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.
