Vip magazine #14 - March 2014

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VIP-MAGAZINEEDITION #14

MARCH 2014

VIPNEWS

VIP 14#SPOT

ON THE MOVEWITH FABIEN MICLET

one of the very few people

in the music business who

has a decent awareness

about what really goes on

in Brussels.…

Read more on page 31

WELCOME TO THE VIP-MAGAZINE

You now hold the 14th edition of VIP-Magazine in your hands

presenting selected articles from our monthly online VIP-News.

The VIP-Team will once again be attending all the major industry events

taking place during the year and as usual this started at Eurosonic/Noorderslag

in Holland in January. After some difficult years for the Music Industry it was

refreshing to once again see high expectations and a great deal of future

optimism from a lot of the people we met in Groningen.

We share that optimism, thanks to all the positive feedback we have received

since the launch of the new version of www.vip-booking.com last year. We thank

you for that, and if you haven’t been to our website yet then we encourage you

to do so to see the services we provide.

Remember that VIP-News and VIP-Magazine exist to report international industry

news – your news – so please keep us informed of your activities, opinions and

anything which you think will be of interest to our ever increasing readership.

But firstly – we hope you enjoy this issue!

THE VIP TEAM®

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#3VIP-MAGAZINE 14/2014www.vip-booking.com

INSTRUMENTAL TO YOUR PERFORMANCE

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novitas insurance broker. In any event.

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1329

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CONTENTS:

24

06 Eurosonic Noorderslag 2014 - Peace, Love & Business

10 Industry Profile

12 At the Bar with Robert Meijerink

14 Concert-To-Go with Simple Minds

16 UK and US Agencies Announce Joint Venture

18 London Based Agency Value Added Talent Celebrates Thirty Years in Business

24 Ralf Scheffler and the Rebirth of Batschkapp

26 Artist Avails

28 Spain 2013

30 Spot Festival

31 On the Move with Fabien Miclet

33 Creative Europe Will Replace Former EU-Culture Program In 2014

34 VIP-Booking Welcomes Charlie Presburg to the team

VIP-MAGAZINE 14 #2014

PUBLISHING: Vip-booking | 145157 St John Street | London Ec1V 4PW | Phone +44 (0) 870 755 0092 | Fax +44 (0) 870 622 1953 | Email: [email protected] | www.vip-booking.com

DIRECTOR: Ronni Didriksen | [email protected]

GENERAL MANAGER: Peter Briggs | [email protected]

SALES MANAGER: Charlie Presburg | [email protected]

AREA MANAGER (GAS): Stefan Gottwald | [email protected]

WRITER AND EDITORIAL: Allan McGowan | [email protected] & Manfred Tari | [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION: 3.000 copies of the magazine are distributed to professionals within the Live Entertainment Industry FREE OF CHARGE

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To reserve your ad call +44 (0) 870 755 0092 or send an email [email protected]. Read more online www.vip-booking.com

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VIP-BOOKING.COM The No 1 Information Resource For The Live Entertainment IndustryHaving the right tools for the job is often the key to success. Through our ongoing communication with key Live Entertainment Industry Professionals, we have developed a range of services to meet the demands of agents, promoters, talent buyers, venue bookers etc. It’s no coincidence that we are now considered to be the No. 1 information provider for this thriving industry.

16

12

MEGAFORCE

A concert without our stage is like a body without a soul

WWW.MEGAFORCE.DEMegaforce Veranstaltungs GmbH

Jöhlinger Straße 118D-76356 Weingarten

Phone: +49 7244/7202-0Fax: +497244/7202-22Mail: [email protected]



Manfred Tari [email protected]

There is certainly no lack

of talent. As usual Euro-

sonic Noorderslag provided a

well-chosen bill of new artists

and for the business buddies an

interesting line up of keynote and

panel speakers and interviewees such

as CAA’s Emma Banks, Lucy Dickens of ITB,

Folkert Koopmans of FKP Scorpio, and a video

message from a well known German promoter at the

European Festival Awards.

Memorable moments? Stefan Lehmkuhl from Melt Booking

confessing while winning the price of the festival line up 2013,

that he never expected to win an award for a money losing

festival and Ivan Milivojev of Exit Festival who sharply

concluded regarding RFID-systems for festivals “I am

using it to make money, not to promote it!”

With the ‘beer crate sessions’ Eurosonic

has created a new conference format,

presenting single speakers in a cross

between a lecture and a personal Q&A

session. The informal character of

these sessions actually seems to work

better than the more official speeches,

such as the keynote by Karel Barták

from the European Commission, who

presented Creative Europe, the new

culture support program from the EU.

Apropos Creative Europe, following the

demise of the European Music Office

Groningen in January has become a lovely tradition. A host of

players from the European live music business and even from further

afield, make this pilgrimage to the famous town in the North of the

Netherlands each year, celebrating the start of the new year with

a stimulating trip involving talents, tokens and travel adventures...

Without any doubt, Eurosonic Noorderslag is one of the best music

conventions in Europe. With a slight increase in concert goers and

officially 25 more international delegates, another sold out edition

of this convention yet again provided a fresh opening to the business

agenda for a new year.

Networking at Eurosonic 2014

Total visitors ESNS (sold out): 38.500

(previous year: 35.000)

Conference visitors (sold out): 3,275 (3,250)

Nationalities: 39 (45)

Acts: 337 (304)

Number of stages at Eurosonic: 36 (36)

Number of stages at Noorderslag: 11(12)

Media & journalists: 307 (404)

EBU radio stations: 30 (31)

ETEP festivals: 89 (78)

International festivals: 419 (417)

Eurosonic Noorderslag in f gures

EUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG 2014 - PEACE, LOVE & BUSINESS



The Winners Of the European Festival Awards

Marek Lieberberg

The Winners of the European Border Breaker Awards 2014The EBBA’s celebrates European artists that have achieved cross border success with

their first international release.

Disclosure (UK),

Icona Pop (SE),

Jacco Gardner (NL),

Envy (NO),

Zedd (DE),

Lukas Graham (DK),

Kodaline (IE), – also won the celebrated EBBA ‘Public Choice Award’

GuGabriel (AT),

Asgeir (IS) and

Woodkid (FR).

(EMO) which was forced to file insolvency in October 2013, a group of

17 music export offices met during the convention and agreed on to

join forces in order to fill the gap left by the closure of the office . The

new network will be known as ‘European Music Exporters Exchange ’

but it is not yet known whether this organisation will install and

maintain an office in Brussels, the political and administrative nerve

centre of Europe, to continue to lobby for the benefit and the needs

of popular music.

Eurosonic Noorderslag has reached a level where many things occur

simultaneously – it’s busy! It has become almost impossible

to follow up on all of the developments, notable

information or concerts during this event.

Meanwhile the event continues to deliver

an ongoing flow of valuable issues

and encounters that are essential

to the present and future

of the European music

business . With all this in

mind, the Eurosonic

Noorderslag team once again delivered an extremely well produced

and fruitful convention .

There was only one real gripe which concerned the RFID-

paymentsystem in the delegate bar on Saturday evening (the

Noorderslag show which concentrates on Dutch talent) in the main

venue Oosterport . In reference to Ivan Milivojev’s previous statement

this RFID-system needs to be improved, as the payment-procedures

took three-times longer than it takes for a beer to be tapped...

Jungle / 7

Royal Blood / 5Milky Chance / 5

Sam Smith / 4George Ezra / 4

THE FIRST ETEP-CHART 2014

YES Group H&S Innovation AwardPresented in association with the YES Group and ICM&SSPaleo Festival

Best New FestivalB.my.Lake

Festival Anthem of the YearDaft Punk - Get Lucky

Best Indoor Festival Metal Hammer Paradise

The Green Operations AwardIn association with the GO Group Way Out West

Best European Festival Line-UpBerlin Festival

Newcomer of the YearIn association with Eurosonic NoorderslagImagine Dragons

Artist’s Favourite European Festival Lowlands

Headliner of the YearArctic Monkeys

Promoter Of The Year FKP Scorpio

Best Small Festival FUSION Festival (Romania)

Best Medium-Sized FestivalIn association with Eventbrite Melt! Festival

Best Major Festival in association with Intelligent Venue SolutionsEXIT Festival

Lifetime Achievement AwardMarek Lieberberg

Eurosonic



PROFILE industry

1. A brief history of your career in the Live Music industry.

I started booking bands and releasing records as a hobby while

in high school, one thing led to another, and I am now a proud

owner of the leading promoter and booking agency with the

best team possible in Finland.

2. Describe the highlight of your career and the biggest

disappointment.

I’d say the highlight so far is actually the year 2013 in total; over

1,000 shows with over 300 artists. The biggest disappointment

is whenever I see someone killing an artist’s career by going for

the quick cash instead of building up something greater.

3. What’s your best skill and worst habit in the context of

your work?

I like to think that my best skill is problem solving. The worst

habit is probably not saying “no” as often as I should.

4. What’s your new year’s resolution/plans for 2014?

Keep calm and don’t let the game change who you are.

5. What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?

Playing football with my son.

Name: Juha Kyyrö

Email: [email protected]

Favourite interest outside music:

Selected TV series

5 Artists you have

worked with during 2013:

Justin Bieber, Sigur Rós, System of a

Down, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis,

Pet Shop Boys

Company: Fullsteam

Direct phone: +358-50-5468187

Favourite Artist:

Bruce Springsteen

5 Artists you have

confirmed to work with in 2014:

Michael Bublé, Frank Turner, Wiz

Khalifa, Gogol Bordello, TestamentJUHA

KYYR

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When did this news reach you?

– In mid September and the deadline

is first of November. Normally we start

with the EBU (European Broadcasting

Union) program first, every EBU act was

confirmed , and so we had to reschedule

every act from the Huize Maas to other

venues. In the end we succeeded, we

managed to have the Magic Mirror and

also the Der AAKerk. That’s just a particula r

thing affecting the bookingprocess, this

is not a game that you play every year;

every year it’s something different . Music

first, there are many upcoming talents, so

how you are going to book the festival,

who is going to be selected and why?

When I start booking the festival then I

rely on the venues we have, and as one

big venue like Huize Maas is gone…wow,

that was my personal biggest setback of

the year. It was really like a slap in the

face, it pushed me not in a wrong way,

of course, but we had to deal with it and

I think we’ve found a great solution by

having both venues to accommodate

the acts. No one was talking about the

‘HuizeMaasEffect’ , so I think that is a

good thing.

I only noticed today that the venue

was not in the listings for this year.

– Yes, I was there one week after the fire,

it’s not totally destroyed but it’s badly

damaged.

I’ve been told that Eurosonic Noorder-

slag was sold out in fifteen minutes.

Can you confirm that?

– Yes, that’s right

Is that normal or is it a record?

– No, it’s like last year.

Have you had problems with secondary

ticketing?

– Yes, of course. I think that secondary

ticketing is an unacceptable way to make

easy money. They are not doing their

job, they are profiting from the efforts of

someone else.

How was it that there was a StubHub

reception in the Oosterpoort?

– I don’t know. That’s really interesting , that

is new to me, really. Secondary ticketin g is

a hot topic, as you know. Not only in the

Netherlands, it’s all over Europe .

I’ve seen so much of a media presence

here; maybe I’m wrong but it seems

far more than previously. What does it

mean to you in terms of productions ?

Do you have a higher number of

requests from media companies or is it

pretty much as usual?

– We have more requests than before, it’s

developed over the last few years. I think

it is important to have media on board and

I’m really glad that we have group media

attending Eurosonic, because we have so

many acts that are investing in their careers.

For me as a booker it is very important to

have the right people at the right place,

because I care about the acts who come

with a growing ambition, with a strategy, a

dream, however you want to call it. Media

is very important but not only the media,

the professionals in general, people who

come to discover the talents and invest in

them, of course. It all makes sense.

AT THE BAR WITH

In the past you had concerts presented

by Visions and particularly Intro in

Germany . What happened to them?

– Well, we don’t want to grow bigger in

terms of selling more tickets. It’s almost

impossible in terms of the past years, in

regards to the conference and also the

liveshow cases, we do need every single

thing in order to fulfill the bookings. It was

fine to work together in the way we did,

with, for example, Visions or Intro, who

were always great and helpful partners , in

order to present the new acts, but we also

want to work with the media in a more

targeted situation as we did this year. We

think that it makes more sense. If you have

an Intro night, it’s always a great night,

wellattended, great musicians, but at the

end it’s not about Intro, it’s about the

artists , you know?

Looking back at the ETEP edition in

2013, are you pleased with the results

of the Programme and the EBBA

Awards? Was there any highlight for

you, something that surprised you in

any way?

– Oh, that’s a pretty hard question. There

were quite a few acts who broke through.

Kodaline won an award, Ásgeir played his

first show outside of Iceland, and exactly

one year ago he was an EBU act. He is

just 18 years old and for me it is great

because I discovered this act in Iceland

and in co-operation with the radio station

RAS we confirmed him as an act to play

at Eurosonic . We discussed whether it was

really the right moment or should we wait

for one year. He had a massive success

with his debutalbum in Iceland. I saw him

on stage in Iceland and I thought this is

really everything an act needs in order to

make the next step, not only contentwise.

His father, who is a famous poet in Iceland ,

wrote his lyrics. It’s a big story and he’s a

great musician backed up by his friends,

maybe more experienced and also great

musicians. It was a great show at Eurosonic

but not everyone was aware of that fact.

He played twice and one year later he

earned so much success, John Grant from

Canada translated his lyrics and a UK Label

released a UK edition.

And he also won an award…

– Yes, he did.

Would you say that the ties between

EBBA and ETEP are a little bit closer

than before?

– I think it’s hard to say. I think Ásgeir is an

exception and also a great example of how

we would love to see a development, like a

total unknown act who is upcoming, new,

it’s not about winning an award, it’s more

about the fact that he is touring as an

headliner act through so many territories

around the world right now.

Are you also in contact with the festival

bookers of ETEP, do they tell you, for

example, that they have a certain

demand for dancehall or alternative

artists ?

– I’m in touch with a few of them; of

course I like to talk with them about their

preferences . There are so many festivals

involved at ETEP, so many genres. It’s about

there being so much diversity Europe .

Eurosonic is focused on pop music in

genera l, dancehall and metal is always a

part of it but we don’t have a rich history

in booking metal acts.

What is next on the agenda?

– Finishing this edition, surviving this

evening , celebrating the success. Every

year a couple of weeks after Eurosonic

we sit together and we review what we

did and then we look ahead to the next

edition .

ROBERT MEIJERINKIt is one of these traditions at Eurosonic

Noorderslag, catching up with Robert

Meijerink towards the end of the event.

Meijerink is the booker of the Eurosonic

festival and as such the most relevant

talent supplier or coordinator for the

European Talent Exchange Program .

VIP News: Are you happy now?

– Yes, I am really happy, yes.

What have been the biggest pleasures

and what were the most unlikely

things that you experienced at this

edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag?

– To answer the first question: When we

started booking this festival, we asked

ourselves how we could move it up to

another level. How can we reinvent the heart

of Eurosonic and try to make things better,

learn from the faults of the previous year.

That’s always a good position to start, but

when it comes to booking you have to deal

with lots of music and you have many choic-

es. Every year, in that process, it’s always

hard to find a way; but in the end we do

find our way. Now about the negative things

– we had to deal with difficult things in the

bookingprocess, like, the confirmed venue

Huize Maas was badly damaged by a fire last

year. As a booker you look at the entire fes-

tival from a helicopter perspective. You try to

give every artist the best spot that is possible

and ensure that the people, not only the del-

egates, can find their way, so they can enjoy

the program in the best way possible. When

the cancellation of a venue comes so late in

the game, it’s like you really have to start all

over again.

Robert Meijerink, Booker at Eurosonic




Concert-To-Go with

SimpleMinds

The ’Take Away Concert Experience’

continues … German company Bleeker Street

Entertainment will join Simple Minds on their

European tour and provide fans with instant

live recordings on USB-sticks throughout the

UK act’s upcoming tour.

Every concert will be recorded, mastered

and made available for purchase by fans

immediately following each show. This

special audio-merchandise -item will consist

of recordings delivered in an MP3-format and

delivered on 4 gigabyte USB-sticks.

The ‘official bootleg’ costs 30 Euro and will

be offered in the concert venues or can be

bought afterwards on the web site www.

bleecker-street-shop.com/



In a Press Release from London and Los

Angeles earlier this month the UK’s CODA

Agency and the US based Paradigm have

announced the setting up of a joint venture

partnership. This formalisation of a global

alliance sees Paradigm acquire a 50% stake

in the company CODA Agency Limited.

CODA Music Agency celebrated its 10th

anniversary in 2012 and has grown rapidly

in recent years representing over 500

artists and DJs from numerous genres.

The company’s Directors are Agents Alex

Hardee , James Whitting, Marty Diamond ,

Rob Challice and Tom Schroeder supported

by Greg Bestick, Dave Hallybone and

Managing Director Claire Horseman. The

company currently works with artists

including : Bastille, Bon Iver, Disclosure, Ellie

Goulding, Emeli Sande, Imagine Dragons ,

Jake Bugg, Rudimental, The XX, The

Lumineers and many others.

Paradigm is one of the entertainment

industries major talent agencies, with 130

agents in Beverly Hills, New York, Nashville

and Monterey, guiding the careers of an elite

roster of clients in motion pictures, television ,

music, theatre, comedy, publishing , digital

media, physical production, commercials and

voice-overs. Considered a taste maker in the

Music business, Paradigm represents a wide

range of highly respected artists including ;

Aerosmith, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay , Dave

Matthews Band, Ed Sheeran, Eli Young

Band, fun., Imagine Dragons, Janelle Monae,

Jason Mraz, Phish and Toby Keith amongst

many others.

The agreement with CODA will be the

second joint venture partnership for

Paradigm , followin g their agreement with

AM Only, a leading electronic dance music

agency representing such international

stars and Grammy winning artists as David

Guetta , Skrillex and Tiesto, in January 2012.

Marty Diamond, Paradigm’s Head of its East

Coast Music Division said, “We have been

working closely and successfully with CODA

for many years and share common values and

a deep commitment to artist development .

This new partnership is the next logical step

as we continue to carefully grow our Music

Division with the artists interests always at

the forefront of our planning.”

Sam Gores, Chairman and CEO of Paradigm

said, “We could not be happier to start the

New Year with this partnership with CODA,

a terrific group of agents who are dedicated

to growing artists careers the right way.

This furthers our strategy of aligning with

agencies around the globe that share our

values and our commitment to the highest

quality representation.”

VIP News spoke to Coda MD Claire

Horseman and Director/Agent Rob Challice

about the new joint venture:

Claire Horseman only took over as MD at

CODA in March last year, having previously

had a successful career working for BMG

and Columbia.

How did your move to Coda and into the

Agency business come about?

– Horseman: Someone said to me I’ve seen a

job that’s got your name written all over it! So

I went in and met all the Partners . I only really

knew Alex Hardee (Coda Director/ Agent),

we worked together on Calvin Harris’s debut

album project. He was probably the only

Agent who I worked closely with back then. I

had never thought that labels worked well, or

closely enough, with Agents (except perhaps

if you were working indie/rock acts), and

when marketing budgets got squeezed the

need for tour support always got questioned .

Now it’s much more integral, and of course

live is a massive part of an artist’s development

and career.

How has it been since you took over

looking after the Coda business?

– Horseman: It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster

ride since moving from the record industry

side to the live business, but it’s allowed

me to bring in some fresh ideas and a new

approach , and the deal with Paradigm has

certainly followed on from that.

What do you think was the main reason

for this deal coming together when it did?

– Horseman: The two Agencies have worked

together for quite a while and there is a lot

of mutual respect. Following the completion

of their deal with AM Only, Paradigm was

looking for other areas in which to expand ,

and it seemed quite natural to approach

CODA. Other Companies had made

approaches , but Paradigm has a very similar

style and there was a lot of common ground.

CODA was set up as an LLP, so we formed

CODA Agency Ltd as the entity to complete

a 50/50 partnership.

What do you think are the main

strengths of the coming together of

these two Agencies?

– Horseman: For a start, unlike some Agencies ,

the Directors are all still Agents, Marty

Diamond of Paradigm is also on the Board of

CODA and it’s my job to run the business side.

Both Paradigm and CODA are very strong in

an A & R sense and tip each other off when

they come across something of interest. The

main thing is that with both Companies the

main motivation is whatever’s right for the

artist. The joint venture will enable the two

agencies to pool their expertise and resources

on a global basis.

I was wondering whether this deal

would be exclusive enough to stop you

working with other agents in the US or

will it allow you to continue working

relationships with other agents that you

have worked with previously?

– Rob Challice: Coda will continue sharing

clients with other agencies in USA, i.e.

where we book an act in Europe and they

book the act in North America. The same

applies to Paradigm, where they have clients

they book in North America and there are

other agencies booking the band here. We

firmly believe in managers placing their

artists with the most appropriate agents in

respective territories. Also, we don’t want

to go down the route of ‘making’ one of

our agents represent a band that they don’t

believe in, that ethos remains at the centre

of how we make decisions.

UK AND US AGENCIES ANNOUNCE JOINT VENTURE

Allan McGowan [email protected] Tari [email protected]

Marty Diamond,

Paradigm’s Head of its East

Coast Music Division

Claire Horseman,

Managing Director, Coda

Rob Challice,

Director/Agent, Coda



LONDON BASED AGENCY VALUE ADDED TALENT CELEBRATES THIRTY YEARS IN BUSINESS

Thirty years is quite a substantial time to have maintained and

developed an independently operated booking agency, but

your personal experience in the industry goes back even longer

than that, to the time when people like you and I would refer

to ourselves as ‘bookers’. How and when did you get involved

in the business, and what did you do pre VAT?

– My career path was to go to university - UEA (University of East

Anglia) in 1972, to read ‘Sociology’ or rather to promote the groups

as Entertainments Officer, to get experience, and to get into the music

industry. I worked for my first Agency in the summer vacation of

1973 but decided that then it held limited prospects and returned to

university to finish my degree. Graduating in 1975, when ‘graduate

unemploymen t’ was first talked about as a serious issue, I worked some

jobs I hated a lot, whilst still looking into music options. I stumbled

into a second opportunity of working with an independen t Agency

(well almost all Agencies were independent in those days, corporate s

hadn’t really invaded) in the Autumn of 1977 and I grabbed it with

both hands. I have worked full time as an Agent ever since. I got some

great experience at Albion, the Agency that invented pub rock and

was so influential with the growth of punk, and later worked at MAM

and then TBA alongside a young John Giddings, (MD of Solo, and

Organiser of The Isle of Wight Festival.) before creating Value Added

Talent in 1983.

You appear to have maintained successful long term

relationships with particular acts and managements, how

important has that been to the way you operate?

– As my saying goes, “If you want loyalty, get a dog” – this must be

true because it has been borrowed and repeated by John Giddings

ever since! I have had my share of upsets over 30 years of trading

so I do value very highly continuing to work with the acts that I have

grown over many years. Most acts I work with I have grown on a

long term basis and from the start of their careers, I am thinking

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Allan McGowan [email protected]




of Depeche Mode, and Vince Clarke’s’ two other bands Yazoo and

Erasure , although I no longer work with those acts today. Orbital has

always been a pleasure to represent and I am now booking their 25th

anniversary tour since their first release in 1989, in 2014. Steve Hillage

too is a long-term client that I have helped with other projects as

diverse as Gong’s 40th anniversary tour and currently in 2014 his new

and exciting fusion project with Rovo from Japan.

In a music business that has seen so many changes over the

years Agency still appears to be the sector that has remained

consistent in the way that it operates - although the numbers

are different as acts have become more reliant on live income,

the Agent is still the middle man between the Act and the

promoter , and quite often that relationship is based on trust

as agency contracts still seem to be very rare documents.

What are the main changes that you have seen in the Agency

business ?

– There is a fragile and tenuous hold of influence by the Agent over

any Artist and this can go badly wrong or be frustrated for many

reasons beyond the control of the Agent. Personally I still prefer to

agree contract s with new acts as it recognises the huge investment

this represent s from me, and it also provides the incentive for me

to go further than otherwise is customary or usual in this business .

I think of myself as a ‘managing’ Agent. A huge amount of the

work I do represents unpaid work, in the sense that we coordinate

marketing campaigns, advise Artists on their strategies and partners

and make big efforts to secure data for the Artist, secure favourable

deals wherever possible and generally act as an expert consultant in

strategy , marketing , international promotion and so on.

When I started in this industry the record companies were Kings and

Agents were very reliant on the record labels marketing and promotion

to establish an act. Nowadays the Agent has far more influence as the

growth of the Internet represents the chance for Artists to assume

control of their own careers. The expert input, timing and strategy

an Agent can bring to any plan, and the connections we can make

today internationally bring added value and represent a big asset to

any Artist. The Agent is the key coordinator between the act and its

public, and I try to represent the audience viewpoint to the Artist as

much as the Artist’s to the audience. The key skill is in making the best

decision about when and where an Act should play. Associated with

that is experience and knowledge about best choice of partners and

buildings, campaigns and marketing, as well as logistics, tax and work

permits, and making sure a tour is achievable in the first place. There


has been an enormous amount of consolidation and a great deal of

money buying up sectors of the industry, which to me undermines

the entrepreneurial spirit. The merger of Live Nation with Ticketmaster

was a huge signpost that this process will continue and I don’t believe

this to be in the best interests of either the music fans or the Artists

themselves. LN now buying into successful Management companies

is further evidence of the continuing process. Without shareholders

subsidy this process would not be taking place, the role of capitalism in

this industry has skewed the market and concentrated a lot of market

power which I don’t believe to be in the industry’s best interest.

Do you think that the growth of the festival market has

impacted on the traditional touring periods, and has this

affected the way you plan your tour schedules?

– The live industry has swung heavily towards the Summer Festival circuit

and this has certainly changed planning and schedules. Appearing at

Festivals uses up the rarity value of an Artist and has also changed the

pattern of touring. The Summer is now usually our busies t work period,

and it used to be Autumn, Spring and then Summer, in that order. I liken

Festivals today to the 5-screen cinema concept , as the diversity of acts

across a number of different stages is now the norm. Whilst there are

now what seems like ‘six million live bands’ only a very small number

of these command enough of an audience to drive ticket sales and the

other consequence of this is an increase in bids for exclusivity and longer

lock out periods to other events. At the same time, some events are ca-

pable of generating customer loyalty by having high standards of infra-

structure and a good diversity, so in that sense the event then becomes

a destination in itself and the acts become less important.

Are you still on the look out for new additions to the roster

and how do you source new acts? Are you at all worried about

a possible lack of new talent as record companies are not

developing acts as they once did, and the smaller venue circuit

seems to be having problems?

– I am very choosy about any new acts, but at the same time I remain

open to that possibility. In general, someone whose judgement I respect

will tell me about an act and I will then look into it. I do evaluat e a lot of

situations and often pass. I don’t think I am aggressive in the way I look

for opportunity – for example I have never knowingl y poached an Act,

although I have learned about an unhappy band and then looked into it.

Yes it is harder to break an act these days as the conventional indicators

mean a great deal less. Plus the audience themselves seem to be less

‘tribal’ in their dedication, meaning that bands can have a great media

success and then mean nothing very quickly. There is a divorce between

Dan with his FAMILY at Dan’s anniversary party Dan Silver. On his left Bob Young, On his right is Ian Huffman.



‘fans’– which I remind myself is an abbreviation of fanatic - and bands.

Decreased audience loyalty and increased turnover of artists makes the

traditional building of an act much harder today.

Do you have particular plans for the future, or is it all business

as usual? Do you think you’ll make another 30 years :) or,

presuming there’s still a business will you hand on the baton to

an up and coming agent - or booker?

– I am very thankful that my children are pursuing their own career

choices and not wanting to emulate mine. My eldest son is now a

professiona l poker player, he does this using maths and with panache

and has had some very tidy wins. As he has been fully independent

for the past three years it is a great reward to see him making his own

way. My younger son is now completing his schooling and has a huge

interest in becoming a film director which I am encouraging. There

certainly are some family dynasties in this industry and I am happy

not to be amongst them. I expect that VAT will remain a personal

operation and very likely come to an end when I decide I have had

enough excitement. But I expect to be around for another decade,

and would not be surprised to stay involved for even longer than that.

As I have said for many years, it’s “still not a real job”. It provides me

with the opportunity to make my own destiny, so it is unlikely I will

let go willingly and of my own volition. I suppose I can now actually

claim 40 years of service rather than the 30 years in the headline of

Value Added Talent’s trading – so 50 years would be a good target

to achieve.



After 37 years the well-known concert venue Batschkapp in

Frankfurt has found a new home. It is one of these rare stories of

a re-location of a famous concert club that has existed for ages

starting all over again in new location. VIP News spoke with Ralf

Scheffler, boss and business mastermind of Batschkapp:

What led you to re-locate Batschkapp?

– Our aim was to obtain a capacity up to 1.500 people. In fact we

have been aware of the fact that extensive renovation measures

were necessary to keep the ‘old’ Batschkapp in business. So we

thought it is more reasonable to invest our money in a new project.

When planning the new Batschkapp, what have your

priorities been for the new venue?

– We wanted to obtain a better room and technical facilities for

artists and for the audience as well.

Have you or the architect had to consider many new

obligations and requirements by the building authorities?

– Well, we had to consider the very well known and highly respected

„Versammlungsstätten Verordnung“. (A German masterpiece and

untranslatable word for a well designed guideline of health and

safety settings for venues and locations. Ed.)

Planning and opening a new concert location always comes

along with some surprises.

– Any exciting examples that caused your astonishment?

Not really - except one perhaps: the fire brigade requested an

emergency power supply for the smoke extractor, two very big

ventilators that start working in the case of fire and suck in smoke

in the, from my point of view unlikely event, when a power black

out in the town district occurs by sheer chance at the same time

a fire starts... A quite unlikely coincidence that would eventually

only occur in the case of war or a terror attack. However, this

requirement wasn’t to be discussed...

How big is the investment and are you pleased with the

backing by your bank and the local authorities in Frankfurt?

– The investment is around 2.7 million Euros. The real estate office

of Frankfurt purchased the premises exactly for this purpose as the

City of Frankfurt was highly interested in keeping us in the city. The

banks actually played no role at all within this process, in fact the

entire investment has been done completely without any support

by a bank. In particular our bank, which we worked pleasantly

together with for 37 years, has covered itself in this regard with

particular fame.

Im Hintergrund und unverzichtbar …

RASENSCHUTZ > BODENSCHUTZ >

ABSPERRSYSTEME > EINLASSSCHLEUSEN >

SANITÄRSYSTEME >

TRIBÜNEN >

… Infrastrukturdienstleistungen von epsDamit Ihr Konzert, Festival oder Event ein voller Erfolg wird.Und was können wir für Sie tun? Kontaktieren Sie uns!

Weitere Informationen:www.eps.net

BESTUHLUNGEN >

SITE-MATERIAL >

Büro München Talangerstr. 582152 [email protected].: +49 89 89 444 555

Büro KölnZum Frenser Feld 150127 [email protected].: +49 2271 995 44 00

Büro BerlinWeinbergsweg 2210119 [email protected].: +49 30 25 700 833

eps_VIP_170x126_140127.indd 1 27.01.14 16:57

For further information please check www.batschkapp.de

Batschkapp

Ralf Scheffler



Go online - www.vip-booking.com

Need to know who is touring Europe? ®

vip-booking.com

ARTIST AVAILSSee/Add more Artist Avails at VIP-Booking.com

ORBITAL

The AllStars Collective Territory: EuropePeriod: 2014Agency: Specific MusicAgent: Paul PacificoPhone: +442074834440E-mail: [email protected]: www.theallstars.co.uk

Pacifico Blues Territory: EuropePeriod 2014Agency: Specific MusicAgent: Chantelle DuncanPhone: +442074834440E-mail: [email protected]: www.pacificoblues.com

THE ORCHESTRA starring ELO former members Territory: WorldwidePeriod: 2014-2015Agency: World Entertainment Associates of AmericaAgent: John Regna - Artist Agent/ManagerPhone: +1 407-993-4000E-mail: [email protected]: www.THEORCHESTRAonline.com

The CureTerritory: EuropePeriod: 2014Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Martin HopewellPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.thecure.com

ORBITAL ñ 25th year anniversary tour in 2014Territory: The World excluding USAPeriod: May onwardsAgency: Value Added TalentAgent: Dan SilverPhone: +44 207 704 97 20E-mail: [email protected]: www.vathq.co.uk

Alan Parsons Live Project Territory: WorldwidePeriod: 2014Agency: World Entertainment Associates of AmericaAgent: John Regna - Artist Agent/ManagerPhone: +1 407-993-4000E-mail: [email protected]: www.AlanParsonsTourPromo.com

Glasvegas

Patti Smith Territory: EuropePeriod: 2014Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Andy WoolliscroftPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.pattismith.net

GlasvegasTerritory: EuropePeriod: 2014Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Ben WinchesterPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.glasvegas.net

FireHouse Territory: EuropePeriod: October 16-31Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: 651-483-8754E-mail: [email protected]: www.armentertainment.com/firehouse

Dionne Warwick Territory: WorldwidePeriod: 2014-2014Agency: World Entertainment Associates of AmericaAgent: John Regna - Artist AgentPhone: 407-993-4000E-mail: [email protected]: www.DionneWarwickTourPromo.com


The Spanish promoter Association APM

(Asociación de Promotores Musicales)

regularly publishes one of the best annual

reports by a live music organisation in Europe .

VIP-News spoke with Albert Salmerón of

Producciones Animadas who is also a board

member of the promoter association.

Besides the V.A.T. increase for concerts,

what are currently the biggest concerns

for the Spanish live music industry?

– One of the biggest concerns currently is that

we can’t be competitive with other countries

in the European Union because of the 21%

VAT (imposed in September 2012 and leaping

from the previous 8%), plus the 10% PRS.

This 31% is significantly affecting the tours

coming to Spain, as Spanish promoters

can’t make offers competitive with other

countries of the region. So we are losing

tours by international acts. Some of them are

only coming to Spain to play festivals . The

ongoing crisis is affecting ticket sales, which

are considerably down, especiall y at the club

level . This is also affecting very negatively

in the careers of local new talent as the

promoters are investing less money.

In many European concert markets

a concentratio n and consolidation

proces s is evident The French promoters

association Prodiss undertook a survey

and concluded , that within the next

five years around 90 percent of the

independent concert companies might be

out of business . Do you see indicators for

a similar development in Spain as well?

– Around 30% of concert companies have

closed down since the beginning of the crisis

and specially since the new 21% VAT on the

tickets. Many companies that haven’t closed

are still in the business but in a very precarious

situation. Anyway, maybe it’s too pessimistic

to conclude that 90% of companies will be

out of business in 5 years in Spain.

UKmusic.org recently released a study

on the value of music tourism in Great

Britain. How important is music tourism

for the Spanish concert industry?

– The music business is very important for

local and international tourism in Spain.

Festivals and big concerts make an important

economic and social contribution to the areas

where they take place. Hotels, restaurants ,

transports, shopping, museums and other

cultural activities are getting a big benefit

from these festivals or events. Even small

festivals have a real value in the economy of

the area around. Currently there are many

festivals in Spain and every city or region

wants to have a music event. Festivals like

Sonar, Primavera Sound, FIB (Benicassim ),

BBK Bilbao Live, SOS 4.8 (Murcia ), Arenal

(Burriana), DCode (Madrid)… are really

succesful and are very important for their

cities or regions.

In Sweden the festival market has

changed significantly within just 5

years. Long lasting festivals such

as Peace & Love, Arvika Festivalen

and Hultsfred have had to declare

insolvency . The German concert

company FKP Scorpio expanded

and invested in festivals (Denmark,

Sweden , the Netherlands ) becoming

the biggest festiva l promoter in Europe.

FKP Scorpio itself is associated with CTS

Eventim, a stock market listed com-

pany that within 10 years has become

the biggest ticketing company in Eu-

rope. Do you expect that stock market

listed companies such as CTS Eventim,

SFX Entertainment or Live Nation will

undertake efforts to invest in or take

over Companies in Spain which could

lead to significant amendments within

the Spanish concert industry?

– In fact Live Nation is working in Spain

since they bought GAMERCO (including

Iguapop and Pino Sagliocco’s company).

Now Live Nation has offices in Barcelona

and Madrid. However, the peculiarity of

the Spanish concert industry should allow

a market with many local independent

companies apart from major companies like

Live Nation.

How is the ticketing marketing

structured and which companies are the

main players in Spain?

– Lots of ticketing companies have appeared

in the last years. Most of them associated to

banks or regional saving banks, and also to

big stores. Also there are lots of ticketing

systems offering software to the promoters

and venues to create their own ticket

systems . The main ticketing companies are

Ticketmaster, Entradas.com and El Corte

Inglés.

VIP-News: Is the market share of mobile

and online ticketing growing and what

is the split between ticket sales through

box offices and online portals?

– Online ticket sales are increasing

considerably. Some specific companies are

selling around 90% online while others

are still selling most of their tickets via box

office . We could say that now online could

be around 50% and it’s growing every day.

How would you describe the market for

talents and newcomers on a club level?

– The crisis has particularly affected this market.

Ticket sales of small shows have gone down

significantly. It’s really hard for the promoters

to make a profit from these club shows with

the low ticket sales and the 21% VAT.

In some markets the segment of arena

shows is under pressure due to higher

production expenses and the lack of

headliners. Does the same goes for

Spain or would you rather say that this

part of the market is still healthy?

– Nowadays there are less arena shows due, as

you say, to the pressure of higher production

expenses and the lack of headliners. As I had

mentioned some international artists are only

playing festivals in Spain as the offers are very

high and the promoters of arenas cannot be

competitive with other European promoters and

with Spanish festivals. However, tickets sales of

arena shows are usually doing well in Spain.



One Direction, live in Madrid 2013. Rhianna

Albert Salmeron

- An Exception amongst European Concert Markets



Fabien Miclet

is one of the very

few people in the music

business who has a decent awareness about what really goes on in

Brussels . Although, to be accurate there is a lot going on in the political

universe of the European Parliament and the European Commission ,

but unfortunately very little in favour of the music business .

Till November 2013 Miclet was project manager of the European

Music Office (EMO) and handled the business of the organisation

until it unfortunately went into administration. It has to be noted that

Miclet took over this post after the financial problems had already has

been caused. Nevertheless it was he who handled the last months of

this so far one and only office that until now was the one and only

organisation that actually undertook at least some lobbying efforts

for popular music. And this in an political environment that is very

well known for mainly supporting large scale farming, financial or

chemical industries.

After EMO you started working for the concert venue Ancienne

Belgique in Brussels. What are you actually doing there?

– I’m currently coordinating an application for EU funding for a

very exciting project involving AB and 12 more likeminded music

venues from all across the European continent. Our idea is to create

a platform of concert halls and clubs encouraging the circulation

of emerging artists. It will work through a bonus system: the more

emerging European acts you book, the more money you get. On

top of this, we’re also striving to build a sustainable, ever-growing

network of venues working together and learning from each other.

We will submit an application for EU funding in March of this year.

You are probably one of

the very few persons in

the music industry that

have an idea of what is

going on in the political

cosmos of the European

Parliament and the

European Commission

and its related

administrative bodies

in Brussels. Please let us

know what is happening

there that might affect the

music industry...

– Well, there are many subjects

on the table in Brussels that have

a direct impact on the music industry .

A European directive on collective rights

management is being discussed at the

moment . The new 2014-2020 cultural funding

Programme, Creative Europe, has just been launched. The

negotiations on the free trade agreement with the US started last

year, and the European Parliament elections are going to take place

in May. The composition of the new Parliament will be important

for the music sector; this institution is responsible for voting on a

great variety of legislations, some of which have a direct impact on

the music industry , in a variety of policy fields including copyright,

licensing, taxation, visas, work permits, broadcasting rules, and many

more subjects.

Creative Europe is the new culture support program by

the European Union. Do you see a difference between the

forerunner programme and the new one?

– Yes, and I would say that progress has been achieved since

the Culture Programme’ - 2007-2014. To begin with, music is

now recognized as an actual sector in the eyes of the EU, while

it was considered only as one among other components of the

‘performing arts’ in the last Programme. In the past, popular music

projects had to compete directly with theatre, ballet, opera and

other art forms which traditionally heavily rely on public funding

and have decades of experience in securing subsidies. Another

improvement we have triggered is that the new Creative Europe

Programme will now include topics such as new business models ,

access to finance, and touring in its guidelines. This wouldn’t

have been conceivable a few years back, when the priority of the

Culture Programme was mostly to provide funding in support of

the ‘intrinsic value’ of culture and the preservation of cultural

heritage .

ON THE MOVEwith Fabien Miclet


SPOT Festival will celebrate

its 20th edition, as ever, in

Aarhus, Denmark, during

the first weekend of May

(1-4 May) in 2014.

The showcase event will present over a

100 bands from the Danish and Nordic

music scene, and offer the opportunity to

network with around 1000 music industry

professional s. In 2013, 600 Danish delegates

and 350 internationals attended, with a

record 40% of these coming from Europe’s

biggest music market Germany.

Danish music has experience significant

international success over the last few years,

and it’s fair to say that SPOT Festival has had

a big hand in this, showcasing acts such as

Efterklang, The Raveonettes, Reptile Youth,

When Saints Go Machine, Sigur Rós, Tina

Dico, Teitur, Aura, Alphabeat, Junior Senior,

Mew, Kashmir, Figurines, Saybia, Choir Of

Young Believers, MØ and many more, before

they were known by the international music

industry.

More information:

www.spotfestival.dk…

and go to

www.spotfestival.dk/vip for accreditation.

SPOTFEST IVAL

Announces 20th EditionSPOT FESTIVAL




CREATIVE EUROPE WILL REPLACE FORMER EU-CULTURE PROGRAM IN 2014The previously suggested 1.8 billion Euro, is reduced to 1.4 as the

recently European Union approved budget for the new culture

program entitled Creative Europe. The program will run on from

January 2014 to December 2020 and is intended to support

European culture and its creative sectors.

Once again it will be the film and audio visual sector that benefits

most from this program as 56 percent of the planned budget

is allocated for those parts of the creative industries. Unlike the

music sector, the film industry lobbied decision takers and opinion

leaders very effectively and working closely together with the

Europea n Commission for Education, Culture, Multilingualism

and Youth developed tailor made support measures for the film

business . Specific sub-programs such as “Support for Distribution”,

“Developmen t Funding” or “Support for Markets, Festivals and

Training” will perfectly feed the film sector, while the music sector

might have to seek support within those parts of Creative Europe

they are able to squeeze in to.

The music sector is barely being considered within “Creative

Europe ”. For instance, one of the most important documents

“The Commission Staff Working Paper for the Creative Europe

Framework Programme”, only considers market figures for

recording music but not at all for the live music sector. Economic

data for the Film and TV sector is described very differently and in

a much better way.

However, this is only one example that indicates why the music

sector isn’t being considered appropriately or on a par with the film

sector. Carrying out a word count check within this document of

170 pages reveals, that the term “film” is mentioned 220 times.

The word “music” appears 41 times and the word “concert” gets

mentioned six times.

music -industry manages to put together a comprehensive and catchy

advocacy strategy, it will achieve better results. But the sector would

first need to invest much more in lobbying, to start working together,

to believe in itself and to mobilise its artists and creators as often as

possible. To answer your question, yes, ambitious campaigns should

be launched, but complaining about ‘unfair’ policies won’t solve

much. We need to do more in order to achieve more.

Since the end of December it is possible to apply for funds

within the various sub-programs of Creative Europe. Within

the previous culture program only a handful of popular

music- related projects actually received funding. The formal

requirement s are tough, the bureaucratic burdens even

tougher . Does it make sense to submit an application within

such a pop-music-hostile-environment?

– I agree, these forms are quite heavy, and the requirements to become

eligible for funding are sometimes difficult to work with. But it’s really

worth it, and I see no reason why successful EU-funded initiatives like

ETEP or the EBBAs should be the only ones out there. Moreover, as I

said, the new Programme is now less unfavourable to the music sector,

the focus is more business-oriented and competition is less distorted

with the other performing arts sectors. Unfortunately EMO isn’t there

anymore to help with the paperwork and to give advice for projects,

but there are specific ‘Creative Europe Desks’ in all EU countries which

are very helpful. It always makes sense to submit an application as long

as you have a good idea. It’s never a piece of cake, but if you get

through, financial support can be consequent. No pain, no gain…

Within the proposed budget

for Creative Europe ,

55 percent of the

1.46 million Euros

is dedicated to the

film sector. Any idea

why the designers

of Creative Europe

are so crazy about

supporting the film

and movie industry and

thereby neglecting other

creative sectors?

– It’s safe to say that the cinema

industry is way ahead of most cultural

and creative sectors when it comes to securing EU funding. In fact,

before the Creative Europe Programme, the audiovisual sector had

its own distinct Programme, called the MEDIA Programme, which

was concentrating on most of Europe’s cultural funding. All financial

envelopes have now been merged through the Creative Europe

Programme , but cinema is still vastly overrepresented within this

new system. There are various reasons explaining this ‘patronage’

in favor of the film industry. The first that comes to mind is that all

components of this sector (directors, actors, authors,

studios , etc.) have been lobbying together

in Brussels for much longer than other

cultura l players. The cinema indus-

try holds a well-established , well-

end owed and panoramic

lobbying position in Brussels .

This discrepancy in the

allocation of funding

within the Creative Europe

Programme is the result

of a 30-year old collective

lobbying effort. No other

cultural and creative sector has

invested that much for so long in

its presence in the environment of

the European institutions.

The support schemes for the film sector are

well developed and serve exactly the needs of this industry.

The needs of the music sector are to even a very far extent not

so well specified and documented as thoseof the film industry.

What went wrong?

– Far too recently the music sector became aware of the importance

of advocating its case in Brussels. Besides, its lobbying effort is too

disparate, torn between larger organizations focusing exclusively on

piracy and copyright, others advocating for music as a non-industrial

sector, and those who try to have a more streamlined impact on the

industry as a whole. Another thing is the industry’s relative timidity

regarding investment in lobbying compared to the cinema sector. A

structure like EMO, which had a transversal approach to the issues

faced by the European music sector, as well as an unmatched sectorial

grasp of EU funding mechanisms, was shut down recently due to lack

of funding. The popular music industry needs to realise that Brussels

is where a large part of its future is being decided: be it for structural

funding, digital rules or trade and export regulations, many important

decisions are now made at EU level, not in the Member-States. I hope

the initiative launched last week at Eurosonic (the idea of creating a

new European network of national music export offices) will go in

that direction.

Looking at the document ‘Commission Staff Working Paper

for establishing a Creative Europe Framework Programme’ the

term ‘film’ is mentioned 220 times, the term ‘music’ 41 times.

Digging a bit deeper, the term ‘cinema’ 65 the term ‘concert’

6 times. The document itself consists of 170 pages. With

other words, this document even proves that the creators of

Creative Europe are obviously film enthusiasts and created a

program that is very unbalanced. Would you recommend that

in particular the live music sector now should launch a political

campaign regarding the unfair policies of EU-burocrats and

politicians?

– This is a very interesting question. At the core of

the cinema industry’s lobbying strategy, you find

three principles: teamwork, differentiation

and visibility. Teamwork means that all

branches of the sector will speak with

one voice on certain subjects (and

of course, funding is one of these).

Differentiation : in all aspects of the

advocacy work, the film sector presents

itself as substantially distinct from other

cultural sectors, arguing the peculiarities

of its value chain and its relative eco-

nomic importance. And perhaps the most

important point is visibility: Often when an

important subject is discussed at EU level, the film

sector invests in briefing movie stars and acclaimed

film directors and bringing them to Brussels. And guess what:

EU officials will always prefer a chat in person with Lars Von Trier,

Almodovar, or Daniel Bruhl over reading yet another policy paper on

private copy levies or cross-border licensing. Can you blame them?

There is no objective reason why popular music should be treated

with less regard than the film sector. They’re equally useful softpower

tools for Europe, they are both essential for cultural diversity and

they contribute to the EU’s economy in equivalent proportions. If the

Fabien Miclet is one of the very few people in the music business who has a

decent awareness about what really goes on in Brussels




N

1

S

4

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MOUNT KIMBIE · LULU JAMES · WHOMADEWHO

RÖYKSOPP & ROBYNDO IT AGAIN 2014

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NS14_VIPBook_Helsides_198x272_18.02.14.indd 1 18/02/2014 14:00

VIP-BOOKING WELCOMES CHARLIE PRESBURG TO THE TEAMThrough his previous work with the highly respected and

informative trade publication, Pollstar, VIP-Booking’s new Sales

Manager Charlie Presburg is already well known, not just to all of

us in the VIP team, but also to many in the live music industry as a

regular contributor to events such as Eurosonic and ILMC. We’ve

taken part in panels together and Charlie has always been prepared

to help out when I’ve needed accurate information for the News,

so it’s a personal pleasure for me to welcome him to the team.

Charlie Presburg said, “Having spent over 20 years working in the

live music media, making the move to VIP Booking seemed to be a

very logical step for me and the time felt right. I have been aware

of VIP for a long time through the other work that I have done and I

see great potential for its services in the UK and European live music

and events industry. I look forward to working with the VIP Booking

team and hope to be able to help develop and grow its European

subscriber base as well as reach new markets and territories . This is

a very powerful resource and can potentially help develop the way

everyone in the live industry, from promoters to agents, venues to

festivals, operates and grows their business

General Manager at VIP-Booking Peter Briggs commented “I have

known Charlie for many years as our paths have crossed at many

of the trade fairs and conferences we attend every year. He has

always come across as being a very genuine person – an attribute

that we value highly at VIP-Booking - and we soon found that we

shared several common interests, not the least music and football.

Charlie brings a professional network and experience with him that

will be of huge value to our business and I look forward to working

alongside him in an environment where we can all learn from each

other as we consolidate our efforts to reach the goals we set out

to achieve.”


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Vip magazine #14 - March 2014

Documents