IQ
50 Years of Montreux VIP: Wish You Were Here? Barry Clayman at 80 Family Entertainment Australia/New Zealand
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I GUESS THERE IS NO ONE TO BLAME, WE’RE LEAVING GROUND, WILL THINGS EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN? ISSUE 66
Contents IQ Magazine Issue 66
Cover: Heck performing at Download Festival 2016 © Ben Gibson
News and Developments
6 In Tweets The main headlines over the last two months 8 In Depth Key stories from around the live music world 12 Busy Bodies IQ’s page for industry associations to share business concerns and news 13 New Signings A round-up of the latest acts that have been added to the rosters of international agents
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18 Techno Files Revealing the hottest new technology in live entertainment
Features
20 Wish You Were Here? Eamonn Forde examines ten of the most outrageous VIP festival experiences 24 In Clayman’s Terms IQ celebrates the 80th birthday of live music industry pioneer Barry Clayman 36 Family First Eugenia Durante learns about the new revenue streams that are helping to grow the family entertainment sector 42 50 Years of Montreux As Montreux Jazz Festival marks its golden anniversary, Gordon Masson discovers the event still evokes the spirit of the late Claude Nobs 50 Australia/New Zealand IQ’s correspondent down under, Lars Brandle, reports that the antipodean markets are enduring a business downturn, with fewer acts visiting their shores
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Comments and Columns
14 A Mobile Threat Tuomo Tolonen explains why the live music industry could be under threat from the smartphones in our pockets 15 State of the Agency Business Jules de Lattre urges agents to exercise caution in maintaining trust with clients as new opportunities become available 16 Let it Happen! Wilbert Mutsaers reminds us all how powerful live music’s effects can be if we just let it happen 17 From Busk ‘til Dawn Dr Julia Jones explains why street performance, as a vital grass-roots circuit, is under threat in the UK 19 Members’ Noticeboard Keeping you posted on what ILMC members are up to 62 Your Shout “If you could go back in time to change one world event that happened in your lifetime, what would it be?”
IQ Magazine July 2016
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Europe: The final countdown Bemused by Brexit? You’re not alone, says Gordon Masson
Issue 66 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE
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uch has been written about the UK’s decision to exit the European Union – and lots of it has been far more articulate than I can currently be, given that I’m still angry and flabbergasted that my fellow citizens chose to go it alone (and when I say citizens, I’m referring to myself as British, although I’m proud that in my native Scotland 62% voted to remain). But at the time of writing, the repercussions of the referendum are still hitting in waves. On a political level, Prime Minister David Cameron is on his way out of Downing Street, but Boris Johnson, one of the key people behind the Leave campaign, has ruled himself out of the race to be the next PM. The coward. On a business level, the most immediate impact has been on the currency exchange rates. Sterling nosedived against the dollar, post Brexit, while the euro is also suffering, meaning that promoters across Europe who have not previously bought dollars to pay visiting US acts could see any profit margins disappear for summer festivals and beyond. And should the pound and euro fail to recover, offers for American talent in 2017 could be significantly down on this year’s fees. On a human level, Brexit is undoubtedly the worst political event that has happened in my forty-something years on the planet, and I know I’m not alone in feeling deeply ashamed and worried by the decision of the majority of those who voted in the referendum. It’s still very early days and there are a number of theoretical scenarios that could still mean the UK will indeed remain part of the EU. But that’s perhaps
IQ Magazine July 2016
THE ILMC JOURNAL, July 2016
the optimist in me (and millions of others) desperately clutching at straws. Ironically, the UK’s exit from the EU could result in the demise of the United Kingdom itself, with Scotland now considering an independence referendum as a means of it remaining part of the EU. But with politicians in other nations also now pushing for similar referendums, Scotland may well find that the EU it hopes to join is a union in turmoil. Only time will tell, but one thing that will not change is that many millions of people throughout the continent, myself included, will continue to view themselves as being European, or even citizens of the world – maybe our governments won’t participate in Brussels-based democracy, but that doesn’t mean us individuals have to change our outlook on life. And it certainly doesn’t mean that artists, agents and promoters will stop doing business with each other across borders. Working in the music industry is an enormous privilege and the lifelong friends that I have made throughout Europe and beyond are testament to the fact that music, unlike any other art form or activity, unites people, no matter what religion or race they are, or their political standpoint. Living as I do in what is now a deeply divided country, I’m hoping music can help heal some of the wounds that certain unsavoury elements of society are now looking to rub salt into. Rest assured, ILMC has always been an international and therefore European minded organisation, and we’ll remain so despite what some of the UK’s ill informed population might believe.
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
News Editor Jon Chapple
Associate Editor Allan McGowan
Marketing & Advertising Director Terry McNally
Design
Martin Hughes
Sub Editor
Michael Muldoon
Editorial Assistants Ben Delger, Sina Klüver
Contributors
Lars Brandle, Jules de Lattre, Eugenia Durante, Eamonn Forde, Dr Julia Jones, Wilbert Mutsaers, Manfred Tari, Tuomo Tolonen, Adam Woods
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: sina@iq-mag.net An annual subscription to IQ is £75 (print) or £60 (electronic).
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News
In Tweets... MAY New ‘tech free’ British festival Samphire Arts raises over £42,000 from crowdfunding. A reduced-capacity T in The Park is given the green light for 2016. Belgian EDM festival Tomorrowland expands its live-streaming activities to Germany, Japan, Israel and more. Live Nation launches a $20 summer ticket sale to coincide with National Concert Day 2016. AEG Live-owned promoter Goldenvoice confirms Desert Trip three-day concert series for October 2016. AEG Live announces new festival Texas Mutiny, to be held at Fort Worth in September. Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena launches a search for a new naming partner as its partnership with the credit-card provider expires. The Spanish Supreme Court orders collection society SGAE to abolish its “abusive” box-office tariff. Live Nation reports 10% revenue growth, driven by Ticketmaster, high-profile tours and ticket resale, for Q1 2016. Live Performance Australia criticises the 2016 federal budget as a “cull” of the sector. Producers of the sold-out Broadway musical, Hamilton, consider doubling premium ticket cost due to mass touting. Russian conductor Valery Gergiev reveals plans to perform a concert in the ruined city of Palmyra, Syria. NextVR teams up with Live Nation to broadcast concerts in virtual reality. Public performance royalties paid out by PRS for Music grew by 4.1% to £175.2 million in 2015, the UK society reports. SFX’s largest unsecured creditor, Alda Events, files a lawsuit against the bankrupt promoter citing non-payment of $23.6m for its partial acquisition. UK Music welcomes ‘music fan’ & Agent of Change supporter Sadiq Khan as new London Mayor. AC/DC with frontman Axl Rose deliver “masterly first appearance.” Stevie Wonder and others honour Prince at his public Los Angeles memorial.
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Plans are approved for a $250m, 22,000-capacity stadium for MLS expansion by Los Angeles Football Club. NY’s Carnegie Hall celebrates 125 years with a gala concert starring the likes of James Taylor and Yo Yo Ma. The Vector Arena in NZ will become The Spark Arena from April 2017 in a naming-rights deal with Spark New Zealand. Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival reveals plans to live-stream its 2016 edition. Goldenvoice’s Desert Trip event sells out both weekends, thanks to a superstar bill. South American live entertainment giant Time For Fun buys into Planmusic, the Brazilian concert promoter run by Oscar Niemeyer. Mumford & Sons manager Adam Tudhope launches a petition demanding tough penalties for UK ticket touts. A US judge denies Songkick’s request for a temporary injunction in its court battle with Ticketmaster. Spain’s leading ticket resale site, Ticketbis, sues Doctor Music for libel, claiming the promoter is engaging in a smear campaign against the secondary market. UK ticket tout, John Lupton, who sold over £400,000 of fake concert and sports tickets, is jailed for three-and-a-half years. Germany’s Tomorrowland spin-off, UNITE, sells out in under an hour. The Swiss Music Promoters Association calls for criminalisation of ticket resale in Switzerland. The Argentine government bans Justin Bieber from entering the country for his Purpose tour. Online marketplace, Alibaba Group, discloses plans to move into concert ticket sales with expansion of its existing $2bn ticketing business. Latin American indie promoter, Move Concerts, launches new Maximus rock festivals in Brazil and Argentina. Independent, family friendly event Elderflower Fest wins ID&C’s sixth Grass Roots Festival Bursary. Britain’s biggest nightclub operator, The Deltic Group, confirms that it is seeking a buyer. Celine Dion extends her Vegas residency by a further 12 shows.
@iq_mag StubHub expands its reach with the acquisition of global ticket resale platform Ticketbis, which has operations in 47 countries. CTS Eventim’s Q1 results show a decline of 21% in earnings, largely down to a number of high profile tours last year. However, overall revenues increased 7.6% to €163.2m in the quarter compared to 2015. Live Nation stakeholder Shapiro Capital Management buys 1.7m additional shares of LYV stock. Japanese singing hologram, Hatsune Miku, headlines two sold-out shows at the 2,200-capacity Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.
JUNE
Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis confirms he is in talks to hold a 2019 event in the grounds of the Longleat estate. The UK music industry assembles a taskforce to tackle US work visa problems. DHP Family acquires London venues The Garage and The Borderline from Live Nation. Ticketing giant CTS Eventim increases its stake in FKP Scorpio to 50.2%. Venue management conglomerate SMG is sold for $3.43bn. Chinese Internet giant Tencent and Beijing-based mobile ticket service Weiying Technology invest $85m in South Korean music company YG Entertainment. Legendary Manchester music mogul Alan Wise dies aged 63. Belgian festivals report struggling ticket sales as foreign visitors stay away following terrorism incidents in Brussels. White-label ticketing firm FanXchange secures $5m in funding from Azure Capital Partners/Plaza Ventures. Music download store HMV Digital enters into a commercial agreement with eight independent UK music festivals to market its download service this summer. The final days of Rock am Ring in Germany and the Governors Ball in New York are called off due to severe weather. A new pan-European association uniting over 20 of the continent’s music export offices launches at Midem.
IQ Magazine July 2016
News Hatsune Miku in Concert
Egyptian promoter, Nader Sadek, is arrested after police shut down a “satanic” Sepultura show in Cairo. Argentinian live music legend Daniel Grinbank launches Festival BUE, which will be held 14-15 October in Buenos Aires. Participants at the Free and Public Events Roundtable in the UK call for a festivalspecific PRS tariff for British festivals. Romanian electronic music festival Electric Castle reveals it will go fully cashless for 2016, using Intellitix for access control and payment systems. 2.5m trees could be saved if Britons switched from paper tickets, according to handset retailer Mobiles.co.uk. Pills that “protect against hearing damage” will be handed out at Amsterdam Dance Event 2016. Abba perform together for the first time in 30 years to mark 50 years since Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson met. Nigerian concert promoter, Chris Ubosi, sues Jay Z and Roc Nation for allegedly failing to pay back a $160,000 deposit for a cancelled 2013 Rihanna show in Lagos. Bruce Springsteen will sell recordings of every live show from The River Tour. Mobile phone bungee clips are handed out at Download Festival to combat festival phone thieves. AEG Live enters into a multi-year agreement with Snapchat to promote its festivals. A high court judge dismisses a bid to have Wireless Festival banned from London’s Finsbury Park. Booking agency William Morris Endeavor expands its Chinese operation through a joint venture with Internet company Tencent Holdings. 10.4m music tourists attended UK festivals and concerts in 2015, according to a UK Music report. Spanish opposition politicians pledge to reduce cultural VAT from 21% to 10% during an Association of Music Promoters-hosted panel at Primavera Pro. Former concert promoter, Jack Utsick, who allegedly defrauded investors out of nearly $300m, faces up to 20 years in prison. The government of Gambia outlaws music for Ramadan.
Canadian live performance royalties grew to a record high in 2015, up 4.9% to C$39.6m from $37.7m in 2014, reports collecting society SOCAN. Burning Man Festival purchases a 3,800acre ranch in Nevada with the intention of creating a year-round site with potential to “amplify cultural impact.” In India, the tourism minister for Goa bans EDM events Sunburn Festival and Vh1 Supersonic from going ahead in the final week of the year. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority investigates whether four major secondary ticket outlets – StubHub, Viagogo, Get Me In!, and Seatwave – are adhering to their legal obligations. Foo Fighters file a lawsuit against Robertson Taylor and Lloyds of London for failing to pay out insurance for the band’s cancelled 2015 shows. All Tomorrow’s Parties (ATP) announces it is winding down its ailing live business with immediate effect. Live Nation shareholders re-elect the 2015 board of directors at the company’s annual meeting. Guevoura Fund, an investor that is currently suing Robert FX Sillerman, asks that the former SFX chief be stripped of his salary and health insurance. South Korean company LODEV launches a new smartphone-friendly ticketing service called TicketBox6. Booking agencies Adastra and Regent Music merge to become Strada Music. Goldenvoice offered Led Zeppelin $14m to play at its Desert Trip concerts, according to reports.
The state of New York makes the use of ticket-buying software a criminal offence. SFX Entertainment exits administration and announces its own revised rescue plan. A man dies after suffering serious burns in an “unexplained” accident at Glastonbury Festival site. Vadim Polyakov, the ringleader of a StubHub-hacking ticketing scam in Russia, faces 4-12 years in prison. German music industry magazine Musikmarkt states it will cease publication in July. Kelly Clarkson launches a mini-concert series, live-streamed on Facebook, from her home. Radiohead encourage fans to livestream their headline slot at Secret Solstice festival in Iceland. A €500,000 bad weather fund is created by Dutch culture minister Jet Bussemaker, to assist festivals hit by severe weather. Glastonbury chemists run out of meds as a virus outbreak is reported at festival. ELO announce Wembley Stadium show on the back of a triumphant Glastonbury Festival performance. FKP Scorpio experiences a nightmare weekend as severe storms force partial cancellation of its Southside and Hurricane events. To subscribe to IQ Magazine: sina@iq-mag.net An annual subscription to IQ is £75 (print) or £60 (electronic).
Want to share your views on breaking industry news? Then get involved in the discussion on Twitter: @iq_mag
IQ Magazine July 2016
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Movers and Shakers AEG Live has appointed music-industry veteran Jorge Melendez as chief financial officer – a position he held at Live Nation’s touring and global artist rights divisions for almost a decade. Mickey Curbishley, CEO of PRG Music Group, has announced his resignation. Explaining that he was leaving the company on 30 June, Curbishley said he had enjoyed 18 great years at PRG, but was now looking to “begin a new journey in this amazing and ever-changing industry.” Danielle Russell has returned from maternity leave to her music and events manager role at Wembley Stadium. Geoff Huckstep, chief executive of the National Ice Centre and Motorpoint Arena Nottingham announced his intention to retire after 15 years at the helm of the venue. Martin Ingham, current deputy CEO and finance director will take up the role on an interim basis. Former National Arenas Association chairman Huckstep says, “I have a few options that I am going to pursue… if only to avoid the gardening and the DIY list my wife has prepared for me.” Jockey Club Live, the joint venture between live music specialists Music+Sport and the UK’s leading racecourse group, has appointed Nicky Dunn OBE as its new chairperson. She was previously CEO of Belfast Odyssey Arena. StubHub has hired Perkins Miller as its new GM for North America. He was previously at NFL Media as chief digital officer and head of media operations. Pieter van Adrichem has been named marketing manager for Dutch music industry conference/ festival Eurosonic Noorderslag. He joins the organisation from the Bimhuis Jazz Venue. CAA has hired marketing and tour sponsorship exec Dave Aussenberg to help grow its music brand partnership business. Aussenberg was at Platinum Rye Entertainment, where he led its music partnership division. The Royal Albert Hall has announced the retirement of CEO Chris Cotton. The venue expects to appoint a successor by March 2017. Agent Mark Claassen has returned to the Nashville office of William Morris Endeavor after running his own agency, Elite Talent, for the past seven years. CAA has promoted trainees Sabrina Butera and Sam Forbert to booking agent positions in the company’s music department. Both are based in Nashville.
SFX Seeks New Rescue Strategy SFX Entertainment has axed the restructuring support agreement (RSA) it signed with shareholders ahead of filing for bankruptcy in February, announcing that it will instead work with its “‘constituencies’ to formulate a revised plan” to rescue the ailing dance music group. The original agreement the terms of which have seen SFX cancel the 2016 TomorrowWorld and Stereosonic festivals; cut
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staff numbers; and auction off its Flavorus and Fame House subsidiaries - secured the company US115m (€104m) in new financing and wiped $300m (€270m) in debt off its books. SFX, which says it will continue to work “cooperatively” with stakeholders and the ominoussounding “Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors,” says ditching the RSA will provide it with “the flexibility for more
comprehensive negotiations with all of its constituents.” Unless SFX can find a buyer quickly, it is difficult to see how long it can stay afloat in lieu of any new financing, but the company says “there is no set timeline” for formulating a new rescue plan. Following the termination of the RSA in mid-June, SFX, led by under-fire chairman Robert FX Sillerman, fell to a record low of $0.0125 per share.
CONTENT OVERLOAD LEADS TO LIVE MUSIC BOOM The global live industry will grow at a rate of 3% for the next five years, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is predicting, as an “increasing premium” is placed on live events, which are growing in popularity among smartphone-saturated consumers. Writing in its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2016–2020 report, PwC says: “With consumers now having an astonishing array of choice delivered to their hands via the content available on a smartphone, an increasing premium is placed upon the live experience: be that watching the Super Bowl on TV, going to the cinema or a gig or, increasingly, tuning in to e-sports tournaments.” PwC’s researchers also note that the decline in recorded music revenues has led to an increased dependence on live music for the music industry as a whole, which in turn “has changed the economics of the industry, with record companies extending their revenue streams to include live performance and concert promoters expanding into artist management.” The full report, which covers the music industry as a whole, as well segments on book publishing, cinema, internet access, internet advertising, magazine publishing, newspaper publishing, out-ofhome advertising, radio, TV advertising, TV and video and video games, can be purchased in full from the PwC website
IQ Magazine July 2016
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BELGIAN LIVE MUSIC MARKET HIT BY TERROR FEARS Belgium’s music festivals are struggling to sell tickets to foreign visitors, following the Brussels bombings in March. Belgium’s terror threat level currently stands at level three – indicating a “serious and real threat” – and Nele Bigaré of Live Nation observes, “the consequences of the attacks are clearly palpable,” leading to “significantly fewer ticket sales abroad.”
It’s not just festivals that have been hit: Paul-Henri Wauters, programme director of Brussels’ 2,000-capacity Botanique says his venue has witnessed a 6-7% slowdown in ticket sales since the bombings. Gate receipts are also down at Couleur Café Festival in Brussels, which reported a yearon-year sales dip of 30%, while Gent Jazz in Ghent reported “3,500 fewer than usual.”
One Belgian mainstay bucking the trend is Tomorrowland, which sold its entire inventory of 180,000 tickets in just one minute. It is worth noting, though, that tickets for the dance music event sold out in early February – or, as one prominent Benelux promoter puts it, “when people had forgotten about Paris.” The same situation
applies to the one-day TW Classic, headlined by Bruce Springsteen, which sold out in mid-February. In light of the terror threat, Rock Werchter, Tomorrowland, Graspop Metal Meeting, TW Classic, Dour Festival and Pukkelpop, are implementing stronger security on the gates, with “thorough” bag inspections and metal detectors.
Gun laws under fire after Orlando shooting Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is leading a chorus of American politicians calling for stricter gun laws in Florida following the massacre of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Florida. The attack on the club by Omar Mateen – a New York-born, former security guard who reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State
jihadist group – also sparked calls for the resurrection of a bill that would ban gun sales to suspected terrorists. Mateen was investigated by the FBI in 2013 after telling co-workers he was a member of Hezbollah, but the case was dropped after the bureau did not perceive him to be a threat. That proposed legislation was struck down by the US Senate,
and it seems likely that would again be the case should it go before America’s Republicandominated upper house. The Pulse massacre wasn’t the only recent shooting in Florida. The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie was gunned down while signing autographs after a show at a 1,300-capacity venue, also in Orlando, prompting music industry
figures to add their support for tighter gun control nationwide. Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s manager, urged “Americans to acknowledge we need a system to protect our future and the freedoms we claim to hold so dear. We need gun-control laws to add to our freedoms, not take away. We need to make the right decisions for the next generation.”
UK Resale Report rejects legislation route Responses ranging from cautious optimism to “bitter disappointment” have been voiced following economist Professor Michael Waterson’s long-awaited review of the UK ticket resale sector. The report, published in June, called for greater enforcement of the Consumer Rights Act (CRA), but fell short of recommending new legislation. The 227-page document rejected an outright ban on touting or a cap on resale prices. “The history of price caps in others spheres is not a propitious one, particularly where the set of sellers is not well defined; people find their way around them,” Waterson wrote. “There
IQ Magazine July 2016
is a question of who would enforce the cap and what resources they would employ.” The report included a number of recommendations for the regulation of ticket resale, including: investigation of compliance with the CRA, followed by police action where necessary; that enforcement action be taken over breaches of the CRA, imposing penalties of up to £5,000 per breach; that the government considers alternative approaches, such as mandatory resale licences for companies selling over a certain amount of tickets; and that the primary ticket industry, with governmental
support, should ensure greater transparency for consumers on pricing, refunds, availability and the range of different ticket sales outlets. Prof Waterson further recommended that event promoters should “seriously consider requirements for individuals to prove they are indeed individuals, by means such as confirmed identity technologies” and report bot activity to the police. And he believes the industry should “continue to develop comprehensive approaches, such as a common standard for confirming the authenticity of tickets and common terms, and to improve consumer
awareness of the standards and their benefits,” to reduce consumer confusion. The report was well received by a coalition of 35 British artist managers, agents, promoters and industry figures, including Mumford & Sons manager Adam Tudhope, ATC Live’s Alex Bruford, Adele agent Lucy Dickins, Jeff Craft of X-ray Touring, Coda’s Rob Challice, Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, Paul Pacifico of the Featured Artists Coalition and CAA’s Emma Banks and Mike Greek, who put their names to a statement welcoming the “pragmatic recommendations.”
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FESTIVAL PROMOTERS COUNT THE COST OF BREXIT The 23 June vote by the UK to leave the European Union has delivered an unwelcome surprise to festival promoters throughout Europe as they finalise preparations for the busy summer ahead. The most immediate effect of ‘Brexit’ (aside from forcing the resignation of UK prime minister David Cameron), was to send sterling into freefall: the British currency slumped to a 30-year low against the US dollar after the referendum result was announced. Neil Warnock, head of music worldwide at United Talent Agency, says many of the promoters he works with “had the foresight to buy their dollars when they were in the mid-$1.40s” (at press time, £1 will get you $1.34). One such promoter is Metropolis Music founder Bob Angus, who stocked up on dollars
to pay American acts playing V Festival in August. “For this year, we’re fine,” he tells IQ. “Obviously, if we wanted to get Americans in next year, the offers we can make won’t be as good if the dollar’s still up 15% on the pound, but at this point in time we just don’t know where the currency is going to end up.” One uniquely placed event is the Gibraltar Music Festival, which takes place 3-4 September. “Brexit has given us two problems to deal with – dollars and euros,” says the event’s Owen Smith. “There’s only one act that we’re paying in dollars, and we bought some of them beforehand, but a lot of our production costs are in euros and that’s a bigger issue for us. Even a few cents can make a big difference to us, so we’re keeping an eye on things in
Love Parade: Call for Justice Outrage over the decision of a German court to dismiss charges against those implicated in the Love Parade disaster has prompted more than 300,000 people to sign a petition urging a higher court to proceed with prosecutions. The tragedy in July 2010 claimed the lives of 21 people and injured more than 500 others, but despite six years of investigation, and ten employees of the city of Duisburg and of the company that organised the event, facing criminal charges, in April 2016, the Duisburg District Court rejected the prosecution case, stating that it failed to establish evidence for the alleged acts of negligence and their connection to the deaths. Shocked by the court’s decision, Gabi Müller, a mother whose only child, Chris-
tian (25), lost his life at Love Parade, launched an online petition via Change. org, demanding that the higher regional court in Düsseldorf, should bring the case to trial. Müller’s legal representatives, Baum Reiter & Collegen, and the Duisburg prosecution department have also filed an official complaint about the Duisburg court’s decision. By the end of June, the online petition had already gained nearly 340,000 signatures. Lawyer Julius Reiter says the petition is symbolically important. “You want to highlight that the decision of the District Court is not comprehensible, ” he states. “Disallowing a charge after about six years of investigation is a legal scandal. Those affected lack any understanding that a criminal clearance will now
case we need to look at the budget again.” While Angus doesn’t think UK festivals will have substandard line-ups in 2017, he believes ticket prices may have to rise if the pound does not recover. “When you’re at finite-capacity venues there’s only so much sterling there, so the only way you can counter it – to maintain those dollar fees – is to put ticket prices up.” Warnock remains upbeat. “The UK is strong and people want to deal with us, especially in the live music business,” he says. “We will increase the value of the pound back to where we were, and beyond. In the short-term there is chaos, but long-term we shall overcome, to quote the song. I voted to stay in Europe, but now that we’re out, we’ve just got to deal with it.” not take place.” Reiter adds that for the bereaved and for other victims at Love Parade, justice has not been served. The Duisburg court stated that testimony provided by crowd science expert Prof. Keith Still “suffers from serious methodological and contextual defects.” However, Reiter rejects that assessment, arguing that Still is an internationally recognised specialist. “The criticism of the Duisburg judge does not appear entirely free from arrogance to me,” says Reiter. “The prosecution and the Attorney General considered the report meaningful enough to base an indictment on it.” Reiter contends that if the judge was unconvinced by Still, a second opinion from another expert could have been requested. It is expected that it will take another couple of months before the Düsseldorf court decides if it will overturn the Duisburg ruling on a Love Parade prosecution.
Spanish showcase festivals enjoy growing numbers Barcelona played host to both Primavera Sound and Sónar festivals in June, with both events reporting successful editions, with numbers up and a substantial spread in their international reach. PrimaveraPro (the industry side of Primavera Sound) wrapped up its seventh edition having attracted 3,581 accredited professionals from 54 different countries, who from 1-5 June built bridges between continents whilst enjoying live music from some 40 global artists who performed on
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the event’s brand new DayPro stage. Meanwhile, 82 showcases and convention discussions were held at the Parc del Fòrum including a variety of digital innovations, such as marketing tools that provide event organisers with an in-depth knowledge of the interests and requirements of their audience. Over at Sónar’s 23rd edition, more than 115,000 visitors gathered, 53% of which arrived from outside of Spain, enticed no doubt by the promise of spectacu-
lar audio-visual premieres from James Blake and Jean Michel Jarre. The event’s trade congress, Sónar+D, gathered more than 4,700 professionals from more than 2,600 companies from the world of culture, technology, science, education and business. And as the brand expands, Sónar will debut in Hong Kong and Istanbul in 2017, while future editions have also been confirmed for Reykjavik, Stockholm, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and Bogota.
IQ Magazine July 2016
News
BUSY BODIES News fr om live music associations ar ound the world
Music Moves Europe
Yourope’s Fruzsina Szép makes a point during the Music Moves Europe debate
The music industry has moved a step closer to securing financial support from the European Commission following the 4 June Music Moves Europe conference at
Midem in Cannes, France. The event, in collaboration with the EU Commission’s Creative Europe Programme, represents the culmination of more than
Music Becomes a Key Political Issue Australian collection society APRA AMCOS has successfully made music a central issue among the nation’s politicians, after its Support Australian Music survey revealed that voters overwhelmingly want political parties to commit to financially supporting the country’s music sector, ahead of the federal election on 2 July. 98% of Australians who voted to see financial backing for the national music industry, while 72% say it will affect how they vote. The last Australian federal budget, which cut funding to export office Sounds Australia, was heavily criticised by live music industry figures, with the music/arts sector “completely missing from the government’s vision for the Australian economy,” says Evelyn Richardson
from Live Performance Australia (LPA). APRA AMCOS has previously recommended providing some form of tax rebate to music venues and it now appears that the political party that can best engage voters on the subject of investment in music could give itself a huge election day advantage. Nearly a third of the survey’s respondents live in marginal seats and pundits say opposition leader Bill Shorten only needs to win over 30,000 voters to snatch victory from Malcolm Turnbull’s governing Liberal/National coalition. According to LPA, live music generates AU$2billion (€1.3bn) annually for Australia. The University of Tasmania estimates that every AU$1 spent on live music returns AU$3 to the wider economy.
a decade of lobbying by a number of music industry associations and societies. Music Moves Europe was organised to specifically discuss the development of a fresh strategy for the music sector and saw the participation of EU director general for education and culture, Martine Reicherts. The key discussion topics included the professional development of artists; music entrepreneurship, innovation and start-ups; music data and metadata in a global digital landscape; and the circulation and distribution of the European repertoire.
Among the speakers from the live side of the business were Fabien Miclet, coordinator of Liveurope; Helen Sildna, founder of Tallinn Music Week; and Fruzsina Szép, festival director of Lollapalooza Berlin and board member of festivals association Yourope. Miclet tells IQ, “We’ll be working hand in hand with the Commission to convince the European Parliament to vote through Music Moves Europe. Negotiations will continue until 2019 ahead of the next strand, which starts in 2021, when the programme will be implemented.”
AIF Calls for New Festival PRS Tariff The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has warned against any move by UK collection society PRS for Music to increase the fees paid by its members. PRS charges 3% under Tariff LP to all concerts and festivals, but a review of this tariff was launched last year and the AIF is concerned that a rise would have a negative impact on grass-roots events. The AIF is urging PRS to introduce dedicated festival tariffs, mirroring the scheme in Ireland with its MultiStage Events tariff. The the AIF claims any increase to the present tariff could mean the end for many grass-roots festivals. “It is remarkable and absurd that festivals and concerts sit under a single tariff,” says AIF general manager Paul Reed. “Independent
festival promoters are taking risks on breaking artists and staging high-risk events on incredibly tight margins. PRS’s plan to increase this inflexible and damaging tariff could mean the bankruptcy of valuable events for both emerging and established artists. Criticising PRS for trying to cash in on the live music sector, he adds, “It is also prescient that PRS for Music has over 118,000 members and approached just under 32,000 of them as part of this consultation. They received just 48 responses from their members (0.15%), which is derisory. Songwriters therefore are not driving this process. Any increase would be a naked land-grab by PRS, driven solely by their executives and some major music publishers.”
Does your association have any news or issues to share? Email gordon@iq-mag.net to be considered for the next edition of IQ...
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IQ Magazine July 2016
The latest trades and handshakes from the agency world
BASIA BULAT (CA) Agents: Oliver Ward & Natasha Bent UTA
With an electrifying voice and lyrics like silver arrowheads, Basia Bulat has become one of Canada’s most conspicuous talents. Juno nominated and short$uicide Boy$ (US) Abattoir Blues (UK) Adian Coker (UK) Alinka (US) Be Charlotte (UK) Beyond The Black (DE) Bryde (UK) Caro (UK) Cleopold (AU) Club Kuru (UK) Conducta (UK) Dave (UK) DBFC (FR) Drowners (US) Eat Fast (UK) Fakear (FR) First Hate (DK) Fullee Love (US) Future Elevators (US) Husky Loops (UK) Intalekt (UK) Jamz Supernova (UK) Jordan Mackampa (UK) Kamau (US) Kenny G (US) Kenton Slash Demon (DK)
listed for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize, she often appears solo in gigantic halls, winning over crowds with an autoharp or charango, stomping feet and two mighty lungs. Bulat’s songs have been adapted for major performances with symphony orchestras, and she’s been tapped for prestigious tributes to Leonard Cohen and The Band. Since releasing her debut in 2007, she has shared a stage with artists including Arcade Fire, The National, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Daniel Lanois, St Vincent, Sufjan Stevens, Destroyer and Andrew Bird. Bulat was born in Toronto and grew up listening to her mother’s piano students and Sam Cooke and Stax on a golden oldies radio station. In early 2016, she released Good Advice, produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring Matt Pickering-Copley, Primary Talent Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring Laetitia Descouens, Primary Talent Matt Bates, Primary Talent Olivia Sime, ITB Steve Backman, Primary Talent Nick Holroyd, Primary Talent Chris Payne, ITB Matt Bates, Primary Talent Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Jack Cox, X-ray Touring Steve Backman, Primary Talent Matt Bates, Primary Talent Natasha Bent & Steve Nickolls, UTA Wesley Doogan, Primary Talent Sally Dunstone, X-ray Touring Jack Cox, X-ray Touring Matt Bates, Primary Talent Nick Reddick, Primary Talent Nick Reddick, Primary Talent Liam Keightley, ITB Andy Duggan, Primary Talent Dave Chumbley, Primary Talent Lucinda Runham, Primary Talent
OCTOBER DRIFT (UK) Agent: Steve Zapp ITB
When October Drift appeared at the start of 2015 with their beefy-yetmelodic sound, they had the confidence to win over all audiences. Ever since, from sold-out tours up and down the UK to growing online hype around their sparse but eloquent releases, they’ve done just that, becoming a major success story on the independent circuit. Despite the early success of their debut singles and a
Kweku Collins (US) Lake Komo (UK) MALKY (DE) Miamigo (UK) Ms. Lauryn Hill (US) Muncie Girls (UK) Nilufer Yanya (UK) People’sChamps (US) RUSS (US) Shaun J. Wright (US) SONDR (UK) Soulection (US) South London Ordnance (UK) Swedish Death Candy (UK) Ten Tonnes (UK) Tender (UK) The Blinders (UK) The Hyena Kill (UK) Tom Grennan (UK) Type Two Error (UK) UNDERØATH (US) Wedding (UK) Will Joseph Cook (UK) Wyvern Lingo (IE) XamVolo (UK) Yonaka (UK)
string of sold-out gigs, this band remains something of an enigma. October Drift’s music is characterised by their signature wall of sound guitars; soaring, ponderous vocals; and driving, urgent drums. Their first tour sold out before even releasing their first single, such is the buzz. With shows at BBC6 Music Festival, Dot to Dot, Tramlines and Camden Rocks already under their belts, alongside a cult fanbase spreading the word, and a focus too few peers in their position possess, the future is very bright (and very loud).
Nick Holroyd, Primary Talent Steve Backman, Primary Talent Steve Zapp, ITB Matt Bates, Primary Talent Mike Dewdney, ITB Ed Sellers, Primary Talent Nick Holroyd, Primary Talent Christophe Quemin, Get Your Acts Together Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring Laetitia Descouens, Primary Talent Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Steve Nickolls & Sinan Ors, UTA Laetitia Descouens, Primary Talent Steve Zapp, ITB Matt Bates, Primary Talent Matt Bates, Primary Talent Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring Olivia Sime, ITB Matt Bates, Primary Talent Amber McKenzie & Steve Zapp, ITB Ed Sellers, Primary Talent Sally Dunstone, X-ray Touring Matt Bates, Primary Talent Dave Jennings, Art & Industry Oliver Ward, UTA Ian Huffam & Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring
Has your agency signed the year’s hottest new act? Email gordon@iq-mag.net to be considered for the next issue…
IQ Magazine July 2016
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Comment
A Mobile Threat Tuomo Tolonen, pro audio group manager at Shure UK, explains why the live music industry – one of the UK’s leading sources of cultural capital internationally – could be under threat from the smartphones in our pockets.
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he UK is internationally renowned not only for producing some of the best musical artists in the world, but also for developing an unrivalled live music industry that supports this creative wellspring, together with the highquality venues and events needed to support our abundance of talent. Not only is this big business within the UK – just look at the number of music festivals and live concerts that take place every year – it’s a serious draw for festival tourism as well. We’ve been in this game for decades and it shows:
“If we’re not careful, some of the fantastic, high-quality events and live shows we’re known for in this country could be under threat.” we’re not talking about bands of the stature of The Beatles playing in rundown Gaumont cinemas with just a couple of Vox amps any more. Live music is a serious matter in the UK these days. We have the knowledge, the techs and the kit to do it right, and our world-class track record and production values speak for themselves. But this vibrant industry is under threat, and from a surprisingly innocuous source: our mobile phones. Over the past ten years, the UK government has been auctioning off ever greater parts of the RF (radio frequency) spectrum for use by mobile phones and wireless-enabled computers, to ensure that the mobile telecommunications industry can keep pace with the insatiable consumer demand for wireless access. If you’re wondering what this has to do with music, it’s simple – mobile phones have increasingly been given the same radio frequencies to work on as our wireless stage technology, including wireless microphones, in-ear monitors and backstage communications. And without access to uninterrupted, clear RF, these devices can’t work reliably on stage, night after night, as they need to if our live music industry is to maintain the high production values it is renowned for. A couple of decades ago, this wasn’t a problem. Most stage technology in those days was cabled, with only a few key performers using wireless kit at most. The mobile phone industry was in its infancy and was using a completely different part of the RF spectrum to operate. But as live shows became more ambitious, production managers and set designers increasingly came to rely on the freedom that wireless mics and monitoring
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could offer performers, releasing them from the hindrance of being permanently cabled. If you’ve ever seen a show where one of the performers played while suspended on a wire high above the audience, or where the lead singer crowd-surfed or mingled with their public while continuing to perform, those performances were only possible because of wireless stage technology. At the same time, mobile telecommunications moved beyond simple cell phones with the introduction of the smartphone and other wireless computers, and the ongoing and ever-rising consumer demand for fast RF-based Internet access from handheld devices began in earnest. This made the rights and licences to use RF spectrum big business in a way they never were before. Not coincidentally, over the last decade we have seen large swathes of the RF spectrum in the UK auctioned to the mobile sector, making the interference-free use of wireless technology by the live music industry much more difficult and unpredictable. Manufacturers of wireless technology, such as the company I work for, Shure, have tried to keep pace with the changes, making devices compatible with the new frequencies and designing kit that can operate with more efficient use of RF, and in harsher environments. But yet another set of government spectrum auctions is currently underway, and once completed in 2020, our industry will have lost roughly 50% of the usable spectrum. This will make the operation of wireless microphones and IEMs at some large events impossible due to the lack of sufficient interference-free spectrum. Technological advances can make the best of reduced RF availability, but eventually, there will be a limit. The UK government was prevailed upon to find alternative RF spectrum that could be used by the live, theatre and broadcast industries, but it remains to be seen whether this block is actually usable and offers a viable replacement for what has been lost. What will happen next? If we’re not careful, some of the fantastic, high-quality events and live shows we’re known for in this country could be under threat. The changes aren’t yet set in stone, though, and industry pressure groups such as BEIRG (www.beirg.co.uk) are doing their best. Nobody wants to denigrate the mobile phone industry (who would want to be without their smartphone these days?) but more key industry players emphasising the important contribution professional wireless technology makes to the UK’s economy and cultural capital would help our industry’s standing no end. If you feel you can lend your voice to the cause, please get in touch.
IQ Magazine July 2016
Comment
State of the Agency Business Agent Jules de Lattre of United Talent Agency considers developments in the independent music agency sector, and urges caution in maintaining trust with clients as new opportunities become available.
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stablished music agencies in the current age can be roughly split into two categories: independent agencies concentrating essentially on live touring for their music clients; and LA-headquartered full service global agencies offering music clients the opportunity to tap into a wide range of services including film, TV, digital and branding. A number of well-known independent music agencies have made strategic alliances with or been acquired by full-service agencies in recent years: AM Only, Londonbased CODA Agency, and Windish agency joined forces with Paradigm, in 2012, 2014 and 2015, respectively. United Talent Agency acquired The Agency Group, the world’s largest independent music agency, in August 2015.
“Decreasing revenues on the record side has led music representatives to explore and focus on other areas of growth in developing long-term careers. But in doing so they cannot abandon the trust factor.” Is going full service the only way for independent agencies to survive in future years? Why are artists and their managers drawn to diversified agency platforms? It’s not just the prospect of going into acting, which concerns a small share of music artists, it’s about the ability to express their art or creativity over a wide range of media platforms. It’s also about providing some of the services the labels are no longer able to provide for many artists, due to the challenges they have faced in recent years: high-level brand partnerships, tour marketing, digital strategy, sync opportunities, literary, non-scripted TV opportunities, gaming and ultimately building businesses with clients. The resources are available to all of those that feel they have ambition in other areas. Not all artists will be interested in this, and some independent agencies will continue to exist and retain clients at the top end. Others
IQ Magazine July 2016
may need time to understand the processes and gradually adhere to a more integrated approach. The merger of independent and full-service agencies is also the result of dramatic changes in the music market, an increasingly competitive and fast-moving sector that demands more attention, more strategy and more resources. Some agencies are naturally feeling the desire to build alliances with larger competitors to retain clients and keep their focus on career and artist development. In the midst of this sea change, the role of the talent agent has evolved and is more pivotal than ever. It’s no longer a simple artist and promoter relationship. Decreasing revenues on the record side has led music representatives to explore and focus on other areas of growth in developing long-term careers. But in doing so they cannot abandon the trust factor. Agents are as connected as ever with A&Rs, publishers, lawyers, publicists, and building trust from all key actors is essential to an agent’s success in representing the client. Trust can be as much in an agent’s judgement, their ears, as it is in the way they service their clients and the expertise they bring to the table. Agents with the best ears, A&R taste, independent spirit and genuine passion for their acts will be the winners in the long run over opportunists and buzz-chasers. The biggest driver of the changing industry has been the digital revolution. As the world becomes increasingly connected, artists that break internationally have done so on a much bigger scale than ever before. The major global agencies have created digital media divisions to represent the new generation of artists and content creators. This is in response to a massive increase in musical output on the Internet, which has made things ever more competitive for developing artists and made it far harder for anyone to stand out. Regardless of this new reality, one aspect of the job that should remain timeless is the sense of service. The key for future agents will remain using all of the tools that agencies have at their disposal to represent and continually provide the best possible service to clients. Those that focus on their own interests without keeping them aligned with the interests of their own clients may become successful, but they will not remain in the agency business. It will be vital for agents and agencies of the future to remain clientfocused and to be about building careers, not themselves. The moment an agent or agency becomes bigger than their clients they lose that critical connection.
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Comment
Let it Happen! Wilbert Mutsaers, recently appointed CEO of Mojo Concerts in Holland shares his undeniable enthusiasm for live music and reminds us all how powerful its effects can be if we just let it happen!
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njoying live music seems to be of little importance these days, obscured as it is by fear of terrorism and many other important issues that the world is currently facing. Actually, in my humble opinion, live music is still a major force. Earlier this year, I attended Tame Impala’s first 2016 gig in Amsterdam. And what a night it was! Let it happen! Let it Happen! Both the crowd and the critics were ecstatic. Over 5,000 people gathered and yet still it was a heavily underplayed show. I’m too young to think like a hippie, but I felt true togetherness, something we don’t get too much of in our everyday lives, I guess. Live music has always been a force of its own. It didn’t happen only last night, but way back at the origins of live performance. And it will always be like that. There is a light that never goes out… (thank you, The Smiths.) Personally, my obsession – some say it urgently needs to be cured – with live music, started off as a kid when my uncle took me to a Rolling Stones show in Rotterdam in 1982. It was surely going to be historical, billed as the last ever in the Netherlands (although, obviously not so). But it embodied one of the many charms of live music: a promise to experience something you will never forget. Queen in Brussels, 1984; Simple Minds in Rotterdam, 1984; my first big festivals: Torhout-Werchter, 1985 (featuring Ramones, R.E.M., Depeche Mode, Style Council, Paul Young, Joe Cocker, U2); and Pinkpop, 1986 (with headliners Fine Young Cannibals, The Cult and The Cure.) Well, there’s no cure for me. These events were defining landmarks in a small-town boy’s life. I’ve never skipped festivals like Pinkpop, Rock Werchter, North Sea Jazz and Lowlands ever since. Metaphorically speaking, live music became my design for life (thank you, Manic Street Preachers.) As it is for many people, living in all sorts of conditions, anywhere. In January I was appointed CEO of Mojo Concerts, a Life eh… Live Nation company. A true honour. Yes, my Universal years were great, my previous position as station manager at Radio 3FM even better, and now, finally, I’ve got my Mojo working. And we have work to do, with more challenges and opportunities than ever before in our expanding world. There are still a lot of people who haven’t been, or hardly ever go, to a concert. Really a lot. We have to listen very carefully and constantly to the ever-changing wishes, demands and expectations of music lovers. Be aware of the significant differences in genres, lifestyles and the codes of going out, dressing up, meeting, eating & seating. Harder, better, faster, stronger… (thank you, Daft Punk & Kanye West.) We need to facilitate and provide platforms for not only the
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big stars but also new talent and music to grow, to push the music world forward in general. Live music events have the power to be innovators and incubators in the fields of production, security matters, crowd control, venue smartness, sustainability etc, and also to crossover and connect with the film, art, fashion, architecture and design industries. Economics rationalise our business but aren’t by definition the only predictors for future success and innovation. Take note when weird or wild bottom-up ideas pop-up.
“There are still a lot of people who haven’t been, or hardly ever go, to a concert. We have to listen very carefully and constantly to the ever-changing wishes, demands and expectations of music lovers.” Ticketing, the people’s vote and legislation on reselling will dominate the headlines whether we like it or not. We should have a clear-cut, pro-active and transparent strategy on these matters. Media use has been changing rapidly and is speeding up. Music shows are the perfect tool to connect with social media. It’s not just about proper Wi-Fi in venues or at festivals. Traditional media such as radio and TV are still perfect partners. As are Netflix, YouTube and all emerging on-demand video initiatives. Media aren’t just sales, marketing, and promotion outlets, they are what we are: dying for relevant content and crazy about music. Shift in communication from just selling to telling, caring and sharing. Really. Big stars, big shows, big data. I’d say that we should investigate ways to team up with streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. How can we intensify our relationships with labels, publishers and management? What implications should demographics and flexi-working have on scheduling live music shows? Monday matinees? To be artist and audience driven is an open door. Still, we should make it a gateway for the artists themselves as well as their teams, and even more for their potential audiences. Backstage, studio and on-the-road footage is of great value. More attention has to be paid to the specific lifecycles of artists and their careers. Not to mention to thinking more in-depth about boutique festivals, partnerships, showcase festivals, comedians, suburban culture, and did I mention music? Music is live and life: Let it happen!
IQ Magazine July 2016
Comment
From Busk ‘til Dawn Found in Music CEO, Dr Julia Jones, explains why street performance is currently under threat in the UK.
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id you know that it’s perfectly legal to busk anywhere on publicly owned land in the UK, as long as you are not causing an obstruction or making excessive noise? In recent years, however, local councils have been facing increasing calls to ban or regulate busking. Camden Town in London is known for alternative arts and live music, however, Camden Council succeeded in pushing new licensing regulations through the courts despite objections from performer associations and featured artists. Several other councils are now considering this approach, effectively extinguishing the very essence of spontaneous busking that has entertained people for centuries in the UK. A combination of socio-cultural factors has led to the escalation of this situation. My company was engaged by the Mayor of London in 2015 to form a taskforce and launch the ‘Busk in London’ campaign, to support and protect busking, and to bring together councils, police, residents, businesses and performer representatives to discuss solutions. We created an annual International Busking Day campaign
hosted in Trafalgar Square (the 2016 edition will take place on 23 July) to encourage a new generation to hit the streets and get busking. We created career progression opportunities for the more ambitious performers, and secured featured artists such as Fatboy Slim, Billy Bragg, Corinne Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall, Hugh Cornwell and Jack Savoretti as ambassadors for the campaign. So why is busking so important to the live music industry? Well, buskers can earn up to £300 a day (helping finance recordings and tours as well as pay their rent and buy food). It enables them to hone performance skills and they are seen by thousands of people in high footfall locations. It also delivers unrivalled value in terms of providing accessible performances to people who can’t afford tickets or who are socially isolated. Busking isn’t just a nice quirky thing to have on our streets, it’s an extremely valuable performance art. It’s the funnel of our talent pipeline. We need to step up and protect it. This battle is far from over. www.buskinlondon.com
Gig Gadgetry from the Frontline...
CROWDMIX It’s one of the most hyped apps to enter the business in a long time, but although its launch has been three years in the making, it still isn’t possible to sign up to Crowdmix just yet. So what is Crowdmix, and how have its developers used the £14million (€17m) raised in funding last year? Co-founder Gareth Ingham, recently told AIM’s Indie-Con conference, “We’ve created a great new tool that will generate music streaming: will push people into the streaming platforms and drive them to stream more and share more music. 50% of all the money that is made on the platform
RUKKUS Ever wondered whether the “restricted view” warning on your ticket involves a slightly obtrusive hand-rail positioned next to your seat, or a concrete pillar blocking most of the stage? Well, thanks to the wizards at ticketing aggregator, Rukkus, such worries are quickly being consigned to the past, at a growing number of North American venues. In addition to allowing fans to search for the cheapest ticket options for concerts, theatre and sports events, Rukkus has developed Seat360, which allows ticket-buyers to see the view from each seat.
goes back to the artist community.” Crowdmix links the different ways people access music, allowing them to create or join crowds that match their tastes. “A crowd helps you to organically discover music through groups that you trust,” Ingham stated. With 160 people working in its London office, and additional staff in LA, New York, Mumbai and Melbourne, Crowdmix will be tapping into those revenues soon, but the scheduled May launch date passed without fanfare and, at press time, IQ was still awaiting the arrival of its VIP access code.
Seat360 has been used to provide a VR 360° view from every seat at the Hollywood Bowl
The Seat360 functionality utilises gyroscope-driven, panoramic, 360°-seat views, allowing users to view their seat location before final purchases are made. The app can provide fans with paperless mobile entry via their smartphone, as well as the ability to share and send tickets to friends within the app. “This immersive, virtual reality functionality is the single biggest innovation in the ticket buying space since the first seat map was introduced,” claims CEO, Manick Bhan. Among the landmark venues already using Seat360 are Yankee Stadium, AT&T Park and Hollywood Bowl, with many more in the pipeline.
TIGMUS Established as a kind of ‘dating site’ for artists and venues, Tigmus (This Is Good MUSic) is the brainchild of Tom Hodgson and Oli Steadman – members of Oxford-based band, Stornoway. Despite three top 20 albums, Stornoway, like many of their peers, rely on revenues from touring. “The way that people consume music has changed and we know that fans streaming music doesn’t generate much money,” says Hodgson. “But on the live side, it is still more of an offline networked world and we want to change that.” The wealth of data available on social media platforms prompted Hodgson and Steadman to create Tigmus, convinced that they could dovetail that data with live music opportunities. “We put on a few gigs to work out how to develop Tigmus and we approach it from two different sides – the venues (900 and counting) and the artists (600-plus),” Hodgson explains. “Venues have a lot of spare capacity, so we help them keep the lights on during the quiet days. Also, a lot of venues are bombarded with requests from bands, so we now process that for them. For the artists, we integrate their Facebook page on the Tigmus platform and when they want to book a tour, our software will tell them where their strongest fanbases are, and the venues in those locations can then be offered dates.” On the verge of signing a deal with a national venues chain, Tigmus is going from strength to strength. “As musicians ourselves, the driving force behind Tigmus is to drive as much revenue back to the artists as possible,” Hodgson says. “We’ve styled ourselves for acts without agents, but we’re going to start working with festivals next year, so that should expand the Tigmus roster of artists, as well as taking us into more countries.”
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 July 2016
Members’ Noticeboard
FKP boss Folkert Koopmans and Roskilde Festival chief Leif Skov enjoyed the hospitality of Northside Festival’s cigar and rum bar.
Veteran promoter László Hegedűs received the newly founded Hungarian Fonogram Award for Lifetime Achievement. László was chosen by the local music community and a jury of the Hungarian IFPI. (Photo © George Gati.)
Pictured presenting a commemorative hat-trick ball to Coldplay are Danielle Russell (Wembley’s music & new events manager), Julie Harrington (The FA Group’s operations director) and Jim Frayling (Wembley’s head of business development). The band played four dates at the venue in June, entertaining more than 300,000 fans.
Freddie Nyathela of the South African Roadies Association and John Botham, owner of UK-based training and education consultancy, Semperior Ltd, appeared on South African television’s Morning Live programme to discuss the Live Event Technician & Production Conference, held in Johannesburg 12-14 May.
UK Music held its summer party on the terrace at the Houses of Parliament in London. Pictured enjoying the event are (l to r) Ros Lynch from the Intellectual Property Office; Sarah Foster, private secretary to the minister for IP; Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Minister for IP; Annabella Coldrick, chief executive of the Music Managers Forum (MMF); and Fiona McGugan, general manager of the MMF.
Solo Agency’s John Giddings and music PR guru Alan Edwards, of the Outside Organisation, were invited by Prince Charles to Buckingham Palace in May in recognition of their many years of work with The Prince’s Trust.
ILMC’s Greg Parmley interviewed Roskilde Festival’s Henrik Rasmussen at Primavera Pro in Barcelona. Henrik later collected the Primavera Award 2016 on behalf of Roskilde.
Croatia Wave hosted a discussion on the Croatian music festival sector in London’s Cuckoo Club in June. Moderated by Fest300 European editor Marcus Barnes, speakers included Mark Newton (Hideout Festival), Tom Paine and Dave Harvey (Love International), Mike Gill (Croatia Wave), Ally Byers (Mixmag), Irma McHardy (Croatia Airlines) and Ivona Grgan (Croatian Tourist Office).
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
IQ Magazine July 2016
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WISH YOU WERE HERE? Ten outrageous VIP festival experiences from around the world
Forty years ago, if you’d showed up to a music festival, the coat you were wearing would also have served as your sleeping bag. And your tent. Times change and the festival experience has had to change too. Forget about glamping – Eamonn Forde takes a tongue-in-cheek look at ten of the most eye-popping VIP package choices on the market…
Name: The Secret Solstice Location: Iceland Price: $1million (€882,000) for six people In brief: Headliners Radiohead may have pioneered the paywhat-you-want model, but the price here is non-negotiable. For that wallet-trembling price you get all manner of things – starting with “business jet transport from anywhere on Earth” (return, luckily) on a Gulfstream G300 “or similar”, two private concerts, and access to ultra-VIP areas, if mixing with the hoi polloi is too much to bear. There’s also access to shows in a glacier (a glacier!) and a volcano (a volcano!) and helicopter trips. You do get a lot for your money and if you’ve ever tried to buy a round of drinks in Reykjavík, suddenly $1m doesn’t seem that expensive.
Name: Desert Trip Location: Indio, California, US Price: $10,000 (€8,820) for two people In brief: The line-up is not what you’d call underwhelming (the Rolling Stones, Dylan, The Who, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Roger Waters), so at a once-in-a-lifetime festival, you can’t be expected to rough it. For your ten grand, you get to sleep in an exclusive area in a Shikar tent that has actual beds and, incredibly, air conditioning. While waiting for the artists to get out of their bath chairs, you can go to cocktail and craft beer tasting sessions and then slump, content, into outdoor chairs to listen to the songs that defined the counterculture, aimed as they were at the freaks and misfits who railed against pernicious mainstream cooption. Oh…
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IQ Magazine July 2016
VIP Packages
Photos below (left to right): Desert Trip’s exclusive glamping village; the Secret Solstice Into The Glacier venue; retro Airstream accommodation at Wilderness Festival; and the view from the pool at Hangout Music Festival.
Name: Hangout Music Festival Location: Gulf Shores, Alabama, US Price: $1,599 (€1,410) per person In brief: Walking around festival sites feels so basic, so luckily Hangout has golf carts on hand to shuttle you between stages in a very tasteful way and not at all like a pensioner at an airport trying to catch a flight. There is gourmet food served by top chefs in an air-conditioned room so you don’t have to run the risk of food poisoning from a grubby van selling burgers so badly cooked there are ice crystals in them. As if that wasn’t enough, you can watch the acts on the main stage from a hot tub, although maybe get out before the encore to avoid looking like a prune during the latter stages of a spin cycle.
Name: Wilderness Festival Location: Oxfordshire, UK Price: $4,200 (€3,705) for five people In brief: Bell tents? No thanks. Yurts? Nuh-huh. Tipis? What-EVER. If you really want to be properly rested before you get down the front for Robert Plant (& The Sensational Space Shifters) or Goldie & The Heritage Orchestra doing Timeless in full, you want to tuck yourself up at night in a retro Airstream, imagining yourself making a Hollywood movie in the 1950s. They come with kitchens, heating and air conditioning (belt and braces for the UK summer) as well as privacy glass to complete the VIP bubble. You will also have access to luxury showers and a dining tent, but – sorry – you’ll have to rough it by walking a few metres to them.
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VIP Packages
Name: Bonnaroo Roll Like A Rockstar Location: Tennessee, US Price: $30,000 (€26,475) for up to eight people
Name: Camp Kerala Location: Glastonbury, UK Price: from £8,225 (€10,622) for two people
In brief: It may be a coincidence that the festival name is an anagram of “Bono or n/a”, but luckily you can choose to live like the diminutive U2 frontman might if he attended. You get to stay on a tour bus in a private wooded area, so you can pretend you’re just chilling backstage before rocking the teeth out of another show. You’ll also have access to exclusive viewing areas and gourmet catering. But that’s not all: the buses will be stocked with a rider of your choosing and, if that runs out, there is a concierge on call at any time just in case you need the brown M&Ms removed from the packets.
In brief: The very first Glastonbury (then known as Glastonbury Fayre) in 1970 cost £1 and included in that price was free milk. We could make a crass joke here about the lactose casualties of the post-Thatcherist era, but instead we’ll focus on how different watching bands on Michael Eavis’s farm is today. You get your own Shikar tent (with carpets, naturally), a breakfast hamper delivered every morning (no over-cooked noodles for you), onsite restaurants/bars, and a service team who are always on call. The only thing it can’t guarantee is the weather, so boots off, please, before you step on your in-tent carpet.
Name: Tomorrowland’s Mansion Location: Belgium and Brazil Price: €30,000 for up to twelve people
Name: Wave Week Location: The Croatian islands Price: £8,900 (€11,490) for up to eight people
In brief: First thing to note, you’ll also need to buy your ticket on top of that, but if you can afford this much, that’s chump change. The world of EDM is not known for hiding its light under a bushel; if there’s a maxim here it’s “go large or go home.” Hence your own mansion at the festival with its own garden, should you fancy trimming borders as a break from cutting the rugs. You’ll also have your own butler so it’ll be like Downton Abbey at 128bpm. Just two questions. Is there a Jacuzzi? And is it exclusive? Yes, and yes. All hail the ‘excluzzi’.
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In brief: While rain-lashed Brits might joke about bringing canoes to festivals, in Croatia you can spend a week gadding about on a luxury yacht in the Adriatic. There’s a skipper “with excellent local knowledge” so you can get on with the business of relaxing. Food is supplied, along with snorkeling equipment and paddle-boards for the nautically and adventurously inclined. There are even sailing lessons if you want to turn your back on life as a landlubber. And free Wi-Fi if you’d rather watch Netflix on your iPad. You do, however, have to bring your own alcohol. Boo! But you won’t be charged corkage on the yacht. Phew!
IQ Magazine July 2016
VIP Packages
Photos (clockwise from top left): One of Bonnaroo’s Roll Like a Rockstar tour buses; the luxurious Camp Kerala overlooking Glastonbury Festival; a helicopter en route in Australia’s Yarra Valley, but not on its way to The Bureau Festival; an example of the pampered camping facilities at Lost Paradise; just one of the yachts available for charter during Wave Week; and the millionaire lifestyle awaiting guests at the Tomorrowland Mansion.
Name: Lost Paradise Location: Sydney, Australia Price: AU$10,000 (€6,575)
Name: The Bureau Location: Melbourne, Australia Price: AU$375,000 (€246,575) for you and ten friends
In brief: Assuming you didn’t blow all your cash on Christmas presents, this festival in the closing days of December is a way to seriously go for broke. You’ll be taken to and from the site in a helicopter so don’t have to worry about 15-mile tailbacks on the one road into the festival. You get to stay in tipis, bell tents or Airstreams and drift off in king-size beds or lounge around on antique furniture (for some reason). There is also 24-hour security to keep your mind clear when you are doing a yoga class or drinking organic chai tea. Chakras suitably realigned, you can break out of your mindfulness cocoon and even watch some music.
In brief: You start off by watching Swedish act Axwell Ingrosso play in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and then you and your pals get on a private jet to fly to Australia. Once there, you can enjoy this one-day (yes, it’s not even a full weekend) festival. Luckily that means luxury hotels rather than glamping. You’ll have round-the-clock concierge support and access to the corporate marquee. One can also enjoy a helicopter tour of the Yarra Valley or take a VIP shopping tour if the music doesn’t appeal. But don’t reach for your platinum AmEx just yet – it was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Oh, the humanity!
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Barry Clayman
In Clayman’s Terms: As a true pioneer of the live music industry, Barry Clayman has been a stalwart of the business for well over 50 years. Having recently celebrated his 80th birthday, Barry is still working hard at promoting long-term clients. He talks to Adam Woods about his astonishing career…
“They came in an old Dormobile. Had to go through the audience to get onstage, and out again the same way.” This is Barry Clayman, veteran of many hundreds of shows, on the day in April 1963 that he promoted The Beatles, just the once, 30 days after the release of their debut album. “I paid them £100 for two 45-minute sets,” he recalls. “We used to hire the Pigalle [in Piccadilly] on Sundays. Brian Epstein phoned and said, ‘we are doing the NME Poll Winners’ Concert. It’s on a Sunday, we want to do a gig, and someone said you are doing some concerts at this nightclub.’ I think we had 1,200 people in there, and the licence was about 700, so we were probably pushing it a bit. It was a great atmosphere, plenty of sweat.” As with virtually everyone he has worked with (and when it isn’t the case, he swerves strictly off the record) Barry has only positive things to say about the boys. “They were charming. Pleases and thank yous. Very nice.” But the notable thing about this tale is that, for a man with as good an eye for a business prospect as any promoter in half a century, Barry didn’t quite realise what was passing through his hands. “Sometimes I think, Here, why didn’t you hang in there?!” he says. “But I lacked the experience to know what we had. Another year or two, if the same thing had happened… but you couldn’t have that kind of foresight.” In a different career, it might be a more regretful recollection, but Barry Clayman, OBE, has made good since. He’s certainly the only 80 year old striding around Live Nation’s Argyll Street office the day we meet. He’s also one of a tiny handful of promoters whose career brackets virtually the entire modern live business, from 1960, when a young
IQ Magazine July 2016
Barry ran rowdy talent shows in outer London dancehalls, to – well, the brackets haven’t closed yet. You could begin the Clayman story, incidentally, in any number of places. You might start with the one about how agreeing to pay a brass section for a young Tom Jones changed the course of Barry’s life. Or how in 1988 he masterminded seven Wembley Stadium shows for Michael Jackson, and another eight in the decade that followed. Or the Irish dance show he brought to the UK in 1995 and the plans, already in motion, for Riverdance’s 25th anniversary tour in 2020. But as it happens, the things that arguably animate him the most on this wet June morning are up-to-date concerns, reflecting the fact that, while he may now spend the larger part of his time in Portugal, where he moved in 2005 with Linda, his wife of 47 years, he remains a working promoter. “The latest thing I have heard is that there are quite big acts in the US who aren’t paying their agents any commission,” he reports, in mild disbelief at the folly of it all. “They’re leaving them to negotiate that out of the promoter’s end. Now, I don’t expect anyone to shed any tears for promoters, but they are the ones taking the risk, and their cut is getting smaller and smaller. I won’t name names, but I have heard from quite a few people that the practice does exist. And I think it’s wrong.” The other worry Barry would like to put on the record is a related one. “When I started, I might have had a few hundred quid in the bank, nothing more than that,” he says. “Maybe I might have had a rich uncle who would lend me some money when I needed it. In today’s business, I don’t know how the young people – just out of university, want to be in show business, got a nice feel for it – get started? How do they get in the big league with the multimillion pound guarantees? They have got no chance.” That may well be true. Then again, as Barry would admit, every career has always depended on a stroke of luck or two.
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Barry Clayman Barry’s dapper reputation began at an early age
“Brian Epstein phoned and said, ‘we are doing the NME Poll Winners’ Concert. It’s on a Sunday, we want to do a gig, and someone said you are doing some concerts at this nightclub.” Like the time when, aged 24 and already ten years out of school, having briefly and abortively followed his family into the garment trade in London and New York, he met a man who promoted dances. “He was like, ‘You want to have a little go?’And I started, and I suddenly realised this was something I enjoyed. I never ever would have thought I’m going to be a big promoter. Those kinds of thoughts never entered my brain. I just thought, Hey, I’m enjoying this!” Soon, he was running audition nights at the Barnet Assembly Rooms for legions of young hopefuls, including future stars such as Dave Clark, Joe Brown and Shane Fenton (later Alvin Stardust), as skiffle groups turned into rock & roll bands. “Sometimes we would have as many as six or seven drum kits set-up,” he recalls. “Some people who went on to bigger and better things would play there for nothing, in the hope of making some sort of impact. Unfortunately, we have had to pay artists since.” Establishing his own agency, Capable Management, in 1962, Barry took on Gene Vincent (“a bad boy”) and staged early club dates for Gerry and the Pacemakers, Marty Wilde, Billy J Kramer and others. He quickly found his feet in the burgeoning live business of the times, a son of the East End who had unintentionally located his vocation. “I left school at 14 and two months. You can’t do that today. I wish I’d stayed on. My worst subject was maths, but in the business, years later, a lot of people noticed I could instantly work out offers in my head, like I’ve got a little calculator up there. It’s a funny thing.”
A long-lasting piece of luck came Barry’s way in 1965, in the form of Tom Jones. “The agent said, ‘Look, I’ve got this Welsh singer, he just made a single, but the date sheet is looking a bit bare. Can you come up with some gigs?’ So I came up with 20-odd shows, small gigs. Not very prestigious, but it was work. “And then about two weeks down the line, the single, It’s Not Unusual, went to number one. I hadn’t met his manager, Gordon Mills, but he phoned and said, ‘Listen, he’s number one, we can’t just go out with Tom and a three-piece band. I want to add three brass players, and I need an extra £15.’ “And I said, ‘Yes, he should go out looking like a numberone artist. Let’s do it!’ Gordon couldn’t believe I’d just agreed like that – he was expecting more resistance. But it was probably the best business decision I ever made in my life,
Barry, wife Linda, Michael Jackson and Phil Bowdery
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IQ Magazine July 2016
Barry Clayman
“[Barbra Streisand] didn’t mind after the show if there were 20 or 30 people there – she was enjoying herself. I found her just charming. Lovely person.” because we became great friends, and not long after that, we formed MAM – Management, Agency and Music.” The Walker Brothers were Barry’s biggest stars at the height of the 1960s, and were the headliners at the Finsbury Park Astoria the night Jimi Hendrix put in place a crucial piece of his legend. “I remember there was a bit of a kerfuffle backstage, the manager Chas Chandler put a bit of petrol or something on Jimi’s guitar, and when the lights went down, he lit it. All hell went loose, the compere got his hand burnt, and it was headlines in all the papers the next day.” Even at 50 years’ distance, Barry’s memories remain fresh, and so, you sense, do his occasional regrets. After all this time, he remains frustrated at the way The Walker Brothers fizzled out. “They were probably the first big act I got involved with promoting,” says Barry. “At the time, they were second only to The Beatles in their ability to sell tickets. They were on the way up in America too. But The Beatles had done Shea Stadium, and Scott Walker in particular said: ‘I’m not going to America until we can do Shea Stadium.’ Barry and Linda at their Las Vegas wedding in September 1969
Barry Clayman “I took them to Japan on tour, and Europe; they would not go to America. And then Scott packed it in. He had kids camped outside his house, he got swamped if he went to Portobello Road – he just didn’t want it. I would love to have had him now with the experience I have gained. I think there was a way of him being happy and making a lot of money and having a good life.” Barry’s frustration at losing a world-class act on the rise was tempered by the fact that he was, by the late 1960s, building a prosperous operation based around Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, both of whom were doing good international business and had no issues with fame. “Within a couple of years, we had a series of meetings and decided there was so much money involved that we should float the company and go public,” says Barry. “Which we did. And never looked back afterwards.” The 1970s and early 1980s at MAM were heady times, as the company built relationships with artists including Neil Diamond, Charles Aznavour, Shirley Maclaine and Shirley Bassey, to add to ongoing clients such as Jones, Humperdinck and The Moody Blues – still Barry’s oldest client, at 50 years next year. In that period, legendary promoters Harold Davidson and Tito Burns also came on board. “Tito had done the first Rolling Stones concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Quite often you see footage of that, because he was onstage, pushing fans off,” says Barry. “Harold was a big promoter – he did Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, that was his forte. I met Frank a few times – very, very together guy. But if you were the promoter, you were Barry has been promoting ‘Riverdance’ since it first started touring in 1994
Barry Clayman
“I think I’m 42. I think someone forged my birth certificate.”
Linda and Barry with long-term client Shirley Bassey, Linda’s late father, Harry; and Barry’s mother, Mary
Linda and Barry with long-time friend Cliff Richard
Barry and The Walker Brothers in Tokyo in the mid 1960s
Julio Iglesias is just one of the many artists whose career has benefited through Barry’s influence
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expected to be hanging out with him until five or six o’clock in the morning, because he didn’t sleep that well. And then you’d have to get to the office the next morning and Frank could sleep until the afternoon.” Half of the modern business – Phil Bowdery, Barry Dickins, John Giddings, Rod Smallwood – came through MAM or a related concern, such as the Apollo chain of theatres, which MAM built up from the 1970s on an initial tip from Barry, and where Paul Latham got his first job. “I am happy to say we are still very good friends with all of them,” says Barry. Chrysalis took over MAM in 1984, giving Barry the opportunity to sit on the board alongside Sir George Martin, who enjoyed the story of his near miss with the Fab Four. But by 1986, having had enough of corporate life, he was out on his own again as Barry Clayman Concerts (BCC), whose most extravagant success took only a couple of years to arrive. “Every promoter in the UK wanted to promote Michael Jackson,” he says. “We spent three weeks in LA doing that deal and it was on, off, on, off. It wasn’t until the final, final meeting that it got agreed, and to be honest, I wasn’t even sure then. I didn’t meet Michael until we actually did the tour.” BCC sold the Bad tour across Europe and promoted it in the UK, where the itinerary took in seven Wembley Stadium dates plus one each at Cardiff Arms Park, Roundhay Park, Milton Keynes Bowl and Aintree in three visits during July, August and September 1988. Ticket applications for the first five Wembley dates exceeded 1.2m, and the combined run at the stadium broke an attendance record (504,000) that stood until Take That in 2011. Barry remains the only UK promoter Jackson ever had – he was also responsible for the Dangerous tour in 1992 and HIStory in 1997. He recalls with amusement midnight trips to Madame Tussauds, Hamleys and Tower Records, all of which happily opened their doors so Michael could shop unbothered. He found the star “very easy-going. I mean, there wasn’t a lot of conversation. I have never been one to hang around artists, and with Jackson, that definitely wouldn’t have been the right move. But he was always very polite. And the best thing I have ever seen onstage, without a doubt.” Prince, who racked up 24 Wembley Arena shows for BCC on three visits in the 1990s wins Barry’s follow-up prize – “A genius,” he says – and he commends many others. “They don’t come any better than Tom Jones,” he says. “Incredible artist, unbelievable voice and a really decent human being. As a promoter, you don’t have to be in love with the artist. My first reaction is: can they sell tickets? How many tickets can they sell? You are gambling your money, that’s what you are going to care about. But if they are also nice people, it is just even more pleasant.” Neil Diamond remains a firm friend, and a lowmaintenance kind of star. “I remember going out to see him on tour, and at the next show I was there again and Neil said, ‘Barry, what are you doing here?’ I said, ‘I’m here because you’re here.’ And he said, ‘you really don’t need to do that.’ But some artists, you really do.”
IQ Magazine July 2016
Barry Clayman
Testimonials Barry Dickins hired me at MAM, but Barry Clayman didn’t speak to me for a year, until he saw me in the loo one day and asked if that was me on the cover of Music Week with some band, at which point he thought I might have a career. After five years at MAM, I persuaded Ian Wright that we were never going to make any money working for someone else and that we should resign. But when I walked upstairs to Barry’s office I suddenly realised Ian wasn’t by my side. Barry said to me ‘How long does it take to resign?’ and I replied, ‘It’s funny you should mention that…’ But he was incredibly kind and said that if I ever needed any help, I should call him as he’d always be available. And then he told me to fuck off out of the building because I was doing my business on his time. I went downstairs, took the stereo from my office and left. Barry was waiting for me. ‘What are you doing with that?’ he asked. ‘Stealing it,’ I said and walked out the door. Barry Clayman is the best promoter in the UK and the hardest bastard I’ve ever met. I love him to bits and having dinner with him and Linda remains one my favourite things – it’s always the greatest laugh ever. John Giddings, Solo Agency Barry, wishing you a very Happy 80th Birthday! I can’t believe that you beat me to it – I’m 75 – I won’t catch up! I’m sending good wishes to you with lots of love. Thank you for all the promotion you have given me over the years. It’s been a pleasure to work with you and for you. Cliff Richard It was 1973 and I’d just started working as a junior booking agent at MAM (Pink Fairies and Mungo Jerry), where Barry was one of the ‘four gods’ heading up the company, so we had little contact. However, I worked and shared an office with Barry’s son, Gary, and late one afternoon he said, ‘You like boxing, don’t you? Come with me.’ We boarded a stretch limo waiting downstairs, my first ever limo ride, headed over to Earl’s Court and found ourselves in prime seats – second row from the ring, in fact – for the Joe Bugner v Joe Frazier fight, sitting directly behind Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck. ‘Isn’t it great Dad couldn’t use his tickets and gave them to me?’ said Gary. As I nodded vigorously in agreement, I remember thinking: Barry’s got a good lifestyle, I could learn a lot from him! In recent years, it’s been my pleasure to have a few drinks with Barry and Linda on occasion and great company they are, as long as you don’t fall asleep in a hotel room and keep Linda waiting for an hour… my ears are still burning! Barry, congratulations on reaching 80, still working with as much passion as ever, you are a great example to all of us spring chickens! Rod Smallwood, Phantom Music Management
“Why am I still carrying on? Because I love the business. And why would I want to stop?” Also fondly recalled is Barbra Streisand, for whom Barry trooped up to London’s Dorchester Hotel with 20 other promoters in 1994 to pitch successfully for her first London appearances since Funny Girl in 1966. “This is a star that you would imagine would have the FBI and the CIA blocking the dressing room,” he says. “It was quite the opposite. She didn’t mind after the show if there were 20 or 30 people there – she was enjoying herself. I found her just charming. Lovely person.” Another clever piece of business in the 1990s was an enlightened punt on Riverdance. The show went on to sell 1,447,390 tickets in a 539-show Hammersmith Apollo run, and Barry has just promoted its 21st anniversary tour. He even remains on good terms with Michael Flatley, long since departed for his own projects. BCC was bought up by SFX in 1999, and Barry remains a Live Nation promoter, in touch by phone and email and frequently over from Portugal. Projects in recent years have included the live reunion of Cliff Richard and The Shadows in 2009-10; 26 sold-out arena dates with Westlife in 2012; and Cliff’s 75th birthday tour last year. “Why am I still carrying on? Because I love the business. And why would I want to stop? Without this,” he says, waving his mobile, “maybe I couldn’t do it. Without the back-up of the office and the computer, it would be difficult. But I think I’m 42. I think someone forged my birth certificate.” Then again, while he’s that unusual 80-year-old who has adapted smoothly to half a century’s worth of live business evolution, even he has to admit things have come a dizzyingly long way. “You look at the business today, there are fantastic arenas all over the place,” he says. “If the phone goes and Coldplay want to tour, you go out and do it. The only arena that was there [when I started] was the old Empire Pool Wembley. No one ever did stadiums – it was unthinkable. Can you imagine how antiquated the sound systems and lighting were?
Barry receiving his OBE from Her Majesty The Queen in 2004
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Barry Clayman
Testimonials Barry used to smoke cigars that cost more than he paid me – I think that’s when I realised I needed to be a boss rather than an employee. We have houses that are close to each other in Portugal, but I used to stay in a hotel there and I remember bumping into him and him commenting what a lovely hotel it was, if a bit expensive. ‘If I still worked for you, I couldn’t afford to be here,’ I told him. Thankfully, I’ve never had to deal with Barry as a promoter – and we’ve become such good friends that my daughter calls him Dad 2. At Lucy’s wedding, I asked if Dad 2 would be paying half of the bill. It’s funny how quickly he became Uncle Barry. He’s a lovely man and I admire the way he makes jobs to keep himself busy. He’s incredibly healthy and I can’t ever see him stopping being a promoter. Barry Dickins, ITB Barry was great to work for. For many, many years, I have considered him a very good friend as much as, or more than, a boss. We worked through various companies – MAM, BCC, Clear Channel, Live Nation – and although we all worked incredibly hard together as a team, there were always lots of laughs. Barry has an unbelievable sense of humour, and he would always find the funny in the drama. He had a knack of knowing what the next
successful project would be and he was tenacious in going after it. I have never known anyone with as much energy, even people half his age or less – and so much enthusiasm. But I never felt unsure about asking a question or voicing an opinion – he would always listen. We had a lovely working relationship for many years. He is a very fair man, and he is an incredibly kind man. Sharon Bayley, Barry’s production assistant between 1967 and 2010 The first time I met Barry Clayman was in the early 70s when he was one of the bosses at MAM and I remember praying that he would give me Tom Jones for Scandinavia, which he thankfully did. I also vividly remember waiting with Barry, Frank DiLeo, Paul Gongaware and Phil Bowdery behind the stage on the wharf in Gothenburg in 87 or 88, waiting for the Swedish water police to escort Michael Jackson to the site where he’d sold 120,000 tickets over two nights. And in 99, I remember having a great dinner with Barry and Leon Ramakers after we’d all just walked out of Robert Sillerman’s office having each sold our companies to SFX. Barry is a good man – solid and a great guy to work with. And I really look forward to Christmas each year when I get a card from Barry and Linda featuring a photo of their dogs sitting in the car. Thomas Johansson, Live Nation Sweden
Barry Clayman Barry, Linda, and daughter Sarah, with Neil Diamond
Testimonials When he was dealing with Michael Jackson’s first world tour, I ‘only’ offered two stadium shows. Barry Clayman pushed very hard for three. I have never been so happy to give in! Every inch a gentleman. Hard and fair! Leon Ramakers, Mojo Concerts
“Even when we did the first big Jackson tour, it was all hard tickets. Can you imagine what that was like? 80,000 people, times seven. And they went like hot cakes – 10,000 people queuing up at the Wembley Arena box office…” He finishes with acknowledgements to two men who stand out as the best he has encountered in the business: the late film producer and arena tour pioneer Jerry Weintraub (“incredible guy, one of the best I have ever come across”); and Live Nation powerhouse Michael Rapino (“he is still so young – it is frightening to think where he is going to go”). A phone call from Portugal two days later brings one final tribute: to Linda. “For promoters in this business, the wife is a very, very big asset,” says Barry. “First of all, they put up with you being away at very unsociable times. I don’t know how many kids’ birthdays I missed. Linda has been fantastic with that, plus she got on well with the artists, the managers, the agents. Without her, I don’t know how it would have worked out.”
I got to know Barry well when he was promoting Michael Jackson and I volunteered to run the box office for the Aintree Racecourse show. I was the first venue manager in the Apollo group to have a fax, so that we could send over the sales numbers at least twice a day. My boss, Paul Gregg, would constantly call to ask how many tickets had been sold. The licence capacity started at 85,000, so when we reached that, Paul said to get another 10,000 tickets printed. Then Barry would call to say the same thing, but usually after those tickets had been sold and we’d moved on to the next 10,000. In the end, we sold 115,000 tickets and it was the first time I saw what a machine Barry Clayman is when it comes to such a big event. Even now I say that Barry is the sharpest promoter in the Live Nation office – and he remains a pleasure to work with. Paul Latham, Live Nation UK I first started working for Barry in 1977 when I was freelance, and then became full-time at MAM in 79. When Barry formed BCC in 85, I went with him and stayed with him when SFX bought the company. So I’ve been working with him on a daily basis for nearly 40 years and, without question, I value every minute that I’ve worked with him – I still phone him all the time to ask for advice and I value his counsel enormously. He included me in the negotiations for Michael Jackson when I was just 28 or 29 and that kind of meeting set me up well for my future. He’s been a second dad to me. I did my first ever stadium show with Barry and I’ve just done my 30th show at Wembley Stadium alone, so being given the knowledge and the benefit of his experience has been a huge part of my career. Barry has a problem with his hearing nowadays, but he is still very sharp on numbers. So he doesn’t hear ‘one million’ very good; at ‘two million’ his hearing begins to recover; ‘three million’ and he’ll start to get excited; and you can whisper ‘four million’ and he’ll hear you perfecly… Phil Bowdery, Live Nation When Barry sold his company to SFX, he was asked to submit financial projections showing 20% profit growth year on year for the next five years, to which he responded, ‘If could make that, do you think I would have sold my company to you?’ Barry is one of the most astute people who has ever been in the business. He straddles the days of variety coming into our area of contemporary music and he was one of the first to recognise the burgeoning power of the artist. He’s an absolute gent and whenever you meet him, he has a smile on his face. But don’t ever get on the wrong side of Barry Clayman – you’ll be chopped liver. I am in total awe of him and always will be. He’s been an amazing mentor for anybody on my side of the business. Neil Warnock, United Talent Agency
Barry’s £100 contract with The Beatles for their first ever London concert
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FAMILY FIRST The family entertainment sector is truly maturing, with producers forever pushing the envelope on the use of new technology, while venues and promoters look to broaden the scope of content on offer to fans. Eugenia Durante examines the latest developments in this fascinating business.
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t the end of 2015, IQ awarded Violetta the Best In Show award for its outstanding global success, recognising a TV show that transformed into a touring live show. It was not the first time that we have underlined the importance of new content in the family shows sector, and on the back of such innovation, the industry has grown steadily in recent years, becoming a vital revenue stream for venues. The development of new touring productions has changed the entire concept of family shows: the more traditional shows still exist, but new types of performances have taken wing,
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using state-of-the-art technologies and engaging the audience in ways that wouldn’t have been possible five or ten years ago. These changes, of course, have presented new challenges, and IQ has reached out to professionals operating in the field to gauge what audiences in 2016 are looking for and how producers, promoters and venues are coping with their needs. According to the professionals interviewed, 2015 was a good year for all entertainment properties, including family shows. John Drury, general manager at SSE Arena Wembley, for example, says that while music is still on top with probably 30-35% of the
Family First
arena’s event days, the number of family shows has increased to around 20%. Much of the world has slowly recovered from the recession, but this has still left its mark as the public has grown more demanding, and companies have to work hard to provide them with the best experience possible. “Interactivity and content, which is value for money, are by now necessary,” World Concert Artists’ Corrado Canonici comments, “which is why all our family shows and exhibitions have a fair share of interactivity.” “It is not how it was back in the day, when you opened a newspaper, read about a show, bought tickets, went to see the show and then simply walked away,” Steven Armstrong, Feld Entertainment’s VP for Europe, tells IQ. “The public’s expectations are ever-changing. If you look at shows of five or six years ago, they are a lot different from what they are now. There’s an expectation of the audience of having a certain level of technology involved in arenas for these shows. They want to be emotionally engaged, especially for the family stuff.” He adds, “Technology is not limited to the show itself, but it embraces the whole customer journey, helping create
the best experience. We can’t ignore this, so we have to try and adapt as best as we can.” Technology is a big ally when it comes to creating the necessary levels of engagement to amaze kids and their families. But such feats are a huge challenge as today’s audiences are digital natives who demand to be surprised, while staying connected to the whole process. “Our arena has very modern standards,” Michael Hapka, managing director of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, states. “For example, we provide free wireless for the audience. Obviously, the young audience has a strong need to share on social media, to stay online, and to take videos and pictures. We also have tweet machines in the building with backdrops you can take pictures in front of and post them on your favourite social network. We also have a karaoke van on the plaza, where you can sing along to the songs that will be on stage that night. So we provide a high level of interaction, which allows the crowd to connect with their friends and followers even before the show.”
A perennial family favourite, Disney on Ice’s latest production is ‘100 Years of Magic’
IQ Magazine July 2016
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Family First ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
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eography also plays an important role when it comes to organising tours, technology-wise. The new show launched by Feld, Marvel Universe Live!, features a huge set that includes transformative 3D projection (using 21 projectors), the largest flying system ever used for a live arena tour and a brand new spotlight tracking system. While many US sports venues possess the suitable scale and are sufficiently equipped to host such a huge show, in Europe and other parts of the world, fitting the Marvel production into venues (and even moving it around) to be a real challenge. “We’ve had to find solutions,” Armstrong admits. “Of course, we haven’t been able to take the show to smaller facilities. The good news, though, is that we’re already working on Marvel Universe 2, which will be of a size that’s a little bit more manageable, so that we can move it around the world quickly and more effectively.” According to Drury, the magic word is flexibility. “Arenas as big as ours take a lot of different shows, which sometimes will take a little bit more organisation. That’s why we had to get used to being more flexible, but this is something we really enjoy,” he says. Of course, technology is nothing if there is not a strong brand behind it. 2015 marked the start of the Harlem Globetrotters’ 90th anniversary tour. With their 78-show tour of Europe, the company has wrapped up its longest European tour ever, setting a record in Madrid for the highest single-day attendance for a family show, with over 22,000 visitors. According to Denis Sullivan, vice president of international and development, their secret is trying to control as much as they can but adapting to what they cannot, while continuing to put out a first-class product and innovating wherever possible. “As a touring property that repeats 90% of its market on an annual basis, it is critically important to be able to engage with our audience 52 weeks a year, not just the three hours of the show,” Sullivan explains. Their Magic Pass, for example, is a unique pre-show event where fans can interact with players
on the basketball court, shooting baskets, learning ball tricks and getting autographs and photos. It is no coincidence that the Globetrotters’ company motto says they “create memories worth repeating.” But the Globetrotters are not the only ones to add experiences outside of the now customary digital media and social networking platforms: Georg Leitner Productions, for example, offers skating lessons to the families who attend their ice shows, alongside their favourite fairytale characters from shows like Peter Pan On Ice or Snow White On Ice. According to Feld’s Armstrong, a good family show must have a good storyline, strong characters and great music. That’s why their new Frozen ice show was massively successful in the US. Indeed, reaction to the production has been international – so much so that Disney is now planning to fly the show for the first time from Japan to Europe, because demand for the show necessitated the need for its arrival to Europe quicker than was initially scheduled. Of course, the biggest family show successes rely on that creative magic where the production offers entertainment both to adults and children. “You can see a lot of videos of dads singing the songs with their little girls on YouTube. In shows like this, everyone in the audience is singing the songs, not just the kids. It is all about creating a strong emotional connection, and we definitely have this,” Armstrong explains.
“It is not how it was back in the day, when you opened a newspaper, read about a show, bought tickets, went to see the show and then simply walked away.” Steven Armstrong, Feld Entertainment
Feld’s ‘Marvel Universe Live!’ is set to undergo a transformation so it can visit new venues
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Family First
“As a touring property that repeats 90% of its market on an annual basis, it is critically important to be able to engage with our audience 52 weeks a year, not just the three hours of the show.” Denis Sullivan, Harlem Globetrotters
Contributors Top row (l to r): Corrado Canonici (World Concert Artists), John Drury (SSE Arena Wembley), Michael Hapka (Mercedes-Benz Arena)
learning opportunity for both the arena and the Riot Games team. Over 30 million people watched it live worldwide, we had public viewings, we had live cinema streams throughout Germany. So there were many other viewers beside the 12,000 in the arena. I think this showed what great potential the world of e-gaming has for the arena business,” he notes. The same thing happened at the SSE Arena Wembley, which has now hosted the tournament two years in a row.
Bottom row (l to r): Steven Armstrong (Feld Entertainment), Denis Sullivan (Harlem Globetrotters)
EGAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS
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erhaps one of the most interesting aspects highlighted by this year’s family entertainment sector, is the growing importance of e-gaming as a big revenue stream in the family entertainment business. Both Wembley and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin have hosted the League of Legends Tournament, which has been a massive success worldwide. League of Legends is competitive PvP play, which the developer Riot Games has turned into a professional competition on a global scale. In 2015, the Berlin arena hosted the final of the tournament, with an audience of 12,000 people. “It was unbelievable, it literally sold out in a minute,” reports Michael Hapka. “The interesting thing about it was that Riot Games in Europe is based here in Berlin, so we had a long time to prepare that event and create something very special. The arena was booked for the League of Legends for over a week to prepare that event. There was a huge stage The Harlem Gobetrotters’ Cheese Chisholm gives some tips to with a lot of lights, projections and screens, and it was a great young fans on the court
Family First World Concert Artists have been involved in the ‘Travelling Bricks’ family show
“We had to put tents on the arena plaza to offer enough space and display for all these products. It was an all-time record, it was really phenomenal.” Michael Hapka, Mercedes-Benz Arena General manager John Drury reveals the biggest challenge was in 2014, when they didn’t really understand what the audience was and what they actually liked. “2015 was much more straightforward, as we understood the audience already. It was really something: League of Legends has become a proper sport – it was picked up by the BBC Sports team last year and streamed live with commentary throughout. They even had a team of people that discussed the actions after the games,” he recalls. In the e-games sector, merchandise has peaked. “Last year, for League of Legends, we had a volume of merchandise we had never had before. We had to put tents on the arena plaza to offer enough space and display for all these products. It was an all-time record,” states Hapka. Despite its very recent debut, the huge audiences that live e-gaming attracts are prompting venues to invest heavily in the genre. Next June, SSE Arena Wembley will be hosting the Counter-Strike Season 1 final – it will be the first time that the event will be held in an arena setting. These events also act as a booster for venues, attracting potential new lifetime customers. As a result, venue management pull out all the stops to impress attendees. “You want the space to be welcoming for the audience: it has to be something more than just a venue,” Drury says. “We are happy to have that: we’re in a very good position now with the [retail] designer outlets we have, along with 20 new restaurants and coffee shops and
IQ Magazine July 2016
a brand new Hilton hotel. There’s a lot around the Wembley area, which is important because nobody wants to go to a venue in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around it. And we want people to enjoy themselves.”
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IN PRODUCTION
he market is bustling with new ideas and concepts, from more traditional shows to big, state-of-theart productions. GLP will be launching a new show featuring Masha and The Bear, which has been incredibly successful on TV and social media (over 1.36 billion views on YouTube), while Feld, as mentioned above, will be busy touring Frozen on Ice and Marvel Universe Live. Wembley will be hosting a brand new show with Bear Grylls, which will feature the famous TV star in an environment that is a little bit alien to a huge arena, while the venue also plays host to the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular. Elsewhere, the Berlin arena will host Tabaluga, a famous German musical created by the rock star Peter Maffay, and hopes to have the BBC Planet Earth show again, with its original mix of educational and entertaining content. As foreseen by Armstrong, magic will become more popular, and drones are also something to keep an eye on. In short, the family entertainment sector is stronger and healthier than it has ever been, and now more than ever it’s a massively important revenue source for venues, producers and promoters, who are exploiting the chance to introduce new generations of young consumers to live entertainment. “We are pleased to have new target groups that discover our arena. The kids are too young to come alone to many of these shows, which means they have to be accompanied by adults, so we can target them as well,” Hapka concludes. “It’s great to see an arena that is full of kids from 2 to 12 years old, who are very enthusiastic. They can bring a very good mood into the arena... which is exactly what we want.”
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Montreux
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50 Montreux at
It’s been more than three years since the passing of Montreux Jazz Festival founder Claude Nobs, but as the event marks its golden anniversary, Gordon Masson learns how the 50th edition will be very much in Claude’s image.
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ne true sign of an iconic event is that when mention is made of its host town, people automatically assume that you’re talking about the festival that takes place there: Glastonbury is an obvious example; Woodstock another; and add to that category Montreux – the picturesque Swiss town on the shores of Lac Léman (aka Lake Geneva). However, it’s Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) that’s the grandaddy of them all, predating Woodstock by two years and Glastonbury by three. Established in 1967 by René Langel, Claude Nobs and Géo Voumard, the inaugural event was made possible thanks to the support of Atlantic Records founder, Ahmet Ertegün and his brother Nesuhi, who helped the trio attract the A-list of jazz acts to perform at Montreux Casino, including the likes of Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Keith Jarrett, and Nina Simone – firmly underlining the festival’s credentials from a very early date.
IQ Magazine July 2016
Under the leadership of the enigmatic Claude Nobs, MJF rapidly widened its outlook by broadening the scope of artists to rock & roll, and by the early 70s chart-topping acts such as Chicago, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Santana and Ten Years After were gracing the stage in the small Swiss town. By year five, it was all over for Montreux Casino as a venue, at least temporarily, when during a performance by Frank Zappa, a flare gun fired by an audience member caused an inferno that razed the building to the ground – an incident immortalised in rock anthem, Smoke on the Water, written by Deep Purple, who were nearby using the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio to record a new album. As the Swiss town prepares for the 50th anniversary of MJF, one of the nods the organisers have given to the history of the gathering will happen on the final night, 16 July, when Frank Zappa’s son, Dweezil, opens at the Auditorium Stravinksi for headline act Deep Purple.
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Funky Claude: Frontman Supreme
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harting the development of the Montreux Jazz Festival is impossible without paying tribute to the late, great Claude Nobs – a music man through and through, who could charm even the most obtuse artist. Renowned for his collection of musical instruments, as well as one of the biggest vinyl record collections in the world, Claude’s infectious passion was a driving force in the establishment of the festival, as well as its growth from a three-day format in the early days to its current 16-day programme involving hundreds of musicians from every corner of the globe. Having exploited his position as director of Montreux’s tourism office to organise small blues concerts “because Montreux was so boring,” he cheekily turned up at the Atlantic Records HQ in New York in 1966 and having explained he’d travelled all the way from Switzerland, secured a meeting with Nesuhi Ertegün, with whom he struck up a lengthy friendship. A year later, the inaugural Montreux Jazz Festival took place. “I was very naïve to go and meet the big boss,” recalled Claude when IQ ran its 40th anniversary celebration, a decade ago. “But when I presented my dream to Nehusi, he went for it. And I walked out this one very happy little Swiss guy who had met this giant of the jazz business who was going to help me.” With Claude at the helm, Montreux built an extraordinary reputation with some of music’s most iconic superstars. Often taking to the stage himself to play his harmonica, Claude had an uncanny ability to persuade people to collaborate live with other artists, while stars who didn’t want their performances to be recorded would be shown footage of others on stage at Montreux to help them change their minds. As a result, the MJF archives include some of the most astonishing shows ever caught on film – including the likes of Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone and Prince, to name but a handful. Annually attracting more than 200,000 fans throughout the 16 days of the festival, Claude’s legacy is evident throughout the Swiss town. When he passed away in January 2013, as the result of a skiing accident near to his home, the outpouring of grief from the artistic community was palpable, Indeed, long-time friend and collaborator Quincy Jones stepped in to curate that year’s event, which evolved to become a true celebration of its founder’s remarkable life.
Continuing in Claude’s Spirit
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he death of Claude Nobs, three and a half years ago, is still keenly felt among those who work in the Montreux Jazz Festival organisation. However, his approach to leadership has been a key factor in the continued prosperity of MJF, which is now overseen by director Mathieu Jaton. “The first year without Claude was quite special,” Jaton tells IQ. “Fortunately, I had worked with him for 20 years, while people like Michaela [Maiterth] also worked with him for many years, so we had a lot of experience there.” For her part, Maiterth, who books the Auditorium Stravinski and Montreux Jazz Club venues for MJF, observes, “It was very stable because Montreux Jazz Festival was pretty much Claude, with everyone working around him. The thing is, we still work in that same spirit because we don’t know how to do it any differently.” Maiterth has been a staff member since 1976, “when I’d sell T-shirts, or whatever,” she says. However, in 1990 she became full-time when she began working in the office alongside Claude. “When I started, there were just two of us and things were a lot slower because there were no computers – just a fax. But there were also a lot less people involved in the booking process. Now every sector is a lot more professional, so there are a lot more people involved at every stage and there is a lot of correspondence and things that need to be sorted ahead of time. In the old days, Claude would just say to artists, ‘go to the pool when you get here and call us when you’ve arrived’.”
“There is, of course, a strong feeling that, with or without Claude Nobs, the festival must carry on. It would be very egotistical to think that without me it would be over.” Claude Nobs, in IQ Magazine, June 2006 Lana Del Rey with Claude Nobs in 2012
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Montreux
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Auditorium Stravinski programme:
1 July 2 July 3 July 4 July 5 July 6 July 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 16 July
Anohni: Hopelessness | Air Muse Herbie Hancock | Scofield Mehldau Guiliana | John McLaughlin Buddy Guy | ZZ Top Mogwai | Sigur Rós Patti Smith | PJ Harvey Van Morrison | Charles Bradley Quincy Jones presents a 50th anniversary celebration | Simply Red Lisa Simone | Vintage Trouble | Jamie Cullum Angélique Kidjo | Brazilian Dream Jean-Michel Jarre Neil Young Max Jury | Lana Del Rey Marcus Miller | Santana Woodkid and Friends Dweezil Zappa plays Frank Zappa | Deep Purple
Montreux Jazz Club programme:
1 July 2 July 3 July 4 July 5 July 6 July 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 16 July
GoGo Penguin | Steps Ahead Aruán Ortiz Trio | Randy Weston Alina Engibaryan | Al Jarreau Basia Bulat | Keren Ann Selwyn Birchwood | Shemekia Copeland Montreux Jazz Academy Project | French Quarter Quincy Jones presents: Han Seung Seok & Jung Jaeil | Jacob Collier | Alfredo Rodriguez | Richard Bona & Mandekan Cubano Jack Broadbent | Robben Ford Pedro Martins | Grégoire Maret| Chico Freeman Avishai Cohen | Manu Katché Christian Scott | Mike Stern, Bill Evans, Darryl Jones & Dennis Chambers Iiro Rantala & Ulf Wakenius | Kenny Barron & Dave Holland A Bu | Ernest Ranglin and Friends Cécile McLorin Salvant | Curtis Stigers François Lindemann | Biréli Lagrène, Antonio Faraò, Gary Willis & Lenny White Harold López-Nussa Trio | Volcan
Montreux Jazz Lab programme:
1 July 2 July 3 July 4 July 5 July 6 July 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 16 July
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FKJ | DJ Shadow | Gramatik Max Cooper | Moderat Petit Biscuit | Mura Masa | Flume A$AP Ferg | Ty Dolla $ign | Young Thug Aurora | Ry X | M83 Meshuggah | Slayer Matt Corby | José González | Beirut Jeanne Added | Lou Doillon | Feu! Chatterton Georgio | Vald | PNL Son Lux | Other Lives | Ásgeir Allah-Las | Kurt Vile & the Violators | Mac DeMarco Hælos | Daughter | Grimes Rag’n’Bone Man | Glen Hansard | Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Floating Points | Kiasmos | Four Tet MHD | Nekfeu Laolu | Apollonia | Jamie Jones | Laurent Garnier
Jaton started working for Montreux Jazz Festival in 1994 while he was studying hotel management at university. “In 1999, I was hired full-time, so I’ve been here 17 years already as an employee,” he says. “In 1994, I was working for Claude in the chalet and he got me to organise and run the garden party, as well as look after the artists. I got to know Claude really well and he asked me to step up to take over the sponsorship and marketing, before promoting me to secretary general when I was 25. It was a newly created role, but Claude basically explained that he was 65 years old and he had to think about the future and he told me he wanted to build the future with me. That was one of the very few conversations we had about the succession.” Festival COO, David Torreblanca, came to MJF in similar circumstances. “I started working for Claude Nobs in January 2004,” he notes. “I applied to an advertisement through the École hôtelière de Lausanne, as MJF were looking for a food and beverage manager. Lots of people working at the MJF come from this school, including Claude
“In the old days, Claude would just say to artists, ‘go to the pool when you get here and call us when you’ve arrived” Michaela Maiterth, booker Auditorium Stravinski & Montreux Jazz Club Nobs and Mathieu Jaton.” As with many talented people within the MJF organisation, Torreblanca’s responsibilities began to organically multiply and in 2008 he was asked to get involved with the booking at the free, 1,000-capacity, Montreux Jazz Café. “So I started to read through the webzines, newspapers in order to be informed as much as possible about emerging bands,” he recalls. “In 2013, we decided to stop the Montreux Jazz Café and I was asked to co-book the Montreux Jazz Lab paying venue (2,000 capacity). Since 2013, we’ve booked Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, MGMT, Metronomy, The Eels, Darkside, Moderat, Flume, M83, Asap Rocky, etc. But as COO I am now also in charge of all the operations, which means points of sale, infrastructure, decoration, security and Lab booking.” Now in his fourth year as the festival’s director, Jaton agrees with Maiterth that Claude’s creative way of organising the event has been key to its survival – as were the relationships that the founder had nurtured with the talent who graced the Montreux stages. “When Claude passed away, we realised how much friendship he had built with artists,” says Jaton. “The likes of Quincy Jones and Billy Gibbons were great friends with Claude, and in that first year after his death they told us the festival had the same atmosphere, which was great to hear. The only thing missing, they said, was that they could not give Claude a hug.” Looking back over the festival since 2013, Torreblanca says, “Claude left a huge heritage and history so I have not had any issues with bookings – agents and artists are very proud to play at Montreux Jazz.”
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Deep Purple on stage at Auditorium Stravinski in 2013
With such enormous shoes to fill, Jaton has handled the transition of the last three years admirably. He explains, “It was very clear to me that my job was not to succeed Claude, but simply to continue what he had created in the same spirit. It’s a team show and we all work hand in hand to continue Claude’s work.” He continues, “During the festival, Claude would introduce artists on to the stage. I sometimes do that too, but in my own way so that I keep that authenticity and can just be myself.”
A Structure to Promote Creativity
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he longevity of Montreux Jazz Festival owes much to the people that Claude managed to attract to the organisation that acts as the event’s custodian. “The festival is a foundation – we’re a not-for-profit organisation,” states Jaton. “We have an eight-member board that meets four times each year to talk mostly about finance and strategy. But the board allows me to be free and to run the festival in the way that I want.” That structure was a stroke of genius by Nobs, because it gave Montreux’s founder – and now Jaton – the ability to focus on talent and creative endeavours without allowing
“It was very clear to me that my job was not to succeed Claude, but simply to continue what he had created in the same spirit.” Mathieu Jaton, Montreux Jazz Festival director
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such mundane aspects as financial budgets to stifle ideas. “The board is made up of people who are not directly in the music business – they are people who can open doors in political aspects, marketing aspects, etc, and they are very important for Montreux Jazz Festival,” Jaton elaborates. “They allow me to create a project first and then think about the budget, rather than the other way around. That is crucial because it’s a process that keeps Claude’s spirit alive: we have to keep the festival founded in irrationality, because that’s how Claude was.” That observation strikes a chord with Maiterth. “Claude was on the artistic side – he was not a businessman. So that gave us some irrational decisions and surprises. He made some mad things when he put certain artists together and those collaborations were always fun and unexpected,” she recalls. “It was Claude’s idea to put people on in the same venue and he would literally throw people on stage with someone else to see what would happen. The whole way he did things and thought things up was crazy. There were a few disasters, but there were also some unique and special moments.”
Moving with the Times
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s one of the world’s longest running continuous festivals, Montreux has dealt with monumental changes in the music industry during its 50-year history, many of which have been witnessed by Maiterth. “Tours did not need to be a profitable element of an artist’s career back in those early days – performing live was purely something to help boost record sales, so the cost and time of artists visiting Montreux did not really matter. Nowadays, it’s really about time constraints and sometimes that means it’s a bit less artistic – that’s a fact,” she notes. She continues, “Sponsorship started out as ‘you bring us
IQ Magazine July 2016
Montreux “Claude was an artist, very spontaneous, always coming up with crazy ideas and crazy line-ups. No one could stop him.” David Torreblanca, COO & co-booker Montreux Jazz Lab & aftershows three guitars and we’ll give you a page in the programme.’ Now we have a whole department dedicated to dealing with sponsorship and being involved in the festival now involves multiple projects, debrief meetings, etc. The organisation is very precise now so we have to rely on lots of teams to run things.” Highlighting another big evolution, Maiterth recalls, “In the 90s, we could book acts directly, but it’s much more specialised these days, with contracts etc. Claude was our frontman – artist relations, public relations was all down to him, while we did all the work to make it happen. He’d often simply pick up the phone to speak directly to artists, but these days there are various levels of people that all have to be involved in the chain before and after an artist agrees to play.” Continuing on that theme, Maiterth is keen to make the distinction between Montreux and more conventional festival set-ups. “Montreux is a bit different because it’s not an open-air festival, but it’s held at the same time as all the main outdoor events in Europe,” she says. “But at Montreux, the artist faces their real audience, because people have specifically bought tickets to see them, rather than just wandered into the tent where they are playing.” One of the elements that Montreux has constructed its enviable international reputation around harks back to Claude’s experimental way of encouraging artists –
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sometimes from very different disciplines and backgrounds – to share the billing, and perhaps join other acts on stage. And those ‘surprises’ have inevitably been a major selling point to the legions of fans that buy tickets, year after year, hoping to witness unique artistic alliances involving their heroes and heroines. “My highlights? Too many,” sighs Maiterth. However, when pressed she comments, “Miles Davis was always spectacular because he was so flamboyant and brilliant. And other personal highlights include James Brown, Bowie, Keith Jarrett – the list could go on and on.” Torreblanca says, “Claude was an artist, very spontaneous, always coming up with crazy ideas and crazy line-ups. No one could stop him. My most magical moment was when he convinced Prince to do a special concert for free in the 1,000-capacity Montreux Jazz Café. Nobody was expecting him, but he sang for 45 minutes – 45 minutes of pure emotion.”
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Going for Gold
eneva’s airport will be busier than usual in early July as artists and fans from around the world make the 90-kilometre pilgrimage along the shoreline of Lac Léman to Montreux, for what promises to be a spectacular celebration of the festival’s first half century. “The 50th year is huge,” states Jaton. “We’ve created a platform and gathered elements to help generate the surprise moments that Montreux is famous for. We have 48 concerts on different stages, but one of our key tasks is to try to keep the artists in Montreux for as long as possible – which again, is one of those irrational things that we do, especially from a financial point of view.” Expounding the thinking behind that particular Claude policy, Jaton tells IQ, “If an artist can have a day off to relax and take in the beautiful scenery, then maybe afterwards they can deliver something special to the audience.” That simple concept, he believes, has been a crucial magical ingredient for Montreux during its first 49 years – and it’s something that the organisers themselves thrive on. “We do plan a lot of the surprises at the festival, but the best are the surprises that the artists come up with themselves – I love that,” smiles Jaton. “We get some truly unique collaborations and artists making guest appearances during somebody else’s performance. It’s really special.” Of course, as Montreux Jazz Festival marks its golden anniversary, the celebrations will proceed with more than a hint of nostalgia to the phenomenal successful concert series that Claude Nobs established back in 1967. “We’ve been really fortunate for the 50th year because we’ve actually achieved the kind of programme that we dreamed of,” reports Jaton. And revealing the level of thought that has gone into making the golden anniversary such a seminal gathering, he adds, “We’ve been working for years on this jubilee – Claude himself talked about looking forward to the 50th anniversary, when he would have been 80 years old.” He concludes, “I cannot wait for the festival to start. Becoming 50 does not happen every day, so we’re looking to enjoy every single minute of this year’s festival. We all wanted to do something that Claude would be proud of and I’m confident we’ve achieved that.” 50
The intimate setting of Montreux Jazz Club
IQ Magazine July 2016
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Australia/New Zealand 6.DARWIN Map Key Promoter Agent Agent/Promoter Venue Festival
4.CAIRNS 17.TOWNSVILLE
20.WOODFORD 2.BRISBANE 3.BYRON BAY 13.PERTH
12.NEWCASTLE 15.TAMWORTH
7.FREMANTLE
14.SYDNEY
8.GOULBURN 18.WOLLONGONG 17.WANGARATTA 5.CANBERRA 10.NEWHAM 11.MEREDITH 9.MELBOURNE T1000 Events / Electric Gardens 1.ADELAIDE
6.DARWIN
Australia 1. Adelaide Groovin the Moo WOMADelaide Brian Gleeson Event Management Adelaide Entertainment Centre Adelaide Oval HQ The Gov The Thebby 2. Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre Brisbane Jazz Club Crowbar Foundry QPAC Concert Hall Suncorp Stadium The Brightside The Triffid The Zoo Tivoli Theatre Woolly Mammoth CMC Rocks
Handsome Tours Live Nation Australia McManus Entertainment Michael Coppel Presents O’Brien Group Australia Van Egmond Group Falls Festival Port Fairy Folk Festival AAMI Park Cherry Bar 4.CAIRNS Etihad Stadium Festival Hall Forum Margaret Court Arena 17.TOWNSVILLE Melcourne Cricket Ground Northcote Social Club Palais Theatre Rod Laver Arena The Corner Hotel The Prince Bandroom The Worker Club 10. Newham Hanging Rock
TheatricHals Worldwide Concerts Harvest/Pod Laneway Festival Soundwave Acer Arena ICC Allphones Arena ANZ Stadium Enmore Theatre Horden Pavilion Metro Theatre Newtown Social Club Oxford Art Factory Qudos Bank Arena Sydney Opera House The Basement The Vanguard
15. Tamworth
Tamworth Country Music Festival
20.WOODFORD 16. Tarwin Lower
Unify 11. Meredith 17. Townsville 2.BRISBANE 3. Byron Bay Golden Plains Groovin The Moo Bluesfest Byron Bay Meredith Music Festival 16. Wangaratta Splendour In The Grass 3.BYRON BAY 12. Newcastle Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues 4. Cairns Newcastle Entertainment Centre 17. Wollongong Cairns Arena Groovin The Moo WIN Entertainment Centre 12.NEWCASTLE 5. Canberra 13. Perth 20. Woodford AIS Arena Bluehawk Presents 15.TAMWORTH Woodford Folk Festival UNIBar Groovin The Moo 14.SYDNEY The Phoenix Perth Festival Southbound Festival Groovin the Moo 8.GOULBURN 18.WOLLONGONG 1.ADELAIDE AEG Ogden - Perth Arena 6.Darwin Amplifier Capitol 17.WANGARATTA Darwin Entertainment Centre Amphitheatre 1. Auckland 5.CANBERRA 10.NEWHAM Belvoir Domain Stadium 7. Fremantle Eccles Entertainment HBF Stadium Fly By Night11.MEREDITH ODR Productions Mojos Bar 9.MELBOURNE Fremantle Arts Centre Pool of Talent Perth Arena Auckland City Limits 8. Goulburn Perth Stadium Ragamuffin Music 16.TARWIN LOWER Laing Entertainment Rosemount Rhythm & Vines The Astor Theatre 9. Melbourne Splore 123 Agency Galatos 14. Sydney Murphy Petrol Group Logan Campbell Centre Nuffsaid Agency OneLove Talent Agency Mt Smart Stadium Soapbox Artists Premier Artists Powerstation The Harbour Agency Way Over There QPAM/Vector Arena Chugg Entertainment Parker + Mr French Silo Park Entertainment Edge AEG ThemeSTAR Studio Feel Artist Management Creative Touring Entertainment The Trusts Arena Frontier Touring Frontier Touring Compan The Tuning Fork Nine Events Grande Exhibitions
New Zealand
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16.TARWIN LOWER
2. Christchurch AMI Stadium Christchurch Town Hall Dux Live Horncastle Arena Isaac Theatre Royal James Hay Theatre Wanderlust 3. Dunedin Dunedin Town Hall Forsyth Barr Stadium
Sammy’s 4. New Plymouth WOMAD Festival The Mayfair TSB Bowl of Brooklands TSB Showplace 5. Wellington Bodega Michael Fowler Centre Opera House St James Theatre San Fran Shed 6 TSB Bank Arena Westpac Stadium
1.AUCKLAND
4.NEW PLYMOUTH 5.WELLINGTON 2.CHRISTCHURCH 3.DUNEDIN
IQ Magazine July 2016
Australia/New Zealand
There’s no business like show bOZ/NZ
With the diminishing dollar, sniffer dogs, a soft international touring biz and the disappearing act of the four big touring 1.AUCKLANDvibrant live music biz is facing some new challenges, and some familiar ones. Meanwhile, its festivals, Australia’s Kiwi neighbours are implementing strategies that should make the country a more attractive touring destination, even 4.NEW PLYMOUTH without Australia. Lars Brandle reports. 5.WELLINGTON
The great disappearing act by Australia’s big four festivals – The Big Day Out, Stereosonic, Future Music Festival and 2.CHRISTCHURCH Soundwave – has coincided with a downturn in the Aussie dollar, and consumers are in the grip of an election campaign 3.DUNEDIN in which the economy is a hot topic of debate. Money is tight. And live industry professionals agree the international touring space is in a lull. “The arena concert business in Australia in 2015 and 2016 has been softer than in prior years,” explains Tim Worton, group director - arenas at AEG Ogden. But it’s no cause for alarm, he says. “This industry is all about cycles, and we’re currently at the bottom end of the curve now. But history shows that there will be an upturn, and it’s only a matter of when, not if.” Australians have been spoilt for choice for too long and many view the current slowdown as something that had to happen. “There was a constant flow of tours from 2010 to the end of 2015,” explains Christo Van Egmond, commercial director for Van Egmond Group. “Toward the end of last year, the market was at a fatigued point, whether it was a conscious or unconscious decision by all promoters to give it a break. It’s what it needed.” The Melbourne-based promoter produced one of the biggest treks of 2015, AC/DC’s Rock or Bust Australasia leg, which Van Egmond reports sold 460,000 tickets across nine stadium dates in seven cities (five in Australia, two in New Zealand). Sales in NZ were about 25% down on the 2010 Black Ice Run, with Auckland “soft” and Wellington “strong,” he explains. The drop in festival activity is having manifold effects on the industry and the music community. Fewer tours equal less money to go around, and less focus on artist development. “Tons of newer artists in any other until last
IQ Magazine July 2016
year, would have come to Australia,” notes veteran booker Richard Moffat at festival promoter Way Over There. “But no one is ponying up to get them out to playing a festival, and to do an early cycle to raise their profile. No one is breaking that talent.” If festival organisers weren’t finding it tough enough to sell tickets, they also have to deal with the dogs. Visit a festival down under and there’s a good chance a canine will sniff your crotch on the way through the gate. It’s a divisive tactic, the debate on which has reached fever pitch. Opponents such as the drug harm minimisation project, Unharm, argue that sniffer dog operations are intrusive, have little or no deterrent effect and actually increase the risk of drug overdose by panicking festival-goers into consuming all their drugs at once. The cops say drugs are bad. Punters say the dogs ruin their experience. And promoters can’t do a thing about it. Meanwhile, the decline in the Aussie dollar has punished some impresarios. In January, the dollar dropped to US$0.68 – its lowest level in almost seven years. Just a year earlier, the currency traded at US$0.83. “Historically Australia has been a very strong market for touring and survived the global financial crisis unscathed. However, the dramatic drop in the Australian dollar has certainly impacted on content locally,” notes Maria O’Connor, managing director of Ticketmaster in Australia and New Zealand. “On top of that, the North American market is going through a very strong period which encourages artists to tour those markets.” Live Performance Australia’s (LPA) most recent Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey declared that the market’s live industry “remains strong,” contributing AU$1.51billion (€980million) to the economy in 2014, up 2% on 2013, with 18.54 million tickets issued that year. A separate survey
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Contributors Top row (l to r): Bill Hauritz (Woodford Folk Festival), Chris Bowen (Music Australia), Christo Van Egmond (Van Egmond Group), Peter Noble (Byron Bay Bluesfest), Richard Moffat (Way Over There), Roger Field (Live Nation). Middle row (l to r): Michael Gudinski (Frontier Touring), Jaddan Comerford (UNIFIED), Maria O’Connor (Ticketmaster), Tim Worton (AEG Ogden), Hamish Pinkham (Rhythm and Vines), Stuart Clumpas (QPAM/Vector Arena). Bottom row (l to r): MC Shureshock, Michael Harrison (Frontier Touring), Michael Chugg (Chugg Entertainment), Turlough Carolan (Vbase).
published in 2015, entitled The Economic and Cultural Value of Live Music in Australia 2014, found Australia’s live music sector that year pumped AU$15.7billion (€10bn) of value back into the wider community. That study also found an estimated 65,000 full- and part-time jobs were created by live music spend in 2014 and that for each dollar spent on live music, AU$3 of benefit was returned to the community. Data for the LPA’s 2015 survey hasn’t yet been collated, though the trade body’s CEO Evelyn Richardson tells IQ that expectations are for the numbers to be down, given the number of festivals cancelled and fewer international acts touring. The softness in the market depends on the content and on the city. R&B and electronic, for example, perform well in Sydney, promoters say, and rock is strong in Melbourne. As a ticket-buying market, Sydney is neck-and-neck with Melbourne, where previously it was ahead, according to local promoters. Brisbane is tough. While playing in Perth and Adelaide, due to their isolation and distance from the east coast, brings with it certain challenges.
“ We don’t need any more regulation.” Michael Harrison, Frontier Touring
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Major international tours to Australia typically swing across the Tasman Sea for a single date or small run of shows. But those New Zealand legs should continue to grow. “NZ has always punched above its weight,” explains Roger Field, chief operating officer at Live Nation. “It’s becoming a very useful regional aspect. Sometimes it’s more cost effective to do dates in New Zealand than in Perth.” If the touring space is slowing, Australia’s music exports are on a roll. Australia’s music community is delivering the goods across international markets, and genres, with the likes of Sia, Courtney Barnett, Vance Joy, Tame Impala, Troye Sivan, Hiatus Kaiyote, Flume, Chet Faker, Iggy Azalea, Alison Wonderland, Matt Corby, Keith Urban and many others waving the flag. “The Australian music scene is thriving in the sense of so much good talent and bands coming through and selling tickets early,” notes Moffat. “To some degree, the lower level of international tours has been replaced by this mass community of Australian bands that are suddenly becoming huge. It is a good time and I’d like to think the high volume of Australian artists becoming popular internationally is because of how strong our live scene is.” Veteran promoter Michael Chugg, however, warns a crippling federal funding shortfall for Sounds Australia, which helps musicians crack export markets, is bad news. “I’m pissed off about that. So much money comes back into the country because of Sounds Australia, which turns in incredible results.” The fight will continue, the vociferous Chuggi promises.
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Australia/New Zealand
FESTIVALS Australians like a bit of action in their lives and the live biz typically offers the stage. The action of late has had all the drama of a Baz Luhrmann epic. Consider for a moment, the names of the biggest touring festivals in Australia. And consider all of them are gone – for 2016, at least. The Big Day Out (BDO), Stereosonic, Future Music Festival and Soundwave have all vanished from the touring calendar, though Stereosonic, controlled by SFX Entertainment, is still clinging to the hope of reappearing at a later date, in some form (its founder Richie McNeill has touted the launch of a new festival brand). Combined, these big four in a good season generated upwards of a million ticket sales, spread across shows serving each of the five biggest markets and further afield (BDO visited New Zealand, Future visited Malaysia). The BDO at its peak was a beast, shifting 330,000 tickets, while Soundwave accounted for 280,000. Stereosonic changed hands when SFX bought Totem OneLove Group Pty Ltd in 2013, for a reported AU$75m (€49m) raised through a stock market flotation. That year, sales across the fest topped 280,000 tickets. “The touring-event model had become unsustainable,” claims Peter Noble, director of the award-winning Byron Bay Bluesfest. “It’s no different from the US, where events like Lollapalooza no longer do multiple one-day, but concentrate on multi days, which actually are the definition of a festival.”
Artist management and agents, he adds, “still view Australia as a major market.” Australia’s festival space doesn’t quite resemble the Simpson Desert, but there’s no doubt it’s a different landscape from just a handful of years ago, when the marketplace was lush and oversaturated with such brands as the touring Good Vibrations, Peats Ridge, Sprung, Pyramid Rock, Homebake, the Vans Warped tour, and Parklife and Harvest fests, none of which are doing business this year. New Zealand’s festival space had a high-profile casualty when January’s Echo Festival was cancelled due to soft ticket sales. The two-day event had a bill featuring Disclosure, Flaming Lips, Jamie xx and Kurt Vile, and was due to take place at Vector Arena (having switched site from Tauranga’s McLaren Falls). “Recent festival disasters soon show up the professional operators who deliver year in year out,” notes Hamish Pinkham, founder of the popular Rhythm and Vines brand. Other key fests on the calendar include boutique events Splore and Wanderlust. NZ’s festival market has shrunk, Pinkham notes, but opportunities are plentiful for entrepreneurs who find the right balance of line-up and experience. “The days of fly-by-night promoters coming into the territory are over. For us it means more booking opportunities going forward as less competitors in this space.” Bill Hauritz’ new year Woodford Folk Festival has just completed its 30th event and is looking to grow as it moves towards another big milestone. Woodford has drawn 2.8 million people in its history – including four Australian prime
Chugg Entertainment promoted a sold out show by Tame Impala at the Sydney Opera House in November 2015. Photo © James Guiney
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“ I’m pissed off about that. So much money comes back into the country because of Sounds Australia, which turns in incredible results.” Michael Chugg, Chugg Entertainment ministers – and hosted 30,000 artists and speakers. Its success has lessons for others to pick from. “We don’t participate [in bidding wars]. It’s a war we’ll never win,” explains Hauritz. “For us, what we need to create is an experience. We knew we had to create something else – rituals, ceremonies. These experiences draw people back. And that’s what’s going to sustain a festival through the hard times.” Noble’s Bluesfest in Byron Bay has tweaked the formula. The most recent fest in April broke from its typical programming with the booking of rapper Kendrick Lamar, alongside more conventional headliners Tom Jones, The National and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. The heavy end of the music spectrum is also making a big noise. “Business is good,” explains Jaddan Comerford, director and CEO of the multi-faceted UNIFIED music company, whose touring company UNIFY Presents struck a deal in December with Live Nation. In recent months, Comerford’s company has announced tours for the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, Slipknot, Pierce The Veil, Enter
Shikari and Northlane. “People want to see live music but there’s always a lot on and a lot of acts visiting the country. So it’s about quality: timing, ticket price, venue choice, value.” Unify: A Heavy Music Gathering is on the up. The festival, located two-and-a-half hours east of Melbourne, will be held 13-15 January, and claims to be the market’s only boutique camping festival dedicated to fans of heavy music. Its first year sold 3,000 tickets, the second year shifted 5,000 and for 2017, its organisers are looking to move it to 8,000. “A lot of acts stopped touring Australia, as they were all beholden to Soundwave Festival and wanted to ensure they did that event,” says Comerford. “That really slowed down touring throughout the year and made it harder for acts to really develop their own audience. It’s great to be a part of that process now.” Elsewhere outdoors, business is buoyant, however, and Mushroom Group chairman Michael Gudinski says A Day on the Green, the partnership between his company and Roundhouse Entertainment that produces outdoor summer concerts in wineries, has just had its best results for a number of years.
PROMOTERS Australia’s live space continues to be dominated by the big four promoters: Michael Chugg (Chugg Entertainment), Michael Coppel (Live Nation), Michael Gudinski (Frontier Touring) and Paul Dainty (Dainty Group). Between them, their respective touring companies in 2015 produced arena tours (and in some cases, winery runs and stadium shows) from the likes of Robbie Williams, Elton John (both Chugg); Sam Smith, Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart, Foo Fighters, the Eagles, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran (Frontier Touring); Neil Diamond and Michael Bublé (Dainty); and Fleetwood Mac, Mötley Crüe, 5 Seconds of Summer and Maroon 5 (Live Nation). This year, major international touring acts to visit these shores have included Madonna, Prince (in some of his final shows before his death), Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, with those heavy rock acts unfortunately touring Australia at the same, for the same price, chasing the same demographic. 5 Seconds of Summer will play arenas later this year and Coldplay will take the stadium route, in what looms as the biggest tour of 2016 (tour producer Live Nation slated six shows in Australia and NZ at IQ’s deadline). Despite the current dip in the numbers, AEG Ogden’s Worton is confident the business will heat up. “We have really healthy bookings in 2017 and plenty of tours are being talked about for 2018 already. There are plenty of great times ahead in arena-land.” Evolution, of course, creates opportunity. The death of Soundwave, notes Michael Chugg, has “been good for us.” Deftones and Bullet For My Valentine, acts booked for the
“ This industry is all about cycles, and we’re currently at the bottom end of the curve.” Tim Worton, AEG Ogden The Allphones Arena hosted Madonna in 2016. Photo © Glenn Pokorny
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Australia/New Zealand 2016 Soundwave, which collapsed in December, are now touring for Chugg Entertainment. Meanwhile, a slew of boutique and so-called destination fests are enjoying healthy business. Count in that group the likes of Laneway, Meredith, Golden Plains, the mid-winter Splendour in the Grass, the CMC Rocks country fest, Bluesfest, Woodford, and Groovin The Moo – a six-date fest which visits regional towns and is now arguably the biggest of its kind down under. The touring festivals that are surviving and thriving have been built in a very different way than their bigger ancestors. In New Zealand, Turlough Carolan, at Vbase in Christchurch notes, “We’ve just come off the back a huge year with Cirque du Soleil playing to record numbers over 13 shows. On the whole the sector is quite strong. It’s all swings and roundabouts and is purely dictated by who’s touring. Some acts that were hot four or five years ago may struggle in today’s environment, particularly now that the record companies are investing less in their acts. The NZ market is largely dictated by who’s touring in Australia.” Carolan says that in terms of business, the top promoters in New Zealand are Frontier Touring, followed by Live Nation, Dainty Group and Chugg Entertainment. “On the local artist front, Eccles Entertainment are by far our biggest client,” he reports.
VENUES Embarrassing. Knee-jerk. Nanny state. Laughing stock. They’re just some of the printable descriptives offered by Sydney’s music community and venue operators affected by the city’s lockout laws, which limit entry and re-entry into venues. To say the rules are hugely unpopular with young Sydneysiders is downplaying the situation. “Absolutely, it’s a problem. The rules are killing Sydney’s dance culture,” Cameron Brown (aka the veteran club and festival performer,
“ Ticket prices are critical at the moment. But the answer to our dollar dropping is not to put the price of tickets up.” Michael Gudinski, Frontier Touring MC Shureshock) tells IQ. The likes of Alison Wonderland, Flight Facilities and The Preatures have taken to social media to criticise the rules, arguing they are ruining the city’s live scene and wiping out opportunities for artists. Even the city’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, has likened the rules as a “sledgehammer” that fails to address the well-publicised, alcohol-related problems they were intended to tackle. Lockout laws were trialled and dumped in Melbourne (they’ve also been activated in the market’s third city, Brisbane). “We don’t need any more regulation,” says Michael Harrison, tour director of Frontier Touring, “particularly government regulation.” Figures released by industry body APRA AMCOS show a 40% drop in live music revenue in the Sydney CBD lockout zone since the laws were introduced in 2014. The data also shows a 19% decrease in attendances at nightclubs and dance venues in the affected zone. “These laws, if implemented without exemptions and mitigation, will lead to significant declines in attendance and loss of revenue, reduced music industry jobs, and fewer public entertainment options,” notes Music Australia CEO Chris Bowen. Sydney’s lockout laws were implemented early in 2014 following two deaths in the Kings Cross neighbourhood. The government responded with a series of policies aimed at reducing bouts of alcohol-related violence: after 1:30, no one is allowed to enter or re-enter a club, last call for drinks is at
Live Nation brought Fleetwood Mac to Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena in 2015. Photo © Chris Putnam
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Australia/New Zealand The Amity Affliction headlined last year’s UNIFY A Heavy Music Gathering in Melbourne. Photo © Kane Hibberd
3am, and stores can’t sell alcohol after 10pm. In addition, the government froze all applications for new liquor licences for a two-year period. Former high court judge, Ian Callinan, is due to deliver his report on the laws this August. Diversification remains key to survival in tough times. No doubt it’s a mantra not lost on Live Nation. The Australasian operation of the world’s biggest promoter was in the running to take on the lease for South Melbourne’s iconic Palais, at deadline, a move that would provide the world’s biggest promoter with a foothold into the Aussie venues biz. Michael Coppel, who has helmed LN’s business in these parts since 2013, declined to comment for this article. Australia’s grass-roots venues are playing their part. From Sydney’s 300-capacity Newtown Social Club and Oxford Arts Factory (500-cap); to Perth’s Astor Theatre (1,150-cap), Brisbane’s Triffid (800) and Woolly Mammoth (525); and Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club (300) and The Corner (800), the live scene for home-grown acts is thriving and allowing impressive newcomers such as Tash Sultana and Ziggy Alberts to build a national presence. While the lockdown in central Sydney is hampering the night-time economy, it’s not denting confidence when it comes to ambitious construction plans. The Sydney Entertainment Centre, which more recently operated as the Qantas Credit Union Arena, is no more. The wrecking ball flattened the 33-year-old complex to make way for a new AU$3bn (€1.94bn) precinct with bars, cafés and restaurants and the International Convention Centre Sydney, which is due to open in December. The ICC’s main 8,000-seat theatre (retractable seating means its capacity can be pumped up to 9,000) replaces the former arena. And an additional two theatres (2,500 and 1,000 seats) will be located within the precinct. Director of live entertainment, Phil King, says the 9,000-capacity theatre already has bookings, which will be announced soon. Promoters are positive on the space, though some who spoke to IQ are curious to know how many dates will be set-aside in the calendar for concerts. Though it’s some way off from reality, AEG Ogden has also pitched an AU$2bn (€1.29bn)
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entertainment precinct for central Brisbane. At the heart of the so-called “Brisbane Live” plan in Roma Street would be a 17,000-seat, world-class arena based on AEG’s LA Live facility. Among the big changes in the New Zealand biz was a deal struck in 2015 which saw Vector Arena change hands. The venue ownership is now effectively split between Live Nation, Michael Coppel and Stuart Clumpas. “The LN deal for me was more than just a simple buy out /buy in,” Clumpas (who retains a 30% stake) tells IQ. “I’ve been acutely aware of the need for NZ to start managing its own affairs with respect to the entertainment business, rather than relying on big brother Australia to deliver the goods.” He continues, “I felt there was a great framework for the country to grow, stay close to our Aussie cousins, yet give us global connections. It’s an exciting time for New Zealand, and I’d like to see a genuine self-supporting live.” Vbase’s Carolan can see the positives in Live Nation having a stake in Auckland’s Vector Arena. “Vector was already ticketed by Ticketmaster so it makes sense for Live Nation to have a vested interest in the overall operation of the venue. Hopefully it will result in more product coming to New Zealand and in particular Christchurch, as we’re the next biggest arena after Vector. There are some really experienced and seasoned operators in Australia doing some great business, so it’s pretty much business as usual.” Auckland isn’t the only city in the game. Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch are emerging as stops on some international tours. Though business at the arenas level has been “very quiet” in 2016, notes Clumpas, “Hopefully, it’s not a trend, but we’ve really refined being able to make the arena look great from 2,500 upwards now, so at least we are filling in with some of the mid-level acts, and helping them grow.” Gudinski has the final word. “It’s a good thing this year has been a bit slower. There’re a number of emerging markets (to compete with). Ticket prices are critical at the moment. But the answer to our dollar dropping is not to put the price of tickets up. The things that are red hot will stay red hot. Some of the middle acts have got to be careful to not come into the market too often. It’s going to be a big start to 2017. That’ll sort the men out from the boys.”
IQ Magazine July 2016
Your Shout
“If you could go back in time to change one world event that happened in your lifetime, what would it be?” TOP SHOUT I’d go to the morning of 17 October 1961 and wait outside Dartford Station (once I’ve fought off all the other time travellers in the vicinity.) When Keith Richards arrives carrying his Höfner guitar, I’ll intercept him and send him on his way with some mind-blowing gift, like an iPad, a PopTart or a mixing deck. Then I’d head up to platform 2, approach the young Mick Jagger and get into an enthused chat about the Chuck Berry record he’s carrying. We’ll form the greatest rock & roll band of all time and sign John Giddings as our agent (once he’s grown up). The rest will be both history and the future. Time is on my side! Steve Jenner, Playpass The sacrilegious Star Wars prequels trilogy. Ben Delger, ILMC
I would love to travel back to May of 1992 in Stuttgart when I agreed to sell my Guns N’ Roses tickets to a guy standing in front of the venue for 3x the face value and then listened to the concert from the parking lot. Thinking back, I should have said no because from the sound of it, everybody seemed to have a great time. Experience over the years has taught me that you just can’t put a price tag on a great concert experience. Lesson learned. David Garcia, DEAG Concerts
The war in Iraq.
John Giddings, Solo Agency
15th April 1989. It took 27 years, but justice for the 96 who died at Hillsborough! Geoff Meall, United Talent Agency
I would forbid emails.
Reno Di Matteo, Anteprima Productions
If I could turn back time, I would have been waiting outside the Dakota building in New York on 8th December 1980 at 22:50hrs. With a conveniently concealed baseball bat I would have immobilised Mark Chapman and prevented one of our industry’s greatest tragedies: the death of John Lennon. Jon (J.C.) Corbishley, ILMC
Hard to plump for one when there’s such a litany of horrors to choose from – Vietnam, Kampuchea, Rwanda, Iraq, Nigel Farage… But let’s pretend for a moment that (Western) civilisation isn’t quite as awful as it is, in which case I go for the so untimely death of Janis Joplin, which represented not only the death of one of the most extraordinary singers ever, but also the symbolic death of the hippy dream. Nick Hobbs, Charmenko
I’d go back to the early 60s and buy the Dionne Warwick version of Anyone Who had a Heart instead of the Cilla Black version that I bought. I’d also go back to April 1963 and remain in the Pigalle during The Beatles first ever London show instead of nipping outside for a fag and missing a bunch of songs. Ed Grossman, Brackman Chopra LLP
The decision of Donald Trump’s parents not to take precautions the night he was conceived. Bryan Grant, Britannia Row
The murder of John Lennon.
Michael Chugg, Chugg Entertainment
One word: Nickelback.
Rob Langford, Solo Agency
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