Live UK 177

issue 177 OCTOBER 2014 UK ÂŁ6.25

X marks the spot Ed Sheeran joins the A-list New Hop Farm fest set for liquidation Foo Fighters fans in crowd-funding bid Committed to the unsigned and emerging live sector see pages 26-29

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contents I 3

Contents 4-14 News The business of live music

8

Forthcoming Events Key industry gatherings

issue 177 16-20 Sector Focus: Ticketing Review of a vital sector serving the business side of live music

30-34 City Limits: Sheffield Roundup of the key venue operators and promoters in the UK’s leading cities

26-27 NXT News Business activity in the unsigned and emerging artiste sector

28

38-41 Production News Developments in technology and show production

NXT Feature: Managing Expectations

Update on an industry sector that works with unsigned and emerging artistes 42-45 Tour Plans Artistes, their agents and tour periods

26-29 NXT Profiles

Insight from venue operators, artiste managers and A&R executives

46

Backstage Stars Interviews with the key people who shape the industry

38 Publisher & Managing Editor: Stephen Parker News Editor: James Hanley Editorial Contributors: Allan Glen, Claire Bicknell, James Gates, Mike Gartside Sales Manager: Gareth Ospina Business Development Manager: Archie Carmichael Picture Manager: Alyse Kimsey Administrative Manager: Alice Cantillon Ings

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30 Subscriptions Management: Fiona West, Jon Neale Accounts Management: Murali Sri Balaskanda Editorial: James Hanley T: 020 7486 7007 E: james@liveuk.com Advertising: Gareth Ospina, Archie Carmichael T: 020 7486 7007 E: gareth@liveuk.com E: archie@liveuk.com

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costs £70 per annum for UK residents. Subscribe online at www.liveuk.com Print: Premier Print Group www.premierprintgroup.com Cover photograph: © Rex Features ISSUE 177: October 2014

LIVE UK and sister publication AUDIENCE are published monthly by: Audience Media Ltd, 26 Dorset Street, London W1U 8AP, United Kingdom T: 020 7486 7007 F: 020 7486 2002 E: info@live.uk.com W: www.liveuk.com

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October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

4 I news

Liquidation proceedings for Hop Farm festival organiser THE COMPANY set up to run the new Hop Farm Music Festival is to go into liquidation, the latest in a series of calamities to hit attempts to stage successful festivals on the Paddock Wood site in Kent.

A winding up order is expected to be served on Hop Farm Music Festival Ltd (HFMF), the company created by organiser Neil Butkeraitis of NottingHop Farm festival 2011 ham-based UK Events to stage the 20,000-capacity event in conjunction with the site owner. The way it has,” he tells LIVE UK. “Sales didn’t stack up promoter was the last of HFMF’s three directors to but this was meant to be a building block year in a three-year plan.” resign last month.

The original Hop Farm Music Festival (50,000), Held from 4-6 July, it featured acts such as Brian Wilson, James Blunt, Ray Davies, Caro Emerald promoted by Vince Power, ceased in 2012 when Power’s Kent Festival company collapsed and Echo and the Bunnymen but despite with debts of £4.8 million. delivering the event under budget, ticket That same summer, two Leonard Cohen sales “didn’t stack up”, says Butkeraitis, shows, originally announced for the Hop who is in a dispute over payment with the Farm, were switched to Wembley Arena site owner.

(12,500) without explanation (see LIVE UK “The event was great, the reviews were issue 152), while a company connected to fantastic, it was a good family event and the Paddock Wood site, Hop Farm Trading that’s why it’s such a shame it’s gone the Neil Butkeraitis

Ltd – itself owed £163,800 by Kent Festival after the 2012 event – went into liquidation and was sold back to the Hop Farm Group.

Power’s attempt to stage a scaled-down comeback Hop Farm event last year was abandoned due to poor ticket sales (see issue 160). He claimed he would stage a rival event this year of the same name in nearby Tunbridge Wells, but nothing materialised.

This summer, royalty collection body PRS for Music won a high court ruling banning him from staging live music events in the UK due to non payment of performance royalties (see issue 175).

Several weeks ago, Butkeraitis cancelled his Flashback Festival (cap. 5,000), a Last Night of the Proms and a Wet Wet Wet concert scheduled for Hylands Park, Chelmsford, saying the site was too muddy to stage the events after it had hosted August’s V Festival (see issue 176). He says he would consider launching a smaller festival in the Kent area next year.

Glastonbury tickets sold in 25 minutes GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (cap. 140,000) broke another record when its offering of 120,000 standard tickets for next year sold out in 25 minutes – breaking the previous year’s record of 87 minutes – after going on sale through See Tickets on 5 October.

Applicants were required to pay a £50 deposit towards the cost of the £220 tickets, with the remaining £170, plus a £5 booking fee, due in the first week of April.

A further 15,000 coach and ticket packages were sold in advance, while 5,000 Sunday tickets will be made available exclusively for central Somerset residents. There will be a re-sale of returned

tickets in the spring.

As part of the festival’s determination to eradicate touting, anyone wanting to buy a ticket was required to register in advance on its website and upload a passport-sized photo with their details.

It is understood that more than one million people registered for tickets, although organisers declined to give an exact figure.

“The main thing is that registration is easy and simple and doesn’t create a blockage come ticket sale, it works very well,” Glastonbury spokesman John Shearlaw tells LIVE UK. No acts have yet been announced for the 24-28 June event, held at Worthy Farm, Pilton, which

Glastonbury Festival

this year was headlined by Arcade Fire, Metallica and Kasabian.

Arena to retain Phones 4u brand ‘for foreseeable future’ THE PHONES 4u Arena in Manchester will retain its sponsor’s name “for the foreseeable future”, despite the mobile phone retailer going into administration last month.

The 15,000-capacity venue is only one year into a multi-million-pound five-year deal with Phones 4u, which collapsed after mobile networks Vodafone and EE announced they would not be renewing their contracts with the company.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers has been appointed as administrator and with the process ongoing, October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

Phones 4u Arena spokesman Matt Ward says it has not yet been established what the ramifications will be for the namingrights deal, which was brokered by the London office of PHAR Partnerships (see LIVE UK issue 163).

The SMG Europe-operated venue has released a statement reassuring customers that the situation has no impact on forthcoming shows at the arena, which include Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini and Linkin Park.

“The arena will continue to be managed

and operated by SMG Europe, as it has very successfully for the last 20 years. Our name will remain Phones 4u Arena for the foreseeable future,” says the statement.

The venue had been working without a naming rights partner since Trinity Mirror, publisher of the daily Manchester Evening News, decided not to extend its contract with the arena after 13 years. It had been known as the Manchester Evening News Arena since 1998, having opened as the Nynex Arena three years earlier.

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New name for Birmingham’s NIA BIRMINGHAM’S NATIONAL Indoor Arena (NIA) will relaunch as the Barclaycard Arena later this year following the completion of its £26 million transformation.

The venue, which opened in 1991, has been known as NIA, A Barclaycard Unwind Experience since announcing a five-year sponsorship deal with the brand in 2012.

“The renaming of the NIA to the Barclaycard Arena continues to build and strengthen our partnership with Barclaycard,” says Paul Thandi, CEO of venue oper- Barclaycard Arena, artist’s impression new food and drink outlets, contactless payment ator the NEC Group.

Barclaycard customers will get benefits such technology and improved seating.

Its capacity has been increased from 14,150 as access to exclusive lounges, fast track entry, pre-sale tickets and Fee-Free Friday, where there to 15,992 and, while it reopened in September will be no admin fees for tickets brought through for shows by The Saturdays and Kylie Minogue after being closed over the summer, work is not Barclaycard that day.

NIA MD of arenas Phil Mead tells LIVE UK the due to be completed until December. It will be officially relaunched with two deal helped support the loan concerts by Michael Bublé on taken out for the redevelop2-3 December, which sold out ment and helps protect its marwithin 30 minutes of going ket share. on sale.

All areas of the venue have Other upcoming shows been upgraded during the include Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga 18-month redevelopment, Phil Mead and Queen + Adam Lambert. including a new glass façade, Paul Thandi

Ed’s X Factor

FEW ACTS could fill an arena armed with just a guitar, but then Ed Sheeran is no average artiste.

The 23-year-old already has two multi-million selling albums under his belt, his 2011 debut + and 2014 follow-up X, along with a string of hits including The A Team, Lego House, Drunk and his first UK No 1 single Sing.

Sheeran’s current tour visits venues such as Belfast’s Odyssey Arena (cap. 10,800), First Direct Arena (13,000) in Leeds, Nottingham’s Capital FM Arena (10,000) and Manchester’s Phones 4u Arena (15,000), along with four nights at The O2 (18,000) in London.

“Ed is without a doubt one of the most talented and hard-working musicians I’ve ever met,” says the tour’s promoter Steve Tilley of Kilimanjaro Live. “He is a natural – music runs through his whole body.

That combination means he has also developed that rare ability to capture and hold an entire room no matter how big; just one guy with his guitar, his loop station and the audience – his gospel choir – eating out of the palms of his hands.”

Sheeran, whose agent is Paul Boswell of Free Trade Agency, is managed

by Stuart Camp and Andy cover artiste Wells of Rocket Music.

Man re-bailed over singer and tour manager deaths SURREY POLICE have re-bailed a man arrested in connection with the deaths of two men at Guildford’s G Live last year.

The 55-year-old man was arrested in August on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence following the fatal incident in February 2013.

He was initially bailed until lateSeptember and has now been re-bailed until 4 November, a spokesperson for Surrey police confirmed to LIVE UK. Sea Shanty group Fisherman’s Friends’ tour manager Paul McMullen, 44, and singer Trevor Grills, 54, died after a metal door fell on them at the venue.

The 10-piece band had been due to play the Guildford Borough Council-owned building later that day (see LIVE UK issue 157).

Operated by HQ Theatres, the £26 million venue opened in September 2011.

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Telephone: +44 (0) 1234 780100 www.millenniumstudios.co.uk October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

6 I news

Anti-touting music fans raise £150,000 for Foo Fighters show A FACEBOOK Foo Fighters fan forum has reached its £150,000 target in ticket pledges through crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, as it seeks to persuade the band to play a 3,000-capacity warm-up show in the UK next year.

The UK initiative, Foo For The Fans – No More Touts, hopes to bring the band to a Birmingham venue and alert music fans to pervasive ticket abuse.

“We’re trying to stand up and say something needs to change with what’s happening in the secondary ticketing market,” organiser Kelly Gaffney tells LIVE UK. “Even some artistes have recognised the issue needs addressing and are trying to change how ticket distribution works.”

The bid was launched after the band agreed to play a crowdsourced US show at The National (cap. 1,500) in Richmond, Virginia, on 17 September. Supporters raised $70,000 (£43,880) through $50 (£31) pledges.

“We’re receiving hundreds of messages from people with horror stories of buying tickets at crazy prices,” says Gaffney. “The secondary ticketing websites need to take responsibility for the platform they’ve provided to buy and sell tickets.”

Supporters of the campaign were invited to pledge £50 a ticket or offer smaller amounts if they’re unable to attend but want to back the project.

“I really hope we all come together to achieve this, and possibly make UK

history,” adds Gaffney.

Foo Fighters, who are managed

by Los Angeles-based Silva Artist Management, played secret shows at Concorde 2 (540) in Brighton and London venues House of Vans (850) and Islington Assembly Hall (800) last month, ahead of their headlining performance at east London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (40,000) for the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games.

Gaffney says she has not yet been in contact with the band’s representatives and was in the process of drafting a proposal. The campaign has a deadline of 17 November to reach an agreement; otherwise the not-forprofit project will go no further.

Speaking to LIVE UK, Foo Fighters’

international agent Russell Warby of WME’s London office declined to comment on individual proposals, but says he would happily consider the merits of initiatives put forward regarding any of his artistes.

“Broadly speaking, we are seeing crowd-funding activity from a lot of areas that are feeling a little neglected by the established touring circuit and we wish to investigate that whilst being aware that artistes can’t play everywhere of course - it’s an impossibility given the scope of touring worldwide,” says Warby.

“Crowd funded shows may well comprise an element of the future of touring - and we will have to find a way to make the mechanics of that work for the benefit of all.”

Night & Day survives licensing review NIGHT & Day Café (cap. 200) has kept its licence following a review by the city council.

The future of the venue, which has hosted performances by Elbow, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons and Johnny Marr, had been under threat after a neighbour complained about its noise levels (see LIVE UK issue 169).

Management received a nuisance notice from Manchester City Council following the complaint, threatening them with a £20,000 fine if they did

not turn the music down, and a public hearing was held at the Town Hall last month.

“We have kept our licence subject to a couple of conditions, which are manageable,” in-house promoter and booker Gareth Butterworth tells LIVE UK. As part of the ruling, the venue’s owner must meet with nearby residents every three months and discuss any issues, as well as keeping a complaints log, while keeping noise to a level which “does

Night & Day

not cause problems to residents of nearby properties”.

An online petition secured more than 74,000 signatures in support of the venue, which has upcoming shows with Nothing But Thieves, Wild Child and The Fevers.

“It’s a massive relief. This has been hanging over our heads since January,” adds Butterworth. “We’ve carried on as normal in the way we work but it has taken time out of our schedules and cost a lot of money.

“We’re disappointed it came to this, but the support we’ve received from the public has been amazing.”

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news I 7

More executives boost Summit gathering

LIVERPOOL’S 11,000-capacity Echo Arena presented Kylie Minogue with its Icon Award after the first show of her Kiss Me Once tour marked the venue’s 500th event.

Minogue became the second artiste to receive the accolade and followed in the footsteps of Paul McCartney, who took the inaugural award in 2011.

“We are honoured that Kylie chose to come to Echo Arena Liverpool to kick off such a huge world tour and wanted to show

our appreciation by presenting her with the award,” says ACC Liverpool CEO Bob Prattey (left), pictured with the singer alongside arena sales manager Ian Congdon.

The arena has welcomed around 3.5 million visitors since opening in 2008, hosting acts like Beyoncé, Muse, Oasis, George Michael and The Who, as well as the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and 2011 and 2012 MOBOs. OneRepublic, The Script and Bryan Adams are among upcoming acts.

AMONG THE latest speakers to be announced for LIVE UK Summit are former AEG Live president of international Rob Hallett, general manager of The O2 Rebecca Kane, Primary Talent International MD Peter Elliot and VMS Live MD Steve Forster.

They join Solo’s John Giddings, CAA’s Paul Franklin, The Agency Group’s Geoff Meall, MPs Sharon Hodgson and Mike Weatherley, live music campaigner Lord Tim Clement Jones, MTV’s Anna Karatziva, Paul Newman from AXS and Wembley Stadium’s Jim Frayling in what looks like becoming the best

Summit to date.

Summit panels include Masters of the Universe, The Dynamic Ticket, Backing the B(r)and, The Festival Forum and Tech Talk and with other sessions covering media partnerships, the expansion of digital and mobile promotion and artiste development.

Summit registration costs £145 + VAT, with the event – held at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London’s West End – followed by the Live Music Business Awards. For more information, check out www.liveuksummit.com and www.livemusicawards.co.uk.

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scott.martin@intu.co.uk 04/04/2014 15:59 October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

8 I news

Forthcoming events 16 Oct Live UK Summit London

www.liveuksummit.com

16 Oct Live Music Business Awards London

www.livemusicawards.co.uk

17-18 Oct AIF Congress Cardiff

www.aiforg.com

22-23 Oct The Showman’s Show Newbury

www.showmans-directory.co.uk

3 Nov Music Industry Trusts Award London

www.mitsaward.co.uk

14-16 Nov AFO Conference Nottingham

www.festivalorganisers.org

1 Dec UK Festival Awards London

www.festivalawards.com

18–19 Feb The Event Show

news

London www.eventshow.co.uk

Kate Bush ticketing controls vindicated TICKETING MEASURES aimed at reducing the excesses of the secondary ticketing market for Kate Bush’s residency at west London’s Eventim Apollo (cap. 3,620-seated) have been hailed a success following the conclusion of the 22-show run.

Promoted by SJM Concerts, the Before the Dawn concerts were the singer’s first live shows since 1979 and sold out in 15 minutes.

Tickets, which cost between £53.90 Kate Bush at Eventim Apollo and £145.50, were limited to four per order, with the name of the lead buyer they thought it would be too difficult printed on each ticket. Ticket-holders for customers, so it went pretty well,” were asked to present photo ID to says Blackburn. “It wasn’t 100 per cent gain entry and any guests had to arrive successful but we didn’t expect that.”

Eventim Apollo general manager with them.

Despite the restrictions, a few hun- Darren Murphy says it was a “huge dred tickets still appeared for sale honour” for the venue to host the on Viagogo and Seatwave, the latter shows, which ran from 26 August to 1 advising, “Tickets will need to be col- October. “To be the only venue in the lected from Seatwave at a location in world to have this event is phenomHammersmith on the night of the con- enal,” he says. “Back in August 2013, when this first became a sericert.” An investigation by BBC ous possibility, I met Kate a consumer rights programme few times and it was immediWatchdog, broadcast earlier this ately evident she had a love for year, explained how some touts the venue. employed “walkers” to accom“All in all everything was pany buyers into the venue to beyond expectations, with circumvent the restrictions. feedback and reviews all But Nick Blackburn, chair- Nick Blackburn reflecting that. To witness man of Eventim UK, which Kate strutting onto the stage, sold the majority of the tickets, our stage, for the first time believes the measures served in 35 years gave me goosetheir purpose. “Very few were bumps, along with the listed on secondary sites and screaming 3,500 crowd.

[Ticketmaster-owned] Get Me “The production was In! and [eBay-owned] StubHub immense and took a fair bit of didn’t list them at all, because Darren Murphy

time to load in,” adds Murphy. “I remember standing in the stalls thinking about the Jon Richardson [comedy] event which was scheduled for just two days after the final Kate Bush show.

“With the huge lighting rigs, helicopter prop, stage extension and sheer size of the set it was hard to imagine we would get it all loaded out in time.

In the end it was all fine but I have to admit I was nervous.”

The Hammersmith venue, 50/50 owned by AEG Live and German panEuropean ticketing giant CTS Eventim, began a £5 million overhaul last year (see LIVE UK issue 164). “This has some stages to go with auditorium lighting, ventilation and toilets in planning,” adds Murphy.

“The hope is we continue to build on our reputation as a live music, comedy and variety venue. With high-profile events with worldwide publicity such as the Before the Dawn run, it can only mean good things for us.”

Forthcoming acts include Sam Smith, Elbow, Billy Idol and Nick Cave.

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10 I news

AIF restructures at board level

THE ASSOCIATION of Independent Festivals (AIF) manager, Graphite’s Ben Turner, Stuart Galbraith has announced the formation of a new strategy of Sonisphere promoter Kilimanjaro Live, board, while also appointing a new chairman and Coda Agency’s Rob Challice and DHP Family’s Ali McLean. vice-chairman.

Other board members include Eden AIF, which represents more than 50 Sessions’ John Empson, Freddie Fellowes UK festival organisers, says the board will of Secret Garden Party, Andy Smith meet bi-monthly to shape the strategic of Kendal Calling, Cornbury Festival’s direction of the organisation, governing Hugh Phillimore and Sid Sharma of and guiding initiatives and projects.

Shambala Festival.

The board comprises Bestival Alison Wenham has stepped down as co-founder Rob da Bank and his Ben Turner SPANDAU BALLET became the latest recipients of PRS for Music’s Heritage Award, with a plaque installed at the site of their first concert, at The Blitz Club in London’s West End. The band, pictured with PRS chairman Guy Fletcher, played the venue on 5 December 1979. PRS established the scheme in 2009 to recognise important music venues where iconic acts performed. Past recipients include Queen, Blur, Elton John, Snow Patrol and Orbital.

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

AIF chairman, while Turner, who co-founded the organisation with Da Bank, has resigned as vicechairman, but will continue to play an active role.

The pair will be succeeded by Jim Mawdsley, CEO of music development agency Generator, and former Welsh Music Foundation CEO John Rostron.

“This new structure will empower many others to have more of a say, and for AIF to have more firepower than ever before,” says Turner. “My stepping down as vice-chair is related to my recent move to part-living in America.”

Correction

IN OUR story on GuilFest in last month’s LIVE UK (issue 176), a photo of the festival’s founder Tony Scott was incorrectly captioned as Vince Power, who has no connection to the event. We apologise to both parties for this error and subsequent embarrassment caused.

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Funding boost for Southbank Centre LONDON’S SOUTHBANK Centre has received earmarked funding for a £4.9 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards the repair and maintenance of its Queen Elizabeth Hall (cap.

900), Purcell Room (370) and Hayward Gallery.

This initial support, which follows a £16.7m grant from Arts Council England announced in May, means the centre has secured a development grant of £90,800 and meets HLF criteria.

“After nearly five decades of intensive use, this project will restore the facilities for audiences and artistes to world-class standards,” says Southbank Centre CEO Alan Bishop.

Fully developed proposals to support a firm award will be Queen Elizabeth Hall

submitted in February, with the outcome likely to be announced in May 2015.

The venue’s main performance space, the 2,500-capacity Royal Festival Hall (RFH), underwent a £91m renovation in 2007. Forthcoming shows at RFH include Marianne Faithfull and John Grant, with Martha Wainwright and Owen Pallett set to perform at Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Supersonics and The Hot Sardines, among acts at Purcell Room.

The annual Meltdown festival at the Southbank Centre in June was curated

by James Lavelle and featured artistes such as Goldie, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Chrissie Hynde.

Newsbites GRANTS OF up to 50 per cent off courses and a full scholarship with Live Nation Entertainmentowned Ticketmaster are being offered at Henley Business School (HBS) at the University of Reading, for small and medium enterprise owners. HBS launched the MBA for the Music & Creative Industries in 2012 with the aim of offering entrepreneurial musicians skills and knowledge to help maintain a long-term career in the music industry. Applicants must already have been accepted and have a place on the MBA course at HBS. THE SOCIETY of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) has commissioned an online survey of ticket buyers to learn about the knowledge and views of consumers on key issues. The survey will run until 30 November, with the findings to be used to help STAR improve the ticket-buying experience. “As we work to ensure that our members offer the highest standards of service and information, it’s important that we hear the views of as many ticket buyers as possible,” says STAR CEO Jonathan Brown.

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

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news I 13

£100k refurb for the Forum For the last five years it THE FORUM Hertfordshire has also been one of the (cap. 2,250) in Hatfield has locations for the touring undergone a £100,000 Slam Dunk Festival, which renovation as it marks its features artistes such as fifth birthday.

All-American Rejects, Bury Since opening its doors Tomorrow and Letlive. in 2009, the £38 million Lee Welsh “We are situated around University of Hertfordshire facility has hosted acts such as Ed half-an-hour from London and Sheeran, Frank Turner, Babyshambles, I think that works to our advanwill.i.am and Florence + The Machine. tage, enabling us to get shows we Also available as a venue for hire, it wouldn’t have a chance of if we were split from a live music management closer,” the venue’s entertainments deal with Academy Music Group at manager Lee Welsh tells LIVE UK.” Its 320-capacity nightclub the beginning of last year.

Tickets for a recent performance The Attic, upstairs from the main

by Enter Shikari, the band’s only auditorium, also recently underwent headlining UK date in 2014, sold out a refit, that improved the stage size in 30 minutes, making it the fastest- and lighting, and added an LED selling show in the venue’s history. screen and a new bar.

“We have been investing in the venue to keep production up and keep it fresh,” he adds. “We want to keep live music flowing and get national promoters in more regularly.”

Upcoming shows include Sigma Example & DJ Wire, Pendulum and The Forum Deaf Havana.

THE ISLE of Wight’s 50,000-capacity Bestival secured its place in the record books by having the world’s largest disco ball on site.

A Guinness World Records adjudicator confirmed the super-sized mirrored orb measured 10.33 metres in diameter, breaking the previous record of 9.98m set at a Bacardi-sponsored party in 2012.

Held from 4-7 September at Robin Hill Country Park, Bestival was headlined by Outkast, Foals, Beck and Chic featuring Nile Rodgers.

The festival’s organiser Rob da Bank took up Rodgers’ challenge to craft the super-sized mirrorball, which began to rotate during Chic’s closing performance.

Da Bank recently confirmed he is to sign a deal to launch Bestival, which began in the UK in 2004, in North America with a partner organisation, with European expansion also in the pipeline.

Accountants and Business Managers to some of the UK and Ireland's best known international music acts, LBM (Live Wire Business Management) has opened it's new office in Fitzrovia in central London.

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To arrange a get together contact either Alan McEvoy or Jason Coker at info@LBM.ie or call us on +44 207 323 2263 or +353 613 40111 October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

14 I news

Leeds arena toasts exceptional first year THE SMG Europe-operated First Direct Arena (cap. 13,000) in Leeds has become one of the busiest arenas in the UK during its first year of operation.

While Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band was the first act to

“road test” the £65 million venue last July, a performance by Elton John officially opened the facility in September 2013.

Since then it has hosted shows by the Eagles, Prince, Pearl Jam, Robbie

First Direct Arena

it opened, but that was preWilliams, Dolly Parton, Rod 2008 – the country has been Stewart, Leonard Cohen and in recession for a number Depeche Mode. of years since then and so “It’s been a brilliant year it is harder to sell tickets,” but very hectic, so it’s nice to he says. be able to have the chance The arena, the first in the to reflect on all we have UK to be constructed with achieved,” says general man- Ben Williams ager Ben Williams, who joined SMG a fan-shaped seating configuration, in 2006 as commercial and marketing is hosting its anniversary concert director of the company’s flagship on 19 October in conjunction with Manchester Evening News Arena naming rights partner First Direct.

Headlined by Jake Bugg, tickets are (now the Phones 4u Arena).

“I think everybody expected us just £15. Other upcoming shows feato have a honeymoon period at like ture The Who, Ed Sheeran, Kasabian, [the Echo Arena] Liverpool did when Bryan Adams and Michael Bublé.

Thekla rocks again after revamp FLOATING CONCERT venue Thekla (cap. 400) has reopened in Bristol Harbour following a £500,000 refurbishment by owner DHP Family.

The venue, which celebrated its

Thekla

having it in dry dock to make a 30th anniversary earlier this lot of changes that will year, had spent 13 weeks really have a positive impact in a dry dock undergoing a on everyone’s enjoyment complete overhaul. of their time on the boat,” Its hull has been says DHP Family owner repainted in a black, grey George Akins. and red livery, and its top DHP, which runs venues deck reconfigured to create George Akins more space and offer more views such as Nottingham’s Rock City (1,900) and Rescue Rooms (450), across the water.

Other changes include sound- and Oslo (300) in London, took over proofing to the hull and smok- Thekla in 2006.

Upcoming concerts at Thekla, ing area, new outside seating, floors and staircase, and an addi- which first opened as The Old Profanity Showboat in May 1984, tional entrance.

“It’s a bit more challenging include Arcane Roots, Klaxons, The to carry a refurbishment to a Vaselines, Circa Waves and Kyla boat, so we made the most of La Grange.

correction Our feature on the 50th anniversary of the Cambridge Folk Festival (cap. 10,000) in LIVE UK 174 omitted to mention that audio supplier Canegreen, part of the SSE Audio Group, has supplied the main sound systems at the event for the last 13 years. We also incorrectly attributed the audio work to another supplier. We apologise for any confusion caused by this mistake.

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

Newsbite INDOOR WINTER music festival Blackpool Rocks is upgrading to the 6,000-capacity Blackpool Tower for its second edition, having previously been held in the Winter Gardens (3,500). A collaboration between Preston-based promoter Cuffe & Taylor, Radio 1 DJ Danny Howard and club promoter Alex Huckerby, the event will take place across 10 rooms on 20 December and will be headlined by Dutch DJ Martin Garrix. Tickets cost £20-40. The inaugural 2013 event featured acts such as Disclosure and Pete Tong.

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16 I SECTOR FOCUS

No longer just the ticket The ticketing industry is undergoing major changes. Primary ticket companies are still selling the big events, but white label firms are growing and fostering closer relationships with promoters and even artistes. James Gates and Claire Bicknell report.

I

n a sector that handles around £850 million in ticket sales annually – plus booking fees, of course – the dynamic nature of primary ticketing means that the established companies have to invest millions of pounds to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

With white label platforms available to promoters, venues and festivals and some artistes selling tickets direct to fans, the sector is undergoing significant change.

Analytics, data and audience segmentation are key elements that companies need at their fingertips

to cater for clients looking for a broader service, while the digitisation of the market means that firms know more about their customers and their tastes than ever before.

Live Nation Entertainmentowned Ticketmaster (TM), the biggest player in the market, sells around 10 million tickets a year in the UK and MD Simon Presswell sees no let up in demand.

“Customers are still excited by live events,” he says. “Kate Bush was huge this year, festivals in general are always busy and we sell for everything apart from Glastonbury.

Prince was also a major seller, as well

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

as Beyoncé’s on-sale with literally hundreds of thousands of people hitting our site at the same time.

“Ticket sales are up and social media plays a huge role in the discovery of events for customers.

However, data and correct targeting are key as 30 per cent of fans miss events as they’re unaware of them happening,” he suggests.

Recent developments for TM Include a multi-year deal with The SSE Hydro (cap. 13,000) in Glasgow.

Simon Presswell

Mike Evenson

Presswell acknowledges greater competition, but has a word of warning.

“There are new ticketing companies and start-up offers out there. They probably look at ticketing and think ‘we can do it better’, but it’s an extremely complex business and you need huge investments,” he says.

“Only if you are able to use this extremely expensive technology on a large scale – worldwide – will you have a chance to recoup the costs.”

sector focus I 17

TM continues to invest significantly in its e-commerce and access control. It is looking to further digitalise live entertainment tickets, including the ability to transfer tickets directly from and to a mobile phone.

“Consumer mobility is a challenge, but also a great opportunity,” Presswell says. “Fans now want to be able to buy tickets anywhere and at any time. This gives us possibilities with mobile apps, mobile optimised websites, and new ways of advertising or places to advertise.”

Consumer direct

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addition, social media platforms have made it very easy to engage directly with fans. Losing this connection by working through a third-party service is a missed opportunity for artistes.”

One of the specialists in this field is Crowdsurge, which has worked with acts including Paul McCartney, Jamie T and SBTRKT. Crowdsurge general manager Noel Edwards says his company is “collapsing the chain” through white label ticketing, providing customers with a single portal through a website to carry out ticket pur-

where the industry is heading, “The next thing is going to be selling tickets on Twitter. It’s the second biggest social network Noel Edwards platform and now we’re starting to see buy buttons on there.”

One of the most dramatic developments in ticketing has been the proliferation of companies providing white label services – backend services that enable promoters, Safety in numbers festivals and venues – even artistes, Rob Wilmshurst, MD of the country’s to brand as their own. In most cases, second largest company in the secthe revenue also goes straight to tor – See Tickets, is less enthusiastic the ticket seller, minus the facilitaabout the potential for white label tor’s usually modest charge. growth. “We sell less than 50 Mike Evenson, vice-presiper cent of our tickets through Only if you’re able to use this white label, so the concept is dent, marketing and product management at AudienceView, extremely expensive technology on not new.” whose clients include He says that white label busiNottingham’s Capital FM Arena a large scale … will you have the nesses will find it difficult to (10,000), explains how white scale and rely wholly on the chance to recoup the costs label companies are making marketing investment of the Simon Presswell a difference. artiste and client.

“Technology has eliminated “The economics of ticketthe need for anyone else other than chases, rather than sending them to ing are such that scale needs to be the content provider and the con- another website. achieved to invest in the continuous Edwards maintains that his com- technology development necessumer to engage in a transaction,” he suggests. “Traditionally, third pany differentiates itself by tailoring sary to keep pace. I am not sure parties have offered a service that is the buying experience to a specific the white label artiste allocation set of circumstances. “This year, for market – which is 10 to 20 per cent now unnecessary and outdated.

“We are seeing this same trend example, we’ve done tickets for of the house for agreeable acts - is in retail and other industries, so shows by Paul McCartney in Japan.” large enough for the numerous Edwards has a theory about current players in the UK, like it shouldn’t come as a surprise. In

Nightlife

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Live Music October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

18 I SECTOR FOCUS

Network, which sells around three million tickets a year, working with clients such as the Isle of Wight’s Bestival (55,000), also believes experience counts for a lot in ticketing.

“We’re very social networking savvy, but a lot of people can be more wowed by the feel of a younger company than somebody who has been in the industry for a long time,” he says.

“The difficulty with the smaller companies is that often their systems can’t quite stand up to a big load and I think that however technologically savvy you are, it takes a lot of research and a lot of getting it right, both on the software and the hardware side, to have systems that are robust enough to take a big hit when one of the bigger artistes goes on a stadium tour.”

Benefits in waiting

AEG-owned AXS handles ticketing for AEG-operated London venues The O2 (18,000) and The SSE Arena, Wembley (12,500), as well as clients such as Marshall Arts and Global

Ro

Eventim Apollo Hammersmith

Radio and expects to sell over two million tickets this year.

The company is particularly pleased with its Waiting Room

facility, which allows people who register for the service to log in 30 minutes before pre-sales and general sale and effectively queue for

whatever you’re planning, we’ve got it covered.

ES T. 20 01

Crowdsurge, Ticketscript, Music Glue, Sandbag and so on.

“But good luck to them, competition drives us all on which is only good for the clients and the fans.”

Wilmshurst says his company, which works with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to sell tickets plus add-ons such as merchandise, is pragmatic. “We offer the same services as white labels with the back-up of intensive marketing, robust technology and balance sheet strength. In other words, the promoters and artiste cash is safe.”

See Tickets manages the ticketing for Glastonbury festival, whose 135,000 tickets for 2015 sold out in 26 minutes this month. When issued, the tickets will feature the photograph of the registered ticket holder, with personal ID checks made at the site entrance.

“Added ticket protection is very important now, but the whole industry needs to work together on this issue,” adds Wilmshurst.

Paul Betesh is CEO of Ticketline

event listings entry management ticket sales to promote your event telephone: 0843 289 9489 or visit: skiddle.com/promotion

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

sector focus I 19

ob Wilmshurst

tickets on a lottery basis. During the wait, they can watch videos of the artiste and other related features.

“The AXS site was designed with

the fan in mind,” says Daniel Brown, vice-president for marketing and digital services. “Speed of sale and fairness of your chance of getting

a ticket are what’s imporHammersmith (5,630) in tant to a customer and our London, which it co-owns Waiting Room eliminates with AEG Live, it also has a the need for the refresh butlong-term deal with SMG ton,” he says. “Customers Europe to provide ticketare held until the on-sale ing services for its venues time and then are pushed across the north of England, through to the sale. As Rob Wilmshurst which include Newcastle’s their details are already Metro Radio Arena (11,000), registered, they don’t have Manchester’s Phones 4u to worry about rushing or Arena (15,000), the First making last-minute errors.”

Direct Arena (13,000) in Brown says the company Leeds and The Whitley Bay is also proud of its anti-tout Playhouse (630). defences. “We have clever Eventim UK MD Rob analytics to identify when a Rob Edwards Edwards says that fraud bot [robotic software] is on our site detection and prevention is probably or people are trying to repurchase, more of a cost to the business than and we have a unit in our company fraud itself. monitoring that kind of thing,” he “Actual fraud is not a significant says, “There’s also the feasibility for issue for us, at least not in terms of more ID to be added to thr process charge-backs. Wherever possible in the future.” we deal with cybercrime before it can affect our customers, and the venues and promoters we work Ticket values Eventim UK is a division of the with. We also have centralised and pan-Europe ticketing giant CTS local risk teams which work in close Eventim and handles ticketing for cooperation with the major banks flagship venue the Eventim Apollo and card schemes.”

Sign up for a free account today ✓ used by over 80,000 events ✓ 97% of our clients would recommend us ✓ our latest innovation - ticket box office, the mobile on-the-door solution visit ticketscript.com

Europe’s leading digital self-service ticketing solution October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

20 I FEATURE SECTOR FOCUS I

In 2013 Eventim launched FanTicket which gives customers the chance to purchase a keepsake ticket for concerts with artistes such as Bruce Springsteen’s opening gig at the First Direct Arena, and Kate Bush’s 22 dates at the Eventim Apollo.

Indie ethos

WeGotTickets’ client roster includes promoters Kilimanjaro Live and Eat Your Own Ears, venue chain operator Academy Music Group and festival Field Day, as well as being the official ticketing partner of Oxfam’s Oxjam Music Festival.

Senior marketing executive Steven Endersby says the company

Technology has eliminated the need for anyone else other than the content provider and the consumer to engage in a transaction Mike Evenson

has sold tickets for over 4,000 different event organisers in the last 12 months.

“We tend to work with independent-spirited people most frequently, lots of great local promoters and, of course, some more established clients,” he says.

“Increasingly people are buying tickets and viewing our emails on their tablets and phones, with around 65 per cent of our marketing emails opened first on those devices,” he says. “That

seems to be the major change in the industry, and the use of those devices and event discovery apps has made late purchasing even more prevalent.”

Competition conscious

Gigantic Tickets, established in 2008, works with clients such as Live Nation Entertainment, Metropolis Music and Sheffield’s annual Tramlines festival, as well as powering the online box office for promoter, multi-venue operator and festival organiser DHP Family.

“We are seeing a significant increase in numbers year on year for our key clients,” says Gigantic director Mark Gasson. “The ticketing market is strong and attending live events remains a key part of the public’s social plans.

“However, the business is becoming extremely competitive and there are an increasing number of ticketing companies vying for business,” he notes. “Any start-up can sell a ticket, but the key factor for an event organiser has to be the level of post sales service that their ticketing partner offers, both onsite, and with customer and promoter service.

“We are constantly gaining new clients dissatisfied with ticketing providers who fail to offer this level of service.”

Creative energy

Ticketscript is a white label company working with clients such as Truckfest (10,000) and MTV, selling more than 10 million tickets across Europe, according to the company.

“Staying ahead of the curve from a technology perspective is

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

So whose ticket is it?

S

et up in 2007 and headed by director Mark Meharry, Music Glue provides direct to consumer digital services, often for artistes, with clients including Mumford & Sons, Bryan Ferry, Neil Finn and Enter Shikari, as well as around 150 venues and promoters nationwide.

Meharry says the growth in the use of his Mark Meharry business model is due to the increasing reach that artistes have.

“Social media and CRM [customer relationship management] systems have allowed artistes to have a direct relationship with their fanbase.

“The traditional model for artistes has been to send audiences off to the guys that take care of retail, but they are now thinking ‘maybe we could be doing the selling’, and the smart ones are saying “I want to be the retailer and sell my tickets too.”

Meharry says that where once a website used to be seen as a marketing expense, it is now looked at as more of a retailing opportunity.

“Artistes can still work with promoters, but what we are finding now from acts, especially the bigger ones, is that they are saying to promoters, ‘we know our fans and we can be selling tickets direct to them through our website’.”

Meharry knows that this may not go down too well with promoters who enjoy significant kick-backs from primary ticket agencies.

But he also knows that artistes are becoming increasingly aware of not sharing in ticket booking fees and, in some cases, how quickly their tickets seem to appear on resale websites.

definitely an ongoing process,” says help clients grow their communities; Ticketscript’s chief commercial offi- it’s not about purely selling [ticket] allocations.” cer Jason Thomas.

Preston-based Skiddle “Sales are steadily increasalso operates in white ing, although I would say that label ticketing for more ticket buyers have become than 30,000 small event increasingly selective, meanpromoters and around 200 ing event organisers need festivals. Clients include to be sure they have done AEG Live, Ministry of Sound, their homework on shows Cream, Gatecrasher, and they undertake. We want to Mark Gasson

more gigs

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sector focus I 23

last year.

Linton Music Festival.

Eventbrite’s vice-president for “We’re not a business that simply relies on large scale events, equally business development Limvirak crucial to us are a litany of smaller Chea says the firm was set events with a loyal footfall in every up as an online service to fill a city around the UK,” says Skiddle’s gap in the market and provide affordable ticketing for small technical director Ben Sebborn.

“We mainly use a personalised and medium sized organisers, targeting method based on custom- with a third of its clients being ers’ previous browsing and buying independent artistes.

Recent developments include behaviour on Skiddle, as well as reserved seating, which offers a their social media likes,” he says.

Sebborn explains that the emails solution to one of the industry’s biggest ”pain points”, says which go out are personthe company. Event organalised to each recipient, isers can automatically showing which events they prioritise and assign seats are most likely to go to, to customers, and make a increasing the conversion seat map using drag and rates for promoters. drop technology.

Set up in 2006 in California, white label Ben Sebborn operator Eventbrite opened Customer relations its London office in 2011.

Jose San Miguel is direcClients include festivals tor at white label solutions such as Standon Calling, provider Nutickets, whose 2000 trees and Xstatic clients include Festibelly, and the company says it Proud Camden and processed nearly 60 million Gatecrasher. The company tickets in 187 countries Jason Thomas launched its service in 2012,

offering event organisers Commenting on his the ability to sell direct. white label operation, One of the most major Dewell says, “Our model impacts of the increasing is allowing our customdigitisation of ticketing is ers to increase their the access to live data. interaction with customers “We’re not a big team and and this in turn is generatwe don’t need to be,” says Jose San Miguel ing demand.

San Miguel. “We provide “There are key elements the technical know-how aligned to this model, ticket and ability to utilise data sale revenues goes directly for further purchases to to the organiser to drive the event organiser. Selling cash flow. This is one of the tickets is just one step of top issues we identified the journey, as there’s so in research. much more that can be Mark Dewell “We also believe in the done with the data. power of sharing online. The ability “For example, sending promo- to connect on social media channels tional codes to a specific group of such as Facebook lets us drive wordpeople – like those whose birthday of-mouth interest.” it is on an event date, or moving With predictions of further wristcustomers across to a different band technology and customers bar which may not be getting as being able to load up and pay for much footfall.” their food, drinks and and merchanMark Dewell is MD at Advanced dise before they enter a concert, Ticketing, which provides services there are interesting times ahead to clients including Beverley Folk for the ticketing sector.

Festival, Chester Rocks, Tribefest One thing’s for sure, it’s no longer and the National Trust. just about selling tickets.

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

make sure you’re part of

the main EVENT

Thursday 16 October 16 2014 Thursday October, Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London

www.liveuksummit.com

John Giddings Isle of Wight Festival

Rob Hallett Consultant

Jim Frayling Wembley Stadium

Geoff Meall The Agency Group

Sharon Hodgson Labour MP

The Dynamic Ticket

Venues for Hire: Making it Happen

10.00-11.00 > Ballroom

11.15-12.00 > Ballroom

The ticketing sector continues its relentless race onward, with new access technology, system crashes, anti-bot defences, social media linkage and the increasing media focus on booking fees all to be discussed.

Once a venue, whether bar or stadium, has a show, it then needs to accommodate the production and help deliver a viable audience. So what are the components?

The Music Chamber: Politics & Live Events 12.15-13.15 > Ballroom

Masters of the Universe 14.30-15.15 > Ballroom

Politicians and live music professionals discuss issues such as industrialscale and insider ticket touting, and the threat to small venues.

A Summit favourite featuring some of the country’s leading international agents and promoters … and the tales they tell of far away places, the perils of opening new markets and much more.

The Social Network

Tech Talk

10.30-11.15 > Gloucester

11.20-12.15 > Gloucester

It’s hard to believe the industry used to rely on flyers, posters and press ads, as the explosion in digital marketing opportunities continues to evolve. So what’s new and is there a danger of impact saturation?

Presentations by experts behind some of the latest live music businessrelated technology, marketing tools and innovations.

Register now for £145 (+VAT) For more information T 020 7224 2442 info@liveuksummit.com www.liveuksummit.com

And in the evening…

In pursuit of excellence

www.livemusicawards.co.uk

A one day business extravaganza packed with conference sessions, presentations, discussions and displays, with networking coffee breaks and a sumptuous buffet lunch

Rebecca Kane The O2

Andrew Parsons Ticketmaster

Belinda Boakye AEG Live

Mike Weatherley Conservative MP

Denzil Thomas PHAR

The Festival Forum

Backing the B(r)and

12.30-13.30 > Gloucester

14.45-15.30 > Gloucester

Survivors of the recession adapted to circumstances and kept their audiences loyal and contented, but how do festival organisers keep pace with demand in this constantly evolving sector?

With yet more multi-million-pound arena naming rights deals and wider brand interaction at festivals, have the two sides got the balance right and is it working?

Who Dares Wins

The Discovery Panel

15.45-16.30 > Gloucester

11.00-11.50 > Montague

Artiste managers need leadership skills, diplomacy, ingenious tactical and strategic planning, mental agility, an understanding of psychology, endurance and courage ‌ but is it still enough?

It seems that talent-spotting and long-term artiste development is ever more down to booking agents and managers, with many agencies now committing significant resources to A&R and social media marketing.

Venues for Hire: Supply & Demand

ALL TOGETHER NOW

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One of the biggest challenges for any venue is to keep the shows coming and that means regular communication with talent suppliers and a close eye on the opposition. How can a venue improve its chances?

Although still not always the case, when the live sector and record labels work closely together, everyone including the act has the best chance of success. So what’s the magic formula or is it just down to the people?

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26 I

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Contest launched for budding promoters PRIMARY TICKET agency Skiddle has launched a scheme to help recognise the next generation of promoters and event managers.

The 25 under 25 initiative is open until 14 December for amateur promoters aged under 25, including students, who have successfully staged at least one event since the start of the competition on 15 September, and sold a minimum of 20 tickets through Skiddle.

Entrants will be whittled down to a shortlist of 25 and judged by a panel of experts including Skiddle

directors, with prizes on offer including a full ticket promotion package for a year, mentoring, tickets and merchandise.

Applicants will be required to answer a series of questions before an overall winner is crowned.

“We are looking to invest in the future of the next wave of promoters and event organisers of a specific age, and help them on their way,” explains the Preston-based firm’s head of communications Jimmy Coultas. “There probably wouldn’t be a marketplace without people willing to take risks.

Ben Sebborn

“We are not just looking for people selling out events, but their ideas and how they use different platforms such as social networks,” he adds. “We are interested in innovation and the thought process behind the events.”

Ben Sebborn, co-founder and director of Skiddle, which launched in 2001, adds, “We work with hundreds of individual promoters every single day, many of which are hugely talented in what they do and make-up the core of nightlife in their communities. It’s about time they got some recognition.”

Jack Rocks The Macbeth WHISKEY BRAND Jack Daniel’s has partnered with 150-year-old East London venue The Macbeth (cap. 300) for a new music campaign, Jack Rocks.

Located in the Hoxton area, the pub will feature live performances and acoustic sets, along with talks and workshops from industry professionals from 5pm on weekdays, as part of the promotion. The project is scheduled to run for an initial period of four months.

“Partnering with a live music venue with our own spin is a first for us and we’re really excited to give both up-and-coming artistes and likeminded music lovers alike a place where they can listen to some inspirational stories and most importantly, share some legendary music

moments,” says Jack Daniel’s senior brand manager Michael Boaler.

The venue is being run in association with NME and Spotify as part of the campaign, which aims to celebrate authentic, independent music, with a workspace created on the top floor for the magazine’s journalists and Spotify staff.

Acts to have performed so far include Moats, Vance Joy and La Roux, with upcoming shows by False Heads, Richa, Dirty White Fever, Dumbjaw, Only Real and Juce.

After its residency at The Macbeth, Jack Rocks partnerships will be formed with independent venues across the country, says Boaler.

The Macbeth

The Forum Hertfordshire features oots Video sh m ru at the Fo clude Ed hire in ’ Her tfords ‘Lego House ’s n Sheera Flux Pavilion’s d an o. o de vide amer’ vi ‘Daydre xible, a fully fle itable er off e W su n space open-pla riety of filming for a va eds. ne

o In-house sound systems (d&b Q Series in main room, Funktion one in room two, plus Yamaha M7cl digital desk and Soundcraft MH3 analog)

o In-house barrier

o 3 x ensuite dressing rooms with showers, kitchenettes and wireless

o 1 x production office with wireless, landline and photocopier

o In-house lighting and control (mainly Martin MAC 575s plus Avolites pearl and Pearl Tiger desks)

o Full-time in-house production team o Favourable venue hire cost for national promoters (venue hire includes security, box office, ticketing, in-house sound and light, onsite PR and marketing support focusing on a 27,000 student population)

With a 1,750 capacity and a 320 capacity gig rooms, a free-flow club capacity of 2,250, and a site-wide capacity of 5,000 for festivals, The Forum Hertfordshire offers flexibility, professionalism and a technical specification that beats any others in the area. Enquiries to: l.welsh@herts.ac.uk or 01707 285008.

Hertfordshire’s leading live music and club venue October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

forumhertfordshire.co.uk

NXT news I 27

in association with

Support scheme for groundbreaking acts UNSIGNED ARTISTES who push boundaries an artiste-led foundation on new ways of are being offered support through a new awards supporting the next generation of music scheme launched by PRS for Music Foundation pioneers,” says PRSF executive director Vanessa Reed.

(PRSF) and Steve Reid Foundation (SRF).

Applicants must send links to their music The Steve Reid InNOVAtion Awards will provide cash bursaries of up to £1,500 and as well as a three-minute video explaining their career to date, and how funding mentorship from SRF trustees such as DJ and mentoring would help their and record label owner Gilles Peterson development. The deadline for and musician Theo Parrish, for three or submissions is 17 November. four emerging acts. It is open to anyone SRF was set up by Peterson, that is writing and performing their Brownswood Records and a collective own music and is currently unsigned of trustees in memory of acclaimed jazz and unmanaged. drummer Steve Reid, who died in 2010.

“It’s a privilege to be working with Vanessa Reed

Stage break Key venues for aspiring talent The Good Ship 289 KIlburn High Road, London NW6 7JR Live booker: Pete Lambrou T: 07723322573 E: pete@thegoodship.co.uk

Matthew Marra

W: www.thegoodship.co.uk Capacity: 250 PA/lights: Yes Dressing rooms: No Booking policy: Live music five nights a week and acts get 100 per cent of the door receipts for the people they draw, after the first £30 (equivalent to six people)

Funds to unlock artistes’ potential

Best acts currently playing the venue: Oh So Quiet, Beach Violence, Ordinary Noise, Written In Waters, Lucy Claire, AK/DK

THE HELP Musicians UK (HMUK) charity, previously known as the Musicians Benevolent Fund until last January, is offering up to five new partners £5,000 to support emerging talent in a pilot initiative focused on regions outside London.

HMUK already helps around 400 rising acts with a range of schemes through its talent programme and is inviting applicants with a proven track record of supporting and developing artistes.

It is offering funding to companies and organisations to invest in musicians who have the potential to take their career to the next level. Applicants could include venues, promoters, festivals, studios, development agencies and not-for-profit

Best advice for managers: “Don’t let your act play the same city or venue in quick succession. Bands often fall into the trap of overplaying. Maintain momentum by keeping them monthly at most. If they can generate a decent crowd to each gig - venues and promoters will take you more seriously. ”

music organisations.

“We want to work with organisations that are as passionate as we are about nurturing musicians at the start of their careers and who will use this opportunity to invest in an exciting and diverse bunch of artistes,” says talent programme manager Tim Foxon.

Funding could be used to support activities such as mentoring, specialist advice, access to space or other facilities, marketing support, live performance, networking and skills development.

Organisations can apply for funding to expand existing artiste development schemes or to deliver a new initiative. The deadline for submissions is 21 November.

Acts who’ve played the venue: Adele, Kate Nash, Marina and The Diamonds, Eliza Doolittle, The xx, London Grammar

The Good Ship

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

28 I

Managing expectations

A good manager in 2014 has more knowledge or access to information about how the overall music industry works than a multitude of label executives, agents, lawyers and accountants. Rob Sandall discovers how it all begins for emerging artistes.

L

in association with

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Who Dares Wins 15.45-16.30

16 October, Radisson Blu Portman Hotel www.liveuksummit.com

On the up side, he says that in an age of intopher while also running his own label and pubong gone is the time when getting a lishing business, believes that diversification has creased opportunity for independent promotion, record deal was the single most important a strong image can go a long way before next ambition for managers of new talent. become a necessity.

Today’s artiste managers need a host of “A manager is not only required to oversee the steps need to be considered.

“Managers can create a lot of early traction if an skills and, as the manager-oriented Who day-to-day of an artiste’s career, plus all Dares Wins session at the LIVE UK Summit of their administration and deals, but artiste feels like a brand in their own right, which puts it, ‘ … leadership skills, diplomacy, inalso needs to be extremely proactive in of course includes a strong set of early songs genious tactical and strategic planning, the A&R-ing of the music and the devel- and videos.

“Yes contacts are important – anyone who tells mental agility, an understanding of psyopment from start to finish,” he says. chology, endurance and courage … but is That’s not to say that didn’t used to you different is lying, but strong music, image, and that still enough?’ Not without a knowledge be the case, but the level of that creative ideas will be heard and appreciated from Diane Wagg of social media marketing, that’s for sure. involvement has grown significantly in the beginning if sent through the right channels.”

Diane Wagg, who runs Deluxxe Manrecent years. agement and Ideal Music Productions “The increased use of social media, Honesty and timing – working on acts such as A Girl Called direct-to-consumer business and the Malcolm Blair has managed acts for 20 years, and Ruth and Nik Lloyd – is also co-chair of the importance of brand partnerships have currently works with Alesha Dixon, Little Eye and Music Managers Forum (MMF), says findalso meant managers need to think in a Mark Angels. He says that while the world has ing the funding for a new act is also one different and more rounded way, about changed significantly, the manager’s duties still of many relatively recent responsibilities the overall brand and fan relationships.” boil down to an understanding of what’s best Mark Stein that now falls to the manager.

Despite these changes, Brandon notes for an artiste and a sense for when they’re ready “The role has changed exponentially over the last that finding the right acts brings a manager right to progress. five to 10 years, as has the entertainment business,” back to the basics.

“Ten years ago a manager was more of a trafshe says. “You once needed to know 50 things, then “For me, an artiste simply needs to show that fic warden making sure labels were delivering on 100 things and now it feels like 150 and rising. they would be able to create success with both their promises and pushing and cajoling labels,” “In particular, investment from labels and pubrecorded music and touring. he says, “but nowadays managers have so much lishers has reduced drastically as the economic “Even then, the music is where it all starts – more to be aware of. model has changed. Fortunately, there are more without the right music to drive everything there “When i first started out playing in bands in the and more ways of accessing funding for artistes will usually be no fanbase and consequentlate ‘70s, the whole independent label and managers, which is something the MMF is ly no touring,” he says. thing was going on and over the last very hot on for its members; you can get a long few years it’s come back around to beway these days on your own.” ing an independent scene, but with the Team building Wagg, who has been an MMF member since added bonus of different avenues such Full Stein Management’s Mark Stein man1992, says that the organisation is well equipped as social media, digital distribution, ages DeLooze and also runs Recognition, to help managers who are getting started. “We YouTube etc.” which provides digital and online tools for Josh Brandon run great training modules, hold open meetings However, Blair believes that the most music promotion. He believes that, more and presentations, and are also getting involved than ever, the manager is the nexus of a large important factor is experience of the business and in assessment and accreditation of music courses supporting cast covering social media strategies, an understanding of how the industry works. run by universities,” she explains.

“It’s about being able to introduce the artiste PR, A&R, recording and publishing, and including “No manager can know everything – every to key people at the right time and make sure agents, tour managers, lawyers and accountants. week there’s new information and opposing “When I hear about how a band was discov- they benefit from the best opportunities you can views, not to mention the information that’s difered, I find that it’s rarely down to the label or the get them. ficult to access. Our members can just pick up the “A good manager will also be honest with the agent – it was the manager,” he says. phone and ask us for info or help.”

“They are not only the ones to hunt out the act,” he says. “I think it’s vitally important that the talent, but are increasingly becoming the initial artiste is aware of what is going on around them risk takers, spending their free time, effort, – it’s too easy for an act to exist in a bubble where Many hats belief, and sometimes money to get an artiste everything appears to be great, until something Insanity Group’s Josh Brandon, who manages goes wrong.” ready for release.” artistes such as Sigma, Majestic and Isaac ChrisOctober 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

I 29

in association with

On the beat Scouting the frontline

Kevin Jones, 36 Company: Communion Records, London E: kev@communionmusic.co.uk

Your favourite venues for seeing unsigned acts: Notting Hill Arts Club, The Lexington (both London) How important is it for artistes to perform live: “It is incredibly important that an artiste can perform well live, as it’s so hard for people to get a proper feel for the music any other way.”

When joined the company: co-founded the label in 2010

Best advice to unsigned act managers: Company signings: Gotye, Half Moon “Don’t rush things, artistes need time to mature and grow, and you need Run, Deap Vally (for Communion/ time to assemble the right teams Island Records), Catfish and the around them.”

Bottlemen, Daughter, Matthew and the Atlas (for Communion Records) Emerging new act on the label: Twin Peaks, Tennis, Catfish and the Among favourite emerging acts: Bottlemen Billie Marten

Managing talent Building emerging careers

Andy Devaney, 39 Company: ARD UK, Maidstone E: submissions@ard-uk.org

Other emerging acts to watch: ENV, Leanne Louise, Lisa Williams, Mila Falls, Katey Brooks Greatest lesson learned: “Research and investigate everything that comes your way, never assume or take things for granted. Expect the unexpected and always try to be prepared for every eventuality.”

Artiste roster: London Roots, Sassy Worst live experience: Pandez, Kaleidophone, Amar Adatia, Three Kings High, Wah Wah Club, Black “When one of our artistes was headlining a festival, a a generator Ice, McCrei, Ollie Banks stopped working and the band Favourite venues for showcasing/ continued acoustically, with my team playing: Freedom Bar, The Bedford rounding up any light we could get (both London) our hands on until normal service was How important is it for artistes to resumed. Fortunately it seemed to work play live: “Playing live is the most well with the crowd.” essential part for any artiste wanting Current live projects: Three Kings High to achieve any sort of recognition and – touring generally, McCrei – touring is an integral part of interacting with across UK and Europe and the UK your current audience and enticing a bigger following.”

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

City Limits

30 I city limits

Sheffield

Sheffield City Hall

There is a buzz in the air at emerging artistes level and with hometown boys Arctic Monkeys flying high worldwide, promoters and venue operators’spirits are rising after what has been a challenging few years. Allan Glen reports

F

ortunately, the global success of the Arctic Monkeys and the enduring careers of earlier Sheffield artistes such as the Human League, ABC, Pulp’s, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, and more recently Richard Hawley, help to offset some challenging local issues.

As well as the closure of Don Valley Stadium (cap. 50,000) and its as-

sociated festival Sheftival (25,000), both operated by Sheffield International Venues (SIV), local promoters and venue operators talk of slow ticket sales and a perceived unwillingness by some national promoters to include the city on major tours.

“Generally speaking, it’s quite tough,” says Music First’s Barney Vernon, who is also part of national promoting consortium The Gig Cartel.

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

He has forthcoming shows with Ian quite well, but it’s just hitting us Hunter and Joanne Shaw Taylor at now,” he says. “The only way to deal Sheffield City Hall (2,200, 850, 430), with it is to advertise that bit further Dreadzone, Kenny Wayne afield, work harder, and Shepherd and Heaven 17 at work longer hours.

Plug (1,100, 700, 300) and “In this industry, the Wayne Hussey and Spear harder it is the busier you of Destiny at The Greyget, because you have stones (150). to work twice as hard on “We’ve had the recession every concert.” and ridden that through Barney Vernon This is an assertion Chris

Exploring the live music networks in our key cities and towns I city

limits I 31

there have also been major changes to the main hall itself, which last year Another boost to local confidence underwent a multi-million pound is the launch of the 4,000-capacity refurbishment, with the addition Steel Hall. Created within the of new seating, lighting, toilet and Motorpoint Arena (13,600), operated catering facilities.

Acts enjoying the new facilities

by Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) on behalf of SIV, the Steel Hall, which include Kings of Leon, with tickets at opened in September, is being £34-£65, Little Mix (£23.50-£33.50), marketed to promoters, with two Gary Barlow (£35-£55), The Wanted shows due to be announced as LIVE (£25-£45), Paolo Nutini (£35) – all promoted by SJM Concerts; Katy UK went to press.

According to Motorpoint Arena Perry (£39.50-£75), McBusted (£35), general manager of the Rob O’Shea, Justin Timberlake (£50-£95), Kylie the Steel Hall will complement the (£40-£80), Lady Gaga (£35-£90) Kasabian (£29.50-£39.50) main hall and offer audiences a new and – all LNE-promoted, and Peter live music experience.

“Inside the venue there are a series Gabriel (£35-£45), presented by of drapes giving it an intimate feel Kilimanjaro Live.

O’Shea is quietly so any customer attending optimistic about the a Steel Hall show will not outlook for the arena feel they are watching a and Sheffield in general, show in a cut-down arena,” although he thinks there says O’Shea. “It will bring might be too much an audience closer to the competition at mid-level, show in a medium-capacity Chris Wilson more of which later. venue.

“Sheffield has a fantastic “Just as important, history as one of the UK’s however, is that the premier music producing show itself will not feel cities, and with good compromised, yet the reason,” he maintains. “It promoter will have access to has a great infrastructure all the arena facilities.” of rehearsal space, As well as SIV adding the recording studios and gig Steel Hall to its portfolio, Rob O’Shea

Flexible friend

Motorpoint Arena

Wilson, one of the longest serving promoters in the city, agrees with, citing anecdotal evidence that attracting audiences from neighbouring cities clearly boosts ticket sales.

“It can still be tough in Sheffield, and completely unpredictable,” says Wilson, the former promoter at The Boardwalk (300), which closed in December 2010 (see LIVE UK, issue 154).

“There’s a huge variety of live music available almost every day of the week, which is great for the fans. But, of course, the more that’s happening on any given night, the more chance of it diluting audiences.”

Wilson now promotes at The Greystones under the banner Boardwalk Live, with acts such

as Glenn Tilbrook, Horse, Andy Cairns, Nick Oliveri, and CoCo and the Butterfields.

“The Greystones is a venue that’s fighting way above its weight,” he says. “We pull audiences from a huge radius and sometimes at least 30-40 per cent of the turnout are not from Sheffield.”

Both promoters also speak of a buzz starting again at local unsigned level, pointing to acts such as Rita Payne, Liberty Ship, The Monday Club, and Clubs and Spades as ones to watch.

Producing artistes that go on to national and international success has always been one of Sheffield’s strengths, with other city alumni including Joe Cocker, Heaven 17, Cabaret Voltaire and Reverend And The Makers.

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October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

32 I city limits

venues at all levels.

“Comedy, theatre and family shows continue to form an important and growing part of our business in the arena. However, there is still a degree of price sensitivity in the market, but, generally, the right product at the right price will still sell well.”

City Hall status

As Richard Hunter, general manager of the SIVoperated Sheffield City Hall (2,200, 850, 430) points out, SIV and the city in general have faced difficulties in recent years with the demolition of Don Valley Stadium and the axing of Sheftival following government cuts.

“The Don Valley Bowl [20,000] is still here, although hasn’t been used for a show since the Arctic Monkeys played there in 2011, but in theory, it is still available,” says Hunter. “With the demise of the Stadium it was decided not to continue with Sheftival. It would also be up against Tramlines Festival [23,000] as well, which seemed pretty self-defeating for both festivals and the city as a whole.”

At the City Hall, ticket sales remain steady, reports Hunter, although he has noticed a change in buyers’ habits.

“Tickets are selling slower and there is a lot of last-month, last-minute buying,” he adds. “I think

The Leadmill

people are managing their money more carefully.

“The tribute bands and heritage acts who come round every year to the same venue are suffering the most, as more people think, ‘We’ll give this year a miss and see them next year’.”

Acts playing the venue include Yes

Richard Hunter

(promoted by 3A Entertainment), Rick Wakeman (Kilimanjaro), Foreigner (LNE), The Saturdays (AEG Live), Eddi Reader (The Gig Cartel), Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra (Harvey Goldsmith), Deacon Blue (CMP Live), John Mayall (Flying Music), Dream Theatre, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott,

Steel Hall - Sheffield’s newest fixed capacity venue 4,000 seated or 4,500 standing capacity within the Motorpoint Arena Contact joe.waldron@livenation.co.uk 0114 256 5509 October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

Exploring the live music networks in our key cities and towns I city

O2 Academy Sheffield

Bellowhead and Paloma Faith (all SJM).

Of the other supposed challenges facing the city, adds Hunter, some are real, some are imagined.

“There is perhaps a need for a 1,600-standing size venue and the often-quoted perception of slow ticket sales in Sheffield at times can put promoters off when routing a tour,” he adds.

“But, on the whole, sales are no worse than elsewhere. It’s just about holding your nerve a bit longer.”

Offering choice

As noted previously, there is serious competition at major club level, with the O2 Academy (2,150,

500), The Corporation (1,000, 300, 180), Plug (1,100, 700, 300) and The Leadmill (900, 250), all offering similar options.

Under the banner of The Leadmill Presents (TLP), the venue’s in-house promoting team also stages shows across Sheffield, which says TLP promoter Rebecca Walker, has helped expand the venue brand.

“Offering agents venues ranging from 100 capacity up to 2,100 keeps consistency in promotion,” she says.

Walker says, on average, Justin Smith ticket sales are encouraging for acts playing the venue, who include Architects (LNE), Babyshambles, Bastille, Echo and The Bunnymen (all SJM); Band of Skulls, Frightened Rabbit, Peace, Nick Mulvey and The Orwells (all in-house).

“Slowly but surely, we have seen a slight increase in ticket sales over the past couple of years,” she adds. “It’s looking promising.”

Asked what the greatest challenge was, Walker says it’s heavy competition from other venues and promoters in neighbouring areas.

“As a city, we always will have to compete with much larger places like Leeds and Nottingham,” she says. “They’re so close that tours often choose one or the other.”

limits I 33

Uplifting shows

However, Justin Smith, general manager of the O2 Academy believes things are beginning to change for the city, which has a population of around 500,000.

“Sheffield has seen an upturn in the volume of shows coming into the city as part of national tours,” says Smith. “After a couple of slower years at main room level, we are finding more highprofile artistes are including a Sheffield show in their tours, Rebecca Walker often as well as shows in cities close by, such as Nottingham and Leeds. Before, it was often one or another.”

In addition to an increase in the number of shows at the O2 Academy, there has also been an upturn in genres, adds Smith. Acts playing the venue include London Grammar (AEG), Steel Panther, Gogol Bordello (The Leadmill Presents), The Enemy (Academy Events), Rizzle Kicks, The 1975, Blondie, The Stranglers, Lily Allen, Example, Embrace and Basement Jaxx (all SJM).

“The city has always performed very well for classic indie bands, but we are definitely seeing more electronic events come to the venue, as those acts move out of clubs and into the live arena,” he adds.

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0114 223 3740 www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

34 I city limits

Additional Authority

While The Corporation’s Mark Hobson agrees the local market is growing, in no small part due to the vibrancy of the unsigned and emerging artiste scene, he also has concerns that Sheffield is losing out to nearby cities.

On ticket sales and bookings, however, Hobson says the addition of the new 300-capacity Local Authority room at The Corporation has allowed the venue to expand its activities, resulting in an increase in shows in the second half of the year.

“Ticket sales are still awkward,” he says. “But I would put this down to a quirk of the city as opposed to a blip within the industry.”

Acts playing The Corporation include Converge, Drowning Pool, Funeral For A Friend, Crowbar, The Harley Nile, Lamb Of God, Reel Big Fish, Basement, Gary Hewett also believes the emerging act sector is Numan, with forthcoming shows from Joe Elliott, one of the strengths of the city, citing Slow Club, Quireboys, Monster Truck and Magnum.

The venue is also a key player in the three-day Nai Harvest and Blessa as artistes to watch.

Harley Live has recently promoted acts such as festival Tramlines, which launched in 2009 and Royal Blood, Fat White Family, James Yorkston and held at Devonshire Green in the city centre.

This year’s headliners on the main stage Mike Watt at The Harley, and presented shows at included Katy B, Public Enemy and The Cribs. The Queens Social Club with Foals, Sharon Van Etten, event also takes place at other venues such as Pere Ubu and Mystery Jets. Other promotions the O2 Academy, The Leadmill, Sheffield City Hall have featured The Hold Steady, Midlake and Wild and The Harley (200). The latter venue’s live music Beasts at Sheffield City Hall. programme is run by Harley Live, the promoters behind Tramlines.

Plugged into mobile Kate Hewett, marketing and Attracting audiences from outside the programme director at Harley Live city may be one way of boosting ticket and Tramlines, believes that the city sales, but Plug director of Adele Bailey is beginning to take shows away from says she has found another.

Leeds and even Manchester.

“We introduced our Plug App last “As with many cities in the North, year, which has gone down a storm,” she we’ve benefited from having access to Mark Hobson says. “Nearly 35 per cent of all our tickets a large number and wide range of exare now sold through our app. Once a industrial spaces, which has provided customer arrives at the door, all they a opportunities for live music and need to do is show the code on their entertainment entrepreneurs,” she says. phone and they are let straight in. Speed “It also means that, for touring artistes, and simplicity.” there are plenty of unusual or off-theUp to 50 live music events a year are beaten-track venues to play in, such as held at the venue, with forthcoming Kate Hewett Queens Social Club [40].” shows featuring artistes such as Cate Le

Bon, Young Fathers, Amazing Snakeheads (all inhouse promotions); Maverick Sabre (LNE), Netsky (Metropolis) and Ella Eyre (SJM).

With regular promoters such as Music First and Boardwalk Live, The Greystones hosts around 200 shows a year, and caters for all genres, with rock and folk the most popular.

“We’re fortunate that there aren’t many other places with the same capacity as us, which means some great acts are always looking to play here,” says Assistant Manager and Music Co-ordinator Emily Crack. “Ticket sales this autumn have been slightly slower than normal, but are now starting to pick up. In fact, we’re putting on more shows than ever this year.”

This theme of slow ticket sales coupled with an increase in the number of shows is the thread that runs through the views of promoters in the city. When asked to sum up the market, Music First’s Barney Vernon is pragmatic.

“Promoting in Sheffield is not doom and gloom, it’s just more of a challenge,” he says.

“There’s loads of business out there to get. Bands are touring, every acts wants a show. You just have to be a little bit more choosy, and find the right venue for the gig.”

Visit us at www.celebrityaccess.com or call us at +1 877-660-6310 ~ Sign up for you FREE TRIAL today!

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

Top 3 finalists

Winners will be announced on the night

16 October, Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, London Best Venue Teamwork > Stadium

Best Venue Teamwork > Campus

Liberty Stadium, Swansea UEA, Norwich Etihad Stadium, Manchester The Engine Shed, Lincoln Stadium Of Light, Sunderland The Forum Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Best Venue Teamwork > Arena Capital FM Arena, Nottingham Alexandra Palace, London The SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Best Venue Teamwork > Major Club (cap 800+) Koko, London Rock City, Nottingham The Forum, London

Best Venue Teamwork > Theatre/Concert

Best Venue Teamwork > Club (cap under 800)

Newcastle City Hall Troxy, London Royal Albert Hall, London

The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds The Asylum, Birmingham Thekla, Bristol

Best Venue Teamwork > Arts Centre

Agent of the Year

(There is a tie in this category)

West End Centre, Aldershot Band on the Wall, Manchester The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen Norwich Arts Centre

Artiste Manager of the Year Stuart Camp, Rocket Music (Ed Sheeran) Mike Gillespie, Sunday Club (Underworld, Bitter Ruin) Neil Simpson & Arwen Hunt, ATC Management (Catfish and the Bottlemen, Half Moon Run [UK only], Banfi)

National Promoter of the Year Kilimanjaro Live Live Nation Entertainment SJM Concerts

Regional Promoter of the Year

Steve Zapp, ITB (Biffy Clyro, Ten Feet Tall, North East Courteeners, Editors) Cuffe & Taylor, North West James Alderman, Free Trade SW1 Productions, South West Agency (The National, Fleet Foxes, St Vincent, Grizzly Bear) James Rubin, The Agency Group (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, ASAP Rocky)

COW public relations / design / events / marketing

Indie Promoter of the Year (Local impact)

Spectacle of the Year (Best Production)

Ian Binnington, PVC (Portsmouth) Kai Harris, Advance Promotions (South East) One Inch Badge (Brighton)

Black Sabbath at British Summer Time (Hyde Park) Depeche Mode at First Direct Arena Kate Bush at Eventim Apollo

Tour Manager of the Year

Best Festival (cap 40,000+)

Tre Stead (Frank Turner) Chris Taplin, Cato Music (Satellite Tour) Chris Rowley (Jake Bugg)

Best Record Label Partner Jamie Emsell, Communion/ Island (Catfish and the Bottlemen) Adrian Jolly, Mercury Records (Jake Bugg) Callum Caulfield, Atantic (Ed Sheeran, Frightened Rabbit)

Breakthrough Artiste Royal Blood Eliza and the Bear London Grammar

Greatest Brand Impact Somersby Cider Heineken Tuborg

Best Festival Performance

Download Bestival Sonisphere

The Prodigy at Sonisphere Bury Tomorrow at Download Royal Blood at Glastonbury

Best Festival (cap 15,000-39,999)

Unsung Hero

Field Day Secret Garden Party Green Man

Best Festival (cap under 15,000)

Steve Levitt, Production North Prue Almond, ITB Ed Grossman, MGR Touring

Blissfields Festival No 6 End of the Road

Many thanks to our production partners:

www.livemusicawards.co.uk 020 7486 7007

’

Ltd.

Specialist Suppliers to the Entertainment Industry

In pursuit of excellence

38 I production news

No delay for Bestival sound

WHEN ORGANISERS of Bestival (cap. 55,000) wanted delay speakers for its main stage hillside auditorium, audio company SSE deployed a system that gave impressive coverage, in spite of a competing venue at the top of the hill, according to the company’s project manager Luther Edmonds.

SSE provided a K1 system by French company L-Acoustics, using 15 K1 cabinets with 3 L-Acoustics Kara as under-hang, as well as the manufacturer’s new, smaller K2 system for side hangs, with 12 SB28 subs per side.

“We had to increase the box count to get the coverage up the hill,” says Edmonds. “The K1 is very high end, with a low power haul, and we use the system at festival main stages throughout the summer.”

SSE’s K1 system in action at Bestival. Pic Victor Frankowski

A team of eight SSE crew operated two desks on stage and two at front-of-house. The monitors were SSE MB4 wedges with L-Acoustics side fills and the company also supplied a house package of Sennheiser G3 transmitters and Shure radio microphones.

“The festival is in a country park so we were able to drive the system well and get great levels out of it,” says Edmonds. “We had some great comments from artistes’ engineers.” Bestival was headlined by Chic featuring Nile Rogers, Outkast and Foals.

Massive display of ‘installation art’ PROJECT MANAGER Mike Oates of lighting and video effects company HSL has described Massive Attack’s visual performance on their tour as a piece of installation art.

The show, which was seen by a British audience at On Blackheath

HSL lighting and XL screens work together on Massive Attack

(cap. 25,000) this September, was designed around a set of rotating, semi-transparent screens back of stage, which was lit both from behind and in front, delivering the text-based and visual arts-led imagery for which the band is known.

Most of the screens, provided

by XL Video to a brief supplied by the band’s Robert del Naja plus video designers Icarus Wilson-Wright and United Visual Artists (UVA), rotated louvre style to produce different shapes behind the performers.

October 2014 • issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

Wilson Wright says the most suitable video product to achieve this was XL’s Radiant MC-7T, with its black-face and 7mm resolution, which is barely visible when not in use. The system was configured in six-screen format on two levels, expandable to nine screens on three levels if needed.

HSL provided two levels of lighting upstage of the screen comprising 12 Clay Paky Sharpy Washes and nine 2-lites and five Atomic Colours. Beneath the screens were 12 Clay Paky A.leda K20 B-Eyes, used for back lighting through the band. They played a dual role as a standard lighting fixture, and as a

Industry mourns passing of Derrick Zieba AUDIO ENGINEER Derrick Zieba, who designed the sound for events such as the Brit Awards, the Diamond Jubilee Concerts and Chime For Change, died this September after a recurrent illness. He was 59.

Formerly head of sound at the National Theatre, Zieba co-founded Dimension Audio, starting Derrick Zieba Sound Design in 1998 and worked with artistes including Tina Turner, Jimmy Page, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.

“Derrick was both exceedingly competent and persuasive technically, ensuring no compromise was brooked in the path to perfect sound,” says colleague Bryan Grant of Britannia Row. “He had the ability to charm even the most demanding live performer or producer.

“His was a considerable talent and he will be sadly missed by his many friends and colleagues within the industry.”

Zieba is survived by his children Emily, James and Edward and sister Linda. pixel mapped source, fed video via a grandMA VPU server.

Lighting was designed by Tim Oliver, who operated the show with a grandMA light size.

“You can rely on Massive Attack shows being provocative and innovative and we are always happy to collaborate with them,” says Oates.

7 x X5A a side Brixton Academy

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production news I 41

Optocore reassurance for Proms in the Park Newsbites number of ] delay points BROADCASTER REQUIREon the network to 10, plus the MENTS for unobtrusive cable VIP structure.” runs at the 50,000-capacity Proms All points were fed by a frontin the Park (PITP) this September of-house rack operated by system was one reason why Capital Sound technician Toby Donovan. deployed its full stock of Optocore X6R-FX interfaces at the event.

An additional audio challenge, with the site located closer than other major Hyde Park events to hotels and high-end apartments in London’s Park Lane, was the need for extra delay towers.

“The site’s proximity to the MLA in use at Proms in the Park road meant the The company now owns 12 insystem had to be designed from terfaces for the optical fibre-based the ground up,” says Capital Sound system, which it says carries profestechnical manager Ian Colville. sional audio signals more reliably “But I managed to [keep the

than traditional analogue methods, having invested in a further two from supplier HD Pro Audio this summer.

“Optocore is the best solution for us,” says Colville. “These units are so reliable, which is paramount for events with such large crowds.”

For the principle PA, Capital deployed main hangs of 16 Martin Audio MLA cabinets per side, with a single MLD downfill supported by side hangs of 12 MLA, plus one downfill.

Among the artistes appearing with the BBC Concert Orchestra at PITP were Rufus Wainwright and Earth, Wind & Fire.

CL3 brings new flexibility to Cadogan Hall AS PART of a technical upgrade which has seen its capacity increase to 1,000, London’s Cadogan Hall has installed a new CL3 audio system by manufacturer Yamaha.

The hall, home to the Royal

Cadogan Hall

Philharmonic Orchestra and hosting concerts by artistes such as Roger McGuinn, John Mayall and Kerry Ellis & Joe McElderry, can now adapt its mixing positions for classical and popular music.

“We needed to reposition the mixing console at the back of the stalls for contemporary shows, but be able to easily remove it to regain seats for classical performances,” says Cadogan Hall production manager Harry Spillett.

“I always liked the intuitive way our previous desk, the Yamaha PM1D, worked, but it wasn’t suit-

able for being moved regularly. We needed a more compact alternative that gave us the functionality we required,” he explains “The CL3 operates in a similar manner to the PM1D. It’s easy to configure for different shows and the [digital networking system] Dante makes it quick to install and use.”

The equipment was supplied

by Autograph Sales and Installations and includes Rio3224-D and Rio1608-D stage boxes, providing 48 channels to the Dante network, plus a range of outputs for monitors and recording.

AMBERSPHERE SOLUTIONS, distributor of professional lighting products by Clay Paky, MA Lighting & Robert Juliat, has added the range of LED luminaires and imaging products by French manufacturer Ayrton to its portfolio. It includes indoor and outdoor fixtures including its signature Magicpanel range. Ambersphere MD Glyn O’Donoghue says, “The Ayrton range is full of clever, impressive solutions for the touring markets.”

Company clients include Gary Barlow, Elbow and Mark Knopfler.

PROVIDER OF specialist technicians and crews to live events Showforce has promoted two of its senior crew chiefs to managerial positions. Dapo Adeniran becomes business development manager, while Laurence Jones is the company’s new crew manager. Adeniran sees his role as, “to strengthen client relationships and identify new revenue opportunities.” Recent Showforce festival clients include Sonisphere (cap. 60,000) and Creamfields (50,000).

SINGER-SONGWRITER ALEX Clare wanted to present the human side of electronic music at the twin V Festivals (cap. 87,500 north, 85,000 south) according to front-of-house (FOH) engineer Harry Devenish, who used a pair of Harman Soundcraft Vi6 digital consoles at FOH and monitors because, he says, “Alex’s bass guitars trigger a synth and a sub, creating a heavy dynamic sound on stage. The Vi6 has an intuitive surface, with hands-on encoders so it’s very flexible.”

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October 2014 • issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

42 I tour plans a guide to artistes, tours & agents Artistes

Period

Contact

Details

John Jorgenson May Jeff Aug T 08324 933 851 Electric Band MAXIMUM Booking info@MAXIMUMBooking.com

Jools Holland Apr-Jun Nick Peel T 020 7935 9222

Miracle Artists nick@miracle-artists.com

Katy Shotter Dec Mark Lundquist T 01483 224118

Mark Lundquist Concert Proms mark@marklundquist.com

Kele le Roc Dec Mark Lundquist T 01483 224118

Mark Lundquist Concert Proms mark@marklundquist.com King Creosote Jan-Feb Stephanie Clive T 020 7017 2501

Coda Agency Stephanie@codaagency.com

Lee Scratch Perry Dec Serena Parsons T 020 7400 4500

Primary Talent International serena@primarytalent.com

Bernie Marsden Artistes

Period

Contact

All We Are Feb-Mar Stephanie Clive

Coda Agency

Aly Bain Apr Chris Wade & Phil Cunningham Adastra

Anne Clark Feb-Mar Jeff Aug

Maximum Booking

Bernie Marsden Feb Alec Leslie

Apr- May Consolidated Ltd

Blair Dunlop Mar Chris Wade Adastra

Bonnie Dobson Dec-Mar David Flower

SASA music

Buena Vista Jun-Jul David Flower Social Club SASA music

Details

Le Vent du Nord Jan, Mar Chris Wade Adastra

T 01377 217662 adastra@adastra-music.co.uk

Marc O’Reilly Mar

T 01458 211117 matt@midnightmango.co.uk

Matt Bartlett Midnight mango

Manfred Mann’s Feb Alec Leslie Earthband Consolidated Ltd

Martin Harley Band Mar Matt Bartlett

Midnight mango

moe.

Dec Jeff Aug

Maximum Booking

T 01829 730 488 alecconsol@aol.com T 01458 211117 matt@midnightmango.co.uk T +49 8324 933 851 info@maximumbooking.com

T 020 7017 2500 stephanie@codaagency.com T 01377 217662 adastra@adastra-music.co.uk T +49 8324 933 851 info@maximumbooking.com T 01829 730 488 alecconsol@aol.com T 01377 217662 adastra@adastra-music.co.uk T 020 7359 9232 rab@sasa.demon.co.uk T 020 7359 9232 rab@sasa.demon.co.uk

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October 2014 • issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

D OR OW SE NLO AR CH AD U FO SIN R“ GY SH O OW UR CA iPH SE ON ” IN E Q TH R R E A EA PP DE ST R OR E

Calexico Feb Stephanie Clive T 020 7017 2500

Coda Agency stephanie@codaagency.com

Dagny Dec–Mar Sarah Casey T 020 8741 4453

Leighton-Pope Organisation sarah@l-po.com

Flight Brigade Feb-Mar Matt Bartlett T 01458 211117 Manfred Mann’s Earthband

Midnight mango matt@midnightmango.co.uk

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CONFERENCE

tour plans a guide to artistes, tours & agents I 45 Artistes

Period

Contact

Shakey Graves Jan-Feb Stephanie Clive

Coda Agency

The Barr Brothers Feb Rob Challice

Coda Agency

Details T 020 7017 2500 stephanie@codaagency.com T 020 7017 2500 rob@codaagency.com

The Hoosiers Dec Mark Lundquist T 01483 224118

Mark Lundquist Concert Proms mark@marklundquist.com

The Polyphonic Spree Feb–Mar Serena Parsons T 020 7400 4500

Primary Talent International serena@primarytalent.com 10cc Dec, Steve Parker

May-Aug Miracle Artists

Thee Satisfaction Apr Serena Parsons

Primary Talent International

T 020 7935 9222 steve@miracle-artists.com T 020 7400 4500 serena@primarytalent.com

Tinariwen Jun-Jul David Flower

SASA Music

Todd Dorigo De Feb Sarah Casey

Leighton-Pope Organisation

Tony Allen Jan-Mar David Flower

SASA Music

T 020 7359 9232 rab@sasa.demon.co.uk

Twin Wild Dec–Feb Sarah Casey

Leighton-Pope Organisation

UFO Apr-May Nick Peel

Miracle Artists

We Were Evergreen Dec Alex Bruford

ATC Live

T 020 8741 4453 sarah@l-po.com

T 0208 741 4453 sarah@l-po.com T 020 7359 9232 rab@sasa.demon.co.uk

T 020 7935 9222 nick@miracle-artists.com T 020 7580 7773 alex@atc-live.com

Paul Garrick Artistes

Period

Nazareth Jan

Contact Alan Cottam Alan Cottam Agency

Omara Portuondo & Apr David Flower Roberto Fonseca SASA Music

Paul Carrack Dec-Apr Alan Wood

Alan Wood Agency

Details T 01254668471 alan@alancottamagency.co.uk T 020 7359 9232 rab@sasa.demon.co.uk T 0114 2580338 alanwoodagency@aol.com

Russian Red Dec Rob Challice T 020 7017 2500

Coda Agency rob@codaagency.com

Ruby Turner Jan-Mar Nick Peel T 020 7935 9222

Miracle Artists nick@miracle-artists.com

Scott Henderson Trio Apr-May Jeff Aug T + 49 8324 933 851

Maximum Booking info@MAXIMUMBooking.com Nazareth

The details shown above have been compiled from information provided to LIVE UK and whilst we make every reasonable effort to ensure accuracy, we cannot be held responsible if data is incorrect.

www.

.co.uk

Sunbaba has helped to brand live music events and festivals in the UK and Europe for the past two decades, by supplying innovative, cost effective branding solutions.

STAGES, PA WINGS & SITE SIGNAGE HERAS FENCING & CROWD BARRIERS MERCHANDISING & BACKSTAGE AREAS head office tel: 0044 (0) 1638 507 684 london office tel: 0044 (0) 208 988 9100 email - info@sunbaba.co.uk October 2014 • issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

46 I PROFILE

Steve Forster Founder and MD of facility management company VMS Live, Steve Forster provides a range of services for music spaces including Manchester Academy’s four venues, the University of East Anglia in Norwich and Arena Racing Company’s network of racecourses.

Prior to that, he held executive positions at Academy Music Group and MAMA & Company.

What are your first memories of live music?

How has your career developed?

“When I was a kid my uncle used to play drums in various pubs and clubs in Wallsend and Newcastle. That stimulated my interest in music and playing live.

“Being from Newcastle, the City Hall and the Mayfair were the biggest gigs, and I saw some great shows in both. My first was Lindisfarne’s annual sell-out Christmas run, probably around 1975.

“Another was the Kinks at the City Hall where I nearly got a good kicking for having longish hair in a mods versus rockers encounter, which was a bit harsh as I played in bands with some of the mods who were chasing me. Thankfully I was a lot fitter then.

“I had a drum teacher that was in a band called Last Exit and I watched them play live a few times. Sting was the bass player then and he also knew my uncle, so seeing The Police a few years later as a guest at the university in Newcastle as an underage punter also rather special.”

“I moved to Warwick University as ents manager for about 18 months, then on to Wembley plc as operations manager, primarily based at the Arena, for three years. Off the back of that I went to head up Brixton Academy and that led to me becoming operations director for Academy Music Group [AMG].

How did you get into the music business?

“I played in loads of local bands, generally to no one, but it was at Newcastle Poly that I really got the bug. I was ents officer there for a couple of years – immediately before Jim Mawdsley and after people like Steve Cheeney.

“After that I set up my own business [NPS] in the north of England, promoting gigs, tour managing and running club nights. There was no real job before this, just an economics degree that I rather surprisingly passed. But because I worked as a musician, DJ, roadie, there were lots of people that I learned things from.

“Most people I work with probably get bored of me telling how Brian Hobson from the Mayfair influenced me. He knew everything about his business and I learned a lot from his approach and attention to detail.

“Over the years lots of people have impressed me and lots haven’t. Having said that, you never know when you are going to pick up something important. Even in the worst venues I have thought ‘that’s a genius idea’ – and I’m always happy to borrow a good idea.”

October 2014 • Issue 177 • www.liveuk.com

of other people and how that has impacted on me and our business. There have been three occasions in my life when I feel I’ve been let down by people I thought I could trust.

“I don’t think there is any point in dwelling on the past though, and I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t gone through those situations. As a Leeds United fan, I am constantly reminded of failure, disillusionment and disaster.

“You constantly meet your heroes from when you are growing up and some are superb and some are not. Prince at Wembley, followed by Prince at Brixton was great, Kasabian and Scissor Sisters in Bar Academy in Birmingham and seeing my old mates in ELP put the band back together for (MAMA-promoted festival] High Voltage were all high points.

“Back to the present, I am incredibly proud of what we are doing at VMS. We have some good people working for us and we are doubling our business year-on-year. We are in the process of negotiating with a number of other venues and hopefully we’ll secure some of those contracts, plus we want to greatly increase the number of outdoor events we do next year.”

How do you wind down?

“I was part of the three-man management team that led the buy-out from McKenzie Group that resulted in the formation of AMG, and then went off to MAMA for three years, heading up their live music division. I then went full time on VMS and that now involves my old team from AMG, Richard Maides and Carl Bathgate.”

What have been your greatest highs and lows?

“That’s a difficult one as it relates to the behaviour

I have been married to Kate for 17 years and have two great kids, Rosie [15] and Ned [13]. We have a Mazda Bongo camper van that has taken us around most of Europe on some cracking trips.

“Spending time with the family is a must but with the kids now teenagers, the diversity of preferences is ever more a challenge. Playing my drums is still a favourite, which I have passed on to my boy, and I enjoy sitting at home listening to music or watching some obscure American TV drama.

“When I was a teenager I was pretty good at sport – cricket and badminton in particular – and assuming I can lose a little weight, getting back to a decent club level before I am too old would be great.

“Other than that, getting to watch Leeds United is my only other vice – more pain than pleasure in recent years though.”

Securing unforgettable experiences Event expertise As the leading independent event stewarding and security company in the UK, G4S Events provides a safe and secure environment for thousands of music fans every year.

Our specialists work closely with organisers to create a security and crowd management plan that is tailored to the needs of their specific event, audience and venue.

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See you there!

16 October 2014 www.liveuksummit.com