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LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE

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THEY REMOVED THE 81 PER CENT, WHAT ABOUT THE 19 THEY DIDN’T GET

EUROPEAN

FESTIVAL REPORT

2018

Crystal Ball Predictions for 2019 The Gaffer: Chris Marsh Matt Bates: From Shrewsbury to ‘Shambles 35 Years of CAA Netherlands Market Report ISSUE 81

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MINISTRY OF MAGIC PROSPECTUS & REGISTRATION GUIDE

Ministry of Magic

Throughout history, magic and miracle have permeated fairy tales, fables, and artist riders. But in 2019, those thousands of years are set to reach an almighty crescendo when the world’s most powerful witches and wizards arrive wand in hand to London for ILMC & the Mystery of the 31st Level.

From 5-8 March, ILMC will be summoning more than 1,000 of the greatest warlocks in an effort to navigate the mysterious 31st level and take live entertainment toward brave new horizons.

It all takes place in London’s answer to the Ministry of Magic, the Royal Garden Hogwart-el, where sorcerers and their apprentices will arrive in droves and attempt to unravel live entertainment enigmas such as spiraling artist fees, availability of headliners, VIP packages, exclusivity, corporate expansion plans, global deals, and most important of all, where the fuck did I park my broomstick?

With magic in the air, the ancient oracle you now hold in your hands will help you decode the mysteries of ILMC 31, from abracadabra to zendik, and includes

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details of happy hours in which delirium-inducing elixirs are served, opportunities to rub elbows with fellow live music magicians, and many other excuses to carouse well beyond the witching hour, and make the most of your time at the conference.

Expanding upon ILMC’s tried-and-tested mid-week format, the ILMC agenda shamans have conjured up an entire new conference programme for the final day, Futures Forum, which will see the next generation of industry leaders, magicians and illusionists joining their more experienced colleagues to debate the ongoing development of the global business.

As usual, we will keep you up-to-date on the latest announcements with our enchanted eNews letters but for a complete run down of what the ‘spell’ is going on, head to 31.ilmc.com.

So if you’re ready to compare your powers of enchantment with those of your colleagues and peers around the world, what are you waiting for? Rev up your broomstick, polish your wand (ahem) and register for what promises to be a truly magical few days.

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

Prospectus & Registration Guide BOOSTING YOUR MAGICAL ALLIES

THE ILMC SORCERY KIT

The ILMC Networking Scheme allows all delegates to communicate with each other without the need for special powers, so that meetings can be planned in advance of the conference.

Members of the scheme will be issued a secret password to access a covert area of 31.ilmc.com, where they will find each other’s contact details. To take part, tick the relevant box when registering or contact registration@ilmc.com.

The contact details for all delegates are listed in the Globetrotters Guide (which you will receive upon your arrival at ILMC), but the Networking Scheme is the only way to access each other’s details in advance without consulting your crystal balls.

The alchemist-in-charge of the Networking Scheme is Tom Hopewell, who will be able to advise you on getting the most out of your weekend, and will be on hand to make the odd introduction, if necessary.

A full listing of those delegates participating in the Networking Scheme will be published on the ILMC website in late January 2019, and will be updated each Friday until the conference has taken place.

ILMC is unlike any other conference you may have been to, as existing members will testify. All events and panels are designed so that everyone can participate and make their voice heard. The purpose of ILMC is to learn how others operate, exchange ideas, generate new business, and to provide opportunities for ILMC members to meet old friends, make new ones, and collaborate on new deals.

The ILMC package includes:

• Access to all panels, presentations, networking areas and most events.

• An invitation list restricted to the industry’s top movers and shakers.

• Five-star lunches and tea & coffee breaks.

• Reduced room rates at the Royal Garden Hotel for registered delegates throughout ILMC. • Access to the Networking Scheme.

• The first-class facilities of a top west London hotel.

• An annual subscription to IQ Magazine (worth £75).

• A free copy of The European Arena Yearbook (£139).

• A free copy of the International Ticketing Yearbook (£139).

• All Futures Forum sessions, networking breaks, and closing drinks.

• The Globetrotters Conference Guide, which includes contact information for all ILMC 31 delegates.

• An ILMC delegate bag.

• Free entry to shows across London throughout ILMC. • Significant prizes to be won with proceeds going to charity.

• Discounts in local restaurants and eateries.

THE ALIA DANN SWIFT BURSARY SCHEME ILMC’s Bursary Scheme is available for a small number of young professionals and start-up companies, and is intended to provide a route for those who would otherwise not be able to attend, to participate in ILMC for the first time.

The scheme is named after Alia Dann Swift, ILMC’s longstanding producer who passed away in 2017 after a short illness. Alia was instrumental in both bringing new talent into the industry, and supporting and encouraging the next generation of ILMC members.

The closing date to apply is 25 January 2019, and successful applicants will be notified in the first week of February.

A Bursary Scheme place is a full ILMC delegate pass. Details of all successful applicants will remain strictly confidential.

To apply for a bursary place, you must:

• Be employed by, or own, a company that has not previously been represented at ILMC. • Have not previously attended an ILMC. • Have gone through the ILMC nomination process, meaning that two existing ILMC members must vouch for you as part of the registration process.

• Application forms for the Bursary Scheme can be found at 31.ilmc.com/register.

SECURING ENTRY TO THE INDUSTRY’S INNER CIRCLE To register for ILMC, go to 31.ilmc.com where the Internet will magically provide you with everything you could possibly wish to know (and more!) about the conference, including event schedules, accommodation, and instructions on how to guide your broomstick to the Royal Garden Hogwart-el.

The full conference agenda will be announced in February online and in IQ Magazine, although in the meantime we’ll be sending details about specific sessions, topics and speakers via our enchanted eNews letters, so keep an eye on those.

Please note that ILMC is an invitation-only event, so if you or your company have not attended before, you will need to be nominated to join the magic circle. The process is very simple, visit 31.ilmc.com/register or contact registration@ilmc.com for further details.

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

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Ministry of Magic FUTURES FORUM The new-look Friday at ILMC will see delegates discuss the future of the live music business in the company of its future leaders - an additional invited delegation of professionals aged 30 or under.

The day aims to bring the individuals that currently define the business together with those who will drive its evolution.

Mixing new ideas, future trends and tomorrow’s technology, Futures Forum will experiment with non-traditional conference formats, mixing discussions with immersive workshops, TEDstyle presentations by thought leaders, peer-to-peer networking and career-boosting mentoring.

All ILMC members are encouraged to sign up their younger team members for the day, and all delegates are welcome in all sessions throughout.

Provisional sessions so far include:

PANELS: • Meet the New Bosses • FastForward to the Future of the Music Business • Surviving the Business:Health & wellbeing in live • The Art of the Deal: Beyond touring

PRESENTATIONS: 8 x TED-style presentations from across and beyond the business

THE GALA HOU-DINNER & 25TH ARTHUR AWARDS To celebrate a quarter century of The Arthurs, the live music industry’s most respected awards, this year’s Gala Dinner - hosted

by Commerzbank Arena, DEAG and Ticketmaster - will take place in a new venue – the Sheraton Grand Park Lane. With its spectacular grade II-listed ballroom and Silver Gallery adorned with palladium leaf walls and Grecian muses, the Sheraton Grand is one of the UK’s most iconic Art Deco spaces.

Carriages will transport guests directly from the Royal Garden Hogwart-el to the Sheraton Grand, where they will be immersed in the dark edges of Victorian London, the shadowy playground of illusionists and elusive conjurers. Following a champagne reception, guests will be mesmerised by a supernatural five-star, four-course feast, with a selection of fine wines to match. Meanwhile, mysterious forms of entertainment and the annual Pop Quiz will enthrall guests.

The highlight of the evening will be The Arthur Awards, where the great and the good of the global live entertainment business bestow the coveted statuettes upon those voted the best in their sector during 2018. If you would like to witness live music’s equivalent of the Oscars, a ticket for the event is priced at £199. A limited number of tables with the capacity to accommodate ten wizards are available at £1,990.

To secure your seat at this exclusive event, please tick the relevant box when registering for ILMC, or email registration@ ilmc.com. But best be quick, as the Gala Dinner always sells out early, and no matter how good your incantations are, even the most potent magic spell is unable to expand the venue’s capacity…

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3 x Mentor Sessions with industry leaders coaching the next generation

WORKSHOPS: • Ticketing Futures • Public Speaking • Social Media Marketing Plus the Futures Forum Keynote More information can be found at 31.ilmc.com or www.futuresforum.live.

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

Prospectus & Registration Guide THE PLATFORM 93/4 MAGICAL OPENING PARTY ILMC 31 will commence with a most magical event that will see a quartet of druids from Deutschland – Semmel Concerts, Stagelink, Megaforce, and Noise Now – combine necromancy skills in order to reunite ILMC members after 12 mystical months.

While magicians can pull bunnies out of hats, make tigers disappear, and cut scantily clad assistants in half, our German hosts promise a show-stopping event of their own as they summon an entire party on the mezzanine floor of the Royal Garden Hogwart-el, complete with enough snacks and booze to ensure guests have dizzy ‘spells’ for a week.

With the help of world-class DJs; top-secret competitions and prizes; and more sleight of hand than a team of ticket touts, the opening party is the perfect way to start your ILMC 31 experience with a shazam. The revelry will begin early in the evening (from 18:00-21:00), allowing those who need some time to recover from their Hogwarts Express journey to head off to bed, while night owls can kick-start their broomsticks and disappear into the enchanting city.

IPM 12 LONDON 5 MARCH 2019

Since it began, the ILMC Production Meeting (IPM) has become one of the foremost platforms for international production professionals to meet, network and discuss the most pressing issues affecting the event production industry.

In 2018, 200 of the world’s most renowned production managers; health, safety and security specialists; crewing companies; sound and lighting companies; venue personnel; staging and infrastructure companies; transport and travel specialists; new technology suppliers; and promoters’ representatives made their way to London for this one-day event that runs the day before ILMC kicks off.

IPM 12 will take 2019, L Oplace N D Oon N Tuesday 5 M A R5CMarch H 201 9 again hosted in the larger surroundings of the Royal Garden Hotel’s main conference rooms, providing ample space for the day’s programme.

Communal networking areas are shared with delegates of the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) that takes place simultaneously in the Royal Garden Hotel. To maximise the exchange of experience and information, IPM & GEI will this year share some of the programming, tying in elements of production and green innovations.

The IPM programme combines panel topics and Production Notes sessions, which showcase new ideas and innovations.

An IPM delegate pass includes a five-star buffet lunch, access to all conference sessions, tea & coffee breaks, an IPM conference guide with full delegate information, and entry to the closing drinks party.

GREEN EVENTS & INNOVATIONS CONFERENCE 2019

Having been oversubscribed last year, the Green Events & Innovations conference (GEI) is moving to a larger space within the Royal Garden Hotel in order to accommodate more delegates and provide more networking space.

A heightened awareness of plastics in our oceans, our food & INNOVATIONS and our bodies; the health impacts of poor air quality; and stark CONFERENCE 2019 warnings released recently relating to climate change, mean that radical and rapid changes are vitally important across every industry and in our personal lives.

We are already witnessing unprecedented involvement from stakeholders (from governance, individuals and businesses) who are investing in tangible solutions. But so much more can and needs to be done.

GEI 11 will welcome representation from some of the & best INNOVATIONS top events and the innovators, to share knowledge and experience; connect and network; and 2019 accelerate the CONFERENCE transition of events and festivals from environment-costly to environment-friendly.

Topics already scheduled for the 2019 agenda include plastics and re-usables; campsite waste and behaviour; merchandise; touring and transport; event catering; and, of course, Brexit and its potential effect on events and the environment.

There will also be focused break-out sessions for industry groups working on specific collaborative projects. And along with the larger space, the agenda is expanding and will collaborate more closely with the ILMC Production Meeting (IPM), which takes place concurrently, thereby allowing delegates of both events to share knowledge and experience.

The programme factors in ample opportunities for delegates to network and connect throughout the day during refreshment breaks, a five-star lunch, and during the closing drinks party.

GREEN EVENTS

GREEN EVENTS

To register for GEI or to find out more, visit 31.ilmc.com/gei.

IPM 12

To register for IPM or to find out more, visit 31.ilmc.com/ipm.

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

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Ministry of Magic TUESDAY 5 MARCH 10:00-18:00

WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH 12:30-14:30

ILMC Production Meeting (IPM)

The Gobble-it of Fire Lunch

To accommodate the increasing demand from production professionals around the world, IPM’s 12th edition will take place in the larger conference room facilities of the Royal Garden Hogwart-el’s lower ground floor.

For the first time, IPM delegates will be invited to take part in key panel discussions with GEI delegates, as both gatherings enjoy expanded programmes for 2019.

Hosted by EFM, eps, Loud Music Entertainment and Megaforce, registration for IPM is separate to the main conference but ILMC delegates can benefit from a discounted rate.

For more information, or to register for IPM, visit 31.ilmc.com/ipm.

Utilising the Forbidden Terrace, this two-hour lunch break will provide ample time for ‘goblin’ up the Royal Garden’s world-class, five-star cuisine, before the afternoon conference sessions restart. With a selection of hot and cold dishes on offer, vegetarian and vegan options, and a bewitching selection of desserts, it’s a magical spread.

10:00-18:00

Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) Due to 2018’s sell-out edition and the music and event industry’s growing interest in sustainability, the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) is moving to a larger space within the Royal Garden Hotel to make room for more delegates and provide additional networking space.

For the first time, GEI delegates will be invited to take part in key panel discussions with IPM delegates, as both gatherings enjoy expanded programmes for 2019.

GEI’s format involves a mixture of practical case studies and presentations from around the world, alongside debate about industry best-practice strategies and possible changes to environmental legislation in certain territories.

ILMC delegates who wish to participate in GEI can benefit from a discounted rate.

For more information, or to register for GEI, visit Agreenerfestival.com/gei.

11:00-16:00

ILMC Association Summit Marking its fourth year, the ILMC Association Summit draws together the leading, active live music associations from territories around the world, as well as a number of panEuropean sector associations, to meet, network and share bestcase ideas and initiatives. The summit is a closed meeting, with one representative from each association invited. For further information or to represent your association at the meeting, please email greg@ilmc.com.

18:00-21:00

The Platform 93/4 Magical Opening Party Complimentary nibbles, cocktails and party drinks will help to get ILMC 31 off to a flying start as wizards, witches and warlocks wind their way up the Royal Garden Hogwartel staircase for the magical opening party, hosted by four powerhouses of the German live entertainment scene: Semmel Concerts, Stagelink, Megaforce, and Noise Now. With surprises aplenty to welcome returning ILMC members and new delegates alike, entertainment will be provided by world-class DJs, while those in town early will be invited to take part in various themed competitions and prizes.

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17:00-17:45

CTS Promoter Group Reception Join the professionals from CTS Eventim Promoter Group as they make a special announcement about some exciting future plans. Complimentary drinks will be served to allow guests to celebrate the company’s achievements with a toast or two.

18:00-21:30

The ‘Hocus Pocus’ Dutch Impact Party Always a highlight of the ILMC schedule, The Dutch Impact Party introduces a number of hot Dutch artists to our international delegates in the setting of the historic Grade IIlisted public house, The Greyhound. Located just around the corner from the Royal GardenHogwart-el, the event allows guests to sample traditional Dutch bar snacks and even more traditional beverages while enjoying some cutting-edge music from the country’s finest emerging talent.

21:00-00:00

The Sleight of Hand Texas Hold‘em Poker Tourney A contender for one of the world’s most international poker tournaments, the 2019 contest will see our croupiers magically transport players and guests to Las Vegas – complete with complimentary roulette tables – as the live industry’s biggest annual card showdown sees our huddle of hyper-competitive card sharps battle it out for bar-tab prizes and, of course, the glory of being crowned the best poker player in the global live entertainment business.

Tournament entry costs £30 and all proceeds go towards the Nikos Fund, which this year is raising money for Music Venue Trust and ActionAid. Players can sign up when they register for ILMC, or alternatively email marketing@ilmc.com to reserve a place at one of our tables.

00:00-03:00

The Fusball Wizard Coupe Du Monde Am ILMC stalwart for more than two decades, the Coupe du Monde table football competition is as passionately contested as any international tournament, as players compete in pairs for the world’s tiniest trophy.

Refereed by IQ Magazine’s Terry McNally, the games are as entertaining for spectators as they are for competitors, fuelled by the magical potions concocted by the wonderful staff manning The Eyellusion Abracada-bar. Be in the bar with your co-player by 22:00 to sign-up for the preliminary rounds that kick-off at the witching hour.

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

Prospectus & Registration Guide THURSDAY 7 MARCH 12:30-14:30

19:30-00:00

The ILMC Gala Hou-Dinner & 25th Arthur Awards

One of the consistencies at ILMC is the quality of cuisine served by the Royal Garden Hogwart-el’s chefs, whose buffet-style lunches showcase their incredible culinary skills. With the entire ILMC membership gathering to take advantage of this delicious fare, lunch remains one of the best places to network and meet potential new friends and business contacts. And to eat.

The live music industry’s most glittering night out, The ILMC Gala Dinner allows the top decision makers in the business to let down their hair, drink, dine, and celebrate the achievements of their peers during the Arthur Awards. ILMC 31 sees the live music ‘Oscars’ move to the glorious surroundings of the Sheraton Grand Park Lane where guests will be treated to a world-class dinner and matching entertainment. For more details see page 6.

13:30-14:00

22:30-late

Werewolfing It Down Lunch

Nikos Fund Grand Prize Draw ILMC raises a significant sum of money every year for charity, in honour of the Nikos Fund. With some amazing prizes on offer, including international hotel deals, be sure to hand in your business cards to the ILMC staff rattling those collection tins to be in with a chance to win. ILMC 31’s chosen charities are Action Aid and Music Venue Trust.

Never Mind the Warlocks Karaoke Picture a room full of frustrated pop stars who have no idea what perfect pitch is, add some enthusiastic alcohol-fuelled performances and you’ve pretty much set the scene for ILMC’s karaoke extravaganza. The opportunity to impress your peers by singing Taylor Swift’s latest hit is a right of passage for all ILMC attendees, year after year after year…

16:00-17:00

Feld’s All-seeing Eye-scream Break Make sure you are on the lower ground floor when the good people at Feld bring out the ice cream so that you can witness some of the industry’s most venerable executives channelling their inner five-year-old selves. A mainstay of the ILMC schedule, the event provides delegates with yet another fun networking opportunity, as well as the chance to boost your Disney-related cup collection.

17:30-18:30

The WME Happy Hour What better way to end a full day of conferencing than by quenching your thirst and having a few nibbles with the agents of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. The happy hour offers delegates a ready-made way to catch up with existing WME contacts, as well as getting to know a few more of the team.

19:30-21:30

Match of the Light Year Football Many an ILMC delegate has cemented their place in history with a goal during our annual UK versus the Rest of the World football match, while the ferocity of the rivalry has allegedly involved some dubious tactics over the years. But it’s all in good fun, with both teams bonding aboard the same coach to and from the Royal Garden Hogwart-el. Just make sure you get on the correct bus, unlike one unlucky Gala Dinner attendee in 2017… Team places are limited and must be booked in advance, so contact peter@aikenpromotions.com to get involved.

FRIDAY 8 MARCH 09:30-11:00

The Cloak of Invisibili-tea & Coffee Break Bleary eyes and the regrets of karaoke past will be relived and analysed during our Friday morning break, blasting away the cobwebs before ILMC’s brand new all-day event, Futures Forum, where the next generation of industry leaders will outline their hopes and strategies for the business going forward.

12:30-14:00

The Sensational Chew-dini Lunch While the Royal Garden kitchen staff again flex their gastronomic muscles, the Sensational Chew-dini lunch will invite a slew of additional delegates from the Futures Forum conference, allowing attendees the opportunity to combine a fine dining experience and further networking with some of the industry’s emerging entrepreneurs and future bosses.

17:30-20:00

The Vanishing Act Closing Drinks Winding down ILMC 31, delegates are invited to share a glass or two of bubbly while making sure they exchange business cards with the new friends and contacts made over the previous three days, and toasting any new deals agreed at ILMC.

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

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M i ni s t ry Offi c i al s Only

SCHEDULE TUESDAY 5 MARCH 09:00 - 17:00 10:00 - 18:00 10:00 - 18:00 11:00 - 16:00 13:00 - 18:00 13:00 - 21:00 14:30 - 18:30 18:00 - 20:00 18:00 - 21:00 Various

IPM Registration IPM (ILMC Production Meeting) Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) Association Summit (invitation only) Travel Desk ILMC Early-Bird Registration Association Meetings (invitation only) IPM & GEI Closing Drinks Party The Platform 93/4 Magical Opening Party Access All Areas Shows

WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH 09:00-18:00 09:00-18:00 09:00-20:00 09:00-close 09:30-11:00 10:00-10:30 10:00-17:00 10:00-18:00 10:00-18:00 12:30-14:30 17:00-17:45 18:00-21:30 Various 21:00-00:00

00:00-03:00

Travel Desk Open York Suite Open Registration Desk & Help Desk Open The Eyellusion Abracada-bar Open The Cup and Sorcery Tea & Coffee Break New Delegates’ Orientation Association Meetings (invitation only) Conference Sessions The Voodoo Lounge Open The Gobble-it of Fire Lunch CTS Eventim Promoter Group Reception The ‘Hocus Pocus’ Dutch Impact Party Access All Areas Shows The Sleight of Hand Texas Hold‘em Poker Tourney The Fusball Wizard Coupe Du Monde

“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”

Albert Einstein

THURSDAY 7 MARCH 07:00-10:00 09:00-18:00 09:00-18:00 09:00-19:30 09:00-close 09:30-11:00 10:00-18:00 10:00-18:00 12:30-14:30 13:30-14:00 16:00-17:00 16:00-19:00 17:30-18:30 19:30-21:30 19:30-00:00

Various 22:30-late

Breakfast Available Registration Desk & Travel Desk Open York Suite Open Help Desk Open The Eyellusion Abracada-bar Open The Invulnerabili-tea & Coffee Break The Voodoo Lounge Open Conference Sessions Werewolfing It Down Lunch Nikos Fund Grand Prize Draw Feld’s All-seeing Eye-scream Break Association Meetings (invitation only) The WME Happy Hour Match of the Light Year Football The ILMC Gala Hou-Dinner & 25th Arthur Awards Access All Areas Shows Never Mind the Warlocks Karaoke

FRIDAY 8 MARCH 07:00-10:00 09:00-18:00 09:00-17:00 09:00-18:00 09:30-11:00 10:00-12:30 10:00-16:00 12:30-14:00 14:00-16:30 16:45-17:30 17:30-20:00 Various

Breakfast Available York Suite & Voodoo Lounge Open Registration Desk Open The Eyellusion Abracada-bar Open The Cloak of Invisibili-tea & Coffee Break Futures Forum Conference Sessions Help Desk & Travel Desk Open The Sensational Chew-dini Lunch Futures Forum Conference Sessions Futures Forum Keynote The Vanishing Act Closing Drinks Access All Areas Shows

THE NOT-SO-SMALL PRINT A full list of terms and conditions can be found online, but please note: • ILMC conference sessions may not be videoed or recorded • Children are not allowed in the conference areas

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• Conference passes must be worn at all times • Lost passes will incur a replacement fee

Register at www.31.ilmc.com

Contents IQ Magazine Issue 81

News and Developments

14 In Tweets The main headlines over the last two months 16 In Depth Key stories and news analysis from around the live music world 20 New Signings & Rising Stars A round-up of the latest acts that have been added to the rosters of international agents 26 Techno Files Revealing the cutting-edge tech that’s helping our 21st century business

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Features

3 Ministry of Magic Prospectus & Registration Guide ILMC gears up for a spellbinding 31st edition with a mystical theme 28 European Festival Report 2018 IQ’s eleventh annual health-check on the continent’s festival sector 36 Crystal Ball Predictions Jon Chapple chairs our first ever virtual panel and asks key executives about their expectations, and hopes, for 2019 40 The Gaffer 2018 Chris Marsh reveals his career path to becoming Ed Sheeran’s production manager 52 From Shrewsbury to ‘Shambles Primary Talent’s Matt Bates marks his 20th anniversary in the music business 64 The Power House James Drury discovers the secret of CAA’s success as the agency celebrates 35 years in business

EUROPEAN 28

FESTIVAL REPORT

2018

36

72 High Times in the Lowlands Adam Woods returns to the Netherlands to learn about the various challenges facing professionals in one of the world’s healthiest live entertainment markets

Comments and Columns

22 Africa: The Power of Music Joe Chialo highlights the wealth of talent in Africa and the opportunities in some of the world’s fastest-growing music markets 23 Italy – Home and Away Talent booker Angela Curiello brings us up to date on the Italian market 24 An Equal Opportunities Industry Claire Singers takes a peek at diversity in the events industry 25 Equality in Live As gender equality becomes a major talking point, Big D Zaretsky argues that hiring on merit trumps positive discrimination 84 Members’ Noticeboard ILMC members’ photos 86 The ILMC Magic Circle Can you identify ILMC 31’s superstar sorcerers?

IQ Magazine January 2019

40 64

52 72

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Issue 81 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE

THE ILMC JOURNAL, January 2019

Happy Holidays!

As another year takes a bow, Gordon Masson reflects on another successful 12 months for live music and the arrival of yet more grey hairs in his beard…

If you’re reading this online and busily seeing out the final days before the season break then I’d like to wish you a happy holiday. If you’re reading it at your desk and it’s 2019, well, I hope the holidays were kind to you – but thank god they’re over and you don’t have to spend time with that relative for another 12 months.

2018 was a pretty decent year for the live entertainment business, with no sign of fans deciding that they’ve had enough of the live experience of concerts and festivals, so we can all hopefully enter 2019 full of optimism. And with ILMC just around the corner, now’s the time to be concentrating on strategies for growth before meeting up with your all-important international partners, colleagues and friends at the Royal Garden Hotel in March.

Speaking of which, in this issue, ILMC 31 gets the big reveal, although unless you’ve been completely ignoring your emails and the Internet for the past month, you’ll know that it’s going to be magical. So, for a hint at what to expect and to secure your pass for what promises to be the most spellbinding conference of 2019, take a look at the registration guide on page 3.

As is tradition for this year-end issue of IQ, we’ve also got the European Festival Report 2018 for you to pore over, should you wish to compare your event against the average of what your peers are doing, or if you’re curious about some of the key statistics in the festivals sector over the past decade.

We also pay tribute to The Gaffer, Chris Marsh (see page 40), who has been working with Ed Sheeran from club shows right through to stadiums, and who ended 2018 having skippered the highest grossing tour globally over the past 12 months.

Another individual worthy of praise is Primary Talent’s Matt Bates, with whom we discuss his 20 years in the business, from accidentally becoming the agent for Babyshambles to helping build the careers of some of the hottest acts on the planet (see page 52).

On a global vibe, we also talk to some of the principals at CAA, which is marking the 35th anniversary of its music division (page 64), to chart the development of its international expansion over the decades and its ethos to offer clients multiple avenues to showcase their talents.

Elsewhere, Adam Woods transports us to the Netherlands (page 72) for a health check on the local industry, on the eve of one of its biggest international events, Eurosonic Noorderslag. And IQ’s own Jon Chapple shows off his digital dexterity by chairing our first ever virtual panel (page 36), in which he asks various luminaries about their hopes and expectations for the year ahead.

Which quite nicely allows me to sign off from the year by counting my 2,018 new grey hairs, and simply wishing you all the very best, both personally and professionally, for 2019.

Happy New Year!

OLD TEXT

IQ Magazine January 2019

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

Imogen Battersby and Ben Delger

Contributors

Joe Chialo, Angela Curiello, James Drury, Eamonn Forde, Claire Singers, Manfred Tari, Adam Woods, Dmitry “Big D” Zaretsky

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

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Analysis

In Tweets...

Rammstein (Photo: © Bart Heemskerk)

NOVEMBER The British live music industry had a solid, if unspectacular, 2017 – contracting slightly from the record high of £1bn gross value added (GVA) seen in 2016 to deliver an economic boost worth £991m, according to the latest Measuring Music report.

German promoters’ associations BDV and VDKD unanimously approve a merger, leading to the creation of the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry (Bundesverband der Konzert- und Veranstaltungswirtschaft, or BDKV).

Joy of a Toy BV, a company controlled

by Mojo Concerts co-founder Leon Ramakers, buys into a new Dutch online radio station, Kink, set to launch in February 2019.

Some 1,200 people, including hundreds of international promoters who’d flown in for the occasion, gather at Grosvenor House Hotel in London to celebrate with CAA agent Emma Banks as she picks up the 2018 Music Industry Trusts (MITs) Award.

Daniel Ek, the CEO of music-streaming service Spotify, tells investors the platform will in future be used increasingly to upsell

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artists’ products, which could include tickets and merchandise to their “superfans.”

The 2018 edition of Baloise Session comes to a close, bringing the curtain down on another successful year for the Swiss festival, which sold all its 15,500 tickets after missing out by a whisker last year.

Research presented at AIF’s Festival Congress event reveals the UK’s independent festival sector contributed an estimated £1bn in revenue to the British economy in the three years ending 2017.

Guns N’ Roses’ Not in this Lifetime world tour becomes one of the highestgrossing tours of all time, selling more than 750,000 tickets for its recent European leg.

Vibration Group, the company behind London’s Printworks venue in Canada Water, announces plans for Magazine, a new 3,000-capacity music and events venue set to open in Greenwich in 2019.

Eventbrite launches Eventbrite Music, a new ticketing solution for independent promoters, venues and festivals, to replace Ticketfly, which is set to be retired in 2019.

More than a million metal fans try to get tickets for Rammstein’s upcoming Euro-

@iq_mag pean stadium tour, says CTS Eventim, which for the first time sold more than 800,000 tickets in a single on-sale.

The Spice Girls’ 2019 Spice World stadium tour becomes a record-breaker for Ticketmaster UK, with enough fans trying to get tickets that the band “could have played nearly every night for a year,” according to MD Andrew Parsons.

MTV expands its live events business in the US with the acquisition of SnowGlobe Music Festival, which takes place annually over the New-Year period in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Eventbrite’s first financial quarter as a public company sees big increases in all key performance indicators, with double-digit growth in turnover, gross profit, and ticket sales.

Shanghai-based promoter Split Works agrees a long-term deal to represent UK performance art collective Arcadia in China, with the iconic fire-breathing ‘Spider’ installation set to make its Chinese debut over the New Year.

Mat Whitecross’s Coldplay film, A Head Full of Dreams, sells more than 300,000 tickets, for a global gross of over $3.5m (€3.1m), for a one-nightonly cinema screening.

TEG, the parent company of leading Australasian ticket agency Ticketek, announces the launch of Ticketek Marketplace, a price-capped ticket exchange for Australian consumers.

Dave Bradley, former co-promoter of Download Festival, and Andy Pritchard, founder of design studio Designsixtyfour, launch creative agency CMND/CTRL to offer design, digital and event solutions to “the noisier end of the industry.”

Germany’s FKP Scorpio acquires a 25% stake in Danish concert promoter, booking agency and artist management company smash!bang!pow!.

Dani Martín’s show at WiZink Center on Friday 16 November marks a milestone 500th concert for the 15,500-capacity Madrid arena.

IQ Magazine January 2019

Analysis

Taylor Swift

Burn the Stage: the Movie, the first film from K-pop superstars BTS, sells the highest-ever number of tickets for an ‘event cinema’ release, beating previous record-holders One Direction.

After a 2018 spent in Brockwell Park, Brixton, UK festival Field Day reveals its new permanent home: a ten-acre former industrial space at Meridian Water, near Tottenham Marshes in north London.

Exit’s new electronic music event, No Sleep Festival, attracts over 25,000 people from more than 30 countries for its debut edition, held in Belgrade from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 November.

Some of the Netherlands’ most popular artists write to culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven to demand an end to high ticket prices on the secondary market.

The Fightback Brewing Company, whose Fightback Lager aims to raise funds for UK grassroots music venues, launches at Fightback Festival in Manchester.

Diversified Australasian live entertainment powerhouse, TEG, acquires TicketWorld, one of the largest ticketing companies in the Philippines.

Rammstein secure an injunction from a Hamburg court that legally prohibits Viagogo from reselling tickets for their 2019 European stadium tour.

Tickets for Foo Fighters’ first-ever show in Croatia – in June 2019, at 7,000-capacity Roman amphitheater Pula Arena – sell out within minutes.

Emirati promoter Done Events acquires Dubai Jazz Festival, cementing its status as the largest organiser of live events in the region. Alicia Keys, Snow Patrol and Jamiroquai will headline the 2019 event.

Hove Festival, which ended in 2014 after eight years as one of Norway’s largest and most popular music festivals, confirms its return under new management in 2019.

Paradigm Talent Agency acquires Dale Morris & Associates, the touring arm of Nashville country music powerhouse

DECEMBER

Morris Higham Management.

French associations Prodiss and SMA initiate legal action to annul the so-called ‘Collomb circular’ (circulaire Collomb), the controversial document that revealed plans to force live events to reimburse the government for the cost of policing.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is granted a landmark court order securing a range of concessions from Viagogo, as the controversial secondary ticketing company avoids a costly trial after agreeing to address the competition watchdog’s concerns.

The Portuguese parliament approves a new state budget that cuts the VAT on tickets for live shows from 13% to 6%, in news welcomed by promoters’ association APEFE. James Barton-led festival owner/operator Superstruct Entertainment expands into Finland by acquiring a stake in leading music and arts event Flow Festival.

A majority of people would support greater measures to control mobile phone usage during live shows, finds an Eventbrite survey of British event-goers.

A rigger, Siyabonga Ngodze, loses his life after falling from the roof of Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium the day before Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100.

Ticketing industry veteran Dan Teree – the former president of TicketWeb and co-founder of Ticketfly – announces the launch of mobile-first blockchain ticketing platform Big Neon.

After a hiatus in 2018, Live Nation’s Wireless Festival will return to Germany in 2019, the promoter announces.

Taylor Swift’s Reputation stadium tour – which wrapped up in Tokyo on 20 and 21 November after six months on the road – breaks the record for the highestever-grossing US tour.

CISAC, the association representing the world’s copyright collection societies, announces plans to impose sanctions against SGAE, amid continued alleged rule-breaking by its rogue member from Spain.

Swiss promoter Mainland Music reveals it is being acquired by Live Nation, in a deal expected to be completed in January 2019 (see page 16).

Dutch investment firm, Waterland Private Equity, secures a deal to acquired six leading Scandinavian promoters and agencies – Denmark’s ICO Concerts and ICO Management and Touring; Norway’s Friction and Atomic Soul; and Sweden’s Blixten & Co and Maloney Concerts.

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IQ Magazine January 2019

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Analysis

Live Nation makes acquisition #15 with Mainland Music The buy-out at press time of Swiss promoter Mainland Music was, by IQ’s calculations, Live Nation’s 15th this year – making 2018 the concert giant’s busiest 12 months for acquisitions to date.

The acquisition of Mainland – understood to have been in the works for some time, and expected to be completed in January 2019 – grows Live Nation GSA (Germany, Switzerland and Austria)’s footprint in the Swiss market, following the acquisition of Openair Frauenfeld festival last July and the official launch of Ticketmaster Switzerland the following month.

“By joining the Live Nation family, we will bring even more international top acts to Switzerland,” said Christian Gremelmayr of Mainland Music.

The Mainland takeover, expected to be complete in the New Year, follows the whole or partial acquisitions of: • UK festivals Bestival and Camp Bestival, in October

(via LN-Gaiety/with SJM Concerts) • Blockchain ticketing startup Upgraded, also in October (via Ticketmaster).

• Dutch dance music promoter ALDA Events, also in October (via Insomniac).

• Colorado-based promoter Emporium Presents, in September.

• MCD Productions, the Irish promoter led by Live Nation UK/Ireland chairman Denis Desmond, in August (via LN-Gaiety).

• Birmingham, Alabama, promoter Red Mountain Entertainment, in June.

• Texas-based festival and concert promoter ScoreMore Shows, in May. • Biometric ID start-up Blink Identity, also in May. • Rock City, the promoter of the Rock in Rio festivals, also in May. • Rhythm and Vines, New Zealand’s largest music festival, in April.

• Hall & Oates’ m a n a g e ment company, Wolfson Entertainment, also in

Movers and Shakers France Billet, France’s leading ticket seller and distributor, has promoted Arnaud Averseng to president. He succeeds Katia Hersard, who departed in early October.

Coda Agency has officially welcomed new agents Tom Taaffe and Anna Bewers to the team, along with promoting former bookers Ryan Penty and Andy Clayton to agents.

Both Taaffe and Bewers joined the company from UTA, while Clayton and Penty were bookers for Alex Hardee.

Jane Lauder, granddaughter of cosmetics magnate Estée Lauder and a 22-year veteran of the Estée Lauder Companies, has been appointed to Eventbrite’s board of directors. Lauder, has a “proven track record as an innovative marketer, global brand builder and business leader [which] makes her a fantastic addition to our board,” said Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz.

David Parr has been appointed executive vice president at BASE Hologram where he will be responsible for selling the

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April (via Artist Nation).

• Rob Hallett-led UK promoter Robomagic, in February.

• Wisconsin-based family promoter Frank Productions, in January.

• All remaining assets of Songkick/Complete Entertainment Resources Group, settling Songkick’s anticompetition lawsuit, also in January (see IQ 76).

That compares to 11 acquisitions in 2017 – and eight in 2016 – further bolstering US-based Live Nation’s credentials as the world’s largest live entertainment company.

Financially, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino says the company is on course for an eighth consecutive year of record growth, after posting its best-ever quarterly results in Q3 2018.

For three months ending 30 September 2018, the live music behemoth saw turnover increase 11%, to nearly $3.9billion (€3.4bn), operating income 16%, to $234.2million (€206.4m),

and AOI (adjusted operating income, which excludes several expenses, mostly related to stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortisation) 16%, to $386.5m (€340.6m). For the year to date (quarters 1–3), revenue was up 11%, operating income 24% and AOI 17%.

All divisions – concerts, sponsorship and ticketing (Ticketmaster) – also individually delivered their strongest-ever third-quarter AOI results.

“As we approach the end of 2018, we are confident that our strong performance will deliver another record year of results,” Rapino continues.

“All of our businesses – concerts, sponsorship and ticketing – have delivered growth year-to-date through September, and based on their key operating metrics, we expect each to deliver record revenue, operating income and AOI for the full year. As we look forward, we see tremendous opportunities to continue the global expansion of our concerts and ticketing businesses, and for further growth in sponsorship and ticketing from the concerts flywheel.”

company’s content for residencies in museums, retail centres and various other ‘destination’ events.

Michael Harrison, former tour director at Frontier Touring, and David Rappaport, recently head of artist relations for the Americas at YouTube Music/Google Play Music, have joined AEG Global Touring and Talent, as COO and senior vice president, respectively.

Daniel van Eynsbergen has joined cashless payments specialist tappit as chief operating officer. He will be responsible for leading on the daily operations of the business across its global customer base. Tappit has also hired Jason Dean, former CTO of Sensewhere Ltd, as its new chief technology officer.

Leading Swiss ticketing platform Starticket has appointed former Swiss Railways exec Christof Zogg as CEO. He replaces Stefan Riedel, who will depart the company on 1 January 2019.

StubHub has appointed investment-banking veteran Greg Mrva as chief financial officer. He was most recently MD of global internet banking at Morgan Stanley, and previously held roles at Barclays and Goldman Sachs.

IQ Magazine January 2019

Analysis

Split Works Agrees Long-Term Arcadia Deal for China Shanghai-based promoters Split Works have agreed a long-term deal to represent British performance art collective Arcadia in China, with the iconic fire-breathing ‘Spider’ installation set to make its debut in China this New Year.

Kicking off the ten-year agreement, Split Works has inked a

three-year deal that will see Arcadia’s monumental Spider stage at the ISY Music Festival in Sanya on the island of Hainan over 30-31 December.

Since making its first appearance at Glastonbury Festival over a decade ago, Arcadia’s Spider has travelled the globe, thrilling music fans at the likes

of Ultra Miami, as well as in Thailand, Taiwan and in Australia. However, the potential for growth in China is immense and Split Works managing director Archie Hamilton predicts big things for Arcadia in the world’s most populous country. “Arcadia pushes the boundaries of what live music

can achieve,” says Hamilton.

“It’s sheer magic, and we can’t wait to bring more of Arcadia’s extraordinary shows to the Chinese market.” As of 2018, Arcadia owns four installations, each with its own unique performance stage – The Spider, The Afterburner, The Reactor, and The Bug.

Arcadia’s Spider installation (photo © Lukonic Photography)

Frontier Resurrects Touring Festival Success with RNB Fridays Live The days of touring festivals dominating the Australian outdoor season may be confined to history but Frontier Touring is enjoying phenomenal success with its RNB Fridays Live series.

The concept just wrapped up its third annual instalment in Australia and the company reports that the 2018 edition went to another level – scaling up to stadiums, selling out nationally and moving 200,000 tickets, making it one of the biggest touring festival brands in the region.

Since its debut in 2016, RNB Fridays Live has become arguably Australia’s most successful concert series.

For three consecutive years, Frontier has used the brand to bring some of the biggest

names in contemporary RNB to the stage, raising the bar with each line-up.

The inaugural events saw Nelly and TLC headline an 11-act show that visited arenas in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, playing to about 68,000 fans in total. Last year, the tour visited the same cities but played seven nights, with back-to-back performances in Sydney and Melbourne, attracting almost 120,000 fans, thanks to appearances by Craig David, NE-YO, Sean Paul, Kelly Rowland, Kelis, En Vogue and others.

But this year, Frontier gambled by stepping up the production for acts including Usher & Lil Jon, Salt-

N-Pepa, Trey Songz, Eve, Taio Cruz, Naughty By Nature, Ginuwine, Estelle, Next and others, and sold out Perth’s 20,000-capacity NIB Stadium, Etihad Stadium in Melbourne (45,000cap), Adelaide Show-

ground (15,000), Brisbane Showgrounds (27,000) and Spotless Stadium in Sydney (40,000), cementing the brand as one of the year’s biggest parties and allowing RNB acts to play to record-sized audiences in the southern hemisphere.

RNB Fridays Live (Photo: © Mushroom Creative House)

IQ Magazine January 2019

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Analysis

Japan leads the way amid calls for action on touting Japan’s House of Councillors has voted 237–0 to approve a law criminalising nearly all ticket touting, just over two years after the #ResaleNO campaign first brought the issue to public prominence.

In stark contrast to the many European nations dragging their feet on definitively acting on secondary ticketing, the Japanese legislation has flown through the country’s parliament at a breakneck pace. It proscribes ticket touting, both online and outside venues, for all shows where the organiser

has prohibited resale – in practice, the majority of promoters.

Anyone who violates the new law, which encompasses both paper and electronic tickets, may be punished with a one-year prison sentence, a fine of up to ¥1 million (€7,700), or both.

The Japanese ban comes as pressure builds in several other territories to tackle ticket touting.

Some of the Netherlands’ most popular artists, including singer-songwriters Guus Meeuwis and Blaudzun, and

MCT Steps-Up Legal Resale Battle German promoter MCT has once again stepped up its efforts to thwart secondary ticketing, this time working with Rammstein to keep tickets out of the hands of touts.

Having run a successful anti-resale campaign for Take That in 2011, the company’s legal team, CMS Hasche Sigle in Berlin, is working in conjunction with Rammstein’s lawyers, Hamburg-based LICHTE Rechtsanwälte, to draw-up terms that could allow promoters to seek financial penalties from secondarymarket profiteers.

“Together with Rammstein, we have been successfully fighting legal violations by secondary ticketing for years,” says MCT managing director, Scumeck Sabottka. “Overall, it’s the same technical set-up, as we would use [ticket] scanners.

The only effort is to check the name on the tickets, scanners and IDs. Plus you need some more staff for troubleshooting,

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as we would like to treat the customers well. But if you really want to make this happen, it’s not such a big deal.”

While Sabottka reveals that promoters in the likes of Austria, Czech Republic, France, Poland and Switzerland are also complying with Rammstein’s requests to use personalised tickets, the terms and conditions for the band’s concerts in Germany cannot be applied in other countries because “every country has its own terms and conditions due to different legal contexts in each country.” That’s primarily because Sabottka’s terms and conditions include the option of penalty fees. However, how to file claims against those reselling Rammstein tickets remains controversial. “In our view, one of the main problems is that resale platforms in Germany are often hard to distinguish from official sales channels,” explains Sabottka.

rock acts de Staat and Kensington, in November wrote to culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven to demand an end to high ticket prices on the secondary market.

The musicians, who are backed by the opposition Socialist Party (SP), presented a manifesto to Van Engelshoven, which called for action on touts, who they say reap profits from their shows while adding “nothing” to the music ecosystem.

“Our fans pay through the nose, but the profits go to

someone who adds nothing – except annoyance [and] lots of frustration,” the manifesto, entitled Stop woekerhandel concertkaarten (Stop profiteering [from] concert tickets), reads.

In Hong Kong, meanwhile, the territory’s Consumer Council has called for an end to the price gouging of consumers on the secondary market, while the main opposition party in Australia, the Labor Party, in November proposed a price cap of +10% over face value on resold tickets across the country.

“Such resale platforms are well-designed, promote their tickets via Google, and work with well-known payment systems. If you buy a ticket there, you will not get in touch with the seller because the resale platform handles the entire correspondence and also the payment processing. This is the reason why in our experience, buyers have far more problems with the platforms than with the actual sellers.

Wherever possible, of course, we try to support the buyers.

Rammstein has a whole team ready for this.”

In November, MCT and LICHTE Rechtsanwälte were successful in a legal battle against Viagogo at Hamburg Regional Court. “Following the court ruling, Viagogo is prohibited from the selling of tickets through Viagogo.de for the 2019 Rammstein stadium concerts in Germany,” Sabottka explains. That injunction specifically prohibits Viagogo from using Google AdWords in relation to Rammstein tickets, and states that breach of the court order could result in fines totaling up to €250,000, or alternatively, the company

CEO’s imprisonment for up to two years.

Nevertheless, MCT is already putting plans in place to support fans that will be misled into buying tickets on the resale market. “We are, for example, providing the customers with a document of our company stating that Viagogo is not an authorised seller of the Rammstein tickets,” says Sabottka. “Buyers can then try to get the money back through the payment systems, such as PayPal, that Viagogo works with. But the contracting party of the buyers is Viagogo. In the end, the buyers will need to request that Viagogo return the monies they received for invalid tickets.”

Customers will also have the possibility to purchase valid tickets via Fansale.de from 1 March 2019, through blocked tickets identified on resale platforms, as well as any tickets returned by fans that cannot attend the shows due to illness, etc.

Despite the Hamburg court’s ruling, at press time Viagogo was continuing to advertise Rammstein tickets on Google.de.

IQ Magazine January 2019

Analysis

IQ Magazine January 2019

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The latest trades and handshakes from the agency world Pottery

Æ MAK (IE)

Agents: Matt Bates & Will Marshall, Primary Talent International In the beginning, Aoife McCann (Æ MAK) created a vision of an otherworldly landscape she could escape to and perform.

With producer Daniel McIntyre she has created the soundtrack to that vision. 2018 saw the independent release of three single projects of experimental art pop, Glow, Love Flush and Too Sad to Sing, which have received support from the likes of BBC Radio 6, Radio X, Earmilk and The Line of Best Fit. The all-consuming energy of Æ MAK’s performances enrapture the audience. Her primitive vocal rhythms and infectious melodies sail a dark sea of electronica. As a visual artist, the stage show allows her artistic vision to come to life in real-time, drawing elements from her selfdirected music videos.

POTTERY (CA/UK)

Hailing from across Canada and the UK, Montreal’s Pottery consists of core writers Austin Boylan and Jacob Shepansky, along with Peter Baylis, Paul Jacobs, and Tom Gould.

Initially bonding over artists such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Devo, the band creates a sound that combines eclectic traces of post-punk, pop, and dance music, forming an unusual atmosphere that envelops audiences.

While often shrill and jarring, Pottery’s songs simultaneously put listeners into a hypnotic state. It’s this dualism that binds the tracks together, finding harmony within discord.

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Æ MAK

Agent: Sarah Besnard, ATC Live

IQ Magazine January 2019

Alex Aiono (US) Gary Howard & David Klein, UTA Alex Francis (UK) Gary Howard, UTA Amelia Monét (UK) Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Archie Faulks (UK) Colin Keenan & Stuart Kennedy, ATC Live Average Joe (UK) James Whitting & Laura Green, Coda Agency Big Zuu (UK) Gary Howard & Dan Saunderson, UTA Black Country, New Road (UK) Clemence Renaut, ATC Live Blithe Saxon (UK) Mike Malak, Coda Agency Brandy Clark (US) Olly Hodgson, Coda Agency Broen (NO) Nikita Lavrinenko, Paper and Iron Brothers Page (US) Ryan Penty, Coda Agency Brunswick (UK) Andy Clayton, Coda Agency Champs (UK) Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring Charlotte Adigéry (BE) Andy Duggan, Primary Talent Chastity Belt (US) Anna Bewers, Coda Agency Childcare (UK) Matt Bates & Chris Smyth, Primary Talent Circuits (UK) Francesco Caccamo, Primary Talent Clara Mae (SE) Gary Howard, UTA Coi Leray (US) Mike Malak & Alex Hardee, Coda Agency Da Beatfreakz (UK) Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent DevilDriver (US) Ben Ward, UTA Doves (UK) Geoff Meall, Coda Agency Efterklang (DK) Mick Griffiths, Art & Industry Emel Mathlouthi (TN) Nikita Lavrinenko, Paper and Iron Emily Capell (UK) Zac Peters, DMF Music End of the World (JP) James Whitting, Coda Agency Etham (UK) Ryan Penty & Alex Hardee, Coda Agency Exodus (US) Tom Taaffe, Coda Agency Ezra Collective (UK) Noah Simon, UTA Family Time (DE/ES) Sally Dunstone, X-ray Touring Georgia (UK) Alex Bruford, ATC Live Giuda (IT) Ben Ward, UTA Giungla (IT) Sally Dunstone, X-ray Touring Harvey Causon (UK) Michael Harvey-Bray, Coda Agency Harvey Sutherland (AU) David Exley, Coda Agency Hush & Sleep (NL) Martje Kremers, Primary Talent Jakob Ogawa (NO) Nick Holroyd, Primary Talent Jnr Williams (UK) Alex Hardee & Holly Rowland, Coda Agency Kai Exos (CA) Phyllis Belezos, ITB Killowen (UK) Marlon Burton, ATC Live Kincaid (UK) Lucinda Runham, Primary Talent King Kong Company (IE) Zac Peters, DMF Music Kokoroko (UK) Clementine Bunel, Coda Agency L Devine (UK) Sol Parker, Coda Agency La Fleur (SE) Martje Kremers, Primary Talent Lenny Fontana (US) Tim Levy, MN2S Lil Halima (NO) Mike Malak, Coda Agency Lil Uzi Vert (US) Noah Simon & Mike G, UTA Los Bitchos (UK) Roxane Dumoulin, ATC Live Lost Under Heaven (UK) Dave Jennings, Art & Industry Lowly (DK) Sally Dunstone, X-ray Touring Maria Lynn (UK) Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring Marisha Wallace (US) Heulwen Keyte, UTA Motionless in White (US) Tom Taaffe, Coda Agency Murkage Dave (UK) Serena Parsons, Primary Talent Nérija (UK) Clementine Bunel, Coda Agency

IQ Magazine January 2019

New Model Army (UK)

David Farrow, DMF Music

Odetta Hartman (US)

Mick Griffiths, Art & Industry

Ora The Molecule (NO)

Cris Hearn, Coda Agency

Paris (US)

Mike Malak, Coda Agency

Penguin Cafe (UK)

James Wright & Angie Rance, UTA

PicaPica (UK)

Phyllis Belezos, ITB

Pig (UK)

Will Marshall & Matt Bates, Primary Talent

Pink Sweat$ (US)

Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring

Pop Evil (US)

Ben Ward & Paul Ryan, UTA

Powel (DE)

Tim Levy, MN2S

Real Friends (US)

Anna Bewers, Coda Agency

Rising Appalachia (US)

David Farrow, DMF Music

Rude Kid (UK)

Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent

Samantha Harvey (UK)

Gary Howard, UTA

Seán McGowan (UK)

Zac Peters, DMF Music

Sir Babygirl (US)

Steve Backman & Stefan Romer, Primary Talent

The Drums (US)

Jamie Wade, X-ray Touring

The Jungle Giants (AU)

Paul Buck, Coda Agency

The Spitfires (UK)

Zac Peters, DMF Music

They Might Be Giants (US)

Zac Peters, DMF Music

Those Damn Crows (UK)

Filippo Mei, ITB

Trevor Hall (US)

David Farrow, DMF Music

TroyBoi (UK)

Paul McQueen, Primary Talent

Ural Thomas & The Pain (US)

Steve Backman & Stefan Romer, Primary Talent

Wax Wings (UK)

Laetitia Descouens & Sam Ogden, Primary Talent

XNilo (ES)

Peter Elliott, Primary Talent

Zomby (UK)

Nick Reddick, Primary Talent

Zsela (US)

David Exley, Coda Agency

PREDICTIONS FOR NEXT MONTH

(Artists moving through database the quickest) BOSSY LOVE (UK), LAVA LA RUE (UK), BIG HEATH (UK), ANOTHER SKY (UK), FINNEAS (US)

This Month

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ARTIST BENNY BLANCO (US) SASHA SLOAN (US) LOVELYTHEBAND (US) GIRL IN RED (NO) LOUD LUXURY (CA) YUNGBLUD (UK) OMAR APOLLO (US) STILL WOOZY (US) IDLES (UK) PHOEBE BRIDGERS (US) MAC AYRES (US) YUNGEEN ACE (US) NOAH KAHAN (US) SNAIL MAIL (US) SAM FENDER (UK)

Fastest growing artists based on online music consumption. Aggregated across a number of online sources.

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Comment

Africa: The Power of Music Joe Chialo is senior vice president A&R Universal Music Central Europe & Africa. He also manages Afroforce1, a fresh new label that brings leading African artists to Germany and Europe.

I

’ve been watching the African music scene very closely for many years – not because my family’s from Tanzania or because I think African artists need my help, I do it because the music market that’s developing over there has enormous potential for growth.

Africa’s sounds have long been audible on every continent – as sources of inspiration, in samples, and through collaborations.

Now the artists themselves are making the leap so that they can take Europe and the rest of the world by storm with their songs.

The African music industry also offers incredible economic opportunities. It’s a source market for selling African music in Germany, Europe and the world, and a target market where increasing digitalisation, new business models like streaming, and an ever-expanding middle class, promise additional potential for sales. What’s more, as the home market of African artists, Africa is extremely attractive to African audiences. A healthy, vibrant domestic market is ultimately still the best environment for helping the stars of tomorrow to grow.

“The image of a place ravaged by famine and violence is being replaced by one of a continent filled with opportunities and looking to a prosperous future.”

One of the most important factors for developing young talent in Africa (as elsewhere) is the live music scene. Especially at the start of their career, artists have to be able to try things out and play in front of audiences so that they can grow creatively.

Unfortunately, the infrastructure needed for this, like venues and a solid network of promoters, can’t always keep up with the speed at which the industry is developing. That’s why Universal Music itself is increasingly getting involved in the concert and festival scene in countries like South Africa. It’s also now behind 11 live music venues in West African countries including Senegal, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast. As the world leader in music-based entertainment, it’s in our own interests to actively further our artists’ home markets. Incidentally, my colleagues are doing this so successfully that many artists who aren’t part of the Universal Music world choose to collaborate with us for live shows. In South Africa alone, we booked over 600 artists for shows in 2017, and we’re on track to exceed that figure this year. It’s therefore no coincidence that U Live – a division of Universal Music South Africa – is the booking agent

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for The Voice of South Africa. U Live Africa also produces live concerts and festivals in Nigeria. These include Runway Jazz, Cocktails & Wine, and the first Nigerian concert by US music project Major Lazer.

Creative products like music are some of the most valuable and definitely the most sustainable resources that countries in Africa possess. We help our artists and local partners to develop and harness their own creative and economic power. We expand their reach and help them tap into their transcontinental potential. Above all, we work with our artists as equals because the success they have achieved in their home markets rightly makes them self-assured professionals who are secure in their own careers.

Concerts and festivals are the best places for us to see how much traction an artist has with the audience. In a way, it’s like we can watch new trends being born. We’re really excited to see the momentum that genres like hip-hop, gqom (a relatively new hit genre from Durban), and house have gained. Things are pretty much the same in the pop world. Africa might well be made up of many different countries that each have different traditions and music, but just like any other continent, stars come along who are universally awesome and work just as well in Cape Town as they do in Nairobi or Berlin. That’s the level we’re looking for, and we keep on finding it.

International artists are also helping to develop Africa’s music industry. South Africa, for instance, has long been home to an excellent promoter scene, that in turn attracts other players.

Tanzania will be the fastest growing media and entertainment market in the world up to 2021. South Africa’s music market is expected to see constant growth in excess of 5% over the coming years. And Nigeria, which ranks number two in Africa, should even see ongoing double-digit growth. As well as making the eyes of dedicated A&R managers light up, that’s also music to accountants’ ears.

Yet music can do so much more than just business. African stars are creating a new face for their continent and changing the way people see it. The image of a place ravaged by famine and violence is being replaced by one of a continent filled with opportunities and looking to a prosperous future.

Stars like Vanessa Mdee from Tanzania, and Mafikizolo and Nasty C from South Africa, are the new heroes of the continent. Their power, their star appeal, and their presence, tell of a continent that wants more and is demanding a seat at the main table in the music industry. And for my colleagues in both Africa and Europe, it is a pleasure and an honour to support them on this journey.

IQ Magazine January 2019

Comment

Italy – Home and Away Angela Curiello is a London-based Italian who currently books Italian artists at BPM Concerti and TIJ Events, and is a booker for Italy’s Home Festival. Here she brings us up to date on the Italian market.

W

hen discussing the Italian music market, the thought that many in the industry have is how tough and different from many others it is, and for good reason.

The live industry is often based on album sales, and when you can’t see your artist charting on the top 20, you start to wonder whether it is even worth having said artist tour that country.

When it comes to music, Italy tends to be nationalistic.

Check out the music charts and you’ll see that 70% to 80% of the top 20 is made up of Italian artists. However, sales often don’t reflect what’s happening underground, and how much more international younger generations have become.

The live music industry in Italy has been through some hard times in the past 15 years, with the ever-increasing cost of tickets combined with austerity policies. This has undoubtedly led to foreign agents and management avoiding bringing tours to Italy, thereby amplifying the nationalistic nature of the Italian market. I remember when I was younger hearing Italians complain that they never got to see their favourite bands because they never came to Italy.

Nonetheless, we have recently noticed a change in the scene and a surge in the live music market. For example, over the last ten years, Home Festival has developed from a small Italian-only festival, to the latest edition, which attracted over 85,000 attendees, the majority of which were aged between 18-24 (27%) and 25-34 (40%), and who mostly attended the festival to see international bands.

“What I have noticed over the past few years is how the Italian music industry has become much less insular and way more international.”

But that’s not the only thing that has been changing.

What I have noticed over the past few years is how the Italian music industry has become much less insular and way more international. For years, Italian artists were toured outside of Italy mostly for the benefit of Italian expats (large numbers of which had relocated to the UK and Germany) but thanks to globalisation and the Italian market finally opening its doors to more international music, we are now seeing a whole new generation of Italian artists that are creating music that appeals to a broader market, whilst still remaining faithful to their roots and maintaining their Italian identity.

IQ Magazine January 2019

Bringing Italian artists to other regions, and to the UK in particular, is far from an easy task, but for the right artist, given they play the right territories and work with a suitable agent and promoters, touring outside of Italy can significantly boost their career. I can’t stress enough how important getting the right team behind an artist is: they need the right PR, the right venue, the right crowd, and only someone with experience of each specific territory can provide that.

“Italy has some incredible local artists and bands that deserve to be shared with the rest of the world.”

The British music scene is alive and kicking, with so much new talent popping up every day, and so much local competition that it can be hard to compete and gain a foothold if coming from the outside. However, this shouldn’t be seen as an impediment, but a reason to fight harder.

The Italian market is slowly opening its doors to more international music but it is still Italian-centric. You just have to turn on the radio and go through the stations to hear that the majority of the music transmitted is sung in Italian, and that much of that Italian music is made up of cantautoriale ballads. Radio stations in Italy still don’t give enough airtime for anything new or different, and often the only way to make a dent and be recognised as a talented artist is to chance your luck overseas, and return home if and when success has been achieved.

Whereas promoters and venues in the UK are more likely to provide performance space for acts from all over the world. We have seen many sold-out shows for acts that are pretty much unknown, with an audience that is predominantly made up of punters who are just curious and happy to discover something new, as well as support their local music scene.

Italy has some incredible local artists and bands that deserve to be shared with the rest of the world. Current hot acts include Joan Thiele, Sem&Stènn, Dardust and C’mon Tigre, all of whom have earned well-deserved international interest and praise. Likewise, there are a huge number of Italians that are hungry for international music.

There is nothing better than seeing a music scene expand and thrive.

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Comment

An Equal Opportunities Industry Diversity consultant and executive coach, Claire Singers, reviews what progress is being made with improving diversity in the live entertainment industry

A

black, female student recently asked me: “Why, is the leadership of the music industry so white and male yet the artists are a mix of women and men, often from ethnic backgrounds?”

It was such a simple and direct question, and went to the heart of the diversity problem that exists in the live music industry. My brain whirled through the usual pat explanations for this, and then the utter ridiculousness of the situation hit me… Why in this 21st century creative industry have we allowed power to remain in the hands of old white men? How much longer will this lack of diversity amongst the leaders of music industry companies be tolerated?

I firmly believe, not for much longer, equal opportunities are a human right and everyone has a part to play in using their voice to demand it and create a dynamic industry that truly reflects the public it serves. Legislation will be the main driver of this change, especially if, in the near future, the threshold for reporting on the gender pay gap is reduced to 100 employees.

Last April, the systemic inequality in the music industry and many others was laid bare by new gender pay gap legislation.

All companies in the UK with over 250 employees had to report their gender pay gap figures, not by choice, but mandated by legislation passed by prime minster Theresa May. The music industry, long used to playing by its own rules, did not come

“Why in this 21st century creative industry have we allowed power to remain in the hands of old white men?” out of this looking good. The overwhelming trend was for double-digit pay gaps between men and women, and when it came to bonus data, double-digit chasms were reported. The music majors reported the following data: Universal 29.8%, Sony 22.7%, Warner an eye-watering 49%, AEG 43%, and Live Nation 46%. Many companies were quick to release statements to explain these startling figures, and a recurring theme in those explanations was that the number of men in top earning positions had skewed the figures.

Whilst filing their dire pay gap figures last April, companies also submitted reports setting out their commitment to a gender equal and diverse music industry, and laying out policies that they would implement to create this.

24

In April 2019, companies with over 250 employees will have to repeat the exercise, revealing pay gap figures filed last April – so while it may be the case that the gap won’t have significantly reduced in such a short period of time, the focus should be on monitoring and assessing progress with these policies, rather than obsessing about the numbers. Disappointingly, none of the companies committed to setting a target for diversity or mentioned linking progress to leaders’ bonuses.

Keychange has led the way creating 50/50 male/female line-ups for festivals but no such quotas exist for women working “backstage.” The barriers for women to flourish as agents and promoters are many, not least the bloke-y, boys’club culture, and the myth that it’s a 24/7 lifestyle and “not suitable for women.”

One female agent was told she was “too nice to be successful,” a promoter was heard saying “why would women want to be promoters, hanging around shitty venues,” a female manager was call a ‘c..nt’ by an agent, a female promoter told me she felt guilty about having to play “the boys’ game and take part in their sexist banter.”

Women are every bit as capable as men of becoming managers, agents and promoters. I hope and expect that the new school of leadership will resist aping the behavior of the baby boomer predecessors and create a modern industry open to all, which is also family friendly.

The key policy that will open up the music industry to diverse groups is flexible working for all. In the UK, there are thousands of companies, and the number is growing rapidly, that already offer all employees some form of flexibility, enabling staff to create a work/life balance. The current common practice in the music industry of leaving flex-working decisions to individual line managers is inept and iniquitous.

Companies implementing flexibility across their workforces will discover it’s good for business. They will discover it’s good for mental wellbeing. Flexible working is based on trust and output, rather than judging an employee’s commitment by the hours he or she spends shackled to a desk.

Accountability in senior staff’s annual appraisals is another game changer. They should be asked: what have you done this year to progress the careers of BAME staff, women, LGBT, and people with disabilities? Are we recruiting the best person for the team? Who are you mentoring?

Incidentally, my response to the black female student that questioned the lack of diversity in the music business was “come and join the industry, and be part of making the change.”

IQ Magazine January 2019

Equality in Live Dmitry “Big D” Zaretsky of Moscow’s female-dominated promoter, Pop Farm, plays devil’s advocate in delivering his opinion on the much-discussed topic of gender equality in the live business.

F

or some years now, there has been much discussion on the subject of gender equality in the live music industry, either on stage or off.

In a perfect world, and in my personal imperfect one, equality applies to promotion and profit based on merit and merit alone, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or whatever else.

Understandably, those discriminated against in the past want to catch up and prove that they are equal to the rest, developing careers based solely on professional and artistic qualities, for which I’d offer a standing ovation (no irony whatsoever). But sometimes, things go a bit too far Having heard criticism at various international festivals, especially Stateside, that line-ups are short of female artists, my first thought was – what if there are just not enough female artists that: a) fit the mood of the festival; b) are available on specific dates; and mainly c) are just not good enough, and are far from my personal taste?

Undeniably, a festival promoter should book whoever they want, based on the quality of the music and the performance, with no regards to gender, race, sexual orientation or whatever

else: i.e. on merit and merit alone. No act making bad music should be booked just to address balance – they should be chosen based on their music and performance.

Similarly, everyone working on the business side of the music industry should be in positions based on their abilities.

The overwhelming majority of people working for me both full-time and freelance are women, and this is because I see them as better qualified and more organised for the specific jobs they do. Merit and merit alone – nothing more.

The XXI century is discarding most stereotypes and the discrimination of the last 1,000 years, and the witch-hunt for balanced gender, race, sexual orientation and anything else just for the sake of it, has to go, too.

Companies should not be ashamed of, or apologise for, having too few female employees, they should not hire people that are not good enough to do the position they are trying to fill. Festivals should not be ashamed of, or apologise for, not having enough female acts, but they should apologise for putting together a line-up of artists that make bad music and don’t perform well. Merit and merit alone – in the end, this is what equality is about, isn’t it?

Gig Gadgetry from the Frontline...

Augmented Acoustics’ Supralive Augmented Acoustics, a French start-up co-founded by three former Nokia employees, has developed what it claims to be the first patented service that allows spectators at events, including concerts, theatre, cinema and sporting events, to enjoy a high-definition, customisable sound experience in real time.

Attendees who opt-in to the Supralive service can listen with earphones to the feed directly from the sound engineer’s desk, or even make their own mix from the multitracks. This, says Augmented Acoustics, guarantees each event-goer the “best seat” in terms of sound quality.

After successfully deploying Supralive at more than a hundred events in France and

abroad, the company recently partnered with Nokia to migrate its solution to 5G, the next-generation telecommunications standard. The goal is to be able to simultaneously offer Supralive to an unlimited number of spectators through their smartphones, headphones and a mobile app.

Stéphane Dufossé, CEO of Augmented Acoustics, comments: “Migrating Supralive to 5G is a fantastic opportunity for Augmented Acoustics. Making the Supralive service accessible directly via the spectator’s smartphone is clearly the future of our service and its potential will be multiplied, both at concerts and in all use cases where latency issues are a determining factor.”

Stay22 Stay22 is a solution that allows promoters to create map-based accommodation listings for their events and embed them into their websites or apps.

According to the Montreal-based company, over half the total spend on hotels and short-term rentals ($295billion [€259bn] annually)

comes from event accommodation for conferences, concerts, festivals and sporting events. Its solution aggregates listings from more than 200 countries from the likes of Expedia, Booking.com and Airbnb, with event organisers and ticketing companies able to benefit financially from each booking.

Ridline Ridline is a software product that facilitates the streamlined sharing of information between bands and sound technicians, designed to replace non-industry specific platforms such as emails, PDFs or spreadsheets.

From an artist’s perspective, Ridline allows the creation of riders and the sharing of technical requirements with sound engineers, promoters and other band members, while event organisers can benefit from being able to see the entire rider in one place, as well as any changes made.

According to the Estoniabased company, Ridline’s plat-

form can reduce document handling time by up to 25 hours, as well as eliminating any errors introduced in email chains or other communications.

In August, the company won the Pitch Captain Competition at the ship Startup Festival. “Ridline has a strong base,” said judge Dr Richard Leaver, a founding partner of Boundary Capital Partners. “They know their vision, their market, and their target audience. Overall, the company is very focused, and we believe that this victory will bring them many new opportunities to develop their idea forward.”

“Event organisers have been using costly room blocks [where events block-book rooms at a hotel for their guests] for decades,” comments Stay22 CEO Andrew Lockhead. “But the majority of the event organisers around the globe have not yet tried a map-based accommodation system.

“With no solution made for their needs to save time and money, they were disadvan-

taged in a function that’s critical for every multi-day event.”

The company’s partners include Airbnb, Canadian promoter Evenko, French ticketing platform Weezevent and Australian ticket seller Ticketek.

In May, Stay22 raised its first round of funding, with Travelport, 7 Gate Ventures and Real Venture pledging $750,000 (€659,000).

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…

26

IQ Magazine January 2019

EUROPEAN

FESTIVAL REPORT

2018

On the surface, 2018 appeared to be another stellar year for the European festivals business. But in reality promoters cut event capacities while raising ticket prices, hinting at concerns among the organisers of the continent’s largest live music gatherings.

Compared to recent years, where weather and terrorism had massive impacts on Europe’s festival business, 2018 was infinitely more calm, with few cancellations and promoters across the continent pretty much reporting healthy visitor numbers.

But the hangover of such drama has had a lasting affect, with organisers still citing the events of previous years as hitting their overall business during the most recent festival season.

Unsurprisingly, security at large-scale events has become a major consideration, as noted by one of the continent’s biggest festival organisations, FKP Scorpio, whose Jasper Barendregt states, “Due to fear of threats, the authorities planned to check all personnel working at our festivals, in order to [identify any] individuals with terrorist ties, by feeding the names into national security databases. Due to GDPR regulations and public awareness of them, this became a huge project, binding great resources within the company and the festival structure.

And FKP are not alone. Finland suffered its first ever terror attack in 2017 and Mikko Niemelä, production manager at Ruisrock Festival, tells IQ, “[We made] a lot of investment into security solutions with more security personnel and technical solutions. One interesting pilot project this year was an airport-style camera device that was able to see if a person had any objects hidden under their clothes.”

Undoubtedly, investment in safety and security measures has stepped up in the past couple of years, while some event managers who filled in this year’s European Festival Report survey voiced fears over a lack of trained security personnel in the future. Indeed, at this year’s E3S conference in London, where the industry’s top security leaders gathered to debate the current state of the sector, that very point was made time and time again, with tales of even the largest companies having to beg, borrow and steal personnel from rivals in order to fulfil staffing quotas at festivals and concerts.

Eric van Eerdenburg, from Dutch powerhouse Mojo

28

Concerts, tells IQ that the 2018 season could scarcely have been healthier for the company’s portfolio of festivals, but he is gravely concerned by the long term future. “For us everything went as well as we could hope for: Lowlands was sold out with 60,000 people, Down the Rabbit Hole sold out for the first time with 35,000 people and elsewhere North Sea Jazz did very well and our new hip-hop festival Woo Hah! sold out, so it was a terrific season.”

But he warns of storm clouds on the horizon. “My main worry is the crisis in talent which is inevitably pushing up the price that the consumer has to pay and that makes attracting new, young consumers very tricky,” he states. “We’re pricing ourselves out of the business by potentially alienating the next generation of fans and not enough people seem to care about that situation.”

Another trend to emerge from this year’s report is the festival community’s desire to operate in the most environmentally friendly ways possible. This is summed up by Boomtown, one of Europe’s big success stories. Having grown from 1,000-capacity to 66,000 in just a decade, organisers of the UK festival are under no illusion about the challenges this entails.

“Protecting the planet and ensuring we reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible is the driving force behind Chapter 11: A Radial City,” Boomtown says of one of its latest site additions. “The festival will continue to implement initiatives and policies to raise awareness of sustainability whilst at the same time look to educate the public to encourage them to protect Boomtown and the land it inhabits – and to take those lessons home and implement them across their normal lives so that collectively we can make a bigger impact protecting the future of our planet.”

Highlighting the seemingly ever-expanding festival market, 130 events took part in this year’s survey – a record number for IQ’s European Festival Report. And while the following pages track some of the trends and quantitative measures of

IQ Magazine January 2019

EU

FE

Static Decrease Free

EUROPEAN

49%

36%

FESTIVAL REPORT 22%

7%

23%

18%

Price of a full weekend or full festival pass in 2017 Free 1-49 Euros 50-99 Euros 100-149 Euros 150-199 Euros 200+ Euros

25%

23%

14%

B

25% 8%

14%

Price of a full weekend or full festival pass in 2018 Free 1-49 Euros 50-99 Euros 100-149 Euros 150-199 Euros 200+ Euros

17%

22%

6.1%

4.6%

2.6%

1.8%

65.2%

C Ticketing by sales outlet Online (via festival website) Online (via third-party ticketers) Call Centre Box Office Walk-Up

19.7%

9% 9%

42%

2018

Average ticket price 6.8%

A

4%

0-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% 41%+

D Percentage of audience from abroad

18% 0-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% 41%+

7.7% 2018: €178.12 2017: €163.27

38.5% Percentage of audience taking up VIP or camping territory-byupgrade/package

the business16.2% as a whole across the continent, on a territory basis, there are many issues to take into account.

In the remote Faroe Islands, Fred Ruddick, creative director VIP N/A at G! Festival comments, As as an organisation in the Faroe 1-5% 6-10% Islands we are central to the music business and projection 11-20% of the country’s music, so we have our own struggles that are 21%+ in many ways probably quite unique to us.” That observation underlines the vital importance of many events to their local scenes, and Ruddick adds, 30.8% “We’re a very small event, 3,850 tickets in 2018, but we do receive a fair amount of press attention due to our unique location.”

In Europe’s biggest live music market, Germany, the experience is very different.

“The season15% was challenging for 48% many,” notes Lollapalooza Berlin’s Fruzsina Szép. “The ones who thought they would sell out did not sell out. 25% In Germany, there are far too many festivals and the competitionTime is big. period when But the most important thing is to be really individual andsold-out festival creative and crazy enough to create special places, venues < 1the month before and spaces at your festivals that are outstanding and have months before WOW effect for visitors. It’s crucial to be the first with1-2 new 3-4 months before ideas and not to copy others.”

5+ months before Did not sell out Also in Germany, Das Fest cites “A rise of competitors founding new small festivals,” while Wacken Open Air agrees: “We’ve got too many festivals and they all have to 9% book the few big bands…”

3% Indeed, that issue of newcomers potentially destroying the market seems to be universal, with Claes Olsen at Øyafestival observing that in Norway, “Sadly, there are a few 14% with no knowledge, who are not new cowboys in the industry good for anyone.”

In smaller markets, such as Romania, those issues take a slightly different form. While revealing plans to increase capacity in 2019, 16% Awake Festival’s organisers state that there has been, “An increase of festivals in a market like Romania, which still relies heavily on sponsorship, thus leading to a Ticketing structure fragmentation of the available funds.”

And highlighting the huge variety of things that can Daily keepand full even festival promoters awake at night, in Greece, the realities Single-day only ev of global warming were all too real for Ejekt Festival,Weekend/whole who report that climate change is bringing “lots of rain”ticket thatonly would have been unimaginable just a few70% years ago.

And talking of changeable weather, in the UK, Kendal Calling director Andy Smith talks of a “healthy season but the weather really hurt a number of events – we had to contend with drought, lightning, flooding and strong winds all in the space of four days,” he says. Meanwhile, Henley Festival’s artistic director Stewart Collins adds that “heavy competition and hefty external financial factors following the Brexit uncertainty,” are causes for concern in the UK market.

But let’s not allow the depressing prospect of Brexit to weigh us down too early. Instead, let’s delve into this year’s survey results. And In order to give some multi-year perspective on key trends in the European Festival business across the past decade, our graphs on pages 31 and 34 track some of the data we’ve brought to you since our reports first started in 2008.

Check data?

22%

About 80% of the exhibits on show in ‘David Bowie is’ were the property of Bowie himself

6.8%

IQ Magazine January 2019 7.7%

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38.5% Percentage of

ignore?

EUROPEAN

FESTIVAL REPORT 36%

18% 0-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21-40% 41%+

49%

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FESTIVAL CAPACITY 4% AND ATTENDANCE 7%

23%

25%

25%

4%

%

2018

Increase Static Decrease Free

Price a full that participated in In contrast to previous years , theoffestivals weekend oraverage full 18% this year’s survey reported a slight fall in capacity in the festival pass in 2017 past year. On average events saw a year-on-year dip in capacity from 40,575 in 2017 to 39,475 in Free 2018 – a 2.7% decrease.

Euros While in previous years our1-49 respondents have reported 50-99 Euros high attendance yields versus capacity, this year our surveyed 100-149 Euros festivals said attendance on average wasEuros at 74.5% of capacity 150-199 – a significant drop compared to200+ theEuros 90% figure in our 2015 report. However, the festivals that participated in this year’s survey told us that their attendance in 2017 was 72.7% of 23% capacity, and therefore, there had actually been a year-onyear improvement.

Indeed, of our 130 events, just 23 reported a decline in 14% ticket sales, citing a number of reasons for that downturn, including bad weather, fear of terrorist attacks, a lack of suitable headliners, the festival line-up, competition, market Price of a full saturation, relocation of 8% the event, and, of course, the weekend or full uncertainties surrounding Brexit. festival pass in 2018 In terms of sales, 58 events (44.6% of 2018’s surveyed events) report that they sold out Free their festivals (compared to a Euros more healthy 53% in our 2017 1-49 report).

As with last year, we 50-99 Euros asked promoters to divulge when100-149 their Euros events sold out, and it turns out that 13 were sold out more thanEuros six months in advance, 150-199 17% Eurostickets between 1-10 while 25 reported selling the last200+ of their days before the festival gates opened.

22%

STAFFING 6.1% 1.8%

2.6% A sked about their staffing numbers, 111 events disclosed 4.6% their data in our 2018 survey, with 21.5% saying that they had no volunteers onsite, while 65.2%a further 47% reported having less than 1,000 volunteers.

In total, our respondents reported employing 74,043 Ticketing outlet (49.8%). professionals (50.2%) versus 73,317by sales volunteers Online from the 2017 report Those numbers are markedly different (via festival website) in which volunteers made up 59% of the total workforce, Online and even considering that the identities of ticketers) the participating (via third-party Call Centre festivals changes on an annual basis, that is still a significant Boxmore Officeprofessionals onsite. shift in events choosing to employ Walk-Up

TICKETING AND PRICING With artist fees continuing to escalate, alongside increasing production costs, it’s hardly surprising that the average price of tickets once again nudged higher in 2018.

Across our surveyed European events, the average ticket price was €178.12 in 2018, compared to €163.27 in the previous year – a price hike of 8.3%, which is well above inflation throughout the continent and was a major increase compared to our survey a year ago when festival organisers reported just a 1% price increase on their 2016 tickets. But, in what could signal a worrying trend for festival fans, in

30

E

6.8% 7.7%

38.5% Percentage of audience taking up VIP or camping upgrade/package

16.2%

VIP N/A 1-5% 6-10% 11-20% 21%+

30.8%

our 2016 report, festivals also reported a price rise of 8%, 15% following a48% more reasonable 2% rise in the previous year.

However, of the 105 festivals that shared their pricing 25%to 2018, two events details, 44 froze their prices from 2017 actually lowered their prices, while 59 festivals 56.2% Time(or period whenof festival sold-out our respondents) charged more.

When it came to the variety of tickets offered by festival < 1 month before organisers, there was another small shift from last year’s survey.

1-2 months before Of the 130 surveyed events, 21 (16.2%) reported3-4that theybefore only months months before offered day tickets; 18 (13.8%) only allowed5+customers to not sell out purchase tickets for the entire event; while theDid vast majority, 91 (70%), offered both options (see chart F). Comparing these results to our 2017 report, the number of festivals relying on 9% 3% grew marginally from 12%, while whole-event only tickets those events offering only daily tickets also grew, from 9%.

The growth in the proportion of events selling day-only passes might point to specific line-ups or genres on specific 14% days, perhaps noting that some fans only want to see certain acts on a specific day. But with attendance levels on the wane, compared to 2017 and 2016, it might well be that the 2019 festival season prompts organisers to be more flexible, once 16% with their ticketing strategies by allowing a greater again, mix of whole-event and day-only purchasing options.

Delving deeper into ticket type data, day tickets made up Ticketing structure 37.2% of overall sales at our surveyed festivals, underlining the importance to a significant number of audience members Daily and full event only of having the flexibility to choose which days toSingle-day attend events.

Weekend/whole event Another ticketing mechanism we track through ticketour onlyannual European Festival Report is purchasing behaviour. Chart C breaks down sales outlets for tickets, split into: online (via 70% festival website), online (third-party website), call centre, box office, walk-up, mobile, and social media.

One stark difference between our 2017 report and this year’s is in the breakdown of online sales. A year ago, the volume of sales that went through third-party ticket sales websites was 30%, but in 2018, that figure was just 19.7%, representing a huge downturn in third-party sales. Festival websites, meanwhile, increased their sales volume to 65.2% of total sales (2017: 60%), highlighting the fact that organisers are working hard to take control of their own sales strategies.

By contrast, in our 2015 report, festival websites accounted for just 42% of total sales while other online outlets sold 39% of event tickets.

Check data?

IQ Magazine January 2019

EUROPEAN

FESTIVAL REPORT

2018

The historic ‘Division Bell’ artifacts are a popular attraction at ‘Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains’

While 82.3% of this year’s events stated healthy ticket sales, 17.7% reported a downturn, citing a variety of reasons for their falling numbers. Noting declines at both Hurricane and Southside, FKP Scorpio’s Jasper Barendregt cites a “combination of the programme, bad weather in 2016/2017, a fear of terrorist attacks, and some negatively welcomed changes due to higher demands from the authorities.”

Elsewhere, France’s Levitation, Lollapalooza Paris and Main Square events all blamed the lack of strong headliners and poor billing for their dip in ticket sales; Reggae Sun Ska said its move to a new town had hit sales; OpenAir St. Gallen, Splendour and Northside pointed to bad weather at last year’s event; competition was the main issue for the likes of Azkena Rock, Cactusfestival, Weekend Festival and Nature One; and Deer Shed pointed at Brexit and the economy in the north of England.

Percentage of audience from abroad Percentage of audience from abroad

20 18 20 16 18 14

Percentage of audience from abroad

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Average ticket price (Euros) 2014 2015 2016

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90 100 80 90 70 80 10060 70 9050 60 8040 50 7030 40 6020 30 5010 20 400 10 2008 30 0 20 2008

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Percentage of sales by ticketing outlet

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Marketing budgets for trying to attract fans from other countries to events have been getting fatter in recent years, as more and more events learn of the economic benefits of enticing foreign fans to their festivals.

While all 130 surveyed events answered our question about attendees from abroad, chart D shows that more than 60% of our participating festivals reported that visitors from other countries accounted for 10% or less of the total makeup of their audiences. Those figures are often in line with promoter wishes that their events are primarily for local residents.

The importance of that “overseas” income to festival organisers should not be underestimated, and it seems that being able to demonstrate that economic power to the likes of local authorities, sponsors, and governmental bodies is becoming a major weapon in the promoter arsenal. Of the 130 festivals that took the time to fill in this year’s survey, 57 (or 43.8%) stated that they had carried out economic impact studies to calculate how much, financially, their events generated for the local and national economies. And those figures range from €125,000 right up to Rock in Rio Lisboa claiming it has generated €504million in positive impact for Lisbon and the Portuguese economy.

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IQ Magazine January 2019

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A total of 47.7% of festivals reported offering VIP upgrades during 2018 while 16.2% said they introduced new VIP packages for the most recent edition of their events. Comparing that data with last year’s report, those offering upgrades were also 47%, suggesting that Europe’s festival organisers may have decided that the VIP end of the market has reached saturation.

Asked about how many ticket buyers had opted to pay for those VIP and camping upgrades, 6.9% said more than 20% of their audiences had upgraded while 30.8% told IQ that the VIP packages were just 1-5% of fans (see chart E).

Events that did report the introduction of new VIP packages included: Ireland’s Indiependence, where staff focused on toilet and shower facilities, free phone charging and queueskipping privileges for VIPs; Scotland’s Belladrum Tartan

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9% 9%

42%

Heart Festival reintroduced its Club Clan Bella VIP area Percentage of audience following a two-year break; Paléo in Switzerland introduced from abroad VIP packages for sponsors only; Deichbrand in Germany monetised its VIP experience for the first time in 2018, 18% allowing fans after-show access with artists, a chill area, 0-5% free drinks from 10pm, and even a whirlpool to relax in; 6-10% Finland’s Tuska festival installed a two-storey 11-20%tent to house a VIP restaurant and views over the site; the UK’s Boomtown 21-40% 41%+ Springs VIP opened its immersive, theatrical Boomtown camping experience; and Lollapalooza Berlin sold 500 Lolla 22% Experience tickets, which included backstage tours and a goodie bag. “It was a very big success and the guests loved this new package,” reports Lolla’s Fruzsina Szép.

6.8% 7.7%

16.2%

38.5%

NEW TECHNOLOGY Percentage of audience taking up AND RFID VIP or camping upgrade/package

In order to keep their events as relevant as possible, N/A organisers constantly face the challenge VIP of reinventing their 1-5% festivals each year, so it’s no surprise that 6-10% 59.2% of those who took part in this year’s report said that they had introduced 11-20% new technology during 2018. That figure21%+ is close to double the 30% who turned to new technology in our 2017 report, suggesting that promoters are more willing than ever to test 30.8% new products and systems.

Among the tech employed by Europe’s festival community, RFID and cashless systems played a significant part, with 30% of the 2018 survey respondents indicating that they had 15% 48% form of contactless tech at their events. used some As always, the range of new tech that was rolled out across Europe was extensive, and25% anyone pondering how to Time period when excite festi-geeks in 2019 can take inspiration from some of festival sold-out these ideas: FKP Scorpio’s Hurricane Festival worked with a sponsor to offer fans an in-app payment for< trays of before beer in the 1 month camping grounds; Paléo allowed guests to pay using contactless 1-2 months before monthsEvent beforeboth credit cards; Deichbrand and Amsterdam3-4Dance 5+ months before experimented with heat mapping; FKP’s Plage Noire event Did not sell out used RFID chips to register public catering staff onsite; Das Fest counted its visitors using laser technology; Sziget in Hungary added the ability to top-up9% cashlessly through its festival app; 3% Graspop Metal Meeting included a Virtual Reality function in its

Check data?

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app; Concert at SEA utilised geo-located messaging to visitors using Greencopper’s system; and Rock Werchter brought in a cashless payment system for its crew.

Talking of cashless, the events that signed-up to some variety of system included Indiependence, Levitation France, Jelling, Wacken Open Air, Bilbao BBK, G! Festival, Ostrava in Flames, 1LIVE Popfest, Riverboat Jazz, Ilosaarirock, Rockfest, Weekend Festival, Jazzopen Stuttgart and Parklife

IMPROVEMENTS In our 2018 survey, 46.9% of respondents reported that they had made specific improvements to their festivals this year.

MCD’s Indiependence event made recycling and environmental protection measures its main focus in 2018, while ecology and sustainability were also high on the agenda for Metaldays Festival, and OpenAir St. Gallen concentrated on healthier and more sustainable food stalls. And on a similar theme, Elderflower Fields carried out environmental impact assessment research “as a baseline for improving sustainability.”

Dougie Brown at Belladrum comments, “2018 saw us add ‘Otherland,’ an area curated, designed and managed by young people for young people. This was as part of Event Scotland’s Year of Young People initiative.”

Siren Festival’s Louis Avrami says the site’s beach stage was upgraded and a movie programme was added to the schedule, while Lachie Gordon at Noisily reports that more stages were added to the event, along with a larger “healing area.”

Elsewhere, a larger camping area and bigger food zone were improvements made at Vilar de Mouros in Portugal; Sweden Rock built more bars, brought in more staff and a bigger selection of beers, as well as introducing a new delay system for its main stage; Nozstock in the UK changed traffic flow to make the festival site safer; and Rock in Rio Lisboa brought in a new gaming area, digital stage, pool parties, and a gourmet square.

Looking ahead to 2019, 46.2% of events say they are already making plans for improvements. The production staff at Lollapalooza Berlin, which has endured four different sites in four years, are simply looking forward to being able to make improvements to an existing site. “Finally, we can be at the same location for the very first time in our history,” says Szép. “So we will do a lot of fine-tuning and we have to 7% 5% prepare much better for the fact that we will have a maximum of five days for14% load-in and build.”

Also in Germany, Barendregt reports that storm-proofing remains a priority for Hurricane. “Waterproofing the festival Current state of site has been an ongoing project since 2016,” he says. “2019 the European will be one of the main years in which the improvements will festival market 51% be implemented, accompanied by huge investment, as well as Fantastic long periods of construction onsite.”

Healthy Underlining its ambitions to stay relevant, Belladrum’sStatic Brown says, “We are working on a new science area to beWorrying added to the festival. This will have a mixture of lectures,Other 23% hands-on activities and exhibitions.” Further north, in Finland, Tuska will raise its age limit to 18, meaning it will no longer need separate beer areas. Albania’s Kala Festival is bringing in RFID technology as it strives to expand its

IQ Magazine January 2019

EUROPEAN

FESTIVAL REPORT

IQ Magazine January 2019

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Average attendance as a percentage of capacity Average attendance as a percentage of capacity

95 95 90

Average attendance as a percentage of capacity

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Average capacity of responding festivals Average capacity of responding festivals

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30 capacity, while numerous events throughout the continent 2011 2012 2013 2014 stages 2015 for their 2016 2019 2017editions.

2018 are planning to introduce new

More practically, Sweden Rock says it will install “more toilets,” and on a slightly related note, Das Fest will introduce a composting plant on the festival grounds.

ENVIRONMENTAL MOVES With green credentials becoming a significant consideration for both fans and artists, Europe’s festivals are arguably leading the way when it comes to adopting products, systems and practices to improve their environmental impact.

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The list of actions our survey respondents reported in their submissions is impressive – to name just a few: cup, tent and sleeping bag recycling (Indiependence); plastic bans (Belladrum, Paléo, Noisily, Kala, The Downs Bristol, Sziget, Nozstock, Paradise City, Waves Vienna, Øya, Northside, Parklife); waste separation (Gefle Metal); increased use of solar energy (Vilar de Mouros); tent-removal deposit schemes (OpenAir St. Gallen); carbon offsetting (Kala, Elderflower Fields); vehicle bans and bicycle parking (The Downs Bristol); and fair-trade merch (Waves Vienna).

The majority of our participating events indicated having extensive environmental policies, with nearly every event revealing plans to ramp up their efforts in 2019. Laura Coroianu at Awake in Romania is typical: “We designed the festival in a sustainable way, using 20m3 of locally sourced wood, creating décor and design elements that can/will be reconfigured over a period of five years. All the bars and festival activations are built from this resource. We also introduced selective garbage collection and are using all the organic waste generated to make compost for the local farms. In return, the farms will provide fresh veg and fruit for next year’s Awake.”

INDUSTRY CONCERNS As is European Festival Report tradition, we asked survey respondents to disclose which elements of the business causes them the most worry, both in current terms and looking ahead at the next five years (see chart G).

In terms of how the participating festivals view the current environment, 50.8% described it as healthy, 23.1% said it was static, 13.8% admitted to being worried, while 5.4% of organisers enjoyed a “fantastic” 2018. The remaining 6.9% chose the ‘other’ category, citing such issues as oversaturation, consolidation, and fragility due to competition, as a reason for selecting that option.

Unsurprisingly, artist fees top both the current concerns of festival organisers and the main issue that they believe will impact their events over the next five years. Escalating fees have been the number one worry of the industry for a number of years, but with no sign of headliners’ financial demands diminishing, that’s something that the European business, as well as the rest of the world is just going to have to deal with.

Competition from other artist tours came next among the most pressing current concerns, but the same respondents placed that last on their list of concerns over the coming years, hinting at the overall optimism in the festivals sector and their power to attract fans over major arena and stadium shows at the same time of year.

As chart G reports, weather, a lack of suitable headliners, production costs and competition from other festivals also weigh heavily on the minds of our surveyed event bosses, but comparing those major concerns with what they think will affect the festival sector in five years seems to show some confidence in the industry’s ability to deal with such challenges. Indeed, when it comes to the all important question of ticket prices, it appears that such considerations are very low on the radar of promoters, compared to the likes of production costs and, strangely economic climate.

IQ Magazine January 2019

EUROPEAN

FESTIVAL REPORT Providing comment to those concerns, FKP Scorpio’s Barendregt says, “After the 2018 season running pretty smoothly and without any bigger weather or [terrorist] attack issues, the focus shifts back to the other [industry] problems. Yes, fees are still growing faster than customers are willing to pay but that is not news to us and has not changed over the years. We’ve experienced more competition between festivals and artist tours than ever before. Also, we’ve been investing more than ever into our safety architecture.”

Among the ‘other’ concerns flagged up as potential banana skins over the next five years are: decreasing brand budgets, legislation and licensing; the increase of headline shows in stadiums and other outdoor venues; consolidation; a scarcity of properly trained security personnel; and the

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2018

increasing domination of global players such as Live Nation, AEG and CTS Eventim.

Barendregt concludes, “We live in uncertain times. Funnily enough, the war on import taxes, fired up by the president of the USA, has not affected our economy as much as expected.

Brexit seems a huge problem but most probably will affect the UK the most. Therefore, a little bit of optimism can be expected at this point.”

And giving an insight into FKP’s strategic game plan, he adds, “We are thinking about the festival in 2022 now, in order to make the right decisions and not to fall behind. Yes, competition might be affecting us a lot but it’s not the sheer amount of competition, it’s about their quality. So, from an overall perspective, the industry will flourish during the next five years, [but] the battle between promoters has never been bigger than right now.”

The single most important factor affecting the festival industry

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Effects over 5 years

PARTICIPATING FESTIVALS 1LIVE Popfest (DE), 21vek (BY), A Summer´s Tale (DE), Aarhus Festival (DK), Africa Oyé (UK), Amsterdam Dance Event (NL), Arts D’estiu (ES), AWAKE (RO), Azkena Rock (ES), Bad Bonn Kilbi (CH), Baloise Session (CH), Bay Fest (IT), Beautiful Days (UK), Belladrum Tartan Heart (UK), Best Kept Secret (NL), Bilbao BBK Live (ES), Black Sea Jazz Festival (GE), Boomtown Fair (UK), Cactusfestival (BE), Community (UK), Concert at SEA (NL), Cornbury (UK), Couleur Café (BE), DAS FEST Karlsruhe (DE), Deer Shed (UK), Deichbrand (DE), Download (UK), Download Madrid (ES), Ejekt (GR), Elbjazz (DE), Elderflower Fields (UK), Electric Picnic (IE), Festival Week-end au bord de l’eau (CH), Fête de la Musique Dudelange (LU), G! Festival (DK), Galapagai (IT), Garorock (FR), Gay Pride Barcelona (ES), Gay Pride Madrid (ES), Gefle Metal (SE), Genk on Stage (DE), Gent Jazz (BE), Godiva (UK), Granatos Live (LT), Grape (DK), Graspop Metal Meeting (BE), Greenbelt (UK), Hellfest (FR), Henley (UK), Highfield (DE), Hurricane (DE), Ilosaarirock (FI), Indiependence (IE), Infinit Festival y Gay Pride Sitges (ES), Iveagh Gardens (IE), Jazz Middelheim (BE), Jazz Open Stuttgart (DE), Jelling (DK), Kala (AL), Kendal Calling (UK), Latitude (UK), Le Guess Who? (NL), Les Ardentes (BE), Levitation France (FR), Lollapalooza Berlin (DE), Lollapalooza Paris (FR), Lucca Summer (IT), Main Square Festival (FR), Malmöfestivalen (SE), M’era Luna (DE), MetalDays (SI), Montreux Jazz (CH), Musilac (FR), Nature One (DE), Noisily (UK), Noorderzon (NL), North Sea Jazz (NL), NorthSide (DK), Nozstock: The Hidden Valley (UK), Open Air Gampel (CH), OpenAir St.Gallen (CH), Ostrava v Plamenech (CZ), Ostrava in Flames (CZ), Paléo (CH), Paradise City (BE), Park Live (RU), Parklife (UK), Pinkpop (NL), Plage Noire (DE), Pol’and’Rock (PL), PortAmérica (ES), Portsmouth Festivities (UK), Provinssi (FI), Pukkelpop (BE), Taubertal (DE), Reading and Leeds (UK), Reeperbahn (DE), Reggae Sun Ska (FR), Riverboat Jazz (DK), Rock in Rio Lisboa (PT), Rock In Roma (IT), Rock Werchter (BE), Rockfest (FI), Roskilde (DK), Ruisrock (FI), San Sebastian Jazz – Heineken Jazzaldia (ES), Shambala (UK), Sideways (FI), Simple Things (UK), Siren (IT), Smukfest (DK), Sónar (ES), Southside (DE), Splendour (UK), Standon Calling (UK), Starlite (ES), Stichting Terschellings Oerol (NL), Sunwaves (RO), Sweden Rock (SE), Sziget (HU), Taksirat (MK), The Downs (UK), Øyafestivalen (NO), Tuska (FI), VESTROCK (NL), Vida (ES), Vilar de Mouros (PT), Wacken Open Air (DE), Waves Vienna (AT), Weekend (FI), WeitjeRock (BE), Wireless (UK), Wychwood (UK), Zermatt Unplugged (CH).

IQ Magazine January 2019

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Crystal Ball Predictions 2019 and all that

IN IQ’S FIRST-EVER VIRTUAL PANEL, MODERATOR JON CHAPPLE INVITES SEVEN LIVE MUSIC BIZ LUMINARIES TO GAZE INTO THEIR CRYSTAL BALLS AND OFFER UP THEIR PREDICTIONS FOR THE 12 MONTHS THAT LIE AHEAD…

Jon Chapple

Kim Bloem

Emma Bownes

Jules de Lattre

Stephan Thanscheidt

Okan Tombulca

Beverley Whitrick

Mark Yovich

Moderator: Jon Chapple (JC) – news editor, IQ Magazine Kim Bloem (KB) – vice head promoter, Mojo Concerts Emma Bownes (EB) – vice president of programming, AEG Europe Jules de Lattre (JdL) – senior agent, United Talent Agency Stephan Thanscheidt (ST) – managing director, FKP Scorpio Okan Tombulca (OT) – managing director, eps Beverley Whitrick (BW) – strategic director, Music Venue Trust Mark Yovich (MY) – president, Ticketmaster International Jon Chapple: Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone for joining us for what should be a lively discussion about the industry’s hopes and fears for 2019. Can I remind you all to speak clearly into your lapel mics for the benefit of the people reading this at home…

JC: W hat do you anticipate being next year’s greatest challenges, both for you and for the wider industry?

EB: I think most of the industry is concerned about the impact of Brexit on the music industry – will it lead to restrictions on travel for British acts? The Government have to make sure that musicians, particularly smaller ones, can continue to tour the EU easily without the need for visas – and similarly for European artists – while they develop as artists and build their fan-bases and careers.

BW: So much attention is being focused on Brexit that it makes it even more difficult to advance with the changes needed to protect the grassroots of the music industry. Not surprisingly, enormous and necessary energy is being spent trying to safeguard international touring and ensuring that the UK continues to be a leader in music.

Trying to reconcile what is needed at home with these global concerns poses the greatest challenge for 2019.

ST: A challenge faced by both the touring and festival sectors is the rising costs in all areas, such as personnel, production,

IQ Magazine January 2019

administrative expenses and, especially, artist fees. Of course, ticket prices cannot – and should not – be scaled limitlessly, so we need to find ways to optimise and allocate these expenses.

OT: I think our biggest challenge will be the same as for the rest of the industry: labour. Europe-wide, there is a huge problem with the availability of staff – security, stagehands, event co-ordinators – as well as equipment.

KB: The biggest issue over the last two years is the lack of personnel and materials for the number of events taking place from May to September. The number of shows, festivals and special events is rapidly increasing in this period, and therefore building crew, technicians, riggers, security personnel, etc., get exhausted because they’re working crazy hours.

We need to make sure live music remains a safe working place for everybody, but getting the number of people needed is very challenging.

OT: I think 2019 will be the biggest year in 20 years in terms of the number of events going on.

JdL: The issue of ticket pricing, both on the primary and secondary markets. Although significant progress was made in 2018, how to combat illicit secondary-ticketing practices will continue to be an issue we deal with on a daily basis.

As the secondary market becomes more regulated but not fully eradicated, will a more widely used and accepted model of dynamic pricing on the primary market emerge?

37

JC: How about the biggest opportunities?

JdL: As music consumption on ISPs explodes, there will be increasing opportunities for fans to fully connect with artists in the live space.

MY: There are more opportunities than ever before to empower artists to connect with their fans and harness their live experience.

Whether that’s through digital tickets or facial recognition, we are continuing to innovate in a wide range of products that are changing the landscape of the live business.

EB: This year saw a great deal of progress made in terms of restricting the ability of professional ticket resellers to acquire and resell large amounts of tickets with a huge markup. The British Government introduced new legislation to ban resellers from using bots to purchase tickets in bulk, secondary ticketing sites Get Me In! and Seatwave are closing down, and The O2 and The SSE Arena, Wembley, both introduced a digital ticketing system featuring a dynamically changing barcode system that ensures tickets cannot be copied or shared on secondary sites.

Hopefully, 2019 will see further action to ensure that live music is accessible to the widest possible audience.

JC: C an you identify any key market trends you expect to see emerging next year?

ST: Concentration of power. Next to the continuously evolving activities of FKP Scorpio in Germany and abroad, as well as the strategic partnership with AEG, the live sector of [FKP majority owner] CTS Eventim is growing further due to purchases in Italy and Spain. The same can, of course, be observed at Live Nation and other international companies.

BW: More grassroots music venues will close unless people who claim to be supportive actually start demonstrating that support through their actions.

ST: Another observation is the formation of investors and investment groups who don’t have a background as a promoter buying up festivals all over Europe.

MY: One word: mobile. We’ve been saying it for years, but 2018 saw a huge spike in the percentage of mobile traffic and, more importantly, mobile ticket sales. We think mobilefirst with everything we do, from how fans discover events through to digital methods of entry.

BW: Local activism and campaigns to support music will grow. Both artists and audiences are getting more vocal about the value of live music to communities, local economies, and health and wellbeing.

EB: Alongside the music programming you’d expect to see at both venues, we’re seeing a lot of shows coming through The O2 and The SSE Arena, Wembley, that are aimed at more of a family audience: Hugh Jackman, Cirque du Soleil, NBA, Harlem Globetrotters, Strictly Come Dancing, WWE… We’re also hosting Superstars of Gymnastics at The O2 – a major new showcase of the sport, featuring Simone Biles and Max Whitlock.

KB: My colleague Gideon Karting promoted a show with K-pop band BTS this year, which was huge, so that is definitely something that we expect to see emerging in the market in the next few years.

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Also, apart from music and comedy – the latter of which is a genre that sees massive audience interest – we see the market for speaking events growing. This year, Barack Obama did a couple of events, and I hope we can have his wife Michelle come to the Netherlands at some point. We can hopefully embrace this kind of role model and learn from them how we can all contribute to a better world.

JC: What are you most looking forward to in 2019?

MY: The Sunday night at Reading Festival for Foo Fighters.

Their London Stadium gig was amazing and I can’t wait to see them again.

EB: Sheffield Wednesday turning things around and making it to the play-offs.

JdL: We have a very exciting summer of major international festivals planned for Christine and the Queens in 2019.

Considering how strong and unique her live show is, I expect the summer will have a significant impact on this campaign.

I’m excited for festivalgoers to see and experience this incredible show.

MY: Muse and Fleetwood Mac are some other great stadium shows I’m looking forward to, as well as Billie Eilish at Shepherd’s Bush Empire early next year.

BW: Continuing to meet amazing people whose passion for music makes the work we do worthwhile.

JC: What, if anything, could the industry do better together in 2019?

OT: In Germany, we have a twice-yearly meeting of all festival promoters and service companies, to share information about health and safety and develop one set of rules for the whole country. I’d like to see much better communication between all sectors of our industry, to share knowledge, help each other, and work better together.

KB: Be a bit nicer to each other, work more closely together, and try to reduce the amount of paperwork, and covering our own asses all the time. If we work hard and well, we should be able to trust each other’s judgement.

JdL: Conversations about mental health are becoming more commonplace and I hope will continue to do so. Anyone in the business should look around them and do whatever they can to provide reliable health and wellness support to those in need.

Gender diversity and equality in the music industry as a whole – from the presence of female-fronted acts at festivals to gender pay gaps and fairer access to leadership roles in the music industry – will also remain a major talking point in the year to come.

MY: Accessibility is a huge issue in our industry and we’re working closely with Attitude is Everything on their Ticketing Without Barriers campaign to make sure more is being done.

There seems to be some great momentum, and now is the time for us all to come together to find solutions to ensure equal access to live entertainment.

ST: We need to stand united against political and societal injustice. Music is being used by groups who are against democratic values and human rights – so why shouldn’t we do the same for freedom and peace?

IQ Magazine January 2019

The Gaffer: Chris Marsh

In theory, working as a production manager for a solo act doesn’t sound like the most taxing job on the planet.

But when that act is Ed Sheeran and involves two sets of steel, 49 trucks and the biggest stadium tour of 2018, you need a PM who is at the very top of his game. Gordon Masson talks through some of the challenges with Chris Marsh – this year’s worthy recipient of The Gaffer Award…

W

hen a small PA company in Wiltshire, UK, took on its latest crew member in 1997, neither party could have imagined the career trajectory that would follow. From helping tribute acts with their sound requirements in tiny clubs and pubs dotted around the rural west country of England, Chris Marsh has scaled the production crew ladder like a bionic rigger, learning a number of specialist tech roles along the road before finding his way to the exalted level of production manager for, arguably, the biggest star on the planet.

“I know that Chris took a significant pay cut to come and work with Ed,” reveals Sheeran’s agent, Jon Ollier at CAA. “But Chris has been integral to everything that Ed does live: even when he started out working with Ed in 2011, he was vastly experienced, so it’s great that we’ve all been able to grow together and achieve everything that we have so far.”

Sheeran ended his 2018 touring commitments in early November when his sold-out North American leg came to an end at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That gig was his 94th stadium show of 2018, including 25 in North America, 47 in Europe, 12 in Australia, six New Zealand dates, and four across Japan and the Philippines.

Marsh is already hard at work on the next leg of the tour, which begins in February by dominating the ‘souths’: five shows in South America, four in South Africa, one date in South Korea, and then two in Southeast Asia. From there, the ÷ tour returns to Europe for a mix of 35 outdoor dates – the majority in stadia, but with a couple of festival headline slots and some outdoor greenfield sites thrown in to keep Marsh and his crew on their toes.

Not that those different venue settings keep this year’s Gaffer Award recipient awake at night. “One of our biggest

Photo © DiGiCo

IQ Magazine January 2019

41

The Gaffer achievements on this tour was when we wrapped up the European shows in Poland, loaded out onto trucks and loaded into two 747s, then played the same show in Los Angeles less than a week later,” says Marsh. “That flexibility is one of the joys of working with a solo act, I guess: we could not have cut it any finer between the Rose Bowl and the shows in Warsaw.”

B

Growing Up

orn in Southampton, England, and raised in nearby Romsey, Marsh was heavily into music at school and followed his father into the church choir. “I was a chorister at Romsey Abbey from an early age, and I also learned piano and played French horn in the school orchestra, too,” he says. That love of music saw him join a number of bands in his younger days and take on double O-levels in music at South Downs College, where any ambitions of becoming a rock star quickly evaporated. “I discovered at college that I was among a bunch of phenomenal musicians and that I wasn’t good enough. But I started to love the technology side of things and could see another avenue into working in the music business.”

Marsh found work at a small PA company in Salisbury called Midas Sound & Lighting, where he found himself loading and unloading gear for tribute bands and other local acts, while in the summer he would be involved in supplying equipment to small festivals.

Around the same time, in 1999, Marsh met Lars Brogaard and the duo started working together to build an audio subrental company that would eventually become Major Tom Ltd. “It meant that I stopped being on the road so much, but it was great to work with Lars, and we eventually also launched Colonel Tom for the video side of the business and, because of that, I started doing more than just sound.

“Lars has been something of a mentor to me – he’s been there from very early on in my career and has put my name forward for some great jobs, so I’m eternally grateful to him and I’m delighted to have him in my corner.”

That feeling is definitely mutual. Brogaard says, “Chris started working with me over 20 years ago when he was just

“We had 35 Osmonds on the road with us once we’d added in various family members.”

18 or 19 and he has done fantastic – I’m very proud of him and view him like a son.

“I can remember him telling me that he’d met this young artist that he thought was really special and that we should get involved, so we helped out with equipment on that first Ed Sheeran tour and we’ve been with him ever since.

“Chris is a great production manager and sound engineer and he could get a job with anyone at any time he wants, so I’m beyond happy and grateful that he’s remained as my partner at Major Tom.”

Everything Has Changed Enjoying his career as a freelance sound engineer, one of Marsh’s early gigs saw him working on a Michael Ball tour, where he witnessed a difficult relationship between the production manager and the artist. “Phil Bowdery was managing Michael and during a conversation with him I just happened to mention that it shouldn’t be that hard to make the artist happy. That’s when Phil suggested I step up to the production manager role, and in 2003, I did my first UK tour around 2,000 to 3,000-seat theatres.”

As president of touring international for Live Nation, Bowdery has nothing but praise for Marsh. “Whenever I want him to work for us, he’s too busy with Ed Sheeran. He’s unflappable in all manner of situations and when you work with Chris, it’s service with a smile.”

Recalling how they first met, Bowdery adds, “Chris was running everything for Lars Brogaard at Major Tom, dealing

Taking the ÷ tour to different outdoor venues provides Marsh and his team with numerous challenges: (Photo © Ralph Larmann)

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IQ Magazine January 2019

The Gaffer Brian Thorene (PA Tech), John Meyer (Meyer Sound), David White (Chewie Tech), Marsh, Helen Meyer (Meyer Sound) and Charlie Albin (System Tech) (Photo: © Steve Jennings)

with the logistics for multiple tours, and it was fairly evident he was a very together guy, as well as a bloody nice bloke.

“He joined us on a Michael Ball tour and did a brilliant job as sound engineer, so I wasn’t surporised that he was also able to take on the role of production manager. I could see he was a star in the making - and now he’s mastered stadium shows. I like Chris a lot - I’ve got all the time in the world for him - and The Gaffer award is well deserved.”

In 2002, Brogaard helped Marsh land a job as sound engineer for Diana Ross, and by 2005 his growing reputation led him into a dual PM role for that artist as well. “It works well for me,” explains Marsh. “As sound engineer I’d get a bit bored because once I’ve set up, there’s not a lot else to do prior to the show to keep me entertained. But being the sound engineer and production manager is really enjoyable because I get to do what I love while also enjoying the interaction with all the other departments.”

Another long-term client was Andrea Bocelli who Marsh started working with in 2000 as orchestral engineer and systems engineer, before also taking on the PM role in 2006.

“That was fun because we were doing the likes of outdoor shows and castles. But he is an arena artist and the challenge with big venues and classical artists is trying to minimise the fact that the sound is amplified. So you have to take what is happening on stage and just try to make that louder as unobtrusively as possible. It can be a long process but, thankfully, with Bocelli, he used local orchestras wherever he performed so soundcheck and tuning usually happened at the same time as the four-hour rehearsal.”

Marsh also counts Craig David as one of his clients, having enjoyed a number of European dates with him from 2007-08, around the same time he hit the road in Europe with arguably the biggest artist entourage in touring history. “Phil Bowdery got me on-board Donny Osmond’s comeback tour, which was great fun. He hadn’t been on the road for about 25 years, but those teenage fans who had since become mums came out in force, so what started out as a theatres tour soon grew into

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arenas,” recalls Marsh. “That then led into The Osmonds reunion tour and the family’s 50th Anniversary Tour in 2007, which went across America and into Australia as well. That was quite a tour because we had 35 Osmonds on the road with us once we’d added in various family members.”

Marsh declined to do front of house on that tour, but he admits missing being in charge of sound: “I felt more like I was an office worker when I was just doing the production management, so I’ve tried to work both sound and PM ever since.”

Following another stint with Diana Ross, Marsh toured with a number of heritage acts before taking on a role on one of Rumer’s early tours. “That petered out when her momentum slowed, but during it I met Ed Sheeran and his manager, Stuart Camp, when Ed was playing on the same bill at a festival, but nothing really came of it initially.”

Nonetheless, another contact on the Diana Ross crew was Mark Friend, whose now wife, Amanda Thompson, Marsh had worked with on Craig David. Friend contacted Marsh to ask if he was interested in joining the Sheeran camp in 2011, for a small theatre tour in the UK. “I went to the Forum in Kentish Town to see Ed’s show and afterwards we talked about the production values and what kinds of things we could achieve for a solo act. So the first run I did with Ed was two weeks long and I had a budget of £15,000 to put things together, so I had to be pretty creative.”

Sheeran’s agent, Jon Ollier says, “When Ed started to do his own headline tours, he wanted it to stay as a one-man show, so we had to get clever with the production so that we could fill the stages. Chris has been integral to that, and everything else Ed has done in the live space.”

Sheeran and his team were suitably impressed and although Marsh agrees with Ollier that it did involve a substantial pay cut, the decision has obviously been the correct one. “The money wasn’t really a factor at the time,” he says. “It was more about taking a chance to learn new skills and, thankfully, the education I’ve had working on Ed’s tours has been beyond what I ever imagined it could be.”

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The A-Team

ne of the first people Marsh was able to introduce to the growing Sheeran environment was Mark Cunniffe, who says, “We had just been involved in Michael Jackson’s This Is It production rehearsals, but such was the craziness of the schedule our paths never crossed. That same summer, Chris turned up at FOH in Liverpool with a Michael Ball show. We got chatting and discovered that we’d been in the same building in LA for the best part of two months and had never met.”

“The first run I did with Ed was two weeks long and I had a budget of £15,000 to put things together, so I had to be pretty creative.”

IQ Magazine January 2019

The Gaffer Confident that Cunniffe could help Sheeran’s production values with his show design experience, Marsh persuaded him to join them on Sheeran’s first international tour. “It was January, and neither of us were busy, so we set out with Ed on a bus and trailer around Europe,” says Marsh.

Cunniffe continues, “We’ve travelled the world at least five times over and laughed pretty much all of the way. Chris is a fantastic production manager, a very gifted FOH engineer, but above all, a man that I can call true friend. His tenacity and attention to detail is matched only by his dogged refusal to make do - and a legendary capacity for steak and red wine.…..it’s your round fella…..many many congratulations on your award!”

From that point on, Sheeran’s momentum has been nothing short of meteoric, but such was his schedule in the early years that Marsh barely had time to reflect on the growth of the production. “On the 2015 tour, we’d just done America and were flying back to play Wembley,” he tells IQ. “Everything for the Wembley show had been organised by email, phone and face time, so I remember arriving at Wembley and there were 45 trucks waiting for me. That was a sobering moment.”

Unlike past tours with other solo acts, Marsh and the production team have different challenges when it comes to dealing with an artist who is completely alone on stage – no backing musicians, no dancers, no gimmicks. “The big thing is that we need to try not to make Ed look small, in some of the biggest venues imaginable. We have to deliver him, his music, and his emotions to everybody in the audience, which isn’t easy from an audio perspective, as we have to make sure that the guitar and looping reaches every single person. That’s daunting enough in an arena, but stadiums are really challenging.”

Thankfully, Marsh has assembled a team that can handle anything that even the most difficult venues throw at them.

“The core crew I’ve met along the way, typically in lesser roles, and I’ve given them a sink-or-swim opportunity, which everyone has stepped up to. Phil Mead was a prodigy of Mark Cunniffe and he’s now our video director; Charlie Albin was a Britannia Row audio junior and is now my main man for sound – he hangs it, tunes it, and builds it for me. I’d be in big

trouble if it weren’t for Charlie. He does the tough bit and we meet at 11am on a show day to walk the room and deal with anything that needs tweaking.”

He continues, “Matt Caley, our stage manager, I met through Michael Ball. He was a backline tech at John Henry’s, but then became Ed’s guitar tech. He quit being on the road to become a plumber, but thankfully I was able to lure him back and now he is a great stage manager – I knew he would be because he has a fantastic attitude.”

Indeed, emphasising the family feel of the touring party, Marsh’s partner, Helen Himmons, works as his production co-ordinator. But he is fully aware of the pressures that being on the road can mean to relationships and mental health.

With a team of 45 crew on the road, including two riggers, Marsh hires an additional 19 riggers locally for each show, plus a further 112 local crew for the stadium builds. That level of responsibility does not elude him. “There’s no doubt that we’ve been lucky not to have any injuries but that’s partly down to the way the production has been designed,” he states.

Ollier notes, “Chris is crucial when is comes to logistics and finance, as he can tell us in a no-nonsense way what is possible. But where he stands out from other production managers is that he places people’s welfare first and foremost and he does not compromise when it comes to the health and mental wellbeing of the crew. We put people at risk in this business, but Chris goes out of his way to keep everyone safe and happy. We’re very lucky to have him on board.”

Sheeran’s manager, Stuart Camp, agrees. “Chris is always a champion for the crew when it comes to their wellbeing and he’s the first person we consult to see if a certain project is possible,’ he tells IQ. Marsh says, “We all need to think more about people’s welfare when we’re on the road because it is inevitable that if people work long hours, day after day after day, the probability of an accident increases. We need the crew to want to be there – everyone has families and loved ones and their own issues to deal with, so I work hard to try to give people as much rest time as possible. For instance, I insist that if we’ve travelled long-haul that people are allowed at

Marsh with systems tech Charlie Albin, audio tech Dave White, and backline tech Trevor Dawkins (Photo: © Ralph Larmann)

IQ Magazine January 2019

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The Gaffer Marsh on a rare day off with the Sheeran crew in Sweden (Photo: © Zak Walters)

least one day of recuperation. And for stadium shows, the ideal schedule is to have at least one clear day off between venues, in addition to travel days.

“It’s also massively important to have the right quantity of people on the crew. If I was forced, I could probably cut down on numbers but, thankfully, everyone involved, from Ed and Stuart down, put crew welfare first, which I think they deserve more recognition for – it’s easy for me to argue the point, but ultimately it’s up to them to make that investment.

But I don’t need to preach at all. Ed and Stuart consider everyone on the tour to be family, and Ed makes a real effort to know everyone’s name. In fact, it’s Ed whose idea it was to have parties as motivation when we’re on the road, so that he can have the crew around him and get to spend time with everyone in a relaxed environment.”

Explaining that ethos, Camp comments, “Everyone on the tour has a pass that can get them into the artist dressing room, so we definitely try to foster that family feeling. It can be difficult

“The education I’ve had working on Ed’s tours has been beyond what I ever imagined it could be.” because Ed and I often just fly in and out for shows, so that’s why Ed specifically plans nights where we go out and everyone has the night off.”

Marsh says that attention to detail is definitely appreciated. level of trust and understanding from Ed is special. I’ve found myself explaining to him what we’ve had to scale back for the stadium show when we’ve gone into arenas, and sometimes, for certain venues, we’ve had to scale that back even further. But Ed stopped me once and reassured me that I didn’t need to justify everything – he has complete faith in us, and when he gets on stage and sees what we’ve had to do to make things fit into a venue, he understands that we’ve done the best possible job.

“That’s the great thing about working with Ed Sheeran – there’s no PR personality with him: he is who he is. In fact, very early on he told us that if he was ever being a dick, we had to tell him.”

The respect works two ways though, and Sheeran provides his team with the kind of critical reviews that other crews can only dream about. “It’s a thrill for me when I hear other artists talking about how great the show looks or sounds – and that’s feedback that Ed passes on to us when he meets people backstage on tour,” says Marsh.

Marsh’s treatment of the crew certainly does not go unnoticed. Meyer Sound founders, John and Helen Meyer, comment, “Far from being a ‘one-man show’, an Ed Sheeran concert relies on a small army of production professionals.

Chris’s leadership of this team builds on decades of experience, deep technical expertise, a fine-tuned ear, and a commitment to giving every audience member a dynamic and intimate experience.

“At Meyer Sound we’ve enjoyed a decades-long relationship with tour audio supplier, Major Tom, Ltd., and we’re proud you’ve chosen LEO Family systems for all Ed Sheeran tours over the past five years. Congratulations, Chris, on this well-deserved honour.”

Another benefactor is Chris S Olson, at S.O.S. Transportation, who tells IQ, “Chris Marsh is one the

Marsh in his evening office (Photo: © Zak Walters)

IQ Magazine January 2019

The Gaffer smartest production managers I have ever worked with. He does what he says he will do. Me and my guys would work for anytime, anywhere.”

And even the promoters love him: “From Pizza to Pirates you have always been a consummate professional,” says Anna Golden at AEG Presents. Colleague Simon Jones adds, “I must have been in 20 odd countries around the world with Chris on Ed Sheeran shows, and in some very, very challenging environments, he’s managed to make Ed sound crystal clear and fantastic everywhere we go. God forbid what would happen if he were to put his shoes on!”

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Multiply

heeran’s phenomenal career trajectory has taken the artist and the growing core team to every corner of the world – providing Marsh with more passport stamps than he could ever have imagined.

“I limited myself in the past with some of the acts I worked with and I often did not commit myself to world tours. But Ed has taken me everywhere – it’s incredible. As production manager, there obviously aren’t many tourist opportunities, but working with people from different cultural backgrounds is fantastic, and in the past, when the equipment did not match up with our requirements, it was a great challenge to try to overcome those issues.

“Now things are very different – we have a bigger budget so take our own bespoke show everywhere. The challenge now is that we have to make our show fit into venues that sometimes don’t have the capacity to take it.”

Playing festivals also presents interesting challenges, “because we can’t bring our full production.” But Marsh enjoys the positive aspects he and his crew can also provide to other artists. “The beauty about being a headliner is that we can have a bit of a say when it comes to influencing what the festival uses for its audio system and lights – and that can hopefully benefit

other acts on the bill, too,” he says. “Festival-style lighting packages can be interesting to deal with, but we augment that by bringing in our big screen for Ed’s performances.”

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End Game

nlike other production managers who, once they have reached the stadium-level acts want to stay there, Marsh has more modest ambitions. “The last seven or eight years have been completely dominated by Ed,” he tells IQ. “Even when he took his year off, about six months of that involved chasing him around to prepare for the following tour.”

So now that there’s a three-month break in the tour schedule, what is Marsh up to? “At the moment I’m making sure all the equipment from the North American tour is properly serviced and maintained, and I’m making preparations for advancing everything for the next leg of the tour,” he reports. “But when I’m home I also like to drop into Major Tom and Colonel Tom to catch up with everyone to find out what’s going on elsewhere – I get excited about going into the Major Tom warehouse and speaking to other people about touring.”

Admitting to liking cars and motorsport, Marsh also enjoys the odd round of golf as an excuse to get out into the fresh air. “But my passion is to work, and since I was a kid I wanted to work in the music industry. It’s a cliché but it really doesn’t feel like work because I love every minute of it.”

Beyond touring with Sheeran, his love of the grass-roots side of the business shines through. “I’d love to work at theatre-level again and deal with those challenges. We’ve supposedly got a year off from Ed at the end of this tour, so we’ll see what that brings about.” Given his track record of working at the grass-roots level for superstar acts, the world’s A&R community will no doubt be keeping a close eye on The Gaffer’s future career moves…

Ed Sheeran’s spectacular stage set (Photo: © Ralph Larmann)

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IQ Magazine January 2019

Matt Bates

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IQ Magazine January 2019

Matt Bates

From Shrewsbury to ‘Shambles From surviving on bread and jam as a promoter, to overseeing a roster that is the envy of his peers, Primary Talent’s Matt Bates has built a reputation as a wizard of artist development. As he marks 20 phenomenal years in the business, Eamonn Forde learns some of the secrets behind his success…

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any of us, when young, dreamt idly of running away with a band or the circus. When Babyshambles kickstarted his career as an agent, Matt Bates did both.

Growing up in Shrewsbury in a house where Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac and Status Quo were on heavy rotation, Bates was initially into Michael Jackson, New Kids On The Block and Ace of Base. The release of Blur’s Parklife in 1994 was to prove the catalyst for music taking over his life.

Blur’s show at Birmingham NEC on The Great Escape tour in November 1995 was Bates’ first concert, getting the coach from Shrewsbury. “I had never been to a gig before and that made me want to go to gigs every night,” he says. “Now I would do anything to not go to gigs every night of the week!”

It was a Britpop baptism of fire and his first three shows were reasonably close together, and combined made up what he terms “the holy trinity” – Blur, Pulp and Oasis. “There was no hiding what I was going to be into. I feel I was quite lucky growing up during Britpop.”

When he was 16 and at college, he began to address the musical drought in Shrewsbury – a place very few bands played – by lying about his age to hire out local venues to put on indie nights, and DJ-ing there, too. The agent instinct was already there – even if he wasn’t exactly sure what an agent was. He would use a nearby pay-phone, as he was too nervous to use the phone at home in front of his mother, to try and get bands to come to his town.

“I would phone around agencies and ask, ‘How much does it cost to book Oasis?’” he laughs, remembering his first steps in the business. “I was completely naive! But looking back it was a great rounding. I didn’t know what an agent really was then. But I knew I wanted to do something with live music.”

He was a self-starter and, like a twist on the line in Field of Dreams, he was sure that if he built it, they would come.

By 18, he was studying journalism and English – believing writing was his way into the music business – at Staffordshire

IQ Magazine January 2019

University in Stoke-on-Trent, and also putting on nights there.

“The first proper gig that I put on that made money was when I was 18 or 19,” he says. “I booked a tribute band called The Complete Stone Roses. They brought with them the real life Mani [from The Stone Roses] as a DJ, and I met him. I was a geeky little kid and just spoke to him. I had never really met anyone properly famous at that point. He took me under his wing.”

Mani returned to DJ at his club nights and from that came introductions to Clint Boon from Inspiral Carpets (“the world’s nicest man”) who in turn introduced Bates to Shaun Ryder and Bez from Happy Mondays, Mark Morriss from The Bluetones, Rick Witter from Shed Seven, and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans, all of whom he got to play records at his club. “These were all my heroes and I started DJing with them,” he says.

As he was approaching the end of his studies in Stoke, he and a friend were offered the chance to buy into a business in the city, as the adult club that was in the building was moving to a new location. “It was a lap-dancing club with the wonderful name of ST1, which was the area postcode, but it looked like STI on the sign,” he laughs.

Using his student loan, he turned the venue into The Underground and enjoyed the independence of owning and running his own club. He also put on touring bands and hired venues back in Shrewsbury so he could book bands into both, eventually expanding into nearby Wrexham and Birmingham.

The loss-making gigs often outnumbered the profitable ones (“because promoting is gambling”) but he loved the hustle. “Hats off to all the independent promoters out there because it is a lifestyle,” he says. “You didn’t know if next week you were going to eat or not. Sometimes I would live on bread and jam for a week because I just didn’t have any other way of feeding myself.”

Acts he put on in the 300-cap venue included Arthur Lee & Love, The Cooper Temple Clause, John Cale, The Misfits, Keane, and Razorlight. Then fate came rambunctiously knocking.

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Matt Bates

A Complete ‘Shambles

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ete Doherty had left The Libertines and formed Babyshambles. Via a friend of a friend, Bates managed to book them to play The Underground. The night they played, however, Carl Barât showed up and the gig became a mini Libertines reunion. Chaos ensued.

“So many people were excited that this was actually happening and tried to get in that the club got absolutely trashed,” he says, his eyes widening at the memory. “The ceiling collapsed. A wall collapsed. All the lights came off the wall. Everything was destroyed. They ended up doing a gig on their tour bus outside the venue. The police were called and they had to cordon off all the roads […] It was so exciting.

People with broken arms and broken legs; people getting arrested. This is what I always thought music was about!”

Babyshambles returned the next week to play their own gig at the venue and Bates was asked to book them more shows.

“Overnight I had become the agent for Babyshambles from my bedroom in Stoke-on-Trent,” he says. “Within about a month I had booked Babyshambles on Glastonbury. I suddenly realised I was an agent!”

He went on the road with the band, tuning guitars, running the guest list, getting Pete out of bed, and doing the accounts on the road.

“Babyshambles were one of the most notorious bands in the country at that point and I was this little kid in the eye of the hurricane,” he recalls. “I didn’t have a computer. I didn’t even have a business bank account. Deposits for the shows at Glastonbury or the Brixton Academy were going into my personal student bank account. I look back now in wonder at how the hell these people took me seriously […] It was carnage as you can imagine. It was the worst and the best time of my life in equal measure.”

He moved to London to work with the band and Pete Doherty remains one of his acts to this day. “My whole career was built around being given an opportunity I should never have been given,” he says. “I had no right to be their agent.”

This put him on the London industry radar and the late Dave Chumbley, after hearing Bates’ name mentioned repeatedly, tracked him down in October 2005 and offered him a job at Primary. Except it didn’t quite go smoothly. He was invited to Primary’s 15th birthday party that week and as he was about to walk in to meet his new colleagues, Dave phoned him.

“He said, ‘Don’t come into the party. I have not told anyone that I have offered you the job!’ Then he hung up on me,” Bates recalls. He spent the whole weekend thinking he’d missed out on a huge job opportunity. Then Dave called again on the Monday to confirm the job offer, and he started that Friday. On the Thursday night, Pete Doherty was arrested and so he had to go into crisis mode as soon as he got into his new office. “The first thing I ever did at Primary was cancel a tour!” he laughs.

“Dave brought me into the company and gave me a job,” he says of Chumbley’s towering influence on him. “He is the guy I owe my career to. I always admired the way he was able to shout and scream at people but also remain their friend. It was quite a special skill. Watching Dave interact with people on the phone was theatre. He knew it was theatre. He had a big booming voice and he used to love that negotiation in front of an audience.”

Fellow Primary Talent director, Peter Elliott recalls, “I first came across Matt back in 2004 when he was tour manager and

agent for Pete Doherty, combining both roles from his bedroom and the back of a tour bus. The Streets were playing Alexandra Palace and were interested in having Pete support. Matt made it happen and within a year he was working at Primary and has been making it happen for artists ever since.

“Matt has an uncanny knack for finding innovative, exiting bands with strong buzzy management teams behind them. He’s one of the most driven people I have worked with – he always has an angle.”

Indeed, Bates hit the ground running at Primary, working with The Wombats, Metronomy, The Holloways, The Pipettes and CSS – all in the first 12 months. “They were all exploding and I was thinking this was a piece of piss!” he says with disbelief at his enviable opening run. “I thought I had the Midas touch and everything turned to gold. I’ve had a few turds since then.”

Within 18 months of joining Primary, Bates had his first arena show, when, in 2007, Babyshambles played Wembley.

“Obviously it’s something you always want for your artists, but it was a huge lesson for me, as I had no idea about all the levels of extra detail you had to take care of - seating plans, sliding ticket prices, mass production costs - it was a big step in my education process of becoming an agent.

“Now I sort of take O2 Arena shows for granted, but you don’t realise how much of a bigger operation they are until you do it. And there’s also that realisation that certain acts are made for arenas - The 1975 have a massive production that really works at arena level, for instance - but other acts and, crucially, their fans, might not be suited to arena shows at all, so for them multiple Brixtons might be a much better career goal.”

Two Door Cinema Club were also an important early success for Bates, and this helped create a tight bond between him and Prolifica Management. “Matt is a tenacious and passionate workaholic… he’s as competitive as they come,” says Colin Schaverien, the band’s manager. “We broke Two Door Cinema Club to arena-level around the world. We’ve

“ Overnight I had become the agent for Babyshambles from my bedroom in Stoke-on-Trent … I suddenly realised I was an agent!”

The 1975’s Matty Healy and manager Jamie Oborne met baby Hector Bates with Matt in Los Angeles in October 2018

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IQ Magazine January 2019

Contributors

Matt Bates

Kevin Baird, Two Door Cinema Club; Tom Grennan, artist; Toby L, Transgressive Records; Korda Marshall, Infectious Music; Jamie Oborne, All On Red; Colin Schaverien, Prolifica Management; Ellie Rowsell, Wolf Alice; Stephen ‘Tav’ Tavener, East City Management; Gus Unger-Hamilton, alt-J.

also had incredible success together on bands such as Maxïmo Park, Circa Waves, You Me at Six, Twin Atlantic and Anteros.

Matt is strategic, knowledgeable and driven, which are the main traits you look for in a great agent.”

Kevin Baird from Two Door Cinema Club adds, “Matt has been with us from 300-cap to 30,000-cap shows and has always believed in us and our vision. He’s the first to have your corner and the best to have a beer with after the hard work is done.

We’ve worked with Matt for almost ten years: he’s family!”

His next major success was with alt-J. He had worked on CSS with Korda Marshall, then at Warner Music UK, and they were reunited when Marshall set-up Infectious Records.

“When I first met Matt he was this bright and bubbly little thing – full of really good energy along with lots of enthusiasm and passion,” remembers Marshall. “The first time I worked with him properly was on alt-J. He was phenomenally important in making sure that we broke the band worldwide on the first record. That is not an easy thing to do […] His ability to see things in the round is really important. He understands the broader landscape rather than just the dates. And he is a gentleman.”

Offering a different perspective, fellow Primary director Elliott says, “Matt ’s individual sense of humour is mirrored in his fashion sense, mixing designer labels with a dodgy taste for Alan Partridge style knitwear.” But he has nothing but praise for Bates’ business sense. “Over the last few years, Matt has developed into a driving force within Primary, bringing his nononsense determination and vision into the management of the company, helping us retain our identity whilst evolving in an ever-changing business climate.”

Matt Bates Enjoying Glastonbury 2016 with fellow Primary agent Will Marshall

Fluffy

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Tom Grennan at the International Festival Forum 2017

I’ve known Matt for over ten years,” says Emma Bownes, vice president of programming for AEG Europe. “I first met him when he was the agent for CSS and he put them into the Kentish Town Forum, and since then I’ve always been amazed at how far in advance he routes tours for his artists; how far he sees into the future on their behalf.” She adds, “ I don’t know how he’s going to cope with a baby as he already seems to survive on hardly any sleep, emailing at all hours for avails – or maybe that’s what’ll make him a great dad...”

Gus Unger-Hamilton from alt-J states, “I think Matt has helped to change the whole industry. He saw the change ahead where touring became a much bigger part of artists’ careers and has really driven that. We’ve been working with him since 2012, and it’s been a brilliant relationship for everyone involved.”

Stephen Tavener (also known as Tav) at East City Management came in as alt-J’s manager and started working closely with Bates on their touring plans. “Live is a very important part of the jigsaw,” says Tav. “For me, you cannot skip steps and you cannot skip venue sizes; you have to work your way through the gears. You have to make sure you are covering every venue size, and Matt is very good at that. He also understands the whole underplay thing – which I am big on – playing in rooms that are probably too small but leaving people wanting more.”

Tav also manages Wolf Alice, another of the acts Bates has helped take from small clubs to major venues and festivals around the world. “When I first started working with them, they had done a few shows but not that many,” says Tav. “The game plan right from the beginning was to get them on as many dates as possible. All that work we put in in the early

“Matt Bates is a fucking legend.”

Tom Grennan

IQ Magazine January 2019

“ He understands the broader landscape rather than just the dates. And he is a gentleman.”

Korda Marshall, Infectious Music days – playing in front of five people in Glasgow – really stood them in good stead. Now they really are one of the best live bands in the UK. That is all because of the work that we put in in the early days. Matt was intrinsic in terms of recognising that and understanding that we needed to do a lot of stuff before we went anywhere near radio or traditional press […]

I totally trust him in terms of his judgement when it comes to that whole artist development side of things.”

Bates says of Wolf Alice, “People think these things happen overnight but that was four or five years of them slogging away. They were doing quite unfashionable music for the time and were just waiting for people to catch on to what they were doing.”

Wolf Alice lead singer and guitarist, Ellie Rowsell, says, “I love working with Matt. He has been offering me advice since the very start of my career and I find him a very reassuring person to go to when I am in doubt over something. He has helped us build a brilliant team and made sure that his role within that team is not just a booking agent, but also a friend.

Playing in new cities and returning to old ones, being ambitious but retaining intimacy are all things of importance to us when it comes to our live shows and Matt has helped tailor our tours with all our beliefs and passions in mind.”

The 1975 are another pivotal act on his roster who, as with alt-J and Wolf Alice, he helped to build from the ground up, working closely with them at a time when the rest of the industry – including labels and publishers – were showing little interest in them.

“The 1975 are something I am super proud of,” says Bates, who started working with them in 2013. “They are so hardworking and they have such belief. One thing that most bands lack is knowing what they are. The 1975 had it in abundance. I had never really dealt with a band quite so aware of what they wanted to be and with such belief in that.”

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Matt Bates Jamie Oborne from All On Red is their manager and also runs Dirty Hit, their label (who Wolf Alice are also signed to). “The 1975 was the first time that we had got to work an artist from the ground up,” he says of his partnership with Bates. “I am a great believer in artist development and Matt shared my hunger for building up something with a really strong and real foundation.”

Matt Healy from The 1975 says, “Matt saw the same potential in us that our manager saw early on. He started helping us out and he sent us on the road with Two Door Cinema Club because he handled them at the time – and that was the first proper thing that we had done. I am very involved creatively with Dirty Hit but I don’t like planning staff and doing schedules, so my relationship with Matt has always been very personal. He never sat me down and told me what the plan was. To be fair I was 23 and was just kind of going along with it. ‘You’re going to Thailand.’ ‘Yeah, alright!’ I just liked Matt. He’s a bit of a weird dude when you meet him because he is known for doing The Libertines - he’s this really tenacious agent and people know who he is. But when you meet him he is unassuming and I related to that. He is a hell of a good agent.”

He adds, “By the time The 1975 was happening, it was fairly self-operated so I didn’t have to get in bed with people I didn’t trust. Matt was getting us the shows and we were friends. It was as simple as that. He is a really valuable part of my career. It is a tricky thing being an agent because you’re constantly – well, I imagine as, fucking hell, I haven’t tried it – burning bridges and bridging gaps. You’re making friends and making enemies. You have to be certain type of person.

Matt’s personality is probably really suited to doing those kind of things so I’m really happy to have him in my corner. Dirty

“Matt is strategic, knowledgeable and driven, which are the main traits you look for in a great agent.”

Colin Schaverien manager, Two Door Cinema Club

“I think Matt has helped to change the whole industry.”

Gus Unger-Hamilton, alt-J Hit is a very insular operation – but Matt has been brought into the inner circle. It takes a lot for us to have someone like that in there. The best thing about him is that he is just one of the team. Do I have a message for him on his 20th anniversary?

Yeah. You’re getting so old, mate!”

Tom Grennan is one of Bates’ most recent breakthroughs, with live being a key part of how he has built his audience, taking him from The Slaughtered Lamb (120-cap) in London in November 2016 to the 4,900-cap Brixton Academy in October this year.

“His love and passion for music is like no other and I know he puts everything on the line for his artist to play the best shows, and to keep building and growing,” says Grennan. “His strategy alongside my management team has been flawless, from his prediction on where I would be at various points in my career, to various festival plays and positioning in the live arena – it’s all been spot on. Thanks for everything, Matt.

I’m looking forward to a long and fruitful partnership and friendship. Matt Bates is a fucking legend.”

Promoters also admire the way Bates works with them to grow artist careers. “I first became aware of Matt when he was organising a tour with the Bluetones. It was the most dates I’d ever seen on a tour poster and I thought, Jesus, this guy knows how to make his bands work,” recalls Festival republic’s Jon McIldowie. “That’s been true ever since, and they’re all the more grateful for it. Matt’s always been a great agent to work with, a keen strategist, and tough negotiator but also with an appreciation for the promoter/agent relationship and looking after the festivals and events he works with as well as his roster.

It has been a pleasure to work with him across festivals and touring all these years.”

In Japan, Creativeman CEO Naoki Shimizu is similarly impressed. “When I first met Matt, he struck me as an ‘agent of a new generation’. Time’s passed so quickly and it’s already been 20 years since our first tour together,” says Shimizu. “I can say, without a doubt, that Matt will lead the UK rock scene for years to come.”

But it’s not just the veteran promoters who love working with Bates. Luke Temple tells IQ, “I’ve worked at SJM for six years and Matt has been there for me from day one, so I’ve done everything from club shows up to arena level with him and his acts.

“Matt manages to keep guitar bands in the limelight, which is not easy these days, and the fact he can help build their careers up to arena level and beyond speaks volumes about his skills as an agent.”

Nigel Downs, general manager at the O2 Academy Brixton, concurs. “Matt is an indie/alternative heavyweight agent who has a history of nurturing and developing acts from small local venues, right up to headlining multiple nights here at O2 Academy Brixton. He’s been instrumental in the careers of many artists, and he always has a plan for where his acts need to be. He does things his own way and the right way; he’s got a unique take on working with his acts and the proof is in the pudding where we see so many of his acts headlining such great venues and festivals. Congratulations Matt on your 20 years in the business. Here’s to many more.”

Bates taking time out for some art gallery browsing in New York in 2015

IQ Magazine January 2019

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Matt Bates

Apply Some Pressure

Bates and his fellow Primary Talent directors at the company’s 25th birthday party in 2015

D

espite his meteoric success, Bates has a long-term view of the business and is a deep thinker when it comes to how the industry operates. “We have posters on the walls at Primary of Oasis stadium shows where the ticket price was £12. It wasn’t that long ago and inflation doesn’t explain the price of tickets now, so I think people really have to avoid being greedy,” he says.

“As agents, we’re having a great time, as the live business has rarely been better. But other parts of the business have been here and hit rocky patches, so we cannot be complacent. I try to remain one step ahead of things, so I’m constantly looking at the way we sell tickets, bundling, marketing to see if there’s any way we can improve things.”

And he predicts that other entertainment entities may soon make moves to exploit the popularity of live music. “Over time, I can see the money of big corporations like Netflix or Amazon coming into live, to broadcast footage of shows - our job is to make sure that we are involved in the negotiations on behalf of our artist clients.”

However, asked where he thinks the future growth in his business might come from, Bates cites some of his newest roster signings as acts to look out for.

“Tom Grennan is superb and Pale Waves will also be an act that is in arenas before too long,” he says. “Sports Team are wonderful and Ten Tonnes’ debut next year should be amazing.”

Distilling his thinking process before taking on a new client, Bates discloses, “As agents, we all have a conveyor belt of acts coming through, but when I take on a new act, I try to gauge what I think will be the pinnacle of their career in terms of where they might appear on the Glastonbury or Reading Festival bill.

Obviously you want that to be as headliner, but you have to take an honest view and then work your hardest to achieve that.”

But he admits that even he can sometimes underestimate talent. “I always knew alt j had what it takes to become a big act, but on their first album the rise was far quicker than expected. I always saw the potential to play huge rooms but the zeitgeist of the debut album took me by surprise and I didn’t predict selling out huge venues across the globe so early in their career.”

Take a Bauer

Jamie Oborne adds, “He is very loyal. He takes his duty and his responsibility to the artists and managers he works with very seriously […] He has definitely helped me build my business; and I would like to feel that, in turn, my artists have helped him build his. It is always a relationship business. I am happy to have Matt in my corner. He is a loyal and valued partner.”

“Matt is a fiercely loyal man,” agrees Primary director Elliott. “He totally believes in his artists ability to create the best music and has the self belief to know that he will create the best opportunities for them, so its an inevitability that they will go on to be some of the biggest artists in the world.”

For Bates, live remains the most valid metric of success for any act. “Ticket sales are the biggest indicator of if something is working or not. Forget about YouTube views or Facebook likes. If someone has given up an evening and spent £20 on the ticket, that is an indication that that act actually matters. That’s when you really see if something is real or not. That is why live is so important. You cannot fake it. You have to be a good live act these days. Bands have to be good.”

With all this in mind, he says, ultimately, the agent’s duty must be to the artists. “You are dealing with human beings and that is a really scary thing when you stop and think about it. I will have more bands; the bands will come and go. But normally for those kids this is their one chance – and you cannot forget that.”

“ My whole career was built around being given an opportunity I should never have been given.”

T

oby L from Transgressive Records says he first met Bates “whilst in my teens and finding my way in music.”

He recalls promoting Rockfeedback’s nights at The Buffalo Bar in North London. Metronomy were playing with The Teenagers in support, and Bates told him that they needed a last-minute name added to the already packed guestlist. It simply said “Kiefer Sutherland + 1.”

“Sure enough, 20 minutes later, Kiefer rocks up, proceeding to drink and smoke, and pogo emphatically, exhaustively – during the bands’ sets, and mysteriously managing to snog three different complete strangers. All in the space of a whirlwind hour before leaving in a tumble,” he remembers. “Upon his own exit, Matt turned and said, ‘Wasn’t fucking around, was I?’” Tav says of his working relationship with Bates, “I think he’s only just getting going. I know we are 20 years in here but I think he could be even bigger than he is now.”

Bates took Babyshambles to Australia’s Splendour in the Grass festival in 2013

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IQ Magazine January 2019

CAA

THE

POWER Creative Artists Agency launched a music department 35 years ago, and today represents more top 100 worldwide touring artists (from the past three years) than any other agency.

What’s its secret? James Drury finds out.

“We walked into work on January 3, 1984, just three agents with three clients and a bit of a dream.”

35 years later, now managing director of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Rob Light can rightly look back on the growth of the music department and say that dream came true.

With headquarters in Los Angeles, London and Beijing, the agency works across film, television, music, sports, digital media, marketing and much more.

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The music department alone is made up of over 100 agents around the globe and generates over $3billion (€2.6bn) in worldwide touring revenue, according to Billboard. It claims to have more women agents than any other agency, more women in power than any other agency, and a more diverse agent breakdown.

Yet, insists Light, it still runs like a boutique business.

“We’re a big agency, but we still care. For us it’s not about being cool – if you want to break and have a career this is how we do it. We’re never cookie cutter.”

IQ Magazine January 2019

CAA

HOUSE New kids on the block CAA was founded in a whirlwind of drama in 1975 when five hungry William Morris Agency staff quit the biggest film and TV agency in Hollywood to start their own business. It was a major shake-up – the story is worthy of a movie in itself, and is described in great detail in James Andrew Miller’s book, Powerhouse.

Nine years later, in 1984, the company created another stir. It launched a music department and poached one of the biggest names in the music agency business at the time to head it: Tom Ross, head of International Creative Management (ICM)’s music division.

Ross’s assistant at the time was Light. He’d started in ICM’s mail-room six years earlier, aged 21, where he lasted for seven days before being spotted by Terry Rhodes (now running his own agency, Patriot Artists).

IQ Magazine January 2019

When CAA co-founder Mike Ovitz approached Ross, Light was invited to join his boss at the fledgling department. At the time, ICM was a powerhouse. And although it had a reputation for its film and TV work, CAA had just 27 agents, so the move was something of a gamble.

“I believed in Tom, plus Mike Ovitz was an incredibly seductive guy,” remembers Light. “So at 26 I thought I’d take a shot.”

The next five years saw explosive growth. Ovitz had assured Ross that CAA’s music and film departments would work together, and came good on his promise. “When I started at CAA all the film agents were excited we were there,” says Light.

Until then, film, TV, and music departments at agencies were like separate kingdoms. But there was increasing demand from musicians to fulfil their other creative ambitions, and CAA’s close working relationship across the teams was ready to help realise them. This cross-departmental ethos has been integral to the company’s success ever since.

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CAA City to see performances by artists such as Annie Lennox, Christine and The Queens, Keith Urban, Two Door Cinema Club, and Tim McGraw. These carefully selected invitees are A-list Hollywood, music business, and brand names, including renowned manager Simon Fuller, Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson and actor Chris Pine.

“What we’re doing is trying to serve the artists’ needs,” explains Light. “If they say they want to try acting, or like Billie Joe from Green Day, wanting to do a Broadway play [American Idiot]. If they really want to do it, we can give them the tools.

“It’s easy when you have a company that’s built that way.

Everybody here wants to work in this way. You have to have somebody in place to help the artist fulfil what they want to do.”

Mike Greek

One of the first signings the new music department made was in summer 1984. Prince had long held a desire to make the movie Purple Rain, and CAA got him on the books by promising to make it a reality. Light went on to work with the artist for the next 13 years, outlasting many managers and lawyers.

It was the teamwork mentality that was so unique. As agent Rob Prinz told James Andrew Miller: “It felt like the agency business had never seen that type of approach and attitude and energy and level of teamwork and co-ordination.”

‘Some of the early ILMCs were extremely uncomfortable. We were accused of being evil.’

Chris Dalston CAA was the first agency to have a crossover agent, which saw dedicated TV and acting agent Brian Loucks installed in the music department. Loucks was a massive film and TV geek with an encyclopaedic knowledge of avant-garde film as well as the mainstream.

Loucks’ embracing of the cross-departmental approach can be typified in his Living Room Sessions, which started out as an informal gathering and have turned into an industry networking tour-de-force. They see about 200 carefully selected people invited to his home in LA’s Studio

Marlene Tsuchii

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A reputation for innovation Light’s rise to the top came when CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz left in 1995 for an infamously short-lived stint as Michael Eisner’s deputy at Disney. His departure was a big deal for the company, which was by now one of the biggest agencies in the world.

It meant a shake-up at the top of the company’s administration. Ross stayed a few years longer, but left in 1998, fed up of the way the live industry was going. It was the time of Live Nation precursor SFX, when media mogul Robert Sillerman was buying up promoters around the world. Ross was one of the most vocal opponents of the new behemoth and after three decades at the top, wanted out of the agency business.

What happened next set the roadmap for CAA’s success and confirmed its reputation for innovation. Already wellversed in creating opportunities for artists to get into film and TV because of its cross-over capabilities, the company would expand into festivals such as the hugely successful Vans Warped Tour, brand opportunities, book deals, sport, private events booking, and even a venture fund.

“When I took over in ‘98, I was looking for – and still to this day am – looking for holes,” says Light. “I start with the problems. We’re in the service business, our job every day is to serve our clients, not only looking after tours but all the things that go into building great careers.

“I spent the first year or two looking at where the holes were in the business, where were the things we can provide that aren’t being provided.” One of the first moves he made was the prescient decision to hire VP of marketing at San Diego promoter Bill Silva Presents, Allison McGregor.

CAA became the first agency to hire a marketing person.

“It was a little scary — ‘Hey, let’s be the first people to try this,’” McGregor told Variety. Today, most agencies have a marketing department to forge partnerships with brands, but in 1998 no one was doing it.

Another early move was creating a bespoke corporate and private events department. “At that time if I got a call asking to book an artist for a private event, if I couldn’t do it, I would have to hang up,” says Light. “I thought this is nuts, so I hired Robert Norman in 1999 to book nothing but private and corporate events.

“We went from doing $6million (€5.3m) a year, when he started, to $180m (€158m) in corporate events.”

IQ Magazine January 2019

CAA

‘The world of different territories has faded away.

Today we’re one world, despite what some cynics will tell you.’

Rob Light

“For more than a decade, we have served as a vital bridge to and within the Chinese market, utilising our deep experience and network to support the work of the region’s best artists and to develop opportunities within the market for international talent,” said CAA president Richard Lovett. “CAA China will supercharge our efforts, from motion pictures, television, endorsements and brand consulting to sports, live events, digital media and beyond.”

London calling CAA was also the first company to put a rock agency in the traditionally Country-focussed city of Nashville. The move saw the likes of Kings of Leon and John Mayer take the world by storm.

“It was all about looking for things no one else had done,” says Light. “We were always trying to invent and I was always pushing my team to do the same.”

International expansion For decades there had been an unspoken rule that US agents would book for North America, and European (mainly British) agents would look after tours in Europe – and often the rest of the world, too.

But in 1995, this arrangement stopped making financial sense. CAA became one of the first agencies to start booking internationally. It caused a major upset.

“It really riled up the European promoters and agencies,” remembers Chris Dalston, who joined from Triad Artists as one of the international team’s first hires. “Some of the early ILMCs were extremely uncomfortable. We were accused of being evil. But from a financial perspective, it just made sense.”

The uproar meant every tour CAA booked outside the US was scrutinised. Many people were hoping to find some sort of mistake that they could leverage to prise an artist away from the US giant. But that only made CAA agents even more determined to succeed.

“We were never in a position where we could ever fail. Every tour we booked was scrutinised and criticised. The pressure to not make a mistake was huge. That pushes you harder every day to try harder, which makes us passionate about what we’re doing,” says Dalston.

Eventually things calmed down. American companies booking into Europe became more commonplace and promoters either accepted it or didn’t, depending on their preferences and how much they wanted the act on their bill.

“There’s no real dividing line any longer,” says Dalston.

“This has always been a relationships business, but today that’s even more true.”

In 2005, CAA opened an office in Beijing, and since then it has directed more than $750m (€663m) in Englishlanguage content – mainly in film. Last year, it made a significant further investment in the market through a partnership with private-equity firm CMC Capital Partners.

The newly formed CAA China combines “the expertise and vast resources of CAA with the broad reach and network of CMC in Greater China” to create an “alliance of industry leaders in the world’s fastest-growing entertainment market,” the company said in a statement at the time.

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CAA had been operating internationally for over a decade when, in 2006, it shook the agency world again by becoming the first American agency to open a London office. Fed up with missing out on the young British acts before they broke, Dalston went to Light and suggested the move.

Light agreed to the idea, provided the right agents were involved. Coincidentally, a period of ownership change at independent British agency Helter Skelter saw Emma Banks and Mike Greek amenable to an approach.

“We were doing great international business, then two of the greatest agents I considered competitors at the time were coming available,” recalls Dalston. “A lot of agencies were chasing them. Mike and Emma are great agents.

One of the most successful and respected agents in the business Emma Banks – a six-times winner of the Arthur Award for best agent – was recognised with the UK’s Music Industry Trusts (MITs) Award this year, joining previous recipients Kylie Minogue, Sir Lucian Grainge, Ahmet Ertegun, Simon Cowell, Michael Eavis and Annie Lennox.

Attendees at the awards show just how highly regarded she is in the business. Among them were Beth Ditto, Bobby Gillespie, Florence Welch, Sharleen Spiteri and The Script, while video tributes were from Tenacious D, Kylie, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Peter Mensch, Arcade Fire, HAIM, Katy Perry and Kraftwerk.

Chairman of the MITs Award committee, David Munns, said: “Emma’s innate ability to work with artists, build relationships and, of course, spot the talent in the first place makes her quite unique. A trailblazer for women in the industry from the outset, she is hugely respected by promoters, colleagues, artists and competitors alike.”

IQ Magazine January 2019

CAA

“Our competition is us”

Rob Light

Mike’s attention to detail is amazing and I don’t even know how Emma does what she does every day.”

“When I first met Emma and Mike, I went ‘wow!’” says Light. “Not only are they two great agents but they’re great people. When I hire anybody I want them to not only buy into the culture but I want them to be good people, too, and Emma and Mike are fantastic.”

Soon after, the international dividing wall came down, and other agencies such as William Morris opened in London.

“The world of different territories has faded away,” says Light. “Today we’re one world, despite what some cynics will tell you. Technology has brought us all together.”

Today, Dalston and Marlene Tsuchii (in LA), and Banks and Greek (in London) oversee CAA’s international business. Dalston says the four regularly share information on everything from deals to problems to artist strategy. As well as informal consultation, they have a weekly conference call including Light, to talk about issues internationally.

“Probably the biggest challenge is the hornets’ nest that is ticketing around the world,” reflects Dalston. “It’s a convoluted, complicated business. We have artists that are very specific about not wanting to be involved with secondary ticketing. And it’s our job to try to keep their tickets out of the secondary market. But it gets more and more complicated.”

He adds, “It’s important to know when to tour and when not to. That can be a hard conversation and I totally understand – the artist has an organisation to run. But I think we’ve done a good job of this over the years. Our clients trust us and believe us. We don’t have a lot of turnover in terms of agents. Our opinion is trusted and that means a lot.

People like Jon Bon Jovi – he’s a very clever man, at the top of his game – he wouldn’t have us as his agency if we didn’t do the best possible job for him.”

CAA’s ethos is central to the company’s success. Light says he “doesn’t think about competitors,” instead, “our competition is us. We have to be better than the day before. We’re trying to be open-minded, to find the holes and fill them.”

Where does that drive and curiosity come from? “It’s never about me, more about wanting to work with people I like,” says Light. “I’ve had chances to be an artist manager but I don’t like working alone – I much prefer being around big groups of people.

“I’ve always said that leadership is to serve. You’re serving a bigger operation. It’s the same thing as being an agent – you’re serving your client.”

Dalston clearly thrives in CAA’s culture. After two decades in a line of work where staff turnover is notorious, he is still with the firm, and describes it as a “great place to work.”

“Leadership is strong, they allow us to grow as agents and give you the leeway to do what you want, and the resources, too. They don’t say ‘this is what you should do,’ they let you be entrepreneurial, and let you take on passion projects.”

And for Light it’s been paying dividends, as he reels off a list of achievements. “If you look at every agency roster and see who are the headliners, who’s filling arenas and amphitheatres, who has broken the most artists – we’ve got more than any other agency. The list of artists we’ve signed on or before their first album who have gone on to be huge is 5-1 over any other agency.

“Look at the job Nigel Hassler has done in bringing country music to the UK. “When I look at where we are, I look at our team of dedicated and hungry agents, they blow away the competition.”

And even after 35 years, plus two decades heading CAA’s music department, Light is still madly in love with music, and helping artists build careers. “As far back as I’ve been doing this, it’s still exciting to stand backstage and think, wow, this is what we do!”

As for the future, Light is tight-lipped, preferring the approach of making a success of something before shouting about it. However, he does say he sees opportunities for more mergers between hip-hop and rock, and between country and singer-songwriters.

“I want to empower artists and give them the opportunities to do it,” he enthuses. “Older artists retire or unfortunately die, and people say ‘it will never be that way again,’ but I don’t believe that. There’s always great artists.”

‘We’re trying to be openminded, to find the holes and fill them.’

Rob Light Chris Dalston

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IQ Magazine January 2019

Netherlands Map Key Promoter Agent Agent/Promoter Venue Festival Almere De Meester Amersfoort Into The Woods Festival Amstelveen Poppodium P60 Once In A Blue Moon Festival Amsterdam Feld Entertainment ID&T / SFX Earth Beat Groovmill Radar Agency We Are E Agents After All Belmont Bookings BLiP Agency Friendly Fire Rock ‘n Roots Tornado Concerts AFAS Live Bimhuis Johan Cruijff ArenA Melkweg Paradiso Q-Factory Amsterdam Sugarfactory Ziggo Dome Amsterdam Dance Event Appelsap Amsterdam Roots C2C Country to Country Mysteryland Arnhem GelreDome Luxor Live Bergen Op Zoom Poppodium Gebouw-t Bergschenhoek Lansingerland Live Biddinghuizen Lowlands Breda Mezz Broek op Langedijk Indian Summer Delft Mojo Concerts (Live Nation) Den Haag Crossing Border Festival Grauzone Parkpop State-X New Forms PAARD Deventer Poppodium Burgerweeshuis Dordrecht Bibelot Eindhoven Bureau Zwaardvis Extrema Network Effenaar Muziekgebouw Extrema Outdoor Enschede Metropool Tuckerville Festival Ewijk Down the Rabbit Hole Geleen Festivals Limburg Groningen Buro Gogo Rookies Agency De OosterPoort - Stadsschouwburg Simplon Vera Eurosonic Noorderslag

Grolloo International Blues Festival Haarlem Patronaat Heerlen Poppodium Nieuwe Nor / Via2018 Parkstad Limburg Theaters Hengelo Metropool Hilvarenbeek Best Kept Secret Woo Hah! Hoofddorp Podium Duycker Landgraaf Pinkpop Festival Leeuwarden MBN Producties Pinkpop Festival Leiden Gebr. De Nobel Lichtenvoorde Zwarte Cross Liempde We Are Electric Maastricht Muziekgieterij Nijkerk Gelderpop Indoor Nijmegen Paperclip Agency Doornroosje Goffertpark Fortarock Nijverdal Goomah Music/Ev’Hands Oss Groene Engel Rotterdam Missin’ Link Double Vee Concerts Ducos/ACR Greenhouse Talent Ahoy Rotterdam Annabel Bird De Doelen Lantaren Venster

RTM Stage (under construction) Worm Metropolis Festival North Sea Jazz Scharendijke Concert at Sea Festival Schijndel Paaspop Schiphol-Rijk Stage Entertainment Touring ‘s-Hertogenbosch Willem Twee Sneek DIBA International Concerts Het Bolwerk Terschelling-Midsland Oerol Tiel Appelpop

TERSCHELLING-MIDSLAND VLIELAND LEEUWARDEN

GROLLOO

BROEK OP LANGEDIJK ZWOLLE

BIDDINGHUIZEN

BERGSCHENHOEK ROTTERDAM

SCHARENDIJKE

GRONINGEN

SNEEK

VELSEN AMSTERDAM ALMERE HAARLEM AMSTELVEEN HOOFDDORP NIJKERK SCHIPHOL-RIJK LEIDEN AMERSFOORT ZEUMEREN UTRECHT DEN HAAG DELFT

Velsen Dance Valley Venlo Grenswerk Zomerparkfeest Vlieland Great Wide Open Weert Bosuil Bospop Zeumeren Gelderpop Zwolle Hedon

Tilburg 013 Poppodium Roadburn Festival Uden De Pul Utrecht Sedate Bookings Bepop De Helling Ekko TivoliVredenburg Le Guess Who? Central Park Festival Strand Varsselder Huntenpop Velp International Artists

DORDRECHT

EWIJK TIEL

NIJVERDAL HENGELO

DEVENTER

VELP

ARNHEM

ENSCHEDE

LICHTENVOORDE VARSSELDER

NIJMEGEN OSS

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH SCHIJNDEL UDEN BREDA TILBURG LIEMPDE HILVARENBEEK BERGEN OP ZOOM EINDHOVEN VENLO WEERT

GELEEN LANDGRAAF HEERLEN MAASTRICHT

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IQ Magazine January 2019

Netherlands

HIGH TIMES IN THE LOWLANDS Dutch demand for live entertainment has never been higher, meaning the local industry is in rude health.

However, high ticket prices, a strain on the availability of stages in the summer, and burnt-out personnel are becoming issues. Adam Woods reports.

T

he big birthday in the Netherlands this year is, of course, that of Live Nation’s Mojo Concerts: 50 years old and still thoroughly on top. But there’s another birthday, too, of a slightly more approximate kind, and that’s the tenth-ish anniversary of modest but concerted independent competition in the Netherlands.

Almost entirely lacking for many years, as Mojo pioneered the market single-handed through the 70s, 80s, 90s, and the opening years of the new millennium, the Netherlands’ indie contingent has gradually ascended over the past decade as outfits including Friendly Fire, Greenhouse Talent and Agents

IQ Magazine January 2019

After All have staked their claim.

Michael Rapino probably isn’t waking up in a cold sweat about his Dutch business, but there is, at least, more than one game in town these days.

Economically strong, outward-looking and positioned dead in the centre of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a market to be reckoned with. Not only does it have 17.2m people of its own, it also draws crowds from everywhere within hopping distance.

“There are plenty of events here that have more foreign visitors than Dutch,” says Eventim Nederland managing

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Netherlands director Henk Schuit. “There is a lot of traffic into Amsterdam and the Netherlands for partying.”

It doesn’t hurt that the Netherlands funds its live business well at state-level, creates plenty of its own talent – multipleZiggo-headliners Kensington, psych-rockers DeWolff, funk outfit My Baby; DJs such as Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, and Afrojack; solo performers such as Dotan and Alain Clark; urban names like Lil’ Kleine and Ali B – and is a more or less inevitable stop for most international tours.

“It’s very vibrant,” says Mojo vice head promoter Kim Bloem, who notes that Mojo itself is on course for a record year under CEOs John Mulder and Ruben Brouwer. “There is so much happening, and so many things are going well.

Even competition is getting stronger, and [Mojo’s rivals] are getting more shows. It’s not eating into our share, really – at least, not yet – because we are still doing very, very well. But we can’t sit back.”

Local venues and festivals association VNPF reported 15,426 events in 2017 among its member venues – which don’t include busy Live Nation arenas Ziggo Dome and AFAS Live (formerly the Heineken Music Hall) in Amsterdam. All the same, the VNPF sample took in nearly 5m punters for a collective turnover of €147.3million.

The VNPF’s 45 festival members, which does include major Mojo properties such as North Sea Jazz, Lowlands and Pinkpop, amassed 1.8m visitors. Across the entire market, IQ’s International Ticketing Yearbook estimates that 40m tickets were sold for live entertainment events in 2017.

Ticketing is certainly an area of fierce competition in the Netherlands, with numerous local players and plenty of international ones. In fact, since Vivendi’s acquisition of Paylogic in April, to add to Eventbrite’s purchase of Ticketscript in early 2017, the four major international ticketing platforms are all active in the market, with secondplaced Eventim pushing hard at market leader Ticketmaster.

Contributors Sjef Athmer, Rock ‘n Roots; Ruud Berends, Eurosonic Noorderslag; Kim Bloem, Mojo Concerts; Wouter de Wilde, Greenhouse Talent; Lesley Grieten, Agents After All; Henk Schuit, Eventim Nederland; Hilde Spille, Paperclip Agency; Rense van Kessel, Friendly Fire.

“There is growth in every segment, some a little bit more than others, but I think overall everyone is doing quite well,” says Schuit.

In some sectors of the market, such as festivals and large-scale dance events, Schuit reports that overall attendance is relatively static, in spite of a rising number of events, pointing to a degree of saturation. “Then again, if you look at rock and pop, it is still growing,” he says. “If you look at the amount of shows at the Ziggo Dome and AFAS Live, that is only growing.”

It’s hard to find anyone, in fact, who doesn’t believe the Dutch live business is broadly in the prime of its life, and consequently, most of the Dutch industry’s problems are typically of the type that tends to befall thriving markets.

Ticket prices are hard to keep down though, even as they rise, says Bloem, there is no real sign of weakening demand.

In fact, the strain is more on the supply side, as the business bulges at the edges of its capacity, she notes.

“You can hardly get a stage next June or July,” she says.

“Everyone is working crazy hours, and everything and everybody gets exhausted. Maybe it is a luxury problem, but it is a problem and it really needs our attention.”

Meanwhile, performers including Guus Meeuwis and Blaudzun, and rock acts De Staat and Kensington recently

A number of Dutch acts, including De Staat, recently began a campaign to ban resale market profiteering

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“ Everyone is working crazy hours, and everything and everybody gets exhausted.

Maybe it is a luxury problem, but it is a problem and it really needs our attention.”

Kim Bloem, Mojo Concerts wrote to culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven, backed by the opposition Socialist Party, to demand an end to high ticket prices on the secondary market.

Dutch competition authority ACM previously dropped an investigation into secondary ticketing fraud in 2016, having concluded that, while the market might be infuriating to fans, it was essentially a natural by-product of a booming market.

Just as they are doing elsewhere, Dutch performers are looking for alternatives. Dutch comedian Jochem Myjer, for instance, has sold 50,000 tickets for a 36-night run at Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre Carré next year via blockchain ticketing platform GUTS Tickets, in what is said to be the largest ticket sale on the blockchain to date.

And local talent keeps pushing outwards, says Ruud Berends, lynchpin of the local music export community and co-founder of IFF and Eurosonic Noorderslag.

“It’s not easy to conquer the world – you need a strong base,” he says. “It’s a tough one for small acts. It’s quite hard to break through if you don’t have a big machine behind you.

But things are moving nicely and we have a lot of interesting talent coming out of the Netherlands.”

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Promoters

ojo has some competition nowadays, but its influence on the Dutch market can hardly be overstated. Its festivals are some of the country’s biggest, its venues are key ones, and its access to international artists is unsurpassed.

“Wherever you go, you will run into them,” says Friendly Fire founder Rense van Kessel. “In other markets, it is different – Live Nation are the ones coming in. Here, there was a [Mojo] monopoly for 40 years, so it is everyone else that is relatively new.”

This being the grown-up Netherlands, there seems very little rancour or resentment towards the market incumbent – just a sense of a market that appears to be obligingly expanding to incorporate everyone.

Belgian-based Greenhouse Talent staged its first Dutch show almost exactly a decade ago, with Leonard Cohen at Rotterdam’s Ahoy arena, on 2 November, 2008. These days, Greenhouse has a Dutch office in Breda with seven staff and 260 shows a year, including a new festival, the rootsy Once In A Blue Moon in Amsterdam Forest, which turned over 5,000 tickets this summer.

“I think there is room enough for promoters in Holland to co-exist,” says Greenhouse promoter and booker Wouter de Wilde. “As long as everybody is making a profit and doing well it’s fine. I think it also demonstrates that the appetite for tickets is there. It’s amazing how many tickets are being sold, how many shows there are, how many festivals are operating.”

Greenhouse recently staged Helene Fischer at the GelreDome in Arnhem before 28,000 fans. “It sold out in 30 minutes,” says

Greenhouse Talent brought ‘The World of Hans Zimmer’ to the Rotterdam Ahoy in November 2018

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“ It’s quite hard to break through if you don’t have a big machine behind you. But things are moving nicely and we have a lot of interesting talent coming out of the Netherlands.”

Ruud Berends, Eurosonic Noorderslag/IFF De Wilde. Also just sold out is a Rammstein show at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam next June. Shows with comedians John Cleese (in Vlissingen, Nijmegen, Zwolle, Eindhoven and Haarlem), Trevor Noah (Ziggo Dome), and Jeff Dunham (Ahoy) also performed strongly, invariably selling out.

Half owned by FKP Scorpio since 2012, Friendly Fire launched in 2009, so it will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year. “We only figured that out last week,” says Van Kessel. In addition to its festivals, forthcoming shows include George Ezra, Christine and the Queens, Eros Ramazzotti, Mike Shinoda and Bloc Party, In its early days, says Van Kessel, part of Friendly Fire’s attraction was as an indie alternative to Mojo. “A couple of years ago, people would come to us because they wanted to try to work with someone else sometimes as well. That effect has probably waned a bit now, but a couple of years ago, it certainly happened quite a lot.”

These days, Friendly Fire’s FKP Scorpio connection offers other benefits. Four Ramazzotti shows – one in Amsterdam at the Ziggo Dome, two in Brussels, one in Luxembourg – represent the local piece of a broader FKP tour for the Italian superstar.

Other key promoters in the Netherlands include

international dance giant ID&T, and the broad-based Agents After All, whose activities range from festivals to arena shows to publishing and management. Legendary former Mojo promoter Willem Venema, this year the subject of a biography by local journalist Yaël Vinckx, also continues to book and promote local and international acts as Double Vee Concerts.

Nijmegen’s Paperclip Agency vastly predates the modernday wave of independents, having done its own thing since 1981, and has the Buzzcocks and Pussy Riot on the schedules in December and January.

“There’s still that struggle for Dutch venues and small agencies, and we see a lot of promoters who have studied music management and put on a couple of shows that then disappear again,” says Paperclip’s Hilde Spille. “But right now, I think the Dutch market is in a pretty good state.”

Another indie, Sjef Athmer’s Rock ‘n Roots, promotes Alison Moyet, Brian Setzer/Stray Cats and Madness. “I am working on the same level but much less volume than the big promoters here,” says Athmer, adding that a potential merger with another agency may be on the cards. “If I want to keep doing what I am doing, I may have to join one of the bigger promoters.”

Athmer is another of the independents that launched around a decade ago, and he says the market has opened up significantly in that time. “There is some healthy competition here and there but it’s not a closed market, not any more,” he says.

“However, as a small independent, it is still hard to convince artists and agents of the professional level you can deliver when you are working with them for the first time.

And with up-and-coming artists, it is hard if you can’t offer festivals that you own.”

With its retractable roof, the Johan Cruijff ArenA is ideal for bigger shows visiting the capital city

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Festivals

ojo’s festivals are like an alternative map of the Netherlands, spread evenly across the country from North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam, to Lowlands in Biddinghuizen in the reclaimed province of Flevoland, up to the Holland International Blues Festival in Grolloo, and down as far as Pinkpop in Landgraaf, near the German border.

Not to mention alternative boutique festival Down The Rabbit Hole near Nijmegen, hip-hop three-dayer Woo Hah! in Tilburg, the We Are Electric weekender in Liempde, and Bospop in the south-eastern city of Weert. It is, of course, a healthy portfolio, celebrating a good year.

“Lowlands was sold out,” says Bloem. “The last couple of years we have built Down The Rabbit Hole and Woo Hah!, and this year they were both extremely successful. Woo Hah! went from 15,000-cap in the city centre of Tilburg [last year] to a 32,500-cap outside. So we doubled capacity and it almost looks like the sky’s the limit, although sometimes I guess that’s not realistic.”

Mojo’s festival roster represents a powerful hand, although it’s still only a small proportion – albeit a capacious one – of the 800 or 900 festivals that take place in the Netherlands every year.

“We are a small country but there’s a lot of festivals for 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people that are selling out every year,” says Lesley Grieten of multifaceted agency/promoter/

“ It’s amazing how many tickets are being sold, how many shows there are, how many festivals are operating.”

Wouter de Wilde, Greenhouse Talent publisher/management organisation, Agents After All (AAA). The company books numerous festivals, including Lansingerland Live, Gelderpop, Central Park, Festival Strand and its own Concert at SEA, organised with veteran band BLØF, which last year, for the first time, exceeded 100,000 visitors at Brouwersdam in Zeeland across three days.

Formed by Mojo leavers Grieten, Coen ter Wolbeek and Henkjan Onnink 15 years ago, AAA has built its business on domestic talent, and Grieten puts festivals at the centre of that ecosystem. “As long as you keep building artists’ careers and people are aware that it takes some time for them to grow on a proper level, you can use the festivals to build your acts,” says Grieten.

Friendly Fire also credits its festival operation – notably the two-day Indian Summer Festival in Langedijk, the threeday Best Kept Secret in Beekse Bergen, and one-day countrypop event Tuckerville in Enschede – with strengthening its all-round business.

“We started out promoting a couple of shows, doing some artist management, and then we realised we needed to have

Rock ‘n Roots promoted the Brian Setzer Orchestra at the Heineken Music Hall on their most recent tour

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Netherlands Mojo Concerts’ iconic Lowlands Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017

A “ There is a lot of traffic into Amsterdam and the Netherlands for partying.”

Henk Schuit, Eventim Nederlands festivals,” says Van Kessel. “And that seems to have really worked well.”

Clearly, the market craves bright new ideas of a type that indies are well-placed to generate. The challenge for indies in the festival sphere, says De Wilde, is to compete with the kind of production quality the market now insists upon. In addition to its Once In A Blue Moon venture, Greenhouse will stage a first C2C: Country To Country in Amsterdam at AFAS Live in March, headlined by Keith Urban and with a capacity of 3,500.

“You need to come up with something that is of a high standard in order to make it appealing,” says De Wilde.

“That’s a big advantage for the big promoters, and maybe it makes it harder for smaller promoters with smaller budgets.

I certainly think it is more difficult to enter the market with a new festival than it perhaps was ten years ago.”

Also on the bulging Dutch festival calendar are the Mojoassisted Paaspop; rock two-dayer, Fortarock; The Hague’s massive, free Parkpop; Metropolis in Rotterdam; motor and music giant Zwarte Cross in Lichtenvoorde – the biggest paidentry festival in the Netherlands; plus ID&T’s Mysteryland in August and the Amsterdam Dance Event in October.

Venues

msterdam’s busiest venues are well known, from Amsterdam’s 17,000-capacity Ziggo Dome and 6,000-capacity AFAS Live, to the 68,000-cap Johan Cruijff ArenA (formerly the Amsterdam ArenA) and the ever-busy Paradiso and Melkweg clubs.

But in some respects, the Netherlands’ particular strength is its compact size and decentralised attitude. So even if an artist can’t get a date in Amsterdam, or the capital lacks the perfect venue for a particular purpose, people will happily travel.

A larger club or theatre, somewhat bigger than the 1,500-cap main rooms at the busy Paradiso and Melkweg venues, might be useful for Amsterdam, says De Wilde.

Then again, he concedes, “it is a small country, so you can travel to Tilburg, to Utrecht,” where, respectively, you’ll find the 3,000-cap 013 and the 2,000-cap Ronda in the TivoliVredenburg complex.

Even Tilburg, the more distant of the two options, near the Belgian border, is only 110km from the capital, 80 minutes on the motorway. “We don’t really look at travelling as a negative thing,” says De Wilde.

The Netherlands also has one of the best club circuits in Europe, with venues including the legendary Effenaar in Eindhoven, Paard van Troje (which became PAARD in 2017) in The Hague, and Tivoli De Helling in Utrecht.

Many of these benefit from a subsidy administered by the Performing Arts Fund designed to support pop venues with capacity for at least 200 people. A designated list of more than 50 ‘core stages’ can apply for subsidies on a show-by-show basis.

On a larger scale, the 15,000-cap Rotterdam Ahoy arena, which celebrates its 50th birthday in January 2021, has begun construction on a new building, the RTM Stage, a 7,000-capacity arena due to open in late 2020.

Mojo/Live Nation, meanwhile, quietly exited from Arnhem’s GelreDome in 2016. The stadium is now owned

by Cyprus-based 2B Holding, whose ownership is unclear but may include current and former Mojo directors.

A new venue, the RTM Stage, is under construction adjacent to the Ahoy Rotterdam

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Members’ Noticeboard An international delegation representing the Keychange initiative, led by the UK’s PRS Foundation, travelled to the European Parliament to launch a manifesto to unite the music industry, national governments, European Parliament and the European Commission in positive action towards gender parity and a stronger future for music.

SoundCzech’s Monika Klementová led the ‘Music Needs Women!’ session at Nouvelle Prague conference, where she was joined on stage by Dijana Lakuš (PAF), Ineke Daans (PIAS Nites), Mirca Lotz (Keychange) and Laura Strzałkowska (Warsaw Music Week).

IQ editor Gordon Masson was joined on the ‘New Rules’ panel at Pin Music Conference in Macedonia by Dukag jin Lipa (Republika Marketing), Eva Kristina Filipčič (MENT Ljublja na), Bogdan Benigar (Druga godba) and Vojtěch Kalina (Fly High Artist).

The Tour Company and No Half Measures staff escaped their palatial offices in Glasgow to attend the Scottish Music Awards 2018 at the SSE Hydro Arena.

Artist manager Peter Mensch and Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer Chad Smith presented CAA’s Emma Banks with her Music Industry Trusts Award at a ceremony in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, raising more than £450,000 for charity (Photo © JM Enternational.)

The team at Broadwick Live were the big winners at thie year’s UK Festival Awards, collecting four awards including the prestigious title of promoter of the year

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

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The ILMC Magic Circle As preparations for ILMC and the Mystery of the 31st Level progress, we asked some of the artists from the top 10 grossing tours of 2018 to channel their favourite magicians - can you work out who they are? Answers at the foot of the page.

Bruno Mars, Bono, Justin Timberlake, Mick Jagger, Kenny Chesney, Joe Elliott, Jay-Z and BeyoncĂŠ, Taylor Swift, P!nk, Ed Sheeran.

Answers

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

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