
of card readers and payment terminals
known as Top Up Points. The maxi-
mum amount of money that could be
uploaded on this card is 240,000 Hun-
garian Forints, which is about 890 Euro.
For every money upload Sziget charges
100 Forints. To charge the card, festival
visitors can pay with cash or with bank
or credit cards.
In addition to the festival card punters
can also buy a Festival Watch, another
catchy cash gadget promoted as being
“rain and shower resistant and also beer
and mud proof”. This specially designed
watch offers the same payment function-
alities as the card and can be purchased
for 30 Euro. However, refunding will only
be given at the Top Up Points during the
duration of the festival. For protection in
the case of loss or robbery of the card,
festival goers have to register the card
or watch by a text message to a mobile
phone number or online at the website
www.metapay.hu/fesztivalkartya.
Cashless payment systems on large-scale
events such as Sziget or Football stadiums
became possible due to the invention of
so-called near field communication chips
(NFC). These chips enable the transfer
of data in short range distance. Besides
payment functionalities these chips also
can manage paperless ticketing, access
controlling or online streaming or down-
loads. Several smart phone producers
such as Blackberry, Nokia or Samsung
meanwhile offer cell phones that include
such a chip. In the future these chips
could also be used as car keys.
But in terms of consumer satisfaction
these kind of money management de-
vices have limits. In many cases it is just
a bargain for the card issuer who makes
a profit on non- reimbursed funds. Oth-
erwise it is more likely that cardholders
rather lose track of their money spending
within the system of cash free payments.
Another advantage for the card issuer is
that with the installation of such a system
he controls the entire cash flow manage-
ment of an event. It also means that mer-
chants on the site completely lose over-
all control of payment for their goods.
Not to forget the difficulties if a merchant
charges you wrongly and your overpay-
ment vanishes into a virtual account…
Sizegt 2011 took place on August 8
to August 15. For further information
please go to the very proper website of
this festival at www.sziget.hu
Sziget reports 77.000 Cashless VisitorsManfred Tari [email protected]
12
VIP-BOOKING.COM
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The FKP Scorpio promoted M’era Luna attracted 20.000 visitors
this year, down on the 24.000 one year ago. Primarily promoted
as festival for Dark Wave and Gothic this festival put on musically
different acts such as Atari Teenage Riot, Apocalyptica, Hurts or
Patrick Wolf.
With the Deichbrand Festival in Cuxhaven FKP Scorpio added
yet another festival to its portfolio. As Pollstar recently reported
FKP together with former promoters and founders of the festival
Scorpio formed a new company ESK Events & Promotion GmbH.
The Deichbrand festival has operated since 2005 and is located
in an industrial zone in Cuxhaven. FKP Scorpio launched the new
company in June 2010, the directors are Folkert Koopmans, Marc
Engelke and Daniel Schneider.
The festival hit financial trouble in 2008 into after the festival site
suffered from damage due to bad weather, a situation repeated in
2009. This year the event pulled 18.000 visitors and a production
volume of about 1.5 million Euros according to the local news-
paper Cuxhavener Nachrichten. Cuxhaven is located in Northern
Germany and the festival side is located directly by the sea. For
further information please check www.deichbrand.de
20.000 Visitors for M’era luna and one more Festival for FKP ScorpioManfred Tari [email protected]
M’era Luna
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Last year the Swedish festival market saw
the departure of not one, but two of its
major festivals, Hultsfred and the Arvika.
But at least the Hultsfred festival was
rescued and re-appeared on the market
with the backing of the biggest European
festival promoter, FKP Scorpio. Former
Hultsfred-manager Gunnar Lagerman was
persuaded to abandon his beloved toma-
to-plants in order to return to his position
as boss of Hultsfred again. VIP-News spoke
with him.
VIP-News: Mission impossible completed?
Gunnar Lagerman: Well, we’ve started
six feet under but we succeeded very well
with this festival. In a very short time we’ve
had to build a line-up, the media was not
so positive as usual but I would say we’ve
made it anyhow.
VIP-News: How many visitors did you fi-nally have?
Lagerman: About 11.000 people in the
end, which is almost three times more
than the festival had on account last year.
»Many people still were afraid of buying tickets because they thought it
might be cancelled again«
- Gunnar Lagerman
VIP-News: How did the pre-sales do this year?
Lagerman: They were slow; most of them
were sold during the last two weeks. Many
people still were afraid of buying tickets
because they thought it might be can-
celled again.
VIP-News: Did last year’s ticket buyer get their money back?
Lagerman: No…. and that is definitely six
feet under. We started unfortunately too
late with a campaign whereby last year’s
ticket-buyers could buy three tickets for
the price of two. Something that we could
maybe have done earlier, if we had more
time. I mean, we only decided in Mid-Jan-
uary to go on with Hultsfred and that was
already very late.
VIP-News: How were the media reactions?
Lagerman: Well, most of the media didn’t
believe that this was going to work.
VIP-News: So, there was a large amount of scepticism everywhere?
Lagerman: Yes…but we managed to have
a really good program, so last month some
of the media finally changed their minds
but it was too late.
VIP-News: The program was pretty much pop and dance and not so much rock-acts…is that your new booking-policy at Hultsfred?
Lagerman: Well, to an extent, we would
have taken on more rock-acts but we
couldn’t get them when we started with
the booking.
VIP-News: Who took care of the booking?
Lagerman: I have done all of the bookings.
VIP-News: So FKP Scorpio mainly looked after the logistical stuff?
Lagerman: Yes. We had several things that
we looked after here in the Swedish office
but when it comes to the practical things
FKP Scorpio took care of it. Among others
we worked together with Klangpiraten, a
man power supplier that works closely to-
gether with FKP Scorpio.
VIP-News: Did you sell tickets abroad this year or was it mainly a Swedish audience?
Lagerman: Mainly Swedish, we’ve had
a connection to the Hurricane festival,
which then brought a bus of Germans up
to Hultsfred.
VIP-News: And how was the media recep-tion afterwards?
Lagerman: Well, I mean, some said we’ve
done good, some said the area wasn’t
crowded, of course the area could have
taken 20.000 people and we had heavy
rain the first day, like 16 hours….we could
have had a better start, yes.
VIP-News: How has the collaboration with the local city council worked out?
Lagerman: It worked very well. I mean, we
planned to work out the festival-area in six
weeks, in the end we built the area in six
days. And it worked out very well, in terms
of practicalities it was probably the best
festival ever. I have the feeling that 95% of
those who bought tickets for this year will
come back next year. I believe in the past
four, five years there might have 60% of
newcomers, which of course is a problem
for a festival.
VIP-News: Do you know much about the audience, were they younger than before, were they a different audience?
Hultsfred Festival – The Comeback of a Festival?Manfred Tari [email protected]
Gunnar Lagerman
14
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VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
Lagerman: No, we definitely had an older
audience than before.
VIP-News: Do you know the average age?
Lagerman: Not yet for sure, but there were
probably more like 24 year olds rather than
19 as it used to be. We managed to get the
license for serving beer all over the infield.
In Sweden as you may know It used to be
the situation, that you have to fence areas
where you can drink your beer. That’s the
case at most festivals in Sweden, and that
is something that maybe is okay when
you’re 20 – 22, but if you are 26 it sucks.
Now we had alcohol served all over the in-
field, people where not as drunk as it used
to be, no accidents or fighting, whatever. It
was a very positive atmosphere.
VIP-News: So, what is on your agenda for 2012?
Lagerman: It’s a little bit early to say, but
we will do an even better festival and a
bigger audience.
For further information please check:
www.hultsfredsfestivalen.se
The 14th edition of the Melt! Festival re-
ported a sold out edition with 22.000 visi-
tors. This festival is very special indeed. Lo-
cated in the very far east of Germany the
Melt! has become one of the most credible
open-air pop events in Germany and has
managed to attract one third of its audi-
ence from abroad.
Melt! Is a festival where even veggie and
organic food is no longer an exception.
No, at Melt! these kind of visitor friendly
amenities are part of the standard reper-
toire and among others just another asset
to keep its visitors happy.
VIP-News spoke with Stefan Lehmkuhl
about the efforts made to ensure the sus-
tainability of this in many ways, very differ-
ent festival.
VIP-News: What is different at Melt! 2011 compared to previous years?
Stefan Lehmkuhl: Not too much, we’ve
sold out much earlier, about one and a
half months before, at the end of May.
The rest didn’t change too much, we have
the same stage-setup, many more LED-
Lights, not only to save more energy, also
to make it look more stylish and I think
the stage-designs are pretty well done
this year.
VIP-News: You are setting some remark-able standards with Melt! when it comes to environmentally friendly concepts for open air events. How do you proceed with these kinds of activities?
Lehmkuhl: Last year we already focused
on the mobility concept for Melt!. We
maintained this concept featuring train &
bus transportation offers and discounted
ticket prices on Deutsche Bahn. We offer
bicycles to hire here, which is very eco-
friendly to get an idea of the region.
This year the biggest news in regards of
green music, and that is a really great
thing, is that in cooperation with Ferropo-
lis and the solar-industry company Q-Cells,
we installed solar-panels on the roofs that
we have here. So most of the energy we
use here this year is coming from our own
solar panels, it is sun energy and I think
that is a big thing for a festival. That’s not
only for Melt!, that is something that is for
all shows that will take place here in the fu-
ture on our site.
VIP-News: You are also involved in Me-tropolis, the company that actually takes care of the bookings for the Ferropolis site. What are your plans for the site?
Lehmkuhl: We are working on improving
the amount of events taking place here,
this year we had not too many concerts,
mainly industry-events, some sports-
events and theatre productions. For next
year we’re working on improving the
number of concerts and we will establish
some of our own formats for next year.
Some different festival formats for totally
different audiences, especially for regional
audience. So I think next year we will have
about 6 weekend events from Melt to
Splash, some rock festivals, events dedi-
cated to German Schlager, folk music and
maybe even comedy.
VIP-News: Any follow-ups in terms of the consequences that love-parade caused for the German live-industry?
Lehmkuhl: Yes, officially there is a much
bigger awareness of security-concerns
here with Melt! I mean Ferropolis is a
pretty safe venue anyway as it is built for
events and therefore fulfils high security
standards. So here at Melt we didn’t have
big knock-on effects from love-parade,
but our own awareness to even look into
things and keep a closer eye on the move-
ments of crowds on each floor. The pro-
gram of the festival is the most important
thing that helps to steer the movement of
the crowd on the site.
For further information please check:
www.meltfestival.de
Melt! A Class Of Its OwnManfred Tari [email protected]
Stefan Lemkuhl
15
VIP-BOOKING.COM
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
VIP-Booking.com has recently expanded its
services by launching MyMusicMailer.com
- a new online promotion tool directed to-
wards artists within the live music industry.
Thus VIP-Booking.com has moved beyond
being a business-to-business resource re-
served for entertainment industry profes-
sionals only, as performing artists are now
given the opportunity to access parts of the
VIP network database and thereby distrib-
ute and promote their own music.
According to Ronni Didriksen, founder and
director of VIP-Booking.com, MyMusic-
Mailer.com has risen as a natural develop-
ment of VIP-Booking.com’s already existing
services. Previously, chosen subscribers of
VIP-Booking.com were given the opportu-
nity to present and distribute their artists’
material to other professionals in the VIP
network database through VIP-Showcase.
com. This proved to be a success and con-
tributed to the rising demand for such a
service – not only amongst professionals
but also amongst performing artists.
“The concept of MyMusicMailer.com is quite
simple”, Ronni says, “When you register on
MyMusicMailer.com you get access to part
of the VIP-Booking.com database which
is Europe’s most comprehensive internet
database containing information on more
than 10.000 venues and agencies all over the
world. When registered, you createan EPK
(Electronic Press Kit), where you can upload
your picture, audio/video and biography
and email it directly to the venues, festivals
or management companies of your choice”,
he explains.
It´s free to sign up, but MyMusicMailer.com
charges a symbolic fee for each EPK sent.
According to Ronni this is partly to ensure
that artists are selective about whom they
contact and thus that the professionals
don’t experience an overload of EPK’s that
are not relevant to them. “Choosing to send
an EPK to the entire network without being
selective would be costly and the fee would
no longer be symbolic”, he says.
Ronni has – as he is busy running the thriv-
ing VIP-Booking.com - chosen to leave the
marketing of MyMusicMailer.com to his
two new employees – Marie Weiergang
and Laura Skriver, who have taken on the
job with great enthusiasm.
“We are spreading the word about MyMusic-
Mailer.com”, Marie says, “and I truly believe
in the concept, because MyMusicMailer.com
really is the perfect tool for musicians to dis-
tribute their music to the live music industry
and to get through to the right people – and
besides that, there are currently no existing
services like it in Europe, so there is an actual
need for this kind of service amongst musi-
cians”, she says.
Laura agrees “This tool makes it so much
easier for musicians to be independent and
promote themselves, because it provides
them with the needed information and con-
nections that otherwise takes lots and lots of
hard work and not the least time to acquire.
Besides that it’s very easy to search and navi-
gate the database – you just select and con-
nect – it’s that easy! In that way musicians
who subscribe to MyMusicMailer.com are
given a head start”, she says.
According to Marie, what separates My-
MusicMailer.com from other sites, such as
MySpace and others alike, is the fact that
MyMusicMailer.com lets you distribute
your EPK directly to venues and agen-
cies. The receiver gets all information in
one presentation and the EPK has a very
professional appearance – it’s a classy yet
simple presentation of the artist and their
music, she says.
Ronni points to the fact that the role of
the record labels is diminishing in terms
of breaking new artists. The record labels
no longer have the same recourses and
funds available for promoting new talent
as they used to. Therefore there is a need
for a service like MyMusicMailer.com for
artists, who want to make an effort them-
selves and get their music out. “As US mu-
sic blogger Bob Lefsetz said at a conference
recently: “It’s no longer about content, it’s about distribution” Ronni adds.
“I’m confident that both the professionals
within the live music industry as well as the
artists will welcome our initiative and make
it a success”, he says.
MyMusicMailer.com is a tool that enables artists to dISTrIBuTe their music to more than 6.000 venues and agencies worldwide at the click of the mouse!
New service for musicians:MyMusicMailer.com launches!
The team behind MyMusicMailer - ready to shout it out!
16
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Popkomm is by far extent the best know music industry trade
event in Germany. This year’s event will take place from Septem-
ber 7 to 9 at the former airport Tempelhof in Berlin. But Pop-
komm is no longer a stand-alone event, like the Berlin Festival it
is now an embedded event within Berlin Music Week.
Berlin Music Week is basically a political, or perhaps better said, a
city marketing product. It remains a bit of a mystery what those
responsible in Berlin are aiming to establish and to invest into
this new brand. For the music industry Popkomm is still seen as
the destination to head to in Berlin.
VIP-News spoke with Daniel Barkowski, who has been head of
industry convention for two years, about the difficulties and
challenges presented by the upcoming edition and the future
of this event.
VIP-News: How are things looking for Popkomm 2011?
Daniel Barkowski: Popkomm 2011 is very promising. We are
extremely proud to announce that for the first time a foreign
minister is attending the Popkomm Opening. Ewa Björling the
Swedish Minister of Trade opens the Popkomm conference with
a keynote on Wednesday, September 7 th.
On Wednesday and Thursday the Popkomm conference focuses
on the digital music industry with various keynotes and panels
at the Popkomm Media_Gate. Popkomm Media_Gate is a format
for the digital music industry with companies such as Google,
Microsoft, Napster, Finetunes and Gracenote discussing the lat-
est trends and topics in panels and workshops. Furthermore
we involved in many music and media industry cooperations.
One partnership is with the medienboard Berlin–Brandenburg
where Popkomm will be hosting a panel called ‘Music_Media_
New Radio: Business Models and Digital Strategies on Tuesday,
Showdown for Popkomm 2011Manfred Tari [email protected]
Daniela Barkowski
17
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September 6th, from 4.30 pm – 6.30 pm.
Professionals within the music industry
will showcase all the new formats and pro-
grammes that a renaissance in the music
business holds in store.
Thursday is dedicated to more general
music topics and on Friday we are expect-
ing Melvin Benn from Festival Republic
as a keynote speaker focusing on the live
sector. We are very pleased about our two
innovative event formats Media_Gate and
Networking_Gate, our networking and
matchmaking platform, which confirm
that Popkomm has become even more
multi-faceted and provides a strong im-
pact into future developments. We cover
topics of fundamental interest to the mu-
sic industry and with the Popkomm show-
cases help to promote artists from every
continent.
Vip News: Was it difficult to assemble ex-hibitors and delegates for this year’s Pop-komm? Was it more difficult than in previ-ous years?
Barkowski: This is my second Popkomm
and I’m very pleased with the expected
audience. Exhibitors from 22 countries
including, for the first time, Israel and
Argentina, will attend Popkomm, along
with industry experts from music export
agencies, national and international as-
sociations and 115 selected Popkomm
artists. We are also happy to announce the
cooperation with the Berlin based organi-
sation Berlin Music Commission. With the
networking formats such as one-on-one
matchmaking and round table discussions
delegates are invited to MEET BERLIN on
September, 7th at the Networking_Gate.
The Berlin Music Commission invites to
network, to gain new insights, to learn ide-
as from other industries and last but not
least to make premium contacts.
Special highlights are the music supervi-
sor sessions with Tess Taylor from NARIP
and Andrea von Foerster and Gary Ca-
lamar will meet Popkomm delegates for
direct pitches. Andrea von Foerster is re-
sponsible for The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy,
Dollhouse, Stargate Universe, Gary Ca-
lamar for the soundtrack of True Blood,
Dexter and House.
Vip News: Many People outside of Ger-many and even Germans, who are not from Berlin have problems understand-ing the difference between Berlin Music Week, the Berlin Festival, Popkomm and All Together Now. What is the overall goal for it? Popkomm is internationally the best known trademark, so why does it need another brand entitled Berlin Music Week?
Barkowski: Last year was a little bit dif-
ficult for foreign people to understand
what Berlin Music Week stands for as it
was a kind of creation process for all the
different partners. But I think we’ve made
it very clear this year. Berlin Music Week
is the umbrella brand whereas Popkomm
is the B2B-platform within the Berlin Mu-
sic Week. We’re concentrating on match-
making, B2B sessions such as our daytime
showcases for a B2B audience. We are the
only partner within the Berlin Music Week
offering special networking formats and
conference topics to international and
national music and creative industry del-
egates.
Vip News: In terms of partners, there are a couple of former Popkomm partners such as Buma Cultuur or the BPI that won’t have Popkomm stand this year. How do
you re-approach these organisations, are you going to invite them?
Barkowski: We are very pleased to wel-
come them as delegates at Popkomm
2011. We have been working with interna-
tional partners and especially the music
export offices for years and it is our aim to
support their national artists. This year’s
showcase programme will be fully pro-
moted to all Popkomm delegates to assist
artists to gather the attention of the right
people in the right place at the right time.
Our music manager Paul Cheetham places
as many artists as possible on to the Berlin
Festival, various Berlin Music Week events,
club nights and parties that will take place
throughout the city during this exciting
week of music and entertainment.
Vip News: In terms of booking procedures, I have been told, that artists only can play at Popkomm showcases if they have a record company or an agent that also has a stand. Is that correct?
Barkowski: Artists have to be linked to an
exhibitor or co-exhibitor at Popkomm to
play at the Popkomm Showcases. That’s
why we are working very closely with the
international music export offices to sup-
port their artists. The link to the exhibition
part allows them to get the best exposure
when they come to Popkomm and benefit
from the support of the structure while at-
tending.
Vip News: How many people are you ex-pecting at this year’s Popkomm?
»This year’s Popkomm once again provides a vibrant
and creative setting for the worldwide music industry«
- Daniela Barkowski
Barkowski: Definitely not less than last
year and I’m looking forward seeing eve-
ryone at Popkomm from 7th - 9th Sep-
tember. And of course, everyone is also
invited to the ‘European Music and Media
Night’ in the E-Werk Berlin. This year’s
Popkomm once again provides a vibrant
and creative setting for the worldwide
music industry.Daniela Barkowski
18
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With the help of the recent grant from the
European Commission ETEP (European Tal-
ent Exchange Program*) has announced a
new development and expansion as ETEP
2.0. The new version will welcome the
involvement of eight new festivals from
Central Eastern Europe (CEE) joining ETEP
in 2012, and it is planned that ETEP 2.0
will grow from 60 participating festivals in
2011 to 100 in 2015.
Together with in total 13 CEE-ETEP fes-
tivals in the CEE region and around 26
media partners, Eurosonic Noorderslag
and co-organisers Sziget and Exit Festival
will develop a scheme for the circulation
of CEE artists and repertoire in Central
Eastern Europe at the festivals and in the
media, called CEETEP (Central and Eastern
European Talent Exchange Program). By
working together the organisers and their
media partners will help more CEE artists
perform across borders within Central
Eastern Europe and via shows at Eurosonic
Noorderslag in the Netherlands through-
out the whole of Europe and beyond.
Fruzsina Szép from Sziget Festival says: “A
long wish and a plan that has developed
during former Region Conferences in Buda-
pest is finally taking shape by placing CEE
talents on the European musical map.”
Ivan Milivojev from Exit says: “CEETEP has
started, festivals confirmed, media joined,
I can feel the stir of a new project being
born out of great idea. Bands will start to
circulate, I am delighted that all this hap-
pened at EXIT festival, to see this potent
and beautiful cooperation at work. CEETEP
has started. You`ll certainly hear more
about it.”
Peter Smidt from Eurosonic Noorderslag
says: “With radio stations and media from
all countries confirming their participation
I am confident CEETEP will have an impact
for talent in the CEE countries. This is an-
other step in better circulation of Europe-
an repertoire in Europe.”
At the first CEE-ETEP (CEETEP) meeting in
Budapest in May this year the following 13
festivals agreed to work together on this
project: Coke Live Festival – Poland, Podo-
ha – Slovakia, Rock For People – Czechia,
Taksirat – R. Macedonia, T-Mobile INmusic
Festival – Croatia, , B’estfest – Romania,
Exit – Serbia, Wilsonic – Slovakia, Sziget –
Hungary, Heineken Opener Festival – Po-
land, Positivus Festival – Latvia, Spirit Of
Burgas – Bulgaria, and Woodstock Festival
– Poland.
Certainly it appears that the Festival pro-
moters are taking the lead in trying to de-
velop both acts and industry in the Eastern
markets, many of them also promote at
small and mid level venues, and it seems
that their motives are not only to fill the
venues and attract bigger audiences to
their festivals, but to open up the possibili-
ties for local talent to play in neighbouring
territories and eventually into Western Eu-
rope.
Girts Majors of Latvia’s Positivus Festi-
val told VIP-News at The Great Escape in
Brighton this year, “Besides organising
Positivus, the biggest music and arts fes-
tival in the Baltic states, with a capacity of
20,000+ festival goers, as promoters we
have been operating for 8 years now fo-
cusing on Western artists concerts in Riga.
The 1990’s saw the dawn of the music
industry in Latvia. At the moment/cur-
rently recorded music business has almost
ceased to exist. Most of the business is for-
eign artist live shows and majority of them
being arena-level. Some of the Western
artists have enjoyed the highest attend-
ance of their shows exceptionally in Riga.
Club-level shows are rare and undevel-
oped due to infrastructure problems. The
good sign in recent years is that some of
the local artists have also managed to se-
cure sold out arena-level shows.Our plan
for the near future is to focus on 2,000 ca-
pacity gigs. We’re about to open and run
our own venue like that in Riga.
Piotr Miazek of the Zloty Melon Concert
Agency, and a representative of Wood-
stock Festival Poland told VIP-News , “I
would like to say that we are proud to be
taking part in the CEETEP program. It is our
deep conviction that music made in Po-
land and elsewhere in this part of Europe
is just as good as in the western music, and
that our talent pool is just as big. It would
be great to hear Polish radio stations play-
ing good quality music from Romania,
Hungary, Serbia, etc.
Thanks to the kind hospitality of the Exit
Festival,VIP-News attended the second
CEETEP meeting in Serbia at which the
following mediapartners of the 13 CEETEP
festivals joined the program: MR2-Petőfi
Radio – Hungary, KOMMPOT Communica-
tion – Hungary, Neston – Hungary, First
Macedonian net portal – Macedonia, Ra-
dio 103 – Macedonia, Antyradio – Poland,
Czech Radio - Radio Wave – Czech Repub-
lic, Radio 101 – Latvia, Metropotam portal
– Romania, Radio Belgrade 1 – Serbia, Da-
rik Radio – Bulgaria, 24 hours news paper
– Bulgaria, Croation Radio – Croatia.
Laurent Marceau, Head of Eurosonic/Radio
Plus at the European Broadcasting Union,
told VIP-News, “Hope for the best and pre-
pare for the worst… I don’t know who said
this but this cannot apply to the CEETEP
programme. Joining forces between festi-
vals and (public) broadcasters makes real
sense, it contributes to cross-border dis-
tribution of music, and that’s simply great,
full stop. This scheme has a great future!”
… A sentiment that we at VIP greatly sup-
port – Watch this space!
*eTeP 2.0
Eurosonic Noorderslag will work together
on more exposure for the selected ETEP
acts with the following partners: Euro-
eTeP 2.0 looks east with CeeTePAllan McGowan [email protected]
19
VIP-BOOKING.COM
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
pean Commission / Sena Performers /
Buma Cultuur / EBU. And with Co-organ-
isers: Yourope / Initiative Musik Gmbh /
European Music Office (EMO) / Festival
Exit / Festival Sziget / Bureau Export de
la Musique Française (Burex) / Catalan
Institute for the Cultural Industries (ICIC)
/ Fondazione Arezzo Wave Italia (FAWI)
/ Finnish Music Information center (FIM-
IC) / Music Information Centre Austria
(MICA) / Music Centre Flanders / Music
Export Norway / Wallonie Bruxelles Mu-
siques (WBM).
With the exchange and support of new
European music in Europe being one of
the main goals of Eurosonic Noorderslag,
the special European Talent Exchange Pro-
gram (ETEP) was introduced in 2003. Each
year ETEP brings together the leading Eu-
ropean festivals, radio and other media
at Eurosonic Noorderslag and stimulates
them to ‘exchange’ a selection of artists.
Since the start of the ETEP program in 2003
a total of 1330 shows by 489 European art-
ists were presented at the 60 ETEP festivals
(2003 – 2011)
The updated ETEP website will be online in
September 2011 - www.etep.nl
As organiser Detlef Schwarte explains The
Reeperbahn Campus as a B2B-platform
and conference is one of three elements of
the “Reeperbahn Festival - Music / Campus
/ Arts” which will take place in Hamburg,
from 22 –24 of September.
For the first time the B2B-platform pro-
vides several networking services for the
delegates. Most importantly are the “Net-
working Sessions” titled Meet the Manag-
ers, Meet the Festival, Meet the Agents and
Meet the Promoters. These Networking
Sessions are open for the delegates, but
online-registration is required. They take
place in the Reeperbahn Campus Lounge
on Spielbudenplatz.
Also new in 2011: the Reeperbahn Campus
Showcases. Israel, Switzerland, Canada,
Holland and some German organisations
and companies will invite delegates and
punters to check out their acts. The show-
cases will take place during the daytime in
Reeperbahn Campus Pubs at Spielbuden-
platz next door to the Reeperbahn Cam-
pus Lounge and the conference.These two
elements are the most important parts of
the B2B function of Reeperbahn Campus.
Besides this several German and inter-
national partners will invite delegatesto
receptions, parties or closed shop match-
makings.
Conference:
Even more than in the last two years the
Reeperbahn Campus conference will fo-
cus on the Recorded Music Industry and
Live Entertainment Business. The tradi-
tional panel format will be complemented
by presentations, keynote-statements and
-interviews.
Schwarte says, “The Reeperbahn Campus
aims to establish itself as the central and
most important forum for the interests of
the music industry and live biz in Germany.
We want to provide the platform for a year-
ly gathering of the relevant representatives
of these two sectors to reflect on current
technical, economical and cultural devel-
opments that affect their businesses.”
Panels will include: -
Festival-Season 2011/12 with Stefan Leh-
mkuhl (Melt! Festival, DE), Gunnar Lager-
man (Hultsfred Festival, SWE), Rob Chal-
lice (Association of Independent Festivals,
UK), Peter Smidt (Buma Cultuur, NL), Chris-
tophe Platel (Paleo Festival, CH). Modera-
tion: Greg Parmley (IQ Magazine, UK)
In the course of the subject block THE
AGENT´S AGENDA the Reeperbahn Cam-
pus will present a view of the music agen-
cy business in the year 2011 in three parts.
In a keynote interview with Allan McGow-
an, editor of the British VIP magazine, the
legendary agent Barry Dickins will explain
his personal view of the current situation
of the music agency business and of tours,
talents and ticket prices.
Subsequently the question of “How Do We
Keep the Business Going and Growing?”
will be discussed by a panel composed
of international music agents, including
Emma Hogan (ITB, UK), Rense Van Kes-
sel (Friendly Fire, NL), Alexander Kralisch
(Melt! Booking, DE) and Michael Löffler
(Target Concerts, DE).
As an introduction to the subject block,
Charlie Pressburg of the US American mu-
sic journal Pollstar will provide a detailed
overview of the Pollstar Boxoffice Half Year
Results 2011, the most important key fig-
ures for the international concert and tour
business.
More information:
www.reeperbancampus.com
reeperbahn CampusAllan McGowan [email protected]
Detlef Schwarte
20
VIP-BOOKING.COM
20
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
Every now and then VIP-News will take a
look at the activities of some of Europe’s
best known promotion companies. Many
of these enterprises are involved with
a much wider range of events than you
might think, and are extremely busy peo-
ple! In this issue we take a look at the ac-
tivities of Scotland’s DF Concerts.
DF was founded in Dundee as Dance Fac-
tory Concerts, and is one of Scotland’s
three major promoters. For a time DF was
majority-owned by Irish promoter Denis
Desmond’s Dublin company, Gaiety Invest-
ments, but in April 2008 Desmond sold his
company’s 67% holding to US entertain-
ment giant Live Nation, which acquired
the stake through LN-Gaiety Holdings, its
UK joint venture with Desmond. Geoff Ellis
and promoter Simon Moran retained the
remaining 33% shareholding in DF and
the Company still retains the image and
ethics of an independent promoter, oper-
ating from club level right through to ma-
jor festivals. The Company owns and man-
ages legendary, and imaginatively named
Glasgow club, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut,
promotes major international acts, such
as Take That, AC/DC, The Eagles, Coldplay
and Jay-Z around the country and is re-
sponsible for one of Europe’s leading open
air events, T in the Park, plus The Edge
Festival (originally T on the Fringe) which
combines forces with the Edinburgh Com-
edy Festival to bring Music and Comedy
together at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The current CEO of DF Concerts is Geoff
Ellis, originally from Manchester, he joined
DF in 1992 to run King Tut’s Wah Wah Club
which had opened in Glasgow’s St Vincent
Street two years earlier, his office is still
above the club. Since then King Tut’s has
become one of the most popular music
venues in the country. Geoff Ellis told VIP-
Newsabout the history and the present
success of
“Since opening in 1990 our ethos has been
to use King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut as a plat-
form for unsigned and up and coming
bands as well as showcasing some of the
hottest talent from around the globe. Art-
ists such as Radiohead, Coldplay, Snow Pa-
trol, The Killers, Florence and the Machine
and Oasis, who were famously signed at
the venue in 1993, all played in King Tut’s
in the early part of their careers.”
Currently the Club is absolutely central
to the ‘Your Sound’ initiative to promote
unsigned acts in Scotland and King Tut’s
Records. Both of these ventures form an
essential part of DF’s overall plan to de-
velop the music scene in Scotland.
Ellis considers it a testament to the hard
work and professionalism of the King Tut’s
team that many bands continue to return
to play in the venue, including some that
are now headlining their own stadium
shows and festivals. For the venue’s 20th
Birthday the Manic Street Preachers and
Paulo Nutini returned to perform and Biffy
Clyro presented the venue with a birthday
cake.
King Tut’s prides itself on the level of serv-
ice it provides both bands and customers
with food (always important in Scotland!)
being a very important part of the busi-
ness. The venue’s chefs are dedicated to
maintaining very high standards when
feeding touring artists or providing sea-
sonal menus for the customers. This has
led to another extension of the business
with the recent development of King Tut’s
Catering, which provides catering services
to a wide range of clients from weddings
and corporate events to crew and artist
catering at other venues including the O2
Academy and S.E.C.C.
Ellis continues, “King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
staff have always had a great camaraderie
with many becoming close friends over
the years. I think this has a big impact on
the welcoming atmosphere the venue has.
DF Concert’s own King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
and our staff continually work with those
in King Tut’s as part of a wider team. We all
know each other and some of our current
staff in the DF office previously worked in
King Tut’s. In fact, I met my wife when she
was managing the venue!”
The Club was recently nominated as the
UK’s Best Small Venue by music magazine
NME. Ellis told VIP what he thought of this.
“Being at the forefront of live music in
Scotland whilst remaining an exceptional
venue for our customers is something
we take great pride in. I am very proud of
everyone at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut and
pleased with this recognition, which fol-
lows on from similar awards from Radio 1
and Radio Clyde.”
Festivals:
T in the Park is definitely DF’s flagship
event, being responsible for more than
half of the company’s turnover. It was ac-
knowledged in the Scottish Parliament
some years ago that the event contributed
some £13 million to the country’s econ-
omy. The risk that Ellis and his partners
dF Concerts – live on All levels in Scotland Allan McGowan [email protected]
King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
21
VIP-BOOKING.COM
21
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
took when they staged the first event in
1994 when the event drew an audience of
18,000 a day has paid off, and now attracts
more like 80,000. Main sponsor, Tennents,
the brewer, signed a five-year extension to
its sponsorship in 2009.
This year’s edition was considered one
of the best yet, perhaps the best ever, in
terms of atmosphere. The 18-year-old fes-
tival closed on Sunday 11th July, after full-
on performances from some of the great-
est acts in the world including arguably, six
headliners: Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Foo
Fighters, The Strokes, Beyonce & Pulp, as
well as outstanding sets from the likes of
Swedish House Mafia, Primal Scream, Plan
B, The Script, Slash, My Chemical Romance,
Tom Jones and Tinie Tempah.
T in the Park also offered music from Scot-
tish Opera, covering a variety of genres.
The festival also supported home grown
grassroots talent through its T-Break ini-
tiative and the best of up and coming UK
talent through BBC Introducing.
The Festival remained trouble free; crime
figures were down with 53 arrests being
made between Thursday’s opening night
and top billing Foo Fighters closing the
event at midnight on Sunday. This figure
compares with 64 arrests at the same time
last year, 59 in 2009 and 69 in 2008. Most of
the arrests were for misuse of drugs, theft
and breach of the peace.
In his role as Festival Director, Geoff Ellis
said, “We were delighted with the behav-
iour of the fans throughout T in The Park.
Even a deluge of rain on Sunday failed to
dampen the great-natured and carnival
spirit of the crowd.Event Commander
Chief Superintendent Craig Suttie and
his team led the way with the community
style policing of his officers and it worked
superbly well. This, along with the excel-
lent work of the stewards, made this one
of the best – and safest – T in the Parks
ever.”
The Festival’s Citizen T initiative introduced
last year also played its part. An innovative
programme that encourages people to
look out for their neighbours and the en-
vironment around the festival site, Festival
goers are encouraged to sign up to the
Citizen T manifesto, which is based around
the following five-points
1: This is our Festival: We pledge
allegiance to T in the Park and
believe in being good citizens.
2: Everybody needs good
neighbours; we pledge to look
after each other.
3: It’s all about the T Community
Festival staff are here to help.
Have fun but stay safe.
4: Bin it; Rubbish belongs in the
bin. We’ll make sure it gets
there.
5: A Tent is for life not just for T;
We’ll take it home and re-use it
Geoff Ellis commented: “Citizen T gener-
ates a feeling of being part of one big fam-
ily – it harnesses the already legendary
campsite atmosphere and is an initiative
which has been embraced by our audi-
ence. We will certainly be looking to ex-
pand on this again next year.”
Following this outstanding festival week-
end, T in the Park’s early bird tickets for the
2012 edition sold out once again, proving
that demand for the festival remains as
high as ever. T in the Park 2012 will take
place from 6 – 8th July as usual at Balado,
by Kinross for the festival’s 19th year.
The Edge Festivaltakes place throughout
the month of August, and is a series of
over 40 gigs, taking place across various
venues in Edinburgh alongside the Edin-
burgh Comedy Festival, part of one of the
most famous Arts Festivals in the world, in
a move which brings together two of the
strongest forms of entertainment.
Highlights of this year’s edition include
The National, Jimmy Eat World, Example,
Wiz Khalifa, Gomez, The Vaccines, Panic!
At The Disco, Morcheeba, Tim Booth, Guil-
lemots, Newton Faulkner, Heather Peace,
Charlie Simpson, Admiral Fallow, Willy
Mason, Jackie Leven and king of comedy
show Jackass, Steve–O.
Speaking on the morning of the pro-
gramme launch, promoter Dave Corbet
said: “We’re delighted to be joining forces
with the Edinburgh Comedy Festival this
year and are pleased to be in such good
company. Music and Comedy have always
been great bedfellows and from the feed-
back we’ve had previously, people attend-
ing the festival like to build an evening
of entertainment so what better than to
catch a comedy show AND attend a gig?
DF has also involved itself with shows out-
side the music industry, such as Glasgow
On Ice and Radiance Glasgow’s inaugu-
ral festival of light. And it steps outside
of Scotland every now and then, having
worked on outdoor events in Prague, Ber-
lin, Val d’Isere and Moscow, and staged
music and extreme sports festivals in Va-
lencia and Versailles.
The promoting business is not always an
easy business and profit margins are not
what they were in the heydays of the 70’s
and DF has like many had its problems at
times, like going into the red in 2008 when
trying to establish The Hydro Connect
Festival - the antidote to T in the Park, a
boutique gathering on the grounds of the
Duke of Argyll’s Inveraray Castle, but the
Company bounced back and continues to
build. DF has certainly built a reputation,
and it continues to involve itself in indus-
try issues with Geoff Ellis serving as an ex-
ecutive member of the Concert Promoter’s
Association in the UK.
www.gigsinscotland.comGeoff Ellis CEO DF Concerts
22
VIP-BOOKING.COM
Groove ArmadaTerritory: Europe / Worldwide Period: Worldwide 2011 Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Agent: Steve Hogan E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.groovearmada.com
dub Syndicate(feat. Adrian Sherwood and Style Scott)Territory: EuropePeriod: November - December 2011Agency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Rob BerendsPhone: +31 24 323 9322E-mail: [email protected]: www.paperclip-agency.com
FirehouseTerritory: EuropePeriod: 1/2/2012 - 31/3/2012Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: [email protected]: www.firehousemusic.com
Ghetonia Territory: WorldwidePeriod: Generally availableAgency: Maffucci MusicAgent: Canio Rosario MaffucciPhone: +39 339 485 8107 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.italianworldmusic.com
lA Guns (feat. Phil lewis & Steve riley)Territory: UK - Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool Period: 28/09/2011 - 29/09/2011 Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana Strutz Phone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.laguns.net
Thieves like us Territory: GASPeriod: Generally availableAgency: Solar Penguin AgencyAgent: Michèl Dion BaltinPhone: +49 (0) 69 2562 6960 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.solarpenguin.de
22
artist avails ››
MorE ArTIST AvAILS oN:WWW.vIP-BooKING.CoM
PoST Your ArTIST AvAILS oN:WWW.vIP-BooKING.CoM
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
Halfyear results from CTS eventim
Lower revenue and profit results for
the second biggest concert com-
pany. For many years CTS Eventim
had been an investors’ darling, con-
sciously pleasing shareholders with
rising revenue and earnings results.
Still CTS Eventim compared to Live
Nation is highly profitable but has
to deal with the departure of FKP
Scorpio as revenue contributor and
ongoing expenses due to the arbi-
tration case with Live Nation at the
International Chamber of Commerce
in London.
The overall company revenue went
down from 270.9 to 263.8 million
Euro, the Earnings before Interests,
Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisa-
tion (EBITDA) decreased 5.4 % from
43.6 to 41.2 million Euro. The EBIT
even went down minus 20.4 % from
37.9 in H1-2010 to this year’s result of
30.1 million Euro.
Within the ticketing segment, CTS
Eventim managed to maintain its
growth policy very well, even with-
out a global ticketing service deal
with Live Nation. The revenue went
up from 81.5 to 104.1 million Euro,
which is a plus of 27.7 %. Instead the
results of the Live Entertainment
division of CTS Eventim went down
15.5 % from 192.8 to 162.9 million
Euro.
Regarding the arbitration case CTS
Eventim reported that the first hear-
ing took place at the end of July. The
trial is apparently supposed to last
until the end of the year.
Due to 1:2 share splitting the share
price of CTS Eventim meanwhile is at
22.50 Euro.
Halfyear results from live Nation
“2011 has shown solid performance
for two quarters, with improved re-
sults across most of our key financial
metrics, providing the basis for prof-
it growth over the full year,” is how
Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation
described the company situation
within the latest business report of
the world’s biggest concert com-
pany.
The revenue climbed this year in the
second quarter (Q2) up to $1.558
billion compared to last year’s rev-
enue result in the same period of
$1.266 billion. The revenues gained
by company division Concerts alone
jumped by about 25 % and reached
the level of $1.082.2 billion as op-
posed to $859.5 million.
The half-year turnover result for the
ongoing business year (H1) grew 21%
from $1.99 billion up to $2.4 billion.
In almost every business segment
Live Nation had been able to report
two digit figures growth rates.
However, almost unusually for Live
Nation the company also reported
a net profit. Okay, only for Q2 where
the company earned $13.25 million
instead of a net loss of $32.78 mil-
lion in Q2-2010, but still a profit. Tak-
ing a look at H1 results still reveals a
net loss of $35.2 million which is still
much better than a minus of $155
million in H1-2010.
Since the beginning of August the
share price of Live Nation went down
from $11.4 to $9.38 when this article
went to press.
Business News - Music in SharesManfred Tari [email protected]
23
VIP-BOOKING.COM
Israel, especially Tel Aviv, is full of musical talents and some of them
- like Balkan Beat Box or Asaf Avidan - have been seen in the past
years performing across the world. Now it’s time to present some
fresh acts which are stars at home, but still unknown abroad.
The “Tune in Tel Aviv” showcase on Thursday, September 22nd
2011, from the Israel Export and International Cooperation Insti-
tute (IEICI) within this year’s Reeperbahn Festival present some of
the most exciting newcomers. A perfect chance to acquire a taste
of pop and rock music from the young vivacious Middle Eastern
metropolis.
“Our partnership with the Reeperbahn Festival this year is a first
step in bringing together the European and Israeli music market,”
says Mira Geshel from IEICI. “We are pleased to finally present
these bands to the music fans and professionals in Germany.”
The bands selected for the showcase present a mixture of en-
ergetically pop and rock sounds with tastes of hard electronic
beats as well as danceable pop-hymns, Blues, Indie, Soul, Funk
or Rock’n’Roll. They mix up intense sounds with reflective lyrics,
nonsense and self-criticism and prove Israel’s unique sound in
pop music.
All bands and some more are presented on the comilation “Tune
in Tel Aviv” (Finetunes) which will be released on September 16th
digitally.
Website:
www.tune-in-tel-aviv.com
line-up:
16:05 UZI RAMIREZ, www.myspace.com/uziramirez
16:50 LORENA B, www.myspace.com/LorenaBGood
17:35 BILLY AND THE FIRM, www.myspace.com/billyandthefirm
18:20 WATER KNOT, www.myspace.com/waterknot
19:05 PHOTOTAXIS, phototaxis.bandcamp.com
19:50 FELIDEA TRICK, www.myspace.com/felidae.trick
20:35 UMLALA, www.myspace.com/umlalainuse
21:20 THE RAW MEN EMPIRE,
www.myspace.com/therawmenempire
„Tune in Tel Aviv“ – Showcase, Thursday September 22nd, 4-10pm,
Kukuun, Spielbudenplatz 22, Reeperbahn, Hamburg.
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
23
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
Tune in Tel Aviv at reeperbahn Festival
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
[email protected], including name and email address.
Please shorten your message to the extent possible, to make room for
as many notices as possible.
The Raw Men Empire - by Tsvika Frosh Uzi Ramirez By Dorel GillermanWater Knot
24
VIP-BOOKING.COM
Looking for:
Booking, Management, Record Lable, Festivals
Ninet Tayeb won the first Israeli Idol in 2003. Since then she be-
came one of the biggest artists in Israel. Her first album, released
in 2006, sold Gold after only 24 hours. In 2009 she released her
second album “Communicative”, a Rock Alternative album which
received amazing reviews. The Communicative Live Tour was
also praised by the press, making Ninet one of the best stage
performers In the Local Music industry. Ninet is currently staring
in the Musical “Spring Awaking – Israel”, and working on her first
Album in English.
Monthly featured artist ››
powered by MyMusicMailer
origin: IsraelStyle: Rock, Alternative Agency: Tedy LTD
Name: Rotem VahnnichWebsite: www.ninet.co.ilPhone: +972-52-600-33-12
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 0 5
24
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
NINeT TAYeB
Ninet Tayeb
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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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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 - A u g u s t 2 0 1 1
rwe Arena Mülheim an der ruhr
rWE Halle - a multi functional Venue focused in Concerts, Galas,
Conferences & Sport Events offering a perfect service to visitors,
Artists and Promoters.
In the Heart of Germany with best infrastructure and Cities around
like Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen, Cologne and Düsseldorf – 15
million people catchment area.
Capacity from 1000 to 4000, seated 3500 and 3 variable Tribunes
gives multiple potentialities.
Some Facts and services we offer:
- Large Foyer incl. separate Ticket Entries, Bars, Guest Wardrobes
and culinary offers
- Luxury VIP Lounge
- 3 tiers variable to use
- Externally roofed huge Terrace
- Close to City Centre and Central Station & Airport
- 14 Wardrobes incl. Showers and Lounge Furniture
- Sauna area
- Weight & Sport room
- Production Offices incl. LAN, ISDN & Fax, WLAN all over the Venue
- Press & Conference & Catering Rooms
- Short distance (under 10 meter) from Loading Dock to Stage
ground level
- Bus and Tram stations named “RWE HALLE” are immediately
outside the Venue
Showbiz-Management & Booking Agency is the exclusive Mar-
keter & tenant for the RWE Halle - 45468 Mülheim an der Ruhr -
Germany
All kind of booking enquiries could be sent by e-mail to:
RWE Halle