IQ German market report

Live Music inteLLigence An ILMC Publication. Mar 2011, Issue 34

dare You enter iLMc 23?

ILMC meetings and events firm up

the art oF WarbY

Agent Russell Warby profiled

going to Market

Germany’s resilient live music business

Facing uP to Face vaLue

New options for distressed ticketing

euroPean arenas rePort 2011 Decline fails to dent optimism in arenas

2011 E U R O P E A N

ARENA

R E P O R T

Dying or Simply Evolving?: Wayne Forte the ProMoters’ rights: JuLes Frutos A Plan of Action: David Messer rock in india: Farhad k Wadia

Germany

5 Dörpstedt

10 3

3

Hamburg

4 Bremen

2 1

11 Hannover

BERLIN

15 Münster

Bochum Mülheim

6 12

21 Unna

3

16

13 Leipzig

Düsseldorf

Cologne 4

7

Feldkirchen

17 Mülheim-Karlich 8 2

Frankfurt am Main

1 22 Würzburg

Bayreuth

6 14 Mannheim

4

19

Nuremberg

Stuttgart 20 Augsburg

1 Freiburg

9

62

I Q Ma g a zin e Ma r 2 0 1 1

2

5

Munich

18

Map of German promoters by location, affiliation and concentration (to reveal the map key fold point A to point B on the opposite page )

Germany

Going to Market Germany’s live music market is in robust shape, say its promoters, no matter what the figures are saying. The first of our newly revamped market reports, Manfred Tari investigates...

In OctOber last year, a market survey by the trade organisation Bundesverband der Veranstaltungswirtschaft (BDV) in cooperation with the trade magazine Musikmarkt and the market research company GFK indicated that the live entertainment market in Germany was in decline. According to the study, the German concert market peaked in 2007 with an overall turnover of €3.87billion, dropping to €3.17bn in 2009. However, most of the major players within the German live music industry appear to be satisfied with the current state of the business, and generally report that the concert market is in pretty good shape.

“Our live music industry is still one of the most efficient and healthy markets compared with others,” says Esther Rieger of Peter Rieger Konzertagentur (PRK). “We had quite a good year last year with over half a million tickets sold, and I cannot really say that we experienced a decline in ticket sales, nor that we actually felt the recession that much… obviously people are not willing to pay much more for tickets and we are trying not to raise the ticket prices more than necessary.

But I cannot say that our market is declining.”

PRK has upcoming tours with Joe Cocker, Elton John, Sade, Jamiroquai and Roger Waters. The Colognebased company is part of the stock market-listed CTS Eventim Group, the undisputed market leader for live music events and ticketing in Germany. But other players from established independent companies report similar conclusions. Last year, Wizard Promotions had sell outs with Kiss, Kings of Leon and Michael Bolton, and MD Ossy Hoppe says, “Every year we are moaning, but the results show that there is still big demand for live entertainment. People do go out and see shows sometimes, regardless of the ticket price. We are happy – we represent and bring to Germany some of the hottest young artists like Aloe Blacc and Adele, and, in general, we have a very good response to our shows.”

SSC Group has offices in Berlin and Düsseldorf, and employs 14 people. Besides promotiong tours, the company works as a music consultant for brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s and Phillip Morris. In 2010, the company promoted 980 shows, 30% of which were international, and CEO Hamed Shahi concurs with Hoppe: “I think it is a very lively market right now,” he

B

says. “I don’t ever remember having so many bands on tour as there were last year, and 2011 doesn’t seem to be any less.”

Björn Gralla from Contra Promotion, however, says the market has remained unchanged of late. “Our sales are still steady although the market is quite packed right now, but that’s nothing new,” he says. “There are a lot of tours in the German market: some win, some lose, but generally a strong live act stays strong. To my mind, the situation actually is no different to 2009/2010.” Founded in 1993, Contra Promotion is a nine-strong team that sold over 150,000 tickets last year, for artists including Rihanna, Nickelback, Gossip and Dave Matthews. Gralla is also a stakeholder in the Zeltfestival in Bochum, a festival hosted in three huge tents that lasts 16 days, from mid August until the beginning of Sepember. “ The usual high seasons from March to July and September to early December are becoming ‘ultra-high’ seasons, with an increasing number of bands wanting to tour Germany.”

– Karsten Jahnke, Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion even If the busIness Is dOIng well, there are other issues besides ticket prices that have an impact on the concert business. Michael Löffler of Target Concerts in Munich, which works as a local and national promoter, describes the market as, “Still healthy, but maybe already overheated.” Karsten Jahnke of Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion explains: “As we all know, the importance of live shows as a financial source for artists has rapidly increased over the last years. So the usual high seasons from March to July and September to early December are becoming ‘ultra-high’ seasons, with an increasing number of bands wanting to tour Germany.” One of the most respected regional promoters in the market, Jahnke has promoted shows in Hamburg since 1959, but with 50 shows in November alone, he fears that his company might be overstretching itself. “There’s only so much

A

Germany

Map Key IndependenTs 1 Augsburg 2 Berlin

Hello Concerts GmbH Creative Talent Four Artists Booking GmbH KKT GmbH - Kikis Kleiner Tourneeservice Konzertagentur Berthold Seliger Loft Concerts GmbH MCT Agentur GmbH Melt! Booking GmbH & Co. KG Powerline Agency OHG Trinity Concerts GmbH Gastspielreisen Rodenberg GmbH 3 Bochum Contra Promotion GmbH Lars Bernd Events 4 Bremen KPS Concertbüro GmbH 5 Dörpstedt ICS Festival Service GmbH 6 Düsseldorf SSC Group GmbH Concert Team GmbH 7 Feldkirchen Promotion of Special Events (PSE) 8 Frankfurt am Main Batschkapp Konzert GmbH Shooter Promotions GmbH Wizard Promotions Konzertagentur GmbH 9 Freiburg Koko & DTK Entertainment GmbH 10 Hamburg ASS Concerts & Promotion GmbH Buback Tonträger GmbH Grand Hotel van Cleef Musik GmbH Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion GmbH Michow Concerts & Management GmbH Music Pool Wessels GmbH Neuland Concerts (Warner Music owned) Stage Entertainment Marketing u. Sales GmbH x-why-z Konzertagentur GmbH & Co. KG 11 Hannover Hannover Concerts GmbH & Co. KG 12 Cologne Prime Entertainment GmbH Roland Temme Konzertveranstaltungen-m.b.H. & Co. KG 13 Leipzig MAWI Concert GmbH 14 Mannheim BB Promotion GmbH 15 Münster Konzertbüro Schoneberg GmbH 16 Mülheim Gommers Konzert& Werbe GmbH 17 Mülheim – Karlich I-Motion GmbH 18 Munich Armin Rahn Agency & Management Dramatico Entertainment GmbH Propeller Music & Event GmbH Target Concerts GmbH Tollwood GmbH TRIPLE M Entertainment GmbH United Promoters AG 19 Nuremberg Concertbüro Franken GmbH 20 Stuttgart Contour Music Promotion GmbH Moderne Welt Musikproduktions-& Vermarktungs GmbH SKS Michael Russ GmbH 21 Unna Handwerker Promotion 22 Würzburg Manfred Hertlein Veranstaltungs-GmbH CTs eVenTIM 1 Bayreuth Semmel Concerts GmbH 2 Frankfurt am Main Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur GmbH 3 Hamburg EVENTIM Popkurs GmbH FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen GmbH 4 Cologne Dirk Becker Entertainment GmbH Peter Rieger Konzertagentur GmbH & Co.KG 5 Munich PGM Promoters Group Munich Konzertagentur GmbH 6 Würzburg ARGO Konzerte GmbH deUTsCHe enTeRTAInMenT AG 1 Berlin Anschutz DEAG Entertainment GmbH Broadway Varieté Management GmbH Concert Concept GmbH DEAG Arts & Exhibitions GmbH DEAG Classics AG DEAG Concerts GmbH DEAG Music GmbH Gold Entertainment GmbH 2 Munich KBK Konzert- und Künstleragentur GmbH Global Concerts GmbH 3 Frankfurt am Main Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Jahrhunderthalle GmbH 4 Hamburg Elbklassik Konzerte GmbH River Concerts GmbH Ticketmaster Deutschland GmbH 5 Stuttgart Friedrichsbau Varieté Betriebs- und Verwaltungs GmbH

64

I Q Ma g a zin e Ma r 2 0 1 1

consumer spend available, so you’ll end up competing with yourself in lots of ways,” he says.

But it’s not just the enthusiasm of artists to tour the market which might cause trouble, and Jahnke says that if overpricing is occurring, it’s sometimes the power-playing corporates who are responsible. “It’s often globally-operating, shareholding companies that can offer sums we could only dream of,” he says.

Arguably the most competitive live music market in Europe, the Frankfurt stock exchange-listed companies CTS Eventim and Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) are still the main competition for independent promoters even though global No.1 Live Nation has long aspired to gain a foothold in the market. In March 2010, it sold back its 20% share in Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur (MLK) to Eventim and launched Live Nation Germany, with established promoter Johannes Wessels at the helm. However, Wessels left after six months, leaving the German future of the multinational unknown.

DEAG has diversified its business of late, taking a 66% stake in schlager promoter Manfred Hertlein Veranstaltungs (through its Sony Music Germany JV, Gold Entertainment), but has also faced the insolvency of its associated promoter Ace Entertaiment, run by industry veteran Hermjo Klein. DEAG CEO Peter Schwenkow says that the way to avoid obstacles for the German market is, “Keeping the ticket prices at the current level”, adding that, “only very unique tours are selling well.” But nevertheless, he describes the current business situation as “Still going strong”, perhaps alluding to the 26 dates with domestic star Peter Maffay and 50 successful shows he promoted last year with David Garrett. Garrett also took a 3% stake in the company.

“ I don’t ever remember having so many bands on tour as there were last year, and 2011 doesn’t seem to be any less.”

– Hamed Shahi, SSC Group

Schwenkow’s is an opinion in line with the findings of financial analyst Christoph Bast at DZ Bank who recently evaluated both Eventim and DEAG. “I am quite optimistic about both companies as we see a correlation between the business development of CTS Eventim and DEAG with the development of consumer spending,” he says. “With this in mind and assuming very reasonable growth rates for consumer spending in 2011, we believe that CTS Eventim and DEAG as well as the German live music market will do very well this year.”

Germany

International Focus The Public Players

Domestic product is one thing, but many German promoters are looking further afield Employees

internationally,” says Gralla. “Of course, there are some, but all in all the range of interesting international artists holds many more alternatives. Particularly in 2010, we wereEventim able to work with some exciting new international CTS DEAG artists that have a high potential to develop accordingly.

1,454 200 Indeed, the artist rosters of most major German agencies 372.3 mainly of international 83.3 consists acts.” Revenue

Revenue Q1-3 2010 (€millions) accOrdIng tO the 2009 annual report by the Q1-3 2009 (€millions) 329.5 81.2 Bundesverband Musikindustrie (the German branch of Market capitalisation (€millions) 1,104 48.25 the IFPI) the German market for recorded music is the fourth biggest internationally, after the US, Japan and the UK. The split between domestic and international product is 40/60 across the top 100 singles, but many The range of roles fulfilled by German music promoters prefer to focus more on international artists. companies is as wide as their rosters “We have always been very supportive with local and domestic acts but it’s not something we have done MusikMarkt’s study repOrts that the market share for Value of German Live Entertainment any more than in the previous years,” says Jahnke. “ButMarket musicals in Germany makes up 24% of the total of course, our renowned concert series in the beautiful revenue for live entertainment spending. The second 2009 Stadtpark in the centre of Hamburg features more 2007 biggest share is classical2009 music with 15%, followed by 2008 2008 domestic names than, let’s say ten years ago.” Jahnke has 12% each for international andvs.domestic rock and (millions) park since 1974, 34 shows, with 32.7 festivals 30.7 -64% promoted shows atVisitors the 4,000-capacity pop accounting for a further 11% Average frequency of visitors 3.7 chart below).

3.6 But it’s 3.5not just entertainment -4% last year welcoming over 100,000 visitors. Whereas (see types Average revenue per attendee (€) 114 110 103 working with artists such as Mark Ronson, FM Belfast that cover a gamut of different -6% genres and styles.

TicketsShahi sold (€millions) 118.7 106.4 106.4 and Crystal Fighters, reports that: “Our roster 127.3 Unlike some other European territories, the lines has been very international from the beginning and we 3,872 between promoter, agent, manager-12% and label are often Gross revenue (€mllions) 3,608 3,173 hardly take onAverage new German artists.

We blurred in 30.39 Germany, with of different sized price per ticket (€)feel it’s easier to 29.45 29.83 a range-2% break a French artist, for example, than a German one.” businesses having found and developed specific niches.

“Business with international acts develops much There are established local promoters such as Concert faster than the local business. From our point of view Team Düsseldorf, Dirk Becker Entertainment, we have got a problem finding exciting, new, domestic Hannover Concerts, Koko Entertainment and artists that are able to grow domestically as well as Konzertbüro Schoneberg, and there are companies

Market Versatility

Distribution of Revenue by Genre (Revenue in Percentage)

Musicals Classical Concerts Festival Opera Foreign Rock/Pop Local Rock/Pop Volksmusik Jazz/Blues/Folk/World Music/Gospel/Soul Deutscher Schlager Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Folk Music/Chanson Hip Hop/Rap/Black Alternative Dance/Techno/House/Drum & Bass Value in €millions

2,822

2,566

2,266

Employees

1,454

200

Revenue Q1-3 2010 (€millions) Q1-3 2009 (€millions) Market capitalisation (€millions)

372.3 329.5 1,104

83.3 81.2 48.25

Revenue

Germany

Value of German Live Entertainment Market

Visitors (millions) Average frequency of visitors Average revenue per attendee (€) Tickets sold (€millions) Gross revenue (€mllions) Average price per ticket (€)

2007

2008

2009

2009 vs. 2008

34 3.7 114 127.3 3,872 29.45

32.7 3.6 110 118.7 3,608 30.39

30.7 3.5 103 106.4 3,173 29.83

-64% -4% -6% 106.4 -12% -2%

like Semmel Concerts, one of the largest national profile boutique companies such as Konzertagentur promoters which specialises in musicals; traditional Berthold Seliger, Gastspielreisen Rodenberg, and Grand and folk music; and comedy events (in addition to Hotel van Cleef, a label that also handles the live work rock and pop). “It is an advantage to have a certain for 18 of its 21 signed bands. IBD agency in Munich core competence that is built on long lasting relations takes care of European-wide booking for international and the knowledge of the business,” says Semmel’s acts such as Front Line Assembly, Laibach, The Sonics Alexandra Müller-Osel. “You develop a very good and punk rock evergreens the UK Subs. byTraditional Genre feelingDistribution for what works of andRevenue what doesn’t.

(Revenue in Percentage) music and schlager music are both as competitive as rock and pop, but like musicals, they also benefit from a large and devoted fan base.”

Of the national agencies, Kikis Kleiner A solid European festival market, Germany boasts a Musicals (KKT) books the three most popular Tourneeservice thriving summer calendar Concerts German Classical punk rock acts: Die Ärzte, Die Toten Hosen and the Festival Beatsteaks, and is also one of the very few when It cOmes tO festIval talk, CTS Eventim is once Opera agencies Foreign that books German acts such as Mouse on again the most powerful. Renowned national promoter Rock/Pop Mars and Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur promotes the nation’s Local seminal Rock/Pop industrial outfit Einstürzende Neubauten internationally. MCT Agentur promotes largest summer event, Rock am Ring, and twinned site Volksmusik Jazz/Blues/Folk/World Music/Gospel/Soul nationally but also represents both of the country’s Rock im Park (see IQ issue 30 for an in depth profile Deutscher Schlager (Kraftwerk and Rammstein) most famous exports feature). Meanwhile, FKP Scorpio organises twins Hard Rock/Heavy Metal internationally. Powerline Agency takes care of the Hurricane and Southside and a further ten or so open-air Folk Music/Chanson international booking of popular domestic alternative events, including genre-specific M’era Luna (gothic and Hip Hop/Rap/Black acts suchAlternative as Jeans Team, No Twist, Stereo Total and The dark wave), and the Chiemsee Reggae Summer Festival, & Bass who used to book Whitest Dance/Techno/House/Drum Boy Alive. And Four Artists, along with strong regional events such as Area 4 Festival Tokio Hotel internationally, now look after the likes of and the Highfield Festival in Eastern Germany.

Value in €millions 2,822 2,566 2,266 Peter Fox, Seeed, Nena, Die Fantastischen Vier and 77 And there are many other gatherings that help to other domestic and international acts. make a thriving festival market. The current festival Companies such as Contra Promotion, FKP season started early on New Year’s Eve with dance event Scorpio, Contour, Karsten Jahnke, Melt Booking and Sensation White which attracted 27,000 visitors to the SSC Concerts are active as sellers and buyers, and as Esprit Arena and was promoted by Jochen Huelder, the national and local promoters. There are also some high manager of Die Toten Hosen and the Dutch specialist

Festival Fever

The Public Players

68

CTS Eventim

DEAG

Employees

1,454

200

Revenue Q1-3 2010 (€millions) Q1-3 2009 (€millions) Market capitalisation (€millions)

372.3 329.5 1,104

83.3 81.2 48.25

Revenue

I Q Ma g a zin e Ma r 2 0 1 1

Value of German Live Entertainment Market 2007

2008

2009

2009

Germany

dance label ID&T. However, strictly speaking the outdoor season starts with Rock am Ring at the beginning of June.

“I expect the upcoming festival season to include a lot of new bands on the programmes and less of the ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ acts because of their inflated money demands and also the lack of availability,” says Klaus Maack of Contour who promotes Summerjam, a festival near Cologne dedicated to Reggae music, which will celebrate its 26th edition in 2011. It is one of the

Below: Green Day at O2 World Hamburg

events attracting an increasing percentage of its audience – one third in this case – from abroad. “We sell nearly 10,000 tickets to people from Belgium, Holland and especially France and Scandinavia,” says Maack.

This trend is also noticeable at Wacken Open Air (WOA), Germany biggest metal festival which sold out 75,000 tickets for the 2011 edition in February. WOA stakes a claim that it’s the biggest metal festival in the world and one third of its tickets are now sold to international visitors. It is the second biggest open-air

Germany

“There are just more people interested in music [in Berlin] than in other German cities. In most of the cities we have a lack of venues these days.”

– Stefan Lehmkuhl, Melt! event in Germany, after Rock am Ring. Over in the east, Stefan Lehmkuhl of Melt Booking reports: “Last year one quarter of all tickets (5,000) for Melt! Festival sold abroad, with most visitors coming from the UK and the Benelux countries, while the rest are really spread all over the world. Even some Australians, Americans and Scandinavians are coming.” Melt! Festival won the award for Artists’ Favourite Festival at the European Festival Awards in January.

Other noteworthy festivals include Immergut Festival; Haldern Pop Festival; Rock Hard Festival (promoted by metal mag Rock Hard); Moers Festival (dedicated to jazz); splash! Festival, a hip hop festival that takes place on the same site as Melt!; folk festival Burg Herzberg, Sea of Love Sommerfestival, and Rock am See.

The Venue Market The venue market is a distinctly regional affair, with gains made at arena level “2010 was a gOOd year fOr us. We ended up with 130 events, which is not a bad number for Berlin.” says Mike Keller, managing director of the O2 World. “We had more than 1 million visitors and in Autumn 2010, against all our expectations, we reached a total of 3 million visitors since opening the venue 2½ years ago!”

In 2010, O2 World finished 16th in Pollstar’s worldwide arena rankings, while its sister venue, O2 World Hamburg, finished eighth.

Perhaps proving the old cinematic adage, ‘If you build it, they will come’, Keller says, “Tour promoters have told us that the Berlin market has changed and that they now sell more tickets in Berlin than in any other cities.” This trend is witnessed also at club level, according to Melt Booking’s Lehmkuhl: “Berlin has developed particularly well as a touring city for upcoming and new bands,” he says. “There are just more people interested in music than in other German cities. In most of the

Germany

“If your show depends on over the counter sales, you still need one of the bigger ticketing companies.”

– Christian Bilda, X-Why-Z Konzertagentur

Show Production Regional disparity and a lack of uniform legislation continues to affect the industry

cities we have a lack of venues these days. That makes it sometimes hard to get the venue you really want for the artists because you have very strict routing plans or wishes from the European agents to fulfil.”

According to Lehmkuhl, visitor figures also vary significantly, and while Berlin is becoming a hotspot for concerts and music events, cities like Cologne or areas like the Ruhr District in the west of the country, seem to suffer. Particularly in Cologne, the lack of availability for the 4,000-capacity Palladium causes problems for local promoters. The venue is temporarily occupied by the Opera of Cologne, whilst the heavily subsidised Cologne Opera house undergoes a three-year renovation.

The lack of clubs in the Ruhr District results in low visitor figures for club shows in the region; and in Dortmund the city-owned Westfalenhallen, once a premier destination for live music events, has suffered financial losses for three years in a row.

72

I Q Ma g a zin e Ma r 2 0 1 1

alOng wIth cOmplIcated tax laws, the legal requirements for the production of events and concerts in Germany are one of the biggest obstacles for doing business. There are no standard nationwide regulations in place and permissions and licences are granted and issued locally by city and district authorities. Ralf Zimme is a member of the Yourope Event Safety Group and the head of production at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf. “The biggest problems occur from different legislation and qualifications all over Europe and even within Germany.

Fire risk assessments from abroad fail here because of formalities,” he says, adding that uniformity of regulations would make life far simpler.

Regarding legislation around shows, however, the biggest disaster in Germany’s live music industry is still making headlines. After the tragedy at the Love Parade in Duisburg last summer when 21 people were killed and more than 500 injured in a crowd crush at an entrance tunnel to the event, the court of Duisburg has filed claims against 16 people. Among those facing trial are four people from organisers Lopavent, and 12 from the local authorities and police who were on duty. But according to Zimme, “only a few things changed after the Love Parade incident so far. A few things have got even worse as crowds sometimes overreact to perceived hazards that aren’t really there. That could easily become a problem.”

Michael Moeller, head of marketing at production specialists Megaforce reports that the market for festivals and corporate shows has been buoyant of late, but that authorities are more cautious than ever.

“They’re looking at construction permits very carefully, but also other safety aspects such as working conditions for the security and the production crew,” he says.

Nonetheless, the German market benefits from some of Western Europe’s most professional production companies, some of whom are contracted worldwide such as trackway specialists eps whose roster includes U2, AC/DC and Coldplay.

Above: Kiss open up Rock am Ring 2010 © Gunter Pfannmüller

Germany

The Ticketing Landscape A fragmented and regional ticketing market is consolidated by major players when It cOmes tO tIcketIng, Germany is a fragmented market, both regionally and in terms of content. Outright market leader is CTS Eventim, which purchased number two seed See Tickets Germany and Ticket Online Group last year for €145m allowing it to break the 100million

annual ticket barrier across Europe for the first time.

Eventim’s ticket division reported adjusted earnings of €34.7m for the first nine months of 2010, and its system is live in 20 European markets.

But while the nation’s top dog also owns several of its promoters, many independent promoters and festivals have started to manage their own ticketing.

New service operators such as Smart Tickets, Ticketscript and Amiando offer promoters online tools that enable them to run their own online ticket shops via their own websites. In order to stimulate their business model, these companies supply modern scanners and other utilities for free. A very prominent example of this is MCT Agentur, promoter of the three German dates of the upcoming Take That tour. MCT uses Smart Tickets and its platform tickets.de exclusively, keeping CTS Eventim and Ticketmaster out of the picture while also attempting to block secondary ticketing platforms such as Seatwave and Viagogo. Resale is capped at 15% above face value, and each ticket is personalised. “Our lawyers are currently filing claims against ticket platforms and resellers who act against our terms and conditions,” says MD Scumeck Sabottka (see IQ issue 33 for more details).

X-Why-Z and venue Batschkapp (in Frankfurt) also employ the Smart Tickets system, while Ticketscript supplies the Juicy Beats Festival in Dortmund amongst others. Amiando provides the service for the German leg of last year’s Eurovision Song Contest winner, Lena, while Summerjam Festival implemented its own online ticket shop on its website, and Melt! Festival announced that it would sell tickets for 2011 exclusively via its own website. “We want to sell our tickets and we are going to use all channels we think are suitable for us to achieve this whether this is CTS, Ticketmaster or Smart Tickets,” says X-Why-Z’s Christian Bilda, who adds that, “It depends on the demographic of the target audience. If you have a show with a high internet affinity audience, it doesn´t matter to consumers through which online system they make the purchase.

If your show depends on over the counter sales, you still need one of the bigger ticketing companies, whether it’s CTS/Ticketmaster nationwide or a regional system like München Ticket or Easy Ticket.

Ticketmaster intends to step up the competition with the launch of a new and upgraded version of its software, although box offices will have to rent a Ticketmaster printer in order to use their system. But for the market leader, CTS Eventim, new systems and web-based solutions like print-at-home tickets offered by competitors are having no significant impact yet, but there are indications that, after a decade of market dominance, changes are afoot.

Above: Summerjam Festival