● Interview – Dirk Stolzenberg: A new Jimi Hendrix or Prince will not fall from the sky

A new Jimi Hendrix or Prince will not fall from the sky

Dirk Stolzenberg CEO Fabulous Germany Concerts

Dirk Stolzenberg has owned Rock and Blues Festivals for 30 years in the Northern part of Germany. Around 35 years with tours all over Europe. Artists including Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, Chuck Berry, Foreigner, Slade, Sweet, CCR, Nazareth, Omega, T.Rex, John Lee Hooker Jr., David Honeyboy Edwards, Louisiana Red and many more.

After two years with limited touring the Live Industry is now back in biz, how has 2022 been for your business?

Q1

It was a very good year for us, very stressful in the end with around 50 shows within 6 weeks, but very successful. Our good luck in this hard situation was that 80% of our festivals and tours were postponed with only 20% new shows and all the postponed dates went great, for the new dates it was 50:50. The corona pandemic was bad but the many direct consequences of the Ukraine war are worse. The energy crisis and inflation are now affecting everyone, not just parts. Everyone has much more costs and everyone holds their money. This is really bad for every single business company, but again much more for our live music business.

What do you think are going to be the biggest challenges for the International Live Music industry in 2023?

Q2

Hard to say. I think the year 2023 will be maybe one of the hardest ever! The pandemic is gone, we can’t rely upon any more local help, no more state aid, simply nothing. But if all the costs continue to rise and wages stagnate, people will continue to hold on to their money. Once again, this will mainly affect companies that offer services that are not needed for daily life. For example concerts, cinema, restaurant visits, theatres, entertainment parks, etc. I expect a very difficult year because the postponed concerts will be completed by the middle of the year and then it will be decided how the new concerts are received by the audience.

Q3

Even though the last few years have seen many agents leaving majors and starting up on their own, we have also seen many companies being acquired by major promoters and agencies, how do you see this affecting the Live Industry?

In the end, the market regulates itself. More competition usually stimulates business but if the focus is only on high profits and dividends then this will cause lasting damage to the entire live music business. I think that the many branches of live entertainment cannot be controlled globally and therefore you do not have to worry about it. You have to worry more about the next generation, because it will be increasingly more difficult for young talent, especially if they don’t make mainstream music. A new Jimi Hendrix or a new Prince or new Beatles or Rolling Stones will not fall from the sky.

Q4

Since the pandemic we have seen a reduction in the number of people involved in production (such as lighting, sound and security). How is the situation for you and what can the industry do to get enough staff members and bring people back to working in the live business?

This is really a big problem now. No hands, no technicians, no staff for the bar, merch, stage, tours etc! At the moment it is not a question of money to get enough staff, you must take what you get. We were the first training company in SchleswigHolstein, north of Hamburg. I have been a volunteer member of the examination board for event managers for 20 years. In good years, at the beginning of a training year, there were more than 100 people in 4 large classes. Now there are still 15 trainees in a single small class! That’s 85% less than our market will really lack in 2 or 3 years. Maybe some will come back but the market will lack well-trained new people in the long run. In doing so, we also risk a lack of quality, quality in the care of artists and in the execution of events but of course, also in the organization and simply everywhere.

Do you expect the industry to grow in 2023 compared to 2022 – and why?

Q5

With luck, the market will remain at this level. Maybe it will climb in certain areas because there are still some big names that may go on tour for the last time and can still charge very high entrance fees but that will only affect maybe a dozen artists. Most artists and organizers will have to tighten their belts. The golden years are over for now. We will have much more costs on one side and less ticket sales on the other because most people are not able to pay the higher ticket price.