IQ56

LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE

Issue 56

A n I L M C P u b l i c a t i o n . N ov 2 0 1 4

Dealing with Drugs Are festivals being blamed for society’s failings?

TOURING EXHIBITIONS CASHLESS EXPLODES ED SHEERAN ON TOUR POWERING UP AT FESTIVALS LATIN AMERICA - PARTE UNO

Cover photo © Slobodan Junior Anđelković

Contents IQ Magazine Issue 56

News and Developments

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28

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In Brief The main headlines over the last two months 8 In Depth Key stories from around the live music world 16 Techno Files Revealing the hottest new technology in live entertainment

Features 18 Touring Ex-citement The touring exhibitions sector continues its rapid growth rate 28 Digital Money Chris Austin explores the various cashless systems being used by festival promoters 32 Sheer Class Ed Sheeran’s artistry takes arenas by storm 44 Dealing with Drugs Robert Ashton investigates the impact of drugs on the festival scene 48 The Charge of the Live Brigade The battery of companies keeping festival fans’ phones charged 52 Latin America – Parte Uno The first of our duo of market reports on the Latin American live industry

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Comments and Columns 12 Make a Note to Stay Secure Nicholas Zinas wants global unity on accident reporting 13 Best Practice for Festival Social Media Will Page details a survey linking Spotify to festival activity 14 RIP the ATM at Festivals 2014 heralded the death of festival cashpoint machines, claims Serge Grimaux 15 Modern-Day Coliseums AEG’s Brian Kabatznick hails the proliferation of state-of-the-art venues 60 Members’ Noticeboard Keeping you posted on what ILMC members are up to 62 Your Shout With Halloween approaching, what do you find scary in the live music industry?

IQ Magazine November 2014

48 52

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Issue 56 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE

Making Headlines Drug deaths at music events always make for sensational headlines, but Gordon Masson argues that festivals are statistically among the safest places to be…

Whenever there is a death at a festival – and sadly, it does happen all too often – the media storm that follows, in my opinion, goes way over the top. It may just be the British tabloid media, but the witch-hunt that inevitably follows and the need to find somebody or something to blame, often ends up pointing the finger at the event’s organisers.

While nearly two dozen deaths worldwide so far this year are, obviously, two dozen too many, taken in context, the numbers are very low. In fact, if you take a look at the welfare set-up and counsellors that are usually onsite at major events, you could argue that it’s safer to be in a festival field than it is to be at a friend’s house. Human nature dictates that some people will take risks to achieve a high, but festival organisers know that and take a lot more steps, both with education and prevention, than they are ever given credit for in the mainstream press.

Robert Ashton eloquently addresses the emotive subject of drug deaths at events on page 44, along with various experts, so be sure to give it a read.

Also festival-related in this issue is our special feature on the explosion in the use of cashless payment systems (page 28), which truly seem to be enjoying their breakthrough moment with scores of events all over the world switching on to the benefits that such technology can deliver. On the consumer side of things, Christopher Austin also talks to the various concessionaire newcomers who are providing fans with the tech-driven solutions with which they can keep their mobile devices charged for the duration

IQ Magazine November 2014

of their festival experience (page 48).

Taking on our second annual report on the emerging touring exhibitions sector (page 18), Eugenia Durante learns from the market’s pioneers that technology may be changing the way that they present their exhibitions, but content remains king, and without a compelling concept, no amount of bells and whistles will sell tickets. Get it right, though, and there are a host of copycats waiting to exploit your idea themselves.

And talking of international success stories, I take a peak behind the scenes of Ed Sheeran’s phenomenal arena tour (page 32) and learn about the various technological firsts that his production crew are using to help one man and his guitar make even the biggest indoor venues on the planet seem like an intimate club show. And what a show it is.

Finally, this issue also sees the first in our two-part market report on Latin America (page 52) where Adam Woods runs a health check on the live music business in South America and speaks to the main players on the ground in those territories to find out about the opportunities and challenges that exist for touring productions.

Part two of our Latin American spotlight, focussing on Argentina and Brazil, will appear in the next issue, where, if you organise a festival, we’ll also be running our annual European Festival Report, this year with the help of music industry analyst Chris Carey.

So this is an early reminder to complete our survey and help us gather as wide a swathe of data as possible to identify trends across the continent.

THE ILMC JOURNAL, Nov 2014

IQ Magazine

Unit 31 Tileyard Road London, N7 9AH info@iq-mag.net www.iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0300 Twitter: @iq_mag

Publisher

ILMC and Suspicious Marketing

Editor

Gordon Masson

Associate Editor Allan McGowan

Marketing & Advertising Manager Terry McNally

Design

Martin Hughes

Sub Editor

Michael Muldoon

Editorial Assistant Eugenia Durante

Contributors

Robert Ashton, Chris Austin, Serge Grimaux, Brian Kabatznick, Emmanuel Legrand, Will Page, Manfred Tari, Adam Woods, Nicholas Zinas

Editorial Contact

Gordon Masson, gordon@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0303

Advertising Contact

Terry McNally, terry@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0304

To subscribe to IQ Magazine: michael@iq-mag.net An annual subscription to IQ is £75 (print) or £60 (electronic).

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News

In Brief...

SEPTEMBER

UK-based music and travel site Festicket raises $2.7million (€2.1m) through investors Wellington Partners and PROfounders Capital to fund further expansion. The festival tourism-based outfit raised an initial $680,000 (€538,000) last year and is working with more than 200 events and 300,000 members throughout Europe.

Manchester Arena’s naming rights partner, Phones 4U, goes into receivership, but venue management SMG Europe vows that shows will be unaffected. The mobile phone retail chain was less than 18 months into its five-year deal.

SFX Entertainment acquires Dutch company, Monumental Productions, operators of techno brand Awakenings, for an undisclosed sum. Founded by Rocco Veenboer in 1997, the company runs a 60,000-capacity festival, plus a number of other Awakenings branded events.

Clear Channel Communications rebrands as iHeartMedia to exploit its most successful multi-platform digital brand, which is home to an awards show and multiple live music events, including a festival.

Ticketmaster Germany agrees a strategic partnership with Dusseldorf-based Mehr!

Entertainment Group and Eintrittskarten. de, opening up more than 2,500 new events and six venues across Germany.

FKP Scorpio continues its international expansion by acquiring a stake in Danish promoter Beatbox.

Australia’s Association of Artist Managers launches a new code of conduct for its members to set rules in place for issues such as conflicts of interest, pay rates, transparency and accountability.

MLK’s Rock am Ring festival secures Mendig Airfield as its new location for 2015. The new site is 30 kilometres away from its former Nürburgring home, which next year will host the Green Hell Festival, organised by rival promoter DEAG. FKP Scorpio purchases Finnish promoter Fullsteam and a majority stake in the country’s Provinssirock Festival, strengthening its presence in Scandinavia.

Accent Media wins the right to operate the new .tickets Internet domain, dedicated to the sale of tickets, following an extensive bidding process and a private auction involving four other bidders (see page 10).

Canada’s Halifax Metro Centre rebrands as the Scotiabank Centre as the result of a ten-year, multimillion-dollar agreement that includes an extensive refurbishment programme.

The British music industry generated £3.8billion (€4.8bn) for the economy last year – up 9% on 2012, according to a report by trade body UK Music. The

business also supports 111,000 full-time jobs, while one in eight albums sold worldwide were by British acts.

Rock in Rio confirms Metallica, Linkin Park, Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Deftones and John Legend as the first acts for its debut in the United States. Rock in Rio USA will be hosted on the Las Vegas strip over the 8-9 and 15-16 May weekends in 2015.

OCTOBER

Glastonbury Festival’s 2013 edition may have grossed £35m (€44m) last year, but the profit margin was barely 2% at just £764,000 (€969,000), according to the event’s accounts. The event’s previous edition grossed £32m (€41m) and made profits of £1.8m (€2.3m).

The UK’s Jockey Club agrees a deal that will allow AEG to organise live music at its horse racing tracks. The transaction could involve as many as 15 tracks including such iconic venues as Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom, Newmarket and Sandown.

A group of European venues sign a pact to help emerging acts across the continent. Ancienne Belgique (BE), Amsterdam Milkweg (NL), Copenhagen Vega (DK), Paris Nouveau Casino (FR), and Village Underground (UK) will benefit from European Union funding of €1.5m over the scheme’s first three years.

Keith Wood departs AEG to set-up his own venture, Production Solutions.

Wood will retain some work for AEG Live and is talking to other production specialists about collaborating on a range of events together.

The economic impact of Scotland’s T In The Park festival has nearly doubled in the last decade, generating about £15.4m (€19.5m) for the local economy. A survey by EKOS reveals income in the area around the Balado site has gone up 60% since its last survey in 2011. It’s close to double the 2005 figure.

FKP Scorpio announces a new European showcase event called Where’s The Music?, which will make its debut 12-14 February in Norrköping, Sweden.

A two-day conference programme will be complemented with three days of music and more than 50 acts per day.

No Doubt. Photo © Billy Kidd

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IQ Magazine November 2014

News

U2

Live Nation Entertainment refuses to comment on reports that it is in advanced talks to purchase one of the United States’ biggest indie promoters, C3 Presents, which runs Austin City Limits Festival and has a stake in Lollapalooza.

MAMA Group co-founder Dean James and former Shazam exec Matt McCann launch a new operation called Sixth, which aims to acquire and work with “mid-level” promoters, management companies, venues and festivals in the UK and farther afield, backed by Indian corporation Apeejay Surrendra.

Live Nation announces plans for a new festival in the UK called Platform, with broadcasting partners Channel 4 and Box TV, thereby ensuring televised coverage.

The indoor event will straddle February and March over two weeks, using Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse’s three venues as its base.

Spotify UK records a year-on-year rise in revenues of 41.8%, from £92.6m (€117m)

IQ Magazine November 2014

in 2012 to £131.4m (€166.6m) in 2013.

Net profit is £2.6m (€3.3m), compared to a net loss of £11m (€14m) in 2012.

Private equity investors TPG become majority shareholders in Creative Artists Agency by acquiring an additional 18% of the company for approximately $225m (€178m) to boost its stake to 53%.

Glastonbury Festival production manager, Dick Tee, cites “irreconcilable issues” as the reason for his company EnTEEtainment ending its 18-year relationship with the event.

Spain-based Ticketbis embarks on an aggressive expansion strategy by initiating operations of its secondary ticketing business into multiple territories in Asia.

Bono apologises for U2’s free download deal with Apple, which automatically loaded the band’s new album, Songs of Innocence, to iTunes accounts without asking users for permission.

Sixteen people are killed at an outdoor concert in South Korea when a ventila-

tion grate they are standing on collapses.

A safety officer at the festival in Seongnam, near Seoul, becomes the 17th victim a day later when he commits suicide.

Manhattan Transfer founder Tim Hauser dies, aged 72.

A group of nine artist managers, led by Guy Oseary, form a new company called Maverick that will operate as part of Live Nation’s management division (see page 11).

The administrator of Germany’s Creative Talent claims he is prepared to go to court to have deposits returned for Kylie Minogue’s cancelled shows in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich.

Four people die during Amsterdam Dance Event. Two men and a woman die in drug-related incidents, and 41-yearold music publisher Felix Hines also passes away. Police say the Phoenix Music International exec’s death was not drug related.

Ticketmaster UK managing director Simon Presswell exits the company.

The Board of Commissioners of the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks gives Live Nation the green light to run the city’s iconic Greek Theatre for ten years beginning autumn 2015, preferring the company’s proposal to the bid of its Nederlander/AEG competitor.

To subscribe to IQ Magazine: michael@iq-mag.net An annual subscription to IQ is £75 (print) or £60 (electronic).

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News

ILMC Launches Bursary Scheme THE INTERNATIONAL Live Music Conference (ILMC) has announced the launch of an annual Bursary Scheme for young professionals and start-up companies. Supported by Robertson Taylor W&P Longreach, a total of 20 delegate places to next year’s event will be made available, including some distributed exclusively via selected industry associations.

“The scheme came about from various conversations with ILMC members after this year’s conference,” says ILMC head Greg Parmley.

“It’s designed to encourage younger companies and individuals who have not yet been to the conference, but who should be attending and who have a voice to add to the mix.”

Robertson Taylor has signed up as patron of the scheme. “We’ve been ILMC members since its first meeting, so fully appreciate the scheme’s significance and the opportunities it provides to all delegates,” says Martin Goebbels, director of UK & Europe. “We’re delighted to be

involved in encouraging future leaders of the music industry to attend and participate in the most important annual gathering of the global live industry.”

While anyone fulfilling the criteria is welcome to apply, a number of places are earmarked for members of industry associations including Yourope, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), the International Music Manager Forum (IMMF) and the UK’s Music Managers Forum (MMF).

Applicants will still need to complete the usual nomination process for ILMC membership, and then fill in a short application form, which will is available at www.ilmc.com.

The closing date for application is Friday 30 January, and successful entrants will be notified in the first week of February.

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Ticketmaster UK managing director Simon Presswell has left the company after a year in charge. He has been replaced by Andrew Parsons who was VP of music and comedy.

Former record label executive, Sefton Woodhouse, has made a successful switch to the live side of the business by taking on the general manager’s role at Cato Music in London.

Woodhouse was previously vice-president of artist relations and event management at EMI Music.

Matt Bates has joined the board of directors at Primary Talent International. He started his international agency career at Primary in 2005, bringing with him one client, Babyshambles, but in the nine years since has developed the careers of acts including The 1975, alt J, Two Door Cinema Club, Azealia Banks, Metronomy and The Libertines.

Fruzsina Szép has taken on the post of director at Germany’s Berlin Festival, having resigned her position as programme director at Sziget Festival in Hungary. Szép had been at Sziget for six years, prior to which she established and ran the Hungarian Music Export Office.

Ron Doroba has been appointed vice-president of North American sales for eps America. The veteran production manager has more than 20 years’ experience in the event production, tour promotion and business management side of the live entertainment industry.

The Madison Square Garden Company has appointed David Goodman as its new president of productions and live entertainment. He was previously president of live experiences at CBS. Sheelagh Allen, who spent the last 32 years working for Glastonbury Festival, has retired. Paying tribute to his personal assistant, festival organiser Michael Eavis says Allen was “a key part of the fabric of the festival and the farm – and always will be.”

MaMA Celebrates Five Years THE MAMA event in Paris has confirmed its status as one of the emerging contenders in the international conference and showcase calendar by attracting 4,372 delegates from 67 countries to its latest edition in October.

Celebrating its fifth year, MaMA featured more than 60 conferences, debates and workshops for its attendees, while its innovative speed meetings secured more than 1,200 face-to-face encounters to help delegates find new business partners.

MaMA’s keynote inter-

Movers and Shakers

views included sessions with Live Aid trustee John Kennedy and Glastonbury Festival’s Michael Eavis, while IQ’s Gordon Masson moderated a festival-oriented panel session that discussed the growth in importance of the summer shows to artists’ careers and income.

Chuck Morris is doubling up on his normal responsibilities of running AEG Live’s Rocky Mountain Region office, by also overseeing the Pacific Northwest operation, after its leader Alex Kochan departed the company.

Dean James has launched a new music business called Sixth Plc, and is seeking key acquisitions in the live, data analytics and artist partnerships domain across the UK, India and Asia Pacific.

Former MAMA Group leader James has partnered with former Shazam business affairs chief Matt McCann, while Nettwerk co-founder Dan Fraser will be a non-executive director.

Dean DeWulf has departed his AXS role in London to return to the United States where he will now run the ticketing company’s music business development.

AEG Live’s Goldenvoice division in the UK has hired former Metropolis Music promoters Laura Davidson and Oscar Tuttiett. While Tuttiett retains his promoter role, Davidson will take up the position of vice president at Goldenvoice/AEG Live. Among the acts she has worked with are Ellie Goulding, alt-J, Disclosure, Sam Smith, Alabama Shakes and Jessie Ware.

Tuttiett has promoted Palma Violets, Drenge, The Strypes, Fat White Family, Eagulls and The Wytches.

IQ Magazine November 2014

News

Accent Media Plots a Secure Future for .tickets Domain A SCENARIO where ticket buyers can fully trust the legitimacy of online purchases is a step closer after Accent Media emerged triumphant in the auction for the dot tickets internet top level domain.

Accent now plans to formulate, with industry input, the small print that will govern the rules and regulations that prospective users of ‘.tickets’ domain names will agree to before being assigned what is hoped will effectively become an industry “goldstandard” globally.

The .tickets concept originated from a panel discussion at ILMC 24, which spurred ticketing pioneer Steve Machin to kick-start

the whole process. Accent Media’s strategy is to “offer domain names to eligible organisations to provide trusted online tickets.” The idea is that members of the public will become familiar with the .tickets domain and will come to trust the brand when buying tickets online.

The success of Accent in winning the domain name auction immediately secured the company $1.62million (€1.28m) in investment from internet domain specialist CentralNic, whereby the company has become a retail partner and the exclusive wholesaler for domain names in the .tickets space.

“The support of the indus-

Leiweke to Launch Secondary Ticketing Service?

try has been wonderful and it’s a great relief that we were able to secure the .tickets domain, but there is still a long way to go before any .tickets websites start resolving on the internet,” Machin tells IQ. He continues, “At the moment we are looking for industry input to help us devise a code of conduct for those businesses that want to use .tickets names for the benefit of the industry and the fans. Clearly we will not be selling tickets ourselves, and the aim is to create a platform for online innovation for the likes of the sports, entertainment, movie and travel industries.”

Business as Usual in H ong K ong After Democracy Protests THE LIVE MUSIC business in Hong Kong is returning to normal following several weeks of pro-democracy protests, which, at press time, were still ongoing. Although most of the demonstrations have been peaceful affairs, there have been a number of violent clashes between protestors and their opponents, including police.

Promoters in the former British Crown Colony tell IQ that the events of September and October had a real impact on gigs and other entertainment

gatherings, with a noticeable downturn in ticket sales across the Chinese-controlled territory. “Because the protests affected so many of our core audience, we decided to pull back on marketing our festival, as we didn’t think it was right to do so,” says Justin Sweeting, music director for the Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival. “But things are very much back to normal now and ticket sales for the festival are actually up 40% on this time last year.”

Now in its seventh year,

Clockenflap Music & Arts Festival 2013

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Clockenflap started out as a 1,500-capacity grass-roots event, using bars, clubs and even a warehouse as venues in its early years. A move to the Kowloon harbour front has allowed the festival to grow massively, with 35,000 visitors last year and Sweeting predicting around 45,000 during this year’s 28-30 November event.

“The venue is an area that the government has designated for cultural endeavours and it is an incredible site – we are blessed with the city’s skyline as our backdrop and our artists, especially the international ones, really love it,” adds Sweeting. Headliners for Clockenflap 2014 include The Flaming Lips, Mogwai, The Vaccines, Churches and Kool and the Gang, while the event’s line-up also includes a slew of Asian and regional acts, as well as a number of electronic acts.

The entertainment sector in North America is waiting with bated breath to see if former AEG executive Tim Leiweke makes good on his promise to launch a secondary ticketing service to rival market leader StubHub. Outlining his plans during a presentation at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, Leiweke noted that StubHub makes $150million (€118m) a year. “I think there’s a better StubHub,” he said. “I believe that sometimes the greatest way to build a company is find somebody else’s idea… steal it and then go try to do it better.”

The start-up would be based in Los Angeles and would lure sports franchises with a massive wedge of cash to secure the rights to their secondary ticketing business. Leiweke told Ryerson students he would offer teams up to $25m in exchange for complete control of their secondary inventory.

The former AEG executive recently announced his exit as president and CEO of sports team owners Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, before revealing his ambitious ticketing concept. He claims to have agreed deals with a number of investors, but has not, as yet, revealed who those partners might be.

Details of his secondary initiative have piqued the interest of the multi-billion dollar sports industry in America.

His new company would reportedly regulate secondary ticketing transactions in collaboration with sports franchises. Intriguingly, the teams would receive a slice of profits and would be allowed to share transaction data, helping them with future marketing initiatives by directly identifying ticket sellers; the date and time of sale; purchasers; and the resale price.

IQ Magazine November 2014

News

Management power brokers form Maverick approach with Maverick appear to be rewriting the rulebook. Details on strategy have been scant since the operation’s 17 October launch, but Maverick is purposely gathering specialists from genres including country, hip hop, pop, R&B and rock to learn from each other and share best practice to help their clients.

And with artist revenues from recorded music continuing to diminish, Maverick will also bring in expertise from technology developers and retail brands to exploit news income streams, matching A-list acts with suitable products and campaigns.

Cross-pollination is the phrase being used to describe the concept behind Maverick, with Oseary telling Billboard magazine that, “It’s not a closed-door event.

We want other like-minded people.”

Quite what that might mean for managers already operating under Live Nation’s Artist Nation division remains to be seen, but Oseary and his partners’ extensive contacts and investments in Hollywood

and Silicon Valley could result in a queue forming outside Maverick’s offices.

Financial details have not been disclosed, and Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino has so far remained tight-lipped on the company’s new division, but the structure will see Maverick’s principals reporting to Rapino.

Quizzed on other potential initiatives, Scott Rodger (whose Quest client roster includes Paul McCartney and Arcade Fire) says that areas such as radio promotions and digital marketing could be brought in-house, full-time, to work across artists, rather than being hired for short periods of time during a specific act’s album cycle.

Man with a vision: Guy Oseary

THE MANAGER OF BOTH MADONNA AND U2, Guy Oseary, has persuaded a group of his artist management peers to partner with Live Nation to form a new musicfocussed entity called Maverick – resurrecting the name of the record label where he started his career.

Planned in complete secrecy, Maverick’s ambitious goal is to “mend what is broken in the music industry” and its launch includes Blueprint Group’s Cortez Bryant and Gee Roberson; I Am Other’s Caron Veazey; Laffitte Management’s Ron Laffitte; Quest Management’s Scott Rodger; Reign Deer’s Larry Rudolph and Adam Leber; and Spalding Entertainment’s Clarence Spalding. The nine founding managers represent more than 20 of the world’s biggest international acts, which all now find themselves managed under the Maverick umbrella.

Although management companies merging or acquiring other businesses has become commonplace in recent years, Oseary’s pact with Live Nation and new

Comment

Make a Note to Stay Secure Nicholas Zinas, research director at Tekmon Geomatics reports on safety results from major outdoor live event productions using Secure Concert System technology, and urges the industry to train staff well, and develop a global system for reporting incidents.

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n January of this year, we raised the issue of the lack of accident data at outdoor music events and the need for systematic incident recording (see What Matters the Most?, IQ 51). When we spoke with industry experts, over a third reported that accident data collection is poor or nonexistent. However, it is clear that the industry is aware that recording accidents, however minor, presents an opportunity to improve safety standards for future events.

Since January, further research, interviews and surveys with people in all fields of the outdoor event industry, have taken place, and it became evident that incident data might not just be accident related. Incidents at live events vary from theft to waste excess, equally important matters, since these are directly linked with the concertgoer’s overall experience and the promoter’s reputation.

It also turns out that accident/incident data, if recorded at all, is usually on regular log sheets. It’s apparent that the traditional pen-and-paper method can be time-consuming or inadequate at times of high incoming and outgoing communication traffic. Data recording has to happen automatically and should require minimum to no human intervention. While incidents, and the number of times they occur, is important; the whys and hows are even more so. A wealth of information, where available, can reveal invaluable insights for future events.

As a whole, the focus on reliable incident recording while at the same time assuring efficient communications among event staff led to the design of a Secure Concert System, a new technology dedicated to the safety of outdoor event productions.

The Secure Concert System is made up of two components: user-friendly control room software and an intuitive mobile phone application. The control room provides command and control capabilities via real-time event staff monitoring, establishing a direct communication channel with staff on the field. The mobile phone application in turn makes incident reporting by field staff quick and easy and at the same time enhances incident response as senior staff are sent automatic notifications, tasks and alerts. Additional data, such as the incident’s time, location and staff involvement are stored in a uniform manner throughout the event while all actions are automatically recorded. The system is designed to adapt to the demanding environment of outdoor live events with minimum set-up time and next to no staff training. An internet connection is not required for the system to work as it can operate via Wi-Fi or cellular data using any existing or ondemand infrastructures as it is hardware independent.

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All great in theory; how does it work in practise?

Over the summer, we piloted the Secure Concert System with user involvement at The Ejekt Festival in Athens (approx.

15,000 tickets) and the Metallica by Request show in Istanbul (approx. 40,000 tickets). Demonstrating a command-andcontrol system in an operational environment in an industry dominated by two-way radios appeared to be a challenge

“When we spoke with industry experts, over a third reported that accident data collection is poor or nonexistent. However, it is clear that the industry is aware that recording accidents, however minor, presents an opportunity to improve safety standards for future events.” at first. However, the recent smartphone penetration in today’s consumer market was an advantage. In both event demonstrations event staff quickly familiarized themselves with the system’s purpose and core concepts. During the Metallica by Request event, a control-room operator, assigned for channeling information to responsible staff through the radios, used the Secure Concert System simultaneously.

Instead of voicing commands, the Secure Concert System was used to send instant messages to those staff that needed to be aware of particular information, thus avoiding multiple radio channel communications. A visual real-time map available on the control-room software was especially useful. This proved particularly time efficient, because field staff received targeted information especially in high noise areas. The mobile phone application was equally effective during the day and night. Both operational demonstrations led to the system’s fine-tuning and most importantly, it was put to the test.

The Secure Concert System was showcased at Event Tech Live in London on 13 November 2014.

For more information, contact zinas@tekmon.eu or go to www.secureconcertsystem.com/

IQ Magazine November 2014

Comment

Best Practice for Festival Social Media Spotify’s director of economics, Will Page, reveals details of a new study that helps fill a knowledge gap in the relationship between Spotify, social media and festivals.

A

deep dive into the Lowlands Festival, which took place on 15-17 August 2014, makes a lot of sense. Spotify is big in Holland, and Lowlands is one of the country’s biggest festivals. Moreover, Lowlands has a reputation for breaking bands, as opposed to booking bands that have already broken.

The study revealed that, in the Netherlands, people spent about half as much on recorded music this year, as they did in 2003. However, they spend about twice as much on live music as they do on CDs, downloads, and streaming. Other countries have also shown this shift from recorded music to live music revenue, including the UK, but nowhere else has reported as dramatic a swing as in the Netherlands. On a positive note, Dutch consumer spending on music bounced back in 2013, arguably due to increased contributions from streaming services like Spotify (see chart below).

Last year’s return of the orange bar (see below) is good news for the music industry. It shows that people in the Netherlands finally spent more on recorded music than they did the previous year, ending more than a decade of declining sales. Still, look at those big blue bars representing Dutch live music spend. Let’s consider Spotify’s role in growing the blue bars, in addition to its primary role in restoring orange ones.

Here’s what we found when we looked at the intersection of the Lowlands Festival, Spotify, and the social networks where festival-goers share their experiences: More than two thirds of Lowlands Festival-goers have Spotify Leading Dutch concert promoter Mojo Concerts, a subsidiary

IQ Magazine November 2014

of Live Nation, conducted a survey of more than 2,000 attendees of Lowlands Festival. Over two thirds of the attendees surveyed have Spotify. Nobody expected that level of penetration and usage. Mojo also found that over half of those over the age of 55 use a streaming service.

Spotify conducted an additional survey of Lowlands attendees — finding that 70% of Spotify-using attendees used it to discover new bands before the festival, and 80% of them for checking out bands they’d seen at the festival.

What’s more, about half used it to check out the bands they missed. As one might expect, most attendees kept their focus on the festival as it happened, with only 1 in 3 using Spotify during the event.

First Aid Kit saw a big boost The Swedish duo saw their Dutch Spotify streams increase by 135% in the two weeks following the festival. The number of people listening to them rose by 80% in the same time period, suggesting they found a new audience in the Netherlands. New First Aid Kit fans were spread evenly across age and gender (females on the left, males on the right; younger to older from left to right). The group did particularly well with male Spotify fans in their 20s and 30s.

Social media boosts: big, but temporary Streaming and sales are only part of the puzzle for bands and managers navigating this new landscape. Social media might not pay the bills directly, but it can help, because its effect is more immediate. In an age of instant gratification, this can no longer be ignored.

In general, festival fan behaviour looks like this: Before: Twitter (“I am excited to see @[band name]!”) During: Instagram (“Let me check out some pictures of the bands I am seeing here!”) After: Facebook (“I want to tell everyone that I now officially ‘like’ [band name].”)

Music festivals such as Lowlands have always been, and always will be, great places to discover new bands. Nothing new there.

But with Spotify reaching critical mass in many key festival markets, there is so much more knowledge being built. This knowledge positively affects fans, bands, and promoters.

The survey was conducted by Spotify along with industry expert Chris Carey and Mojo Netherlands promoter Eric van Eerdenburg.

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Comment

RIP the ATM at Festivals Serge Grimaux, CEO at access control and cashless payment specialist Intellitix, explains why he sees 2014 as the year that said goodbye to cash machines at festivals.

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his article was going to be about the future; but after the last few weeks, I know that the future I was going to refer to has already arrived. Recently, we landed back at Intellitix’s Montreal HQ from Atlanta’s Chattahoochee Hills, where we partnered with ID&T and SFX Entertainment to turn the mecca that is TomorrowWorld festival 100% cashless for the first time.

It was our largest deployment since we introduced our cashless system, IntelliPay, 15 months ago. Over 160,000 attendees wore RFID wristbands, becoming the sole payment method across the entire festival. Over 500,000 transactions were made across the three days – with peaks of six transactions every second. That same weekend we deployed 100,000 RFID wristbands at Scotland’s Ryder Cup. There again providing a cashless environment, together with brand amplification.

It’s very exciting when you realise you are changing forever the landscape of a business field you have worked in all your life.

Those who know me may have heard my pool party analogy.

You’ve been to a pool party? You have a bunch of people around the pool, and they are all waiting for the first person to jump in.

Two things might happen; you have a brave person who jumps in first, or somebody gets pushed. Results are the same. After five minutes the pool is full. A year ago, that’s what was happening with cashless payments. We’ve witnessed that nervousness disappear in front of our eyes. Why? First of all, let’s clarify – what is cashless? There seems to be some confusion with events calling themselves cashless, or providers claiming they are providing cashless services, when the stalls still take cash and/or plastic money. That’s not cashless! Cashless is not simply adding the ‘option’ to pay using a method other than cash or cards, like after a meal at the restaurant. Cashless is where the technology deployed offers the only method of payment at the event site, in our case RFID. The second thing we should clarify is the differences between the two main types of cashless systems; open loop and closed loop.

With open loop you need to connect with the outside world. With closed loop, you function as if you were your own country, trading your own currency. You don’t need to be ‘online’. Furthermore, closed loop provides full control of the money to the one taking all the risk: the event organiser. This is why we developed a fully secure and reliable closed loop cashless technology.

Then come the concerns about security and reliability – when you and your patrons’ money is at stake, it is an easy concern to understand. With this in mind, before even launching it, we had IntelliPay certified with the Common Criteria EAL3+ meaning its security is certified as on a par with that of Apple, Microsoft and IBM.

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From Scandinavia to Rio de Janeiro and from NYC to Central Europe the vision has come to fruition: before the end of this year two million people will have acquired goods at events paying via IntelliPay.

“There seems to be some confusion with events calling themselves cashless, or providers claiming they are providing cashless services, when the stalls still take cash and/or plastic money. That’s not cashless!”

So what has changed this year? Simple – trust, awareness and understanding. People have now seen cashless in action at some of the biggest events in the world. The benefits for all involved are simply too great to ignore. Faster service, increased revenues, improved security, management tools, reliability. The list goes on.

The industry will continue to embrace this cashless revolution. There is no way back!

As well as TomorrowWorld, this year we worked with Canada’s first ever cashless festival Digital Dreams, and America’s first cashless festival Mysteryland USA. These are massive events and proof that – as the title of this article states – 2014 truly signifies the beginning of a new era which will soon see the death of the ATM at festivals.

We’ve been asked if technologies like Apple Pay will spell the end of RFID cashless payments just as they have become accepted, but we don’t believe so. NFC payments have been here for several years already. Nothing beats a closed loop environment and it will continue to offer the best choice for organisers looking to go cashless. In fact, we are extremely happy Apple decided to put emphasis on something we have been claiming for more then a year: paying with a tap of the wrist is the way to go!

When linked with access control and social media – and the data this can harness – RFID truly delivers. This is what we thought when we started that revolution four years ago.

We have been proven right! The live music industry is a close community – people talk. Cashless is the topic on everyone’s lips. Say hello to the future. Look forward, not in your rear mirror! The road ahead is coming fast.

IQ Magazine November 2014

Comment

Modern-Day Coliseums Vice-president business development at AEG Facilities, Brian Kabatznick reflects on the remarkable advances that have been made in the development and provision of major international venues in the last few years.

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he conclusion of the 26th instalment of the ILMC witnessed many familiar themes, discussions and sessions. Concerns about ticket prices, touring availability, emerging markets, secondary ticketing and artist guarantees.

Unmistakably, what remains consistent since the inaugural ILMC in 1988 has been the development and investment in venues. When you consider the arena landscape premillennium, you had Wembley Arena, the nation’s crown jewel at a spry 55 years, and arenas in Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham. Today, new or upgraded arenas have been developed in the past 8 years in Liverpool and Glasgow, not to mention London’s The O2 still at a youthful 7 years of age.

In Europe, touring markets would never have emerged eastward without the private or public investment commitment for new sports and entertainment facilities in Prague, Belgrade, Budapest or Sofia. Imagine that Turkey had to wait until 2012 before it built the country’s only state-of-the-art arena in Istanbul purposely designed to host sports and major touring attractions.

Today, artists perform in these modern cathedrals built for large show productions, and fan and corporate sponsor comfort.

Ticket sales and pricing with VIP guest amenities allow for higher

grosses due in part to large venue capacities and the ability to leverage hospitality and merchandise revenues. Since 2007, the newest and renovated arenas in the UK exceeded £600million (€762m) in capital. On the continent, the same timeframe led to new arenas in Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Zagreb and Gdansk, to name a few, with investment totalling €1billion (€1.3bn).

In short order, our industry has benefited from the commitment of both public sector funding and private capital to deliver modern-day coliseums. This is in addition to the rebirth of those treasured venues that have recently enjoyed modernisation.

Through the community foresight with political vision, or the influence with private capital, those markets that delivered new facilities significantly benefited both culturally and financially. Though at times we take our entertainment palaces for granted, what cannot be overlooked is that our industry has major beneficiaries .... the fans, the artists, the teams, the sponsors and the cities. The result: great sound and amenities; transportation and access; food choices and quality, and hospitality! Here’s to the next 26 years at the ILMC – we can only dream of what exciting new venues are in store for us in 2040!

Techno files Gig Gadgetry fr om the Fr ontline...

Line-Up Tattoos

Meludia

THINK YOU ARE too old to learn to play an instrument? Think again! Working on the issue that an astonishing 85% of children give up on their musical instruments by the age of 15 (discouraged, in part, by tough academic teaching), Meludia has developed a simple, user-friendly web application to help people learn music in a fun, engaging and intuitive way.

“Meludia puts music pleasure and sensitivity at the core of its learning process. It is both a game and a tool for any musician, from the beginner to the

experienced one,” explains Meludia CEO, Bastien Sannac.

The result of 25 years of research, Meludia was developed alongside 3,000 musicians of all levels and styles, with the objective of changing the user’s relationship with music by awakening their creativity. The software app, which comes in eight levels including beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert, is free on a limited basis, giving people the opportunity to trial about a quarter of the lessons.

Ars Electronica

ARS ELECTRONICA is an Austrian company whose objective is to gather ideas, videos and insights to create customised solutions for interactive products and services. Flick through the company’s brochure and it might come across as just another experiential events specialist, but pausing on page 39, the headline ‘Quadcopters at the Bergen International Festival’ prompts further reading.

The Ars Electronica Quadcopter Swarm, also known as Spaxels, involves programming multiple helicopter drones to fly in formation above a crowd, or stage, to deliver messages or images using the aircraft. Lights on the choppers also allow use after dark.

According to the company

propaganda, the ‘Murmuration’ project, over two nights in Bergen, “astonished the audience with a spectacular quadcopter choreography and was received by Norwegian and international media with great enthusiasm.” The Spaxels have since wowed the crowds at a number of events throughout Europe.

HATS OFF TO Sarah Lawrence, the graphic designer and design section editor for Paste Magazine in Atlanta, Georgia, for this little low-tech gem. A post on her sarahclawrence.com blog describes her ingenious idea to help music fans to carry around their own personalised itineraries for festivals – namely, temporary tattoos.

Lawrence’s solution involves deciding upon your preferred bands prior to attending an event, creating the temporary tattoo transfer and pasting that on to an arm, leg, or any other part of the anatomy (or that of a friend) for instant access to your own personal set list.

Lawrence suggests that festival organisers could send out the full line-up in temporary tatt form to all ticket holders, allowing their customers to use scissors to choose which acts they want to see and put together a personalised programme, according to stage times.

It’s often the simplest ideas that are best!

Eventbox

HOW HARD IS IT to find events you want to go to, when location is a key consideration? Mobile app, Eventbox, has been developed as a solution to this problem, allowing users to study listings for musicians, bands and DJs that are performing locally.

“I hate seeing names of artists on listings and not knowing who they are.

Listings often contain descriptions and reviews of an artist when all you want to do is hear them. Why not let their artistry lead you to a decision?” comments Eventbox’s Joey Baxter.

The app’s aim is to help promoters and venues sell tickets and to support those artists who make a living from live music. Eventbox is still planning the launch of the first generation of the app, and is looking for early testers.

Do you have a new product or technology to contribute to this page? Email gordon@iq-mag.net to be considered for the next issue…

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IQ Magazine November 2014

Touring Exhibitions

TOURING EX-CITEMENT The touring exhibitions market is one of the fastest growing sectors in the entertainment industry. But, as Eugenia Durante reports, when someone develops a successful idea or brands, there are a host of copycats waiting to jump on the bandwagon…

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ne year ago, IQ published an article highlighting the growing interest of both promoters and ticket buyers in the touring exhibition world and the extra revenues it can generate for players whose traditional core business is in the concert industry.

This increasingly appealing market is attracting both professionals from the music sector and entrepreneurs. And, despite the economic downturn and various obstacles affecting the scene, it offers a seductive mix of profit and challenges.

The third edition of the Touring Exhibitions Meeting (TEM) which took place in September at the Olympic Park in Munich confirmed this trend by gathering over 200

IQ 18 Magazine November 2014

professionals for three days of networking, ‘flea market’ presentations, and constructive dialogue about the fledgling entertainment sector. Presented by SC Exhibitions, a division of the German promoter Semmel Concerts, TEM brings together buyers and sellers of touring exhibitions from around the world, from both the public and private sectors.

SC Exhibitions director and TEM founder Christoph Scholz says, “Despite the many meetings that the touring exhibitions professionals can attend, TEM is the only one fully dedicated to them. During TEM, they can work together and focus on their industry, discussing content, meeting each other and sharing ideas and information about new exhibitions.”

IQ Magazine November 2014

‘Van Gogh Alive’ is proving popular internationally for Grande Exhibitions

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Touring Exhibitions

World Concert Artists’ ‘Experience da Vinci’ exhibition

What emerged from the latest gathering were a great variety of original and recurring topics, and a fast-growing interest in technology, which helps create a unique environment for the visitor and represents good value for money. This inevitably involves investing in new ideas and requires financial commitment, vision and nerve.

“I personally take the risk 100% with all the exhibitions I get, and fund them with my own money,” reveals Ezequiel Peña of Argentina’s Aurea Exhibitions, stressing the importance of adopting a far-sighted approach to the market and the exciting unpredictability characterising the sector.

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

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ne of the main challenges (pointed out by the professionals who contributed to this report), is finding the right venue. Differing from the music industry, a touring exhibition needs longer runs and different venues, which can be hard to find, especially in Europe.

Christopher Owen from the German company AWC Events has experience of such dilemmas, both as a promoter and venue operator. “From a booking and promoting point of view, the main challenge is to find the right location for our exhibitions,” he says. “There is a major difference between the US and Europe: while the US is accustomed to big commercially oriented exhibitions, in Europe we still need to improve.”

The difference between the European and overseas market is also stressed by Heidi Pinchal of Brand Image Group (BIG), a strategic consultant for global touring exhibitions based in the US. BIG helps find the perfect marketplaces and assists its clients in the design process, production and placement of touring exhibitions.

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“Touring exhibitions are still a new concept and format in many parts of the world,” she tells IQ. “In the US, it is easier to find the right location thanks to the presence of many science centres, which also serve as catalysts for the touring exhibitions. One of the main problems in America, though, is the lack of content, while in Europe, we struggle to find the venues but have great content. That’s why different approaches are needed.”

Here again, the TEM is a great asset for professionals worldwide, as Scholz explains: “The process of locating the perfect venue is a time consuming and individual one; there is not an established system or a guideline for promoters.

The professionals have to find special gaps in the venues’ calendars. [Because] many venue representatives attend the event, TEM is useful in creating a good network and establishing valuable professional relationships.”

The demand for touring exhibitions is still obviously high, and these challenges often inspire creative solutions. “Many museums don’t have the space to host these products or are restricted by their mission statements, and trade fairs and convention centres can often get higher profits by hosting many small events rather than a six-month exhibition,” says Owen. “Finding the right locations and still having a positive business model is a challenge, which is why we are happy to offer both content as well as venue. We are happy to be the sole provider to develop, tour and book exhibitions, as well as operate permanent and mobile science centers.”

The companies operating on a global scale also have to face country-specific issues wherever their productions might land. “Logistics and tax regulations over many continents and countries, with a varied range of laws, certainly represent tough challenges,” notes Christoph Rahofer of EMS Entertainment, which operates in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America and owns international entertainment centres in Las Vegas, Miami and Orlando.

IQ Magazine November 2014

Touring Exhibitions

technologies which will last and invest accordingly.

“If you want to attract and reach many people, you have to come up with a good product, and most of the content on display can and should be upgraded by using new technologies and new creative ideas,” states Paul Koster from Shivers, a company which is now working with its own properties and managing its own pop-up locations.

Imagine’s Zaller comments, “We try to balance our low-tech and our hightech experiences in each exhibition and make sure that people still get to use their minds and bodies without total dependence on technology. Having said that, utilising new technology can also serve as a great way to teach new subjects and highlight innovation: you can bring someone to life and that person can talk to the visitor – pretty One of Aurea Exhibitions’ ‘Living Dinosaurs’ displays amazing really.”

“Since we operate internationally, another huge challenge Budgets can be an obstacle to the introduction of new has lately been the political climate of some regions,” technology, however. Jose Araujo from Barley Exhibitions, comments Pinchal. “We have worked with companies in co founder of TEM, says, “One of the most interesting Ukraine and Russia and a much more delicate approach was software systems I have recently used is called Compressed required. In these cases, I generally try and find the right Text which allows us to project a character on a screen and partners within these communities.” make it interact with the public. This tool is so smart that if Imagine Exhibitions president and CEO, Tom Zaller people ask silly questions, as often happens, the character agrees: “International logistics is, and always will be, a will simply answer ‘Sorry, I am not comfortable with this challenge. Shipping and customs can present some big question’. For our Gateway To Space Exhibition, we use challenges that you don’t face in your domestic market, but groundbreaking technologies like the 5-Degree Freedman we will always be a global company because people from simulator, which creates a zero-gravity environment allowing every continent want great experiences and that’s what we the public to experience what it’s like to move in space.” strive to deliver.”

One secret to success is to combine state-of-theMoreover, as stressed by Opus One’s Vincent Sager, time art technologies with strong content, creating a strong, is always an issue, as a concert lasts a few hours while an interactive experience for the visitor. “A key word in the exhibition lasts months. Marketing is, therefore, a key factor. touring exhibitions sector is ‘experiential’: we want to create And according to World Concert Artists’ Corrado Canonici, the best and most unforgettable experience for our visitors. lateral thinking is necessary. “Venues and promoters do not yet In this case, technology helps a lot. We have to combine new see exhibitions as good business so they have to be convinced. technologies with emotions in order to reach the heart of the Also, it’s actually easier than hosting an egomaniac artist. audience,” says BIG’s Pinchal.

When we stage an exhibition, we never have silly requests; we Imagineear, whose company motto is ‘enhancing visitor always have very practical ones,” he says. experiences’, is a digital agency offering a full range of hardware and software tools, from multilingual tours to software and data solutions. Imagineear’s Ziv Kushnir confirms the need for a smart use of technologies: “In the exhibition sector we use technology to help tell stories and enhance the visitor’s experience, but also to control the o keep up with the ever-increasing expectations of visitors’ flow and gather important data on public interest the modern exhibition-goer, new technology is a and behaviour by analysing passive data collected by our permanent line item in any budget. devices; in this way we can provide feedback to producers “Currently, a lot is being done to extend the visitors’ and promoters, optimising the whole process.” experience with RFID, augmented reality, apps and iBeacon One example is the exhibition Titanic, the Artefact, technology,” says AWC’s Owen. “This allows us to do which opened on 10 October in Palexpo, Geneva, promoted great things and engage, or even hyper-engage, the visitors by Opus One with Imagineear’s collaboration. The story, before, during and after their experience at the venue.” built as a radio play with multiple voices, music and sound Owen also observes that keeping up with the fast pace effects, brings Titanic’s history to life, and is delivered on of technology is hard if you are selling products that have a 1,000 mediaPacker handheld players, allowing all visitors lifespan of about ten years, so the challenge is to identify the to take a tour.

HI-TECH, HI-RES

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IQ Magazine November 2014

Touring Exhibitions of recognised educational institutions adds value to the exhibition and legitimises us as a learning medium.”

According to Barley Exhibition’s Araujo, the best formula for an exhibition is using the edutainment concept, which is a “mix of the entertainment and education formulas which attract families to touring exhibitions and also helps in creating and developing a unique product.” Pinchal concurs, adding: “The educational side has become extremely relevant to the sector.

Shows that have a public service message are one of the most interesting products to invest in.”

Grande Exhibitions, one of the leading Brand Image Group’s ‘The Science of Rock and Roll’ exhibition is currently touring the United States companies in touring high quality, cost effective and commercially successful cultural experiences has created Van Gogh Alive. The experience uses their patented Sensory4 technology, over 3,000 Van Gogh images at n the past few years, the touring exhibitions sector has enormous scale, 40 high-definition projectors, multi-channel developed rapidly and moved in a more informative direction. motion graphics and cinema quality surround sound resulting As well as entertaining ticket buyers, many productions now in a cinematic walk-through experience that is suitable for all have a strong educational or sociopolitical purpose. ages to enjoy.

As highlighted by World Concert Artists’ Canonici, “The Imagine Exhibition has developed Bon Appétit, an school audience has gained paramount importance in this interactive exploration of food from every angle including the sector.” This, of course, implies many challenges, especially taste and pleasure of dining, balanced with the important issue when in the public’s perception, the concepts of learning and of responsible eating. Meanwhile, EMS Entertainment offers having fun are still opposites on the spectrum.

Be Part of the Art, its brand new interactive 3D exhibition, “We are now developing an exhibition with Shaun the which literally allows visitors to become part of the artworks Sheep, with the support of the Museum and University of by posing in front of 3D paintings and taking pictures.

Liverpool; our objective is to transfer scientific content into a fun, engaging and highly interactive exhibition on health, fitness and obesity,” says Owen. “The educational side, in this case, is evidently very important. The hardest part is engaging Monet to Cézanne: The French AWC Events: the audience, especially the children, by putting this topic in a Impressionists Harry Potter. The Exhibition Planet Shark – Predator Or Prey Expedition Titanic positive and light way.”

Game On Rob Kirk of Grande Exhibitions notes: “School groups World Concert Artists: Living Dinosaurs Barley Exhibitions: and young visitors are a key demographic that we target when Gateway To Space Football creating our exhibition experiences. All of our experiences Taped Sea Monsters are fully supported with comprehensive educational content Days Of The Dinosaur Gateway to Space Experience da Vinci Taped and interactive components to ensure lots of engagement with Brick City the subject matter.”

TIMS Productions: Brick Wonders Magnificent Century The support of institutions, researchers, universities and Extreme Anatomy Murder museums is therefore fundamental to give some exhibitions Imagine Exhibitions: Maria Callas Exhibition value: “Credibility is fundamental, especially because we are Amazing Backyard Adventures Pavarotti somewhere between the museum and entertainment sectors.

Angry Birds Universe EMS Entertainment: Bon Appétit We always have to keep in mind that the visitor is paying a fair 1000 Years of INCAgold Da Vinci the Exhibition price not only to be amused, but also educated. The support Barbie The Dreamhouse Experience Dinosaurs In Motion

INFORM, EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN

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Touring and Forthcoming Exhibitions

Contributors: Top (l to r) Paul Koster (Shivers), Ziv Kushnir (Imagineear), Jose Araujo (Barley Exhibitions) Middle ((l to r) Christoph Rahofer (EMS Entertainment), Christopher Owen (AWC Events), Corrado Canonici (World Concert Artists) Bottom (l to r) Rob Kirk (Grande Exhibitions), Christoph Scholz (SC Exhibitions), Tom Zaller (Imagine Exhibitions)

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Be Part of the Art! CSI: The Experience Dinosaurs – LIVE! Leonardo da Vinci: Man – Inventor – Genius Leonardo da Vinci: Man – Artist – Genius Star Trek: The Exhibition Terracotta Warriors Opus One: Titanic L’exposition Grande Exhibitions: The Leonardo da Vinci Exhibitions Collection 101 Inventions That Changed The World Van Gogh Alive

Engineering Earth Going Places Humanoid Discovery Ice Age Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop Living Dinosaurs Playing With Light Rescue Science Fiction, Science Future Space Speed Titanic The Exhibition Top Secret Whodunit?

1001 Inventions

IQ Magazine November 2014

Touring Exhibitions

CONTENT IS KING

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s rightly highlighted by Owen, “content is king”.

Technology alone can’t do anything if it is not supporting a strong, unique, and engaging theme. But here, the problem of copycats comes into play. Analysing the main exhibitions that are being displayed worldwide, there are many themes recurring in different tours, often with very similar results.

“Copycats are an issue for all the entertainment sectors,” comments Christoph Scholz. “When a good idea is born, it is likely to be stolen. But I won’t say the real problem is represented by copycats themselves; I would rather say that quality is the issue. For example, there are many Titanic exhibitions because the concept is great. This is not an issue, as long as the quality of these exhibitions is high.”

Good competition, indeed, is never a threat: on the contrary, it contributes to the growth of the sector. The problem, however, lies in poor quality: if an exhibition is not good, it can negatively affect the whole market.

Some companies can adopt legal measures to protect their products from being stolen, as EMS Entertainment’s Rahofer explains: “Any successful exhibition gets copied. It can almost be seen as a proof of its success. EMS produces a number of ‘branded’ touring exhibitions where a copy can be easily erased by legal action.”

Kirk comments: “We pride ourselves at Grande Exhibitions on being a company that creates ideas, content and trends rather than copies them.”

Elsewhere, Ezequiel Peña from Aurea Exhibitions considers copycats a sign of normal competition, as in any other industry: “With common exhibition themes, which

have no rights issues as they are human heritage and nobody owns the rights. The first company to develop the exhibition will often do the best deals and business, and the ones that come after will get the down curve of that business.”

Canonici considers both sides of the coin, commenting: “‘Copycat’ can be both a good and bad word. Bad if it’s a bad production, because it kills the market even for the original exhibition as the audience will be left with a sour taste and won’t attend other exhibitions when they tour that territory; or good if it’s a new idea, a new interpretation of the main idea. I’ve seen copycats that are better exhibitions compared to the original one.”

According to Owen, copycats are more an indicator of high demand and natural market behaviour than a threat. The challenge is to tell the best story, and in doing so, survive when the market is saturated: “Licensed brands like Harry Potter, Star Wars or Shaun the Sheep, are fairly safe, because you are protected by an agreement, although you have to pay a licence fee. For topics that are not intellectual properties like Tutankhamun, Titanic or for displaying dead bodies, there’s no licence, but you have to accept that copies will emerge.”

As summed up by Pinchal, the matter is not what you decide to present, but how you do it: “Copycats are definitely a threat but they are inevitable – as long as a good idea exists, copycats will have their place in the world! It is not about the topic, but mainly about how you decide to tell the story.”

She adds: “I have recently opened a body show in Minsk which is the third exhibition of the same kind. The means are the same, but the message is very different and the final product is a completely unique exhibition. Finding a brand that has a strong appeal is a fundamental step: you have to spot the trend and be able to make it even more topical. This will make you a winner.”

Photo: Barley Exhibitions’ ‘Gateway to Space’ expo

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IQ Magazine November 2014

Digital Money A s e x p e r ts p r e d ic t th a t 2 0 1 5 w ill b e a tip p in g p o in t fo r e v e n ts th a t u s e c a s h l e s s p a y m e n t s y s t e m s f o r t i c k e t h o l d e r s , Christopher Austin in v e s tig a te s th e a c c e le r a tin g s p r e a d o f s u c h n e tw o r k s w o r ld w id e .

Cashless payment technology has come on leaps and bounds in recent years, not only in terms of advances in technology, but also in uptake from event organisers around the world.

Early teething problems are being eradicated, meaning that despite a number of system failures, the benefits that such operations offer to event operators, traders and, ultimately, audience members are vastly outweighing any risks, prompting this year’s sharp increase in cashless rollout.

For readers who’ve yet to experience this new form of payment at an event, cashless payment systems typically involve consumers loading (in advance of an event, or on site) an RFID wristband or card with credit, which is then spent at concession points. The carrier (or account associated with it) is then topped up and unused funds can be refunded afterwards.

One of the early suppliers of RFID technology was UKbased Intelligent Venue Solutions (IVS) offering a multiplatform cashless model where the client and customers can use whatever form of electronic payment they please, including RFID wristbands, near-field communication (NFC) devices or even contactless debit or credit cards. All transactions are routed through a unified settlement and reporting infrastructure. Festival clients include BBC Big Weekend, the Isle Of Wight Festival, Glastonbury, T in the Park and Creamfields.

“Cash is a nightmare for vendors, especially bar operators – handling, reconciliation and banking it, all have costs involved.

The move toward electronic transactions reflects what is happening on the high street,” says IVS director Paul Pike.

The magic uplift figure – the largest carrot in the cashless conversation – is pegged at 20% or higher, depending on the festival or system supplier. The combination of faster payments with the reduction of both administration/cash handling and ‘leakage’ (temporary bar staff filling their pockets on shift) is a strong incentive for event organisers, and the last 24 months has

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seen a boom in the number of systems on offer.

A pioneer of RFID event solutions, Intellitix, used the technology for the first time at a festival in 2010. This year, 1.5 million people will use its cashless technology across 20 festivals. “Our aim since the beginning was to go cashless, but we knew it would be quite disruptive and we needed to build confidence with our clients. To do that we started using RFID to control the gates,” says Intellitix CEO Serge Grimaux.

In no rush to come to the market with a solution before it was sufficiently robust, Intellitix first launched its cashless solution in 2013, rolling it out to six events from Hungary to Brazil. The company’s Intellipay system integrates with access control and social media RFID technology and operates using a closed loop system with transactions carried out using local currencies or ‘virtual’ currencies that can be branded according to each event.

Intellipay enables pre-event and onsite offers to be implemented as well as integration with brand partner activity.

Most importantly, should a server fail, Intellipay will continue to work. “Our guarantee to event organisers is that we will never stop selling. Once the server comes back up, transactions are registered when the wristband is next used, and if it is not used again we guarantee against any loss, which is only ever a few hundred pounds,” says Grimaux.

It’s not just the system operators like Intellitix that are benefitting from the growth in popularity of cashless. UK wristband suppliers ID&C, for example, have seen a huge surge in demand for their products that integrate RFID cashless solutions. So far this year, the company has taken RFID wristband orders from more than 75 music festivals worldwide, up 50% on 2013. As well as the UK, US and Europe, ID&C has serviced events in Asia, South America, Australia and the Middle East.

ID&C head of RFID, Steve Daly, is adamant that there are many reasons a promoter should implement a cashless

IQ Magazine November 2014

Digital Money

system, not the least of which is reducing queuing times for fans at key payment areas such as bars and food outlets.

“Real-time reporting of all sales and income across your event allows unprecedented control. There is far simpler account reconciliation for all vendors and partners and huge cost savings from not having to transport, count or administer cash on site,” says Daly.

Skeptics remain, however, and there is some way to go before all festival organisers are convinced that cashless systems offer a significant advantage. Festival Republic is behind numerous festivals including Latitude, Reading and Leeds in the UK; Ireland’s Electric Picnic; the Berlin Festival; and, until recently, Hove in Norway. But MD Melvin Benn remains unconvinced there are significant benefits to going cashless, despite operating the entirely cashless Hove for the past five years.

Benn believes Norwegians are used to virtually all transactions being cashless and it made sense to provide Hove attendees with a payment system they felt comfortable with. But introducing similar systems at all Festival Republic events, is not on his agenda. “It has got some merit, but I don’t think it is by any means the Holy Grail. When I see a greater adoption of cashless in society, people going to the bar or newsagents and using cashless, then perhaps there will be greater demand,” Benn says.

Despite that lack of enthusiasm, the number of events offering cashless solutions is on the rise. With offices in Europe, Australia and the US, event infrastructure provider eps is seeing increased demand for cashless payment solutions around the world and helped several festivals, including Best Kept Secret in the Netherlands and Sweden’s Bravalla, go cashless this year. The company’s managing director Okan Tombulca, says it’s evident that promoters and event attendees increasingly trust the systems, and doubts are quickly evaporating. “When you have money on a chip you

“Real-time reporting of all sales and income across your event allows unprecedented control. There is far simpler account reconciliation for all vendors and partners and huge cost savings from not having to transport, count or administer cash onsite.”

Steve Daly, ID&C

can’t see it and don’t know how much money you have spent.

A lot of people didn’t trust credit cards, but now they are very common,” Tombulca says.

Eps’s YouChip solution enables money to be loaded on to an RFID wristband online upfront of the event and/or onsite.

Benefits for the user include not having to carry around large sums of money, while by tracking sales in real-time, event organisers have an opportunity to monitor all goods in stock and have the chance to react in time to unexpected high demand. Importantly, YouChip works offline. Should a server go down, much of the system remains functioning, enabling traders to continue to sell their goods. Once the server is back up, unrecorded transactions are uploaded when the wristband is used again.

Nonetheless, high profile disasters are not completely a thing of the past. Barcelona’s Primavera was one of the first in Europe to experience failure after a home-grown system collapsed on the first day of the 2011 event. The following year, Germany’s Hurricane festival faced a slew of angry ticket holders after the system’s owners, EITS Global, walked off site just days before the event. Even this summer, a system failure at the Bravalla Festival in Sweden resulted in promoter FKP Scorpio scrambling to sort people out with refunds.

“The main problem at Bravalla was human error,” says FKP founder Folkert Koopmans. “We had about 60,000 accounts and roughly 10% had issues. These were mostly people who had loaded money upfront from home. When it came to refunding them, we had a lot of bouncebacks because people had given us incorrect banking details. It took a while, but it’s all sorted now. And in the future we will just return the money to the source – so if it came from a credit card account, the money will be returned to that credit card account.”

Intellitix founder Grimaux concludes that perhaps too many people are trying to set up operations without the requisite experience or failsafe technology. “Yes, there are horror stories, but we work to make sure what we do is seamless and simple to operate,” he states. “Our system looks easy and because of that people are trying to reproduce it.

They soon realise down the line that it is not easy to replicate, because behind the scenes there has been lots of work and significant investment in reliable equipment.”

Of course, cashless payment doesn’t just encompass the latest in electronic payment systems. On a more low-tech note, Dutchband has been providing their own form of ‘cashless’ payment systems for festivals for the past eight years in the form of plastic tokens, widely adopted by many Dutch festivals and by more further afield. Clients this year included Download Festival, Lowlands, Solidays, Haldern Pop, Zwarte Cross, Sunburn Goa, NH7, Graspop, Electric Beach and Les Nuits Sonores. “Because of the easy implementation, we not only have many new customers in Europe, but also in upcoming festival markets like India, South-east Asia and South America,” says company MD Michiel Fransen.

Like its younger cousins, Dutchband’s token system eliminates the need for bar staff having to deal with large amounts of cash, and – fundamentally – moves control over all onsite spend from the concessions to the event organisers themselves. “The vendors like it because it allows for fast transaction, increased turnover, reduced ‘leakage’ through staff and, of course, no cash at the point of sale,” Fransen says.

Such benefits are exactly what have been drawing cashless

Intellitix provided cashless terminals at TomorrowWorld this year

IQ Magazine November 2014

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Digital Money

Registration points for the eps YouChip system

“We have had a few teething problems, but everything onsite this year worked well and I’m very positive that cashless systems will become normal at events very soon.”

Folkert Koopmans, FKP Scorpio system developers – the vast majority of whom are betting on RFID-based solutions – to exploit demand internationally.

Among those battling for market share are Belgian firm Playpass (a cooperation between accreditation specialists Zampas and employees from Rock Werchter); Hungarian firm Metapay which formerly supplied cashless services to Sziget festival; Glownet, which secured over €1million funding for European expansion in May this year; Danish Beeptify; Payment Solutions Hamburg who supply a system to Switzerland’s Open Air St Gallen amongst others; and longstanding cardbased Norwegian firm Espos. And as if that weren’t enough, some festivals are now developing their own, notably Serbia’s EXIT Festival which unveiled its own solution last year.

With more events looking to find cashless partners, European festivals organisation Yourope has established a cashless working group headed by Cyrill Stadler from St Gallen.

“Cashless has been in football stadiums very successfully since about 2005, but it has been a major issue for those companies to install their systems in a field to try to achieve the same results,” says Stadler. “It’s not a question of if, but rather when festivals will implement cashless systems, because the advantages are obvious. We have had a number of companies give presentations to Yourope, but the best possibility for our members to make their minds up is to see a system working well live on site at an festival.”

But with more and more leading decision makers giving the technology a chance, it appears that the sector is finally reaching mass adoption. Although it has had issues at the likes of Bravalla, promoter FKP Scorpio is ramping up its adoption of the technology, such are the financial benefits. “We had cashless systems at events in Holland and Sweden this year, but in 2015 we will probably have it at five to ten festivals,” says Koopmans.

“We are not quite at the point where every festival can have it, because the company who provides the system cannot do multiple events in one weekend, yet. But we’ll get there.”

Koopmans adds, “We have had a few teething problems, but everything onsite this year worked well and I’m very positive that cashless systems will become normal at events very soon.”

As much as Germany’s powerhouse festival outfit is embracing cashless tech, in the UK there are signs that the biggest players are also coming to the party. Live Nation chief operating officer, John Probyn, reveals he first looked into adopting cashless payment systems at festivals three years ago, but was not convinced the systems on offer were sufficiently robust. That has apparently changed. “We have been testing systems this year and the most important aspect is the emergency back-up system. Based on what I have seen this year I am a lot happier,” Probyn tells IQ. “Essentially, the issues are loss of connectivity or power. Power is dead easy to solve and connectivity is getting easier.”

Probyn has been listening to festivalgoers and weighing up the challenges and advantages of going cashless. He is now convinced it is worthwhile and will adopt a cashless payment system at one of Live Nation’s UK festivals next summer. “I entered into lengthy conversations with Download festival fans on the forum, which was a big help. Will a cashless system make people buy more tickets to festivals? Probably not. Will it enhance their enjoyment of the event? Probably not. Will it make the whole process of making transactions onsite easier?

Yes. It means they can spend money more easily and we can account for it more closely,” Probyn says.

Glownet’s cashless chip reader

Fully cashless events in 2014 Rhythm Wine & Brews (US), Snowjam Davos (CH), Majales Brno (CZ), Majales Prague (CZ), Majales Hradec (CZ), Mysteryland (US), Digital Dreams (CA), Stavernfestivalen (NO), Slottsfjell (NO), Vinjerock (NO), Pik Nik Electronique (CA), Taste of Toronto (CA), Squamish (CA), Electric Zoo (US), Summerdays (CH), TomorrowWorld (US), Wine Amplified (US), Corona Capital (MX), EDC Orlando (US), Taste of London Winter (UK), STHLM Fields (SE), Best Kept Secret (NL), Indian Summer (NL), Northside (DK), Bravalla (SE), Open Road (HU), Standon Calling (UK), Toronto Festival of Beer (CA), Smukfest (DK), Rhythm & Vines (NZ), BW Summer (NZ), Minipax (TR), Galtres Parklands (UK), Mysterious World (MY)

Cashless demos & VIP areas Contributors (left to right): Okan Tombulca (eps), Melvin Benn (Festival Republic), Cyrill Stadler (Yourope), Folkert Koopmans (FKP Scorpio), Serge Grimaux (Intellitix), John Probyn (Live Nation), Paul Pike (IVS), Steve Daly (ID&C)

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Eurosonic (NL), ILMC (UK), Electric Daisy Carnival (MX), Taste of London (UK), Creamfields (UK), Blues N Roots (AU), London Calling (UK), Wireless (UK), Rock Am Ring (DE), Nibe (DK), Getaway Rock (SE), Frequency (DE), Hevy Fest (UK), 7th Sunday (NL), Bilbao BBK (ES), Dcode (ES), Camp Bestival (UK), Secret Garden Party (UK), British Summertime (UK) Data supplied by Intellitix, ID&C, Glownet

IQ Magazine November 2014

Sheer Class There may only be one man and his guitar on stage, but, as Gordon Masson discovers, the number of people performing ‘live’ behind the scenes to make Ed Sheeran’s global arena tour such a success, pays tribute to the close-knit crew, who are having the time of their lives on the road…

I

t’s appropriate that Ed Sheeran is represented by artist management company Rocket Music, such has been his rise to headliner status. A combination of fantastic songwriting and a tireless work ethic have seen the 23-yearold touring pretty much constantly for the last five years. But the results are there for all to see.

His second studio album, X (pronounced ‘multiply’) is the biggest seller in the UK this year. But his stardom around the world is equally as impressive, as sales of his ongoing arena tour prove. A slew of 19 dates across North America, promoted

by AEG Live affiliate, The Messina Group, has been followed up by a 49-date routing around the UK and Europe, while the untitled tour will cross oceans to Asia, South America and Australasia in 2015, making it a truly global affair.

Paying testament to Sheeran’s love for live performance, the jaunt in North America was immediately preceded by a number of festival appearances, including the likes of Rock in Rio Lisboa; Pinkpop in the Netherlands; Southside in Germany; Glastonbury and T in the Park in the UK; Switzerland’s Montreux and Pukkelpop in Belgium.

What makes Sheeran stand out from other headliners is an unfailing ability to transfix a room, whether it be in an intimate jazz club, or the The O2 arena in London, where, over four sold-out nights, more than 60,000 witnessed his artistry, alone on a giant stage. Indeed, when told about Sheeran’s solo performances, this writer (probably like many others) assumed that there would be at least some element of supporting musicians, backing vocalists or dancers to complement the artist’s on-stage presence. But no; what you get at an Ed Sheeran gig is Ed Sheeran, his guitar and an ingenious, high-tech loop station, controlled on stage by the young troubadour.

Or at least, that’s how it appears on the surface. Because while the impressive spectacle is just Sheeran and his layered loops, his loyal crew, by necessity, are also tasked with performing their own duties ‘live’, reacting to what the star of the show is doing on stage.

Summing up the feat that Sheeran manages to pull off, night after night, city after city, Spanish promoter Barnaby Harrod borrows the words of another observer: “I came to see one of the shows at The O2 in London and somebody said to me that they haven’t seen anybody with just a guitar mesmerise an audience like that since Bob Dylan,” reports Harrod, whose Mercury Wheels operation is promoting Sheeran’s debut Spanish shows, in Barcelona and Madrid, in late November.

London shows promoter Steve Tilley, of Kilimanjaro Live, states, “Artists that can capture the moment come along once every ten years and Ed’s ability to effortlessly mix the R&B and urban worlds with the acoustic and folk side of things, makes him truly unique.”

And AEG Live’s Simon Jones adds, “I think Ed has taken other people by surprise, but not the promoters, agent or the record label, because we all knew there was a lot more in the tank from the last tour. The fact that he can have 15,000 people in an arena eating out of his hand is so impressive to witness.”

Artist manager Stuart Camp comments, “Ed makes records so that he can perform live, not the other way around. We do have a strategy for his live work, but the fact is that he just loves performing to a crowd, so it’s not a complicated strategy.”

One Man Band

O

f course, taking a truly solo act from clubs and theatres to arena and shed level is no mean feat, and one of the main challenges for those helping Sheeran to maintain the personal, intimate shows he has become famous for, has been exactly that – how can one man on stage in a room with 10,000 fans and more, still deliver that warm and cosy performance?

“A lot of other tour managers are saying we have an easy job because it’s just Ed on stage on his own, but the opposite is true – it’s harder designing a show around just one person on stage than the standard band,” says tour manager Mark Friend.

According to production designer Mark Cunniffe: “The challenge is how to build a production behind Ed that does not kill him. There are moments in the show that have to be huge – You Need Me is a real assault on the senses, for example. But there are also moments that have to be small and intimate.”

One of the options in designing the production for the arena tour was to look at a configuration in the round, putting Sheeran in the centre of the room. “Ed did not fancy it,” says Cunniffe. “So the solution was to put the screen behind him, rather than at either side. But the screen is broken up into 14 screens of different shapes and sizes that move around during his performance.”

Production manager Chris Marsh notes, “The key for Mark with the screens has been to design things so that you’re not looking at relay screens right or left. Ed Sheeran has the talent to pull off playing on his own to an arena, but we on the production crew have to have the skills and creativity to deliver that to the entire audience. The person at the very back

Photo © Ben Watts

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Ed Sheeran Sheeran’s spectacular use of video screens. Photo © Mark Surridge

of a venue needs to be able to see that glint in Ed’s eye, as well as feel the thumping guitar and it’s our job to produce that experience.”

Doubling up his PM duties with those of sound, Marsh continues, “Because Ed is on stage on his own, there is nowhere to hide. He cannot have an off night, and, as a result, neither can the crew. One bit of feedback during his performance will mean that it’s in the loop on that particular song for maybe six minutes. So if I make a mistake, I would hear it over and over, again and again.”

Of course, with audiences these days demanding bells and whistles for the price of their tickets, such expectations presented another aspect for the design team to consider. “We spent a good proportion of the budget on the content,” reveals Cunniffe, adding that the desire was to create something engaging, yet stripped back to accompany Sheeran’s performance. “It’s all hand drawn, but it’s under-produced and has a real earthy feel to it.” Namechecking the individuals behind that content, Marsh adds, “It was all created by Damien Hale from Treatment, apart from the bespoke pieces for One, which were drawn by Musta Shrik.”

Utilising Technology

D

elivering such a slick show of course involves a lot more than meets the eye and it’s not surprising that Sheeran’s show, which is, after all, based around the technology of a loop station, uses some never-used-before wizardry to help the production team achieve their goals.

“One of the main challenges is trying to convince people that there is only one person on stage,” laughs TM Friend.

“When we send over our tech specs to venues and promoters, people always suspect that we’ve sent the wrong details.”

One of Sheeran’s secret weapons is the Chewy Monsta – a loop station that the artist and his crew have developed and which Friend believes delivers a better experience to the audience. “It’s an essential piece of equipment for the show. Ed wanted it to work the same as his old tech station, but we’ve added some features.”

IQ Magazine November 2014

Marsh states, “The Chewy Monsta was made a reality by John Jenkins and Sean Lascelles. We used to use an old Boss loop station, but the quality was quite poor and the loops were compressing a lot. So we now use Abelton Live running Mobius as a VST Plug-in and the rest is all hardware.”

Making sure the visuals can be mixed live, also called for a groundbreaking solution. “We’re using a new piece of software called Demolition, which was developed by a very clever guy called Matt Swoboda at D3,” says Cunniffe. “Demolition is very much a beta testing project at the minute – we are the first tour to use it. We’ve used other products in the past, but there was nothing on the market to allow us to work with pencil drawn animations until Demolition came along.”

As well as the high tech efforts to make the show as seamless as it appears, there are some other historic-based remedies that make the most of Sheeran’s musicianship.

Marsh explains that luthier Stradivarius would sit his violins on seats next to orchestras because vibrating the strings helped improve acoustic quality. That 300-year-old concept also figures in Sheeran’s equipment. “Ed’s guitars used to be reinforced, as he really does hammer them. But reinforcing them really changes the tone, so we stopped that,” says Marsh. “Now we use something called Tonerite, which is a wobbler that sits across the strings. Before Ed touches any guitar, we’ll have used Tonerite on it for about 70 hours.

It’s really important, but a lot of people don’t realise how necessary it is to the sound.”

As Sheeran thumps the guitar body to create his bass sound, the crew have also had to take special steps to make sure they make the most of that. “I take the bass on a separate channel,” explains Marsh. “Through a lot of experimentation, I found that a Fishman Mini-Q pick-up was best for Ed’s bass, but the problem is that it has been discontinued. Martin Guitars scrambled everywhere to find us those pick-ups, while they also make Ed’s guitars specifically for us. If the guitar is not right, then that’s where it can all start to fall apart.”

Working closely with Marsh on sound is Andy Banks from suppliers Major Tom, who comments, “We’ve been providing gear to Ed for the past three years and it’s great to see an artist that you really like just growing and growing.

Chris has taken a long time to put together a team that he has hand picked, so the fact that they are getting to work in bigger and bigger venues is just great for all of them, and, of course, all of us suppliers.”

Elsewhere, readily available equipment, such as simple truss systems, have been deliberately chosen for the tour, and Friend says that steps have been taken in an effort to resolve every conceivable issue. “We have a back up loop pedal, just in case that breaks and everything that Ed uses on stage can be quickly replaced if it goes wrong.”

The tour uses six cameras to capture Sheeran’s every move– four robot cams on stage, a front of house camera and a slash cam. However, in keeping with the slimline nature of the production, the two live cameramen double up as the LED techs during load-in. “If a screen goes down, we can take one of them off camera to deal with anything quickly,” says head of video, Phil Mead. “There’s no timecoding,” he reveals. “The content is all split into bits because with Ed it cannot be a locked down show. It means that he can add a verse or whatever to a song and we can deal with it.”

That attention to detail is applauded by Kilimanjaro Live

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Ed Sheeran

promoter Steve Tilley, who reports, “On the first night at The O2, I went up to the seats farthest from the stage to get an idea of the experience for those fans. Midway through the second song, I saw [head of audio] Charlie [Albin] making his way up the steps and sitting down to listen to the acoustics for himself.

That says it all about Ed’s team – they care deeply and go above and beyond to make sure they put on the best show possible.”

Friend and family

position, working with a fantastic artist who really wants to work. And we’ve put together a fantastic crew that really has become like a small family.”

The artist’s cousin, Murray Cumming, is ever on hand to document life on the road as the tour videographer, and that feeling of family permeates from the top down. That mentality was reinforced during Sheeran’s support act slot on Taylor Swift’s Red tour last year. “Ed and the crew lived in Nashville for four months,” Friend discloses. “The crew rented a house

T

aking an arena show on the road obviously involves a team of production specialists, but Sheeran’s solo performances rely on a select squad of long-term collaborators, each of whom has a personal relationship with the artist.

“We have a very small core crew that we do shows and promo with,” says Friend. “The entire tour party is 35 people including bus and truck drivers. If you include merch then we have five trucks – four in America – and three buses.” Friend has been working with Sheeran since 2011 when he used to drive the artist around in his car to pubs and clubs in the UK, whilst earning no money. However, it was evident to Friend that he was working with a special talent and he can recall vividly seeing Sheeran perform for the first time at the Trinity Ball in Dublin.

“I like working with someone who likes to work,” Friend continues. “With some artists – and some crew – it’s a chore, and I always wonder why the fuck they are doing it in the first place. But I genuinely enjoy my job. I’m in an amazing

Lighting and screens in harmony. Photo © Mark Surridge

Ed Sheeran Sheeran’s multiple screens in motion during his latest tour

and flew back and forward from gigs. It was cheaper than everyone being in hotels seven days a week, but it also helped reinforce a really strong bond between everybody.”

Those bonds are put to the test on a nightly basis during a segment of the show that is identified on the set list as ‘Ed’s Choice’.

“Every day is different with Ed, with a different energy,” states Marsh. “Nothing is set in stone: for instance if he breaks a guitar string, he’ll just rip it off and work with it.

But once he hits the clear button at the end of a track, that’s it gone; the song will never be played the same way again.

There’s also Ed’s Choice when he’ll decide to play any tune that comes into his mind to suit the mood of the room – or to maybe change the mood.”

As nobody has a clue as to what the song of choice will be, the crew have to be on point each and every night to react and make sure that the sound, lighting and visuals match what the star attraction is playing to his audience.

Lighting director, Paul Smith, finds himself under more pressure than most. “When Ed goes off-piste, that’s my favourite part of the show – it’s a bit like being at a pub gig, because it can go anywhere,” says Smith. “I call the show, so when it’s Ed’s Choice, I have to quickly work out what he’s playing, communicate that to everyone and decide where we take it with lights, video, etc.”

Head of audio, Charlie Albin comments, “It’s my favourite part of the show too, because it gives us all the opportunity to be creative on a night-to-night basis.”

Head of video, Phil Mead, notes, “Ed is always adding songs, changing songs or dropping songs from the set list,

and that’s helped grow all of our skill sets to the point where everyone can react to any kind of spontaneous changes.

Everyone on this tour is performing live on the night, so we are all kept on our toes. It’s great fun.”

While obstacles experienced on other tours can quickly take their toll on personnel, LD Smith says Sheeran’s crew positively relish finding solutions to production problems.

“When we go into smaller venues, that can be a challenge.

Trying to keep the essence of the show no matter what the venue is can be tricky and it means we have to do a lot of reprogramming, but it would be boring if everywhere was the same,” says Smith.

Show designer Cunniffe discloses, “We have a get out of jail card for anything Ed comes up with, so we have the best

Ed Sheeran

part of 30 tracks programmed for the visuals and we know which treatment to put on the cameras for each of those songs.”

Confirming that loyalty among the crew runs deep, Mead adds, “It’s very much a family atmosphere. [Stage manager] Matt [Caley], Charlie [Albin] and myself have all been with Ed for a long time now and on this tour we’ve all become heads of our departments, which is just an incredible opportunity for each of us.”

And it’s not just the travelling crew that voice their respect for Sheeran. Andy Cotton of Try Anything Once (TAO) Productions comments, “My job is to do all the health and safety prep, so contacting the venues in advance, as well as dealing with any issues as they arise. This tour has a lot of moving set, so there’s a need for lots of signage to make sure that any VIPs and meet & greets are kept safe – as well as making sure the equipment is kept safe – when they go backstage to meet the artist.”

Cotton tells IQ, “Everyone on the tour is at the top of their game. There’s a premise, which starts with Ed and permeates down through the crew, that they are in the business of entertainment, so what they are doing should be fun. Anything that needs attention, from a safety point of view, just gets done. There’s never an argument, which is a refreshing attitude in this business.”

Adding to that feel-good factor was the decision to allocate some of the tour budget to catering. “One of the major developments for this tour is having Eat Your Hearts Out with us,” says Marsh. “Having catering on tour is huge for morale.

Generally, everyone sits down to have dinner together, Ed included. Buy-outs are cheaper, but it’s not just about getting decent food: it’s really important that caterers know what we had to eat yesterday or a week ago, or whatever, so that they can offer us different meals, as well as cater to individual needs or wishes.”

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Universal Appeal

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oyalty isn’t just confined to the crew and contractors.

In addition to being a world-class musician, songwriter and performer, Sheeran is an ambitious artist with a longterm vision. His determination and undeniable work ethic has been backed by a career strategy overseen by manager Stuart Camp at Rocket Management, with the help of agents Jon Ollier at Free Trade for his international appearances, and Paradigm’s Marty Diamond in North America.

When it comes to marketing, Camp contends that the best weapon they have is the word of mouth element between fans on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Indeed, Sheeran’s website also has links to YouTube, MySpace, Soundcloud and Tumblr, stressing the importance placed on social networks, while his cousin Murray’s videography coverage means that there are photos of every single crowd at every single date that Sheeran plays.

That strategy is backed up by Sheeran’s promoters.

Barnaby Harrod at Mercury Wheels in Spain confirms, “We’re doing quite a lot of social media stuff. Ed hasn’t played in Spain before but we sold out the Barcelona show really early.” Harrod’s work with Free Trade Agency on a number of acts prompted Ollier’s approach to him to become Sheeran’s promoter in Spain and the strategy of leaving the fans wanting more is again being put to work. “I was optimistically cautious, but the sales just blew up, so it’s been fantastic. We could easily have added Valencia and Bilbao to the routing, but the thinking behind his appearances is spot on – it’s a great way to build an artist.”

“The first show we did with Ed was the first time he played Switzerland, in the 1,100-capacity Kaufleuten,” recalls Johannes Vogel at Zürich-based Allblues Konzert.

“Eight weeks before we have sold 600 tickets; a week later it

IQ Magazine November 2014

Ed Sheeran

Suppliers: Travel Agent: The Appointment Group Ground Transport: Double E Rigging: Knight Rigging Services Health & Safety: TAO Productions Sound: Major Tom Catering: Eat Your Hearts Out Lighting: Neg Earth Video: Colonel Tom Ltd Freight: Global Motion Trucking: KB Event was sold out. So I assume something happened in between.”

Allblues next Sheeran show, on 19 November, is at the 3,000cap Maag Halle, which sold out within two days. And he returns in January to the 13,000-cap Hallenstadion where 12,000 tickets were sold, three months in advance.

Despite the demand for tickets, however, Vogel is confident team Ed has the right strategy in place. “Ed is phenomenal!” states Vogel. “There’s no other artist, currently, who connects to such a wide audience: not only 16-year-old girls, also people in their 40s, or, like me, 50s.” But Vogel is happy with the cautious decision not to overplay the market. “16,000 people within two months is simply amazing – and enough for the moment. Ed is still a very young guy; he deserves some more air to grow.”

Such patience and understanding among the promoters pleases Camp, who discloses, “We didn’t do a lot of marketing for this tour, just a couple of billboards and stuff. I never take anything for granted, but things are going well on this tour. We have in no way broken America yet, but that leg of the tour was great, so we’re getting there.” Quizzed on ticket pricing, which is comparatively low compared to other arena shows, Camp states, “Pricing has always been a big issue for us. We want tickets to be affordable so that Ed is accessible to as many people as possible. We don’t do VIP tickets, for instance. It’s a constant fight between us and the agents versus the promoters who are surprised that we refuse to let them charge high ticket prices.”

He continues, “I guess for someone on their second album to be in arenas is a bit surprising, but he’s more than

capable of doing it. To be honest, when we started playing arenas on the tail end of the first album cycle, that felt a bit premature, but now it seems very natural.” He adds, “Ed would not be here if it wasn’t for his production crew – it’s their knowledge, expertise and contacts that have found the equipment he needs on stage. And the promoters who took a risk on him so early have also been a huge help.”

Sheeran’s promoters are among the chief beneficiaries of his meteoric rise to fame. Steve Tilley, of London-based Kilimanjaro Live has been working with the artist since November 2009. “Jon [Ollier], who was Paul Boswell’s assistant at Free Trade at the time, invited me down to see Ed at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, where he played in front of about 30 people and he was just brilliant. Jon and Stuart [Camp], knew he was great and wanted to get him in front of as many people as possible, so I just got him as many gigs as I could.”

Such loyalty has since delivered Tilley his first headline shows at Brixton Academy, where he sold out two nights; five nights at Hammersmith Apollo, which sold out in a day; and on this tour, Tilley’s first ever headliner at The O2 arena, where Sheeran performed four sold-out gigs. “Ed’s success is an incredible story and it’s just an honour to be involved,” Tilley continues. “His work ethic is stunning; he’s extremely clever and he hasn’t changed a bit – he’s extremely polite and treats everyone like they are a normal person. He’s very down to earth, but he has music running through his body and is always looking to help other artists.”

Simon Jones of AEG Live has been working with Sheeran since 2011, promoting his shows in Scotland. “On Ed’s first visit, he sold out three Barrowlands in Glasgow, as well as an Usher Hall,” Jones recalls. “We could easily have added more dates, but Jon Ollier was determined to keep the powder dry, and that’s one of the reasons we’re now at arena level in Scotland. It’s a great collaboration. The whole team, including Atlantic Records, gauge where Ed should be playing and when. And so far we’ve got it spot on.”

Elsewhere in the UK, Daniel Ealam at DHP Family first promoted Sheeran in 2010 in Nottingham’s Stealth club and on the back of that performance booked him for the Dot to Dot Festival. “Jon Ollier persuaded us to put Ed on a bigger stage, so we took the punt and by the time the festival came around he was fourth on the bill of the main stage and easily had the busiest crowd of the day,” reports Ealam, who was also the first promoter to put Sheeran into an arena. “We started out with a 4,000 configuration at Nottingham Arena, but by the time of the show that was extended to 7,000,” he says. “No matter what stage he plays, he just totally owns it.”

Kilimanjaro’s Tilley agrees. “Ed’s ability to capture a room is incredible – he did it on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Such stage craft is hard to find.” And he has a very simple theory to explain Sheeran’s success. “It’s all about the songs,” states Tilley. “They connect with ordinary people. My girlfriend said that the mark of a great song is that it can be played at all the big life events – weddings, funerals and christenings. I believe that his next single, Thinking Out Loud, will become one of those songs.”

FKP Scorpio promote Sheeran in Germany and Sweden, while this tour sees them co-promote with Beatbox. Company founder Folkert Koopmans is a fan and can remember his first booking well. “He played the smallest stage at our

Sheeran backstage, with videographer Murray Cummings, talking to guitar tech Trevor Dawkins

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IQ Magazine November 2014

Rolling Stone Weekender Festival – maybe 100 or 150 cap – and he was amazing,” he says. In 2012, Sheeran played both a spring club tour and an autumn theatre tour in Germany.

“Now we’re doing six arenas in Germany, one in Sweden and one in Denmark: it’s kind of unbelievable how big he got so quickly. To be honest, I expected him to return with a band this time, but he doesn’t need to – what he does is incredible.

There are not many acts who sell out so far in advance, but Ed is really hot right now. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s just him on his own when we get to stadium level.”

Irish promoter Aiken Promotions kicked off the current European tour with four nights at the 3Arena in Dublin. “We did three dates last year so I was always confident that this would be bigger,” says Aiken’s Bren Berry. “When he first came to Dublin, we had Wheelans (cap. 400) holding, but it became obvious that Ed was going to be much bigger, so he went straight to Vicar Street (cap. 1,500).” Indeed, Sheeran has gone on the record declaring Vicar Street as his favourite venue, delighting his Irish promoter. “Ed and his people are a joy to work with – management, agent and crew are a promoter’s dream,” reports Berry. “I’ve never seen one man make arenas look so small. He fills the place; he just has an incredible stage presence. And his production team just up their game all the time. They do an amazing job with the sound, lights and visuals.”

Such accolades are well earned. But the crew themselves are as excited as anyone to see what Sheeran does next. Rumours abound of a bigger production and, perhaps, the solo show going into stadiums. Head of video, Phil Mead, concludes, “The fact is that we haven’t done a single show with a band yet, so there’s lots more to come from Ed Sheeran.”

Camp simply smiles when asked about rumours of a summer stadium tour. He comments, “In our minds we know what we’re doing until autumn next year. After that we’ll see, but I think there will be a new album in early 2016.” But whether Sheeran plays festivals, arenas, stadiums or club shows, his manager’s favourite pastime has not changed since day one. “My greatest pleasure is talking to people who have just seen Ed perform for the first time. He consistently blows people away and it’s just fantastic to hear people’s reaction to his shows.”

Artist Party: Ed Sheeran, Stuart Camp (manager), Mark Friend (tour manager), Murray Cummings (videographer)

Crew Party: Chris Marsh (production manager/sound), Amanda Thomson (production assistant), Trevor Dawkins (backline), Mathew Caley (stage manager), Philip Mead (head of video), Paul Smith (lighting director), Charlie Albin (head of audio), Omar Franchi (rigger), Lindsey Haney (video director)

Agents: International – Jon Ollier (Free Trade Agency) North America – Marty Diamond (Paradigm)

IQ Magazine November 2014

IQ Magazine November 2014

Dealing with Drugs Are festivals being blamed for society’s failings?

W h ile a ci d e u rb a n a t a fe b o th in l i ce n si

m u si c n t a n d ce n t r e s, st i va l ca t h e e ye n g a u th

e ev m o th n d s o o r ity

n t s st a t i st i ca l l y h a ve ve r y l o w r t a l i t y r a t e s co m p a r e d t o m o st e m e d i a f r e n zy a r o u n d a d e a t h o i r r e p a r a b l e h a r m t o t h a t e ve n t , f th e p u b lic a n d th e a ll im p o r ta n t . Robert Ashton i n ve st i g a t e s…

Forget festival headliners writing newspaper headlines, something far more toxic has been behind live music stories recently. And usually they feature the words ‘drugs’ and ‘death’.

Where once stage collapses or stampeding crowds could be blamed for the occasional accidents and fatalities blighting the live season, the last couple of years has seen column inches rack up with tales of festivals awash with ecstasy, ketamine, methamphetamine and a whole raft of designer drugs and socalled legal highs.

As IQ went to press, news was still emerging from the Amsterdam Dance Event where three people died as a result of taking drugs. Local police said a 21-year-old Dutch man, a 33-year-old Serbian man and a 41-year-old Dutch woman had each died in unrelated incidents, but all apparently involved drug use.

Prior to those tragedies, estimates put drug-related deaths at festivals around the world at close to 20 over the last 12 months with fatalities recorded at New York’s Electric Zoo, LA’s Hard Summer, the Pemberton Music Festival in British Columbia, Electric Daisy in Las Vegas, Asia’s Future Music Festival and Toronto’s Veld Music Festival.

And the UK isn’t immune from these drug tragedies: at the end of summer 2013 an 18-year-old woman died after taking ketamine at the Boomtown Fair in Winchester; a Glastonbury Festivalgoer died this year – also from a reaction to ketamine – and a 22-year-old was found dead after Creamfields.

With global festival audiences easily reaching the tens of millions, statistically that’s a small number. And some festival organisers and drug experts believe it is simply the success of live music, the ubiquity of music events and high

IQ Magazine November 2014

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Dealing with Drugs “ The media pays so much attention to this. No death or injury is ever trivial, but I think there is some hype around this as there are always accidents and death in the general population.”

Laurie Kirby, I n te r n a tio n a l M u s ic F e s tiv a l C o n f e r e n c e ( I M F C O N )

media profile that has drawn the spotlight to the sector. Paul Jamieson, executive director of Florida’s SunFest says “The rapid rise in the number of festivals would cause there to be more incidents. The proliferation of festivals could well be leading to events being organised by less experienced promoters which could create more incidents.”

Laurie Kirby, president and CCO of Austin’s International Music Festival Conference (IMFCON), also questions whether there has been a spike in incidents. “There have always been accidents. Festivals are probably safer now, because of new regulations and professionalism, than they have ever been. The media pays so much attention to this.

No death or injury is ever trivial, but I think there is some hype around this as there are always accidents and death in the general population.”

Leading drug counsellor and director at Safe and Sound Welfare, Katy MacLeod, also suggests the plethora of new festivals, better recording procedures and social media has skewed the reporting of statistics – and alcohol is still the biggest problem for her organisation at festivals. She says, “It feels like things that always happened at festivals are suddenly reported more frequently. This is especially true with drugrelated cases. If you compare how suspected legal high or ecstasy-related deaths are reported to other drug deaths, such as heroin or alcohol, it is quite a contrast.”

But, even one death is unacceptable and an insidious drug problem could soon snowball out of control with legal highs being produced at an exponential rate. These substances produce similar effects to illegal drugs, but are not controlled, often because they are too new for legislation to keep pace: in

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the UK, for example, it takes time for a new concoction to be added to the list in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

There has been a strong link between drugs and dance music since early raves in the late 1980s, where MDMA and ecstasy were the drugs of choice. And with many of the deaths in the US coming at dance-based festivals, some criticise EDM events for propagating the problem. However, few experts are willing to single out dance festivals. Kirby and others concede that “some genres” of festival are more prone to drug use because of age and culture, but adds, “drug use is not limited to EDM.” Paul Reed, general manager of the UK’s Association of Independent Festivals, which operates a zero tolerance with drugs amongst its members, is also loathe to point the finger of blame at one sector. “I don’t think it is necessarily a genre problem. It is a problem for all festivals,” Reed observes.

So, what can be done? Most believe increasing penalties against festivals is not the answer. Reed suggests that every safeguard imaginable can be put in place, but it will never be a 100% guarantee against an accident. Kirby adds, “There are two ways to address the problem: prevention and punishment.

Prevention is clearly a more desirable way. MacLeod agrees.

She says, “I think there needs to be acceptance by authorities and licensing boards that drugs will feature at any event and not penalise events further.”

In fact, the consensus view is for existing and new festival promoters to focus their energies on better security, improved education and awareness and putting in place robust welfare and safety provisions. However, most concede that security has to be balanced carefully with providing the right atmosphere. “If you get too hardcore and start searching everyone, then you take away the feel of the event,” says Steven Wood Schmader, president and CEO International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA).

Jeremy Sare, drugs policy consultant at the Angelus Foundation, which educates individuals about the risks of legal highs and has worked in partnership with the AIF, argues legislation has no role in tackling legal highs because it cannot keep pace with new chemical formulas. Because the strength and effects of legal highs can sometimes be far more intensive and dangerous than illegal drugs, Sare argues that public awareness is key. “When you talk to people there is still a feeling they know what they are doing, but the new stuff is so powerful and can cause terrible reactions,” he adds.

Contributors (left to right): Katy MacLeod (Safe and Sound Welfare), Laurie Kirby (IMFCON), Paul Jamieson (SunFest), Steve Schmader (IFEA), Paul Reed (AIF)

IQ Magazine November 2014

Dealing with Drugs

In tandem with Angelus, the AIF has started a programme of education. In May, more than two-dozen UK festivals, including Glastonbury, T in the Park and Bestival, shut down their websites and social media accounts to draw attention to the problems and risks of legal highs. The digital blackout, which impacted around 750,000 people (the combined audiences of the festivals taking part), carried the message ‘don’t be in the dark about legal highs’ and a light bulb graphic which led users to five key facts about legal highs.

“The problem is people equate ‘legal’ with safe. But there are major risks because of the unpredictability of these drugs.

It’s like playing Russian roulette,” explains Reed. “There is a great knowledge base around illegal drugs and alcohol, but very little is known about legal highs.” With the AIF working hard with its members to explore solutions to the issue of legal highs, Reed adds, “I don’t see it as job done; the problem is unlikely to go away overnight.”

Electric Daisy in New York, which has experienced drug overdoses, has also explored education as the key to unlock the drug problem. At its August event it required attendees to watch an anti-drug public service announcement before they were able to activate their wristbands. The two-minute film,

“ There is a great knowledge base around illegal drugs and alcohol, but very little is known about legal highs.”

Paul Reed, A s s o c ia tio n o f I n d e p e n d a n t F e s tiv a l s .

Come To Life, showed the risk of taking unknown substances.

Nonetheless, Schmader questions the effectiveness of this, and similar moves, unless they are underpinned by other measures. “There are plenty of anti-drug commercials already out there. If people come to take drugs, they will. It’s kind of like saying ‘don’t smoke’,” he argues.

Alongside education and awareness, welfare provision is also seen as a key aspect to control the drug problem.

Andi Spowart, production manager at Hereford’s Nozstock, whose offering is about 50% dance music, has established welfare tents that provide a safe haven for anyone suffering the symptoms of excessive partying – dehydration, dizziness, overheating. “It’s a place where people can be brought down gently, a comfortable place to unwind,” he states.

MacLeod believes welfare workers are crucial, as they can support medics and also make early interventions before someone becomes a medical emergency. “Good welfare provision will often build drugs education into their service,” she says. “Other simple things like making access to water easy and having chill spaces at festivals, which encourage people to take breaks, can do a lot to reduce potential drugrelated harm.”

Whatever mix of security, education and welfare provision festivals provide, all promoters and drug experts agree on one thing: the time to act and put at least some of these measures in place is now. “No one wants to see people leaving a festival in a body bag,” says Schmader. “We as an industry have seen there is a problem and need to take a lead on sorting it.”

Fans in the Paradiso club during a previous Amsterdam Dance Event

IQ Magazine November 2014

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Photo: Breakout Festival Š Martin Hughes

IQ Magazine November 2014

CHARGE OF THE LIVE BRIGADE H o w d o y o u s ta y c o n n e c te d o v e r a tw o - , th r e e - , o r fo u r - d a y fe s tiv a l w h e n y o u r s m a r t p h o n e o n ly h a s a b a t t e r y l i f e o f a f r a c t i o n o f t h a t ? Christopher Austin t a l k s t o t h e i n n o v a t o r s w h o a r e s o l v i n g a v e r y 2 1 s t c e n tu r y p r o b le m …

Music fans have grown used to being able to access content whenever and wherever they desire and that expectation does not stop once they have pitched a tent at a music festival.

The rise of the smartphone has led to audiences not only wanting to relish the excitement of a live performance but to share their thoughts and associated images with friends online via social media.

Festival organisers are increasingly commissioning the development of complex mobile apps that assist festivalgoers to navigate the often vast sites, more effectively plan their viewing pleasure and even help them find their way back to their tent at the end of the night.

Once limited to texting and grainy photos, the rapid evolution of mobile phone technology has outpaced developments with battery life. With fans using their phones for festival apps, videoing performances and streaming content, there is huge demand on battery power.

Fortunately, this increased demand has been countered by the emergence of a dynamic, flourishing new group of festival traders. In addition to the concession stands where fans can leave their phones to charge, or lockers fitted with charging facilities, there is a new power generation developing innovative and appealing ways to help festivalgoers plug in and turn on.

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, mobile phone power supplier Volt APS was the brainchild of three graduates of the Technical University of Denmark, who came up with the idea while attending Roskilde in 2011.

One year later they got the backing of the university and Roskilde to develop and test a portable phone charging device at Roskilde and the Skanderborg Festival. With a maximum of 500 customers per festival they sold out within one day at each event.

In 2013, Volt rolled the service out to 19 festivals across Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland and in 2014 it serviced 38 festivals including UK and US events such as the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.

The Volt system incorporates

IQ Magazine November 2014

the use of a 68 x 68 x 12 mm charger that weighs 70 grams, roughly half the size and weight of an iPhone. Customers hire a charger, take it away and once it has been drained are able to replace it free of charge for another, guaranteeing they are never unable to get power. Chargers can be booked in advance or hired onsite.

Volt COO Rune Schostag Nielsen says its website attracted 300,000 hits in 2014 with a 30% conversion resulting in 90,000 charger hires. In an increasingly competitive market, Neilsen says it is vital to continuously evolve the offering: “Our charger is the best on the market, we totally rebuilt it for 2014 and it is designed specifically for a festival environment so it is very strong and water resistant.”

Another operator that offers portable phone charging devices is UK-based Charge Candy. In 2009, the company started offering drop-off charging, where a phone is securely charged at a stand before being picked up later. Initially operational at four UK festivals, Charge Candy now has an office in Spain and will begin operating in continental Europe in 2015.

Charge Candy director Neil Mackay claims the company offers the biggest capacity portable chargers on the market.

At 5200 milliamps, they can charge two phones. The company has seen strong demand for the portable devices but continues to offer a ‘leave behind’ service due to demand. “We are the only company in Europe that provides both options. We have conducted research that shows that many people still want to leave their phone with us because they don’t like the responsibility of having to remember to return a charger,” says Mackay.

Another major operator in this emerging sector is PlugGo, which provided its portable power chargers to more than 200,000 people this year. The company was founded by two enterprising young Dutchmen who secured VC funding to bring it to the market, breaking the USA and getting into six European countries in its first year.

“This year PlugGo exclusively serviced over 40 festivals worldwide, including Tomorrowland, Rock Werchter, Lowlands, Pinkpop, Bonnaroo, Sonar, Festival Number 6 and loads more,” says head of UK business, Steve Jenner. “The

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PlugGo’s chargers in use at a festival

EE’s highly popular Power Bar

USP’s are a cheaper pricepoint for the user; a better deal for the promoter; and a super-fast production line on-site – this year we achieved a service rate of 54 customers a minute at one major festival!”

Mobile phone charge suppliers are increasingly tapping into festivalgoers’ environmental concerns and providing them with innovative, fun ways to power phones with renewable energy.

Music industry trade body Julie’s Bicycle has launched Powerful Thinking, a think tank involving energy suppliers and event organisers, including Festival Republic and Shambala, looking at the type of energy used on festival sites and trying to find ways to increase efficiencies onsite and upscale the use of renewable energies.

“We are taking learnings from that and plugging them into a Europe-wide campaign called E Music. Backed by the European Commission it is focused on energy efficiency in the music and production sector across festivals and venues,” says music coordinator Chiara Badiali.

She believes mobile phone charging is a low risk way for festival organisers to get to grips with working with renewable energy: “Phone charging is an easy way in to it as the levels of power required are not particularly high, it tends to be cheap to setup and is really interactive for audience members.

Pedal power is particularly popular. For organisers it is a very visible way to demonstrate that you are looking into more sustainable ways to run a festival.”

However, fans are also turning to non-green solutions for their communications needs at festivals, namely buying a spare handset. Indeed, the likes of mobile phone retailer Carphonewarehouse even lists five of the best festival phones, from the cheap, no-frills Samsung E1200 to the waterproof Sony Experia Z2.

Mat Sears has worked for telecoms giant Orange, now EE, for more than a decade and has been closely involved in its sponsorship partnership with Glastonbury. Orange debuted its Chill and Charge tent at Glastonbury in 2002, attracting around 80,000 users, and became an annual fixture at the event.

The Recharge Pod was revealed in 2007 in partnership with Got Wind. A seven-metre structure complete with wind generator and solar panels, it could simultaneously power 100

Volt’s simple charging units

Charging

mobile phones. Other innovations include a Dance Charger that harnessed the kinetic energy emitted by audience members and wellington boots were fitted with power generating soles.

“My favourite was the power charging T-shirt, it was covered in a film that reacted to sound waves, converting them into energy. It works very well for festivals where there is a loud environment, not so well anywhere else,” says Sears.

This year EE sold out of £20 Power Bars at Glastonbury. The success of the branded portable chargers has enabled the company to reduce the size of the Chill and Charge tent.

Earlier this year, Firefly Solar enabled the UK’s Shambala Festival to operate entirely with renewable energy. It also works with festivals such as Secret Garden Party to partly power the events with green energy.

Working for clients including brands and charities such as Water Aid and Oxfam, Firefly has offered numerous enjoyable ways for mobile phone owners to get charged up at festivals, including the use of playground power at Ireland’s Electric Picnic Festival, which incorporated an electricity emitting human hamster wheel and seesaw.

Bike power has also proved a hit. “People like to see the correlation between the pedalling they are doing and the power it generates on their phone,” says Firefly Solar, senior account manager, festivals & public events, Richard Randall.

With a phone owner needing to cycle for a solid hour to gain a significant charge on one device, Firefly also offer battery banks that store the power generated by bikes and can charge up to 50 phones simultaneously.

“Environmentally friendly phone charging is a great first step for consumers and festival organisers toward embracing renewable energy on a more widespread basis,” Randall says.

Contributors (left to right): Chiara Badiali (Julie’s Bicycle), Mat Sears (EE), Neil Mackay (Charge Candy), Richard Randall (Firefly Solar), Rune Nielsen (Volt), Steve Jenner (PlugGo)

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IQ Magazine November 2014

LATIN AMERICA Parte Uno A h e a d o f a ps e ci a l f o cu s o n L a t i n A m e r i ca a t n e xt ey a r ’ s ILMC, IQ i s r u n n i n g a t w o - p a r t r e p o r t o n t h e b u si n e s i n t h e S o u t h A m e r i ca n co n t i n e n t . I n P a r t I , Adam W oods i n ev ts i g a t e s t h e d i v e r se r a n g e o f m a r ke t s o u t si d e o f t h e b i g t w o ( A r g e n t i n a a n d B r a iz l ) …

FOR ANY AGENT who wants to know how a secondary South American market is bearing up, there are usually worse places to start than the global news pages of a major newspaper.

In post-Chávez Venezuela, where the currency is hitting new lows and departing US corporates are having their factories seized, we can take it this isn’t a great moment for a couple of shows. In Peru, where growth has averaged 6.4% annually over the past decade, or Colombia, where kidnappings have fallen by 92% since 2000 and even the once notorious second city of Medellín is booming, we might accurately assume there are deals to be done.

It is well-known, of course, that Brazil and Argentina are the markets that dominate the South American live business from an international perspective, with Chile a solid third.

But elsewhere, territories such as Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay – The Economist’s ‘country of the year’ in 2013, no less – are too vibrant to be dismissed out of hand.

Certainly, plenty of major tours have touched down in those spots in recent years. Just for a sample, Metallica visited Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Paraguay this year; Madonna and Beyoncé have both set the seal on Medellín’s reinvention with major shows at the city’s Estadio Atanasio Girardot; the Rolling Stones’s 2015 South American tour (widely rumoured but not confirmed at the time of writing) is expected to land in Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia and Costa Rica, in addition to the dates in Brazil and Argentina that are now standard for a major touring act.

It’s no surprise, of course, that there is money to be made in a continent of 387.5m inhabitants, sprawling over 17.8m square km and containing 47 cities of more than a million people. But that very scale is also what makes South America’s emerging markets a challenging proposition, and equally makes touring circuit growth hard to find.

Freight and transport become expensive and airborne as you leave the safe ground of the established Brazil-ArgentinaChile circuit, where most of a tour’s revenues will always be

generated. And, Brazil aside, the heavily centralised nature of most of South America, where large proportions of any given country’s population inhabit the capital city, means that local tours within countries are uneconomical for most international acts.

“That’s actually the big problem with South America,” says Christian Krämer of Medellín-based CK Concerts, which also has offices in Ecuador, Chile and Peru as it builds its touring business. “We have a huge continent that’s as long as Norway to Central Africa and as wide as the UK to Afghanistan or so. And then we have basically seven cities you can play,” he laughs. “More or less. Maybe ten or 12, but not much more than that.”

In terms of that circuit’s expansion, Brazilian cities beyond Rio and São Paulo (such as Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and other increasingly visited spots) are often more likely to make their way onto more ambitious itineraries than more northerly capital cities, though the biggest and most intrepid travellers – Paul McCartney and Iron Maiden are particularly avid South American tourists – can often find a way to get off the beaten track.

The two largest Latin American promoters, the Mexican giant Ocesa and Fernando Luiz Alterio’s Brazil-based Time 4 Fun, are both active wherever they need to be across the continent, and they both maintain long-standing partnerships with Live Nation. The former maintains an office in Bogotá, and the latter has an operation in Chile to add to its heavy presence in Argentina and Brazil.

In addition to numerous local promoters and entrepreneurs, Move Concerts, formerly Evenpro, is the largest independent promoter in South America, with bases in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru and Puerto Rico, to add to its Miami head office. Returning Argentinian giant Daniel Grinbank, meanwhile, who has scooped up the Rolling Stones once more, has offices in Chile, Uruguay and Peru.

Left: Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell on stage with Jane’s Addiction at this year’s festival in Chile

IQ Magazine November 2014

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Move Concerts recently promoted Queens of the Stone Age gig on their South American tour. Photo © Marcos Hermes

Latin America - Parte Uno

“Peru has truly become a fun stop: great food, doesn’t rain, so for outdoor shows, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Phil Rodriguez, Move Concerts

CHILE CHILE’S STATUS as the third-biggest live music market in South America owes itself equally to a strong set of local promoters, an indoor arena that is the envy of virtually every nation on the continent, and the easy routability of Santiago from Buenos Aires, a two-hour flight or a lengthy but wellpaved 1,500km drive away.

“The logistics mean you can play those three countries just by trucking,” says veteran promoter Carlos Geniso of DG Medios.

“To go from Santiago to Lima, you have to fly all the equipment; same if you want to go to Bogotá; same if you want to go to Ecuador or wherever.” As ever, those wondering when the South American circuit is going to expand into colourful and unfamiliar new cities need to bear in mind such immovable logistical issues.

Relatively robust against the widespread currency devaluations that have put other South American markets under the heel of the dollar this last year, Chilean promoters are still taking things relatively carefully just now.

“Here it is more healthy, not so out of control as other countries in the region,” says Geniso. “If you have the right act, the fans will pay, but you still need to keep the right level.”

Two nights with Michael Bublé recently sold well for DG Medios at the Movistar Arena, which takes 15,000 standing and 11,000 seated, while 30 Seconds To Mars and Arctic Monkeys are coming in October and November, respectively.

Besides DG Medios, Brazilian live music giant Time 4 Fun has a major office in Santiago, while other promoters include

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metal specialist Transistor and Lotus Producciones, the latter of which brought the continent’s first Lollapalooza in 2011, ahead of a trend which has subsequently been picked up in Brazil and Argentina with much success.

Another major player is Santiago-based Fauna Prod, run by Pía Sotomayor, Roberto Parra, Andrés Echeverría, Gustavo Greene, Marcelo Millas and Camila Greene, which was created in 2009 with the purpose of bringing bands and DJs to Chile for an audience eager to listen to new music trends.

Shows this year have included Damon Albarn, Yo La Tengo, Woodkid, Spiritualized, Sky Ferreira, Bonobo, Hot Since 82, Au Revoir Simone, Mac Demarco, Âme and Jagwar Ma. “Our main event this year is Movistar Primavera Fauna, the festival we have promoted since 2011,” says Sotomayor.

“The line up includes Real Estate, Yann Tiersen, Tame Impala, Beirut, Mogwai, Four Tet, The 2 Bears, 2 Many Djs, The Lumineers, Icona Pop, Lee Foos & Anabel Englund, Maxxi Soundsystem and many more.”

“In the past, nobody did festivals in South America, and we have always wanted to do them since we started in 2005,” says Lotus’s Sebastián de la Barra. “It is a new thing in Chile, but Lollapalooza is the biggest one by far. There are others, 20,000cap or less, but Lolla is 70,000 per day for a two-day festival.”

Four Lollas in, De la Barra and Lotus associates have journeyed to Glastonbury and elsewhere to bring fresh ideas to the embryonic South American festival scene. “We always try to improve the experience with green efforts, more stages, more sound systems, more things happening,” he says. “We try to deliver something different even compared to other Lollas.”

Lotus also promotes shows of a mainly alternative type, building tours in partnership with other promoters including Argentina’s Fenix and Colombia’s T310, and will bring a first edition of Sónar to Santiago next year.

In other Chilean news, a mooted new law aims to make it obligatory for international acts to use local support. “We don’t know that it’s going to happen,” says Geniso. “It’s not a problem – it’s just up to each international act to approve the local talent.”

IQ Magazine November 2014

Megadeth’s gig for CK Concerts in Quito, Ecuador

Latin America - Parte Uno

COLOMBIA

“ When one big artist comes, then pretty much for three weeks before or three weeks after, we don’t want to put on any other shows, because those are just too big, they take the whole market.”

Stefan Lehmkuhl, Melt! Booking

PERU DESPITE RECENT INDICATIONS of a slowing of growth, Peru is something of a buzz market among South America’s emerging nations.

“Peru has truly become a fun stop: great food, doesn’t rain, so for outdoor shows, it’s a beautiful thing,” says Move Concerts founder Phil Rodriguez. “Lars from Metallica was telling me Lima has become his second-favourite city in Latin America. It’s got surfing, all the historical stuff; it routes very well with Chile and it has a lot of flights and a lot of cargo flights. Lima is a hub for a lot of the airlines, and as a promoter that is the kind of thing you look for.”

According to reports in 2012, 75% of a rash of big-name international concerts backed by local entrepreneurs lost money. Veteran promoter Jorge Ferrand, who has staged shows by Paul McCartney, Roger Waters and Elton John in Lima, has pointed to a dramatic over-supply in relation to the country’s buying power.

Where Argentina might be reckoned to have a concertgoing audience of a million and Chile 300,000, Peru is closer to 100,000, though its economic success – and the parallel growth of the country’s newly affluent middle class – put that figure on an upward path.

In recent years, Peru has moved beyond its gold rush days and into something more sustainable and considered. Nonetheless, the mega-tours, when they come, can create big waves. Aside from the fact that big-time shows remain a balancing act whose success depends on exchange rates remaining favourable between the signing of the deal and the payment of the fee, there is also a view that they can, in smaller markets, suck the life out of the local business for long periods.

“When one big artist comes – the Rolling Stones are confirmed, U2 are in negotiations – then pretty much for three weeks before or three weeks after, we don’t want to put on any other shows, because those are just too big, they take the whole market,” says Krämer.

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AS LARGE AS COLOMBIA is (with 48m inhabitants and three cities of more than 2m, including Bogotá, whose population is scarcely less than that of London) it is often held to be a fairly strange sort of market for international music.

Metal and hard rock sell well and Colombia is an important hub for Latin touring acts, but until very recent years, gig going wasn’t a particularly popular local pastime. Even now, Colombia is one market an act is advised not to visit more than once every three or four years for fear of pulling a dramatically diminished crowd.

With more than 180 rainy days a year in Bogotá, outdoor shows don’t offer guaranteed fun. The city’s 1970s indoor arena, Coliseo Cubierto el Campín, has lived with a bounty on its head for at least a decade, though it has still seen Miley Cyrus, Ricardo Arjona, Juanez and Alejandro Sanz play to crowds of around 10,000 in recent years. The 36,000-capacity stadium, Estadio El Campín, was reopened for concerts in 2012 when a law was passed to open up the nation’s stadia for non-sporting use. McCartney inaugurated the new era, Foo Fighters are booked in for January 2015 and One Direction played in April.

Possibly more intriguing is the city of Medellín, popularly known as the most violent city in the world during the rein of local drug lord Pablo Escobar. Twenty-one years ago, when Escobar was shot dead on the run, it would have been impossible to imagine Madonna playing two nights in Medellín, as she did for Ocesa Colombia in 2012.

“The city is being very proactive,” says Rodriguez. “They are putting it on the map, being very forward-thinking, working very hard to get rid of the stereotypes that were established in the 80s and 90s.”

Another prominent local promoter is T310, which ushers Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and Queens of the Stone Age through Bogotá this autumn and operates the threeday Estéreo Picnic at Parque 222, north of the city, with its international-leaning alternative bill.

URUGUAY AS EVERY BRUISED England football fan will recall, Uruguay has only a little more than 3.4m inhabitants, making it smaller, in population terms, than such giants as Moldova and Mauritania. Nonetheless, Montevideo’s 800-capacity La Trastienda club welcomed the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age just a few days either side of IQ’s conversation with Danilo Astori Sueiro, director of Gaucho, promoter of both shows, and of the club itself. That’s what you call punching above your weight.

“Both of them had been here before, three or four years ago, and played big outdoor venues, so we understood that for the second time we had to do something different,” says Sueiro.

Opinion seems divided on whether Montevideo’s proximity to Buenos Aires, a four-and-a-half-hour ferry hop across the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, is an advantage or not in terms of its ability to draw an artist and a crowd. On the one

IQ Magazine November 2014

DG Medios promoted last year’s Blur gig at the Pista Atlética national stadium in Santiago

Latin America - Parte Uno

PARAGUAY

“ There’s three or four big promoters [in Uruguay] and plenty of good shows, and sometimes it is difficult for people to save enough money to do every gig. So sometimes it gets really difficult.”

Danilo Astori Sueiro, Gaucho hand, bands that are already in the neighbourhood can fairly painlessly add a show; on the other hand, some promoters feel the two markets are a little too close for comfort.

Sueiro, which operates the Uruguayan office of Argentinian promoter PopArt Music, tends to think the two countries work well together, though in spite of bringing New Order, The Pixies and Vampire Weekend to the country in April for Gaucho’s MercadoLibre festival, he concedes that there are limits.

“Uruguay is a small country and Montevideo is a small city – we are one million people,” says Sueiro. “There’s three or four big promoters and plenty of good shows, and sometimes it is difficult for people to save enough money to do every gig.

So sometimes it gets really difficult.”

High taxes account for somewhere in the region of 23% of the gross on each ticket sold for an international artist (the proportion is less for local artists) but if a promoter can convince the authorities that a show has cultural importance, that burden can be eased.

Contributors (left to right): Christian Krämer (CK Concerts), Carlos Geniso (DG Medios), Danilo Astori Sueiro (Gaucho), Phil Rodriguez (Move Concerts), Sebastian de la Barra (Lotus Producciones), Pía Sotomayor (Fauna Prod)

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TOO MUCH COULD BE MADE of Paraguay’s favourable geographical positioning on the north-eastern shoulder of Argentina and the western border of Brazil. Alright, the country shares borders with the continent’s most frequented concert markets, but the capital city of Asunción is still a solid 1,300km from either São Paulo or Buenos Aires, and is a good 17-hour drive from both, all being well.

Nonetheless, in the words of Phil Rodriguez, Asunción routes “relatively well” between the big three, so while it may not overflow with touring traffic, it has seen visits from artists such as The Cure, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, the Pet Shop Boys and others in 2013 and 2014.

“One interesting thing about Paraguay is you have a relatively stable currency,” says Rodriguez. “Last year, the economic growth of the country was very strong,” he adds, pointing to GDP growth figures of 13.6% – although more than 30% of the country still lives in poverty.

The 80,000-capacity Hipódromo de Asunción, usually known simply as the Jockey Club, is the usual venue for heavyweight international acts, and has welcomed Shakira, Maroon 5 and Lady Gaga. Given that 30% of Paraguay’s 6m-strong population live in and around Asunción, it’s fairly clear that Paraguay will always be, at best, a one-city market.

Nonetheless, it remains substantially more developed for live music than its north-western neighbour Bolivia, where international artists generally fear to tread.

ECUADOR QUITO IS ECUADOR’S CAPITAL, and it’s where the currently ubiquitous 30 Seconds To Mars played in early October, at the Agora Casa De La Cultura Ecuatoriana, the 4,500-capacity shed that represents the main venue for visiting acts. A band of Metallica’s size, meanwhile, can turn to the Parque Bicentenario, and they did so in March.

The port city of Guayaquil, though, with its booming local rock scene, is fractionally the biggest city. It would be a stretch to suggest that Ecuador is a thriving two-centre market, but in November, David Guetta is booked in at Guayaquil’s 8,000-capacity Estadio Christian Benítez (formerly Parque Samanes, but renamed for the tragic local football hero who died suddenly last year) while Demi Lovato came through Plaza Lagos in May. CK Concerts, which brought Megadeth to Quito in April and will have James Blunt coming in March 2015, maintains an office in the city and a soft spot for the country.

“I like Ecuador, just like I like Peru, because they are not so oversaturated yet, but it’s all coming,” says Krämer. “I remember five years ago or so, everyone talking about how South America is the place where artists get bigger money than Europe or the USA. But that’s all past now, so it is a pretty normal situation here.”

IQ Magazine November 2014

Members’ Noticeboard

Bestival won the Smart Marketing Campaign of the Year for their Mirror Ball concept at the inaugural Festival Congress Awards, run by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF). The festival’s promoter, Rob da Bank, is also co-founder of the AIF, so he must have been delighted to pick up the Outstanding Contribution accolade. At the first edition of his organisation’s event. Outstanding.

by’s, signs a copy of the tome for Philip Hook, author of Breakfast At Sothe toph Scholz at the event in Munich.

Touring Exhibitions Meeting organiser Chris

Crew supplied by Showstars recently helped set-up and run the Lollibop Festival, but were able to take some time out to meet some of the event’s superstars. Apparently, there were some crowd control issues when performers handed out sweets, prompting the young audience to storm the stage and refuse to leave…

What better way for Bono to celebrate spamming half a billion people, um, we mean U2’s historic album download deal with iTunes, than sharing a beer with Live Nation supremo Michael Rapino and band manager Guy Oseary.

The team at music PR specialis ts LD Communications had a rare treat recently when disco pioneer Nile Rogers insisted on a ‘selfie’ with his publicists on a trip to London.

Pictured (l to r) with the great man are Doug Wright, Ali Castriotis, Alex Karol, Jane Kearney, Rosie Eng land, Mo Qazalbash and Emma Elw ood.

The Agency Group’s Anna Bewers (one of this year’s New Bosses) married Tom Pennington at a ceremony in Twickenham, UK, last month, followed by a reception where agent Anna celebrated with a well earned glass of bubbly.

Paolo Nutini was at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow recently to launch a partnership between the arena and music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.

Pictured is seven-year old Jamie Nicholson, who, like Paolo, is from Paisley and has benefitted from the charity’s work.

If you, or any of your ILMC colleagues, have any notices or updates to include on the noticeboard, please contact the club secretary, Gordon Masson, via gordon@iq-mag.net

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IQ Magazine November 2014

Your Shout

With Halloween around the corner, what is the scariest thing in the music industry at the moment?

TOP SHOUT We have loved this challenge. After what can only be described as days of intense negotiation and discussions across AEG globally we have settled on the following: the scariest thing in the music industry at the moment was 20,000 One Direction fans struggling to get on to our creaking Wi-Fi at The O2.

Nothing got capital expenditure budget approved quicker than for investment in HD Wi-Fi! Rebecca was on duty that evening and can testify that nothing is scarier than a disgruntled 1D’r who can’t log on to Instagram or Twitter and tell Harry, Niall, et al. how amazing they are!

Barney H ooper & Rebecca K ane, The O 2 arena

The UK’s biggest selling artist of the year must be scaring the hell out of session musicians and backing vocalists: Ed Sheeran – one man and his guitar selling out arenas and now, apparently, looking at stadiums. Let’s hope there aren’t too many copycats out there or the employment figures could take a hammering.

The prospect of Ebola spreading to Europe is the scariest thing in decades.

One hint of an epidemic and the first step the authorities will take will be to shut down large gatherings of people – so that’ll be your sporting events, festivals, concerts and every other part of the live entertainment business.

Anonymous

G ordon Masson, IQ Magazine

The scariest thing in the music industry at the moment is the prospect of artists giving away free mobile phones with their records. To deal with this threat, the main industry players should make a deal with Tesco to give actual or virtual Tesco Club Cards with each sale so that buyers can collect club points.

In the good old days, these would have been Green Shield Stamps!

Orthodox terrorism is the scariest thing in the Russian live industry nowadays.

Ed G rossman, MG R Touring

G ina Durante, IQ Magazine

V ladimir K ravchenko, Colisium Music Conference

People who pay loads of money to go to a concert and then spend the whole time taking selfies and posting them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, scare the hell out of me.

Apart from Paul Boswell, it has to be the debt bubble that is called Live Nation waiting to explode/implode at any time in the not-too-distant future.

Anonymous

U2 delivering a feeble album, dumping it for free, or rather force-feeding it to the known universe, and being managed by their promoter (or vice versa)... all the time trying to keep up the pretence of being socially responsible, coupled with Apple keeping up the pretence of being cool and having taste – pretty scary all round...

Nick H obbs, Charmenko

That the jazz market is imploding…

H illel W achs, 2b V ibes Music

Lorde’s mother! (Please do not attribute this to me – I’m actually scared of her!)

Anonymous

If you would like to send feedback, comments or suggestions for future Your Shout topics, please email: info@iq-mag.net

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IQ Magazine Novemeber 2014