IQ97

97 An ILMC Publication MARCH 2021 | £25 | €25

INDUSTRY CHIEFS ON THE COVID ANNIVERSARY

PLUS

UK SOUNDS & SHOWCASES ARAʼS OPERATION RESTART LIVE-STREAMING COMES OF AGE ILMC TECH SPOTLIGHT

IQ97 CONTENTS

Cover: Photos © AdobeStock Illustration Phil Millard

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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

ILMC Tech Spotlight Previewing half a dozen of the

products and services developers will

be presenting at this year’s conference Showcasing Talent Details of the 50+ acts showcasing their

talent at this year’s ILMC One Year On Gordon Masson talks to a cross-section

of the business for an industry health

check, 12 months into pandemic restrictions Streaming’s Bright Future Jon Chapple talks to live-streaming

pioneers to discover how they are

preparing for post-Covid life Rationale for a Resilient Return The Arena Resilience Alliance

launches its manifesto for the safe

return of live events

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State of Independents Sybil Bell recounts a challenging Independent Venue Week Turning Adversity into Opportunity Mark Bennett describes how he fought depression using self-care and positivity The Waiting Game Tone Østerdal highlights funding frustration in Norway’s live sector Your Shout Who was the most surprising person you met at a gig or added to a guest list?

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Rebecca Hale

THE SMASH HIT FILM CONCERTS & SPEAKER SERIES

Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Prasenjeet Yadav

Davide Bonadonna

Keith Ladzinski

David Gruber

Danielle Villasana

SYMPHONY FOR OUR WORLD

JANE IN CONCERT

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE SPEAKER SERIES

NOW AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE FROM IMG ARTISTS www.imgartists.com  Contact: Toby Tumarkin e: ttumarkin@imgartists.com

In Brief

UNDERVALUED, OVERLOOKED

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ebruary is always a tricky month at IQ Towers, what with production ramping up as we prepare for ILMC, while trying not to take our eyes off the magazine and, of course, delivering industry news. But given the pit that we continue to find ourselves in, this February has been even more challenging, although the pre-conference conversations have been truly uplifting and even inspiring, as the genuine optimism of professionals working in live events has buoyed even the gloomiest Scottish journalist.

One frustrating phenomena that has emerged during the past year is the response – or rather, the lack of response – from governments and politicians to the plight of the live entertainment industry and night-time economies. A comment that has stuck with me over the past few days is my friend Christof Huber’s observation, in the pages of this magazine, when he notes “One of the key jobs of a promoter is to plan events that keep everyone safe, but the governments are not using our expertise and instead they are relying on bureaucrats. If we could at least get a seat at the table with them, we could help come up with solutions.”

That for me sums up one of the key dilemmas that the industry has to change – and to be fair, there are monumental efforts everywhere to improve lobbying and get that seat at the table, wherever possible. However, I believe a more fundamental problem is at the root. These days, many of our parliamentarians are career politicians who have never had any kind of career outside of government. But they pontificate to the general population that they know best, while investing stupid amounts of their time and energy to cover up mistakes, rather than engaging with those who already have the tools and knowledge to deliver workable solutions.

When the inquiries are held in the coming years into how various governments conducted themselves during the Covid pandemic, who among us is going to be surprised by the headlines of the countless billions of pounds, euros, dollars, etc, that were plundered through contracts awarded to political donors, relations and friends?

And when corruption is the name of the game, earning that seat at the table is always going to be a marathon, rather than the sprint that is currently required.

For an honest appraisal of where we are and how people have been coping with the past year, I commend you to read our One Year On feature (page 28) for some fascinating lessons, as well as some experiences that lots of us will no doubt recognise.

Elsewhere in your March edition of IQ, Jon Chapple talks to a number of livestreaming pioneers to discover what life post-Covid might be for this exciting business sector (page 38).

For those trying to devise a strategy to return to business, the details in the Arena Resilience Alliance’s manifesto (page 44) should be mandatory reading, as should be tuning in to the organisation’s lunchtime session during ILMC on Wednesday 3 March.

Indeed, with IPM, GEI and ILMC just days away, if you haven’t already registered to attend – virtually, of course – then there’s still time, if you get your virtual skates on.

This year’s conferences will undoubtedly be the most important industry gathering we’ve ever hosted, as leaders from around the world debate how the business can plot a successful return.

I hope you will all join in the ILMC conversations and share your experiences – good and bad – by way of helping your peers and the live entertainment world at large get back to work.

ISSUE 97 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 Sybil Bell, Mark Bennett, Tone Østerdal 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

See you online.

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IN BRIEF INDEX The concert business digest

FEBRUARY Portugal’s music festivals look into the possibility of restricting entry to ‘bubbles’ of vaccinated fans as a way of enabling events to go ahead safely this summer.

Goldenvoice’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival will no longer take place this April after being issued with a cancellation order by local authorities.

French festivals meet with minister of culture, Roselyne Bachelot, as concern mounts over the impact of France’s ongoing state of emergency.

The Netherlands’ A State of Trance (ASOT) sells all 55,000 tickets for this September’s festival.

PRS for Music amends its controversial tariff for small-scale live-streamed shows, to exempt artists performing their own material.

The Competition and Markets Authority orders the partial unwinding of the $4billion (€3.3bn) merger of Viagogo and StubHub, which must sell its international business.

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Dutch festivals push back spring editions following the government’s pledge to provide cancellation insurance for events taking place in the second half of 2021.

German scientists release the results of the most positive study yet on whether detection dogs are able to reliably sniff out Covid-19 infection.

Montreux Jazz Festival will stream all future editions of the festival through Stingray’s Qello Concerts as part of a hybrid model.

Canada’s live music industry offers its venues, staff and logistical expertise towards the country’s vaccine rollout.

Radiohead bassist, Colin Greenwood, becomes the latest high-profile British artist to make the case for free movement for musicians in Europe.

Slovakian organisations offer assistance towards its government’s vaccination programme.

Dutch dance promoter ID&T hires Rosanne Janmaat as its new COO, capitalising on her 14 years of experience in the organisation.

Rapper 50 Cent and DJ Steve Aoki perform at Super Bowl parties where there are no masks or social distancing.

Fieldlab, the organisation spearheading the Back to Live test series in the Netherlands, reveals details on the open-air festival pilots.

One Fiinix Live, Jon Ollier’s new booking agency, has made its first hire, recruiting ex-Paradigm agent Jess Kinn.

Live Nation will sue insurer Factory Mutual for failing to cover its “unprecedented” losses as a result of the nearly year-long concert business shutdown.

South Coast Events Forum, a new industry association based on the south coast of the UK, launches.

Switzerland and Denmark become the latest European markets to call for a strategy that will pave the way to the festival summer.

The UK live industry urges the chancellor of the exchequer to keep the lower rate of VAT on tickets until after the business restarts.

StubHub and Viagogo will work with UK regulators to “implement the agreed-upon remedy” of selling off StubHub outside North America.

The Swedish government reveals plans to launch a digital coronavirus vaccine passport by this summer.

EEMA, one of India’s industry associations, has sharply criticised the government for making no provisions in its most recent budget for the live entertainment sector.

Altin Gün are the most popular European Talent Exchange Programme act of the year so far.

The Norwegian government commits NOK350million (€33m) to a cancellation insurance fund for festivals.

LIVE publishes an infographic showing country-by-country entry requirements for British musicians and crew.

Jukebox, a music PR agency, unveils its new-for-2021 brand identity, co-created with creative agency Muuv.

A French Covid expert says the risk of contamination in cultural places is lower than in home, work and school environments.

DEAG founder and CEO Peter Schwenkow says the return of outdoor and smaller indoor concerts in Germany is possible by July.

In Brief

TEG acquires a majority stake in Handsome Tours, a Sydneybased boutique tour and events promoter.

A research project by two British universities is awarded funding to investigate the monetisation of live-streaming concerts.

Latin music star Gilberto Santa Rosa plays three back-to-back, soldout shows in Florida, in some of the state’s first concerts of 2021.

A popular Brazilian singer is arrested after playing an unlicensed, non-socially distanced concert in a school.

Yourope calls for clear guidelines, a financial bailout plan, and proportionate measures to enable the ‘21 festival season.

Post Malone will headline a virtual concert celebrating 25 years of Pokémon on Pokémon Day, 27 February.

Italy prepares to host The Last Concert? campaign to highlight the increasingly uncertain future of music venues.

Ticketmaster launches global streaming platform Ticketmaster Livestream.

#SaveOurStages launches in Korea with an eight-day, five-venue benefit concert in aid of grassroots venues in Seoul.

London-based Various Artists Management promotes Rebecca Dixon to head of marketing and promotions.

Up to 2,300 companies in Finland’s live sector expect to permanently close in the next six months if financial support isn’t quickly provided.

The Flemish government designates a total of €60million to help the region’s organisers kickstart preparations for this summer’s festival season.

The Technical University of Berlin publishes a study showing that the risk of Covid-19 infection is very low in cultural places.

Event Management Forum presents Manifest Restart, a proposal that details a uniform approach to the safe reopening of events in Germany.

Universal Music Group and K-pop label YG Entertainment invest in live-streaming company KBYK Live.

UTA signs Nathan Evans, who found fame on TikTok for his rendition of the whaling ballad Soon May the Wellerman Come.

Wales’ best-known festivals band together to create free online event, Gŵyl (Festival) 2021.

Australia and Iceland announce plans for digital health passports that will show citizens’ Covid-19 vaccination and test status.

New York stadiums and arenas with a capacity of 10,000 upwards are allowed to reopen at 10% capacity from 23 February.

Brendan Biesen, ex-assistant to Erik Selz and Tom Windish at Paradigm Talent Agency, launches new agency Field Booking.

Pearle* publishes a new edition of its Map of Europe, which presents updates on the resumption of venues and live events across Europe.

BDKV chief Jens Michow reveals that the German federal government is planning to postpone its insurance scheme for event organisers.

French festival associations express concerns about a controversial new security bill that would allow offduty police to carry weapons.

K-pop platform, Universe, records 2.6 million views for its first online show.

Norwegian festivals benefit from the government’s latest round of compensation, amounting to more than NOK120m (€12m).

The French minister for culture says the upcoming test concerts will admit participants who tested positive for Covid-19 before the event.

The European Music Managers Alliance says European performance rights organisations cannot act unilaterally in imposing new tariffs for livestreamed shows.

More than 60,000 people apply for the 1,500 tickets available for the two experimental festivals being organised as part of the Netherlands’ Back to Live initiative.

Byron Bay Bluesfest is set to go ahead at around half its capacity after the government of New South Wales approves its Covid-19 safety plan.

CTS Eventim acquires a majority stake in new Berlin-based promoter DreamHaus and appoints Matt Schwarz as CEO and managing partner.

The French industry reacts to the government’s new festival framework, which restricts festivals to 5,000 seated guests.

The EAA’s Arena Resilience Alliance launches its manifesto outlining the next steps required for the safe return of live events across Europe.

The supreme court of Austria finds more than 40 clauses of Viagogo’s general terms for buyers and sellers are illegal.

Lights for Live, a fundraising initiative, raises more than €50,000 for Belgium’s live music industry after selling out the Antwerp Sportpaleis.

Erich Zawinul, a concert promoter, booker and tour manager, who was a fixture of the Austrian live music scene for three decades, dies after contracting Covid-19.

LIVE (Live music Industry Venues and Entertainment), the new body serving as the collective voice of the UK live music business, officially launches.

Industry veteran Glen Rainsbury joins Ticketek as general manager for Australia and New Zealand.

Four professionals are sentenced, following the collapse of a stage at a Madonna concert in France that killed two people in 2009.

Bergen Live and Øya Festival form part of Norway’s newly formed working group charged with the safe reopening of festivals this summer.

Barcelona records six consecutive nights of street protests, following the jailing of Catalan rapper, Pablo Hasél.

British prime minister Boris Johnson unveils four-step roadmap, which may allow indoor performances to return to music venues across England towards the end of May.

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Analysis

GOVERNMENTS ESTABLISH FINANCIAL SAFETY NET FOR FESTIVALS

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he Norwegian government has become the latest European power to commit funds to support a return to live events – creating a NOK350million (€34m) cancellation insurance fund for festivals that should allow organisers to plan for this summer without the financial risk posed by a potential Covid outbreak.

Norway’s minister of culture, Abid Raja, announced in a press conference in early February that the financial safety net will help organisers plan for July and August. “[The insurance pot is] to create predictability now, so that the industry can start planning different scenarios and be confident that if things go wrong, we will stand up for them,” said Raja during the conference.

“We must plan for all scenarios so that the festival industry and the summer industry will have se-

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curity that there is a minimum of safety nets here.

“As of now, it is impossible to predict whether it will be possible to have 200, 1,000 or 5,000 people at events this summer. We do not know,” he adds.

Norway has taken note from Germany’s €2.5billion pot, Austria’s €300m ‘protective umbrella’ and the Netherlands’ €300m fund.

The Norwegian government is also in the process of compensating organisers and subcontractors that were financially impacted by the

Norwegian government’s ban on live events, which was extended into late 2020, causing the cancellation of the country’s biggest festivals.

Live Nation Norway, All Things Live, and Tons of Rock will benefit from the latest round of compensation from the Norwegian government’s scheme for organisers and subcontractors in the cultural sector.

The scheme, funded by the ministry of culture and distributed by Norway’s cultural council (Kulturradet), has so far paid out approximately NOK1.4bn to more than 2,000 applicants across various compensation schemes for 2020.

For the latest tranche, which covers the period of May to August 2020, the cultural council is distributing more than NOK120m (€11.7m) to some of the biggest players in Norway’s festival sector.

Elsewhere, the Flemish government has designated a total of €60m to help the region’s organisers kickstart preparations for this summer’s festival season.

Flemish minister of economy, Hilde Crevits, has allocated €50m in repayable advances for the broader events sector “to get the engine going and offer insurance against the risk of organising an event in uncertain times,” she says. This is in addition to the €43m worth of repayable loans Crevits has already released, which went to 150 organisers including music festivals such as Sfinks, Laundry Day and Gent Jazz.

For the new round of funding, the maximum amount an organiser can apply for has been raised from €800,000 to €1.8m, and larger organisations will be eligible to apply this time.

All events that secure funding must comply with the measures applicable at the time they take place and, according to De Tijd , in most cases, the advance is non-refundable if the event is cancelled.

The remaining €10m from the €60m pot – allocated by Flemish minister of tourism, Zuhal Demir – will subsidise Covid measures for small music festivals, such as the construction of rapid-test villages, additional entrances and exits, or the rental of a larger site.

“Smaller events with a total cost of at least €250,000 can count on the support of up to €75,000, while larger players with budgets of at least €7.5m can count on support of up to €500,000,” says Demir.

The grants application process is already open via government-funded Event Flanders. Organisers can combine both types of support.

“Smaller events with a total cost of at least €250,000 can count on the support of up to €75,000, while larger players with budgets of at least €7.5m can count on support of up to €500,000” Zuhal Demir | Flemish minister of tourism

Analysis

© Simon Dawson / No10 Downing Street / Creative Commons

MAJOR MARKETS PAVE THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

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ndoor performances are expected to return to music venues across England towards the end of May, provided the country’s Covid-19 response is going as planned, prime minister Boris Johnson announced on 22 February.

Johnson has set out a “cautious” fourstep roadmap for the reopening of society, with at least five weeks between each step. The first step commences on 8 March, when children will return to schools, while outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households will be allowed from no earlier than 29 March.

Step two, which will commence no earlier than 12 April, will see non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality open without curfew.

Step three, expected to launch no earlier than 17 May, will see music venues, sports stadiums,

FRENCH FESTIVALS HAVE THEIR FATE SEALED

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rance is the first major European market to deliver a framework for this summer’s festival season.

French festivals – both indoor and outdoor – are permitted to take place this summer but attendance will be restricted to 5,000 spectators, who must be seated and socially distanced.

cinemas, pubs, restaurants and other hospitality businesses welcome people indoors subject to social distancing and capacity limits, depending on the size of the venue.

Indoor performances will be restricted to the lower of 1,000 people or 50% capacity; outdoor performances limited to the lower of either 4,000 people or 50% capacity; and seated outdoor performances, to either 10,000 people or 25% of capacity.

The final step, which will start no earlier than 21 June, will see the government lift all restrictions, allowing nightclubs to reopen and large events to take place “above the limits of step three.”

However, the PM has stipulated that to move from one stage to the next, four conditions will need to be met: first, that the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully. Second, that

evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths.

Third, that infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations, which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS. And fourth, that the government’s assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of Covid that cause concern.

In Germany, German alliance Event Management Forum (EMF) has presented a proposal titled Manifest Restart, which details a uniform approach to the gradual and safe reopening of events.

The Alliance – which consists of five major organisations including live music associations BDKV and LiveKomm – has devised an ‘approval matrix’ to help organisers and authorities determine in which risk levels, under which general and special measures of infection protection and hygiene, and with which capacities events are permitted.

The comprehensive matrix takes into account a range of nuances in venues such as different construction methods, special features of event formats or existing ventilation systems.

The alliance presented Manifest Restart during a press conference on 9 February, in which Jens Michow, president of the BDKV, emphasised that the goal of the matrix is to make events “the safest place in the pandemic.”

“The industry has shown in the past year that events can be implemented safely. With the following suggestions we show the way to a step-bystep achievement of this goal and finally create a perspective for the industry again,” the proposal reads.

The minister for culture, Roselyne Bachelot, announced the framework on 18 February along with a €30million fund, which will compensate organisers – both for losses incurred due to the implementation of alternative formats, and in the event that festivals are cancelled due to an increasing Covid-19 infection rate.

Bachelot has committed to a monthly consultation meeting with festivals to adapt the framework according to the development of France’s health situation, but France’s live sector already has many questions that have gone unanswered.

AEG Presents France GM and VP, Arnaud Meerseeman, told IQ: “I feel it’s essentially an act of political communication to gain some time with the sector. The framework is very loose. There is no detail on the timeline of this decision: ie when does ‘summer’ start and end?

From what point does this apply? Does this cover festivals in August/September?”

France’s trade union, the SMA (Syndicat des Musiques Actuelles), said: “At the present time and under the conditions announced by [Bachelot], we cannot say that festivals will be held this summer because, for a major part of our audiences, our artists and our teams, a seated event bringing together 5,000 maximum people, perhaps without access to the bar or the restaurant, cannot be called a festival.”

French metal festival Hellfest Open Air (cap.

60,000) informed IQ that this year’s event is cancelled due to the uncertainty around the health situation and the government regulations.

Organiser Ben Barbaud says, “Unlike other festivals, we make the hard choice not to accept these overly restrictive rules. It would go against the very DNA of the festival. We owe our festival-goers consistency in the project we want to offer them and for which they have agreed to pay a high price.”

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Analysis

Glass Museum performed at Rockhal’s test show series © Claude Piscitelli

LIVE SECTORS ‘TEST’ THE WATERS WITH PILOT SHOWS

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ive test concerts took place in Luxembourg at Rockhal arena’s club venue between 10-14 February, under the banner Because Music Matters.

Audiences were limited in capacity to 100 people each night, with allocated seats set up around a central stage to ensure a certain level of proximity to the stage while ensuring social distancing controls were in place throughout the venue. Attendees had to wear masks at all times whilst inside the venue, and every participant and audience member was tested before and after each show.

Other safety precautions included contactless audience security screening and access control and guidance inside the venue. The series is hosted in conjunction with the national health inspection authority. Full results from the experiment are expected in around two weeks.

A short behind-the-scenes video from the Rockhal test concerts was screened as part of the Arena Resilience Alliance (ARA)’s second virtual conference, A Game of Two Halves: The Return Leg. Luxembourg’s minister of culture, Sam Tanson, delivered an introductory keynote on the tests, in which she praised the efforts of Rockhal and Luxembourg’s health authority, saying she felt these tests were “very important” and showed the potential for live events to return with the “appropriate measures” in place.

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Olivier Toth, EAA board member, ARA co-founder and CEO of Rockhal, says: “After almost a year without live events, experiments like our Because Music Matters showcase and other test events that have been taking place across Europe are an important and positive step forward in testing the safety measures we can employ to support our back-to-business strategies, building confidence among all our stakeholders that live events are a safe environment is so important.

“We were pleased to share initial feedback from the experiment at the ARA conference and we look forward to reviewing the findings fully, with a view to building towards a model that can be scaled as the industry continues to work towards the safe and sustainable return of live events.”

In the Netherlands, more than 60,000 people have applied for the 1,500 tickets available for the two experimental festivals being organised as part of the Netherlands’ Back to Live initiative.

Two music festivals – a dance music event and a rock/pop festival – will take place on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March, respectively, on the Lowlands site in Biddinghuizen, in the central Netherlands, as part of a wide-ranging, government-backed study that aims to show how live events may be restarted safely.

Pieter Lubberts, programme manager at Fieldlab, which is organising the trial shows, told Dutch TV presenter Eva Jinek that around

63,000 people had applied to attend the festivals, which each have a capacity of 1,500.

“It is clear that people really need this. It really exploded,” said Lubberts. Successful applicants will be selected by a lottery draw, he added.

The first Back to Live event, Back to Live Business, which simulated a conference environment, took place at Utrecht’s Beatrix Theatre on 15 February with 500 people. Future shows include a dance event and concert at the Ziggo Dome arena on 6 and 7 March, and the two festivals.

Participants in Back to Business, which was attended by Mona Keijzer, the Netherlands’ minister for economic affairs and climate policy, were required to test negative for the coronavirus in advance, with some also undergoing rapid tests on the door along with temperature checks. During the event, contact between attendees was measured by motion sensors, and all are required to have another test five days after the conference.

Elsewhere, French minister for culture, Roselyne Bachelot said that France’s upcoming test concerts will admit participants who tested positive for Covid-19 before the event.

Bachelot appeared on French news channel LCI on 15 January to discuss the upcoming experiments, which are spearheaded by a new working group, and revealed that positive cases “will not be filtered because you have to put yourself in a situation where there will be a mixing.”

A number of similar experiments have taken place across Europe, including Germany’s Restart-19 and Spain’s Primacov, but the tests in France would be the first to allow entry for Covid-positive participants.

According to the culture minister, two tests will take place at The Dome (cap. 8,500), Marseille, in the second half of March with 1,000 spectators who will be “seated with the possibility of getting up.”

Participants will be tested beforehand and will be required to wear masks and use antibacterial gel.

The Marseille concerts will be organised by Béatrice Desgranges of the city’s flagship festival, Marsatac, who is also a member of France’s live music trade body, SMA (Syndicat des musiques contemporaries).

The protocols for the tests have been validated by Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and the Scientific Council of Professor Delfraissy.

The Paris experiment will take place at the AccorHotels Arena (cap. 20,300) in April, with 5,000 participants, under the guidance of the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, says Bachelot.

“I am very optimistic about festivals and seated shows. For standing shows, it’s more complicated,” the culture minister told LCI. The minister also revealed that the experiments would be reviewed during an international conference in Marseille on 8 April.

Analysis

VACCINE PASSPORTS GAIN TRACTION ACROSS THE GLOBE

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overnments in Denmark, Poland, Iceland, Australia and Sweden have confirmed they will issue citizens with a vaccine certificate, or ‘passport,’ when they have been immunised against Covid-19, as the idea gains traction across the continent.

While the issuing of vaccine passports is largely aimed at restarting cross-border travel, there are hopes the live music industry could also benefit, with promoters and venues able to Covid-safe their shows by requiring proof-of-vaccine status for all those attending.

At the end of January, Iceland became the first European country to issue and recognise Covid-19 vaccination certificates to enable international travel for those inoculated against coronavirus.

Since early in the pandemic, the country has required a minimum five-day quarantine for international arrivals and now those with documentation showing they have received a full course of Covid-19 vaccines will be able to skip quarantine.

Also in January, the Polish deputy health minister Anna Goławska revealed that, after being successfully vaccinated (which, in the case of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, is after the second jab), people will be issued with an electronic QR code downloadable from their personal account on the government website or public health system.

The Swedish government followed suit shortly afterwards, revealing plans to launch a digital coronavirus vaccine passport by this summer.

During a press conference on 4 February, Sweden’s minister for energy and digital development, Anders Ygeman, said: “When Sweden and countries around us start to open up our societies again, vaccination certificates are likely to be required for travel and possibly for taking part in other activities. “[The digital infrastructure] will make the vaccination certificate more secure, simple and international,” he says.

The Swedish government is aiming to have the digital vaccine passport in place by 1 June and has pledged to offer the Covid-19 vaccination to all adults before Midsummer (the final weekend of June), depending on the availability of vaccines.

Sweden’s live music association, Svensk Live, says the passport “would be a piece of the puzzle in the work of being able to reopen concerts and festivals this summer.”

In Denmark, festival organisers have been given a glimmer of hope after the government announced the spring arrival of a vaccine passport.

Denmark’s acting minister of finance, Morten Bødskov, announced in a press conference on 3 February that digital coronavirus passports will be ready for use in three to four months but will initially apply only to travel.

According to Bødskov, whether the digital passport can be used to go to a concert or a festival is a political discussion that will be decided by the infection situation.

“The corona passport is an important tool that can be crucial in reopening the live indus-

“The corona passport is an important tool that can be crucial in reopening the live industry. It can be crucial in ensuring that we can quickly reopen venues and hold festivals when the summer comes” Esben Marcher | Dansk Live

try,” says Esben Marcher, head of Dansk Live. “It is positive that a digital corona passport is now being established. It can be crucial in ensuring that we can quickly reopen venues and hold festivals when the summer comes.”

In Australia, ahead of the nationwide rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, the government has announced that all vaccinations will be recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register, and certificates would then be available digitally via the Express Plus Medicare app or in hard copy through the vaccination provider or Services Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told ABC National Radio it is “highly likely” that such documentation will be needed for international travel into the country.

The Greek government wrote to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to urge the adoption of vaccine passports at an EU level, though experts believe the idea to have little chance of success, with vaccine-sceptical countries such as France already having ruled out such a move.

While in Portugal, music festivals are looking into the possibility of restricting entry to ‘bubbles’ of vaccinated fans as a way of enabling their events to go ahead safely this summer.

A proposal to create infection-free “safe bubbles,” comprising fans “who are already vaccinated against Covid-19 [and carrying] their vaccination records,” was presented to the Portuguese government by the Association of Promoters, Shows, Festivals and Events (APEFE) in a meeting with the minister of culture, Graça Fonseca, on 15 January.

The meeting, also attended by the Association of Portuguese Music Festivals (Aporfest) and the new Association of Show Agents and Producers (AEAPP), also led to the creation of an industry-government working group that aims to find a solution to restarting live entertainment in Portugal in 2021.

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NEW SIGNINGS

LISTEN TO THE ILMC SHOWCASE PLAYLIST HERE

With more than 50 acts showcasing at this year’s ILMC, is dedicating its monthly Spotify new music playlist to further promote their talent. Click on the link above to hear acts from ATC Live, ITB, Paradigm, Primary and UTA, as well as new music from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal and the UK.

THE KID LAROI.

M

(AU)

AGENT

Mike G, David Zedeck, Chris Jordan, Matt Meyer & Noah Simon UTA

LAEL NEALE AGENT

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(US)

ultiplatinum Australian rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer The Kid LAROI. has emerged as one of the hottest rising artists in the hip-hop landscape. His July 2020 debut mixtape F*ck Love peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart, while his most recent single Without You ascended to #52 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified gold by the RIAA. It also reached #2 on the Australian charts and has been certified platinum in Canada.

Currently working on his highly anticipated debut studio album, The Kid LAROI. first gained mainstream popularity outside Australia in 2019 with his single Let Her Go, and has earned international accolades for his work. Those achievements have helped amass a rapidly expanding social media fanbase with more than 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

L

ael Neale grew up on a farm in Virginia among acres of clouds, fields, and woods. It was writing and writers close to nature – Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Steinbeck, and Mary Oliver – that she most connected with. In 2009, she moved to California with a rising devotion to music and for nearly ten years she has called Los Angeles home.

Neale has worked with countless musicians, producers and collaborators, making entire records and eventually stowing them away. Despite endless frustration, she never resigned.

After discovering a new instrument, the Omnichord, she experienced a moment of illumination and began recording a deluge of emerging songs with the intention to capture them in their truest form. Using a cassette four-track, she recorded most of the songs for her album Acquainted with Night in her bedroom in the early darkening evening.

New Signings

NEW SIGNING LISTINGS 347Aidan (CA) àB (UK) Aby Coulibaly (IE) Alan Dixon (UK) Alice Low (UK) Avery Lynch (US) BAYLI (US) Billen Ted (UK) Blondes (UK) Blood Wizard (UK) Catie Turner (US) Covey (UK) Duskee (UK) Fakear (FR) Frances Forever (US) Haich Ber Na (UK)

Happyalone (IE) Hildegard (CA) HOKO (US) Jakob Ogawa (NO) JESSIA (CA) Juice Menace (UK) Justine Skye (US) KALI (US) Keep Dancing Inc (FR) KeiyaA (US) Kxurtnxy (UK) Lael Neale (US)

Noah Simon & Adam Sylvester, UTA Andy Clayton & Sol Parker, Paradigm Agency Michael Harvey-Bray, Paradigm Agency Martje Kremers, Primary Talent Sarah Joy, ATC Live Noah Simon, UTA Lucy Atkinson, Earth Agency Ryan Penty, Paradigm Agency Matt Bates, Primary Talent Felipe Mina Calvo, ATC Live Nikos Kazoleas, UTA Anna Bewers & Tom Taaffe, Paradigm Agency Max Lee, Earth Agency Steve Nickolls, UTA Anna Bewers & Paul Buck, Paradigm Agency Steve Nickolls, Jules de Lattre, Christian Bernhardt & Adam Ogushwitz, UTA James Whitting, Paradigm Agency Will Church, ATC Live Matt Bates, Primary Talent Guillaume Brevers, Hometown Talent Agency Alex Hardee & Mike Malak, Paradigm Agency Max Lee, Earth Agency Mike Malak, Paradigm Agency Clemence Renaut & Will Church, ATC Live Darren James-Thomas, FMLY Guillaume Brevers, Hometown Talent Agency Andy Clayton, Paradigm Agency Nikita Lavrinenko, Pitch & Smith

HOTTEST NEW ACTS

LISTEN TO ’S NEW SIGNINGS AGENCY PLAYLIST HERE

LAST MONTH 3 1 18 8 4 68 12 25 97

PREDICTIONS FOR MARCH 2021

ARTIST MASKED WOLF (AU) CAROLESDAUGHTER (US) LILHUDDY (US) DUSTY LOCANE (US) POOH SHIESTY (US) JANICE (SE) SPOTEMGOTTEM (US) BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD (UK) ERICA BANKS (US) NATHAN EVANS (UK) YOUNG STONER LIFE (US) KALI (US) PLUG, THE (UK) ELIO (CA) CLINTON KANE (PH) LEAH NOBEL (US), CASSANDRA JENKINS (US), REYANNA MARIA (US), TETRARCH (US), NAVOS (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.

FEBRUARY 2021

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

Matilda Cole (UK) Mike Malak, Paradigm Monjola (IE) Michael Harvey-Bray, Paradigm Agency Munii (UK) Craig D’Souza, Primary Talent Nathan Evans (UK) Emily Robbins, Gary Howard & Jeffrey Hasson, UTA Neil Cowley (UK) Angie Rance, UTA NEZ (US) Alex Hardee & Mike Malak, Paradigm Agency Nicole Slack Jones (US) Lucia Wade, ITB NO1-NOAH (US) Ari Bernstein, ICM Partners Noon Garden (UK) Rob Gibbs, Progressive Artists Orlando (UK) Alice Hogg, ATC Live POLICE CAR COLLECTIVE (UK) Matt Bates, Primary Talent Rome Fortune (US) Darren James-Thomas, FMLY Sam Brookes (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency Sega Bodega (UK) Lucy Atkinson, Earth Agency Softcult (CA) Anna Bewers, Paradigm Agency Speedboat (UK) Rob Gibbs, Progressive Artists spill tab (FR/KO) Matt Bates, Primary Talent Sun June (US) Tom Taaffe, Paradigm Agency The Brand New Heavies (UK) Emily Robbins & James Wright, UTA The Howlers (UK) Rob McGee, FMLY Agency The Kid LAROI. (AU) Mike G, David Zedeck,

Chris Jordan, Matt Meyer & Noah Simon, UTA The Longest Johns (UK) Beth Morton, Angie Rance & Emily Robbins, UTA Triathalon (US) Guillaume Brevers, Hometown Talent Agency TWO LANES (DE) Paul McQueen, Primary Talent Urban Village (ZA) Darren James-Thomas, FMLY Wallice (US) Matt Bates, Primary Talent Wet Leg (UK) Adele Slater, Paradigm Agency Wild Pink (US) Joren Heuvels, Hometown Talent Agency

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Comment

State of Independents Independent Venue Week founder, Sybil Bell, details this year’s rollercoaster event, as ill-timed streaming tariff demands pulled the plug on shows and cancelled contracts for people depending on the work

F

rom its inception, I always wanted Independent Venue Week to be a positive and celebratory initiative.

We truly believe the best way to encourage people to go to support venues is to excite them about being out in venues with (or without) mates and being the one to discover great new artists.

This year, we could not ignore the perilous situation our community found themselves in after the toughest year in their history. Getting the balance right publicly, as well as behind the scenes, was really important to us. We have venues, on the one hand, who shut their doors last March and aren’t engaging with anyone until their doors can reopen at full capacity, a stance we totally respect. At the other end, we have venues who have been really active with socially distanced shows, online streams, new merch lines and more. And then there are all the venues in between.

We had been in touch with all of our stakeholders at the end of last summer saying that given we weren’t expecting our usual run of live nights, would they like to get involved and host an evening of either ‘in conversations’ showing archive footage, or live-streamed shows. We had a great response and people we’d been looking to work with in the past came through, wanting to get involved and support the community.

When the news of the third lockdown came in January, it knocked out the socially distanced and live-streamed shows our venues, artists and promoters had put on, which was heartbreaking.

We’re well used to having a very busy run, especially in January, but the team not all being together in the office and dealing with the addition of numerous cancelled shows and a big increase in streaming meant this was a January like no other.

The support from our partners including BBC 6 Music and BBC Introducing meant we were able to tell stories and share experiences first hand from around the country about how the last 12 months had been for people.

As the week kicked off, we had 166 shows scheduled, including 61 live gigs, which felt like a huge collective effort from our community. We were able to premiere our docu-

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mentary On The Road with Independent Venue Week and hold a live Q&A with some of the key contributors.

We thought long and hard about whether it was the right decision, but ultimately, we felt showing live music in packed venues over two previous IVWs was a timely reminder about why these places are such important cultural hubs for the industry and local communities.

The week was going well with a number of live and pre-recorded streams, some great interviews from various people including The Big Jeff Chat series, as well as Simone Marie chatting to a number of artists and industry people.

And throughout the week, other new events were dropping in with support from so many artists including lockdown stalwart Frank Turner with another of his Independent Venue Love shows and a very cool video from IDLES, with each band member performing Carcinogenic from a different venue in Bristol.

We could see all of the hard work and effort coming to fruition, and for so many people this was their first chance to work and be back doing what they love, on and off stage.

So, when PRS for Music came crashing in on the Wednesday, with their new Online Live Concert Licence, it felt like a real Trumpism. It’s one thing to announce a restrictive and ill-thought tariff on streaming during the week that the country celebrates and supports venues, but to do so when so many people were pulling together to support all areas of the industry and without consulting stakeholders or your staff, defied belief.

The result for everyone involved was the immediate cancellation of a number of shows for the last few days, at various venues up and down the country. At just five of the venues, 15 shows were cancelled resulting in 152 people losing paid work.

In spite of this, there were some live shows and plenty of other events and it felt like the week delivered the spotlight on our community in a sensitive and uplifting way.

Like everyone, we are looking forward to next year, being back out at shows in person, in busy venues, discovering new places, making new friends and falling in love with new artists.

Comment

Turning Adversity into Opportunity Mark Bennett, founder of agency MBA Live, describes the fall and rise of his career trajectory in the wake of tragedy and privation, and how he fought back using self-care and positivity

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very year, one in five people in the UK experience mental health issues, and in a year like no other, mental health has become an even greater issue. With the music business facing such uncertainty, people are struggling, many of whom have never experienced these issues before.

In our industry, discussing the topic of one’s own mental health can be seen as a weakness. But in spite of recent years being the most challenging of my life, today I am mentally the strongest I have ever been.

I joined The Agency Group in 2013 with no roster and limited connections. I worked tirelessly to sign artists and network, going to gigs every night, taking every meeting I could, and attending every possible industry event. I loved it. However, sometimes we can get lost in the pursuit of our ambitions, and eventually my health was affected. At the start of 2016, I was hospitalised with GERD, acid leaking from my stomach, forced to work from home.

I was due to return to the office on 15 February, after a trip to Sweden for Where’s The Music. In a heartbreaking turn of events, my clients Viola Beach and their manager, Craig Tarry, died in a tragic accident a few hours after performing at the festival. Nothing could have prepared me for the situations I would face in the aftermath while struggling to grieve for each of the five men, whom I called friends. I tried to give as much comfort as possible to their families, and it wasn’t until later that I realised the effect it all had on me.

A few weeks after the accident, my mum became ill and two close personal friends also suddenly passed. The combined pressure of my work, home, and personal life being in turmoil, without a support network, made me feel very isolated and lonely.

I have never been one to ask for help, and in those moments, I wasn’t sure how. I believe there were people who wanted to help, but I don’t think they knew how either.

Over the next two years, I became despondent, paranoid, irrational, and short tempered. I fell out with people. I stopped doing things I loved. I was miserable.

Changes were needed, but as I started to make positive steps, I had a huge setback. A few weeks after leaving an agency, I watched helplessly as my roster started to appear on other agen-

cies’ websites. Every agent and promoter knows the feeling of frustration and powerlessness when losing a client. I had been incredibly proud of my client retention rate and losing nearly my entire roster in a short space of time was tremendously painful. But I used the fact that I never had the urge to quit as motivation. I realised that I was doing what I loved and had to fight my way back, just as I had fought my way in.

I opened up to friends and loved ones, and with their support, put my energy into making small steps each day. Ben Kouijzer, a friend and colleague, reinvigorated my passion for reading by suggesting (audio) books that opened my mind to the importance of sleep, exercise, and health.

These, in turn, contributed to positive thinking, understanding gratitude and goal setting.

This gave me the foundation to grow, understanding that change is inevitable, and that everyone experiences setbacks and knockdowns. It’s not about why something is happening but about how you react.

I took this knowledge and invested in myself. I set short-, medium-, and long-term goals, created healthy routines, exercised, visualised my future, and made time for doing things I love, including the one passion that never left – live music!

Starting my own agency, MBA Live, has given me the freedom to grow and service my clients on my terms, cultivating my own passion. I’m grateful to the artists and managers that trust me to deliver, the promoters that always take my calls, and to my wife, Polly, whose support has given me the foundation to create and build a profitable business, even within the difficulties of the global pandemic.

If you are reading this and are finding things difficult, understand that you are not alone. It isn’t a weakness to ask for help – it takes strength to start the conversation. Everyone is different but the most important thing is to seek professional help.

I’m encouraged by the efforts being made by people in power to make a positive change to ensure there is support for people when they need it, and more importantly, to identify issues and offer help before it’s needed.

It’s not always easy to ask for help. If you see someone whom you think is struggling or acting out of character, then reach out and check in with them. It will mean more than you think.

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Comment

The Waiting Game Thanks to its wealth, Norway has set aside piles of Covid relief cash for those in the live events business, but Tone Østerdal, CEO of the Norwegian Live Music Association, reveals that distribution of those funds is still to happen, leaving many companies and individuals in dire straits

W

e’re rather used to being on the top of the world, up here in Norway. We have oil wealth and plenty of fish in the sea. We’re a country that always ranks high in the World Happiness Report and on the UN’s list of the best places to live. The government’s strict actions in handling the Covid-19 pandemic have also made us one of the countries with high scores on the Covid Resilience Ranking. But the Norwegian live music business is still stuck in the rut. More than it needs to be.

Little did we know, when IQ Magazine published its Norway Market Report in October 2019, how rapidly our world would change.

The Norwegian live music business hit “the corona wall” during the first week of March 2020 and has been in the dark ever since. Up until then, the business had been thriving, growing on average 5% every year since 2012, reaching NOK5.3billion [€500m] in 2019. The concert business makes up 57% of that, being worth NOK3bn [€290m].

Our experience with the pandemic has been similar to most other countries. The cycle of lockdown, followed by periods of careful optimism, followed by new waves of the virus spreading rapidly, and new lockdowns. Being in an economically privileged situation, the Norwegian government already provided compensation from the scheme for organisers and subcontractors in the cultural sector in the early days of the pandemic.

Since then, the government has also launched a stimulation scheme, aiming to get organisers back in business, even with limited capacities and social distancing regulations. The last sum added to the pile was NOK350m [€33m] for a financial safety net to allow festival organisers to plan for July and August without the financial risk posed by a potential Covid outbreak.

This makes us fortunate in so many ways, and we know it.

But it’s not all fun and games. The major problem now is that none of the announced emergency funding schemes for the cultural sector are up and running for 2021. Without knowledge of how funding will be distributed, it’s almost impossible for organisers to take a financial risk planning anything. No one really doubts the good intentions from our minister of culture, Abid Q. Raja, to keep the music business afloat,

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but the money can’t help anyone if it’s not being distributed.

There’s also a growing frustration that emergency funding for 2020 has had some severe failures, especially regarding artists and subcontractors in the cultural sector. For the associations in the live music business, who have struggled with the government to get the funds to work according to their intentions, the last 11 months can best be described as an everlasting uphill race.

As we close in on the one-year mark, it’s also getting more and more obvious that we’re falling behind on the road to reopening. The ministry of cultural affairs has appointed a working group that has been tasked with the safe reopening of large outdoor events this summer. But the Norwegian government can be described as risk averse, at best. Some will claim that the cultural sector is being systematically prioritised last when it comes to the government’s measures to tackle the pandemic; always the first to be shut down, always the last allowed to open. Venues are still under strict regulations. From Tuesday 23 February, you can put on concerts with a maximum capacity of 100 people indoors, regardless of how large your venue is.

We have urged the government to differentiate more, to trust organisers’ professionalism and serious experience in crowd management. If the max capacity in shops and department stores can vary in accordance with the space available, why not apply the same to venues? But the health authorities say it’s “too hard,” and by applying this to politics, the government continues to ignore the fact that the only thing that can save the music business as a whole is to bring us back to live, in numbers. The health authorities are also showing little or no sign of wanting to talk about a reopening strategy, and it seems utopian to even think about doing test shows in Norway in the foreseeable future. It’s quite ironic, considering the resources we possess as a nation.

So, with no available funding and very limited possibilities for planning and doing live shows, the Norwegian live music business is stuck playing a waiting game. It’s excruciating, and we see people giving up on the music business every week. Still, we have to look for the rays of hope. We will return to live.

SPOTLIGHT ON TECH

As ILMC goes virtual, hopefully for one year only, it will feature more presentations of new technology than ever before in the event’s history.

Here, we preview six of the products and services that delegates can expect to learn about during the conference’s three-day schedule…

GOODTILL POS

HEARBY.COM

Hearby.com is a live music discovery platform that combines big data and anthropology to provide the most comprehensive collections of local music listings. The company uses AI, data cleaning and social matching to yield data on 4x more shows across 100+ cities in North America and the UK, with expansion to European and other global cities in 2021.

“We’re powered by the thrill of discovery and the joy of sharing with others.”

Hearby’s founders – serial data entrepreneur Gary Halliwell, and Ian Condry, professor of cultural anthropology at MIT – were frustrated by the difficulty of finding live music nearby and in cities they visited. They merged AI venue scraping with anthropology to connect people to local music: more people to more shows.

Hearby covers all neighbourhoods and scenes, and all kinds of venues – large, small, restaurants, brewpubs, drive-ins – to give people

Goodtill’s POS solution offers the perfect platform to help businesses become Covid-secure and reopen safely and speedily. The company automates a whole host of processes within its easy-touse and cost-effective POS and has helped a number of big names on the way, including Printworks, Wembley and the O2 Arena.

Goodtill champions a range of features that will allow clients to streamline their operations and keep their music venues running safely with the Goodtill iPad-based point-of-sale system.

From stock management and reporting capabilities, setting up bespoke promotions and points-based loyalty systems to extensive product, staff and customer management, Goodtill states that it is all possible using its one-platform solution.

With the company’s GoodEats click & collect and table ordering service, clients can transform the way they take and manage orders, with remote payment processing all built-in. Goodtill’s system offers table and location ordering, as well as self-service, to help staff and customers socially distance with ease. The set-up is easy, and the developers says that integration of a GoodEats’ menu into an outlet’s website can take place in a matter of hours and can be carried out seamlessly, allowing clients to take their first orders the very same day.

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NOQ

choice, and ultimately, the satisfaction of a great night out.

The company monetises through licensing its daily updated live-show data for interactive maps, browsing carousels, and calendar widgets.

Its customers include news, media, travel and entertainment companies. The company also works with partners to provide a cost-effective means of engaging passionate, diverse, and networked audiences, and to build communities around the love for live music.

We’ve all been there. At a concert, a music festival, or a crowded outdoor event, and having a fantastic time… And then you need a drink. And your heart sinks. You know that it is going to be a painful and time-consuming roundtrip queuing up with hundreds, sometimes thousands of other people, to try and get your order in, and in the meantime, you’ve missed what you were there to see in the first place.

This is where NOQ comes in. The company has built a cashless and contactless mobile ordering app, connecting customers to vendors at events.

The NOQ app will lead to speedier transaction times, increases in vendor sales and reductions in queue times whilst enhancing customers’ overall event experience. Under the current climate, NOQ says its solution is going to help the events industry recover faster by allowing events to take place while following safety and distancing guidelines.

NOQ’s mission is to become the market leader in providing a seamless order management system for events across the UK and globally. The company will look to broaden the concept beyond just food and drinks into other areas such as merchandising, ticketing and parking.

Spotlight on Tech_Feature

RESYSTEN

Resysten is a Budapest-based company that manufactures a durable hygienic coating that protects surfaces from the spread of Covid-19.

It eliminates the presence of harmful pathogens (including the novel coronavirus) by up to 99.9%, and is already in extensive use in Hungary’s public hospitals and passenger transport networks.

The company expanded its presence from one to 35 countries around the world throughout 2020, with high-profile clients including Audi, T-Mobile, Arriva, KFC and Metro stores. Müpa (formerly known as the Palace of Arts), one of Budapest’s best-known performing arts centres, was also coated with Resysten last year.

The product, which was developed in response to the SARS epidemic of 2003 as a way to combat Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs), is the most advanced photocatalytic hygienic coating technology in the world today. Upon contact with light, the sprayed solution produces hydrogen peroxide, which prevents the presence of pathogens on any surface. It has been developed to integrate into any surface on a molecular level, meaning that it cannot be removed by conventional cleaning methods and so remains active for up to a year. These two key properties result in surfaces that protect users and their environment from the spread of contamination.

BACKTOGETHER’S COVID-19 PASSPORT

BackTogether provides Covid-19 PCR and antibody test status. As going back to events is on everyone’s mind (performers, organisers, and most importantly, the fans ), the company knows that, in the short term, events will likely take a different form.

As social distancing measures relax further, ensuring the safety of everyone participating in an event will present new challenges to the industry. BackTogether enables the verification of a participant’s Covid-19 testing status to be confirmed prior to allowing entrance to a venue.

Built on Blockchain, BackTogether’s data is fully secure and private, belongs to the user, and can only be used for validation of the passport. What’s more, BackTogether is interoperable with other solutions that use the most popular standard for verified credentials.

BackTogether will be available as a module within the ComeTogether app or via the network as an add-on to existing ticketing apps via open APIs.

Additional materials are also available via https://bit.ly/Resysten_EPK

NOTETRACKS

Notetracks is an award-winning platform for music creators and collaborators to easily take notes, gather feedback, and share music, performances and any other audio/video content, in order to refine and produce their best work for its debut into the world.

The platform allows a user to get real-time feedback pinpointed directly on the media file itself.

Whether the user is a musician, performer, or producer, Notetracks allows creative teams to work together without having to be in the same place.

The system allows audio or video files (MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, MOV) to be draggedand-dropped from a desktop into the browser, or uploaded via Dropbox or Google Drive, also making it an ideal tool for anyone in the live-streaming sector.

Once the track is imported, users will be able to see the audio waveform visually and jump to

specific segments quickly with a simple keyboard shortcut. While the track plays, users can insert time-stamped comments directly onto the track without interrupting the playback.

Notetracks also lets users download a PDF or text file with a report to document all the comments. The system allows users to share projects

by simply entering the email addresses of collaborators and setting view or edit permissions.

Those named collaborators can then log in, make their own notes, and reply to comments while uploading their own files for reference, with comments and notes appearing in real-time (like Google Docs, but for music).

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PROMOTED CONTENT

UK SOUNDS ILMC SHOWCASES

3 MARCH 20:00-21:00 GMT | 4 MARCH 19:30-20:30

U

K Sounds is a joint initiative between PRS Foundation’s International Showcase Fund and Department for International Trade’s Music Export Growth Scheme. The International Showcase Fund is run by PRS Foundation in partnership with Department for International

Trade (DIT), British Underground, Arts Council England, The Musicians’ Union (MU), PPL, Creative Scotland, Wales Arts International and Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Invest NI. The Music Export Growth Scheme is funded through DIT and administered

by the BPI. UK Sounds partners have provided support for high-production value performances and bespoke partnerships with other companies and platforms domestically and internationally such as IQ and ILMC. The content supported by UK Sounds partners is to enable export-ready talent during this lockdown period to continue to reach their potential and compete internationally through trusted curation of content, reaching overseas music networks and providing a spotlight on talented underrepresented groups in the UK.

CHERYM

DEAD PONY

Serving up a zingy, fearless new recipe for pop-punk rock, Cherym are Hannah Richardson, Nyree Porter and Alannagh Doherty from Derry in Northern Ireland, and they are responsible for some seriously infectious songwriting.

Taking influence from The Smashing Pumpkins, Bikini Kill, American Football, PUP and Pixies, the trio formed after meeting in college over a joint love of garage rock, pop-punk, and being the biggest band in the world.

Fresh from a successful 2020, Dead Pony are a departure from Scotland’s fertile rock/post-punk movement. The band has cultivated a grunge-infused sound akin to Bikini Kill, Wolf Alice and Queens of the Stone Age. In 2021, Dead Pony have hit the ground running after unprecedented success both in the UK and US last year. Despite the limitations of the global pandemic, the Glasgow-based outfit secured national radio play amongst some of the top music shows.

The band has enjoyed firm BBC support with plays from Jack Saunders and Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1, including Jack Saunders’ Next Wave features for two previous releases. BBC Radio Scotland has also shown support, with plays from Vic Galloway, Phoebe Inglis and Shereen Cutty, as well as a live session for Stephen McCauley’s Shutdown Sessions at BBC Ulster, a feature with Under the Radar Top Tips for 2021, along with an impressive performance on Brad Wagner’s New Colossus Festival sessions.

The band is eager to return and is looking forward to tastemaker festival slots and international showcase dates in the coming months.

“A gut-punch of energy and DIY enthusiasm” THE IRISH TIMES “It won’t be long before Cherym break into the big leagues” HOT PRESS “Definite ones to watch… a refreshing blast of earnest songwriting and nostalgic joy” NIALLER9

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PROMOTED CONTENT

ELLES BAILEY

GENGAHR

2020 started with a bang for the super-smoky-voiced, hardworking, far-touring chanteuse Elles Bailey when Little Piece of Heaven, written with storied Memphis and Nashville giant Bobby Wood, and Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys) picked up UK Song of the Year at the UK Americana Awards. It’s taken from her chart topping sophomore album Road I Call Home, which was released to rave reviews and awarded Album of the Year at the UK Blues Awards. The album charted in both the Official UK Country Charts and Americana charts, has gained over 3.4 million streams since its release and reached No.1 on the Amazon Blues Bestseller chart. Adding to Elles’ string of awards, she also picked up the high accolade of Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards.

Despite the global pandemic, Elles has kept up her profile by doing many live-streams; dropping a critically acclaimed, awardnominated live acoustic album Ain’t Nothing But; raising money for charities and campaigning for Women in Music; and picking up another three nominations in the UK Blues Awards 2021, including Artist of the Year again (awards in May 2021).

She will be releasing a brand new studio record in September 2021 and, if restrictions lift, touring shall begin again in October, November and December, after joining Joe Bonamassa on his Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea cruise.

Miss Bailey really does call the road home, and when she arrives near you, don’t think twice, get there. A great evening and a long musical friendship will be waiting. www.ellesbailey.com

Gengahr are an English indie band, formed in 2013 at Stoke Newington School in Hackney, London. Though originally named RES, they were forced to rename after discovering an artist with that name on iTunes. Their new name is a play on Gengar, one of the original Pokémon.

After BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens played their first single, Fill My Gums With Blood on his radio show, the band were invited to perform at the Introducing stage at the 2014 Glastonbury Festival.

Their critically acclaimed debut album, A Dream Outside, was released on 15 June 2015 after signing to Transgressive records.

A second album, Where Wildness Grows, was released in 2018, and the band’s third album SANCTUARY was released in January 2020 via Liberator Music. www.gengahr.com

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PROMOTED CONTENT

HARLEIGHBLU

HMS MORRIS

Harleighblu’s classic yet truly distinctive soul voice pulls no punches and makes no apologies. Her raw, beat-heavy style is uniquely captivating, pushing the neo-soul and R&B template to its absolute limits.

Supported by Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 and Jazz FM, to name a few, she has been given the title of ‘Queen of hip-hop and soul.’ Her electrifying latest album, She, led to a headline appearance at the prestigious Lollapalooza in Berlin. This same album gained over two million streams on Spotify alone, securing her the cover image on their ‘Butter’ and ‘Jazz UK’ playlist. She also sold over 1,500 vinyl worldwide.

2021 is looking bigger than ever, with new music coming in March, a US writing tour and a Jazz Café London headline gig all on the cards for the talented Nottingham native.

Bringing us raw, unapologetically feminine and honest lyrical touches, Harleighblu has established herself as one of the UK’s most promising artists. www.harleighblu.com

HMS Morris is an art-rock group from Wales. They’ve been touring and recording since 2015, and are supported by the Cardiffbased Bubblewrap Collective.

Their two full-length albums to date (2016’s Interior Design and 2018’s Inspirational Talks) both earned nominations for the Welsh Music Prize, and were variously described as “Innovative, forward-thinking pop music” (Earthly Pleasures), “strange and beautiful music” (Electronic Sound), and a “multi-dimensional sound that traipses across hitherto unexplored regions of sound” (Clash).

They’ve taken their music to Toronto, Montreal, Osaka, Tokyo and Kyoto, and are currently working on a piece of theatre/art/ dance/music about running away from Earth. www.hmsmorris.com

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PROMOTED CONTENT

LADY NADE

TRUEMENDOUS

Indie-folk-Americana singer-songstress Lady Nade started writing songs as a form of healing from grief. Performing in venues across her native city of Bristol, her work developed into a calling to connect with her fans on a deeper level and help lead them through life’s complicated tapestry with the healing power of music.

Often being told that Black females only sing soul, R&B or jazz has always quietly been playing on Lady Nade’s mind, however during her creative process the one thing that is always at the centre is staying true to her art regardless of the genre. “I am awaking to my heritage, seeing things differently... but one thing that strikes me is that there are so many incredible Black artists... there really is no need to put us all into one box!”

Nominated for UK Song Of The Year (Ain’t One Thing) at the UK Americana Awards 2021, Lady Nade is moving forward with a brand new album in the making, Willing, which is set for a June 2021 release. www.ladynade.co.uk

Rioting into 2021 with the explosive hard-hitting single Cause a Scene landing on the Made in UK playlist, TrueMendous is set to have an incredible year.

In 2020, the rising star signed to High Focus Records where she released her EP HUH? The EP had an exceptional response, accumulating over 222,000 streams with one of the singles from the project landing on the Adidas COLD.RDY campaign, and another on the FIFA 21 soundtrack.

If this wasn’t enough, TrueMendous managed to bag the lead role in the 2020 Christmas Pepsi Max advert along with the lead role in a separate McVities ad, at the same time.

She secured a mind-blowing 11 festival slots throughout the summer of 2019 including: Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading, where she opened up the BBC 1xtra stage. TrueMendous was also one of the leading artists on Queens of Art, the first ever allfemale hip-hop tour, which visited eight cities across the UK. www.TrueMendousMusic.com

WEDNESDAY 3 MARCH 20:00-21:00

ARTIST SHOWCASES This year’s ILMC will feature a more extensive showcase programme than ever before, with five agency partners and four music export organisations providing the platform for more than 50 acts. To further boost the profile has of these artists, also dedicated its monthly Spotify playlist to our talented performers.

Click on the link below to hear tracks from ILMC’s showcase stars.

20:00-21:00

FENNE LILY AGENT: ALEX BRUFORD

LOS BITCHOS AGENT: ROXANE DUMOULIN

BERNHOFT AGENT: PHYLLIS BELEZOS

CONRAD AGENT: KARA JAMES

PILLOW QUEENS AGENT: SARAH BESNARD

REUBEN JAMES AGENT: MARLON BURTON

KAPIL SESHASAYEE AGENT: STEVE ZAPP

MOBS AGENT: FILIPPO MEI

THE GOA EXPRESS AGENT: ALEX BRUFORD

THE ZEN ARCADE AGENT: STEVE TAYLOR

NATURE TV AGENT: OLIVIA SIME

NICOLE SLACK JONES AGENT: LUCIA WADE

FULL DETAILS HERE

FULL DETAILS HERE

20:00-21:00

LISTEN TO THE ILMC SHOWCASE PLAYLIST HERE

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BARTEES STRANGE AGENT: ANNA BEWERS

CHRISTY AGENT: JAMES WHITTING

JP SAXE AGENT: RYAN PENTY & TOM SCHROEDER

ROLE MODEL AGENT: MIKE MALAK

TV PRIEST AGENT: ADELE SLATER

UPSAHL AGENT: ANDY CLAYTON

RITT MOMNEY AGENT: TOM SCHROEDER & ANDY CLAYTON

FULL DETAILS HERE

ILMC Agency Showcases

THURSDAY 4 MARCH 1930-20:30

1930-20:30

20:45-21:45

NATHAN EVANS AGENTS: EMILY ROBBINS, GARY HOWARD & JEFFREY HASSON

NUBYA GARCIA AGENT: JAMES WRIGHT

BVDLVD AGENT: FRANCESCO CACCAMO

DEEMA AGENT: FRANCESCO CACCAMO

HRTL

LAMBDA

PEACH TREE RASCALS AGENTS: NOAH SIMON, CHERYL PALIERANI & PARKER GLENN

POUTYFACE AGENTS: JULES DE LATTRE, NOAH SIMON, MATT MEYER & NATALIE KOE

JOESEF AGENT: PETER ELLIOTT

KATY KIRBY AGENT: MATT PICKERING-COPLEY

LAZER VIKING

PLEASE THE TREES

LOUISAHHH AGENT: MARTJE KREMERS

MILOE AGENT: MATT PICKERING-COPLEY

SKULLCRUSHER AGENTS: OLIVER WARD & NIKOS KAZOLEAS FULL DETAILS HERE

TEEPEE

FULL DETAILS HERE

FULL DETAILS HERE

20:45-21:45

20:45-21:45

BABÉ SILA

JAZZBOIS

DREAM PEOPLE

LINA_RAÜL REFREE

PLATON KARATAEV

THE DEVIL’S TRADE

SURMA

WHALES

FULL DETAILS HERE

FULL DETAILS HERE

Magazine

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Feature_Live Streaming

RETURN TO LIVE Industry leading insights, advanced ticketing technology, local expertise and global reach to help you on your journey back to live.

Discover more at busin 26

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Live Streaming_Feature

ness.ticketmaster.co.uk Magazine

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Feature_One Year On

A full 12 months into pandemic restrictions, Gordon Masson talks to professionals across a number of live music business disciplines to gauge the industry’s health and its state of preparedness for a triumphant restart…

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E

ven before ILMC in 2020, a number of countries were beginning to shut down when it came to mass gatherings such as concerts and live entertainment, while for many ILMC 32 attendees, the artist showcases that week in London were the last live performances that they witnessed.

Talk about the coronavirus, back then, swung between the hope that it was just a new form of flu, to fear that we might have to postpone a month or two of upcoming dates. Certainly, nobody was predicting the loss of a full calendar year of events and the redundancies of countless thousands of industry professionals around the world.

Indeed, as the year progressed and restrictions imposed by governments on everyday activities even drilled down to how often you can leave your home, the optimists among us still believed that, maybe, festivals in August and September might happen, allowing indoor venues to reopen in October.

Fast-forward to February 2021, and despite vaccine programmes inoculating millions of people every day, there’s a growing consensus that there might not be any kind of outdoor season in the northern hemisphere until next year, while a few hopeful souls are holding out for indoor shows by November or December, albeit featuring domestic talent rather than international superstars.

One Year On_Feature “Everybody underestimated the impact of Covid,” admits Christof Huber, general secretary of European festivals organisation, Yourope. “I remember being at the Swiss Music Awards in February last year, on the day when all the big events were banned in Switzerland. But our attitude was that in two weeks we would be back.

“The strange thing is, we could see what was happening elsewhere, but nobody was talking about it. Now though, we’re all working desperately hard and trying everything possible to make things happen. But the general consensus seems to be that Q4 is when we might be able to return .”

The gradual dawning of the reality of Covid has been a harsh lesson for an industry that thrives on optimism and creativity.

“After the UK government announce on the 22nd February, we now have a ‘nothing before’ date, which has really helped us,” notes Toby Leighton-Pope, co-CEO of AEG Presents in the UK. “For so long we were operating in the dark not being able to plan for the future. Now we know officially there will be nothing before 22nd June and although I’m not 100% confident we will be fully open directly after this, it does give us a decent roadmap to work to.

“I’m not a big fan of socially distanced gigs.

Artists rely so much on the vibe for the crowd and seeing so many empty seats from the stage cannot be fun for them. It also doesn’t work financially for the artist, venue or promoter. In a dooms day

scenario, if we never get back to full capacities then I guess we have to deal with it, but for now, I’m not a fan.”

John Reid, president Live Nation Europe Concerts comments, “The reopening timeline will differ from region to region. The vaccine roll-out is encouraging and will underpin confidence. As that continues to scale we will be able to get back to regular capacities, and we’re still hopeful some events are able to return sometime in the summer.

“We are working with governments, scientists and local authorities to make sure that, as soon as it’s possible to do so, we’ll be there and ready to go. Don’t forget, there are markets in Asia Pacific that are already opening – it was great to see Rhythm & Vines festival taking place in New Zealand over the new year.”

Those regional idiosyncrasies are also highlighted by UTA co-head of music, Sam Kirby Yoh. “The need for industry support varies from country to country,” she says. “Smaller European countries like Norway or Iceland have prominent music scenes, deeply ingrained into their cultures, and their local fundraising efforts have been quite successful. Additionally, if a country’s recovery from Covid-19 is going successfully enough for domestic artists to be able to perform, we anticipate that it will open itself up to artists from nearby countries shortly thereafter.”

Detlef Kornett, Deutsche Entertainment

AG’s CMO and head of international business affairs is more blunt about the year ahead for the live entertainment sector. “I foresee that come March or April, government in the UK (but less so across Europe) will have run out of their reserves and will put on the brake for live music industry grants and support. Whereas continental Europe continues to support the event industry in various degrees but all the way until the end of 2021, that type of support is currently not foreseeable in the UK. So I’m afraid that, for us in the UK, the hardest days are yet to come, unless the government backed insurance plan and flexible furlough schemes fall into place,” he predicts.

Kornett is brutally honest about the current state of the business. “US artists are shying away and are not committing to anything before, possibly, the end of the year, but most likely 2022,” he says. “The local authorities have already said that no matter what happens they do not want a festival in July. That leaves the big question about what can be done in August, because it won’t work that events are banned until 31July but then on 1 August you can have 50,000 people in a stadium. It will be gradual, with social distancing and test events, and depending on those results, we may be encouraged to do more. But that gets you to September or October, and it’s hard to see a full O2 on the first of October as well, in the current circumstances.”

“Governments are not using our expertise and instead they are relying on bureaucrats. If we could at least get a seat at the table with them, we could help come up with solutions” Christof Huber | Yourope

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Feature_One Year On

Investing Time in the Future

One consistent observation from many involved in the live music supply chain is that never have they worked so hard but for zero financial gain.

Agents and promoters have spent the past year endlessly postponing shows, securing new dates for the tour and making sure everything is in place for the tour to happen, only to have to do the exact same thing weeks and months later.

It’s a similar tale for other professions in music. “There’s a big pastoral role in my job and it’s all about keeping everybody – not just the band members, but everybody in our wider family – motivated and keeping morale up,” says Joyce Smyth, manager of the Rolling Stones. “I’m very fortunate because the Stones have such a terrific work ethic, and right from the outset, Mick’s first question was ‘What can you give me to do?

We need some projects!’

“So there has been new music released. The single Living in a Ghost Town was rather apt for our times. Goats Head Soup came out as a nice re-release, and it’s quite tricky organising that because the guys are all in different places: they’re not in one same jurisdiction, so it can be a challenge to keep everything cohesive. At the end of the day we had to be innovative and not dwell on what we can’t do and what we feel we’ve lost, but just concentrate on what we can get on with? As Keith would say: we’ve just got to hunker down and get through this.”

It’s a similar story for solo artist Imogen Heap, who tells IQ that uncertainty over Brexit and then the coronavirus forced her to shelve some international tour plans, leaving a blank hole in her usually packed schedule. “But what has come out of that are many new initiatives – lots of projects that would not have come about had I had the usual team of eight people around me, but who have had to go on furlough when there have been no revenues coming in,” says Heap. “It felt like it did ten years ago, without the team and back on my own. But I’ve enjoyed a greater closeness and a reawakening of the relationship with my fans, which is really, really positive and oddly, in a roundabout way, mentally helped to pull me through this period.”

Indeed, with The Stones taking the time to create some new music, Heap reports that she also has been rekindling her love for songwriting.

“One of the fans on our weekly call suggested I try meditating,” she explains. “The effect I get from meditation in a ten-minute breathing space, is the same as I’d get when I was improvising with a piano as a child – it creates a calm and a space for everything. The combination of that and speaking with the fans every Thursday brought me out of a really quite awful depression.”

With her fans viewing her improvisation sessions, they noted down their favourite moments and entered them into a spreadsheet for Heap, suggesting which ones they want me her to make

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“The fans are loyal to their artists and our festivals – 83% of fans are holding on to their tickets for rescheduled shows, and 63% for festivals, which is incredible” John Reid | Live Nation

music out of. “For seven or eight years I haven’t written a song unless there has been a project associated with it – mainly for financial reasons – but this time there was no reason and it’s just because the fans liked it and I liked it,” she says.

“And it feels so good to just be a musician again with no agenda – it feels like I’m 15 again. I’m just writing music because I want to.”

That element of rediscovery is something that AEG’s Leighton-Pope can draw parallels with. “Personally, I’ve found that everything is not as urgent as we once thought it was,” he says. “That allows us to spend a bit more time to think about things and give more attention to the planning process.

“Taking some time off also has its benefits.

Talking to people and realising that not killing yourself with work every day was actually beneficial, was a revelation. So, being able to work from home and to spend more time with family and friends helps in all aspects of your life, including work.”

That time off has, perhaps, allowed people to put their work/life balance under the microscope, helping to retain some of the positivity that otherwise might have evaporated after such a lengthy lay-off.

“Of course, everybody is frustrated, but I have not heard any negative vibes in the sense of just giving up,” states Yourope’s Huber. “Everybody is just concentrating on trying to arrange whatever is possible in their own country.”

However, highlighting the fact that no two

countries are dealing with the pandemic in the same way, Huber says, “There are a lot of umbrella programmes in the Netherlands and Germany and Austria and Switzerland, for example, but we also hear from people in other countries who have absolutely nothing – zero governmental support – and you can only imagine how frustrating that is. But the people in those situations are the true survivors who try to solve things differently, because maybe they were used to similar situations in previous years.

And no matter how difficult it is, even those people are saying that they are going to come back.”

That’s music to the ears of Leighton-Pope, who believes the industry’s work ethic throughout the past year will pay dividends when normality finally returns. “The thing is, if you’re late to the party, then you will miss out – you have to have tours pencilled and venues held and put in all that hard work, even though the dates keep shifting,” he says. “If you’re not ready to go on the day the green light is given, then you’re definitely going to be scrambling to catch up with everyone else who has put in that hard graft.”

Kornett agrees. “For a company that cannot host any events, we’ve all been flat-out busy because you’re chasing the events that you need to postpone or cancel; you’re chasing government grants or subsidies; you’re chasing banks and everyone else for financing; you’re re-projecting the re-project of the re-projected business; and

One Year On_Feature when you’re done with all that, you start from the beginning again…”

Brexit

For those businesses operating in Europe and the UK, the past few years have been dominated by what the potential fallout from Britain leaving the European Union might be. With that date now passed, what has become apparent is that international touring didn’t even make it on to a list of priorities for policy makers, leaving the industry floundering to find solutions before venues are allowed to reopen.

Issues over work permits and visas have recently received a lot of publicity, thanks to the support of some high-profile artists – notably Elton John – but there are other significant hurdles that the industry at large will have to overcome to allow the successful resumption of international tours.

“With Covid falling as it has, although it has been an absolutely appalling time for everybody, it’s been a really sour blessing, because in an otherwise normal year, the industry would have come apart at the seams,” states Stuart McPherson, managing director of trucking firm KB Event, which has had to find £500,000 (€579,000)

to open a new EU-based depot in Dublin.

“I’ve been living this for three years now to try to come up with solutions and options for solutions, because until 23 or 24 December, 2020, we were not 100% certain, from our part of the industry, about where we were going. So we had to have different strategies laid out in terms of which button we were going to press in case of whichever scenario we found ourselves in.”

As things stand, McPherson explains that UK trucking companies can no longer legally tour in Europe as a result of Brexit, hence his newly opened European headquarters. “Our choices were threefold: either we do what we’ve done and move into the EU; or we become a domestic-only trucking company and cut our cloth accordingly; or we shut down and go home. So it was a no brainer – we need our UK company and our EU company.”

Underlining the lack of support the sector has had from government, McPherson adds, “If we had been live and had tours out in January and February, the way we normally have, then we would have been in a world of pain.”

That situation is acknowledged by DEAG’s Kornett, who observes that under current Brexit rules, “Effectively, as a tour, you are better off hiring European trucking companies and equipment, tour-

“I’m afraid that, for us, the hardest days are yet to come” Detlef Kornett | DEAG

ing Europe, and then going through the border exercise only once when you enter the UK. But what will that mean for all the stage and production companies in the UK? So many businesses will be forced to open European subsidiaries.”

For his part, Live Nation’s Reid says, “Partners on all sides are invested in finding the optimal process, and lobbying groups across the UK and Europe are working hard on how to make travel work for touring acts. One up-side of the pause in live is that we have time to plan so that when restrictions are lifted across the markets the industry can still retain its strong position internationally.”

Rather than bemoaning the situation, McPherson is hopeful that his trucking peers will also invest in EU depots. “I know that a couple of our competitors are moving in to Holland, which is great news,” he states. “For the health of

“For European touring to resume, major markets, including France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain and Italy, will need to reopen with no quarantines and with venue capacities that make financial sense” Sam Kirby Yoh | UTA Magazine

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Feature_One Year On the industry, we need as many of the suppliers to be able to service the clients they currently service – if there are not enough suppliers to service everyone, it’s going to be a big problem.”

But the price to remain in the market is steep, as it’s not just the case of having a postal address in the EU. “Legally, we have to replicate the company,” McPherson informs IQ. “To get an operator’s licence for our trucks, you have to have physical parking space for the number of trucks that you want on that licence. So if I want a licence for 50 trucks, I have to have a depot with enough land to park those 50 trucks on it. We also have to have an office to store all the records, and we require a transport manager based in that EU state.”

And the expense does not stop there. All of KB Event’s drivers will now have to pass their Certificate of Professional Competence qualifications in Ireland to allow them to continue to drive in the EU. “Another kicker is that my insurance company cannot insure my trucks in the EU, so I also have to replicate my insurance in Ireland alongside my insurance in the UK:

“I’m very fortunate because the Stones have such a terrific work ethic, and right from the outset, Mick’s first question was ‘What can you give me to do? We need some projects!’”

Joyce Smyth | Manager, Rolling Stones

my insurance is £300,000 [€ 347,000] so I have to replicate that so we can use both fleets. It’s a horrific place to be, but it’s the right thing to do for the health of my business and for the health of my clients.”

Plotting Routes to Recovery

Presuming there will be enough trucks and suppliers available when markets and borders start to reopen, the plans that industry professionals have been adjusting for the past 12 months follow similar theoretical paths.

“For European touring to resume, major

markets, including France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain and Italy, will need to reopen with no quarantines and with venue capacities that make financial sense,” says UTA’s Kirby Yoh. “Australia and New Zealand have to be at a point where fans can travel between countries, with limited or no up-front quarantine costs. This is a similar case with Asia, with particular reference to the importance of Japan.”

Kornett believes we should be focusing more on the strides being made in medical technology to speed up the return of live events. “I don’t think we’re talking about rapid testing enough, as we’re all a bit obsessed with vaccination,” he says. “There are tests out there now that only take three minutes, so logistically, we could ask event attendees either for vaccination proof or give them a quick test to get a reasonable amount of people through the doors within two to three hours. That could save good-sized outdoor events in the summer, as well as moving indoors to arena events in the Fall.”

Stones manager Joyce Smyth is cautiously open to the idea of fans being asked for proof of vaccination, but notes, “It all depends on the jurisdiction of the country you are playing in and the rules in that particular territory. And I also wonder who pays for all of this, because I can see the venues wanting to pass the admin cost on to the promoters, who will want to pass it to the artists, and that then is passed on to the fans, so it becomes a tricky proposition. But if it’s what is required to open up, then we’re going to have to do it.”

Leighton-Pope is a fan of health screening. “I like the idea of the vaccine passport and the idea of the whole world having one, which might force anyone who had not had the vaccine to join the club. I’m hoping that by the summer, maybe 75% of the UK population will have had the vaccine, and then we need a plan – a vaccine passport could be part of that – but more to the point, we need a plan that the government will support.”

The matter of government support is a major issue for Yourope’s festival organisers, who are

“We need to look after each other, because things are really tough” Stuart McPherson | KB Event

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

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Feature_One Year On frustrated by the lack of communication from their respective policy makers. “Everybody has worked very hard to come up with concepts that might work, but we’re not getting any feedback from governments,” reports Huber. “We hear nothing about under what circumstances it might be possible to be back under full capacity, or even when we will be allowed to do business again in any format.”

He continues, “Our business is very flexible. We saw that last summer with people finding ways to go back into business, and not just for themselves – it’s for the artist, for our employees, and we need to keep the sponsors aboard otherwise they will leave to different sectors. So it’s a multilayered thing that we need to go back to business. But we’re just not getting the communication about which circumstances will allow this.”

Personnel Issues

One serious area of concern is the prospects of the business successfully reopening if there is a shortage of skilled professionals available to help artists get back out on the road.

“What’s really important now, is to ensure that the industry is ready to ramp up as soon as we get the go ahead, so supporting crew and freelancers has never been more important,” says Reid. “Crew Nation has raised over $15m (€12m), helping 15,000 live music crew members across 48 countries globally, and we hope to help even more until we can come back in full. And we’ll also be advocating for prep and planning, so shows can be teed up to play as soon as it’s safe – given the longer lead times required to tour we need to be adjusting along the way so we don’t have crew spending extra months on the sideline once society begins to reopen.”

It’s a problem recognised by everyone. KB Event’s McPherson tells IQ, “[Covid] has been brutal on the freelance workforce, but we’ve been working with stage managers and production managers to try to find them van jobs or labouring jobs or just anything to try to help them out. We need to look after each other, because things are really tough.”

Reid adds, “The whole industry has been working hard to support the ecosystem that we rely on, but it’s undoubtedly been tough all round for people who work in live events. People are eager to get back to work and we’re confident we’ll be able to staff up appropriately as things ramp up.”

Smyth reveals that The Stones have been playing their part, by “aligning with organisations and groups who are trying to help crew survive this – and not just our crew, as that’s the easier part and we can look after our own. But there is a whole industry out there and we are in danger of losing this expertise unless something is done. So we’re involved in campaigns that raise awareness – governments could definitely

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provide a little more help than they already are.”

UTA’s Kirby Yoh believes that Covid has laid bare some of the weaknesses in the live sector.

“The live music industry’s previous system was more fragile than we had realised and did not provide enough support for vendors, crews, venues, artists and more,” she states. “It is important that we strengthen our infrastructure to include more provisions for these parties. Also, Covid-19 has reinforced the importance of artist representation when dealing with the industry’s governing bodies.”

Meanwhile, Kornett says DEAG has been working with its partners throughout the pandemic in an effort to keep them solvent. “When you work on big events for multiple years, you end up being vertically integrated with some of your suppliers, so we went out with some of them and applied to run testing centres and vaccination centres – it’s building the set, thinking about

ingress and egress – so it’s what we’re used to. That obviously isn’t going to save anyone’s bacon, but it’s at least something toward paying the bills.”

And for her part, Heap observes, “The end of live music has given artists the time to look at all their revenue streams closely, so that’s why people are beginning to speak out about the rates they get from streaming, for instance, and that campaign for fairer treatment is gaining support now.”

While Heap has been working diligently for a number of years on her own Creative Passport scheme, helping music makers to access, update and manage their own data, she is quick to add, “I’m very grateful to the people who are going into Parliament to speak about all of these things on our behalf. I’m doing my own little bit from my corner through the creative passport, trying to help ease of flow between different services and trying to make sure you have all the required verifications, but there’s only so much we can do.”

“Talking to people and realising that not killing yourself with work every day was actually beneficial, was a revelation” Toby Leighton-Pope | AEG Present

One Year On_Feature

Lessons

With everyone looking forward to the long-awaited return of live music, whenever that may be, the professionals that IQ spoke to were universally upbeat about how people have pulled together to weather the storm of the past year.

Live Nation president Reid says one of the key lessons he has learned over the past year is to “never take anything for granted.” He applauds Live Nation staff for their hard work throughout the crisis, and admits to being pleasantly surprised by the patience of fans. “Our teams are innovative and have pivoted to adapt to the unimaginable challenges that the last year has thrown at us,” says Reid. “The fans are loyal to their artists and our festivals – 83% of fans are holding on to their tickets for rescheduled shows, and 63% for festivals, which is incredible.”

Accepting the success that live-streaming has had during the past year, AEG’s Leighton-Pope nonetheless counters, “Professionally, I did not get into the music industry to spend my time on Zoom, or to watch concerts on my computer. I love the live interaction and that’s why I like being in this business – and we’re finding out that is really hard to replicate.

“The live-streams that I’ve seen are like good TV shows, but I have not had a hair on the back on my neck moment watching anything on my computer like I do at a gig, bar, club, stadium or festival.” When it comes to Covid’s lessons, he adds, “I’ve learned that we can work from home very capably: the idea of being in an office for five days a week now sounds antiquated.”

Stones manager Smyth also tips her hat to the fans, and voices hopes that after more than a year without events, the scalpers and touts will be confined to history. “The whole secondary market is terribly pernicious,” she says. “I can see the scale of it because I follow our ticket refunds.

Lots of wonderful fans have held on to their tickets for our postponed shows in the States, even though I’m sure lots of them are suffering and have maybe lost their jobs. It’s apparent, however, that much of the returned inventory is from brokers – it’s not the fans who have managed to buy blocks of tickets. So what is going on there?

We’ve talked about it endlessly and I hope this lockdown situation is an opportunity for somebody clever to clean this up a bit.”

UTA’s Kirby Yoh says that fan loyalty coupled with the growing desire for live entertainment should negate the need to slash ticket prices when on-sales restart. “We would need to re-evaluate ticket pricing once touring resumes, based on local economies,” she says. “At this point, we don’t think a widespread drop in ticket prices would be necessary for fans to return to live shows, as there will be a real appetite for people to see shows again.”

But she is determined to make sure that strides made in recent years regarding equality

are not swept under the carpet. “Much work still needs to be done to increase diversity and equality within the industry,” she stresses. “I encourage everyone to get involved in Diversify The Stage, Noelle Scaggs’ initiative focused on improving hiring practices and bringing more underrepresented individuals into the live music and touring sectors of the business.”

Heap says, “I think we are at a turning point.

But sometimes you have to hit rock bottom first.

I don’t know if we’re at rock bottom, but we must be pretty close.” And she adds, “In many ways it’s been a beautiful time and I’ve felt very supported and creatively free. It just hasn’t brought in any money. So now I’m making music as a hobby, but I’m also doing big commercial projects for money and that’s totally fine.”

McPherson says the cross-industry collaboration has been remarkable during the past year. “[The pandemic] has driven a lot more cooperation between the different disciplines in how we find a way through this and I’m hopeful that once we come out the other side of this, there will be a lot more cooperation, working together to ultimately deliver what our clients need,” he says.

Huber concurs, “I feel that, more than ever, we are all working in the same business and there’s a lot of dialogue and positive exchange, so hopefully we will come out of this stronger in the long run.” And he hopes that governments, sooner rather than later, will realise that engaging with the live entertainment industry could facilitate a swifter end to Covid restrictions.

“One of the key jobs of a promoter is to plan events that keep everyone safe, but the governments are not using our expertise and instead they are relying on bureaucrats. If we could at least get a seat at the table with them, we could help come up with solutions.”

Kornett is doubtful, musing, “The EU looks at someone organising a concert in the same way

“In many ways it’s been a beautiful time and I’ve felt very supported and creatively free.

It just hasn’t brought in any money” Imogen Heap | Artist

as somebody who is restoring a castle – he has to bring materials and special instruments to work on an 11th century castle. So whatever they do for our industry, they will have to do for everyone else, too.” But he is quietly confident that the medical community will come up with answers to accelerate live music’s resurrection. “I’m convinced there will be further progress in medical treatment and vaccinations, and that might help us find our way back to a more normal way of life, hopefully even sooner than we expect.”

Indeed, when touring does become a reality again, there is a very real danger that every band in the world will want to be out performing at the same time. Such problems don’t phase manager Smyth, though, as she and her organisation prepare for the Rolling Stones’ 60th anniversary year in 2022.

“Right now it seems like it would be a wonderful problem to have,” she concludes. “Oh dear, four acts want to have the Albert Hall on the same night. Well, somehow we have to make it work… Matinees!” she laughs.

Find out more about Diversify the Stage at: www.diversifythestage.org

CONTRIBUTORS

IMOGEN HEAP | ARTIST, CHRISTOF HUBER | YOUROPE, SAM KIRBY YOH | UTA, DETLEF KORNETT | DEUTSCHE ENTERTAINMENT AG TOBY LEIGHTON-POPE | AEG PRESENTS, STUART MCPHERSON | KB EVENT, JOHN REID | LIVE NATION EUROPE CONCERTS JOYCE SMYTH | MANAGER, ROLLING STONES Magazine

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PROMOTED CONTENT

closely observed by many governments with a view to support their vaccine deployment initiatives.

HEALTH PASSPORT WORLDWIDE

I

n summer 2020, Ireland-based Roqu Group launched Health Passport Worldwide (HPW), a secure platform that combines mobile technologies with official Covid-19 tests and vaccinations.

The technology has been engineered specifically to help curtail the spread of Covid-19 and is enabling the safe reopening of events, travel and sports in nine countries worldwide.

Here, Robert Quirke, president and CEO at Roqu, tells IQ how HPW is now working alongside leading international events producers, live music organisations, and ticketing companies to create solutions that will reopen events this summer.

IQ: Who is able to use HPW? RQ: The app is free to be used by the public and also by official healthcare providers. The system is multilingual. Depending on the model of smartphone, font sizes can be increased and text-to-speech can be enabled. The overall technology platform is being used by event producers, the travel industry, pharmacies and many more. The ‘dependents’ feature means that people

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with disabilities can make full use of the tech if they wish.

In which countries has HPW established a presence?

The technology is actively being used in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa, Canada, Bulgaria, Kenya, Nigeria, and Spain.

Where has it been trialled so far?

Extensive system trials have already been performed in Ireland, the UK and South Africa at healthcare centres, pharmacies, nursing homes for staff vaccinations, schools (staff), offices and more. In December of last year, the system was successfully used at the trial live music event in Cape Town called Recharge2020, working alongside Ticketmaster, the City, and local production companies: https://youtu.be/QOQCUngy0K4 Has HPW received the stamp of approval from any governments?

The organisation focuses on the successful industry adoption across various sectors. Our approach is to not wait, but rather to immediately support industries who urgently need solutions. The technology is being

The digital passport market is becoming increasingly saturated. How does your product stand out?

This is not a concept, it is a living, breathing solution, and has been since last summer. There is currently no other health passport solution that has achieved the level of support and adoption compared to HPW. Our solution is already being used by some of the world’s leading organisations. Every minute, someone somewhere in the world receives their Covid-19 test result safely via our technology.

How does the app keep users’ data secure and private?

The founders of the technology have put user privacy as a priority, because unlike some other mobile technologies, the HPW app does not track people’s location, does not use Bluetooth, does not use GPS, and does not monitor people’s usage of the system. Data is not shared with any third parties. This function does not even exist within the technology.

Does the app work in harmony with existing healthcare and tech systems?

Yes, the system can integrate where necessary with labs, hospitals, and existing public health platforms.

A special function is included to support various doses of vaccinations. You can also book a test from directly within the app, making everything as easy as possible for the user.

The technology also integrates with public health systems, festiHPW took part in the Recharge 2020 event in Cape Town, South Africa

vals, airports, test centres, event ticketing platforms and more.

For what purposes do you see the health passport being used?

Enabling efficiencies at testing and vaccination centres, international travel, and major sporting and music events with very large crowds.

This platform will absolutely not be used for everyday life, such as going out for dinner or to the pub!

How could HPW facilitate the return of live music?

The technology enables event producers to scan high volumes of people in a very short period of time, the same as scanning your event ticket at entry. The system gives guests and producers the reassurance that people entering the venue are at a very low or zero risk of transmitting Covid-19. The HPW team has extensive experience in testing and can support events not just with the technology but also with the end-toend efficient and safe process.

Can HPW integrate with event ticketing platforms?

Yes, for example an anonymous code could be shared. But the system will not share medical information or personal details.

Festivals admit tens of thousands of people over a relatively short amount of time. Is HPW capable of processing a high volume of testing onsite?

Yes, the solution to safely test 65,000 people within eight hours is already being deployed into Europe.

Will venues and festivals have to implement any kind of hardware in order to use HPW? No.

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Enabling the Safe Return of Live Events We long for the feeling of togetherness, enjoying those shared moments at events, festivals, concerts and sports. Nothing beats the live experience and Health Passport Worldwide helps to get the show back on the road and fans back together.

Test. Protect. Enjoy. www.healthpassportworldwide.com

Download from your app store today

Feature_Live Streaming

© Joel Ryan Photo

I STREAM, YOU STREAM, WE ALL STREAM (FOR LIVE-STREAMS)

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After 12 months of little traditional concert activity, artists, promoters and fans continue to rely on digital concerts for their live music fix.

Jon Chapple asks leading players in the space what comes next… iq-mag.net

Live Streaming_Feature

Idiot Prayer – Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace was a hugely popular live-stream event that has since spun off a vinyl album, CD and a whole line of merchandise Magazine

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Feature_Live Streaming

I

f there was one positive story to emerge from the unrelenting stream of bad news that was 2020 in live music, it was the dawn of the live-stream. From the feel-good, lo-fi bedroom shows of March 2020 to the slick, professional, ticketed events that become the norm by the end of the year, the willingness of fans to first consume, and then pay for, concert content beamed to the comfort of their homes was a small glimmer of light for the industry in the darkest year in memory.

A year on from the global shutdown that devastated the international live music business, how has the live-streaming market evolved, and where do paid-for concert broadcasts fit into touring plans in future – particularly when non-socially distanced shows are possible once again?

According to James Sutcliffe, chief marketing and content officer for LiveNow, the concert market is playing catch-up with sports, where pay-per-view (PPV) events – particularly with combat sports such as boxing, as well as ‘sports entertain-

world, LiveNow was able to provide the industry with a quality product, free of the technical problems that plagued some newer platforms, right out of the gate, says Sutcliffe.

Music events broadcast by LiveNow in 2020 include some of the biggest live-streams of the year, including One World: Together at Home, Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054, Ellie Goulding’s Brightest Blue Experience, Gorillaz’ Song Machine Live from Kong and Pete Tong’s O Come All Ye Ravers, as well as a number of smaller live-streamed shows.

Another firm well placed to capitalise on the pause in physical events is Sansar, whose president, Sheri Bryant, says the digital concert boom of the past year is validation of its vision for social live experiences in the virtual realm.

Formerly part of Linden Lab, the developer of Second Life, Sansar launched in 2017 but came into its own over the last 12 months, with its platform used to create virtual-world festivals and venues for Glastonbury Festival’s Shangri-La (Lost Horizon), UK promoter LWE (Tobacco Dock Virtual), London Mela festival (Melatopia), German club Boothaus and Serbia’s Exit Festival, among others.

“We’ve believed in this for years,” says Bryant, who adds that 2020 “was a case of right place, right time” for Sansar, which found itself in high demand and years ahead of its newfound competition in the virtual concert space. “Now, it’s about fundraising and trying to grow as fast as possible, as we can’t keep up,” she continues. “We’re having to turn people away.”

For MelodyVR – which launched in 2018 as the first virtual-reality (VR) music platform – concerts will form part of a wider digital music offering that also includes music streaming from Napster, whose parent company, Rhapsody International, it acquired last year. The AIM (London)-listed company will soon rebrand as Napster Group, launching a new, integrated Napster app later in 2021.

It, too, was responsible for some of 2020’s most-talked-about

Laura Marling’s stunning 6 June performances at the Union Chapel in London have earned incremental income from ticketed rebroadcast in early 2021

Steven Hancock | Melody VR

ment’ like professional wrestling – have long been the norm.

Unlike many companies in the live-streaming space, LiveNow “wasn’t, as a business, conceived in reaction to the pandemic,” explains Sutcliffe, who joined the company just before Christmas. Part of the Aser Ventures Group, whose Eleven Sports network holds broadcast rights to the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, UEFA Champions League and Formula 1 across its platforms in Europe and east Asia, LiveNow was born out of Aser founder Andrea Radrizzani’s desire to “apply the things he’d learnt” in live sports to music, he continues.

Learning from its sister company’s experience in the sporting

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© Joel Ryan Photo

“I think we’re way off having thousands of people in a field again, unfortunately”

Live Streaming_Feature

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Feature_Live Streaming Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054 extravaganza featured guest appearances and duets that helped the event set new records for the live-stream format

streams, including Wireless Connect, a three-day VR stand-in for Wireless Festival in July, and Live From O2 Academy Brixton with the likes of Fontaines DC, Blossoms and Tom Grennan, and hopes to build on that success this year – Covid-19 allowing – says Steven Hancock, co-founder and chief relationship officer of MelodyVR. “We’re all on tenterhooks to see what the big promoters do – our strategy is to see what live looks like in its traditional sense,” he explains. “We’ve got some ideas around big showpieces, but there’s no requirement for us to rush this year.” (MelodyVR recently raised just over £8million [€9.3m] to help build and launch its new app.)

“But what we do know,” he adds, “is that ‘hybrid’ shows” – livestreamed concerts with a small, often socially distanced physical audience – “are going to become the norm. I think we’re way off having thousands of people in a field again, unfortunately.”

“I don’t perceive any concerts of note this year,” agrees Conal Dodds, co-founder and director of promot-

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er Crosstown Concerts, which has partnered with PPV concert platform Stabal for its own on-demand shows, the first of which – a reunion concert by British folkies Bellowhead – took place in December.

Expanding into live-streams is “completely inspired by Covid,” Dodds says. “People’s summer schedules are evaporating, festivals are tumbling away by the day… right now, as a promoter, there are very few other ways of making any money.”

Unlike one-and-done streams that can’t be watched back, Crosstown gives fans the opportunity to buy a deluxe ticket that gets them 30 days to watch the show, as well as additional exclusive content.

“Anecdotally, 60-70% of sales so far have been for the more expensive of the two ticket options,” says Dodds.

Both Dodds and Bryant say they see a place for part-physical, part-digital hybrid concerts as restrictions on real-world events are gradually lifted – Bryant says almost all major Sansar-hosted shows in 2021 are “‘parallel’ events” – as does Russ Tannen, chief revenue officer of concert discovery and ticketing

“…right now, as a promoter, there are very few other ways of making any money” Conal Dodds | Crosstown Concerts

platform Dice, which rapidly repositioned itself as a platform for ticketing and promoting live-streams in the early days of the pandemic.

“We made a call in April that it was time to give live-streaming a go,” recalls Tannen. “I was very sceptical – we’d never talked about live-streaming before the end of March – but obviously it took off very quickly and before long we’d had thousands of streams entered into the app.”

Dice’s live-streaming successes to date include a string of shows with Ric Salmon and Brian Message’s Driift, including Laura Marling, Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue (who sold 30,000+ tickets), Rough Trade, David Bowie’s Lazarus and DJs David Guetta and Bicep – as well as thousands of events with emerging and mid-level artists,

whose fans are willing to pay similar money for digital concerts, at least during the pandemic.

“It’s obviously Nick Cave, Kylie, etc., that got lots of headline, but there’s actually a really interesting middle section of emerging artists, people like Black Country New Road, Cinematic Orchestra, who are also putting on viable shows and delivering really great live experiences,” Tannen says.

As to the hybrid question, “what we saw before lockdown is that socially distanced hybrid shows were selling really well,” he adds, “so I think we will see more of those – they will happen again and they will sell.”

“This summer is not going to happen in any major way,” says Sutcliffe, “so that hybrid model will be key as the first step back to live.

Live Streaming_Feature Whatever the reason – whether it’s fear of Covid, or maybe because they haven’t got the vaccine – a lot of people are still going to be scared to go back into a stadium, so this allows for both: a [physical] live ‘experience’ and the live-streamed show.”

Interestingly, a large proportion of the people who are buying tickets for live-streams aren’t regular gig-goers temporarily shut out of venues, according to Tannen. “One of the reasons I think they’re going to stick around is that we’re reaching a different demographic,” he says.

“Maybe it’s people who have moved out of the city, or are a bit older, or for whatever reason can’t get to a venue, a lot of those people don’t want to be locked out of live music.”

Similarly, Dodds says Crosstown aren’t necessarily focusing on acts the company has promoted before. “We target people that we think there’s an audience for,” he explains. “We’re not really going after a young audience, as I don’t think they’re prepared to pay £10–15 [€11.50-17] for a concert broadcast – our target, really, is grown-ups.”

Even after non-socially distanced, full-capacity shows return, live-streams will offer artists and promoters a reliable additional revenue stream for little risk or outlay, Sutcliffe adds.

“If you sell out the O2 in London and then do another 20,000 tickets on top, that’s pure profit,” he says.

“We don’t want to replace live – nothing beats the live experience – but [with streaming] we’re able to

Gorillaz staged three performances across two dates for their Song Machine Live from Kong series of shows in December

add a layer of extra value for fans, artists and the industry.”

“The objective used to be 75%, 80% – whatever the magic number was, once you reached that, everyone was happy,” Hancock echoes.

“But it seems like now, from the agents and promoters we’ve spoken to in the last year, everyone is interested in capturing that incremental revenue, and live-streaming is part of that.”

Dodds says while it “remains to be seen whether people want to continue [doing dedicated livestreams] after live music returns, “it’s definitely something that could augment touring in the future, particularly if all shows on a tour are sold out, or for territories where people aren’t able to tour.”

For some performers, even ar-

CONTRIBUTORS

SHERI BRYANT | SANSAR, CONAL DODDS | CROSSTOWN CONCERTS, STEVEN HANCOCK | MELODY VR, JAMES SUTCLIFFE | LIVENOW, RUSS TANNEN | DICE

chive performances can be repackaged and ticketed as a standalone ‘live’ stream – British comedian James Acaster, for example, sold 30,000 tickets at £10 (€11.50) each for a show that was originally filmed at the end of 2019, Tannen explains.

For virtual worlds like Sansar, where fans participate in the show as opposed to simply watching, the key to long-term success is “deeper engagement,” both between fans and artists and between the real and virtual words, Bryant suggests.

“One thing we explored last year is this thing we call ‘windowing,’” she says, “which allows different audience from around the world to mix and mingle, blending the lines of who and what we consider ‘real’.”

Windowing, Bryant explains, involves putting up an LED screen on which real-world concertgoers can see and communicate with the Sansar avatars, and vice versa, with those inside the virtual world able to see the physical concert crowd.

While everyone IQ spoke to sees a place for live-streamed or virtual concerts post-pandemic, all are clear that they must not – and cannot – replace the live experience, instead functioning as an add-on to physical shows that benefits the industry and live music fans alike.

However, from a sustainability point of view, consumer willingness to pay for live-streams could enable artists to reduce the environmental impact of their tours by playing fewer physical dates, Sut-

cliffe suggests. “I’m romantic about live, but we have to be realistic about the situation,” he says. “The logistics involved in an international tour – from the many forms of transport to hotel rooms, bars, restaurants – has a huge environmental impact.”

From a coronavirus perspective, “that’s also a lot of movement that the world won’t allow to happen again quickly.”

Dodds agrees, stating, “As something to augment tours – maybe by adding a few live-stream-only dates, with an extra show filmed at the beginning of the tour – it’s definitely an option for artists who want to minimise their carbon footprints.”

For Tannen, the hope is that live-streams can help get the next generation of concertgoers – for whose attention concerts are competing with video games, e-sports, YouTube, Twitch, social media and countless other electronic distractions – excited about live music, just as watching and rewatching old pop-punk videos did him at the turn of the millennium.

“I had all these Warped Tour VHS [tapes], and they’re what got me obsessed with the idea of live music,” he says. “I’m hoping that might be the same with the live-streams that are coming out now, that they might ignite that little spark that we need to plant in the heads of gen Zers. We need to make sure the kids that are coming through want to go and watch shows, the same way we did.”

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RATIONALE FOR A RESILIENT RETURN Feature_Arena Resilience Alliance

Ahead of its ILMC session, the Arena Resilience Alliance (ARA) held its second webinar, entitled #AGameofTwoHalves: The Return Leg, on 18 February, attracting impressive support from all three key institutions of the European Union – the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament – as leading venue operators laid foundations for a route to reopening.

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sing the opportunity to launch the ARA manifesto for the safe return of live music and sport, the organisation (which is a special purpose initiative, created by members of the European Arenas Association) benefitted from opening addresses delivered by Rita Brasil de Brito, chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee, Portuguese presidency of the council of the EU; and Viviane Hoffmann, deputy director general at the European Commission Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.

The online event also included a keynote speech and presentation by Sam Tanson, minister of culture for Luxembourg, who praised the efforts of the Rockhal Arena and Luxembourg’s health authority for their efforts in helping to successfully organise a recent series of test events at the venue.

Tanson underscored the importance of such tests, as they highlight the potential for live events to return with the appropriate measures in place. The minister also acknowledged that government support for the live entertainment and sports industries will be important moving forward. “Culture, music and, of course, also sports are key components of our community’s wellbeing,” she said. “I was very pleased to read that the European Parliament has adopted,

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on February 10, a joint resolution stating under point 33 that it ‘considers that arenas and stadiums are at the core of the social fabric of sport and cultural ecosystems in our societies’ and that it ‘recognises that enabling venues to reopen is essential for the health and wellbeing of our citizens and for economic recovery, both now and in the future.’ I believe that the support that we give to initiatives that will enable the return of live events is crucial.”

Further strengthening the ARA’s credentials with policy makers, Domènec Ruiz Devesa, a Member of the European Parliament, also took part in the webinar’s panel sessions, where he admitted to being impressed by the “concrete measures that are being put forward by the likes of ARA,” and spoke of his desire to develop a common European approach to deal with the resumption of cultural events so that they are not different in each city or country.

“The vaccine is not going to be a silver bul-

let,” noted Devesa. “Covid is going to stay with us for while, so we’re going to have to adapt and live with this thing [by utilising] the right measures.” Indeed, Devesa also warned that the events industry could have a lot to do when it comes to changing etiquette, especially among fans, citing that sports teams and franchises may have to discourage yelling, shouting and hugging other members of public, as part of their Covid-safe measures.

The live virtual event also featured contributions from EAA president John Langford; Alex Jäger, sport director for Champions Hockey League; Luca Scafati, business director for basketball’s Euroleague; Adam Goodyer, CEO of Realife Tech; Coralie Berael from the Forest National arena in Brussels; Member of the European Parliament, Laurence Farreng; Lotta Nibell, CEO of Swedish venue operator Got Event; Timo Hoppen from Semmel Concerts; and Dr Anne Vergison from Luxembourg’s ministry of health.

The online conference also focussed on the ambitious 10-14 February live music experiment organised by Rockhal arena. The venue hosted a series of five live shows as part of the Because Music Matters showcase. Audiences were limited in capacity to 100 people each night, with allocated seats set up around a central stage to ensure a certain level of proximity to the action whilst ensuring social distancing controls were in place throughout the venue.

Attendees had to wear masks at all times inside the venue and every participant and audience

“I was very pleased to read that the European Parliament has adopted a joint resolution stating that it ‘considers that arenas and stadiums are at the core of the social fabric of sport and cultural ecosystems in our societies’” Sam Tanson | Minister of culture for Luxembourg

Arena Resilience Alliance_Feature

THE MANIFESTO The ARA used the platform of the webinar to launch its manifesto, outlining the next steps required for the safe return of live events across Europe. The alliance unveiled its action plan under the heading of Rationale for a Resilient Return, which centres on four core concepts:

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CREATION OF AN ADVISORY BODY The ARA is proposing the creation of an advisory body that will work in tandem with European political interest groups to guide and instruct on the workings of the live events ecosystem and maximise resource for an effective return.

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A HUB FOR RETURN AND FOR CHANGE The ARA, through its extensive network of large-capacity arenas across Europe can offer its venues as a hub for the renewal of the music and sporting industries. The ARA believes its members’ venues can provide the physical space the live events ecosystem needs to build towards a safe return: a space for practice, for collaboration, for communities, and for medically conditioned tests that will measure the feasibility and act as a catalyst for the return of fan-attended events.

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ADAPTING FOR THE FUTURE OF LIVE EVENTS The ARA is ready to lead the discussion on the need for arenas to provide the physical space for the development of new environmentally sustainable and digital practices within the context of the provision of community-based and fan-based group gatherings.

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A SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE POST-COVID 19 ECOSYSTEM The Rationale for a Resilient Return manifesto has been prepared to face a critical moment for the events industry. The ARA believes we must embrace the opportunity to get arenas back to working for our communities. We must preserve the key elements of Europe’s cultural identity by bringing back live music and sporting events. We must bring the different parts of the ecosystem together to create safer, greener and more efficient environments where European citizens can meet to relax, socialise and enjoy themselves.

Robert Fitzpatrick, CEO of The Odyssey Trust, owners of The SSE Arena, Belfast, EAA Member and co-founder of the ARA, says, “As the advocacy platform for European arenas, the ARA’s manifesto will be an important tool as we prepare for a return to live events, whilst working to protect the health and wellbeing of our communities and the sustainability of our industry.”

“Building confidence amongst all our stakeholders that live events are a safe environment is so important” Oliver Toth | CEO,Rockhal

member was tested before and after each show.

Other safety precautions included contactless audience security screening and access control and guidance inside the venue.

Full results from the experiment are expected in early March, and will be exclusively revealed to delegates of the International Live Music Conference during a special ARA panel session.

Olivier Toth, Rockhal’s CEO, comments, “After almost a year without live events, experiments like our Because Music Matters showcase and other test events that have been taking place across Europe, are an important and positive step forward in testing the safety measures we can employ to support our back-to-business strategies.

“Building confidence amongst all our stakeholders that live events are a safe environment is so important. We were pleased to share initial feedback from the experiment at the ARA conference and we look forward to reviewing the findings fully, with a view to building towards a model that can be scaled as the industry continues to work towards the safe and sustainable return of live events.”

The ARA’s #AGameofTwoHalves: The Return Leg virtual conference was delivered in partnership with IQ Magazine. The event is available to watch via the EAA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

The ARA session at ILMC will take part on Wednesday 3 March from 13:30-14:30GMT and is open to all registered conference delegates.

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Your Shout

“Who was the most surprising person you met at a gig or added to a guest list?”

TOP SHOUT

The most surprising person I added to a guest list was Nelson Mandela for Michael Jackson’s Cape Town History concert in 1997. On his arrival, he received a standing ovation from everyone in the stadium and, at his request, I took him to Michael’s dressing room to pay him a surprise visit. When Michael saw Madiba, he burst into tears and hugged him.

Attie van Wyk, Big Concerts International

President Obama turning up in a pair of jeans and sweatshirt to watch Jeff Beck rehearsing.

And Bill Gates found wandering around Hyde Park for Live 8.I put him on the side of the stage with Peter Blake who was sketching the artists.

Bill Gates couldn’t understand what Peter Blake was doing.

Harvey Goldsmith David Zard brought Sophia Loren to the opening night of Notre-Dame de Paris at the Dominion in London. I thought it was a joke when he told me, but I walked round the corner straight into her.

Her heels were so high, I was shoulder height.

John Giddings, Solo Agency Seeing David Cameron strolling around Cornbury festival site with his family and a couple of very discreet security people while he was still prime minister. Very few people even did a double take and I thought then of the truly heartening difference between this and the entourage and general palaver that would surround a visit by, say, the US president.

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Mind you, if I’d known he was about to unleash Brexit on us, I might have been tempted to have a few strong words with him, accompanied by a knee to the bollocks.

Bryan Grant, Britannia Row Eric Clapton appearing and playing at a Sting show in Milan, back in the 80s. And Axel Rose appearing on the Foo Fighters stage at FirenzeRocks in 2019. Both came out of the blue.

Roberto De Luca, Live Nation Italy The Crown Prince of Bahrain, at Glasgow Fruitmarket of all places. He is a big Sturgill Simpson fan.

Rob Challice, Paradigm I had Space play three Christmas gigs at Liverpool Royal Court, which, in those days, didn’t have a lot of investment and was freezing backstage. A bunch of the (in)famous Liverpool FC Spice Boys came along to the show including Steve McManaman and a hero of mine, Robbie ‘God’ Fowler. I eventually found a reason to say

something to them and invited them to meet the band in the dressing room. The band were delighted to see them and to make the night better, the legendary late promoter rep John McBeath brought some champagne that had been in his freezing office all night. As anyone who has ever opened frozen champagne learns, it does not stop spraying until it’s completely empty. Yep, I soaked ‘God’ and everybody else in the room… skillz!

Geoff Meall, Paradigm I was producing a gig at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium in California in the summer of 1968 and I had a room next to Jim Morrison. We hung out after the show. He was very quiet and introspective and I watched TV with him when others were partying around us.

Gary Smith, quarantined entrepreneur C

Lyor Cohen and the entire YouTube Music crew of execs at Bigflo & Oli’s show at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, in 2019.

Jad El Alam, Bleu Citron Production & Tournée The biggest surprise was when I met Frodo from the Lord of the Rings, actor Elijah Wood, at Colours of Ostrava in 2006. He was there with his girlfriend from the band Gogol Bordello who were on the bill.

Patrik Kohut, Ostrava Plamanech I had a tiny show in Antwerp with the Pink Slips who were touring with Guns ’N Roses (Pink Slips’ singer is Duff’s daughter), and I was told some crew members would probably show up.

While scanning tickets, Duff and Axl Rose appeared – they weren’t on the list, but you can’t really say no, can you? They hung out at the bar all night and looked like they were having a good time. I was a mega GNR fan when I was younger so that’s probably the only time I’ve really been star-struck.

Natalia Zabkar, Live Nation Belgium Mine is a story of who didn’t get on the guest list. We had a RedMan & Method Man gig at HMV Forum Kentish Town in 2010. A guest list request came from a PR agency that represented footballers from Chelsea and Arsenal. I replied telling them that being an Arsenal fan it was difficult for me but I would have to decline, as players earning minimum £40k to £50k a week could afford to pay for all the attendees.

Marcus Anthony, KSO Entertainment

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