vip-news premium - vol. 146 april 2012
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VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
It’s been pouring with rain here for the last
couple of days, but it seems that it’s not the
right type of rain, or there’s not enough of
it because we are still officially in drought.
River levels across England and Wales are the
lowest they’ve been for 36 years, since our
last severe drought in 1976, with, according
to the Environmental Agency, two-thirds
‘exceptionally ’ low, and most reservoirs
below normal levels. As the festival season
looms and the situation continues, we may
see our increasingly ‘green’ events having
to consider contingency plans to deal with
water shortages and yet more problems
caused by increasingly erratic weather. I’m
sure that many in other countries who still
picture England as a rain swept country
where everybody carries umbrellas will find
it strange to see us indulging in rain dances
over the next couple of months!
Since the last issue of VIP News I have
journeyed to Canada, Estonia and Paris, and
talking of strange weather, things on that
front were not as usual. Having prepared
myself to pack thermal underwear and ski
wear for Toronto, having been told by old
hands at Canadian Music Week to expect
temperatures of – 10º and below, I discovered
on checking that shorts and swimwear were
nearer the mark (especially as my hotel room
flooded on the first night – but that’s another
story!) and in fact the first day there turned
out to be the hottest March day ever recorded
at 21º. Estonia a few days later was cold, but
just above freezing, unlike last year when The
Great Escape’s Martin Elbourne managed to
bring attention to himself, becoming Tallin
Music Week’s first casualty by skidding on
the ice covered pavement and breaking three
ribs. This year was happily as far as I know
injury free. Then a trip to Paris in connection
with this year’s MaMA event was positively
spring like! – Oh no! - I’ve just realised that
I’ve done that most English of things and
spent the whole time talking about the
weather! Still the events themselves do get
covered in the News you’ll be glad to know.
I was very taken by the Neil McCormick
report in UK newspaper The Telegraph from
the Coachella festival in California, as he
wrote, “The hairs went up on the back of my
neck…” as he watched the live performance
of Tupac Shakur…” This is perfectly
understandable , as unfortunately, and not to
put too fine a point on it, Tupac is actually
dead. His apparently very realistic appearance
was made possible by the application of new
holographic projection technology. This all
puts a new slant on the phrase, You can’t
recreate the Live experience ’ and opens
up all sorts of quite bizarre and disturbing
possibilities , as apparently you can do more
than just holographically present a pre-filmed
performance, it is now possible to work the
images to present something entirely new.
We hear all the time that there is a lack of
new headliners, and about bands reforming
all the time to sell out tours, but bringing
acts back from the dead now seems at
least visually – and of course acoustically –
possible ? The Sonisphere show with Adam
Lambert fronting Queen at Knebworth in the
UK was recently cancelled, seemingly due
to poor ticket sales – now if Freddy made
a virtual comeback it may well have been a
different story…
So, with Frankenstein images and thoughts
of the Grateful Undead going through my
head – Ladies and Gentlemen – The News…
COLOPHON >
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McGowan’s Musings
3
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
The UK Live Music Act Becomes OfficialAllan McGowan [email protected]
It has been confirmed that The Live Music
Act will come into effect on October 1.
The implementation of the Act means that
performances of live amplified music with
audiences of less than 200 people between
the hours of 8am-11pm will no longer
require local authority permission in England
and Wales. Also there will be no audience
limit for performances of unamplified live
music.
The Private Members Bill which became the
Live Music Act was introduced by Liberal
Democrat Peer, Lord Tim Clement-Jones and
was championed in the Commons by the
Member of Parliament for Bath Don Foster.
The intention and the hope is that the Act
will encourage more pubs and small venues
to host live music events in 2012 and beyond.
VIP News attended the party held hosted
by UK Music and the Musicians Union at
Westminster to celebrate, as did musicians
such as Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera,
folk artists Show of Hands and producer
Trevor Horn along with various MP’s and
representatives of the music industry. There
weren’t that many small venue operators
that I was aware of, but presumably they
were at their desks preparing for more gigs!
Jo Dipple, chief executive of UK Music
said: “This act will reverse the damaging
effec t the Licensing Act had on live musical
performances in the UK. Our most successful
musicians, such as Joy Division, The Sex Pis-
tols and the Rolling Stones all learnt their
trade and earned their livings in small clubs
and bars. Reversing overzealous licensing
regulations will create new opportunities for
British artists. The Rose & Crown in Totteridg e
Park and The Constitution in Camden Town
will be - thanks to this Act - full of music and
seedbeds for talent. Tomorrow’s headline
acts will grow from these seedbeds which is
great for music lovers and for the wider UK
economy.”
John Smith, MU General Secretary, said:
“The MU is delighted to be hosting this
event alongside UK Music. Personally, I
have been campaigning on this issue ever
since the Licensing Bill first started going
through Parliamen t in 2002-03, and once
the Licensing Act came into place in 2003
our members immediately started telling us
that the number of gigs being held in small
venues was going down.
“The exemption that the Live Music Act will
bring in is fantastic news for musicians and
will be a real boost for live music, and we
thought it was right to celebrate it with a live
music party in Parliament.”
Lord Tim Clement Jones told VIP News,
“After a campaign lasting several years it was
hugely satisfying to see the Bill go through
on the 20th January, especially when no-one
except Don Foster seemed to understand
the procedure! I am sure the Act will make a
real difference especially to young musicians
and local small venues. It’s high time we
celebrated not regulated our musical talent.”
Jo Dipple
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4
Canadian Music WeekAllan McGowan [email protected]
This was the 30th edition of CMW and
it’s taken me this long to actually gets
there. For the last few years the event has
unfortunately clashed with ILMC, but a
strategic rescheduling to allow international
professionals to fit in both SXSW and CMW
made it possible for me to make it to Toronto
– and I’m glad I did!
The event is big… nearly 3000 delegates
attended . CMW incorporates the Conference ,
Awards Shows a Trade Show, and Comedy,
Film, and of course Music Festivals; featuring
international and home grown acts in 35
venues over three nights.. There are a lot of
good bands coming out of Canada and I was
particularly impressed by Half Moon Set from
Montreal (playing at Brighton’s Great Escape
next month) and Sheepdogs from Saskatoon.
The venues are pretty spread out across the
City and a lot of time is spent in cabs –
although a certain Scottish delegate walked
everywhere resulting in severe chafing of
his inner thighs as the heavy fabric of his
kilt swung backwards and forwards as he
marched from venue to venue!
CMW is truly international and as far as
Europe was concerned this year Portugal
and Spain were featured territories. The
International Market Place was the main
meeting point for the out of Canada guests,
and the room in the Tardis like Fairmont Hotel
was one of the main networking places.
Speakers included Harvey Goldsmith, Slash
and Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company
fame. The panels were full and active, with
the Festivals session attracting 400 plus - one
of the best-attended panels I’ve ever seen!
CMW President Neill Dixon told VIP News,
“For Canadian Music Week’s 30th anniversary
and beyond our goal is to be on the forefront
of issues and trends shaping both the digital
environment and opportunities for both the
live and recorded music business in the years
ahead.
We spent a lot of effort to create a first-wave
think-tank, one that maps out our industry’s
future for our participants benefit. I think
we succeeded this year. In a business
sense, these insights may be life-or-death
– especially in the face of the exponential
growth of social networking, mobile web,
viral marketing and online TV. Competitive
executives need an “edge,” and CMW is
the place to acquire it. Of course have not
forgotten our roots and CMW continues to
be Canada’s biggest, internationally-focused
new music fest showcasing over 1,000 bands
from 40 countries”
Next year’s CMW European focus will be
on Northern Europe’s Nordic Countries –
Norway , Iceland, Finland, Denmark and
Sweden – and the associated regions of
the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aaland.
Japan the second largest music market in the
world, just after the US will also be featured.
Harvey Goldsmith at CMW 2012
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > CONFERENCE ROUND UP
Neill Dixon
5
Tallinn Music WeekAllan McGowan [email protected]
This was my second visit to Tallinn and it is more than clear that something is going on in Estonia! This small republic with a population of only
1,318,005 people, historically and culturally connected to the nearby Scandinavian countries, and neighbour to Russia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Estonia is the home of Skype and has recently fared better than many countries beset by the ongoing financial difficulties.
The annual showcase festival and music industry conference took place for the fourth time and as you can see this year’s figures
show a significant advance on 2011.
The conference was again opened
with a welcome speech from
the President of Estonia
Toomas Hendrik Ilves .
I was extremely
impressed by his
knowledge of
music in general
and his attitude
last year and
we featured
an interview
with him in VIP
News. This year’s
address was, if
anything, even more
striking, referring to the
perhaps recently overlooked
connection of rock’n’roll to
democracy and freedom of speech. It is
worth taking the time to watch and listen to Pres.
Ilves speech which can be accessed in full here: http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=SyMN3hmcoHE
The close connection to the Nordic countries in terms of geography,
Helsinki is only two hours away by ferry, and increasingly, business,
was emphasised, by NOMEX, the recently formed umbrella for the
music export organisations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and
Sweden, choosing the event to outline its strategy for the first time in
a speech by MD Anna Hildur Hildibrandsdottir.
Organiser Helen Sildna commented, “We are happy to see that TMW
has now a solid place at the annual calendars for our region’s music
industry key players and organizations. If we manage to boost up the
artist and knowledge exchange between the neighbouring countries
by making it possible for the right people to meet each other, we
have already succeeded, simultaneously providing a gateway into the
market for the whole Europe and the world. Just five years
ago it was quite rare to see an Estonian band play in
Finland or Latvia and as rare to see any Latvian
bands play in Estonia. Things have changed
significantly and suddenly the whole region
is a bigger and more open market place
for new talent.”
The confe-
rence also addressed
copy right, music entrepreneurship,
and the essential role of a manager. This section included
entertaining and informative interviews with Ed Bicknell, long
time manager of Dire Straits, Brian Ferry and others, and
Russian cultural figure Artemyi ‘Artjom’ Troitsky.
It’s only 20 years since Estonia gained independence and delegates
were reminded of this by a trip to the KGB Museum (Which I
201227 stages
183 artists from 13 countries
150 artists from Estonia
11.200 festival visitors
589 delegates – 283 from Estonia
306 international delegates
61.549 unique hits on the website
from 110 countries
201116 stages
147 artists from 10 countries
123 artists from Estonia
7.600 festival visitors
423 delegates – 229 from Estonia
194 international delegates
52.483 unique hits on the website
from 88 countries
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > CONFERENCE ROUND UP
6
unfortunately missed) in a Hotel opposite the Conference hotel,
apparently the door to the office displayed a sign saying, “There’s
nothing behind this door.”
Undeterred by his injuries from a fall on the ice last year, Martin
Elbourne of The Great Escape and Glastonbury told VIP News, “I
have seen this event develop over the last three years. It was always
well organised in a fantastic city, and is now bigger, with more
delegates and better bands. As a regional event it can only become
more important . Aside from the Great Escape it’s the one conference
showcase event that I will definitely attend next year.”
Ed Bicknell commented, “I thoroughly enjoyed it. Extremely well
organised , great people, interested and enthusiastic audiences. Oh...
and the interviewer wasn’t bad either (I wonder who that could have
been? Thanks Ed – ED.). Thanks to Helen and all her colleagues for
their professionalism, hospitality and sheer doggedness in getting the
Conference/Festival established in such a short time, really impressive.
I would definitely go again”.
Mark Meharry, CEO of UK based Music Glue said, “The setting was
great and the town is picture postcard. The bands that I saw were
not that great, but then I am not the target demographic. I didn’t
see many panels except the ones I was on. It was a great networking
event and the people Helen brought in were of a good level. Maybe
less vodka would be a good thing!”
Dan Panaitescu of he Sziget Office in Budapest was short and to the
point, “The best ever. Very well organized, interesting panels, good
artists... no complaint...”
Following on from TMW the European Talent Exchange Programme
announced that a Estonia’s Ewert and the Two Dragons are leading
the field in this year’s ETEP festival bookings following Eurosonic
2012, having been confirmed to play at festivals in Finland, Sweden,
Belgium , France and Lithuania. The band were the winners of the
Skype Award at TMW 2011 and since then they have played festivals
across Europe and played their first tour in North America. Manager
Toomas Olljum told VIP News, “Helen Sildna and Tallinn Music Week
have played an important role in my development into an artist
manager . I started working with acts a few years before TMW, but
the event gave me a networking possibility with key international
industry players in my hometown. 4 years after its start, my artists are
doing well - Ewert and The Two Dragons just finished a series of gigs
in North America where they played at Canadian Music Week and
in NYC, and Iiris, Tallinn Music Week skype ‘Go Change The World’
award winner 2010 just released a debut album on EMI.”
The Skype Award winner 2012 will soon be announced and the prize
of 3500 EUR will go to an artist with the most international potential
as selected amongst TMW
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > CONFERENCE ROUND UP
Ed Bicknell and Helen Sildnaat Tallinn Music Week
Ewert and the two dragons - photo by rasmus jurkatam
8
This year’s prestigious categories:Best Delegate’s Bag
Best Delegate Bar
Best Hotel/Convention Centre
Best App Or Digital Tool
Best Export Office
Best Networking EventOr Feature
Best Award Show
Best Small/Regional Event
Best Panel Near Punch-Up
Accident (or Incident)Of The Year
Conference JunkieOf The Year.
UK Conference EventsAllan McGowan [email protected]
May is a busy month in the UK Conference Calendar with both Brighton’s Great Escape and Liverpool’s Sound City. VIP News will cover the
Southern and the Northern events and report back in the nest issue.
YMCAS Return to The Great Escape
This May 10-12 will see the return of The
Great Escape to Brighton, and I am glad
to see that the now semi-legendary Yearly
Music Conference Awards (or YMCAs to its
friends), will again be part of the programme
(particularly as I proudly won one last year –
still it is my hometown)! These Awards aim
to recognise all that is good, and sometimes
quite strange, about the world’s music
business conventions and showcase festivals.
Presented at an exclusive ticket-only
event as part of the final day of The Great
Escape convention , the awards also bring
together the travelling community of agents,
managers , bookers, and business owners
and export offices that visit many of these
events, along with the people who organise
them. Many of you VIP News readers attend
these events so here’s a chance to add your
voices to the selection of the winners.
Nominations are already being accepted in all
eleven categories. These can be emailed to
[email protected]. Nominees for each
category will then be announced and people
will be invited to vote in each section.
Ticket information for the YMCAs will go
online at www.escapegreat.com next week.
Full listings for bands, 42 new names have
recently been added to the line up, etc can
also be accessed at this site.
Red Stripe will be sponsoring this year’s
programme of street gigs; and Ford will be
recording Bands In Transit sessions at the
event. Tthe open air stage on Jubilee Square,
The Hub, will be back; and 20 venues will
appear in the Alternative Escape fringe
programme this year.
Amongst the sessions will be ‘DIY In The
Spotlight ’, specifically aimed at providing
practical advice, tricks of the trade, and
hopefully inspiring stories for artists,
managers and music entrepreneurs early on
in their careers, and those musicians looking
to self-release their own work for the first
time. Holy Roar’s Alex Fitzpatrick, Chris TT,
Good Lizard’s David Riley, Create Spark’s
Debbie Ball, ACUMEN’s Josh Little, Sony By
Toad’s Matthew Young, Memphis Industries’
Ollie Jacob, Tru Thoughts’ Robert Luis and
Sentric Music’s Simon Pursehouse will help
to provide a focus on what artists and their
managers need to do logistically and legally
when setting up their own music enterprise.
The DIY In The Spotlight strand is being
enabled by Arts Council England, who have
confirmed they are supporting a number of
activities at The Great Escape this year. Sally
Abbott, Regional Director of Arts Council
England, South East, told CMU: “Arts Council
England are delighted to support The Great
Escape festival in Brighton with £38,000 of
Grants For The Arts funding”. She added:
“The Great Escape festival attracts music
fans, young people and industry specialists
from all over the world to Brighton and we
are delighted to support it in delivering local
collaborations, education and development
and to promote international diver-
sity and collaboration between artists’’.
PRS For Music will once again present a
whole strand of panels, keynotes and con-
versations on day one of the convention.
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > CONFERENCE ROUND UP
Sally Abbott
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Mobile Roadie to Keynote Liverpool Sound City
Sound City will take place in Liverpool the
week after Great Escape on May 17-19.
Andrew Mains, COO of the massively
successful app developer Mobile Roadie
used by amongst others Madonna, Adele,
Noel Gallagher , Take That, Miami Dolphins ,
Cristiano Ronaldo, LA Kings and, yes,
Liverpool Sound City, will deliver the first
keynote speech. Chief Operating Officer at
Mobile Roadie since September, 2011 Mains
oversees business development, grows the
MR global sales team, and manages day-
to-day operations . He is a digital music and
entertainment industry veteran with extensive
experience helping artists, managers and
labels deepen engagement with fans, and will
be discussing the future of music apps.
This year, Sound City will be hosting parties
and events with Sounds Australia, Brazil
Music Exchange, New Zealand Music
Commission, Taiwan GIO, KOCCA (Korea
Creative Content Agency), Generator, Digital
Derry, PPL, Musicians Union and c/o Pop as
well as bands from as far afield as Australia,
Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France,
Germany, Korea, Italy, Japan, Netherlands,
Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden Taiwan
and USA
Alan Welby, Director of Knowledge Economy
at Sound City 2012 partner Liverpool City
Region’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
said:
“This region is home to over 3,000 creative
and digital businesses at the forefront of one
of the most vibrant and competitive sectors in
our economy. Creativity is in our DNA. There
is a very strong core of locally established
and locally grown businesses and we set up
the UK’s first creative industries development
agency in 1997. All of this positions Liverpool
perfectly to build on its success to date in
hosting Sound City. The 2012 event offers
us a unique opportunity to showcase the
region for more leading creative and digital
industries to do business here, and attracting
keynote speakers like Andrew reflects the
importance of the event and its appeal to
delegates from all over the world”.
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > CONFERENCE ROUND UP
Andrew Mains
10
Legal Action Against Secondary TicketingManfred Tari [email protected]
Within the past decade companies such as Seatwave or Viagogo
have ‘conquered’ Europe and converted a business model previously
widely considered a black market into a viable business model
dealing profitably in the secondary sale of tickets.
The demand for live events has continued to rise, and understandably
the ticketing business has benefited from this development. Leading
ticketing companies such as Ticketmaster and CTS Eventim became
leading players operating and making both high profits from and
returns to the value chain of the concert industry within the primary
sales market.
But companies active within the so called secondary market for
tickets only contribute to a certain and limited extent to this value
chain, as in most cases neither concert promoters nor artists receive
a share on tickets passed on to buyers at above face value. However
observation of the websites of Companies such as Viagogo or
Seatwave proves that the profit margins for selling tickets at inflated
prices can run up to and sometimes even exceed 500 percent.
For many years several concert promoters tried to fight the secondary
ticketing companies, but in most cases failed. Since the TV-magazine
Dispatches on Channel4 aired a report entitled “The Great Ticket
Swindle”, the issue of secondary ticketing once again came to the
fore in the concert industry. Two journalists that worked undercover
at Seatwave and Viagogo revealed the use of business practises
that many in the concert industry already suspected. One of the
findings of the “Great Ticket Swindle” revealed that the majority of
tickets offered on those ticket exchanges are traded by employees
of these companies or so called power sellers. Not long ago these
‘power sellers’ would actually have been considered ‘touts’ by more
concerned concert promoters or artists.
But the Great Ticket Swindle also revealed that prominent companies
such as Live Nation UK or SJM Concerts provided ticket contingents
for concerts and tours of artists such Coldplay, Rihanna or Westlife.
However, there are promoters that strictly refuse to work with
secondary ticketing websites. In France the concert promoter
association Prodiss successfully lobbied for a legal solution against
unauthorized secondary ticketing.
Prodiss reported that this new French law implemented on March
12th 2012, aims to “facilitate the organisation of cultural and sports
events” creating a new criminal offense (article 313-6-2, French
penal code) for the unauthorized ticket resale to sporting, cultural,
trade events, and live performances”.
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > INDEPtH StORy > SECONDARy tICKEtING DEBAtE
INDEPTH – Continuing the Secondary Ticketing DebateIn the last issue we presented varying views on the ongoing discussion about the whys
and wherefores and the rights and wrongs of Secondary Ticketing, following the active
and sometimes heated debate that followed the screening in the UK of ‘The Great Ticket
Swindle’ , the ‘Dispatches’ investigative documentary on the practice in the UK. In this issue
we present further opinion and comment on the topic…
The statute states: “To sell, offer for sale or expose for sale or
transfer of ownership, or to provide the means for sale or transfer
of ownership of access rights to a sporting, cultural or trade event
or to a live show, habitually and without authorization from the
promoter , the organizer or the owner of the rights of exploitation of
this manifestation or event, is punishable by a 15 000 euros fine. The
penalty is up to 30 000 euros in the event of a repeat offence. For
the purposes of the application of the first subparagraph, any ticket,
document, message or code, in all forms or mediums, evidencing
the right to attend the manifestation or event having been obtained
from the producer, organizer or owner of the rights of exploitation,
will be considered as access card.”
VIP News spoke to Aline Renet of Prodiss about this legal initiative:
VIP news: what does this mean for French concert promoters?
– “The French law now recognizes full control of the tickets for the
live performance producers. Event promoters contracts with the
artist’ s representative for their appearance, hire venues, determine
the face value of tickets and their allocation between the venue
box office and ticket agents, and undertake the advertising and
marketing of the event. The promoter has the sole right to grant
ticket distribution to any third party he may choose. French law
prohibits the resale of tickets to an event by third parties, not duly
authorised by the organiser of the event. The phenomenon of
“unauthorized ticket resale” is largely but not exclusively attributable
to Internet websites, set up for this purpose. Among targets are
resale sites, based in France or abroad, operating without the
agreement of promoters , as well as individuals who habitually
engage in the practice of reselling tickets to an event.”
VIP news: How did you lobby for this law?
– As there were several prior attempts –five rejected bills in total in
the last two years- we focused firstly on the timing: we are close to
the election in France and secondly we got 100 artists to co-sign
a public statement in Le Monde etc. against the resale of tickets
at inflated prices just three days before the vote of the original
amendment in order to raise more pressure, helping to secure the
adoption of the bill. Thirdly we mobilized MPs from Parti Socialiste
and UMP and additionally worked out a media campaign for the
last 6 month with two different but combined approaches: One
was to raise public concern/awareness, the other one was Economic
& Financial press, giving them an outlook on who was pulling the
strings.
This means that France now joins Denmark in implementing a legal
backing for concert promoters, helping promoters and artists to ban
secondary ticketing.
Aline Renet
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VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > INDEPtH StORy > SECONDARy tICKEtING DEBAtE
12
It is well known there are promoters that
enjoy working with secondary ticketing
websites. But for those who do not get
involved in this kind of ticketing business,
the following interview with Ben Challis,
general counsel of Glastonbury and music
lawyer might pick up a hint or two, on how
to prevent secondary ticketing or simply gain
a better understanding of the generalities of
the practice.
what did you think when you saw the
TV-report “The great Ticket swindle”?
– I thought it was interesting and a brilliant
expose of some of the less savoury aspects of
ticketing. I think it lifted a veil on what some
in the secondary market had been up to for
some time, so perhaps now we can have a
bit more transparency so fans know who is
making what out of inflated ticket prices. If it
is the band or the promoter making the mark
up - so be it - I just think fans have a right to
know whom they are paying.
what is the policy of glastonbury Festival
when it comes to secondary ticketing?
– The Festival has a registration process ,
limits on ticket sales and personalised tickets
(with a photograph). It is a substantial
investment of time, effort and money but
seems effective so far. We are also vigilant
to ensure websites such as eBay don’t re-
sell our tickets, and as we have a number
of UK and European Community Trade
Marks we can take legal action when
unauthorised vendors purport to have some
kind of ‘official ’ link with the Festival . Where
necessary , in situations where fraud or
criminal activity is suspected, we will involve
the Police’s e-crimes branch or Trading
Standards. However it is difficult to protect
people against their own stupidity.
The French promoter organisation
Prodiss successfully lobbied for a
law against unauthorized secondary
ticketing . would you say that a similar
lobby campaign is possible in the uk?
– My personal view is that no UK Government
has wanted to do this. The re-sale of
Football tickets in England was prohibited
to curb crowd violence. The prohibition
on the re-sale of 2012 Olympic tickets is a
specific piece of legislation. If you read back
through the various debates that have taken
place in our Houses of Parliamen t, the same
arguments come up again and again - free
market policies / consumer freedom to re-
sell vs. consumer protection and the right
of artistes / promoters to control admission .
Is it obnoxious to re-sell a ticket for a big
profit , or a useful market function? It is never
ending ! With the Dispatches programme
identifying a number of major promoters
who are engaged in re-selling tickets and
the somewhat vague comment from the
UK’s Concert Promoters Association - clearly
even the live events sector doesn’t have a
shared view. If WE cant agree as the live
events industry - why should politicians
bother?
There is one more point - who would
actually enforce this sort of law? It is difficult
enough when criminal activity is detected -
I can’t see why this would be high on any
politician’s agenda unless the groundswell
of public opinion pushed it there. And the
music industry now knows from lessons
learnt from peer-to-peer file sharing - that
suing / prosecuting your customers is a VERY
bad idea. And an unenforced / ignored law
is a bad law.
do you think the oFT should look into
the market of secondary ticketing?
– I think it should seek to protect consumers ,
but if it went any wider it would enter the
realms of competition regulation, which
might be very difficult.
For more background information
please check an earlier article by challis
in 2009 at http://www.
musiclawupdatescom/?p=162
Ben Challis on Secondary Ticketing at Glastonbury and the UKManfred Tari [email protected]
Ben Challis
Go online - www.vip-booking.com
Need to know who is touring Europe ®
vip-booking.com
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > INDEPtH StORy > SECONDARy tICKEtING DEBAtE
Steve Roest from Viagogo About The Great Ticket SwindleManfred Tari [email protected]
One might have expected that the following
interview would have proved difficult to
obtain but this was not the case. Actually an
external PR-Agent of Viagogo even offered
the opportunity for an interview shortly
after the first stories about The Great Ticket
Swindle went to print.
The questions and answers were sent and
received by email, supported by a conference
call with Steve Roest, who works as European
Sales Director for Viagogo and his PR-agent.
The great Ticket swindle actually
revealed an inside view on the business
practices of Viagogo. what are your
comments on the programme?
– Viagogo was created to provide people
with a secure place to buy and sell tickets
to live events. Before Viagogo, consumers
looking for the most popular tickets often
had little choice but to take their chances
with a shady character outside the venue or
an auction website, with no guarantee they
get what they paid for.
With Viagogo every ticket on Viagogo is
guaranteed – the buyers are guaranteed to
get the tickets they paid for in time for the
event. In the rare instance that a problem
arises, Viagogo will provide similar or better
tickets, or in the worst case a full refund.
These core business principles of delivering
every ticket on time for the event were not
questioned or challenged by the programme,
which gives us confidence in the service we
offer consumers.
The report stated that employees of
Viagogo offer the vast majority of ticket
offers on the websites of Viagogo.
The report even presented evidence of
Viagogo employees using various credit
cards with different names to purchase
multiple tickets offered by primary
ticket vendors. As such Viagogo staff
present false identities in order to work
around per person capped ticket sales.
will Viagogo continue these kinds of
business methods in the future?
– The section where Viagogo was accused of
buying up tickets was misrepresented in the
programme. It is certainly not the case that
the tickets on Viagogo are offered by Viagogo
employees. We have in the past purchased a
very small number of tickets ourselves . The
primary objective in purchasing tickets is to
ensure we have a small number of tickets
in reserve for fulfilling our guarantee that
purchasers will receive their tickets in time for
the event. In the secondary market there are
a number of reasons as to why a seller may
not fulfil their obligation to the buyer. We
firmly believe that every customer should get
the ticket they paid for or their money back.
Therefore, a small number of tickets are
purchased as “replacements” in the instance
a seller fails to deliver. If the tickets are not
used they get sold on – sometimes at a profit,
sometimes at a discount.
If as maintained by the dispatches
programme the majority of Viagogo staff
members apparently sell tickets offered
on Viagogo websites, this would mean
that the Viagogo business model is
actually business-to-consumer. If this is
the case the Viagogo claims to be a resale
platform for “fans to fans” is actually in
contempt of the “unfair competition
Act” as part of ucP-directive (2005/29/
Ec) by the European union. so as such
Viagogo is misleading consumers. do
you maintain the claim that Viagogo is a
fan to fan ticket exchange following the
channel 4 airing of the dispatches TV-
report “The great Ticket swindle”?
– Viagogo is an open marketplace and we
allowed anyone to use our platform provided
that they deliver the tickets that they sell.
This is clear on our website and we have
never claimed to be exclusively a fan-to-fan
exchange. While, the overwhelming majority
of sellers are ordinary sports and music fans
who sell one or two tickets, there are larger
sellers on the platform, including promoters
and event organisers.
The report furthermore revealed that
Viagogo received ticket contingents
from promoters. which promoters does
Viagogo officially work with, and what
are the benefits for these promoters
selling tickets on the secondary instead
of the primary market?
– Viagogo has publicised many partnerships
where we work with event organisers to sell
certain premium tickets on our marketplace
at market prices for example; Madonna
and Roger Waters. However, as a ticket
marketplace , our sellers are our customers,
and it is not our place to discuss the details
of our contracts publicly. These are legitimate
business arrangements, but like many
commercial contracts, the specific details are
confidential.
14
Steve Roest
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > INDEPtH StORy > SECONDARy tICKEtING DEBAtE
In an advertisement for the madonna
concert in germany in the weekend
edition of tabloid paper “kölner Express ”
on march 3 it says, “To secure best tickets
and selling at Viagogo.de”. How is
Viagogo involved in the ticketing for this
madonna show or even the entire tour?
– Viagogo is the official premium and
secondary ticketing partner for Madonna’s
2012 European tour, which includes
Germany . We are officially endorsed by the
organisers of the tour as the place where
fans should go to sell on their spare tickets
and to buy tickets once they have sold out at
the box office.
The French promoter association Prodiss
currently lobbies against the resale
of tickets. similar political efforts are
going on in the uk, as well in sweden.
In particular the TV-report “The great
Ticket swindle” can been seen and used
as piece of evidence against Viagogo
and other ticket re-sale platforms and
their existing business practises, which
not so long ago were considered a “black
market ” business model. don’t you fear
that politicians or consumer protection
organisations will undertake efforts to
forbid the resale of tickets as for instance
in the case of tickets for sport events
such as the olympic games in London?
– We believe that legislation would
drive the secondary ticket market back
underground with all the consequent safety
and transparency issues that arise from
that. Powerful legislation already exists to
outlaw scam websites and fraudulent street
touting , which already face problems of
effective enforcement . These policing and
enforcement problems would mean that the
bill would have little effect on the ‘wild west’
of scam websites and street touts, but would
unfairly restrict the activity of legitimate
websites like ours.
What’s most important is providing
customers with a secure environment, and
the guarantee of getting what they pay
for. We’re proud that the problem that
existed before we launched six years ago, of
thousands of fans every weekend being left
disappointed after buying dodgy tickets from
sites like eBay, is now almost a thing of the
past.
did Viagogo close its german office last
summer as a result of the several court
cases filed against ticket sellers who
offered tickets via Viagogo for the Take
That concerts in July 2011?
– No, Viagogo has managed its operations
from its main office in London since the
beginning of 2011.
where else does Viagogo have
subsidiaries in Europe and how many
people does Viagogo currently employ?
– Viagogo manages its operations from
its main office in London where it employs
around 100 people
15
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Anzeige_VIPMag_ProSky_X4.pdf 1 09.12.10 10:43
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 > INDEPtH StORy > SECONDARy tICKEtING DEBAtE
16
YOUROPE Creates Standard Terms for European Festival ContractsAllan McGowan [email protected]
The European Festivals Organisation,
YOUROPE, having introduced health & safety
programs with the YES Group (Yourope
Event Safety Group) and addressed the
matter of sustainable festivals with a series
of workshops with the GO Group (Green
Operations Europe), have now turned their
attention to the problems of artiste contracts
and riders.
For those who don’t know YOUROPE was
founded in November 1998, and now
represents close to 80 festival members
including the most well established festivals
in Europe. The intentions of the Association
and its members are to collaborate and
share best practice to improve the European
festival scene in terms of working conditions,
audience welfare, health and safety and
music talent.
Over the past year the members have
conducted workshops at their meetings in
Groningen and Hamburg, and most recently
in London, to produce a final version of
standard contract terms applicable to the
engagement of artistes and performers for
all participating YOUROPE member festivals ,
as well as a simple and fair standard booking
agreement for smaller bands. During
the project music lawyer Ben Challis and
insurance broker James Dodds (Doodson
Entertainment ) advised YOUROPE.
In the Press Release Christof Huber, General
Secretary of Yourope said “It was the wish
from so many members to create such
Standard Terms for the European festivals. It
should make life easier for festivals as they
have standard terms for important topics,
rather than a number of contract terms that
they can’t fulfil.”
VIP News spoke to Ben Challis:
VIP news: what exactly was your role in
this initiative?
– I was approached by YOUROPE in 2011 to
advise on a set of standard terms that could
be eventually used by all of their member
festivals. Christof Huber had already had
one meeting in Hamburg in 2011, and we
then sent out a questionnaire to members
before EuroSonic in Groningen to see what
members ’ views were. After a very well
attended meeting in Groningen and input
from a number of events, I drafted a set of
terms that covered areas of concern that all
of the festivals felt needed to be rectified
- in particular force majeure provisions ,
cancellation , insurance, payment terms, tax,
noise limits, visas, curfews and safety. We
then re-consulted members and received
another good response and additional
comments led to the final draft being
finalised over the ILMC weekend in March
after another meeting with members.
obviously you think this is a good idea,
do you think it will have positive results,
and how do you see agents taking to it?
– We introduced similar terms at Glastonbury
in 2010 across four of our main stages (the
Pyramid Stage, The Other Stage, The John
Peel Tent and West Holts) and extended this
to the Dance Village in 2011. Like the new
YOUROPE terms, we designed these terms
to be fair, reasonable and appropriate. We
were receiving many, many riders at a very
late stage, often with wholly inappropriate
and often irrelevant provisions: Often theatre
tour or standard arena or stadium tour riders
were sent containing provisions that could
never be met by a festival.
Marc Lambelet chaired an interesting session
at the ILMC 2012 on this issue with a good
and well-informed panel - and some of the
pitfalls of ‘bad’ contracts became clear - not
least when nothing is signed at all. I can say
that in 90% of the cases the use of our terms,
which are festival specific, saves time and
adds clarity and I think many European festi-
vals had the same feeling. To be fair - its not
usually the agency contract that is the prob-
lem - it is more and more the artist contact
riders which have expanded to cover issues
such as cancellation, control of the venue,
force majeure and insurance for example .
I have spoken to a number of agents and
obviously their first loyalty is to their artiste
- and their own contracts - but most can
see some benefits. However I have to say
some don’t like the idea. That said, I think
that the weather related tragedies at Pukkle-
pop and the Indiana State Fair are focussing
everyone ’s minds - not least when in appears
from some press reports that Sugarland are
potentially exposed to litigation because of
their own contract terms. I hope what these
terms provide is a ‘win win’ situation in the
long term:
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
Christof Huber
17
christof Huber was on holiday when we
called, and then went on to Budapest for the
next GO Group Seminar, but he mailed us to
say, “We have informed the main agencies
about the standard terms. We have received
some questions and some comments, but
only a few. We will have to work on these
feedbacks within our group and check if we
have to react.”
VIP News contacted a few agents to get
their views on whether or not a ‘standard’
contract is viable. Some had not yet seen it;
John Giddings of Solo, who operates both as
an Agent and promoter of the Isle of Wight
Festival said, “…Never read it, in my experi-
ence it’s all about trust, all the contracts in
the world don’t mean that you get paid...”
Rob Challice of Coda Agency has read it and
replied, “I have taken a look at the ‘standard
contract’ and have to ask whether any agents
were consulted in putting this together? He
continued, “It just seems that this introduces
an extra level of work that is not needed.
We think we do a good job on marrying
artists requirements with those of festivals.”
Rob also thinks that the contract has been
circulated too late “ With more consultation
perhaps it should be for 2013, not 2012.”
Rob Challice also runs the Summer Sundae
Festival in Leicester but as he says, “I’m not
sure I have formed an opinion as a festival
organiser yet.”
Eric van Eerdenburg organiser of the
Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands told us,
“We did not use it.I have been looking into it
and think it’s pretty good but there are details
that need adjustment. Yourope -at this stage-
asked not to make any adjustments.”
It seems to be a fair point that it artist booking
arrangements for the 2012 season must
in most cases be fairly well advanced, but
according to the Yourope press release the
following festivals have already confirmed their
participation in the new scheme, and will use
the new standard terms for the 2012 festival
season:
No doubt there will be a lot more discussion
on the use – or not – of this ‘standard’
contract and we will of course report on
developments . VIP News has seen the
contract and those that haven’t yet and have
need to see it will we presume be able to get
a copy from Yourope. www.yourope.org
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
MyMusicMailer.com enables artists to MAIL their music to more than 6.000 venues and agencies worldwide…
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WOCHEN (SWITZERLAND)
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(ITALY)
• SZIGET(HUNGARY)
• EXITFEST(SERBIA)
• INMUSIC(CROATIA)
• BERGENFEST(NORWAY)
• SELECTOR(POLAND)
• LIVEMUSICFESTIVAL(POLAND)
• OPENER(POLAND)
• ROCKWAVEFESTIVAL(GREECE)
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(SWITZERLAND)
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18
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
New Gema-Rates for Music Clubs and DiscothequesManfred Tari [email protected]
Following the German copyright collection society GEMA introducing
significant rises in the rates for performing rights on concerts last year,
the society has now announced, among others, a new scheme for
rates for playing recorded music in bars, music clubs and discotheques .
Besides the usage of recorded music, the new scheme also foresees
revamped rates for live performances with musicians in restaurants,
piano bars and other locations.
The new rates system is intended to become effective in January
2013 and has caused an outcry from those who will be affected. The
“Bundesvereinigung der Musikveranstalter”, (BMV - Association for
Music Promoters) commented on the new rates schemes insisting
that, “GEMA has lost its sense of proportion.” The Association of
Culture Promoters in Munich (VDMK) even published on its website
a calculator that evaluates what promoters are supposed to pay for
their events in the future. According to this calculator the future looks
great for composers and rights holders, but definitely not good for
promoters.
Various calculations reveal that even for smaller clubs the new rates
easily rise by about 500 percent. For instance a music club of 80
square meters, open three days a week charging 5 Euro entrance fees
currently pays a yearly flat fee of 3417,71 Euro. According to the new
scheme the annual fee charged by GEMA would increase to 11.700
Euros. For bigger locations the new rates go up even more drastically.
A big discotheque with 1.200 square meters, open 2 days a week
charging an entrance fee of 7 Euro so far pays 22.389,67 Euro per
year. From 2013 onwards such a venue will supposedly pay 131.000
Euros annually.
These examples were given at a press conference by VDMK, an
association that also represents most relevant concert promoters and
clubs in Munich such as Target Concerts and United Promoters AG.
While previous negotiations with BMV have failed, GEMA has
announced an appeal to the arbitration court at the German Office
for Patents and Brands (DPMA) for clearance of the new rates. The ar
bitration court is known for being very GEMA-friendly and so it is no
big surprise that Georg Oeller, a GEMA board member who is also
know for being a hardliner is quoted in a press release as saying:
“We are convinced that going ahead with the new rate scheme is the
right direction and looking forward positively to the outcome of the
arbitration case.”
Meanwhile the promoter Matthias Rauh of Giga Event launched an
online appeal petition at openpetition.de, presumed to be the petition
commission of the German Government. The petition has already
gained more than 43.000 signatures but unfortunately never will be
accepted by the petition commission as the website openpetition. de
isn’t the official website.
In May 2009 the promoter Monika Bestle of the Kulturwerkstatt
in Sonthofen successfully filed an official petition against GEMA
regarding the unfair distribution of royalties, a lack of democracy and
transparency. This petition gained more than 107.000 signatures and
as such qualified to be taken on by the petition commission. But until
now, the Parliamentary Members of the petition commission have not
made a decision.
Also it is interesting to be note that promoter associations such as the
BDV or the VDKD did not ally with the BMV in taking joint measures
against the latest attempt by GEMA do increase royalty payments
from the live music business.
However the BMV might benefit from the political rise of the Pirate
Party in Germany. Since the party recently obtained 7.3 percent of
the votes in the March province election in the Saarland, established
parties in Germany are rethinking their copyright policies. As
elsewhere , the Pirate Party expressly calls for a reform of copyright
laws. Nevertheless , this development probably won’t harm the
traditionally good relationship between GEMA and the arbitration
court at the DPMA for some time…
19
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
Bruno Kramm Commissioner for Copyright at the Pirate Party GermanyManfred Tari [email protected]
Actually Bruno Kramm is a long time musician and owner of the
dark wave label Danse Macabre. But aside from his music business
activities Kramm has been active in politics for a long time. Before he
joined the Pirate Party, he was on the copyright steering committee
of the Green Party but left this party as didn’t agree with the agenda
of his party colleagues.
VIP News asked Kramm about his point of view and his experience
with the copyright collection society Gema and the copyright agenda
of the Pirate Party in Germany.
what is your point of view on gEmA’s new proposed tariff
scheme for music promoters?
– Wrong Tariff - Wrong Timing. I wonder how a corporation like
GEMA, equipped with a large strategy department causes so big harm
for its own public image by releasing this tariff file while the public
debate is fired up concerning copyrights. There are many reasonable
proposals for changes in tariff structures - starting from small events
to welfare and public performances of small artists with their own
repertoire, but GEMA takes the big cut. Making the difference for
recorded music in MP3s and higher tariffs for regular CDs shows how
20
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
little GEMA respects transformational music styles which tend to use
computer driven systems like Ableton Live and others for creative and
spontaneous performances.
do you think the new rates are appropriate?
– From all points of view GEMA is blowing up tariffs massively while
not giving any rebate for smaller performances. Even performances
free of admission are inflated. Club culture in metropolitan areas are
deprived as they start to perform much later than in smaller cities.
They also pay exorbitantly higher fees up 300% on the old tariff.
As club culture is hard enough to schedule for success these tariffs
will put the small businesses at much higher risk. This is the way to
suppress culture in times of a global culture industries downturn.
Gema puts chains on to the organizers and imposes sanctions for the
smallest mistakes.
gEmA already appealed the arbitration court at the german
office for patents and brands (dPmA). This court is known for
being very gEmA friendly. How would you comment if the
court once again comes to a decision on the new rates that are
only in favour of gEmA?
– It would be further proof that the patent court is not the right
place for conciliating perceptual copyright agreements. It will create
another 1 complicated climate for urgent structural reformations,
which are so much, needed for artists and the modern informational
society.
You are yourself a musician and a label owner. what is your
experience with gEmA?
– Still the old routine for mechanical payments: When it comes to
licencing repertoire from GEMA they are so quick in sending their
invoices. The GEMA legislative conjecture stresses us a lot when it
comes to GEMA free repertoire, as they always find some artist with
the same name and quickly send an invoice. On the other hand as
an artist, I wait forever for my GEMA royalties. It took so long for the
VUT to get independent labels a tariff, which can compete with big
industries. When it comes to our own shows and tour booking it is
horrifically complicated to arrange all the paperwork to get at least a
small share of what we pay for our own live repertoires. GEMA still
believes that most listed music is so called standard repertoire, which
commands a higher multiplicator in the royalties. Therefore our own
alternative songs will never have a chance to get the fair and real
royalties since the PRO system tariff is dismissed.
since the Pirate Party won 7.3 percent of the votes in march
for the province election in the saarland, established parties in
germany rethink their copyright policies. The Party expressly
calls for a reform of copyright laws, could you please explain
what kind of copyright policy it is aiming for?
– When it comes to Urheberrecht (A copyright term, but very distinct
from US copyright) we want to accompany the paradigm shift into
informational society by putting the creator and the user on a priority
level and cutting out some more of the privileges of industry and lobby.
We need to rethink the protection periods of TRIPS into a reasonable
level of max 20 years after death. Those 70 years just help law trolls
and publishers. Modern society runs today so fast in rearranging
and recreating styles and art. Those long limits would obstruct the
development of societal participation. Bill Gates reference , “We are
sitting on shoulders of giants” is not only a term for technology; it is
about all human creation. The far more intensively discussed demand
of our copyright reformation is the uncommercial legal exchange and
copy of immaterial goods and files for the private field. We do not
accept that evaluation rights disproportionately harm privacy in the
net; this means classical systems like P2P sharing and copying. We
need to find as we did already for the CDR and the music tape a kind
of compensation for the culture balance - but this is something that
does not need the lobby. It needs to be a direct agreement inside the
human society between creator and user. We are still discussion about
various ideas from cultural flat rates to micro payments and crowd
funding systems. In contrast to many other parties, we also discuss in
depth the necessary reforms of copyright corporations and contract
law for artists and also the need of more support for artistry and
culture . Culture is the essence of our society - simple economisation is
not the ongoing solution; culture better follows utilitarianism.
In a current position paper you request a significant reform of
gEmA. In may 2009 a petition filed by the promoter monika
Bestle at the petition commission of the german government
also appealed for significant amendments at gEmA. so far the
petition commission has not come to a conclusion. However,
could it be the case that in the case of gEmA, politicians
may have no legal opportunities to intervene on the internal
settings of the copyright collection society?
– This is one of the problems. Through the Urheberrecht GEMA holds
an institutional level as an economic association with many direct
links into the political system. This makes it too hard to change it as it
is still an association, which is driven by members. Unfortunately the
weight, division and vote is not balanced, therefore, drastic changes
are almost impossible. Therefore we want to change the Urheberrecht .
We want to check GEMAs actions for their compatibility with Basic
Law, Associational Law, and start this reformation with simplification,
transparency and the change of collection procedures and tariffs, to
finally make the GEMA what it should be: An association for all artists .
For further information please check
Twitter: @brunogertkramm
21
VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > APRIL 2012 MUSIC IN SHARES
Music in SharesManfred Tari [email protected]
cTs Eventim – waiting for the Arbitration court:It is about time for the Arbitration Court at the International
Chamber of Commerce to reveal its decision on their findings
as to whether or not CTS Eventim will receive compensation
concerning its former fulfilment agreement with Live Nation.
There are rumours in the market that the decision has already
been made, but one of the two involved parties has asked for
the judgement to be held back for a certain time. Anyhow,
since Mid April the share went up from 25.77 to 27.85 Euros.
dEAg – First dividend Ever:For the very first time ever the DEAG board will propose to
its shareholders to decide on the payment of a dividend of 4
Cents per share at its upcoming general assembly on June 22.
Since the Beginning of April the share price ranged between
2.75 and 2.84 Euros.
Live nation – Business Results for Q1 to be reported on may 9:Live Nation has announced that it will reveal its business results
for the first quarter in the second week of May. Looking at the
share price performance indicates that there may be a certain
reluctance, as the share price went down from $9.80 to $8.45
since the end of March.
music Festivals PLc – A Lack of optimism: The share price reflects, so to say, a lack of optimism regarding
prosperity and profitability. Since the end of February the share
price of the company went down from 58 to 48.5 Pence.
22
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012
PrimaveraPro- First Details DayPro Programme
PrimaveraPro 2012 will programme over thirty conferences,
workshops , presentations, receptions and exclusive showcases within
the framework of DayPro, its programme of activities has been
extended to three days from Wednesday 30th until Friday 1st June
from 11am till 6pm.
Hotel Zero will be the headquarters of daytime operations with a
programme that has been tailor made for professionals from the
music sector. It is just opposite the Parc del Fòrum de Barcelona site,
where the San Miguel Primavera Sound and the showcases associated
to PrimaveraPro will take place. The increase in the number of
accreditations for this, its third edition is highly significant with more
than 65% of international professionals.
The DayPro programme will focus on three main subjects: The role of
the artist in society and in their music career; Festivals and big music
events; and The new ways to promote and finance music.
One of the main novelties of the DayPro will be a series of interviews
with important national and international artists who will tell us, what
their participation in the development of their professional careers has
been, all based on first-hand experience. The artists, key players in the
music industry, will also participate in round table discussions that will
analyse the current Spanish scene and the role of musicians in these
times of profound social change. The conference about music events
will deal with questions such as the economic impact of festivals ,
their future, the opinions of fans… and will discuss the creative
strategies that they must adopt in order to survive. The Association
of Independent Festivals UK will be present at this debate. Other
activities will tackle the crowd funding system as a way to finance
projects and its application in the different areas of the sector, as well
as new tools for the promotion of music.
For more info: http://pro.primaverasound.com/
NOtICE BOARD
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24
VIPNEWS > APRIL 2012 VIPNEWS > MISC > SEPtEMBER 2011
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VIPNEWS > MISC > APRIL 2012 MEMBER PRESENtAtION
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Christopher EntertainmentChristopher Entertainment is a Danish owned management, promotor
and booking agency, established in 1986.
Christopher Entertainment has over the years presented some of
the world’s finest artists such as: Whitney Houston, Tina Turner,
Santana, Boyzone, The Corrs etc. As a booking agency Christopher
Entertainment has delivered artists to major festivals such as: The
Roskilde Festival, The Midtfyns Festival, The Langeland Festival,
The Skanderborg Festival, The Jelling Musicfestival etc. Christopher
Entertainment is management for mostly Danish artists: Stig Rossen,
Gudrun, Jacob Andersen etc and we represent Andrew Strong and
Barrage in Scandinavia. For more info please see www.christopher.dk
MONtHLy FEAtURED ARtISt POWERED By
oRBITAL Territory: WORLD Period: APRIL 2012 ONWARDS Agency: VALUE ADDED TALENT Agent: DAN SILVER Phone: +44 207 704 9720 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.vathq.co.uk
dub syndicate feat. style scott Territory: Europe Period: July-September 2012 Agency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Rob BerendsPhone: +31 (24) 323 9322E-mail: [email protected]: www.paperclip-agency.com
THE dooRs ALIVE - BEsT dooRs TRIBuTE AcT In woRLdTerritory: WORLD Period: JANUARY 2012 ONWARDS Agency: VALUE ADDED TALENT Agent: DAN SILVER Phone: +44 207 704 9720 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.vathq.co.uk
magnum BandTerritory: EuropePeriod: July / AugustAgency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Hilde SpillePhone: +31 24 323 9322E-mail: [email protected]: www.paperclip-agency.com
Terah Taali Territory: Europe Period: 16th June - 7th July 2012 Agency: De Kulture Music Agent: Berenika Rozanska Phone: 0048 667130595, 00919587659609 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: soundcloud.com/de-kulture-music/sets/terah-taali/
X.o.V.A Territory: THE WORLDPeriod: APRIL - NOVAgency: STRATOSPHERE MUSIC LTDAgent: STEVE HUGHES & ANDY CLIFFPhone: +44 [0] 7779 257 295E-mail: [email protected]: www.xovalive.com
moRE ARTIsT AVAILs on:www.VIP-BookIng.com
PosT YouR ARTIsT AVAILs on:www.VIP-BookIng.com
ARtISt AVAILS
ORBITAL
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Mercury Tide feat. Dirk Thurisch
Dirk Thurisch – The voice of Angel Dust is back!After a break of ten years, for-
mer Angel Dust vocalist Dirk Thurisch finally returns with his band MERCURY
TIDE, which once started as a project and now grew to a full-fledged band.
The new album “Killing Saw” is a natural progression from Dirk‘s last album
“Why”. Eventually the time has come that one of the most important German
Melodic Metal singers returns like a Phoenix, rising from the ashes!Dirk Thurisch
has closed the chapter “Angel Dust” once and for all. Several failed attempts to
revive Angel Dust only strengthened Dirk‘s wish to get started with MERCURY
TIDE on a grand scale. Contrary to the debut from 2003, Dirk and his band,
including drummer and producer Carsten Rehmann, bassist Chris “Dagger”
Pohlmann and keyboarder Sim Reaper, place value on a more traditional sound
that suites the band‘s stage persona. Great emphasis lies on the creation of
a diversified, consistent atmosphere.Magnificent melodies meet playful guitar
riffs and catchy choruses, to which you want to sing along immediately. The
opener and title track “Killing Saw” is a suiting introduction to MERCURY TIDE‘s
musical landscapes. With “Home”, Dirk gives a clear-cut statement. He is happy
to be back in the Metal scene and doesn‘t only look forward to meet up with
his old fans, but also to make new ones. The song “Searching” is one of the
album‘s highlights: drifty riffs, fine hook lines and Dirk Thurisch at his best!
Read more about mercury Tide feat. dirk Thurisch:
http://www.mymusicmailer.com/epk/209/bio