IQ96

96 An ILMC Publication FEBRUARY 2021 | £25 | €25

NEW ZEALAND’S POST-COVID REALITY

THE RACE FOR CANCELLATION FUNDS INDUSTRY STEPS UP VACCINE EFFORTS

AGENDA GUIDE ARENAS PLOT EUROPEAN RESTART

Helping your return to live.

Virtual Events Digital Tickets Timed Entry Contactless Admission Fan Research Marketing Reach Say hello at business@ticketmaster.co.uk business.ticketmaster.co.uk

IT’S GAME ON FOR THE BIGGEST, MOST GLOBAL ILMC YET With events in the physical world having forced the concert business offline, ILMC is inviting the industry’s top players to suit up, mount their light cycles and join us on the game grid for the virtual experience of the year – ILMC 33: Virtually Live.

Featuring over 1,000 digital avatars drawn from across the live music matrix, ILMC 33 will be the largest and most international edition of the conference to date, with the online-only format allowing for a greater number of panels, meetings, keynotes, networking opportunities and after-hours events than ever before.

Debuting in 2021 are two new conferenceswithin-a-conference, The Experience Economy Meeting (TEEM) and the tech-focused PULSE,

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while returning favourites include the ILMC Production Meeting (IPM), the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) and the industry's Oscars equivalent, the Arthur Awards, which will stream live from the truly lavish Royal Albert Hall on 4 March.

Also streaming live will be a series of showcases presented by the planet’s premier booking agencies, with other evening entertainment including the ever-popular quiz of the year and poker tourney, which – while taking place somewhere deep in hyperspace – is raising funds for the Stagehand Covid-19 crew relief fund back in the real world. Wherever that is.

With this year’s conference, for the first time in ILMC history, open to both existing members and ILMC noobs, there’s no excuse for not logging on to live music’s greatest gathering between 3–5 March…

ILMC

TUESDAY TUESDAY 2 MARCH 2 MARCH 2021 2021

09.00–17.00 ILMC PRODUCTION MEETING

The ILMC Production Meeting (IPM), the foremost networking platform for international production professionals, will take place in its traditional slot the day before ILMC kicks off in earnest.

IPM 14 will retain much of the familiar IPM schedule and ambience, with the usual array of current topics, panellists and networking opportunities. The schedule combines five main panel topics with several Production Note sessions presenting new ideas and innovations; keynote-style Q&As with veteran gaffers; and various opportunities to network and catch up with colleagues old and new.

Panels this year include trucking and cabotage; getting back to work in a Covid-safe way; crew education; wellbeing

09.00–17.00 GREEN EVENTS & INNOVATIONS CONFERENCE

HOST: A Greener Festival (UK) The 13th edition of the leading conference for sustainability in the international events sector takes place online on Tuesday 2 March, concurrent with IPM. With the number 13 being associated with upheaval and destruction, it is fitting that GEI 13 will be held digitally owing to a health emergency, says A Greener Festival (AGF),

and mental health; and sustainability, with speakers including Liz Madden (NoNonsense Group), production coordinator DebbieTaylor, Keely Myers (Global Touring Office), Vatiswa Gilivane (VatiCan Group) and show director Asthie Wendra, alongside a slew of production managers (and former IQ Gaffer Award winners) including Jesse Sandler (Bon Jovi), Bill Leabody (Coldplay), Wob Roberts (One Direction), Jason Danter (Lady Gaga) and Arthur Kemish (Taylor Swift).

IPM delegates will be able to interact and get involved in discussions. Outside of panels they can take advantage of the virtual format to network, meet online and schedule chats.

A ticket to IPM 14 will provide access to all conference sessions, as well as special break-out discussions shared with the Green Events & Innovations Conference, which takes place simultaneously.

The event is also available to rewatch for one month after it has taken place

which organises GEI in partnership with ILMC. The 13th Green Events & Innovations Conference will, therefore, focus on the themes of transition, transformation and building back better from the pandemic.

Some of the first confirmed speakers for GEI 13 include Dale Vince, (Ecotricity/Forest Green Rovers), David Ojay (Naam Festival), Tom Schroeder (Paradigm Talent Agency), Frederic Opsomer (PRG Projects), Anna Golding (AEG), Gina Périer (Lapee), Claire O’Neill (AGF) and IQ’s Gordon Masson.

As in previous years, GEI 2021 will mix practical case studies with discussion panels, presentations and networking, as well as the latest solutions and technologies in the field of event sustainability.

Panel topics this year include the changing face of the festival sector, the importance of events industry collaboration, the GEI-IPM collaboration It’s Not Easy Being Green, and a discussion about restarting events in the most environmentally way possible following live entertainment’s year off in 2020.

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WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY 3 MARCH 3 MARCH 2021 2021 9.30–10.00

THE VIRTUAL GUIDE TO ILMC Host: Greg Parmley, ILMC (UK) ILMC head Greg Parmley welcomes all players to ILMC 33 for the official start of the conference. This briefing will cover everything you need to know about the first-ever virtual ILMC, including key features and tips to help your avatar make the most of their new digital home.

10.00–11.00

GRASSROOTS VENUES: ROUTE TO RECOVERY Chairs: Mark Davyd & Beverley Whitrick, Music Venue Trust (UK) This session brings together an international collection of passionate grassroots music venue operators to shed some light on issues facing their rooms, look ahead to a brighter 2021, and discuss whether there’s further need for cooperation to safeguard these vital spaces.

10.00–11.00

SUSTAINABILITY: THE BEST OF GEI Host: A Greener Festival (UK) Participants in the previous day’s Green Events & Innovations Conference reconvene to discuss the key takeaways and spotlight the collaborative work that has been going on behind the scenes since last year’s conference. If you can’t make GEI this year, this round-up will fill you in on the main discussion points.

10.00–11.00

PULSE: NEW TECHNOLOGY PITCHES Host: Steve Machin, LiveFrom Events (UK) This quick-fire session sees guests given just five minutes to pitch their new product, idea or invention. From XR to VR, holograms to virtual venues, ticketing tools to mobile apps and much more beyond… for anyone looking for a headsup on the newest technology most likely to impact the business, this is a must-see session.

11.30–12.30

THE VENUE’S VENUE: ROOMS TO MANOEUVRE Chair: Debbie McWilliams, SEC (UK) Considering the possibility of the pandemic being endemic and recurring again – as well as how venues re-skill their buildings when shows return – a stellar line-up of venue specialists join forces to achieve some workable solutions to the challenges ahead.

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11.30–12.30

COLLABORATION: THE MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE Chair: Manfred Tari, Pop100 (DE) With many international initiatives having seen results during the coronavirus crisis, this session discusses cooperation in the business and asks whether there is an argument for an international live music industry body – an IFPI of the concert business – to serve as a unified front for any further crises ahead.

11.30–12.30

PULSE: SWEET STREAMS – BEST IN CLASS Chair: Lars-Oliver Vogt, Live Nation GSA (DE) With live music on forced hiatus, what have the leading lights in the emergent live-streaming space learnt in recent months about how best to produce, market and promote successful live-streamed concerts? We invite those riding the crest of this new wave of virtual events to discuss.

13.30–14.30

THE TALENT PIPELINE: BRINGING NEW ARTISTS ONLINE Chair: Beckie Sugden, X-ray Touring (UK) Artists who were hoping 2020 would be their breakthrough year have been frustrated by the pandemic shelving most plans for live performances. Will they be given a chance to reset for 2021, or will the industry and fans simply move on to another set of acts? Guest speakers discuss the evolving world of A&R.

13.30–14.30

INSURANCE: THE BIG UPDATE Chair: Katie Moore, Live Nation (UK) What does the next 12–24 months look like for policies and cover, and how different will the insurance market look compared to how it did going into 2020? In what’s likely to be the best-attended insurance session ever at ILMC, we ask what comes next and how to navigate this roadblock to the return of live.

13.30–14.30

PULSE: THE LIVE-STREAMERS’ GUIDE TO LIVE MUSIC Speakers include Matthew Kiichi Heafy, Trivium and Danny Lee, Asian Agent According to those who’ve already lived it, just how fundamentally is live-streaming – whose adoption elsewhere can be seen in the 15m daily users on Twitch and 500m fans of e-sports – going to change live music? PULSE invites a line-up of gamers, streamers and platform-heads to tell us what’s around the corner.

JOIN IN THE ILMC 33 CONVERSATIONS WITH…

ILMC

FRUZSINA SZEP

FRANK TURNER

SAM KIRBY YOH

OBI ASIKA

BEATRICE STIRNIMANN

KAPTIN BARRETT

EMMA BANKS

PHIL BOWDERY

NATASHA BENT

MIKE GREEK

KEDIST BEZ

ARNAUD MEERSSEMAN

15.00–16.00

16.30–17.30

15.00–16.00

16.30–17.30

THE OPEN FORUM: THE BIG BUILD BACK Chair: Phil Bowdery, Live Nation (UK) Fresh off the back of the worst year in the history of the live music business, a team of industry titans helps figure out where we go from here. Join host Phil Bowdery and an allstar panel as they ask the big questions, in what is sure to be an unmissable session.

THE AGENCY BUSINESS: ENTER THE NEW PLAYERS Chair: Lisa Henderson, IQ (UK) The influx of new independent agencies popping up across the globe has been one of the most positive outcomes of the past year, so how does it affect the agency landscape? Four new kids on the block discuss their plans and how they’ll do things slightly differently.

15.00–16.00

PULSE: THE NEW FAN EXPERIENCE Speakers include: Ric Salmon Driift (UK) & Sheri Bryant, Sansar (US) With all the talk of virtual performance spaces, should there be more focus on the fan experience itself? Without sticky floors, spilled drinks, and long bar queues, attending a virtual show has immediate benefits – but what’s going to keep audiences coming back to these new spaces?

KLAUS-PETER SCHULENBERG: THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN Host: Greg Parmley, ILMC (UK) ILMC head Greg Parmley sits down virtually with Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, founder and CEO of global ticketing and live entertainment powerhouse CTS Eventim, to discuss a remarkable career in entertainment and his five-year vision for the road ahead.

PULSE: THE BUSINESS OF LIVE TECH Chair: Mike Malak, Paradigm Talent Agency (UK) Covid-19 may have sped up the adoption of new technology in live music but the evolution will not stop with a vaccine.

And as technology continues to change the world around us, where do agents, promoters, venues and others now fit in?

18.00–19.00

THE BIG REPLAY Missed the day’s meetings or joining late from a different time zone or another virtual world and wondering what you missed? Join the ILMC team and one or two session chairs as we discuss some of the key points, themes, comments and information from the day.

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THURSDAY THURSDAY 4 MARCH 4 MARCH 2021 2021 10.00–11.00

BREXIT: THE ENDGAME Chair: Craig Stanley, Marshall Arts (UK) The UK’s exit from the European Union is set to have farreaching implications for concert professionals, with new rules governing customs, work permits, tax, visas and more.

A panel of Brexperts assesses the other new normal in European touring.

10.00–11.00

COVID-19: THE STRATEGY GAME Chair: Stuart Galbraith, Kilimanjaro Live (UK) A year on from the great shutdown of March 2020, industry professionals discuss what mitigation measures we can put in place to allow shows to go ahead at full capacity, and what strategies there are to get back up to full speed as quickly as possible.

10.00–11.00

WORKSHOP: THE MOBILE TICKET Did Covid just kill the printed ticket? Mobile is the holy grail for next generation ticketing – and with contactless tech now more in vogue than ever, how far are we from moving to 100% mobile and dumping the paper ticket forever?

11.30–12.30

TICKETING: MOVING BEYOND 2020 Chairs: Scumeck Sabbotka, MCT (DE) & Nicole Jacobsen, Tickets.de (DE) ILMC explores the lessons learned from the pandemic and how the previous 12 months may have shaped the next 12 years of the ticketing industry. And with the business restarting in 2021, how will the relationship and terms between ticketers, venues, fans and promoters have evolved?

11.30–12.30

WORKSHOP: COVID TESTING & MITIGATION Host: Steve Woollett, IQ (UK) To help the industry prepare for a phased reopening, ILMC invites a range of specialists to showcase the equipment and services that will keep artists, crew, and audience safe, and help the live music business get back to work.

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11.30–12.30

TEEM: WHAT’S NEXT IN THE WORLD FOR EXPERIENCE EXHIBITIONS? Chairs: Ella Baskerville, Blooloop (UK) & Tobias Kunz, Studio TK (DE) What does the future of fun feel like? With large and spectacular entertainment sites in development all over the world, we introduce the projects, speak to developers, and quiz exhhibition producers on their expectations.

13.30–14.30

ARTISTS: THE VIEW FROM THE STAGE Chair: Paul Bonham, MMF With Covid putting the brakes on concerts, festivals and tours, has it made the artist community, without whom there would be no shows, think differently about live performance?

A panel of creators discuss their outlook on live music, and their observations from the front of the stage.

13.30–14.30

THE ENGINE ROOM: THE IPM REVIEW Perfect for those who missed this year’s ILMC Production Meeting, which took place on Tuesday, this session invites a line-up of production experts to discuss the key takeaways from the day, and the more prominent issues in the live music production sector.

13.30–14.30

TEEM: TAKING EXHIBITIONS FURTHER Chairs: Christoph Scholz, Semmel Concerts (DE) & Abigail Bysshe, The Franklin Institute (US) The past year has seen upheaval and extraordinary collaboration, as thoughtful minds had a chance to rethink the future of entertainment. This conversation features highprofile guests from the museum, attractions and experience industry speaking about what they see as important right now and for the foreseeable future.

15.00–16.00

THE AGENCY BUSINESS 2021 Chair: Tom Schroeder, Paradigm Talent Agency (UK) From new revenue streams posed by live-streaming, to artists breaking by non-traditional means, where does touring now fit in, and how will the role of agencies evolve in the coming months? Has there ever been a more unique time to be a booking agent?

ILMC

BE PART OF THE DEBATE, ALONGSIDE…

ALEXANDRA AMPOFO

IRVING AZOFF

AMY DAVIDMAN

TIM LEIWEKE

JESSICA DUCROU

TOMMY JINHO YOON

NUR OZDAMAR

TONY GOLDRING

BECKIE SUGDEN

TOM WINDIS

MARIA O'CONNOR

MIKE MALAK

15.00–16.00

RACE MATTERS IN LIVE: LEVELLING UP Speakers include: Ammo Talwar, UK Music (UK) In the wake of 2020’s racial injustices and the seminal uprisings that followed, such as Black Lives Matter, top change-makers across the global industry’s most powerful promoters, agencies, and trade bodies discuss how they’re implementing strategies to repair live music’s diversity deficit.

15.00–16.30

THE TEEM X ILMC FLEA MARKET Hosts: Ella Baskerville, Blooloop (UK) & Tobias Kunz, Studio TK (DE) TEEM invites 20-30 presenters from museums, science centres, attractions, cultural venues and similar industries to pitch their latest travelling exhibition (or similar project) to an interested audience of potential “buyers.” Applications for the Flea Market are now open. Contact ???? to participate.

16.30–18.00

THE (LATE) BREAKFAST MEETING WITH IRVING AZOFF Host: Ed Bicknell, Damage Management (UK) From the Eagles to Jon Bon Jovi, Gwen Stefani and John Mayer, to a music empire that includes Full Stop

Management, Global Music Rights and venues disruptor Oak View Group, legendary music exec Irving Azoff needs no introduction. He joins former Dire Straits manager Ed Bicknell to discuss a lifetime at the top of the business.

16.30–17.30

TOURING IN 2021 & BEYOND: THE LONG GAME Speakers include: Arnaud Meersseman, AEG Presents (FR), Kim Bloem, Mojo Concerts (NL) & Tony Goldring, WME (US) Until borders are open and markets are harmonised, the industry’s focus will undoubtedly be on domestic touring.

Panellists will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the increase in local touring and how the industry can prepare for the eventual return of international tours.

18.00–19.00

THE BIG REPLAY Another chance to join the ILMC team and a handful of session chairs to discuss some of the key points, themes, comments and information from the day just gone.

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FRIDAY FRIDAY 5 MARCH 5 MARCH 2021 2021 10.00–11.00

MENTAL HEALTH: TALKING HEADS Speakers include artist Frank Turner (UK), Prof. Dr. Katja Ehrenberg, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences Cologne (DE), Russell Warby, WME (UK) & Denise Devenish, BAPAM (UK) From authors of new mental health guides for music pro’s to companies pushing the bar higher, we invite an all-star line-up of guest speakers to discuss the live music industry’s collective responsibility towards mental health and the new resources and support that are available.

10.00–11.00

FESTIVAL FORUM: REBOOT & RESET Chair: Beatrice Stirnimann, Baloise Session (CH) As summer 2021 finally creeps into view, what lessons are there to be learned from 2020’s big time out? And does the festival ecosystem still face the same challenges as this time last year, or have its priorities changed? A host of international festival heavyweights discuss.

10.00–11.00

SPONSORSHIP: REINVENTING THE DEA L Chair: Jeremy Paterson, IF Media Consultancy (UK) Covid-19 has sent a bowling ball through the sponsorship sector, removing blockages and opening up opportunities for innovative and adventurous multi-channel solutions. This roundtable discussion looks at what branding and music partnerships will look like when we get back to business.

11.30–12.30

THE WORKFORCE: PROTECTING OUR ECOSYSTEM Chair: Joanne Croxford, Wellness & Diversity Specialist, Live Touring (UK) With many still out of work and struggling, who’s stepping up to support our live music ecosystem, and what more should the business be doing to help? And as the business comes back, how can we limit the skills gap of specialists who have retrained or left the business?

11.30–12.30

FESTIVAL FUTURES: CORE PRIORITIES Chair: Fruzsina Szép, Superbloom (DE) Looking past the big question for 2021 – whether festivals will be allowed to go ahead at full capacity – this session focuses on the evolving passions, priorities and unique features that make the world’s myriad music festivals what they are, going beyond the headliners to consider what these events mean to operators and fans.

11.30–12.30

GENDER EQUALITY: THE NEXT LEVEL From pledges to directories to maps, a number of leading

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organisations have published practical industry-spanning resources to support the sector in its pursuit to be diverse.

This session will hear from the pioneers behind the projects, as well as the impact they’ve had on the forward-thinking businesses that have adopted them.

13.30–14.30

WORKING CULTURE: GETTING A LIVE While the pro’s and cons of home working will differ from person to person, what do the experts believe this seismic shift in working culture is having on our communication, mental health and productivity? And as our notion of the office evolves towards anywhere with a Wi-Fi signal, what’s the impact on the business and how we work within it?

13.30–14.30

LIVE-STREAMING RIGHTS: WRONGS & RATES Chair: Paul Craig, Nostromo Management (UK) How live-streaming revenues are divvied up, what deals are in place, and how anyone considering a live-stream should approach the topic are among the topics slated for discussion, as a cast of live music, recorded and rights professionals unpick this relatively new scene.

15.00–16.00

FUTURES FORUM: MEET THE NEW BOSSES Chair: Marc Saunders, The O2 (UK) This ever-popular session, which traditionally kicks off Futures Forum, ILMC’s event for young professionals, welcomes a quartet of emerging execs – all of whom were recognised among IQ’s New Bosses in 2020 – to talk about their journey so far and the challenges facing young executives rising up through the ranks in live music.

15.00–16.00

ROCK: THE MOTHER OF REINVENTION Chair: Tom Taaffe, Paradigm Talent Agency (UK) From setting new standards in the art of packaging shows and tours, to industry entrepreneurs heading off land for maximum-dB ocean cruises, the rock music genre continues to innovate. Paradigm’s Tom Taaffe invites the industry leaders pushing the scene forward to discuss.

15.00–16.00

E3S: SAFETY & SECURITY 2.0 Chair: Gary Simpson, ASM Global (UK) The Event Safety & Security Summit – the international platform for safety and security in the live events industry – hosts this one-hour conversation, bringing together leading security, venue, festival and touring professionals to examine how the industry is responding to the latest threats to the welfare of artists, fans and staff alike.

ILMC

EVENTS EVENTS SCHEDULE SCHEDULE competitions for anyone unlucky enough to go out early, it’s set to be another nailbiter. Especially as there are prizes on offer for the top three players… Bring courage, determination and, of course, your poker face – cameras will remain on!

THURSDAY 4 MARCH 15.00–16.00 SPEEDMEETINGS Thursday’s speedmeeting sessions, which once again see delegates matched with others by business type courtesy of some particularly clever computer algorithms. The next best thing to meeting face to face for delegates who want to add new connections to their live music network.

WEDNESDAY 3 MARCH 11.30–12.30 FUTURES FORUM: MENTOR SESSIONS A highlight of Futures Forum, ILMC’s in-person event for young professionals, these oneon-one meetings provide an opportunity for emerging execs to meet face to face with some of the most successful figures in live music. Details of how to apply will be released ahead of the conference.

15.00–16.00 SPEEDMEETINGS These daily speedmeeting sessions see delegates matched with others by business type courtesy of some particularly clever computer algorithms. Turn up to meet your virtual matches for a five-minute video chat, before being automatically moved on to the next person.

19.00–20.00 THE ‘ESCAPE FROM REALITY’ QUIZ (OF THE YEAR) A fixture of the ILMC Gala Dinner, the annual Pop Quiz returns as an online think-’em-up, with players one to 32 going head to head in an epic battle of brains. Expect questions on the industry and the people in it, as well as tests of your general knowledge and assorted pop-culture ephemera.

19.00–21.00...

THE BOB LEFSETZ PODCAST LIVE When a conversation between two of the industry’s most legendary personalities lines up, you have to allow extra time. With no particular end time in mind, The Bob Lefsetz Podcast Live sees the LA-based industry legend host an exclusive edition of his widely syndicated show, interviewing artist manager and longstanding ILMC Breakfast Meeting host, Ed Bicknell.

20.30–21.30 SHOWCASES: ATC LIVE, ITB & PARADIGM ILMC 33 has partnered with some of the top booking agencies in the multiverse to provide delegates with some spectacular live-stream performances from the best new signings and emerging talent out there. Wednesday sees our friends at ATC Live, ITB and Paradigm Talent Agency present a line-up of some of the the best new acts on their books.

Featured artists will be published soon, and all showcases will be available to watch back on the ILMC platform after the event.

21.00–23.00 THE ‘BATTLE ROYALE’ TEXAS HOLD ’EM POKER TOURNEY As ILMC goes virtual, so too does its venerable annual poker tournament. With multiple tournament tables, as well as side

18.30–19.30 THE ARTHUR AWARDS 2021 Host: Emma Banks, CAA (UK) ILMC 33 delegates from far and wide can watch as their industry colleagues and friends from around the globe are commemorated during the most prestigious (online) award ceremony of the live music industry calendar, which this year is streamed live from the most iconic venue in London – the Royal Albert Hall.

19.30–20.30 SHOWCASES: HOTS, PRIMARY TALENT, SOUND CZECH & UTA Our Thursday showcases will mix talent from central Europe, courtesy of export offices Hungarian Oncoming Tunes and Sound Czech, with some of the hottest new acts on the rosters of Primary Talent International and United Talent Agency. Expect a stellar line-up of some exciting new artists, details of which will be published soon.

FRIDAY 5 MARCH 13.30–14.30 FUTURES FORUM: MENTOR SESSIONS A second opportunity for younger delegates to connect with senior live music figures.

ILMC delegates (suggested age 30 and under) will have the opportunity to apply for mentoring, which will pair successful applicants with mentors able to advise on any aspect of their career or business.

Details on how to apply will be released soon.

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LIVE MUSIC’S GLOBAL GATHERING REBOOTS TO A NEW VIRTUAL REALITY

PROVISIONAL AGENDA NOW LIVE 33.ilmc.com

IQ96 CONTENTS

Cover: Breaking Beats promoted The Upbeats at TSB Arena, Wellington, in July 2020. Photo © Mark Russell

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28 NEWS

FEATURES

COMMENT AND COLUMNS

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Index In Brief The main headlines over the last two months Analysis Key stories and news analysis from around the live music world New Signings & Rising Stars A roundup of the latest acts that have found agents during lockdown

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ILMC 33 Agenda Guide Details of our unique 2021 edition of the International Live Music Conference Operation Restart As the European Arenas Association marks its 30th anniversary, we talk to leading venues about plans to reopen The NewZ Normal Gordon Masson finds out how the New Zealand industry is coping in its post-pandemic bubble

The Other Side of Town Conal Dodds details his firm’s creation of a new live-streaming operation Games Without Frontiers Jesse Kirshbaum extols gaming's ability to introduce artists to new audiences and accelerate career development PULSE Preview Agent Mike Malak reveals his expectations for ILMC’s PULSE sessions Your Shout What are you looking forward to most when life gets back to normal?

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In Brief

NEW YEAR, NEW VARIANTS…

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and on heart, I confess that I thought 1 January 2021 would bring with it a wave of optimism, that we’d finally put 2020 to bed and, with a vaccine already being given to front-line medical staff, the elderly, and the most vulnerable, there was more than a suggestion that the battle against coronavirus was being won.

However, the first few weeks of the year have seen negative news story after demoralising statistic after a more infectious corona variant being dumped on us, and the general mood cowering under even darker clouds. I’m not saying I believed the virus would simply switch off as 2021 rolled around, but every day is a day closer to venues being able to reopen and I was hoping that spirits might be lifted by the prospects of a brand new year.

Speaking to our friends in New Zealand (see page 38) – including Scottish-born Stuart Clumpas (whom I’ve known since I was a teenager, having frequented his bars and nightclub in my home town, incidentally) it’s been interesting to hear how they have relaunched operations.

Intriguingly, while venues reopening seems to be the saviour moment that many in the live events sector are craving, the experience in New Zealand hasn’t been so straightforward, underlining the fact that live music is a globally dependent business, which needs international tours to retain and develop healthy domestic markets. For anyone pondering what the so-called new normal might be, I commend you to read the advice and experiences shared by our Kiwi colleagues.

Speaking of venues reopening, we’ve also taken some time to ask members of the European Arenas Association – which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year (page 28) – about their plans and strategies for reopening, as and when the coronavirus restrictions allow, in their respective territories. Sooner rather than later, hopefully.

And when it comes to information about how our peers around the world are preparing to get back to work, then, of course, there’s nowhere better than the International Live Music Conference to discuss such burning issues with the industry’s leaders. So, if you haven’t already pored through it, turn to page 3 for our agenda guide for this year’s unique online-only ILMC. For the first time ever, ILMC will be allowing delegates to catch up with any sessions they miss via recordings on the event’s virtual platform, so if you haven’t already registered your place at the conference, get your skates on and give yourself and your laptop something to look forward to at the beginning of March. With any luck, by then at least, some of us might be vaccinated and a path out of the darkness will finally become more of a reality.

ISSUE 96 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE 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 Staff Writer Lisa Henderson Advertising Manager Steve Woollett Design Philip Millard Sub Editor Michael Muldoon Head of Digital Ben Delger Contributors Conal Dodds, Jesse Kirshbaum Editorial Contact Gordon Masson gordon@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0303 Advertising Contact Steve Woollett steve@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0304 ISSN 2633-0636

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IN BRIEF INDEX The concert business digest

DECEMBER European and North American concert halls, stadia and convention centres step up to help with national Covid-19 vaccination programmes.

Ticketmaster’s global chief operating officer Amy Howe announces plans to leave the company in 2021.

Lyte raises $33million (€27m) in a series-B funding round, bringing the company’s total amount raised to $48m (€40m).

JANUARY PRIMA-CoV, Spain’s clinical trial, finds that a live music concert performed under a series of safety measures is “not associated with an increase in Covid-19 infections.”

New Zealand festivals are able to bring in the New Year with tens of thousands of non-socially distanced attendees.

Ireland’s Aiken Promotions unveils Vision, a six-part online video series filmed at its 1,500-capacity Vicar Street venue in Dublin.

Chinedu Okeke, founder of promoter Eclipse Live and executive producer of ‘Coachella in Lagos,’

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Nigeria’s Gidi Culture Festival, is named managing director of Universal Music Nigeria.

FMLY Agency recruits Rob McGee and gains artists including Baby Strange, Beach Riot and Chloe Foy.

Denmark’s live music association, Dansk Live, is granted permission to hold a series of test events.

In the UK, MPs make a fresh call for government-backed insurance.

UK festival stakeholders give evidence at the DCMS Select Committee’s inquiry into safeguarding the future of the sector.

Crosstown Concerts, a UK-based promoter, celebrates the successful debut of its new virtual concert platform, selling over 8,000 tickets for Bellowhead. (See page 22) ILMC unveils the provisional agenda for the 33rd edition, which will go virtually live between 3–5 March.

Dutch government considers introducing a German-style fund to reimburse organisers whose events are cancelled by coronavirus restrictions.

Live Nation Belgium sells tickets to post-Covid party, I Want to Dance Again, despite not yet announcing a date.

Seven people who attended a stadium concert on New Year’s Eve instead of self-isolating are fined in Covid-free Taiwan.

ICM Partners appoints seasoned US-based agents Ron Kaplan, Garry Buck and Alex Buck to its concerts division.

Roblox raises $520m (€428m) in a new funding round that values the company at $30billion (€25bn).

All Things Live strengthens its position in Denmark with a new local booking department in Copenhagen.

Secret Sounds, a new Australian festival, reveals the Covid-safe ‘party pods’ that are designed to keep attendees socially distanced.

Viva.gr, the Greek ticketing platform, celebrates a successful first month of its new streaming service, having sold more than 150,000 tickets.

Stay Sound & Check Yourself, a new book written by GO Group’s Holger Jan Schmidt documenting mental health behind the scenes of the live music industry, is released.

UTA hires booking agent Robbie Brown, formerly of WME, as the

latest addition to its Los Angeles music team.

Samsung-owned company Harman unveils a suite of in-car audio products designed to capitalise on the drive-in concerts boom.

DEAG announces plans to take its stock private as part of a takeover bid valuing the company at just over €60m.

British government denies it rejected an offer from the EU to exempt performers from needing a visa for European tours.

Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the US president, predicts a return to live in autumn for the US. French music associations Prodiss and SMA organise test shows in Paris and Marseille for this spring.

Japan reduces event capacities in Greater Tokyo after PM declares a state of emergency.

Charlotte Church, Newton Faulkner and The Supernaturals are announced for at-home charity festival Music Feeds.

Spain’s music sector reports a loss of €1bn in direct revenue and €7bn in indirect revenue during 2020.

In Brief Frontier Festival, a new Covid-safe event in the Netherlands, says it’s one of the first Dutch events to gain a permit for this summer.

Denmark’s Ministry of Culture assembles a ‘restart team’ for culture and sports, and outlines its main objectives.

Roblox and Fortnite top survey of the main ways UK children and teens spend their pocket money.

Germany publishes a second study showing a negligible risk of infection in properly ventilated concert venues.

Denmark’s minister for culture says she cannot guarantee the government will set up a Germanstyle insurance fund.

British promoters and venue programmers, Ade Dovey and Ben Taylor, join forces for new promoter Luminescent.

including Katy Perry for its 25th anniversary playlist.

The European Union hits back at claims by the British government that it rejected the latter’s proposals for visa-free travel for touring artists.

Organisers of Czech festival Rock for People announces plans for an interactive, 3D virtual festival.

Safe announces Hackathon to find innovative and viable solutions to help festival and events manage the constraints caused by Covid-19.

EU culture ministers welcome proposals for a series of simultaneous Live Aid-style postCovid concerts .

An estimated 20,000 people attend a concert by homegrown heroes Six60 at Waitangi stadium in Paihia, New Zealand (see page 34).

Sony Immersive Music Studios and Madison Beer debuts new concert format at tech event CES 2021.

FEAT publishes a guide showing how agents and promoters can stamp out unauthorised resale with personalised tickets.

Portugal’s music sector organises a national protest to call attention to the government’s perceived lack of action for the industry.

Industry pro’s unveil Sound Advice, a manual for building a healthy and happy career in the music business.

TEG appoints new former Virgin exec Cameron Stone as CTO.

Live Nation acquires majority stake in Veeps, a ticketed live-streaming platform developed by Good Charlotte’s Joel and Benji Madden.

Poland becomes the latest European concert market to confirm it will issue its citizens with a vaccine certificate.

Dutch government postpones four of the Back to Live test shows that were scheduled to take place in Jan and extends lockdown by three weeks.

Eventbrite says there is no evidence its platform is being used to scam people in Florida, where officials are employing it to book appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations.

Pokémon enlists the help of Universal Music Group artists

Italy’s TicketOne is fined €10m by the Italian Competition Authority for alleged abuses of its dominant market position.

Brussels’ Centre for Fine Arts closes for at least a week after a fire breaks out on the roof.

Mother Artists, the new company launched by siblings Mark and Natasha Bent, hires James Tones as an agent.

British government says it is negotiating on a bilateral basis with individual EU countries on

the issue of visas for touring artists.

Sportpaleis Group reveals plans to build and operate a pop-up arena in Middelkerke, Belgium.

ESNS’s online edition welcomes nearly 4,000 people from 124 countries to its digital conference and festival platforms.

French metal festival Hellfest begs minister for culture to make a decision on whether the upcoming festival season can go ahead.

DJ Khaled and Fat Joe create a profile on OnlyFans, the popular subscription service best known as a home for amateur porn creators.

Ibiza super-club Amnesia and German festival promoter Cosmopop sign primary ticketing deals with Event Genius.

Industry experts warn that EU cabotage rules, under the terms of the current Brexit deal, would threaten post-Covid-19 touring.

Switzerland’s Baloise Session is the first major European festival to cancel its in-person 2021 edition (see page 16).

Strandkorb Open Air, the outdoor deckchair concert series, will tour other German cities this spring.

Glastonbury Festival 2021 is cancelled (see page 16) in spite of organisers’ efforts “to move heaven and earth.”

Van Morrison is to legally challenge the NI government over its ‘blanket ban’ on live music in licensed venues.

Dutch government announces €300m event cancellation fund.

Live Nation’s share price hits an alltime high of $76.54 (€63) after the Veeps acquisition.

Belgian booking agency Busker Artist Agency becomes the first nonNordic member of All Things Live.

Malaysia-based SeatAdvisor partners with Vivaticket, the Italian multinational ticketing and technology company.

Marshall, the British music company best known for its guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets, launches Marshall Live Agency.

Tony Laurenson, founder and CEO of catering group Global Infusion Group (GIG) and Eat to the Beat, passes away.

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis says that the cancellation of this year’s event and a second fallow year won’t bankrupt the festival.

US live behemoths formally offer their venues, staff and expertise towards the national Covid-19 vaccination effort.

DEAG acquires 75% stake in Danish promoter and international producer CSB Island Entertainment.

Liberty Media, which owns just over a third of Live Nation, launches $500m+ acquisition vehicle.

Arena Resilience Alliance announces second virtual conference, reflecting on a series of pilot shows at the Luxembourg venue.

Rock-it Cargo and Sound Moves, two of the leading providers of logistics to the global live touring industry, combine under Rock-it Global.

PRS announces flat fee equating to a minimum 9% tariff on live-streams generating less than £500 (€566).

CTS Eventim is commissioned by German federal state SchleswigHolstein to organise local Covid-19 vaccination appointments.

ICM Partners promotes fourteen coordinators from its Los Angeles and New York offices to agent.

Showpass monopolises on the success of last year’s hotel ‘balcony concert’ series, announcing two new US shows.

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Analysis

EUROPEAN FESTIVAL SEASON: THE FIRST DOMINOES FALL

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wiss concerts series Baloise Session was the first major European festival to cancel its in-person 2021 edition, followed shortly by the UK’s Glastonbury Festival.

The Baloise Session, which has hosted acts including John Legend, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Alicia Keys and Lionel Richie, was due to take place between the 23 October and 10 November at Basel’s Event Halle but will now forego the event for a second consecutive year.

Organisers say it’s “impossible to plan with any certainty” due to the limitations of the pandemic.

“The decision was a difficult one to make but health comes first,” says Beatrice Stirnimann, CEO of Baloise Session. “Covid-19 continues to affect the world and the Baloise Session in 2021. The health of our visitors, artists, and staff comes first. Concerts in an intimate setting with an enthusiastic audience do not fit with social distancing and all the other current pandemic restrictions.

“The artists are sensibly continuing to severely limit their travel, are not planning any new tours, and in these difficult times are hardly able to make binding concert engagements. All these

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facts make it impossible to plan with any certainty. Without planning and financial security, the Baloise Session cannot be held.”

The event, which sold out all 15,500 tickets for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019, will return in 2022, and in the meantime will continue with its live-streamed concert series Baloise Session @home.

Mere hours after the Swiss festival cancelled, Glastonbury followed suit, with organisers Emily and Michael Eavis announcing another festival-free year.

“With great regret, we must announce that this year’s Glastonbury Festival will not take place, and that this will be another enforced fallow year for us,” read the statement on the Worthy Farm event’s website.

“In spite of our efforts to move heaven and earth, it has become clear that we simply will not be able to make the festival happen this year. We are so sorry to let you all down.

“As with last year, we would like to offer all those who secured a ticket in October 2019, the opportunity to roll their £50 deposit over to next year, and guarantee the chance to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2022. We are very appreciative of the faith and trust placed in us by those of you with deposits, and we are very confident we can deliver something really special for us all in 2022!

“We thank you for your incredible continued support and let’s look forward to better times ahead.”

Addressing concerns that Glastonbury would not survive another cancellation, Emily later said the festival would not go bankrupt and that cancelling now would limit losses.

In 2020, the festival lost £5million (€5.7m) after cancelling in March with much of the planning and work underway. Cancelling now meant this year’s losses would not compare, she said.

“We would have been in trouble if we’d hedged our bets and pushed on regardless to March and then had to cancel. We’d have spent a lot of money by then, money which we wouldn’t get back.”

The Glasto organiser also dismissed reports that the cancellation was due to insurance issues, explaining that the 2021 cancellation was due to a number of factors, from restrictions on public transport to the availability of medical staff and “the simple fact that mass gatherings are currently still legally prohibited and it’s not at all clear when that will be reversed.”

Looking to the future, she said that the 2022 event will be an “enormous high,” and in the meantime, she is working on Glastonbury-related projects for this year, including live-streamed events and possibly a version of the annual Pilton Party usually held in September.

Elsewhere in the European festival market, French metal festival Hellfest penned an open letter to France’s minister of culture warning of the “economic catastrophe” that’ll happen if this year’s festival season cannot go ahead.

The 60,000-capacity event, which is scheduled to take place across three days in June, in Clisson, Pays de la Loire, has begged minister Roselyne Bachelot to act quickly to “put an end to this unbearable waiting situation” that festival organisers are experiencing.

“We would have been in trouble if we’d hedged our bets and pushed on regardless to March and then had to cancel. We’d have spent a lot of money by then, money which we wouldn’t get back” Emily Eavis | Glastonbury Festival

Analysis

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BEHEMOTHS PITCH IN FOR VACCINATION EFFORTS

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s Covid-19 vaccination programmes roll out internationally, some of North America’s largest promoters, venue operators and industry associations have become the latest organisations to formally offer their venues, staff and expertise toward efforts in the United States, where the death toll is rapidly approach-

ing 450,000.

In a letter to new US president Joe Biden, Live Nation, AEG Presents, Oak View Group, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and others pledged their empty venues and furloughed staff for the vaccination programme.

“It’s human nature to come together in good times and bad, and our industry is committed to doing everything in our power to bring people together again, not just for events, but for every aspect of community that we have been missing,” said Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation.

“Live Nation has venues across the country that are capable of managing critical onsite elements of the vaccine rollout and we are eager to pitch in and be part of the solution.”

Elsewhere, German ticketing and promotion giant CTS Eventim has been commissioned by federal state Schleswig-Holstein to organise local Covid-19 vaccination appointments.

Unlike many federal states, vaccinations in Germany’s northernmost state are not assigned centrally by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians but instead by the contracted party, CTS Eventim.

According to the ministry of health in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, the entertainment behemoth was selected based on its ability to deal with the volume of appointment inquiries – something that many federal states are struggling with.

Schleswig-Holstein’s minister of health, Heiner Garg, calls the vaccination campaign an unprece-

dented “huge logistical and organisational task.”

The scheduling of appointments is actually “not so different from the handling of major events,” according to Alexander Ruoff, Eventim’s COO. “That means limited capacities, ideally a lot of interested parties,” he continues.

The company has also received commissions from Austria and Brazil, Ruoff reports, and is “also in talks with other federal states and European countries, from Finland to Italy.” He states, “Today we can practically pull the system out of the drawer.”

Live venues are already playing a key role in the immunisation process internationally, with concert halls, arena and stadia, and convention and conference centres offering their services as mass-vaccination sites.

“Live Nation has venues across the country that are capable of managing critical onsite elements of the vaccine rollout and we are eager to pitch in and be part of the solution” Michael Rapino | Live Nation

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Analysis

BREXIT POSES THREAT TO EUROPEAN TOURING

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ollowing on from a heated war of words with the European Union, the British government is negotiating on a bilateral basis with individual EU countries in a bid to break the deadlock over the issue of visas for touring artists.

Baroness Barran has said that while the UK’s previous offer to the EU to reopen negotiations on exempting musicians “still stands,” the government is also seeking simplification and clarification on a bilateral basis with individual member states.

Barran’s disclosure that Britain is shifting its

attention to individual countries can be seen as a ‘plan B’ for performers, in the absence of an EU-wide deal. As legal expert George Peretz explains, UK artists who want to tour the EU (excluding the Republic of Ireland, where the Common Travel Area already allows free travel) currently face “26 different sets of rules” – one for each member state – instead of one, as such an arrangement was not included in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Why that is different depends on who is asked: European negotiators claim the UK turned down an offer from the EU of a 90-day visa-free period every 180 days, while British officials continue to insist EU inflexibility resulted in “no deal” for musicians.

Visas for touring artists isn’t the only issue threatening post-Covid-19 touring.

Major touring productions will no longer be able to draw on the expertise of British-based hauliers under the terms of the current Brexit deal, industry experts have warned.

The days of tours starting in the UK and continuing on to an effectively unlimited number of dates in continental Europe have come to an end – with ‘cabotage’ rules in the new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement limiting UK trucks over 3.5 tonnes to just three stops in the

EU’s internal market.

“So, a haulier could drop off a load in Paris, pick up a load in Paris, and then take it to Leon. And then the haulier would have to come home,” Richard Burnett, CEO, Road Haulage Association explains. The cabotage rules are also reciprocal; European trucks touring the UK would have equally limited movements.

An estimated 85% of the European concert trucking business is based from the UK. Burnett says that currently, the only way those hauliers can continue to provide the same service they have for decades is by setting up a European operation, which “costs a lot of money… hauliers have already had the worst year in their history due to Covid and are struggling enormously as it is.”

“I am honoured to receive this special distinction, unique in the life of a professional,” she says. “It is an acknowledgement that belongs to all those who believed in me and taught me; a distinction that belongs to each colleague and collaborator that has been by my side during my 17-year career in the

music sector. Developing and launching international projects like ARTmania or BlajaLive, establishing a musical export bureau, as well as successfully organising the ceremonies during the official visit of His Holiness, Pope Francis, are the results of not just one individual but of an entire team.”

ROMANIA HONOURS VULCU

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ictured here flanked by the president of Romania and the country’s minister of culture (and other guests), ILMC member Codrut‚a Vulcu visited the Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest on Romanian National Culture Day to receive an Order of Cultural Merit.

She was awarded the prestigious medal on 15 January by president Klaus Werner Iohannis, in recognition of her services to the arts. Vulcu is not only the director and founder of ARTmania Festival, the East European Music Conference & Showcase Festival, BlajaLive Festival and Romanian Music Export, but is also vice president of the Romanian Association of Promoters of Concerts and Cultural Events (AROC), and in 2019 organised the official ceremonies for Pope Francis on the Field of Liberty, in Blaj, Romania.

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Analysis

MAJOR EUROPEAN MARKETS RACE TO IMPLEMENT AN EVENT CANCELLATION FUND

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overnment-backed event cancellation funds continue to be a hot topic within the European live music industry as festival season draws closer.

Following in the footsteps of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the Dutch government kicked off 2021 with the announcement of a €300million insurance pot, which will allow event organisers to plan for the second half of 2021 without the financial risk posed by a potential Covid outbreak.

The fund is intended for music festivals, business fairs, and sports competitions that attract a minimum of 3,000 visitors and take place in Q3 and Q4 of this year.

The cabinet is considering a 1 July commence-

ment date for the fund, as Dutch minister for culture, Ingrid van Engelshoven, says that it is not “reasonable” to expect large groups of people to “stand close together on a field” earlier than that.

It is unclear what this will mean for festivals that are scheduled to take place in May and June including Best Kept Secret, Pinkpop, Awakenings and Defqon.1. “[This fund] is a dot on the horizon for festival organisers,” says Van Engelshoven. “They can fall back on the guarantee fund in which at least €300m has been reserved. The event industry has long come to a standstill due to Corona.

[A] guarantee is needed to get it back on track.”

The fund was announced after almost the entire House of Representatives voted in favour of the scheme the previous day. Along with the

“With some light at the end of the tunnel, with the vaccine roll-out underway, we need time to prepare, and we desperately need a government-backed insurance scheme to unlock our future” Phil Bowdery | Concert Promoters Association / LIVE

fund, the government has announced a new package of economic support measures totalling €7.6billion, which will be rolled out during Q1 and Q2 of 2021.

Elsewhere in Europe, the German government and its primary consultants, live music association BDKV, are reckoning with the logistical challenges of implementing the previously announced €2.5bn insurance fund.

In an interview with IQ, BDKV’s managing president Professor Jens Michow outlined the challenges and considerations with setting up an insurance fund for one of Europe’s largest live music markets when time is against you.

Michow says that one of the biggest questions is how the German government will distribute any reimbursements. He predicts that there will be no central office and that the federal states will be tasked with taking care of the administration and distribution, which will likely be complicated.

“That’s [been] a general issue since the beginning of the pandemic: every state does its own thing and has different regulations. One state might say, ‘We have loose regulations and a low Covid incidence rate, so shows can happen.’ And a couple of kilometres away, another state is saying, ‘Our Covid rate is high, we have to shut everything down.’ We’re very proud of our federal system but for the event industry it’s actually a big problem. As long as we don’t have the same regulations all over the country, it will be impossible to organise tours.”

Elsewhere, the cancellation of Glastonbury Festival (see page 16) has prompted fresh calls for a government-backed insurance scheme in the UK. Phil Bowdery, chair of Concert Promoters Association and LIVE co-founder, says: “It is devastating that Glastonbury, one of the crown jewels of the UK’s live music and festival scene, has been forced to cancel for another year.

“With some light at the end of the tunnel, with the vaccine roll-out underway, we need time to prepare, and we desperately need a government-backed insurance scheme to unlock our future. Now more than ever we need this to be put in place or our globally successful festival industry could be damaged for years to come.”

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee chair and MP, Julian Knight, says: “The news that the UK has lost the Glastonbury Festival for a second year running is devastating. We have repeatedly called for ministers to act to protect our world-renowned festivals like this one with a government-backed insurance scheme.

Our plea fell on deaf ears and now the chickens have come home to roost.

“The jewel in the crown will be absent, but surely the government cannot ignore the message any longer – it must act now to save this vibrant and vital festivals sector.”

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NEW SIGNINGS

LISTEN TO ’S ‘NEW MUSIC’ AGENCY PLAYLIST HERE

In partnership with a number of agencies, compiles a monthly playlist of new music, much of it released by the new signings to the agency rosters.

Among the tracks on February’s playlist are submissions from 13 Artists, ATC Live, CAA, ICM, ITB, Paradigm, Primary and UTA.

NATURE TV AGENT

(UK)

Olivia Sime ITB

MANDRAKE HANDSHAKE AGENT

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Alice Hogg ATC Live

iq-mag.net

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he door-to-door heartbreak salesmen behind Nature TV are Guy (guitar & vocals), Josh (bass), Zal (drums) and James (lead guitar). Straddling the line between indie-pop and psych-rock, their familiar yet unique sound is often compared to Peach Pit, Real Estate and Beach Fossils.

The Brighton-based quartet signed to Heist or Hit in September 2019 and quickly released three singles and EP, Emotion Sickness. The tracks all received rave reviews from tastemaker blogs, support from George Godfrey on BBC Radio One, as well as Spotify playlisting.

During 2020, three more singles from their Lady Luck EP were released, all of which received global blog support.

Tracks also landed Spotify playlisting on Garden Indie, Lo-Fi Indie and Alt Rocked, along with BBC Radio airplay.

A live favourite, Nature TV were hand picked to open for Swimming Tapes, PINS and VANT, as well as providing tour support across the UK with Trudy & The Romance. The boys will be releasing two singles in early 2021 while they wrap up their debut album.

O (UK)

xford psych-collective Mandrake Handshake recently launched exhilarating new cut Gonkulator and announced their signing to cult indie label Nice Swan Records.

The indie-stoner-y outfit have already drawn a slew of acclaim from key indie press champions (NME, DIY, Clash, So Young, Loud & Quiet) in their short time together, incorporating influences of krautrock, funk, Japanese animation and Latin pastoral poetry, to create a unique brand of ‘flowerkraut’ amidst a sprawling barrage of psychedelia.

Gonkulator is the second offering from the band’s debut EP, which is scheduled for early 2021 release. “This is our three-minute party tune, but in swing 5/4 ‘cause who doesn’t love a good 5/4 groove!? It’s a song about sheer joy, happiness and freedom, for two-and-a-half minutes – can’t be any longer because it’s too much otherwise!”

New Signings

ARTIST LISTINGS Albertine Sarges (DE) Caitlin Ballard & Graham Clews, ATC Live Allison Ponthier (US) Ryan Penty, Paradigm Avec Sans (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Baby Strange (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency bad tuner (US) Laetitia Descouens, Primary Talent Beach Riot (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency CAPYAC (US) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency CASHH (JA) Sam Gill, Sean Goulding & Cleo Thompson, UTA Catie Turner (US) Nikos Kazoleas, UTA CHIP (UK) Ishsha Bourguet & Myles Jessop, Echo Location Talent Chloe Foy (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Diana DeMuth (US) Peter Nash, ICM Partners dvr (UK) Tom Schroeder & Andy Clayton, Paradigm Dylan Fraser (UK) Ryan Penty & Adele Slater, Paradigm False Heads (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Fever (UK) Steve Zapp, ITB Goan Dogs (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Godford (FR) Cris Hearn, Paradigm Gordon Koang (AU) Caitlin Ballard, ATC Live Hanya (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Hatsune Miku (JP) Nick Matthews, Paradigm Hello Forever (CA) Colin Keenan & Alex Bruford, ATC Live Indigo Sparke (AU) Eleanor McGuinness, Pitch & Smith Jack Name (US) Caitlin Ballard, ATC Live Jeshi (UK) Sam Gill, UTA Katy Kirby (US) Matt Pickering-Copley, Primary Talent Khazali (UK) Marlon Burton, ATC Live

HOTTEST NEW ACTS

LISTEN TO ’S NEW SIGNINGS AGENCY PLAYLIST HERE

LAST MONTH 33 18 26 16 21 22 54 41 47 2 7 55 10 — 17

PREDICTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2021

ARTIST CAROLESDAUGHTER (US) MORRAY (US) MASKED WOLF (AU) JANICE (SE) KIM DRACULA (AU) ENNY (UK) POPP HUNNA (US) POOH SHIESTY (US) RENCE (US) CJ (US) HVME (ES) YOUNG STONER LIFE (US) CENTRAL CEE (UK) BIG30 (US) DJ CHOSE (US) ERICA BANKS (US), LEYLA BLUE (US), BRS KASH (US), MIMI WEBB (UK), FINN ASKEW (UK)

Artists not in the current top 15, but growing quickly

Fastest growing artists in terms of music consumption, aggregated across a number of online sources.

JANUARY 2021

THIS MONTH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

King Green (US) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency King Stingray (AU) Steve Taylor, ATC Live Lazy Day (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Lazy Habits (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Maddy Jane (AU) Beth Morton, UTA Mandrake Handshake (UK) Alice Hogg, ATC Live MEMES (US) Colin Keenan & Steve Taylor, ATC Live Modern Woman (UK) Rob Challice & Adele Slater, Paradigm MRPHY (UK) Nick Matthews, Paradigm Naïka (US) Sophie Roberts & Jules de Lattre, UTA Nature TV (UK) Olivia Sime, ITB Omah Lay (NG) Sam Gill, UTA Orson Wilds (CA) Ed Sellers, Primary Talent Other Half (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency PRETTY SICK (US) Matt Bates, Primary Talent Ray Dalton (US) James Whitting, Paradigm RDGLDGRN (US) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Ruby Duff (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Shawn James (US) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Snow Coats (NL) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Tebi Rex (IE) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency The Longest Johns (UK) Angie Rance, Beth Morton & Emily Robbins, UTA THUMPER (IE) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Tungz (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Tusks (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Zen Arcade (IE) Stephen Taylor, ATC Live

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Comment

The other side of town Crosstown Concerts director Conal Dodds details the company’s journey through the current pandemic and the creation of a new live-streaming operation, having sold 8,500 tickets with Bellowhead on its first show

I

t’s been very exciting to work with broadcast platform Stabal to create a new outlet for artists. Bellowhead hadn’t played live for four years, so we expected a good level of interest. To gross £150k+ [€170k] for a folk band on our first live broadcast was brilliant for everyone involved.

We had tried socially distanced shows, but only three of the 20 we put on sale actually happened because of the tier systems being introduced in the UK – Frank Turner, for example, was set up with ten day’s notice and cancelled three days out. It was all very frustrating, but clearly public health has to come first.

We could see the potential hybrid of live and broadcast, and a lot of research followed.

This collaboration between Stabal and Crosstown solves all of the issues artists have encountered broadcasting concerts, as we can handle all the aspects required between us. We cover all the costs, and handle all marketing, ticketing, rights and publishing clearances, with audiovisual recording produced to a world-class standard.

We decided from the outset not to offer ‘live’ live-streams, having seen so many beset with technical problems and not really being a great product. In reality, our competitors are anything on TV/Netflix/YouTube/sports, because people are watching it at home – so our shows need to really stand out.

We record an artist over the course of a day, with a four- or five-camera shoot. The band plays live together, with audio feeds allowing post-editing and post-production. That makes the artist relax. Stabal gives the artists approval of the final cut and we can concentrate on creating the very best audio and video experience for viewers.

It also means they can film extra behind-the-scenes content, with interviews, additional songs, etc. Fans can purchase a straightforward ‘view on the day’ package of the live performance or a deluxe 30-day pass option, with extra songs, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, adding true value for the fans. In the case of Bellowhead, the performance was 75 minutes long and the bonus content was 64 minutes long.

This proved very successful; the 30-day pass initiative has also allowed for sales after the initial broadcast date, with Bellowhead sales rising by 500 to 8,700 within the next two

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weeks. A gifting service also proved popular, allowing tickets to be bought as presents.

In keeping with the Crosstown Concerts ethos, we are looking to go way beyond volume of tickets and accentuate the audience experience, giving the bands a great experience and creative output to be proud of.

We currently have three [UK] studios, Burgess Barn in Epping Forest, Stabal Mansion (which is where we filmed Bellowhead), and Stabal’s Newbury Sound Stage. However, we are not limited to these sites – we can film the right act anywhere. Our first Australian show will be confirmed soon.

It’s been quite a journey from this time last year, when we were starting to discuss the possible effects of the unheard-of coronavirus. We’re concert promoters; we bring in the bands and sell the tickets. With no shows, the last ten months have been terrible, for lots of people across the whole music industry, and like many others, we’ve struggled through.

We’ve had government help, furloughing people and with a bounce-back loan; without government support we would be in serious trouble. We were successful gaining a grant in the first round of the Culture Recovery Fund and have applied for round two. There’s no sugarcoating how tough it’s been.

But you adapt and find ways to keep the connections going.

Our aim is to have at least two live broadcast shows per week, targeting 100 shows in the coming year. It’s one of the few current ways artists can make money and show creativity.

We’re not tied to the bands we solely promote, so we’re going out to as many artists as we think we’ll have an audience for.

We’re giving it our best shot. Since Christmas, new lockdown rules mean lots of uncertainty. Currently, we’re hoping we can get to a September return to full-capacity shows.

There will be a huge appetite for shows when they return, but we’re under no illusions, as there will be a lot of competition for peoples’ time and money from cinemas, sports, bars, etc., as well as other shows, and people will be struggling for money or unemployed. But we have to keep trying.

I think – outside of the NHS and fishermen – people work harder in the music industry than most others, so we are very resilient people. We will come through this!

Comment

Games Without Frontiers Expert in helping to launch new talent, Jesse Kirshbaum, founder and CEO of creative boutique Nue Agency looks at how gaming can introduce artists to new audiences, and take career development to the next level

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he hottest area in entertainment is gaming. The growth is astounding, with the global video game industry projected to grow by 37% in the five-year period between 2019-2023.

Like all elements of youth culture, the gaming world loves celebrity, trends, fashion and, most of all, music. The nexus of music and gaming is creating groundbreaking collaborations and partnerships. The dramatic pause of live concerts in 2020 accelerated gaming platforms and virtual worlds to show their true potential for in-game engagement, with the Travis Scott and Fortnite concert being the current North Star for what can be achieved.

Artists are now premiering songs in games, and using this new marketing channel to grow their fanbase and social following, and to sell merchandise and more. Some are even creating their own games, such as Justin Bieber with his boxing-themed single Anyone with a game to match.

As a result, brand executives are showing increased confidence in gaming by allocating their budgets to this medium.

You need only look at brands such as Adidas, Nike, and Louis Vuitton to see this in action. The savviest are linking music and gaming for the greatest impact, such as Travis Scott becoming a creative consultant for Sony’s PS5.

In a nod to the intersection of these three major industries (music, gaming and marketing), 2020 marked the inaugural MusicGamingCon, hosted by music gaming publisher Amanotes and my company, Nue Agency.

We believe it was crucial to create a moment of convergence for key individuals in music, tech, media and brands, to focus exclusively on the cross-pollination of knowledge and relationships in this unique world of music interaction through gaming. The conference featured an amazing line-up of panelists who provided plenty of tips for anyone, from artist to executive, looking to capitalise on these merging worlds.

Amanotes perfectly combine music and gaming, with 1.5 billion app downloads and over 50 billion gameplay minutes.

The company’s head of marketing and partnerships, Jheric Delos Angeles, outlines some key trends:

Increase in exclusive collaborations

We’ll see more and more artists creating original content specifically for gaming, as this is a means for artists (and labels) to reach a broader, already captive audience. It will also result in some very specific interactive formats that are possible only through games’ inventories.

Hyper-personalisation

We are also seeing curated content aligned with users’ personal preferences. It is important to deliver a variety of options at the right time, in the right context, to keep everyone engaged.

More users are getting smart curated content to fit with personal preference, parallel to how gaming/music tech is trying to enhance the experience of their audiences.

Music gaming apps as a showcase for indie artists

Music gaming apps have the potential to provide a platform for independent artists to directly showcase their work. In Amanotes, we deliver high-quality music content to more than 15 million users globally every day.

Some trends we’ve seen specific to this space are exclusive collaborations. Going forward, we predict more music for gaming content will be done as a creative effort to reach mass audiences: for example, the Monstercat collection for Rocket League.

Opportunities for expanding music education through gaming

Leveraging the dynamics of gaming allows for the creation of apps that enhance music education through the implementation of AI. We’re intensively testing ideas and working with AI initiatives to make music education apps, and we plan to roll out market-fitted products in the second half of the year.

As 2021 starts to kick into gear, there are many fresh ways to innovate. It’s important to have forums where we can gather to exchange ideas and open dialogue. Our goal with the next MusicGamingCon will be the emerging hybrid model of physical and digital. We’re also hoping to make this a global conversation, with each region making their own unique contributions. The more we come together, the more innovative partnerships are going to happen.

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whole other asset, and monetising that can complement launching your tour or releasing your album while creating a special moment for fans that they can engage with, whether we’re in a pandemic or not.

From an agent’s perspective, what benefits does live-streaming bring you?

As much data as possible is always going to help us with our educated guesses about where we can go and what we can do on a tour. The world is a big place, and beyond all the traditional key cities where we go on tour, this can open other doors to understanding where some of those fanbases might actually be.

ILMC this year features the launch of PULSE, an allnew conference and content platform focused on the intersection of technology and live entertainment. PULSE is a collaboration between ILMC, Paradigm agent Mike Malak and digital entertainment expert Yvan Boudillet (TheLynk).

Here, Malak previews the sessions that make up PULSE and outlines his expectations for the event.

What is the idea behind PULSE? MM: During the pandemic, people have been doing a lot of live-streams and I was really keen to dive deeply into that and see where it will take our business moving forward. We wanted to put together an event where we could look toward the future of live music, see where everything fits together and where it will take us.

Who can we expect to hear from during PULSE? We’ve got a good mix of speakers both from the live-stream space and also some younger forward-thinking people, whether on the label side or promoter side etc, so we can hear what they have to say and we can figure out how we can all work together. We’re also bringing in people from the e-sports and gaming sectors because they are the experts at monetising live-streams and that kind of technology. We are aware that live music is behind all those sectors and we want to learn from those people, so I’ve no doubt they will provide us with some value.

We’re very lucky to have secured the likes of Justin Lubliner from Darkroom, Danny Rukasin and Brandon Goodman from Best Friends Music, Tommas Arnby from Locomotion, and Lesley Olenik from Live Nation to shape the discussions on the day, so I’m looking forward to a very informative and productive launch for PULSE.

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Why the focus on live-streaming, in particular?

Live-streaming is still a work in progress, but I’m super-excited about what it’s going to do for our business moving forward. We all want to be back at real live shows, but I think this can really supplement artist income, especially new artists that have to budget really tightly to do a tour. Live-streaming opens up different doors in terms of monetising things, and to get into the middle of content – which is basically a show – and create a whole separate experience while monetising it, is a huge opportunity.

People are realising that live-streams are a

There’s a session about the “new fan experience”; what can we expect from that?

The new fan experience is figuring out how you can create a special moment for fans at home and make that a meaningful experience. So we will look at virtual venues and how fans interact with them, giving them a completely different experience that has nothing to do with a real live show.

And on the other hand, we’ll investigate the interesting ways that artists are interacting with the online viewers so it feels like there is a bit more of a connection. Some artists have made content where they pop-up on screen while their fans are watching their show, for instance, but there are lots of different tactics that you can use to really embrace the audience, make them feel like they are part of the show and they are connecting with the artists in a different way.

A brand new American act might go to Paris, for example, but what if they have five fans in Lyon and five in Marseille? It might not sound like a lot, but if they buy a ticket for the livestream and they also buy a bit of merch and you give them a way to feel like they are experiencing the show, even if it’s cheaper, that’s going to help that new artist’s budget quite a lot. If you do that throughout Europe, it adds up.

Who do you think will be most interested in the PULSE sessions?

I hope, based on the amazing speakers that we have from the different sectors of the industry, that PULSE will attract a good spread of people.

It’s an issue in our industry that concerns all of us, because we’re all trying to figure out how it works and how we all fit in together – where does the label and publisher fit in alongside the PRS? These are all things to be clarified and discussed together.

I hope people also tune in for the New Technology Pitch sessions because, as a lot of us know, there are a million streaming companies reaching out to all of us, all of the time, so it will be good to get an understanding of what is important, what’s key and what to look for when we’re figuring out who is doing it right.

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Feature_EAA 30th Anniversary

The AccorHotels Arena in Paris hosted the League of Legends world championship finals in November 2019

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OPERATION RESTART As the European Arenas Association marks its 30th anniversary, its members find themselves in the deepest crisis in their history. Gordon Masson talks to some of Europe’s biggest venues to find out how they plan to get back up and running, and the EAA’s central role in that operation…

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Feature_EAA 30th Anniversary

hen the European Arenas Association (EAA) celebrated its 20th birthday back in 2011, the live entertainment industry was in the infancy of a record-breaking run, as live music, in particular, grew in popularity, and venues throughout the continent enjoyed the challenges of ever bigger visiting productions, attracting more and more eager fans.

A year ago, many of the EAA’s 36 member venues were predicting 2020 would deliver yet another record year, but the Covid-19 pandemic soon obliterated such optimism and ten months

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on from the beginning of lockdown measures, there is still no clear indication about when Europe’s arenas will be able to resume operations.

As a result, the EAA finds itself as the central hub for discussions about strategies for getting back to business, with members in constant contact to help plan how they can safely welcome artists and audiences back into their buildings while also protecting their staff and production crews.

“Our EAA conversations over the past year have highlighted that although we are all in a different situation, country by country and city by city, we’re all actually in the same situation when it comes to the use of the venues,” reports current EAA president John Langford. “But having conversations facilitated by EAA membership between venue managers in Germany,

France and the UK, for instance, alerts you to how people are responding differently and gives us the opportunity to learn from others.”

One topic that arena bosses all agree on is that any solutions for reopening need to be universal to facilitate artist plans for international touring, meaning that the discussions that the EAA is hosting will be crucial to the recovery of major live events on this side of the Atlantic.

“Communication with our colleagues across Europe is as important right now as it has ever been,” states Mantas Vedrickas, events manager at the Žalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania.

“The EAA helps us communicate easily, and the sharing of experiences helps us all deal with the situation that we are placed in. It allows the exchange of ideas, and helps find the best ways to

EAA 30th Anniversary_Feature implement solutions.”

That sentiment is echoed by arena management across Europe, who are carefully making preparations to get back to business as soon as authorities give them the green light.

Preparations Behind Closed Doors

Many of EAA’s member venues last hosted concerts in March 2020, meaning that they are but a handful of weeks away from having an entire year without shows. That situation also means that thousands of people have been made redundant, further complicating the task of arena bosses when it comes to opening their venues for audiences.

However, some venues have been more fortunate than others. Vedrickas notes that the Žalgirio Arena has remained open for local basket-

Muse are just one of hundreds of acts to have graced the stage at the O2 Arena in Prague

“Our EAA conversations over the past year have highlighted that although we are all in a different situation, country by country and city by city, we’re all actually in the same situation” John Langford | EAA

ball team, Žalgiris Kaunas, albeit without fans at games. “Throughout this entire situation, we have been in constant dialogue with event organisers [and] whenever hosting events will be allowed, we will be all ready to restart,” he pledges.

Representing both the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin and the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Uwe Frommhold VP & COO of AEG Germany tells IQ, “Due to the generous furlough programme of the German government, we have been able to keep our staff on board throughout these tough times for our business.

So we will be able to ramp up our workforce fairly quickly, once the situation calls for it. Furthermore, we were able to stage several non-concert events – fairs and sports – with reduced capacity, where our hygiene and social distancing protocols were put in practice. So we feel well prepared to gradually bring people back when the pandemic eases.”

In Portugal, Jorge Vinha da Silva, CEO at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, says that outside of the complete lockdown restrictions, the venue had permission to run events at 50% capacity, respecting regulations such as social distancing, reserved seats, hand sanitisers, thermal cameras, a renovated air-conditioning system, and a complete contingency plan approved by health and safety authorities.

Silva notes, “Of course, there were no international acts, but it was possible to have smaller events with local artists. We also used the venue for TV productions without audiences, and for the corporate side of the business, [we created] virtual or hybrid events.”

Across the border in Spain, the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid has been put to similar use. “We did some film and TV shooting during the pandemic while we were not in lockdown or confined, as they need a big space now for the actors, separate dressing rooms, and different and isolated space for extras and bystanders,” says CEO Juan Carbonel.

“In the meantime – with zero income – we invested and did improvements in the facilities as we upgraded air systems and natural air venting, together with [audience signage], new protocols for security and extra cleaning, etc.” Carbonel says the venue has also created new protocols regarding access strategies to protect arena workers and visiting crews.

Detailing the plans for a return to hosting

events at the Arēna Riga in Latvia, chairman Girts Krastins says, “Our approach will be based on local health regulations, but as the summer and first months of autumn were relatively relaxed we were able to host some events with spectators and test some procedures.” Among those tested protocols were designated entrances, sales of socially distanced tickets, disinfection procedures for visitors and staff, clean zones for sports teams, shielded concessions, and safe food packaging.”

Like Vedrickas in neighbouring Lithuania, Krastins has been able to hone some systems thanks to a sports team that calls Arēna Riga home. “Our ice hockey team is still playing at our venue, without spectators, and that allows us to routine our procedures and keep [our] employees.” And highlighting the importance of local trade bodies, as well as the EAA, on a bigger scale, Krastins adds, “Together with our local venue association we have been in touch with health authorities regarding possible solutions for crowd management under Covid-19 and that is one of the reasons why we were able to operate in summer and autumn.”

That foresight in testing and training is a common theme among EAA members. At Münich’s Olympiapark, general manager Marion Schöne says, “During the first lockdown, we developed and implemented hygiene concepts for all our venues, and leisure and tourism facilities. We also trained employees as hygiene advisors in an in-house training course. From mid-May, we received permission to reopen under certain conditions. We were also able to hold daily concerts in the Olympic Stadium for six weeks in the summer, but only for a maximum of 400 people.”

In Prague, Robert Schaffer, CEO at the O2 arena, reveals that the venue has been used several times, including for online concerts, but otherwise arena staff have taken the time to carry out maintenance programmes. But he remains cautious about the doors reopening. “We hope that from the second [half of the year] we can start to return to normal,” he says. “Specifically, from September, we can start hosting concerts, especially by domestic artists.” International artists will likely not return until 2022, he predicts.

“Protecting the health of all involved is a top priority for us and we will certainly comply with all effective regulations, whether on capacity, time-segregated entrances to all sectors, temperMagazine

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Feature_EAA 30th Anniversary ature measurement, staff testing and, of course, regular disinfection,” continues Schaffer.

At the SEC in Glasgow, which includes the SSE Hydro Arena on its campus, director of live entertainment Debbie McWilliams notes that because it hosted a temporary hospital during the pandemic, staff have benefitted from National Health Service advice when planning for the venue’s return to action.

“We are fortunate to have the input of NHS Scotland as they have implemented best practice in managing hygiene and cleaning of the NHS Louisa Jordan [hospital],” she says.

And McWilliams acknowledges that instilling confidence among fans will be a major part of the rebuilding process. “Customer communi-

“From autumn, and at the latest in the fourth quarter, business must be running again to some extent, otherwise we see black for the future” Marion Schöne | Olympiapark

cation is pivotal in informing and encouraging responsible fan behaviour,” she says. “In partnership with Ticketmaster we have enhanced our ticket purchase process to include allocated entry arrival times, potential for carpark advanced bookings, a switch to fully mobile ticket delivery to support reduced contact entry, and we are transitioning all F&B and merchandising to cashless. Our comms plan is being developed to take cognisance of individual audience profiles and their needs.”

Meanwhile, in Paris, AccorHotels Arena director general Nicolas Dupeux applauds his team’s flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing situation. “Since last March, we have been able to organise a number of events,” he says. “The first one, in June, was part of the annual Fête de la Musique celebrations, broadcast on French television. In record time, we had to prepare to welcome more than 30 artists, and then reorganise in less than three days to welcome 3,000 people, taking into account all the sanitary measures.”

That ability to rapidly reorganise staff and systems to host major events is one of the arena sector’s unique skills. And facilitated by the communication networks that have developed through EAA membership, arena management across the continent are currently updating plans, often daily, for Covid-safe systems that will help relaunch their businesses and welcome fans back into their buildings.

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EAA PAST

The European Arenas Association began life in 1991, thanks to two brand new buildings – Stockholm’s Globe and the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Globe CEO Stefan Holmgren was visited by his Palau Sant Jordi equivalent, Jordi Vallverdú, and their discussions led them to contact a number of existing venues to find out if there was any appetite for a specialist trade body. Oslo’s Spektrum, which was also brand new, became a founding member, while London’s historic Wembley Arena made up the fourth pillar of the association at the inaugural meeting held in June 1991 at the Globe in Sweden.

As word quickly spread around the venues community, the Rotterdam Ahoy became the next EAA member and invites were extended to arenas in other territories and participation began to spread far and wide.

In IQ’s 20th birthday issue, Holmgren said the exchange of information allowed arena CEOs to keep tabs on events outside their markets, allowing them to identify any potential problems with incoming shows. “You could talk to these cities about what their income and costs were, what sort of publicity they received,” said Holmgren. “You had a good understanding as to whether it was possible in Stockholm or Amsterdam or wherever.”

Initially, EAA membership was something of a closed shop, with only one arena per country permitted to join.

Thankfully, as the arenas business has flourished throughout Europe, those restrictions were dropped to the extent that the likes of Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom today all have multiple members contributing to the network.

EAA first occupied an office in Wembley, then Barcelona, before moving to The Netherlands where it was overseen for many years by The Ahoy’s Wim Schipper. Biannual meetings were hosted by different venues and, prior to the pandemic, typically involved two nights and three days of meetings, also allowing information exchanges below CEO level for the likes of technical directors, marketing directors, press officers and production chiefs.

The association reorganised in 1988 and instituted board elections every two years, formalising what was previously a looser association. In 2006, another changing of the guard, led by new president Jos van der Vegt, CEO of the Ahoy, became the catalyst for exponential growth, taking membership from around a dozen venues to 30 in just five years. “We were proactive – we looked at the map of Europe, figured out which countries we didn’t have, then we phoned them,” said Van der Vegt, at the time.

Now the Ahoy’s non-executive president and major shareholder, Van der Vegt contends that the EAA helped to change the face of the continent’s tour circuit. “When I took over at the Ahoy from Wim Schippers, I was very enthusiastic about the EAA,” he says. “Most of the arena managers simply ran the venues and someone else promoted the shows, so we were all very open and honest and would talk about things like catering and dealing with the arena owners, who for the most part were the local councils.

“We would have guest speakers present to the EAA board and that was always interesting. For instance, I remember the boss of Cirque du Soleil, who then used their own tents to host shows, predicting that the shows would one day

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EAA 30th Anniversary_Feature tour arenas – which, of course, they did, very successfully.”

Van der Vegt highlights the levels of trust that the EAA has instilled among venue hierarchy. “Whenever we had a special issue in the Ahoy, I could call a colleague in Barcelona or London and ask them if they recognised the problem, and if so, could they advise me on how they handled it.

That’s a fantastic tool to have in our business.”

He adds, “Of course, now, the EAA is more important than ever because of Covid, and the conversations that are going on behind the scenes will be critical in making sure the arenas business returns in a healthy and successful way.”

association. “Accepting a new member unfortunately requires a full EAA meeting, so that has had to remain on hold, for the time being.”

EAA FUTURE

When IQ marked the EAA’s 20th anniversary back in 2011, the organisation found itself at something of a crossroads in terms of whether it was going to review its membership structure to allow other venues to participate. Fast forward a decade and similar debates are ongoing, as EAA members comprehend that post-Covid, the more buildings the association represents, the more political potency it might have when lobbying policy makers.

The quiet formation of the Arenas Resilience Alliance (ARA) has already opened doors that were previously inaccessible to the EAA, with venues management working hard behind the scenes to foster fledgling relationships with European politicians and regulators.

“It was actually two-and-a-half years ago that our subcommittee initiated conversations with the cultural departments of the European Commission,” reveals Olivier Toth. “As part of the EAA, our remit is all about sharing knowledge about best practice at arenas, but one of the subcommittee’s original goals was to find out how member arenas could participate in EU projects and how the EAA and the EU could give added value to each other.”

Those discussions with European Commission departments proved helpful to both sides, and Toth and his Northern Ireland-based colleague, Robert Fitzpatrick, began to develop relationships in Brussels, which have proved invaluable over the past year when Covid disrupted business activities.

Fitzpatrick believes the subcommittee’s growth into the Arena Resilience Alliance shows a real statement of intent on behalf of the venues sector. “This is the first time that industry professionals have banded together to have conversations with policy makers in Brussels, but it’s from a rudimentary base – we’ve basically had two arenas lobbying, but we’ve already achieved decent results by winning the ears of MEPs and European Commissioners,” reports Fitzpatrick.

His SSE Arena Belfast colleague, Adrian Doyle, notes, “The ARA is designed to be nimble and agile. We’ve managed to get to the heart of power in Brussels and get our foot in the door. Our job now is to ensure we have a place at the table when it comes to cultural policy making, and to try to represent our industry in a consistent manner.”

Toth adds, “We want to disconnect lobbying from the pure ‘money ask’ and I think we are already achieving that with the initial ARA work in Europe. Like everyone else in the EAA and the wider live entertainment industry, we are passionate about what we do and I believe that can serve us well as we step up our lobbying initiatives in the future.”

For his part, EAA president Langford recognises that the ARA’s remit will be crucially important to its parent body in the future, and the more cities, countries and venues that it can represent, the better chance its lobbying can become an effective exercise. “The growth of the EAA is important and we will hopefully look at what the composition of membership looks like going forward. That long-term strategy will definitely be high on the agenda when we’re able to kickstart operations, post-Covid,” Langford adds.

JOS VAN DER VEGT ROTTERDAM AHOY

YEARS EAA PRESENT

Presiding over the EAA during this most challenging period, Langford tells IQ that when he accepted the role, he had three clear goals that he wanted to accomplish during his two-year tenure: the European agenda, sustainability, and technology and innovation.

“To be honest, we have not been great, historically, at engaging with the political establishment, so I wanted to tap into what the EU agenda was, as regards culture, and we started that conversation through a subcommittee more than a year ago,” explains Langford.

“Our subcommittee was working on lobbying initiatives prior to the pandemic, but because of Covid it became obvious very quickly that the live community was not well-organised when it came to talking to politicians and policy makers. Robert Fitzpatrick from the SSE Arena Belfast and Olivier Toth from Rockhal in Luxembourg have led on that initiative and have done some great work so far, which, during the pandemic, has morphed into the Arena Resilience Alliance.”

Indeed, Langford believes one positive aspect of the pandemic has been the way in which colleagues and peers have started to think more strategically about the longterm health of the live entertainment sector. “It’s heartening to see how – admittedly out of necessity – the live sector has developed a number of trade bodies, such as LIVE in the UK, and there are now similar organisations all over Europe and around the world. That gives us a foundation for conversations with politicians, and it’s important we develop and nurture those relationships,” Langford observes.

As for his wishes to improve on sustainability and technological innovation, he acknowledges that such goals will have to wait until the pandemic restrictions end. However, he hopes that, long-term, the EAA will adopt certain environmental sustainability standards that all venues would have to subscribe to in order to be EAA members. “Covid has set this back by at least a year,” states Langford, “but I would like to see the EAA develop a charter for sustainability that existing members would sign up for, and new venues would have to meet in order to be considered as potential EAA members.”

Despite being unable to organise its biannual in-person EAA meetings during 2020, the association instead has hosted numerous catch-up Zoom calls to help members navigate the ever-changing Covid pandemic restrictions.

And in an effort to relieve some of the pressure, Langford reveals, “We cancelled all membership fees for 2020 and 2021,” while he also tells IQ that there are a number of potential new arenas eagerly awaiting the chance to join the

ROBERT FITZPATRICK SSE ARENA BELFAST

OLIVER TOTH ROCKHAL

ADRIAN DOYLE SSE ARENA BELFAST Magazine

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Feature_EAA 30th Anniversary The Olympiahalle in MĂźnich has been able to make use of the outdoor areas in the Olympiapark to host events

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EAA 30th Anniversary_Feature

The Recovery

While there is still no set date that will allow arenas to reopen for business, the EAA’s members are working tirelessly to ensure they remain up to speed with government guidance, as well as best practice procedures advocated by the association.

AccorHotels Arena boss Dupeux sums up the role EAA will have in the venues sector recovery.

“Being part of the EAA gives us a great space to exchange with other venues that face the same challenges – managing venues and re-welcoming our fans – and this has proven extremely useful, especially in the current context. Membership also gives us access to industry benchmarks on recovery stimulus and actions. Being that our venue is so large and specific, EAA is the only space available to do this on a European level.”

Highlighting just how eager he is to kickstart the recovery, Dupeux discloses, “We have been working since the first lockdown on our reopening protocols to ensure the strictest respect for health and safety: social distancing, reinforced cleaning and disinfection procedures, establish-

corona [rapid testing], as well as further studies that show that events can be held safely.”

In Scotland, McWilliams is equally realistic about the path to doors opening. “Assessing the year ahead, we expect promoter focus to be on the summer and the crucial return of festivals.

We expect arena business to return in September following a successful festival programme,” she reports.

Noting that forecasts are reliant on the success of the UK’s vaccine programmes, McWilliams explains, “Following this timeline, we are working with Scottish government on a road map back to full capacity, which will include some test events at reduced capacities, building to full capacity.”

Arēna Riga’s Krastins is similarly pragmatic about the coming year. “Our plan for this year is mainly sports,” he states. “We will probably host the World Championship in ice hockey (with or without spectators) in May till June, then some international competitions in ‘bubble’ format, and then the regular ice hockey season starts in August. And if shows resume in September or October, we will be ready. In general, I feel that 2021 will be better than 2020, but definitely nowhere close to 2019.”

In Germany, AEG’s Frommhold is also counting on a revival in the second half of the year. “We are clearly looking at late Q3 and Q4 for larger crowds to be allowed back into the venues,” he comments.

“Currently, a lot of shows and concerts are moving out of 2021 into 22.

“In Berlin and Hamburg we are in ongoing conversations with local and regional promoters

“In general, I feel that 2021 will be better than 2020, but definitely nowhere close to 2019” Girts Krastins | Arēna Riga

ing one-way circulation paths, implementing mandatory face-covering rules and deploying hand-sanitiser stations. Our protocol was successfully tested last June.

“On the digital side of things, we have sped the deployment of our touchless solutions (click&collect and cashless payment) to be ready for reopening. We are also ready to gradually reopen with design offers for production with smaller gauges, all with a ready-to-use setup to limit costs.”

Addressing her expectations for the coming year, Marion Schöne at Olympiapark in Münich, comments, “In our economic plan for 2021, we have assumed that we will not have any operations in the first quarter; from the second quarter, we hope to be able to reopen our tourism facilities but with limited capacities, and in the summer, the first open-air concerts and festivals must be possible again, albeit with conditions.”

But she warns, “From autumn, and at the latest in the fourth quarter, business must be running again to some extent, otherwise we see black for the future.

“We are represented in various nationwide working groups and are trying to convince politicians to develop a roadmap for the restart, together with the event industry. Our great hopes are the vaccinations, certified and inexpensive

about shows with limited capacity, whenever this is allowed, to bridge the gap to the start of regular touring. We are hoping for May for such shows to take place, but that is hard to predict.

Obviously, a sustained business case and social distancing are mutually exclusive, but those events would send a positive message and get people working,” observes Frommhold Altice Arena chief Jorge Vinha da Silva is more optimistic that science can help reduce the impact of Covid-19 and allow mass gatherings to become commonplace again. “I hope by mid-year we can start recovering, especially in the third and fourth quarter when I hope our venues progressively return to full capacity with the evolution of the vaccination process or by mass [use] rapid testing.

“I believe events will return first in a regional setting, as one of the most important factors is to rebuild consumer confidence and none of us can really evaluate the effect of an inevitable economic crisis. On the other hand, after the pandemic, everyone will be willing to share collective experiences such as concerts and festivals and this will be positive for the industry.”

Advocating “Clear, consistent, positive messaging on all customer touchpoints,” McWilliams agrees with Silva’s summary and concludes that ticket pricing could be a key factor to the success of the industry’s relaunch.

“Fan research confirms there is pent-up demand for live events, however, we need to be aware of the impact on consumer disposable income levels,” she warns. “In a post-Covid world, there may be lots of choice but attendance could be stifled by a change in purchase practice, with consumers displaying self-protection and a need for security in their spending habits. If ticket prices were lower for a period of time this may help mitigate risk.”

CONTRIBUTORS

JUAN CARBONEL | PALACIO VISTALEGRE, NICOLAS DUPEUX | ACCORHOTELS ARENA, UWE FROMMHOLD | AEG GIRTS KRASTINS | ARĒNA RIGA, JOHN LANGFORD | EAA, DEBBIE McWILLIAMS | SEC, ROBERT SCHAFFER | O2 ARENA, PRAGUE MARION SCHÖNE | OLYMPIAPARK, JORGE VINHA DA SILVA | ALTICE ARENA, MANTAS VEDRICKAS | ŽALGIRIO ARENA

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THE NEWZ NORMAL 38

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Post-Covid Pioneers_New Zealand

The way in which New Zealand has dealt with the coronavirus is the envy of the world.

Live events are allowed without restrictions, but those working in the country tell Gordon Masson that true success will depend on the rest of the world defeating the virus.

W Promoter Breaking Beats brought The Upbeats to the TSB Arena in Wellington on 25 July

hen IQ catches up with Stuart Clumpas, he is at the wedding of Live Nation New Zealand chief Mark Kneebone, and the following morning is flying his plane to Queenstown for an outdoor gig. “How very New Zealand-of-the-moment is that?” he comments, adding how fortunate he feels to be in a place that has dealt so well with the pandemic.

“What New Zealand has been able to do, by a combination of fortuitous positioning on the planet, a little bit of taking a punt and getting it right, and just a very cooperative element throughout society, is to stop Covid in its tracks, and then put up strict-but-fair barriers to prevent the virus getting into the country,” says Clumpas.

However, while going to a gig

remains all but a dream for billions of people around the world, the reality in the Land of the Long White Cloud is that live music professionals are suffering from some of the same issues as their peers in nations where concerts remain banned.

Indeed, never has the term Kiwi been more appropriate, as the national icon is a flightless bird, very much symbolising the current dilemma. “I feel like I’m the living embodiment of The Truman Show,” confesses Clumpas. “We’re in a bubble that nobody can leave or get into.”

Former Live Nation chairman Clumpas, who still consults for the company but otherwise runs Auckland’s 12,000-capacity Spark Arena and sister venue The Tuning Fork (cap. 375), contends that New Zealand’s ‘new normal’ comes with caveats. “It’s normal to all extents and purposes, but there is an uncomMagazine

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New Zealand_Post-Covid Pioneers fortable feeling or an unease behind it; everybody knows that it ain’t the norm, even though you go about life being normal… it’s hard to explain.

“In terms of business, though, we’re able to have shows without restrictions, as there is no community Covid here.”

(At press time, the New Zealand government announced that a 56-year-old woman who had completed the compulsory two-week quarantine had subsequently returned a positive test. She was ordered to self isolate at home.)

Staging Shows

While anyone remotely interested in live entertainment might be looking enviously at the freedoms the people of New Zealand are enjoying, for those working in the territory the reality is a lot more fragile. Clumpas, for instance, reports that Spark Arena’s business is 85% down, while others disclose similar struggles.

“Covid-19 [has] had a massive impact on the number of events we’ve been able to deliver. Since lockdown we have hosted 61 performance events in our venues; for the same date range in the previous year we hosted more than 130 events,” reports Gus Sharp, event sales and planning manager for WellingtonNZ, which through its

Kicking off at Waitangi on 16 January, Six60 and promoter Eccles Entertainment are enjoying the biggest tour of the summer © Fred Rood, Elite Image

Venues Wellington division operates six buildings: Michael Fowler Centre (capacity 2,500 seated); TSB Arena (cap 6,000); Shed 6 (1,400); The Opera House (1,388 seated); the Wellington Town Hall, (2,200 mixed); and the St James Theatre (1,700 seated).

Sharp continues, “The largest single night event we delivered was a drum and bass rave at the TSB Arena which, on the night, had a capacity of 4,000.”

Detailing Live Nation New Zealand’s post-Covid journey, managing director Mark Kneebone, recalls, “We started off with smaller shows like the Together Again series which were among the first socially distanced shows in the world, which we kicked off at the Tuning Fork, Auckland in late May 2020.

“Initially, the capacity for the events were 100 people, including all staff. These events were all seated, with fans in pods, and with lots of health and safety precautions such as temperature checks, socially distanced seating, table service, staff wearing PPE and contact tracing.

“As the situation in the country became under control and restrictions were lifted, shows could happen at full scale again and we were back on the road as quickly as we could be.”

“We have not escaped unscathed – even the relatively short disruption has had a huge influence on the industry and we are still feeling the effects” Gus Sharp | WellingtonNZ

NEW ZEALAND’S COVID TIMELINE 40

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28 FEBRUARY 2020

First Covid-19 case reported in New Zealand.

14 MARCH 2020

Government announces anyone entering New Zealand must self-isolate for 14 days, except those arriving from the Pacific.

19 MARCH 2020

All indoor gatherings of more than 100 people are cancelled. Borders close to all but New Zealand citizens and permanent residents.

21 MARCH 2020

Government introduces the four-tiered Alert Level system to help combat the virus.

The Prime Minister announces that New Zealand is at Alert Level 2.

23 MARCH 2020

Prime Minister announces New Zealand has moved to Alert Level 3, effective immediately. In 48 hours, New Zealand will move to Alert Level 4.

Post-Covid Pioneers_New Zealand

25 MARCH 2020

New Zealand moves to Alert Level 4, and the entire nation goes into selfisolation. A State of National Emergency is declared.

31 MARCH 2020

The State of National Emergency is extended. Further extensions are made on 2, 8, 15, 22 & 29 April and 5 May.

20 APRIL 2020

The Prime Minister announces New Zealand will remain at Alert Level 4 for an additional five days and then Alert Level 3 for two weeks, before the status is reviewed.

27 APRIL 2020

New Zealand moves to Alert Level 3.

4 MAY 2020

No new cases of Covid-19 are reported in New Zealand.

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New Zealand_Post-Covid Pioneers Kneebone continues, “The biggest headline show we did in 2020 was Benee, with the tour covering eight shows ranging from theatre to arena level in four cities across NZ, and included two sold out shows at Spark Arena.” On the festival front, Live Nation benefitted from the demand for entertainment outdoors at its 29-31 December Rhythm & Vines festival, which with an all-Kiwi line up, selling more than 25,000 tickets and attracting 83,000 attendees across the four days.

Away from music, WellingtonNZ also hosted the world premiere of Digital Nights – Van Gogh Alive, an outdoor digital projection exhibition of works by Vincent van Gogh. “It had more than 44,000 people through the gates,” says Sharp. “This was a fantastic outcome considering that for part of the eight-week season, crowds were unavoidably limited to no more than 100 people a session.”

Creativity has also been a challenge at Spark Arena, where Clumpas flags up a successful beer festival. “We also had to create our own gigs, which is something that others elsewhere might want to look at,” he says, citing the world’s biggest ever pub gig, which was organised in partnership with promoter Eccles Entertainment.

“This harks back to the 80s when the likes of INXS and Midnight Oil would play to 2,000 people in these huge pubs – nobody would pay to get in but they’d all come in and drink like hell,” explains Clumpas.

“It was Brent Eccles’ idea, where he put on all these Kiwi bands who were big in the 80s. It was fabulous – we had 3,000 people and because we didn’t have an international

11 MAY 2020

The Prime Minister outlines the plan to move to Alert Level 2.

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13 MAY 2020

Spark Arena in Auckland has introduced Covid tests at the venue’s entrances

touring production manager to deal with, we ran the room and we were able to do a whole bunch of shit that never in a month of Sundays we would have been allowed to do – and people absolutely loved it.

“For example, there’s a famous takeaway hamburger caravan called The White Lady in central Auckland where people go in the early hours on their way home after a big night. We brought The White Lady into the venue and put it at the back of the room. And above the stage, Brent had this video screen on a loop, saying ‘No shorts or stubbies or jandals allowed in this bar, mate.

Get too drunk and you’re fucking getting chucked out.’ The bands love it, and every punter who came

New Zealand moves to Alert Level 2. The State of National Emergency ends.

8 JUNE 2020

The Ministry of Health reports that there are no more active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. The country moves to Alert Level 1.

up to me thought it was hilarious and begged us to do it again.”

Eccles, too, was thrilled at the success of the format. “We’ll definitely do it again,” he tells IQ. “In fact, I have plans to take the idea to Australia, when it’s possible.”

Delighting at the details of the event, Eccles says, “All the bars were on the floor of the arena, like a pub, and we had signage up for legendary 80s places like The Globe, the Windsor Castle and the Gluepot, which don’t exist any more.

Such ingenuity is needed because New Zealand’s limited talent pool has already been used – to great effect – but venues throughout the country are struggling to fill their many vacant diary dates.

11 AUGUST 2020

Four new cases of Covid-19 are recorded in the community.

12 AUGUST 2020

Boosting the Domestic Scene

There are, of course, silver linings.

Clumpas points to the amazing production support that has flourished thanks to all of the international tours that have visited New Zealand in the last decade.

“Our local acts have worked incredibly hard to deliver some great shows, and they are boosted by getting to work with that state-of-theart production gear so they can look and sound as good in an arena as any of the international acts,” he says.

“We’ve certainly seen some homegrown success stories come out of 2020,” agrees Sharp. “The 4,000-capacity rave mentioned earlier was a purely domestic line-

Auckland region moves to Alert Level 3. The rest of New Zealand moves to Alert Level 2.

14 AUGUST 2020

The Prime Minister announces that Auckland will remain at Alert Level 3, and the rest of New Zealand will remain at Alert Level 2 for 12 more days.

Post-Covid Pioneers_New Zealand up: that’s something that probably wouldn’t have happened before Covid reared its ugly head.

“We’ve also had homegrown superstars such as Benee doing three sold-out nights in a row in one of our GA venues. The demand for homegrown talent is a fantastic thing to see and may well be ushering in a golden era for New Zealand performers and audiences.”

Live Nation’s Kneebone observes, “Demand has been really strong as we came out of lockdown which has been great to see.

“We of course wanted to give extra thought and messaging around health and safety precautions.

There will never be a one-sized fits all approach for marketing, so we continue to partner closely with artist teams to determine the right strategy. We’ve found things work smoothest when fans have all the details upfront so their expectations are aligned from the onset.”

Kneebone also tips his hat to the way in which home-grown talent has stepped up to entertain their fellow citizens. “Domestic acts have the spotlight to themselves at the moment and are headlining all the festivals around the country,” he notes.

“Fans have been incredibly supportive of that, too, which means the industry can keep the wheels turning while enjoying all the best that Kiwi talent has to offer.”

Although he is the New Zealand representative of Australian giant Frontier Touring, Eccles has had no acts from that agreement to promote during the last few months.

However, Eccles Entertainment was established in 2000 and has been built on a roster of Kiwi talent

30 AUGUST 2020

Auckland moves to Alert Level 2, with extra restrictions on travel and gatherings. The rest of New Zealand remains at Alert Level 2.

that has helped its founders retain all their employees throughout the pandemic. Indeed, with local act Six60 in the midst of a stadium tour that has sold 120,000 tickets, the company has the biggest tour of the NZ summer.

“Six60 are capable of selling out Western Springs, which is 50,000 capacity and a hallowed ground, as its had gigs by the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Bob Marley – all the massive acts – so they are huge in New Zealand,” he says.

Looking ahead, Eccles is having to pull on all his experience to come up with new and unique ways to maintain interest for his roster of domestic talent. “I don’t want to give away any secrets, but I’ve been asking the acts if there is somewhere they’ve always wanted to play, or some other act they’d love to work with,” he reveals. “You’ve got to offer something unique, especially after it starts to get cold here in April. But I’m really excited, as there are a lot of challenges to deal with and it’s going to be an exciting year for New Zealand artists.”

The ability to rely on domestic talent has given the industry a lifeline, although it appears to be a limited one. Recalling the shows at Spark Arena with Benee, Clumpas notes that fans were generally being a little more conscious of each other’s personal space. “Perceptively you can see people standing a little bit further away in the queue and not in each other’s face. And instead of rushing the door, there was a calmness as they gave each other a bit more space.”

Indeed, such considerate audience behaviour prompted Clumpas to allow the audience to choose how they wanted to experience

21 SEPTEMBER 2020

All regions, except Auckland, move to Alert Level 1.

23 SEPTEMBER 2020

Auckland moves to Alert Level 2, without extra restrictions on travel and gatherings.

“I’m hopeful that we will no longer see tours with 247 people on them, where artists might tour with a core of maybe 30 or 40…”

Stuart Clumpas | Spark Arena

the concerts. “We had what we call free-flow, where nothing is allocated, and that allows people to stand for a bit, then go grab a seat. So it’s up to them if they want to go and sit at the front or the back. And it worked really well.”

The arena’s sparse booking calendar also allowed some imaginative formatting for Benee’s visit. Judging that she would sell about 10,000 tickets, the decision was made to spread that across two nights. “It was Benee’s first tour and rather than do 10k on one night, when she’d never even played to half that, her management, who are smart boys, decided to do two shows at 5.5k as that wasn’t so daunting for the artist,” says Clumpas. “We took the view that we could do anything – even a whole number of nights at 2,000-cap, because we weren’t doing anything else.”

Skills Shortage

Around the world, one of the key issues that the live entertainment business is having to face when it returns is a lack of personnel to kickstart operations.

Thousands of industry professionals have been made redundant throughout the pandemic, while others have simply moved into new areas of employment so that they can pay the bills, creating a significant

7 OCTOBER 2020

Auckland moves to Alert Level 1. All of New Zealand is now at Alert Level 1 and, at IQ’s press time, remains at this lowest level of caution.

headache for event organisers whenever the green light for mass gatherings is given. And despite a busy outdoor season currently underway, it seems colleagues in New Zealand are already facing identical problems.

Detailing the precarious nature of the NZ recovery, Clumpas explains: “Unlike in the UK, we have a very thin local market and that goes back to the fact that the business here used to be run out of Australia, bringing in loads of bands from overseas but never developing a local market.

“At arena level, we only have four or five bands that can sell-out half an arena, and the biggest comedian here can maybe sell 3,000 tickets, so we’ve kind of run out of talent: business is down by about 85% and we’ve had to lay people off because we don’t have enough things to put on at the arena.”

Sharp comments, “We have not escaped unscathed – even the relatively short disruption has had a huge influence on the industry and we are still feeling the effects.”

But, as with countless businesses around the planet, WellingtonNZ and its affiliates have been collaborating with others to try to mitigate the pain. “As a public organisation, our focus is on helping our partners through,” pledges Sharp. “We took an approach of leniency with contracts and generally acknowledged the completely unprecedented situation. This proved to be the right way to deal with the situation as it generated good will and strengthened relationships, both of which will bear fruit as the impacts of Covid on the sector start to recede.”

A Team of Five Million

The willingness of the population to cooperate is key to New Zealand’s fight to keep the virus out, according to Scotland-born Clumpas, who emigrated to Auckland in Magazine

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New Zealand_Post-Covid Pioneers 2002. “One of the first things that struck me about living in New Zealand is that there is a really strong community feel among its citizens, no matter who they are, rich or poor. And with Covid, everyone realised we are all in this together,” says Clumpas.

Highlighting that communal attitude, Clumpas refers to the Grab & Go facilities at Spark Arena, which relies on audience honesty to help themselves to food and drink and then pay before entering the auditorium. “It lets people move more quickly at the intervals and, of course, Kiwis pay – they would not dream of taking stuff and not paying. It’s remarkable but it sums up society here.

“Our prime minister, Jacinda [Ardern], referred to it as ‘a team of five million.’ It’s a genuine thing where people understand this is for the good of your fellow man, so they play the game. I find that hugely different to the US or the UK, where people might ignore the government because they don’t like their politics or whatever.”

Demand & Supply

While industry leaders in Asia, Europe and the Americas speculate that the pent up demand of live music fans will propel the business back toward profit when the pandemic restrictions are lifted, it’s interesting to gauge how the Kiwis have handled their restart.

WellingtonNZ’s Sharp contends that marketing is still crucial to selling tickets, although “in the immediate post-lockdown period we did see huge enthusiasm for a return to live events and tickets flew out the door,” he admits. “The second lockdown definitely shook confidence, but overall we are seeing similar ticket-buying patterns to pre-Covid times.”

Eccles is revelling in those promoting challenges, citing his biggest pub gig strategy as an example where he captured the imagination of ticket buyers. “We had a unique way of marketing the pub gig using The Sound radio station,” says Eccles. “We went on air with 100 tickets priced at $29.90 to announce the event, then as each band was announced we went to $39.90 for the

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Benee’s first tour included two dates at New Zealand’s biggest indoor venue, Spark Arena

next 100 tickets, then $49.90, right up to $79.90 when we revealed the headliner, and that kept people’s interest all the way through.

“It was great fun and allowed people to remember the old days, as well as seeing the bands they used to see in those pubs back in the 80s.”

Underlining the local appetite to find entertainment, Sharp adds, “Overall attendance has been similar to what we’d expect in any other year. It shows that New Zealand crowds have confidence that they can safely enjoy events, which they continued to voraciously attend.”

International Artists

New Zealand’s strict border controls make it tricky for anyone who is not a citizen of the country to visit. It’s not impossible for overseas acts to perform shows, but it’s not simple, either.

Sharp says international acts can secure a border exemption place on

the grounds of their importance to the local events industry. “These exemptions aren’t granted lightly, but they do show [that] the government understands the importance of live events to both the cultural and economic wellbeing of the country.”

But outlining some of the hurdles, Clumpas explains, “For anyone to get into the country now, you first have to book a space in the quarantine hotel, three months in advance. When your flight arrives, you go straight from the airport in a bus to the hotel, which is fenced off. The army run the thing and you are there for two weeks in managed self-isolation. If you leave without permission, you face three months in jail.”

WellingtonNZ has benefitted from a number of acts who have taken the time to process through the quarantine procedures. “We had Belgian drum and bass DJ Alix Perez play in November, and UK DJ Sub Focus on 7 January, both play-

ing to sold-out crowds,” says Sharp.

Elsewhere, the Wellington-based organisation has focused on securing alternative format events that can run for multiple weeks, such as Grande Experiences’ Van Gogh Alive concept. “The exhibition was staged twice in New Zealand. The first was Digital Nights – Van Gogh Alive, which was the first time it had been held outdoors. It proved so popular that it returned for a run of indoor exhibitions at venues throughout the country,” says Sharp.

And with Spark Arena remaining dark for much of the time, Clumpas is currently exploring the idea of hosting dance events. “Perhaps by getting overseas DJs to go to their local club to set-up a video link so they can play to Auckland – they see us, we see them. I don’t think you can do that with a band because they need the interaction, but it might work with a DJ set,” he muses.

To attract others to physically visit, Spark Arena’s management

Post-Covid Pioneers_New Zealand

“In our experience, the market didn’t come back as hard as people thought it would – it eased back in” Brent Eccles | Eccles Entertainment

is even looking at getting into the hotel business. “We have an idea to set-up luxury accommodation that we can run in conjunction with the army and security firms, and we pay for it,” says Clumpas. “So maybe we set up 20 suites where we can bring in an artist and they can rehearse there and stuff but keep isolated. It means that anyone who is prepared to come in and maybe do ten dates in 3,000-seater theatres, will be able to do that. I like to think we can get there.”

But looking at bigger international tours making their way to NZ is not on the cards, even though the likes of Six60 are visiting stadia. “We don’t have the likes of 140 crew places for people going into managed isolation, because we don’t have enough nurses and health professionals to manage the facilities,” Clumpas clarifies. “New Zealand is only five million people and you run out of people fairly quickly here. So part of the issue is

working out how we can scale up while making sure we retain that watertight border.”

Lessons

As the only significant market to properly reopen after a national lockdown, New Zealand has the eyes of the world on it, as live entertainment peers examine its successes and failures to try to piece together their own strategies for relaunch.

Sharp applauds everyone that WellingtonNZ has worked with over the past few months for being flexible enough to reorganise their operations, name-checking the likes of Live Nation, Frontier and TEG; homegrown promoters Eccles Entertainment, Liberty Stage, Breaking Beats and Plus One; and resident outfits such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal New Zealand Ballet.

“Everyone, through to our smaller promoters and community organisations, has been deeply affected

by the pandemic and shown their resiliency and adaptability in rolling with the punches,” he observes.

Our NZ professionals, meanwhile, warn others around the world not to bank too heavily on a surge of interest when markets come out of lockdown. “There’s no pent-up demand with people thinking I must see loads of gigs,” says Clumpas. “But that might be different in the US or the UK or Europe, because we were not locked up for that long compared to elsewhere.”

Eccles agrees. “In our experience, the market didn’t come back as hard as people thought it would – it eased back in,” he tells IQ. “Demographics-wise, if the show is aimed at kids, or even teens into the late-20s, then they don’t seem to care. But the older age groups are definitely more wary.”

Sharing some of the negative lessons Eccles Entertainment has learned, he continues, “Looking back at 2020, when we came out of lockdown, we experienced quite a bit of attrition, which was hard to take. So, for a show where we’d originally sold 4,000 tickets, maybe only 2,000 actually turned up on the night for the rescheduled gig. It was quite demoralising.”

But there have also been some pleasant surprises. “We’ve seen some strange behaviour where pre-sales were soft but the general sale was strong. That’s the exact opposite of what you’d expect and I’d never come across any pattern like that before. It’s very odd and I can’t explain why it happened.”

Sharp comments, “The NZ market is recovering well – we’ve seen a strong appetite for live events, which has largely been a result of the competent handling of the crisis by the New Zealand government.

“Having coped so well (so far, at least), it may be easier for us to see things in a more positive light. But there really isn’t much use looking at it any other way.”

It’s a precarious situation though, and Eccles is all too aware that the business is constantly on the precipice. “One thing is for sure, if we have another lockdown in New Zealand, then all the confidence in the market will go,” he states.

Clumpas concurs, but he be-

lieves a better touring industry may emerge in the long run. “What it might do, going forward, is that audiences might be more demanding in their expectations. So, bluntly, the venues that take care of the fans and who have got their shit together will do fine or probably better. But it could flag-up some of the venues that have been slack, as people will be more discerning and make choices on how safe they feel, according to the customer service they’ve experienced in the past.

“We will get out of this, but will the business be the same? I’m not so sure,” laments Clumpas. “But I’m hopeful that we will no longer see tours with 247 people on them, where artists might tour with a core of maybe 30 or 40, with advance teams of ten who go to a territory early and get local people to do a lot of the work. It would mean a shift but not necessarily fewer jobs: just less people touring, complemented by more people in each territory, which would mean much less of a carbon footprint, as well as giving places like New Zealand a real chance to grow.”

CONTRIBUTORS

STUART CLUMPAS | SPARK ARENA BRENT ECCLES | FRONTIER TOURING/ECCLES ENTERTAINMENT MARK KNEEBONE | LIVE NATION NEW ZEALAND GUS SHARP | WELLINGTONNZ Magazine

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Your Shout

“What are you looking forward to most when life gets back to normal?”

TOP SHOUT

The lights going off in a full-capacity stadium, the cheer of the crowd, and the artist walking on stage.

Attie van Wy | Big Concerts International

In my private life, I look forward to a nice dinner together with friends and family. In my professional life, I cannot wait to hear the sound of steel again, being assembled to form a stage.

No matter how big, how spectacular; just simply hearing the sound of our material being used again to help create live events.

Michael Herbst | Stageco Deutschland

will be the greatest party on Earth. When I close my eyes, I see the smiling faces. I can’t wait!

Steve Jenner | Playpass

My little family has a collection of some 50 washable masks of various colourful designs. I plan a ceremony in the office garden where we burn them all...

Nick Hobbs | Charmenko

Getting on a flight [A holiday? - editor] like it’s a normal thing to do, so that I can see my (now 18-month-old) great niece and the rest of my family; hugging people; going to a show or a festival; hugging people; not wearing a mask when I leave the house; going to a bar and not having to be home for curfew at 10pm; hugging people.

Gillian Park | MGR Touring

Meeting great people and doing shows with them; seeing punters’ tears of enjoyment.

Richie Mattila | ISO

Football away days: mates… train… beer… pub… goals… limbs everywhere… more beer… train home… one more beer at the station…

Geoff Meall | Paradigm

Being able to understand what “normal” is.

Sol Parker | Paradigm

As much as I hate airports (or the people working there and being a pain in the a** most of the time), I miss traveling the most.

Christian Doll | C2 Concerts

What’s been propelling me through all this more than anything else is picturing how overwhelmingly magical it’s going to be when we get back into a festival field for the first time. Can you imagine? Bring on the rain, bring on Coldplay, smelly toilets, industrial lager, all the things we used to moan about – every field across the land

To start with, I would really enjoy meeting all my colleagues and friends in the industry again!

Sitting in the grass, sipping on a cold beer, in the sun, while some band plays their hearts out.

Steven Kroon | Pieter Smit

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The tube journey home from The 02, with all of the punters singing the songs they’ve just heard onstage…

John Giddings | Solo Agency Using my passport.

Rob Challice | Paradigm Seeing how the last show I attended was GHOST on Friday 22 November 2019, at Wembley Arena, I would like to see any show ASAP! John Jackson | K2 Agency Buying a pint of Fightback Lager in a grassroots music venue!

Gary Prosser | Music Venue Trust

Tearing up a mosh pit!

Alan Day | Kilimanjaro Live I am looking forward to freedom of travel. The world gets too small nowadays.

Jürgen Schlensog | Jazzopen Stuttgart I’m most looking forward to meeting colleagues again in real life; feeling the emotion when the stadium gets full and the show starts; realising and feeling the satisfaction of the audience after a concert, theatre, festival, or any other show; and being able to work again in normal circumstances to get our employees back to a regular income.

Michael Brombacher | Megaforce I’m looking forward to being part of a new renaissance of art and culture. The strength and truth of live art and entertainment will be cru-

cial for future generations in desperate need of hope, passion, work, and vision for their future.

It’s NOT all about money; it’s NOT all about our personal business; it’s about the life, heart and soul of the world we are living in.

Claudio Trotta | Barley Arts Coming face to face, without having to shy away, with all those fine people that make this business worthwhile being part of! I miss you all!

Allan McGowan | ILMC The thing I am looking forward to when things get back to normal is GETTING BACK TO NORMAL! Jake Berry | production manager Standing in a crowd in front of my seat, holding

a cold beer, with tears rolling down my cheeks, listening to those first notes played as we return to live…

Todd A Dyer | CAPS I hope that we can attend concerts safely without distance, and that in the summer, our festivals are moments where we celebrate life!

Luís Montez | Musica No Coraçao I’m so looking forward to feeling free to hug the people I love, to dance in a crowded club, and attending a live concert.

Most of all, I’m looking forward to going back to my busiest days with hundreds of emails and phone calls. I really miss that. Working!

Jennifer Sanavio | Sanavio International Artists Magazine

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THE WORLD’S TOP PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS IN A DAY OF DISCUSSION AND NETWORKING

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