Left to Right: Armel Campagna , Ian Greenway, Matt Jones, Stefan Juhlin, Woody McDonald, Mairead Nash, Matt Schwarz, Seth Seigle, Tom Taaffe, Matthew Zweck
Another year, and another group of fresh-faced wonders vie for the industry’s attention in the New Boss list! Welcome to the third instalment of what certainly isn’t X-Factor for the concert business, but certainly is a chance to bring you ten industry leaders of the future. At least given their track record to date. IQ plundered every nook and cranny in our database to cast the voting net as far and wide as possible this year, and it’s safe to say that we’ve never witnessed such a tremendous response. Eligibility is simple – to make the list, nominees must be 30 or under, and working in the industry. And in order to guarantee a different crop of creative visionaries and keen business minds each year, nominees may only be featured once. The spread of names this year spans agency, promotion, festivals, brands and management, and while second generation family members still prove an enduringly popular vote, all of those represented are both energised
and positive about the future of the business. Hopefully, the viewpoints expressed on these pages will inspire readers, or at the very least cause pause for thought or discussion. There are some fascinating stories of entrepreneurship here, and enviable amounts of passion voiced, both for the bands some of our nominees work for, and the industry that they’re going to be vital in developing over the coming years. As before, the votes we’ve received will form the list of nominations for the ‘Tomorrow’s New Boss’ Arthur Award at ILMC in March 2011. The whole ILMC membership will again be able to vote for this, when voting for the awards opens online in December. We’ll keep you posted nearer the time, but for now, I very much hope you enjoy these ten tales of ambition and early success. Greg Parmley Editor, IQ
Armel Campagna (28) VP Promotions, Live Nation France After completing a master’s degree in music and cultural business management, Armel Campagna was employed by Universal Music five years ago, before being hired by Gerard Drouot Productions (GDP) in 2006, working on concerts by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Lenny Kravitz, and AC/DC, along with domestic artists and festivals. When Live Nation was bolstering its French office in December 2009, Campagna was hired as vice-president of promotions. What needs to change about the French industry?
The French market is controlled by five or six big promoters that have been here for 30-35 years, and it’s a conservative market. We want to bring some new ideas to the market, and widen it as well. We’re trying to convince agents and managers to give us a bigger time frame, so instead of doing Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, we could do Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux. We’re saying give us two weeks, you know, and you will see what we can do. In France, we are fighting like crazy and looking
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ahead I think it’s going to be the smartest and most creative guy who gets the artist. How different is working at Live Nation France?
There’s more responsibility, because I don’t have somebody ahead of me to agree or disagree on the project that I’m working on. So I can basically target big artists and fight against other promoters as normal, but I can also target new artists such as Little Comets, Andy McKee, and Scott Matthews and spend time developing them, creating new opportunities for them in France.