VIP-News Premium - February 2013 - Vol. 154

VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013

VIPNEWS PREMIUM > VOLUME 154 > FEBRUARY 2013

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January was a busy month for the VIP team –

we all went to Groningen for what appeared

to be an extremely successful editio n of

Eurosonic /Noorderslag (see report in this

issue ). Our sales team went to Cannes for

Midem, where despite another decrease in

numbers, many found it easier to do business

in the less crowded marketplace, and came

away satisfied with the outcome.

The varying fortunes of these two events are a

good example of the rapidly changing shape

of the music industry; Midem is without

doubt the original music business market,

starting up in one hotel suite in the late 60’s

and was in its heydays in the 70’s and 80’s,

attracting 12000 plus professionals from all

over the world (now these are down to half

that) at a time when the music busines s –

few used the word industry in those days –

convinced itself that it had settled on a set

format, with the major record companies

pulling in vast sums, (with execs spending

ridiculous amounts in Cannes!) and ruling

the roost. Then came pirac y, downloads etc,

all the well documented attacks that brought

the stronghold down, with the power passing

to the live industry (note the acceptance of

the term by that sector – I think the ILMC

had a lot to do with that..) – at least for a

while. However Midem still clings on to a

business model with pretensions of grandeur

– it wants to associate with the high rollers

(after all it’s an expensive event to stage

and to attend!) – hence it’s courting of the

moneyed sectors of associated industries,

and technologies, which is not necessarily a

bad thing, this is show business and a bit of

glamour attracts!

Eurosonic, although having been part of

a developing event for 27 years, has really

established its position over the last ten

years, building its artist showcase schedules

into a festival event (Midem introduced a

tentative move in this direction a couple

of years ago) and making itself accessible

and affordable to the newly developing

businesses , and this year sold out with 3500

international delegates – still less than the

totals claimed by Midem - but definitely made

up of independents and those constructing

tomorrow’s formats. Not to say though that

Eurosonic is averse to a bit of glamour , as well

demonstrated by the excellent production

and hosting of the Border Breakers Awards

and the European Festival Awards and the

event’s shrewd and effective courting of

the EU’s Brussels based creative industries

decision makers and paymasters.

So, excuse me going off on one, but I

suppos e what I’m getting at is the fact that

today we have a two tier business, and

that this is not necessarily a bad thing as

long as we maintain the balance and avoid

the excesses of the past. The Office of Fair

Trading in the UK have obviously been on

the lookout for this and are scrutinising the

situation regarding ownership of London’s

large venues and the dominance of AEG and

Live Nation. (See story in this issue)

Of course whatever sector or level of the

music business you look at one of the things

that make it attractive is the presence of

truly individual characters; unfortunately we

recently lost two of these with the sad passing

of Claude Nobs in Switzerland and Henning

Togel in Germany – they will both be missed.

So, a somewhat serious Musings, but these

are also two-tier and no doubt I’ll be banging

on about incontinent seagulls and the like

again soon – in the meantime Ladies and

Gentlemen – The News!

McGowan’s Musings

COLOPHON >

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UK Government Proposes Amendments to Live Music Act Allan McGowan [email protected]

The UK Government has issued a new proposal to raise the Live

Musi c Act audience threshold from 200 to 500 in on-licensed

premises .

The proposal comes in a response from the Department for Culture,

Media and Sport to its consultation on entertainment deregulation .

Also among the conclusions of the response is the decision to

treat recorded music in the same way as live music in on-licensed

premises between 08:00 to 23:00 (i.e. with an audience limit of

500 and the prospect of a Review if noise nuisance is caused).

Live and recorded music held on premises owned by the above

organisations will be exempt from licensing requirements for

audiences up to 500 people. Community premises such as church

and village halls and community centres will be exempt from

licensing requirements for live and recorded music for audiences

of up to 500 people.

Circuses, however, will be exempt from regulation for live and

recorded music, plays, dance and indoor sport between 08:00 to

23:00 with no audience restrictions.

Regulation will remain in place for all activities that exceed the

audience limits and timings listed above.

Although this is good news for many, there is still a worry amongst

many venues that rely on ticket sales that more pub venues could

present live music for free, or for very low ticket prices, hoping

to make their profits from increases wet sales, leading to more

competition for venues that are struggling in the present economic

climate.

The Live Music Forum’s Phil Little said:

“The Live Music Forum campaigned for almost twenty years to

bring about these changes and they are more than we hoped for.

However , it is plain that much of the damage to the scene has

already been done. Without an improvement in audience attend-

ance across the board we have an awful long way to go to match

the vibrancy of live music performance in previous decades.”

The full DCMS response can be found here.

The Live Music Forum Downing Street Petition Party (Photo by Anderson Photography)Left to right - Lord Clement-Jones, John Whittingdale MP, John Otway, Phil Little, Hamish Birchall, Tom Kiehl, Lord Colwyn

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Pop Most Popular Genre in The UK in 2012Allan McGowan [email protected]

Stats from the Official Charts Company and BPI have revealed that, for the second year

running , Pop lives up to the term as the most popular type of music in the UK for the second

year running in 2012.

The genre dominated in both album and singles sales, accounting for 33.5% of album sales

(down just slightly on 33.6% in 2011), and 38.5% of singles, its highest share for a decade.

There was some optimism for those predicting a return to rock as this genre did account for a

bigger share of album sales in 2012 than in 2011 - 31.3% compared to 29.4%., still trailing

the heady days of 2006 when 41.5% of album sales came from rock releases.

OCC MD Martin Talbot added:

“It is apt that, in the year that we celebrated 60 years of the Official Singles Chart, pop music

remained as robust as ever in 2012 - through the likes of Emeli Sandé, Carly Rae Jepsen, Adele,

One Direction, Olly Murs and Lana Del Rey, among others. But, with many commentators

predicting that guitar music will return over the next couple of years, it is also notable that

rock music in its broadest sense also rebounded with Coldplay, Mumford & Sons and Gotye

enjoying very successful years in their own right. Green shoots which are destined to grow over

the coming months, perhaps.”

The beautiful and nominated Rita OraRock-genre

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Best British Male:

Calvin Harris, Plan B, Richard Hawley, Olly Murs, Ben Howard

Best British Female:

Emeli Sandé, Paloma Faith, Bat For Lashes, Jessie Ware,

Amy Winehouse

Best British Group:

Mumford & Sons, The xx, Muse, One Direction, Alt-J

Best Live Act:

Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Muse, The Vaccines, The Rolling Stones

Best British Breakthrough:

Jake Bugg, Jessie Ware, Alt-J, Ben Howard, Rita Ora

Best International Group:

The Black Keys, The Script, Alabama Shakes, Fun, The Killers

Best International Male:

Jack White, Gotye, Michael Buble, Frank Ocean, Bruce Springsteen

Best International Female:

Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Cat Power, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift

British Album Of The Year:

Alt-J - An Awesome Wave, Emeli Sandé - Our Version of Events,

Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace, Plan B - iLL Manors , Mumford & Sons

- Babel

Best British Single:

Adele - Skyfall, Alex Clare - Too Close, Coldplay & Rihanna -

Princess of China, DJ Fresh feat Rita Ora - Hot Right Now, Emeli

Sandé - Next To Me, Florence And The Machine - Spectrum,

James Arthur - Impossible, Jessie J - Domino, Rizzle Kicks -

Mama Do The Hump, Labrinth & Emeli Sandé - Beneath Your

Beautiful, Robbie Williams - Candy, Olly Murs feat Flo Rida -

Troublemaker , Rita Ora feat Tine Tempah - RIP, Stooshe - Black

Heart, Rudimental feat John Newman - Feel The Love

So – will these trends have an effect on the outcome of the BRIT Awards?

– the following shortlists may give us a clue: The event will take place on February 20th.

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New Head Announced for Montreux Jazz FestivalAllan McGowan [email protected]

Following the tragic death of the founder

of the Montreux Jazz Festival, Claude Nobs,

Mathieu Jaton has been named as the new

head of the world famous event.

A hugely popular figure, Claude Nobs went

into a coma following a skiing accident at

Christmas. Mathieu Jaton took over for what

was hoped to be a temporary period while

Claude recovered, however this was not

to be, and Jaton will now assume the job

permanently . This year’s Festival is due to take

place from 5-20 Jul.

A tribute concert for Nobs will take place at

the Stravinsky Auditorium in Montreux on 8

Feb, followed by another event in New York

this spring. An event at the Royal Opera

House in London, which Nobs was working

on prior to his death, is scheduled to go

ahead on 26-27 July.

Mathieu Jaton is the new head of Montreux Jazz, photo Lionel Flusin

Claude Nobs, photo Getty Images

http://www.hrbooking.com

VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013VIPNEWS > FEBRUARY 2013

War Child and O2 host The War Child BRIT Awards ConcertAllan McGowan [email protected]

War Child and O2 have announced Muse as the headline act for the

much anticipated annual event at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, two

nights before the 2013 BRIT Awards. This event marks the start of

War Child’s 20th Anniversary Year, and comes ahead of War Child’s

Special Recognition Award to be presented at the BRIT Awards, while

Muse are nominated for British Group and British Live Act.

Matt Bellamy says;

“We are proud to have a continuing association with War Child, who

have been doing amazing work over the last 20 years. It’s great to

see their efforts being recognised at this year’s BRITs and we are really

looking forward to playing this special show for them”.

This is the fifth year of War Child and O2’s annual BRIT Awards

Concert, hosted at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Having raised over

£600,000 in the last four years, the night is a firm fixture on the

music calendar and has staged unique performances from Coldplay,

The Killers, Blur, Kasabian, Ed Sheeran and Mark Ronson. All ticket

proceeds will go to aid War Child’s work with children in war zones

across the world.

Ben Knowles, Director of Fundraising and Music at War Child, says:

“This year is a special one for War Child and we’re delighted to

welcome one of the world’s biggest and best live bands play for

us to launch our 20th Anniversary year and celebrate our Special

Recognition BRIT Award. Music gives War Child an incredible platform

to talk about the unacceptable impact that conflict has on innocent

children and it helps us engage the support we need to do something

about it. We are very grateful to Muse for joining us, and to O2 for

their ongoing support.”

Sally Cowdry, Marketing and Consumer Director at O2 said:

“This is a very special year for us - it’s our 5th year of working with War

Child and what better way to recognise this and help them celebrat e

their 20th anniversary than by announcing such an incredible event?

We are proud to continue to support the fantastic work that they do

and to be able to offer our customers Priority Tickets for what will

undoubtedly be one of the biggest gigs of the year “.

For more information on War Child go to www.warchild.org.uk

Text SAFE to 70444 to donate £3 to War Child’s Appeal for children

in Syria.

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War Child and O2 have announced Muse with Matt Belamy in front as the headline act

Sally Cowdry, Marketing and Consumer Director at O2

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PR Merger Produces Factory 92Allan McGowan [email protected]

PR agencies The Rocking Factory and Queen About Music, both based in Hamburg- have announced

that they are merging to become Factory 92. The new company will offer PR services throughout

Europe .

Two brands will operate under the Factory 92 banner: Queen About Music, dealing with on radio, tour

and festival promotion in Germany, and The Scoop Engine (previously run by The Rocking Factory),

providing pan-European PR services.

For more information:

QUEEN ABOUT MUSIC @ Facebook

[www.facebook.com/QueenAboutMusic]

THE SCOOP ENGINE @ Facebook

[www.facebook.com/thescoopengine]

... and soon www.factory92.eu

MAMA Take Ownership of LoveboxAllan McGowan [email protected]

On Wednesday 23rd January 2013; MAMA & Company reported

the completion of a deal to take on sole ownership of Lovebox, the

London festival founded by DJs Andy Cato and Tom Findlay of Groove

Armada in 2002. The event held in Victoria Park has grown from a

club night to become an award-winning, three-day event. Originally

devoted to dance music, over the last 10 years Lovebox has expanded

into other genres including hip hop, indie, rock and pop. MAMA has

been working with the DJ’s since 2007, and the acquisition follows

news of the company’s management buyout and partnership with

LDC in December 2012.

Dean James CEO of MAMA & Company says;

“We have enjoyed working with Tom and Andy over the years, but

the reality is that we have been running this festival since 2009. Two

of the original founders, Tim Harvey and Jools Butterfield are still very

much part of the fabric of the event and working with Rob Silver, Rich

McGinnis and Dave McCalmont, the future of the show is in good

hands. Lovebox is London’s best and most creative festival and we

look forward to putting on a great party in Victoria Park this summer

on what will be Lovebox’s 10th anniversary.”

Lovebox 2013 will take place between 19th – 21st July.

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Live Nation, AEG Square Up in London and the OFT Moves in to RefereeAllan McGowan [email protected]

After last year’s ‘soggy summer’, which

affected many festivals and nearly made

the grass in Hyde Park extinct, we could

be looking at a ‘sultry summer’ with the

temperature being raised by the two giants

of live music slugging it out over competing

venues and events.

The situation regarding control of major

London venues, Hyde Park, Wembley Arena

and the Olympic Stadium has alerted The

Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which will carry

out an investigation of concerns that the

potential ownership structure could result

in higher ticket prices and less choice of big

name acts.

The dominant Companies, Live Nation and

AEG, owners of the East London O2 Arena,

have been very active of late; Live Nation

recently secured the rights to stage gigs at

the Olympic stadium complex in east London ,

and as well as joining a consortium to buy the

Hammersmith Apollo from the beleaguered

retailer HMV, rival AEG secured the contract

to stage events in Hyde Park, replacing Live

Nation, which had been responsible for

events such as Live 8 and Hard Rock Calling

in the central London park for 10 years Then,

before Christmas, AEG moved in on Wemble

Arena in North London, which Live Nation

had held the management contract for the

previous six years. They do love their sparring

and their shopping these giants!

Anyway, AEG’s ambitious London expansion

came to the attention of the OFT which

launched an investigation into whether the

proposed but not yet completed Wembley

deal, could lead to a “substantial lessening

of competition” for live music in the capital,

and will decide whether to refer the issue of

AEG controlling London’s two biggest arenas

to the Competition Commission.

The regulatory body can impose restrictions

if it elects to do so, such as it did in 2007,

when it ruled that because of potential

concerns over ticket pricing control, Live

Nation and Gaiety Investments must sell off

Hammersmith Apollo and The Forum before

buying into Academy Music Group. AEG’s

prospective control over the two biggest

venues could give them the muscle to

increase ticket prices and give them greater

control over obtaining artists.

Park Wars!

We now seem to be observing the first foray s

of Park Wars! Live Nation announced that it

had pulled out of the Hyde Park tendering

process in the autumn. Following the

dramatic imposition of a curfew, which saw

the unplugging of Paul McCartney and Bruce

Springsteen mid jam, Head of Events for The

Royal Parks, James Russell, said: Curfew s

would remain the same as last year, but

hoped that there will not be a repeat of that

cutting off. Live Nation said there were too

many problems with noise levels amongst

other problems. However a spokesman

for The Royal Parks Agency, said that “Live

Natio n participated in the tender process

from start to finish but was not selected as

the preferred bidder”.

Live Nation responded by announcing an

exclusive deal to host gigs at the Olympic

Park and stadium in east London this

summe r, with the Wireless Festival and Hard

Rock Calling defecting from Hyde Park, a

number of concerts to be held in the stadium

during the summer. The London Legacy

Developmen t Corporation today confirmed it

has entered into a contract to bring a series

of concerts and festivals to Queen Elizabeth

Olympic Park this summer, ahead of its full

opening in spring 2014.

The deal gives Live Nation exclusive rights to

host major music concerts in the North Park

and stadium in summer 2013.

John Reid, President of Concerts at Live

Nation Europe, said:

“As the world’s leading provider of music

festivals and outdoor events, Live Nation

is delighted to have won the inaugural

contrac t for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

In the coming weeks, we will unveil the

headline acts for the first Wireless and Hard

Rock festivals to be staged in London’s new

John Reid


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flagship venue, which promise to be the UK’s

blockbuster events of 2013.”

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of

the London Legacy Development

Corporation said:

“This summer Queen Elizabeth Olympic

Park will once again host some of the

greatest shows on earth. I’m delighted that

leadin g global companies like Live Nation

are interested in the stadium and the Park.

We’re thrilled to be working with them this

summer .”

On 23 January 2013. AEG Live and The

Royal Parks announced “Barclaycard British

Summer Time - a ground-breaking new event

for 2013, to be held at the greatest outdoor

venue in the world - Hyde Park”. The event

promises to give music fans throughout

the capital the chance to see many of their

favourite headlining and supporting music

artists play over back to back weekends in

ticketed events. Bon Jovi were named as the

first headline act with more ‘high profile’ acts

to be announced in the coming weeks.

Event Director Jim King of AEG Live said:

“After a great deal of planning and hard

work, we are so proud to announce what

will no doubt be an incredible event for

London . Barclaycard British Summer Time

takes everything we have learned indoors at

our other venues - in creating the amazin g

experience s at The O2 - and shares it within

the world’s greatest outdoor venue, Hyde

Park. We literally started with a blank canvas

and in Barclaycard British Summer Time,

we have created what we believe to be

the ultimate in Summer events - fantastic

music, great food, drinks, farmers markets,

theatre, film - and much more incredible

entertainmen t across a full 10 days. The list

is endless!”

James Russell, The Royal Parks, Head of

Events said:

“This is a new era for entertainment in

Hyde Park. Hyde Park has such a wonderful

heritage in hosting world class concerts in the

heart of London, dating back to 1969. Today,

we are looking forward, and along with AEG

Live, we are very excited to be bringing the

Barclaycard British Summer Time event to

this iconic location that is recognised around

the world.”

Well – spot the similarities? It could be an

interesting summer for a stroll in the park…

Turning up to 11?

Although some of the Hyde Park problems

Live Nation were confronted with involved

noise complaints from local residents, AEG

intend to raise the volume, with Bon Jovi

claiming in Spinal Tap fashion to turn up to

11.

Last year, fans complained that gigs by Blur

and Madonna were too quiet, as a result of

noise restrictions imposed by Westminster

council, but AEG says a repositioned stage

will allow the volume to be turned up withou t

disturbing local residents. Events Director Jim

King says that an independent report makes

it very clear that the “orientation and position

of the stage” was of crucial importance, and

the new set-up will be “better for residents,

customers and bands. We worked the plan in

terms of relocating that stage and orienting

it away from the residents because previously

it had been firing straight at them.” The new

Great Oak Stage with LED panels and screens

will be camouflaged within the park setting,

and the lighting control booth will be set in

a tree house.

Residents will have to wait to see if AEG’s

confidence in the report and the changes are

justified.

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Record International Attendance at Eurosonic Noorderslag Conference 2013Allan McGowan [email protected]

Over the four days of the 27th edition

of Eurosonic Noorderslag which came to

an end in the early hours of Sunday the

13th of January, 304 European acts and

bands and an audience of 35,000 music

lovers and professionals came together in

in Groningen , Holland.

The number of international delegates

to the conference increased by 1,100 on

last year to 1,500., combining with local

delegates to produce a sell out figure

of 3500 delegates. A comprehensiv e

conference programme concentrated

on music of course, but addresse more

and more themes from other related

businesses, such as creative policy and

new technologies. A good number

of panels packed out, including the Agents

Panel – chaired by yours truly, many were

surprised that they couldn’t get in.

The conference and showcase festival

was broadcast internationally on radio ,

television and internet. Radio and

televisio n channels broadcasting from

Eurosonic were among others BBC (UK),

DR Musik (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RTBF

Pure FM (Belgium), Le Mouv’(France), RUV

(Iceland) , RTE (Ireland), Radio Belgrade

(Serbia) and WDR (Germany). In the

Netherlands NOS, NTR, 3FM, Radio 6,

3voor12 and de Volkskrant presented

comprehensive reporting on radio,

television and the Internet . The EBBA

Awards presented by Jools Holland were

broadcast live on YouTube and recorded

for TV.

Official Figures:

Total number of visitors

Eurosonic Noorderslag:

35,000 (sold out)

Visitors Conference:

3,250 (sold out)

Nationalities: 45

Acts: 304

Media and journalists: 404

EBU radio stations: 31

ETEP festivals: 78

International festivals: 417

Number of stages Eurosonic: 36

Number of stages Noorderslag:

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Comments on Eurosonic Noorderslag 2013

Intelitix acts as service provider for Eurosonic

Noorderslag and supplies the event with

an RFID-system. Serge Grimau x himself

is the founder and CEO of the company

that runs offices in Canada, the UK and

the US. Beside s Eurosonic Noorderslag the

compan y serve festival s such as Coachella,

Bonnaroo or Lolapalooz with its service,

ranging from cashless payment functions ,

entrance control and social media

application s for festival visitors .

VIP News ask Serge Grimaux… What is

your impression of Eurosonic this year?

– I think it went amazingly well; it’s my

third time here. Most impressive for me

is the energy that is in this whole event.

You cannot start the year in a better way,

if you’re in this business, that’s the way to

start the year.

Looking around and comparing

Eurosoni c Noorderslag with other

conventions – what is particular and

remarkable about this event?

– The settings. The way that they’ve set

up the festival, the way that they’ve set

the stage in the middle of the conference-

are a. The Oosterpoort is really a fantastic

venue, it’s a real chameleon, you have bars

and stages, people performing in all sorts

of places , they change every day, they’re

taking al lot of attention for all sorts of

details. Then you go in town, everything

is in walking distance, you have 26 venues

in walking distance, which is impossible to

imagine in another place in the world. All

these surroundings, it’s a charming city, it’s

a place where you learn to meet people,

to discover things, you know, it’s a breath

of fresh air.

How did business go for you?

– I’m very happy about what we’ve done

here, I think people have appreciated what

we’ve done. The “where was I last night”-

email, that the delegates received, that

gave them a summary of all the bands they

saw and enjoyed, all these venues where a

big plus. It went even better, the receptions

were in thousands every day. The panel-list,

that could link people with each other, the

people attending the panels because they

could live click. The presentation of the

panel-list went excessively well, on the

first day it doubled my expectation, on the

second day more than 1200 people used

it. It was interesting , because they used it

in a way I didn’t think about. We designed

that, because we were thinking it would

be a great reminder for the delegates of

the panel they were at. But some people

pick it up quickly and they walked into the

pane l, live-click, get the presentation on

their iPad and following the presentation

of the panel-list during the panel by using

this gadget. They reversed the method,

which is brilliant.

Do you know any figures off the top

of your head about the usage of your

systems?

– I can tell you that an average of about

1500 delegates received the “where was

I last night”-email and I can tell you that

from the panel-level it’s an even higher

amount of people that interacted with the

service. It could not be better.

Which convention will be the next one

you attend?

The next convention for me will be the ILMC,

the international live music conference in

London. We’ll be there for the third year

and I’ve been there personally for the last

15 years.

EBBA-host Jools Holland and co-host Birgit Schuurman, photo René Keijzer Winners at EBBA, Photo René Keijzer

Serge Grimaux, CEO of Intellitix

14


The International Music Manager Forum

is just one of many music industry

organisations that regularly attend the

Eurosonic Noorderslag. Jake Beaumont-

Nesbitt is the Executive Director and

furthermore manages the Dutch band Go

Back To The Zoo....

VIP News ask Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt …

What were your impressions oft

Eurosonic Noorderslag 2013?

– There are very exciting people here,

exciting to discover new music and a lot

of interchanges to cross borders. A lot of

border breaker acts here and Eurosonic’s

aim of bringing the Europeans together

and sharing their music is really coming

true.

Did you get any business out of this

year’s edition already?

– Yes, I think so. I got business in the

contacts and connections and I’m just

refreshing existing connections. It used to

be that you’ve come to a conference a year

ago and you meet someone for the first time

and you got a new contact, then you get

home and you’ve lost the business-

card or you are too busy to make a call.

So, sometime s you need to meet them

a second time and then you can build it

up. And that is what happens here, you

can couple up with people for a stronger

relationship on the lighter side.

How do you use Eurosonic Noorderslag

for IMMF?

– We have a good quotient of Eastern-

European managers, it is very difficult, for

example, to form a music-managers forum

in Poland. But here you can find Bratislava,

Poland, Estonia and we start to help them

to share information with the rest of us.

We’re now beginning to find a critical mass

in the industry of the countries in the east,

that’s just got to build up. That’s a thing

that really worked here for us; we’ve found

eastern Europeans and connected them to

our network.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Anzeige_VIPMag_ProSky_X4.pdf 1 09.12.10 10:43

Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt - Executive Director of the IMMF

http://www.pro-sky.com


Robert Meijerink looks after the booking

of the Eurosonic-Festival in Groningen and

as ever VIP News asks Meijerink at the end

of each festival about the current edition

of the music convention that meanwhile

has probably become to one of the most

important industry events in Europe.

VIP News ask Robert Meijerink… 5000

applications, how do you manage to

get through all this?

– Work hard, take a good listen and start

early.

When do you start on it?

– We open the applications every year

from the 1st of May and from then on

I’m listening to all the applications. Not

only once, more times, because I think it

changes a lot in your listening-process.

Sometimes I’m listening to a band and I

don’t like it, but maybe one week later I

think, oh, maybe it’s not as bad as I thought

by my first impression. That process lasts till

the deadline on November 1st.

Do most of the bands get in from of

these applications?

– Yes.

What about recommendations of

record labels, managements or agents,

are they considered separately?

– No, of course there are people who

offer advice, we’re connected with the

EBU-radio station, they’re our partners.

These people are also making suggestions

to me, more than one. All these sugges-

tions are interested to play at Eurosonic,

not every band is interested to play at

Eurosonic. So, for me as a booker it’s not

only considering these bands, I have to find

out if these bands would love to play at

Eurosonic. In other words, are they open

for them to make an assessment in their

career, because after all these years it’s still

a showcase-festival.

From the ETEP Programme, how have

those chosen progressed?

– Yes, you know, I’m always surprised, in a

good way, about the first vote. But it’s only

a first vote.

Did you expect C2C to get so many… ?

– Yes I think so. They won an award,

but it all went very fast for them. They

had a summer hit in France and now it’s

spreading all over Europe. And for all the

other mentioned etep-bands, I will say, they

have a good story in their home country .

At the time where we selected these bands

they were not as big as they are now.

These bands were booked maybe four

or five month ago, so in this time frame

something happens. ???...it builds up very

slowly or hard. For example, Palma Violets,

I like this band very much, it’s a very good

band, but on the other hand it could have

been me who say on this evening that it is

still a great band with the backing of the

BBC and stuff like that. So, it’s always out

of the hands of a booker, you know.

Did anything change on the level of

the applications? Has that become

different in the recent years?

– Actually not, the booking process is very

much the same as in the last years. Since

I’m a booker it’s the same process.

5000 applications, has that set a new

record?

– No, it’s the same as last year, just a little

bit more. Last year it was about 4700,

something like that. This year it’s a little bit

more than 5000.

More venues, more slots?

– Yes, on Wednesday evening we used two

more venues, we had the Rockpalast-co

-hosting-night, Rockpalast presenting in

the Huize Maas, and we used the Minerva

again. We used it for a very long time when

we had a focus on Germany, but then they

were reconstructing the building, so we

decided to add the museum for the very

first time. That was great, because the

museum was on the top of our list, we

wanted to collaborate with the museum

but the former director was not open for

that, the new director just said “okay, let’s

do it!”

Is this now the maximum capacity you

can run here?

– No, I don’t think so, but we are not

looking for a maximum capacity. Eurosoni c

is still a festival where so many bands

with diverse music-styles are playing. Our

festival is there to serve the radio-stations,

it’s not for selling more tickets. We think,

it is a festival for the professionals. Of

course, we welcome all the people who

love music , they are very important for us

as well, but the main thing is to serve the

new radio-station s . That has nothing to do

with quantity , more with quality.

Will there be any changes in terms

of your collaborations with Yourope,

do you reinvent anything, perhaps

improv e the selection-procedure

in terms of more internal talks and

discussions ?

– Well, we’re working on that Ceetep

program , as you know. For my point of

view, the Ceetep is very important for the

future of European music in general. After

one year I can say, we have many years to

go, there’s many work to do, there are no

problems to be solved but we really need

to stay connected with each other. I follow

it, I’m a part of it, but for me, as a booker

of Eurosonic I think there is something

Robert Meijerink, Head of Booking at Eurosonic

15


16


going on over there. We have to focus and

invest in central Europe in terms of talents,

generate talents and make them visible

over there. For me as a booker it’s great to

have such a project involved, I think that

the future is in these kinds of projects. In

order to have a great balance in Europe,

it’s not only just the Nordic or the western

part of Europe, we have to move a little bit

more to the east and try to locate and spot

new talents, book them in the right time

and in the right venue.

How do you do this? Do you travel

more often to Romania, Bulgaria or

other countries in Eastern Europe or to

other conventions and festivals there?

– During the last couple of years I’ve

visited a lot of festivals over there but

I’m not in Eastern Europe in every week,

that is not possible. But we are connect-

ed with each other, my colleague Douwe

is connected with people, who are in the

Ceetep festival- pool and there are also

journalists who are part of it. For me as

a booker the information from this pro-

ject is very interesting . Douwe is part of

the booking team of Eurosonic and based

here in Groninge n. But it’s not only Eastern

Europe, also Southern Europe, let’s focus

on Italy, there is so much going on. But

you still have to explain what Eurosonic is

about, what kind of opportunities we offer.

If there are people who love to play Euro-

sonic I always say something like: “It’s great

if you want to play Eurosonic, but are you

ready for it?”

As a booker I always have to explain that it

is even better to wait another year instead of

playing this year. So, there’s much more going

on than just listening and slating the acts.

Can you already say that there’s a shift

towards bigger and better awareness

for central European artists, not only

US- or UK-Artists?

– I don’t think that we can say that. We are

aware of the fact that we need to build on

this, that we try to build it together with

all these countries. Because even these

countries are not naturally connected with

each other, they speak different languages,

they got their own culture, some countries

were at war and it’s not a long time ago.

So, there is much to talk about, much to

discuss.

So, it is still not the case that we got

something like a change in terms of the

acceptance of European talents versus

UK/US-Talents?

– Well, not versus – okay, if you want to

compare to the UK or US, of course. But,

for example, we always have a couple of

bands from the Eastern part that really got

a high quality. You know, they can match

with bands from the US and the UK. They

have their own culture and their own style

of music. Of course, Bands from the US and

UK are very important, very influential on

the European music. But if you really dive

into the music and the culture, you will find

out, that there is such a thing like European

culture or a national culture from a country

which influences the pop artist nowadays.

They don’t copy a band from America;

they reinvent their own culture or heritage

from thirty or forty years ago. They make

something different with it and use it as a

style.

European and national politicians are

considering the value of popular music

in terms of culture. Do you wish that

there would be a stronger support for

popular music by politicians and people

in administrations?

– Yes, I think it’s needed. The pop-culture

is still a young culture and if you compare

pop-culture with theatre, classical music

or jazz – there is so much money going to

these cultural sectors. We are now in the

moment, where we show the people that

this is a new sector. I hope, that the people

from the European commission consider

pop-music officially as a sector in order of

investments and improvements, show the

people in Europe that they believe in it

and try to stimulate the local festival, the

local clubs, even the artist. In the end it’s

like a circle with the clubs, the artist, it’s

all needed. It’s a professional sector, there

is a lot of money in it, and there are many

people who earn money in the music-

business nowadays. Also there are people

who don’t earn anything, they work very

hard because they love it, they love to play,

they love to book, they love to promote or

to make records, whatever. So, I definitely

think it is time; we need the backup of the

politicians.

The First ETEP-Selection (Name of the acts and number bookings):

Palma Violets (11) C2C (9) Churches (8) Jake Bugg (8)

Ragleklods (6) Villagers (5) The Royal Concept (5)


http://www.ilmc.com

18


Mid Level Touring – What Does it Actually Cost?Allan McGowan [email protected]

FISH Reveals the Figures:… Some years ago when I was doing some work with the management

of the rock band Saxon, our neighbours in a West London office were

the managers of the then particularly successful UK band, Marillion.

As a result I got to meet and spend the odd half hour with their

formidable Scottish singer Derek Dick, much better known as Fish. I

recall one particular incident when halfway through a number at a gig

in Hong Kong he caught sight of me entering the venue, replacing

some lyrics with the greeting, “McGowan – what the fuck are you

doing here!”…As many will know Fish parted company with Marillion

a few years ago taking up a solo career and fronting his own bands.

Fish is now based back in Scotland and is still musically active and in

demand, and on his site I happened to come across this very detailed

and informative break down of what it costs the artist, in both

financial and labour terms, to undertake a mid level tour in the UK,

this particular example was his spring 2012 tour . I figured this would

interest a lot of VIP readers, so called him to ask if we could use the

article, fortunately he was happy to oblige. So, Ladies and Gentlemen

I hand you over to the informative writing of Fish… Allan McGowan.

I’m sitting here in the control room listening to the rough mixes of the

Saturday night performance at the Leamington Spa convention last

year while contemplating the May touring figures in the UK. Many

of you were interested and surprised at the last blog regarding the

state of the music industry with regards to distribution and my survival

ideas. I touched on the touring situation and the difficulties therein

and after talking to Yatta (Tour Manager) I have decided to take it a

step further and open up with some details that may surprise you.

What I am about to disclose is a picture of a typical tour costs

assessment using an unnamed venue from the May tour with

explanations where needed as to the figures and what they mean.

Firstly I am showing the costs from the promoters perspective

and where the money goes. As I said this is a “typical” venue but

sometimes there are variations, which I’ll point out, and explain:

Venue:

Capacity: 700 (on the tour we are playing venues from 400 cap ( x3)

to 1200 (1) the rest average around 650-700).

Ticket price (all prices in pounds sterling) 22.50 net after VAT 18.75

net after PRS (publishing on songs played during performance,

takes over a year to come back minus percentages to society):

£18.19.

Total receipts at Box office on capacity sell out £12,731.

Expenditure

Support: 50: (standard fee)

Catering: 300: for 10 people (sandwiches, teas coffees, soft drinks,

water -lunch, main meal at night (normally a 10 “buyout” = fend

for yourselves), 6 bottles of wine + soft drinks, water and snacks for

dressing room.

Venue Hire: 1100: normally this is inclusive of PA and lights as most

venues have their own installations, it also includes security, local

crew (‘humpers’), towels etc. Cheapest venue hire is 250 but PA

and security add on 950. Most expensive is 2250 (and that is a 400

capacity ) Average is around 1500.

PA/Lights/Security/Crew/Barriers/Towels: as I said are inclusive at this

level of gigging. Next one up they become extras or venue hire rates

go up accordingly.

Rep: 120: this what we pay per show for the promoters representative

who liaises with the venue and ourselves and takes care of the fees

due on the night of show.

Local/National press budget: 700: this is based on the total budget

split between the 12 shows The Gig Cartel are promoting for me. This

covers ads and the cost of a press officer who deals with the tour in

advance setting up interviews and notifying local and national press.

Insurance: 75: this is the insurance the promoter takes out for

cancellation/ public liability etc etc again split across 12 shows. It does

not cover me.

19


19

Ticketing: as with most venues nowadays the ticketing is outsourced

to agencies who charge what I consider exorbitant fees and earn a

tidy profit for very little in my opinion. A 4.50 charge in some cases to

process a ticket plus postage, which again appears more than enough

to cover delivery. Just more middlemen eating the ever decreasing

pie.

Total expenses for this example are £2245.

The Gig Cartel has dealt with my last couple of tours and they are

easy guys to get on with and total pros, well versed at dealing with

bands at this level. There are no hidden office expenses or extras that

seep away at the expenditure. They guarantee a fee to Yatta and

myself , cover their rep and like me hope that we ‘break percentage’

on the show. That means we

earn more money as we pass

the ‘break even’ figure where

all venue costs and expenditur e

is met. The guarantee is based

on the numbe r of tickets they

expect to sell. It is in no ones’

interests for promoters to go

out on a limb with unrealistic

figures as that means busted

promoters , and busted pro-

moters can mean busted and

potentially derailed tours and

other bands getting hit in the

aftermath if they are going

through the same promote r (as

happened to me in 91 when I

took a kicking on the Exile tour

through a bankrupted company called Bandstand who’d booked me,

sold my tickets and lost the money before they went down as a result

of other busted tours just as I hit the road with my tour! I took a 75k

hit to the head with no comeback available).

Yatta haggles over the guarantee as our costs have to be met within

that but after all I have said above realism has to exist on all sides. The

percentage splits after the break work accordingly, usually 70-30 in

favour of the artist with the Gig Cartel not making any money itself

until after the break even is hit.

My guarantee on every gig on this tour is £2250.

The break even on this show requires 273 tickets.

And now we move onto my costs! (all minus VAT):

Band wages: 750: 5 musicians, I am not included in calculations for

wages.

Crew wages: 400: 4.Sound tech; backline tech; video/light tech and

Yatta. As with the musicians these are not top-notch wages but what

I can afford and I am lucky I have great band and crew guys that have

remained loyal and give and make time for me.

Agency: 113: This is Yatta’s fee of 5% of the gig guarantee for setting

up and booking the tour with the Gig Cartel, booking hotel s, sorting

out transport, organising and printing itineraries, phone bills, laminate s

and all the other work that goes into organising a tour before we go

out. It can take months sometimes when dealing with Europea n bus

tours across a 6-7 week itinerary. The agency percentage also covers

my side of earnings after we pass the ‘break even’ point. A mainline

London booking agent can take between 10-20% of a show fee and

they generally don’t do anything apart from book the gig and only

liaise with the band’s production

manager with regards to all the

other details.

Mainline agents (especially the

good ones) are more in demand

and more difficult to get than

record deals these days as the

live scene takes over as the

artist’s main income supplier

from selling recorded product.

As I said in the previous blog the

album sells the tour and not the

other way around as it used to

be years ago when I started in

the business. I couldn’t afford

to deal with a mainline agent

as it would mean it would be

unlikely to get the numbers of gigs I do get as promoters either

couldn’t afford the fees (re read the busted promoters section above)

or I couldn’t fit the agents percentage in my budget at the level I work

on. (Add a manager’s 20% on top and you understand why I don’t

have management!).

Yatta and I have been around the block enough times to know a

good selection of European promoters, the ones we trust, the ones

we want and like to work with and who Yatta can pick up the phone

and put together a tour with. By not having ‘London’ representation

we might lose out on some festivals and other gigs but we have our

‘meat and potatoes’ and the lower costs mean we can work more

often. With no major record company behind me and at 55 years old

with the numbers I normally do it would be highly unlikely that either

a mainline agent or decent manager would look at me anyway. I don’t

take it personally. I am just realistic which is why we operate as we do.

Anyway back to the costs!

20


Hotel (4 twin and 2 single) 400: ranges again go from 280 up to 550.

This UK tour is not on a sleeper bus. The journeys are only a matter

of a couple of hours, which would mean sleeping parked up outside

venues. On European tours the distances are greater and we couldn’t

travel those hours on a gig day. On bus tours we get a hotel every 4

days unless there’s horrendous travelling involved ( as we have on a

long section of the September tour with only a ferry cabin in 8 days).

Bus tours can mean a day room on gig day where everyone showers

etc unless there are facilities in the venue. Bus costs are around 450 a

day for something not luxurious! This UK tour requires doubles, which

means sharing for the band and crew. Yatta and I have singles.. It’s the

only thing I ‘pull rank’ on as I need my sleep to recover the voice and

need the peace and quiet to chill and steady myself. Yatta deals with

after show figures, advancing gigs etc and also needs his own space.

Not ideal but a necessity as you’ll see further down the page.

Insurance: 42: this is another of those figures split over 12 shows.

This is my cover for public liability and cancelled shows in the main.

It only covers the guarantees not any potential percentage break no

matter how many tickets are sold in advance. It doesn’t cover merch

loss or anything else. Only the costs I have incurred and lost through

a ‘no show’.. Luckily my history has been relatively clean in recent

years so although I don’t have a ‘no claims’ bonus the premiums are

not horrendous.

Splitter Van Hire: 110: the new all singing and dancing ‘Clown Carrier’,

a 9-seater Merc van that also carries all our backline equipment and my

merchandise driven by Shaun the ‘FTC’ who also, as most of you well

know, is our sound tech. On a “big bus ” tour it goes in a trailer behind

the bus, which is an additional cost, about the same as a splitter van hire!

Fuel for Van: 47: an average as you’d expect.

Fuel for Car: 25 Yes you did the figures right! There are 10 in the party

and a 9-seater Splitter van. This means yours truly will be following

the Clown Carrier again driving to gigs with whatever passenger

decide s to join me. We haven’t even registered a hire cost here!

Strings/Skins etc: 42: Not drug paraphernalia but the ‘throwaways’

the musos go through again averaged out over the 12 days. Drum

skins, drumsticks, guitar strings and bass strings break, wear out

and have to be replaced. It’s a tour cost not an individual’s. Normal

procedure .

Catering – Breakfast: 25: The only meal we pay for on gig days and

days off; sometimes inclusive in the hotel charge and sometimes

not. Some of us do and some of us – mainly me – don’t. Again an

average.

Video Hire 75: This is for the equipment we use to provide the

backscreen projections. I don’t have the budgets to go for a

‘Porcupine Tree’ visual extravaganza but we do what we can within

the constraints to put something up to make more of the show. I

use ‘in house’ lighting techs on the night who are briefed on what

we need from what we get provided with in the venue. There are

some fine guys out there on the circuit and quite a few I would

like to have kidnapped! Again at this level I can’t afford a Lighting

designer (LD) with another wage and another hotel room etc. I use

‘apps’ in the form of the video operated by ‘Secret’ on this tour.

(He did 13th Star and is a talent!) Again this figure is averaged out

over the 12 shows.

The Scottish singer Derek Dick, better known as FISH


Merchandising facility fee: 50: The fee we pay to venues to allow

me to sell my merchandise. We get a space we need to set up a stall

provided by the house and lighting. I can deal with that! I can’t deal

and refuse to deal with percentages of the revenue. My average take

at a venue is 3 a head, which means on average I sell 3 pounds for

every ticket holder. In a 400 crowd I therefore would take 1200, which

includes VAT. Take off the VAT and it’s 1000. T shirts have roughly a

35% profit margin so that’s 350 but as there’s DVD’s and albums

with slightly bigger margins and I don’t only sell T’s say the take after

VAT is 500.If the venue takes their 25% then it’s off the 1200 figure.

That’s 300! Then they charge VAT at 20%. That’s 360. Ok I can claim

the VAT back my end but it means the venue makes more than me

from my merch. Rough figures but you get the idea! If only I could

get a percentage of the beer they sell to the audience I bring in? .2

pints on average each, 600 pints, 25% =150 pints @ 3 each? If I had

a separate merchandiser he’d be on 100 a show plus a hotel room/

breakfast so another 150 a night comes out the nett to give me 300

after the facility charge of 50. Once again I have to take the ‘guerilla’

approach and Yatta will be handling the merch stall on this UK tour

with the rest of us helping set ups.

Rehearsals: 416: The average taken from 12 shows for just under 2

weeks full band rehearsals on half wages with a hotel room (I have

2 rooms here and potentially 3 are ‘out of towners’ with Shaun up

for the last few days) catering for the band and fuel to and from the

farm. It comes in around 5k.

And that ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls is only the rough costing

without any allowance for miscellaneous! It doesn’t take into account

the days off of which there are 3 that have no income but still have

crew wages (the guys get paid by the week, the band by show), the

hotels, the splitter van hire (it’s out with us for the duration) the fuel,

breakfasts coming in at around 1100. These all go into the overall

tour budget! But I am getting slightly ahead of myself. Meanwhile

back at the venue it’s gig day so let’s add up the Fishy costs!

In total the rough costs on my end are approximately £2496.

This gives me a loss of 246 on the guarantee but 254 ahead if I bring

the merchandise into the equation!

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Remember these figures are

on the guarantee that requires 273 people to buy tickets out of

a potentia l 700. For every extra 100 tickets I’d sell here I’d make

another 1200 with a potential of 4800 if I sold it out! And there’s

extra heads buying merch? But realistically, in both my eyes and

those of the promoters, that is unlikely to happen. 500 maybe

with a fair wind and a walk up. Maybe, maybe, maybe! I’ve been

hit before and ran a tour with only about 5 breaks in 20 shows.

I never gamble. I nearly lost a house before being way, way too

optimistic . And it’s a recession and there are a lot of bands all

chasing the same pie!

On the figures I have across the 12 dates with Gig cartel based on

guarantees and without any merchandise sales in the equation and

adding those empty 3 days off I am looking at a loss of 6.5k.

The lottery win of a complete sell out tour would be around 45k

profit . Those numbers aren’t coming up! Half that and I would be

a happy man but that’s doubtful. If it did hit say 25k there’s still the

bogeyman of HMRC and corporation tax at 24% taking 6k and

leavin g 19k. It’s still a lot of money which I would be lucky to be able

to make in this day and age and which I’d be exceedingly grateful for.

But to throw that figure in perspective in the big picture it’s the only

UK tour I could safely command for at least another 18 months

withou t another new album and apart from the Fishheads Club tour

that closed in 2011 my first full electric band touring since 2008 with

only around 10 or so shows in 2012.

The European tour in the Autumn is a completely different ball game.

Slightly bigger fees but way more expense with the added kick off

witholding taxes by relative countries. And again it will be the last

one for at least another 18 months. It’s a harvest of sorts after years

preparing the ground and you have to make sure you gather what

you can as it has to last a while. Unlike the band and crew I only get

one hit at this while they can move onto other bands and tours.

No matter how you look at it it’s all a gamble which in previous

scenarios I have lost my shirt and underpants by taking. If it comes off

then everyone is happy. I just wanted to share this with you to give

you a better idea of how it works and what lies behind the scenes

of touring at the level I am working on. It’s not a cry for sympathy or

anything else of that nature. It’s how it is and as I said before I have to

deal with it the best I can and hope the sun shines on me occasionally

and makes it a good night for walk ups on the doors!

I am eternally grateful to have made it this far down the road and to

still be able to even pull a crowd after over 30 years as a professional

singer. There are a lot of burnt out wrecks in the ditch and even more

musicians that never even got a ride that were left standing holding

dreams a long way back. I got lucky but there’s gonna come a time

when I have to pull over and park up and cut down on the driving as I

don’t want to end up a casualty. I’d like to slow down and take in the

view for a change as there’s still a lot of things I want to see and do. I

am very aware of the changes that are occurring and not all of them I

like or want to be part of. It’s always been a rough ride being an artist

but there’s only so long I can keep this ‘off – roading’ up for. This year

will be a challenging year for us all and it’s going to be interesting to

see where I end up when the dust clears!

21


22


A Surprising DealManfred Tari [email protected]

The announcement that Mehr! Entertainment was to take over A.S.S.

Concerts was made in December 2012, and the deal has been in

place since early this year. It could be said that A.S S.was one of the

very first companies in Germany to adopt the type of company struc-

tures that have been in place in the UK or the US for a long time.

Now with Mehr! Entertainment on board, the set up has been taken

to a new level.

On one hand the purchase had a surprising element. Mehr! Is Germa-

ny’s second biggest producer of musicals (Cats and Starlight Express)

and also operates several music and event locations all over Germany

(Admiralspalast in Berlin, the Musical Dome in Cologne). The Com-

pany’s acquisition of a national promoter was an unexpected move.

VIP News asked Michael Bisping of a.s.s. concerts and Maik Klokow

of Mehr! Entertainment about their motives and their plans for this

new concert consortium...

What lead you to the deal with Mehr! Entertainment?

– On one hand the changing market situation, which makes it harder

for an independent company to stand alone …on the other the fact

that Mehr! Entertainment and A.S.S. share the same sort of business

philosophy…very hands on, value oriented, artist related…it fits!

VIP News: Where do you see the added value for being part of

the network of Mehr! Entertainment?

– Stronger marketing and sponsorship possibilities, access to the

company owned venues, creative exchange…especially because we

all come from different backgrounds.

Does the joint venture with Mehr!-Entertainment require a

change in the A&R policy of A.S.S Concerts?

– No…the diversity of our roster holds artists that would fit the venue

structure of Mehr! Entertainment perfectly. Also we have a young

team with young artists and ideas, and this was one of the reasons

for this joint venture.

Can A.S.S. keep its current staff structure?

– Nothing else is planned!

After 26 years of A.S.S. Concert being a stand-alone company,

how much are you looking forward to providing reports and

forecasts to your new stake holder?

– Will I enjoy it? I guess not, but how do they say…”With every wish,

there comes a curse!”

Do you already have an idea how this new construct will affect

yours and Dieter’s (Schubert) daily business?

– Since we will have a third M.D., purely for the commercial part of

the company, I guess we will have more time to do what we are good

at…A&R, new ideas/strategies and development of live careers!

A.S.S. also recently entered a joint venture with the music con-

vention C/O Pop in Cologne. Can you please explain about that

set up?

– The joint venture is not with the convention itself, but with the

booking agency of c/o pop. The idea behind it is simple…get in touch

with young talent early and help them develop their career by joining

forces and supporting each other.

Mehr! Entertainment has its own ticketing portal and system.

Are there already any plans in place for this to alter the current

ticketing set up of A.S.S. concerts?

– Not concretely…we still have a 2 year exclusive contract with CTS,

apart from our metal tours through Dragon Productions and our local

shows. In 2 years time we will see.

In general, do you expect that the market concentration and

consolidation will reach a new level?

– Yes…look at the acquisition of the Lanxess Arena. There will be

more like this…officially or in terms of cooperations.

Michael Bisping teams up with Mehr! Entertainment.

Photo musikmarkt.de


VIP News asked Maik Klokow, CEO of Mehr! Entertainment…

Mehr! Entertainment is so far highly specialized within Family

Entertainment sector, which is structured very differently than

the concert and touring sector. How is A.S.S concerts going to

be embedded within the current framework of your Company?

– Mehr! Entertainment operates several live entertainment locations

and a ticketing organization. In these areas we have already worked

together a lot with rock and pop promoters. If a promoter rents one of

our locations he is free to use our local market know how or his own.

Our resources and know how at ME is always very much welcomed

by the promoter. Next to it A.S.S. will operate his own business and

we will try to implement some synergies to boost both businesses.

The marketing and PR-strategies for family entertainment pro-

ductions is also different. Is it foreseen that concerts and tours

by A.S.S will be integrated within PR- and marketing cam-

paigns of M.E.?

– Yes, where it makes sense. We have large deals with TV stations and

other media channels so if it makes sense for one or more artists at

A.S.S. to be integrated in such a huge marketing campaign we will

do so. On the other hand if we talk about finding young artists and

helping them to become more known in the market place there we

can add competence, network, ideas and budgets as well from the

ME side.

Does the takeover require taking on new administrative staff?

– No, A.S.S will be run by Dieter and Michael, we just add a functional

GM next to them to give ME a better understanding of the daily work

and the requirements to get synergies in place.

Isn’t the family entertainment sector currently under pressure

due to the economical situation?

– Not at all; our Cats tent tour is nearly sold out; Starlight Express

celebrates its 25 anniversary and has been successful with growing

revenues in the last 4 years. Our bookings in the Theatre like, Ballet

the Revolution from BB promotion or, Heisse Zeiten, Rock, the ballet

from Thomas Collien are doing great business. So although it was

never easy to market shows it is no more difficult than in the past, you

just need a great show.

Once again referring to the differences between the family

entertainment and the concert and touring business, can you

explain the advantages and the difficulties of the musical busi-

ness?

– We are a company who works on the 3-pillar structure. The first

column is content in all fields of entertainment, like musicals, shows,

exhibitions, rock pop, heavy metal…

Second is our venue network where we present, as much as possible,

different live entertainment concepts. Some of these productions are

coming directly out of the ME world but most are coming from other

producers and presenters.

Our third column is our independent ticketing organization, which

offers an independent infrastructure to all market players for the best

way to market and sell a ticket. So having said this it is obvious that

there is more to achieve in finding the synergies which will help the

artists at A.S.S. to get a faster and more successful grip on than oth-

ers. And our venues and ticketing organization will get a push from

the booking activities of A.S.S.

When putting on a new musical, how do you investigate and

identify the market potential of a musical production?

– It’s a secret.

Is it rather your passion that determines such decisions or ra-

tional market analysis?

– Both parts are important. I don’t want to work just for the money. I

love what I do which means I look for people with the same attitude

and enthusiasm and with the same passion for live entertainment. So

the business case study is as important as the human factor and of

course sometimes is just “Bauchgefuehl”* to make the right choice

for a partner and a product.

* German word for instinct

Maik Klokow

23


THE EUROPEAN MUSIC CONFERENCE AND SHOWCASE FESTIVALwww.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl

15 16 17 18 JANUARY 2014 GRONINGEN, THE NETHERLANDS

EUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG IS ORGANIZED BY

NOORDERSLAG STICHTING

IN COOPERATION WITH

MAIN SPONSORS

http://www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl

VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > FEBRUARY 2013 MUSIC IN SHARES

Music in SharesManfred Tari [email protected]

25

CTS EventimRuns Ticketing for the Olympic Winter Games 2014

The CTS Eventim subsidiary Partner.ru will handle the ticketing for

the Olympic Winter Games in Sotchi in Russia in 2014. The company

announced that that contract has been signed but no information

was given about the ticket volume the deal includes.

The share of CTS Eventim at Frankfurt Stock Exchange currently stood

(XETRA) at 26.35 Euro.

Live NationOpens Ticketmaster Branch in United Arab Emirates

A new Ticketmaster subsidiary in Dubai should help the Company access

new markets in the Middle East and North Africa for the company .

“We have been operating our concert business in the Middle East for

five years and in that time have seen a significant increase in the number

of concerts and sporting events taking place in the UAE and elsewhere

in the region.’ commented Alan Ridgeway, Live Nation President of

International and Emerging Markets on the move and added: “ I am

pleased that we are now in a position to offer event organisers and

ticket buyers in the region the level of service that they have grown

accustomed to in our other markets around the globe.”

David Gisham, from Ticketmaster Canada has been appointed as

managing director for the new branch which will be located in

Dubai Media City. The website for the new unit can be accessed at

www.ticketmaster .ae and already has tickets on sale for shows of Kanye

West, Dubai Jazz Festival, Metallica, Chris Tucker and Creamfields.

Since the end of 2012 the share price of Live Nation at NYSE went from

$9.31 up to $10.33.

DEAGAcquires Fred Handwerker Promotion

DEAG purchased a 51 percent stake of Fred Handwerker Promotion ,

one of the leading local promoters in North Rhine Westphalia.

According to DEAG, the company expects that new acquisition

will contribute a two digit million figure towards DEAG turnover in

2013. Handwerker Promotion has existed for more than 20 years and

achieves a turnover of 10 million Euro per year. The company director

Fred Handwerker will remain with the company.

The share price of DEAG since the end of November 2012 rose from

2.87 up to 3.50 Euro.

Alan Ridgeway, Live Nation President of International and Emerging Markets. Photo Getty Images

MONTHLY FEATURED ARTIST POWERED BY

Nina Hagen Territory: Europe Period: 2013 Agency: GLP Agent: Georg Leitner E-mail: [email protected]

Dub SyndicateTerritory: Europe Period: August Agency: Paperclip Agency Agent: Rob Berends Phone: +31 24 323 9322 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.paperclip-agency.com

Barclay James Harvest feat. Les HolroydTerritory: W orld Period: Summer 2013, Autumn/Winter 2013 Agency: Kultopolis Agent: Markus Sollner Phone: 0049-6861-939980 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.kultopolis.com

Foreigner Territory: Europe Period: 2013 Agency: GLP Agent: Georg Leitner E-mail: [email protected]

THE DOORS ALIVE - BEST DOORS TRIBUTE ACT IN WORLDTerritory: WORLD Period: 2013 Agency: VALUE ADDED TALENT Agent: DAN SILVER Phone: +44 207 704 9720 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.vathq.co.uk

MUSICAL YOUTH Territory: THE WORLD Period: MARCH 2013 - MARCH 2014 Agency: STRATOSPHERE MUSIC Agent: STEVE HUGHES Phone: +447779257295 E-mail: [email protected]

MORE ARTIST AVAILS ON:WWW.VIP-BOOKING.COM

POST YOUR ARTIST AVAILS ON:WWW.VIP-BOOKING.COM

ARTIST AVAILS

THE DOORS ALIVE

The Joe Class Experience

The Joe Class Experience is a quartet, playing sweatdripping oldschool rock ‘n

roll the way it should be played.

Riffbased wild energy triggered in your face by guitarist Tavs Enderleit (ex.

Chineese Letterbox), while Joe Class (Orange Whip, ex. Memory Cake) screaming

out his soul to the traditional 70’s groove, eminently played by Mikkel Find (ex.

Azeta) and the heavy bass, pumped by Lars Mårtensson (ex. Haltefanden).

With The Joe Class Experience you won’t get closer to the slimy rock sound by

the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple etc. without putting one of their vinyls

on the turntable.

Rider Information:

Tavs Enderleit - Guitar

Simon Stougaard - Vocals

Mikkel Find - Drums

Lars Mårtensson - Bass

Read more about The Joe Class Experience:

http://www.click-a-gig.dk/epk/58/bio

26

http://www.click-a-gig.com



MyMusicMailer.com enables artists to MAIL their music

to more than 6.000 venues and agencies worldwide…

Mail your music to the Live Music Industry…

About Our CompanyVIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and

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Industry www.vip-booking.com developed as a tool for

industry professionals. Since it’s launch in the year 2000,

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Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

VIPNEWS > MISC > FEBRUARY 2013 MEMBER PRESENTATION

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Since fifteen years, a constantly growing audience appreciates

concerts of a large variety of musical styles such as Rock, Pop, Trip-

Hop , World Music, Chanson and Reggae…..always arranged on a

“Theme-night” base. The roman amphitheatre of Avenches harbours

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and an ideal geographic situation just between the German and the

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artists have thrown themselves in the lion’s pit since the beginning of

the festival: Radiohead, The Cure, Marilyn Manson, Jamiroquai, Franz

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Jimmy Eat World, Stereo MC’s, Asian Dub Foundation…

27

Festival Rock Oz’Arènes


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