VIPNEWS PREMIUM > VOLUME 169 > JUNE 2014

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

McGowan’s Musings

So – that’s England out of the World Cup

then…who to support now? As far as the VIP

team are concerned Peter Briggs is of course

English, a football fan, and I presume obvious-

ly devastated at this poor showing; Manfred

Tari, a Dortmund supporter, still has Germany

very much in the running, and as for Ronni

Didriksen, I’m not sure what the situation is

with Denmark. I’m usually able to hedge my

bets as I also have Irish citizenship and my

parents were born in Scotland, but as neither

country qualified it would be a bit pointless

to start to shout for either, so it’s all a bit of

a quandary (another word I rarely get to use,

so that’s one advantage at least!). There’s a

McGowan playing for Australia, but having

never been there I feel little connection – apart

from friends such as Alia Dann of ILMC fame

and Chuggi etc of course, so I think I’ll be ex-

tremely English and just cheer on the chaps

that play well!

Sorry about this deviation into the sports are-

na, but of course there’s an almost symbiotic

relationship between football and the music

biz, you have to be extremely careful about

planning music conference events if they clash

with a big match. Also I see that one of the

One Direction combo has bought into his lo-

cal team, Doncaster Rovers (in the North of

England), and is listed as a reserve player, now

there’s someone following his dreams!

Talking of Australia – we were, pay attention!

- Live Performance Australia (LPA) has released

some interesting figures regarding the eco-

nomic size and scope of the live performance

industry. According to a second study, broader

in scope than the previous issued in 2010,

and prepared by EY (formerly Ernst & Young)

based on the latest data available, from 2012,

the sector is worth $2.5 billion. It now shows

that the live sector accounts for 34,131 em-

ployees. This is greater than the 20,439 peo-

ple employed in film and video as their main

job. Apart from these figures being a great en-

couragement to the live industry everywhere,

LPA’s Evelyn Richardson commented that the

live performance industry also generated less

tangible benefits such as improved social co-

hesion, lifestyle improvement, diversity and

increased creativity, not reflected in economic

metrics. I find these comments encouraging in

many ways, and Simon Jenkins echoed simi-

lar sentiments in an article in The Guardian

on June 20, entitled, “In this post-digital age,

we still thrill to the power of live.” Amongst

other reassuring things he said, “Most marked

is that television and the internet have failed

to replicate the exhilaration of the live event.

This was supposed to mean death to concerts,

theatres, lectures, football matches, even res-

taurants. Instead, these activities have fed off

the web, growing and prospering. The money

is ever more “at the gate”. Digital is an aston-

ishing new means of communication. Yet it

has not satiated the human appetite for mov-

ing, meeting and touching.”

So, I’ll leave you live industry folk with those

thoughts, comforting from both a business,

and I’m sure a personal point of view, to see

you through July when we will be taking a

month off. So whatever you’re doing, good

luck and enjoy! Let us know how things are

going, and for now Ladies and Gentlemen –

The News!

COLOPHON >

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

BBC Announce Music AwardsAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

The BBC has announced the launch of the

BBC Music Awards, as part of a wide-rang-

ing new musical strategy by the Corpora-

tion..

Aimed at celebrating the year`s best popular

music, The awards event will be the BBC`s

biggest musical presentation after Glaston-

bury, uniting BBC One, BBC Radio 1 and BBC

Radio 2 ahead of a live show presented by

Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton. The event

will take place on 11 December at London`s

Earls Court.

Categories will include British artist of the

year and song of the year. A panel of BBC

presenters and producers will select the best

British artist and international artist awards,

with viewers and listeners choosing the win-

ning song of the year. The awards will also

feature a host of performances to review

the year, as well as collaborations between

well-known artists and the BBC Orchestra.

BBC Radios 1 and 2 and The One Show will

offer behind the scenes access to the award

ceremony.

The new music strategy unveiled by the

corporation encompasses TV and radio pro-

gramming, digital services and provisions to

support emerging talent including the in-

troduction of classical music to UK primary

schools.

“Today`s the start of something very special

for everyone who loves music,” BBC direc-

tor general Tony Hall said. “BBC Music is

a celebration of the brilliant musical talent

across our country. We`ll be joining up mu-

sic on television, radio, iPlayer and online

like never before. There`ll be new shows,

new partnerships and whole new ways to

enjoy music.”

The wide ranging plans have been wel-

comed by many, but are surprising consid-

ering recent cut backs and redundancies,

however the new strategy is of course posi-

tive. There may also be some consternation

at the offices of the BRIT Awards, although

the BBC are making great efforts to con-

vince all interested parties that there will be

no conflict – Watch this Space!

Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton will host the BBC Music Awards from London’s Earl’s Court

“Today`s the start of something very special for everyone who loves music .”

BBC director general Tony Hall

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

Live Nation have been adding to their acquisitions again, this time it’s

Lady Gaga and her manager, Bobby Campbell, who have joined Artist

Nation, the company’s artist management division. Confirming the

agreement, Michael Rapino, president and chief executive officer of

Live Nation Entertainment told Billboard.biz, “Lady Gaga is one of the

most iconic and highest-grossing artists of this generation, we have a

long-standing relationship with Lady Gaga, dating back to her 2009

Fame Ball tour, and we look forward to continuing to support Lady

Gaga and her manager Bobby Campbell in their careers.”

Campbell added, “Lady Gaga and I have had an incredible relation-

ship with Live Nation over the last five years. Their insight, strategic

vision and global power have made them a truly invaluable member

of our team. I`m ecstatic to be working even more closely with them

in the years to come as we take Lady Gaga`s career to new levels all

around the world.”

Lady Gaga split from previous manager Troy Carter and his Atom

Factory firm last November, with Campbell, who worked with her at

Atom Factory, staying with the artist.

Lady Gaga was obviously in great demand by the world’s leading

management companies so Live Nation must be very pleased to add

her to what is now recognised as the world`s largest management

organization, with more than 230 artist clients from all genres and

some 16 management companies under its umbrella. Artist Nation

also recently signed U2 and Madonna under manager Guy Oseary.

Live Nation is also producing GaGa’s current artRAVE: The ARTPOP

Ball, one of the biggest global tours of the summer, having sold nearly

800,000 tickets in more than 24 countries across North America, Asia,

Australia and Europe, according to Live Nation.

Lady Gaga’s Management Joins Live Nation Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Campell and Gaga

4

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September 11-14

Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention CentreMoscow

Free slots available for showcases at the main stage of the biggest music exhibition in Russia

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

I have to say that I always enjoy a trip to

Inverness for Go North, not that I don’t en-

joy the other events that I attend, but Go

North, in keeping with the intentions of

founders like Sean Arnold and Iain Hamil-

ton, has managed to remain well attended

but – compact, I suppose is the best word.

The panels and presentations are attended

by people who want to listen and to learn –

they ask questions! I learnt a lot more about

synchronisation than I knew before from

this year’s very good panel on the topic,

and much as I could do with never hear-

ing the word ‘digital’ again (I threatened to

put a swear box on the floor with a £1 fine

for every use of the word in my Publishing

panel!), I did learn from Neil Cartwright of

Million Media’s presentation ‘Where Next

– The Future of Digital.’ – that’s £2 in the

box!. Also the showcases are all easy to

access, and they are ‘showcases’, i.e. new

talent that can surprise you, many of the

bigger events feature already known acts,

with people fighting to get in. This year’s

June 4-5 edition attracted a very high profile

business delegation.

This was the last Go North – but don’t

panic, its just going to change its name, or-

ganisers HIE revealed that next year it’ll be

brought to you as XpoNorth. Until then the

goNORTH Festival Tour kicks off at the end

of July at Wickerman Festival on the 25th &

26th July. www.gonorthfestival.co.uk

Of course it’ll be interesting to see if next

year’s Highlands and Islands event will take

place in an independent country!

Young Fathers’ Tape Two declared Scottish Album Of The Year

Also, while we’re dealing with things Scot-

tish, Edinburgh-based hip hoppers Young

Fathers won the Scottish Album Of The Year

prize for their album ‘Tape Two’, picked

from a shortlist that also included Biffy

Clyro, RM Hubbert, Mogwai, Chvrches and

Edwyn Collins.

Stewart Henderson, chair of award organiser

the Scottish Music Industry Association told

reporters: “On behalf of the SMIA I’d just like

to say how delighted we are for Young Fa-

thers. ‘Tape Two’ is an extraordinary album

and a deserving winner out of a phenom-

enally strong shortlist. The SMIA is extreme-

Go North Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

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ly proud to be so closely linked with The

SAY Award - a prestigious and increasingly

important celebration of Scotland’s quite ex-

ceptional musical output”.

Meanwhile Caroline Parkinson from Creative

Scotland, which provides the £20,000 prize

money, said: “The SAY Award is a fantastic

way of supporting and raising the profile of

Scotland’s talented musicians, of which there

are many. As a founding partner, we are de-

lighted to support the Awards and congratu-

late the winner and all the nominees!”

Young Fathers receive the Scottish album of the year award for Tape Two at Glasgow’s Barrowlands 1

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

A clash of dates with The Great Escape, and

the fact I had to be in Dresden anyway, meant

that we VIP types didn’t make it to Toronto

this year, but ‘Canada’s leading annual enter-

tainment event dedicated to the expression

and growth of the country’s music, media and

entertainment industries’, grows steadily and

is certainly worth mentioning.

Canadian Music Week combines three con-

ferences; a trade exposition; a film festival; a

comedy festival; four awards shows and the

nation’s largest new music festival, over a

CMW spans a five-day period in May at the

Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre

Hotel and over 60 downtown Toronto ven-

ues.

The figures are impressive:

3000 Delegates

400 Speakers

950 bands

67 venues

4275 musicians

8 nights of performances

160,000 fans

630 accredited media

Countries – 33 (including Canada)

Festival Director Neill Dixon told VIP News, “It

was great, in fact our best year to date. The

change of date helped both the conference

and the good weather boosted public attend-

ance.”

One innovation interested me in particular,

as I very much like the ideas of Cities ‘twin-

ning’ to promote their music and creative

talent. A special panel discussion highlight-

ing the world’s first inter-city musical alliance

- between Toronto and another great music

city and of course home of SXSW, Austin,

Texas - also took place during the three-day

Music Summit. Mayoral candidate John Tory

used CMW’s International Marketplace as a

platform to announce his plan to turn Toronto

into an internationally recognized music city.

Tory’s vision is based on successful models al-

ready established by cities like Austin, Texas

and includes the establishment of a stand-

alone Music Office and direct communication

and feedback from key players in the local

music industry.

CMW will return to Toronto for another week

of conferences, awards, film, comedy and

music from May 5 to 9, 2015.

Canadian Music WeekAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Neill Dixon

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1. Afghanistan

2. Australia

3. Austria

4. Belgium

5. Brazil

6. Brussels

7. Canada

8. Chile

9. Costa Rica

10. Croatia

11. Denmark

12. Finland

13. France

14. Germany

15. Hong Kong

16. India

17. Ireland

18. Israel

19. Japan

20. Netherlands

21. New Zealand

22. Norway

23. Peru

24. Portugal

25. Singapore

26. South Africa

27. Spain

28. Sweden

29. Switzerland

30. Taiwan

31. United Arab Emirates

32. United Kingdom

33. United States of America

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

MIDEM to Change Dates Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

For many years music business professionals

flocked to the South of France in January to

attend what was for most of those years the

industry’s biggest trade event, and hopefully

for blue skies and sunshine. But things have

changed, numbers have dropped off for Mi-

dem, and often the weather seemed to take

a turn for the worse.

However all is to change, as the event is to

push back 6 months to 5-8 June.

There will be other changes, MIDEM Director

Bruno Crolot: “MIDEM 2015 will have a new

look, new content and a new atmosphere,

as well as being partially open to the general

public. We believe the result of the changes

will be a bigger, more vibrant MIDEM, with

more participants from more countries. All of

this and a move to a June date when Cannes

is at its best”.

Now it seems pretty certain that the sun will

shine, but what of hotel availabilities, and

high season prices for what was always the

most expensive of events, particularly in the

bars? We shall see…

9

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

10

Yet Another UK Grassroots Venue Under Threat Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Following our report in last month’s issue of UK

venues being threatened with closure by noise

complaints from new neighbours, the Boiler-

oom Guildford is in the same precarious posi-

tion as Manchester’s Night & Day, Brighton’s

Blind Tiger, and The Fleece n Southampton.

The Boileroom venue in Guildford faces losing

its licence because a newish neighbour - who

chose to move into a property next to the per-

formance space - has filed a complaint with

the local council. More and more venues are

in fear of neighbours moving into new resi-

dential developments near their buildings, be-

cause noise complaints to could result in the

local authorities shutting them down, even

though these venues were there first.

The Boileroom have a set up an online peti-

tion, and have stated, “We have put together

this petition to save our venue, Guildford’s

only alternative and independent live music

venue. “Our family run venue was opened in

2006, and is managed by a collective of peo-

ple who believe the venue provides a much

needed creative space for the local commu-

nity; encouraging and supporting local bands

and nurturing upcoming talent. Our fairly new

neighbours, who rent the house adjacent to

the venue, have put in an application to re-

view our license, with the direct intention and

request that the council revoke our license

with immediate effect. Their message is very

clear: they want to shut us down. They believe

we are in breach of our license conditions. We

believe we manage the venue to a high stand-

ard with significant consideration for the local

community”.

The petition goes on to note that The Boile-

room routinely hosts events for local schools

and charities, alongside free community

events and matinees for under eighteens, and

has always gone out of its way to abide by

noise and event management rules, and to

engage with the locals. So much so venue

owner Dominique Frazer was presented with

the Trude Adler award from the Noise Abate-

ment Society in 2010.

You can sign the petition in support of The

Boileroom here. You can also still sign the sep-

arate petition calling on Secretary Of State For

The Environment Owen Paterson to “carry out

an urgent review of noise abatement legisla-

tion” which is threatening grass roots venues

who enjoy good relations with the vast major-

ity of their neighbours. here.

Also The Music Venue Trust: http://music-

venues.org.uk/ was formed in January of this

year to look at a number of issues facing small

to medium sized venues, the breeding ground

of UK music. Patrons of the trust include musi-

cians from all aspects of the live music scene,

including established stalwarts such as Andy

Dunlop of Travis and David Gedge of the

Wedding Present, Jeremy Pritchard of The

Times Breakthrough Artist winners Every-

thing Everything and Kerrang Award win-

ners Enter Shikari, alongside rising stars such

as Moya and Savages. Musicians are joined

by cross party parliamentary political support,

MPs Mike Weatherley (Conservative, Hove)

and Kerry McCarthy (Labour, Bristol) and

Lord Tim Clement Jones (Lib Dem), and by

senior music industry figures such Barry Dick-

ins (ITB) Geoff Meale (The Agency), Paul

Buck (Coda) and Scott Thomas (XRay).

The Trust’s petition has reached 10,000 signa-

tures and must now receive a formal response

from the Department of the Environment. The

Trust is continuing to push for more signatures

to reach the goal of 100,000, when it will be

called for debate in the House of Commons.

You can view and sign the petition here:

www.http://qr.net/sign

14 -17 januarY 2015

groningen, nl

The

platform

Europeanmusic

The

platform

Europeanmusic

The

platform

Europeanmusic

The

platform

Europeanmusic

EUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG WORDT GEORGANISEERD DOOR SPONSORENEUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG WORDT GEORGANISEERD DOOR SPONSORENEUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG WORDT GEORGANISEERD DOOR SPONSORENEUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG WORDT GEORGANISEERD DOOR SPONSORENThank you for attending

Eurosonic Noorderslag 2014

See you next year

Early bird registration and

act submission open May 1, 2014

Act submission closes September 1, 2014

Previous edition in numbersTotal amount of visitors (sold out) . . . . 38,500Conference visitors (sold out) . . . . . . . . 3,275Nationalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337Number of stages @ Eurosonic . . . . . . 36Number of stages @ Noorderslag . . . . 11Media & journalisten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307EBU radio stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30ETEP festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89International festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

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Pussy Riot activists give speech at Roskilde FestivalAnne Frank Alsted aa@vip-booking.com

Roskilde Festival presents two of the former

members of Pussy Riot. The women are now

iconic figures on the international political

stage.

Pussy Riot was on everyone’s lips as several

of its members were imprisoned after a punk

happening in Moscow’s largest church. Today

the two former members Nadya Tolokon-

nikova and Masha Alyokhina have been re-

leased from prison, and they are campaigned

on freedom of speech, prison reform and

human rights worldwide. And soon, also in

Denmark. You can meet the two previously

imprisoned women, Nadya Tolokonnikova

and Masha Alyokhina when they give a

speech at Roskilde Festival’s Gloria stage Fri-

day 4 July at 17:30.

Roskilde Festival Charity Society has donated

DKK 300,000 (EUR 40,000) to the two Rus-

sian women’s newly formed NGO called Zona

Prava (Zone of Rights). The organisation aims

to monitor conditions for prisoners in Russian

prisons and focus on the suppression of hu-

man rights.

Read more at http://roskilde-festival.

dk/news/singlenews/pussy-riot-activ-

ists-give-speech-at-roskilde-festival-

2014/#dzjAsBxUdVFZZEhq.99

Pussy Riot

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

FKP Scorpio– 3 festivals in 3 countries

and 1 anniversaryAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

The second weekend of June was a busy but successful time for

Hamburg based promoters FKP Scorpio, seeing the Company present

three festivals in three countries, starting with the 10th edition of the

Greenfield open air in Switzerland on Thursday, June 12th.

Rock legends Iron Maiden, Linkin Park and Soundgarden helped the

event celebrate its anniversary and 24.000 fans joined the party, ig-

noring the occasional thunder and rain storms. Stephan Thanscheidt,

Managing Director of FKP Scorpio said, “It was a great festival and

an amazing atmosphere. I really want to thank the Greenfield visi-

tors and artists for an unforgettable weekend.” Over the past decade

years the Greenfield festival has attracted almost a quarter million

people!

The storms stayed away and 25.000 fans turned up to enjoy perfect

weather conditions in the Netherlands for this year‘s Indian Summer

festival. A mixed bill of acts including Tom Odell, Lily Allen, Under-

world, Chrystal Castles, Invite and

Single & Feestje, kept fans dancing till early morning.

An innovation at this year‘s event was the festival wristbands cash-

less payment system. Stefan Rosenau, Managing Director of YouChip

GmbH said, “Our system, the first online and offline system of its

type in the world, is now up and running. Everybody, the audience,

the festival staff and the promoter, were all completely satisfied by

its operation and convinced that this is the way forward. We would

Stephan Thanscheidt, MD, and Folkert Koopmans, CEO, of FKP Scorpio

13

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

like to say a big thank you to the whole team and look forward to a

prosperous relationship in the future.”

The third festival was Northside in the Danish city of Århus, which

featured bands like The National, Lana Del Rey, Franz Ferdinand, Ar-

cade Fire and Queens Of The Stone Age, attracted 30.000 people,

and sold out in May.

A feature of this year’s Northside was a focus on sustainability, with

huge efforts being made to both separate and prevent waste. Also,

the food on site was mainly organic.

Folkert Koopmans, CEO of FKP Scorpio commented, “Three festivals

in three countries during one weekend is a logistic challenge and also

a strenuous effort for the people involved. With this in mind, look-

ing back and realizing that everything worked out and that we had

a successful weekend feels really good. Each of these three festivals

has evolved in a very positive way. We were able to optimize some

processes and to improve the experience for our guests through the

use of new technologies. Now, we will take two days to recover and

then we are looking forward to next weekend with the sold out Hur-

ricane and Southside festivals in Germany and the Best Kept Secret in

the Netherlands.”

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14

133.000 visitors for Hurricane & SouthsideManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

FKP Scorpio also reported good returns for its sister festivals Hurricane

and Southside on June 20 to 22. The combined visitor figures were

133.000 of which 60.000 went to Southside. Both events progressed

smoothly without any notable incidents, to the point that the maga-

zine Laut.de reported the biggest risk when attending Southside was

sunburn.

The Company also announced the extension of the lease contract for

the Take-Off Gewerbepark Southside site until 2020. For Hurricane

FKP Scorpio launched, among others, a new green initiative called the

‘Hurricane Bicycle Club’ where visitors cycled together to the festival

from Hamburg and Bremen

The ticket presale for the 2015 editions of events started straight

away on Monday, June 23.

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

15Southside

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

The opening sentence of the announcement regarding the collabo-

ration of Waves Vienna and the Bratislava Music Conference reads:

“The exchange between Eastern and Western Europe will this year be

manifest in the choice of location”.

This innovation is very interesting; both cities are only 54 km apart

but the definition East/West still seems to indicate a meeting between

two different worlds. Anyhow, Waves Vienna and the Bratislava

Music Conference are strengthening their collaboration; previously

the cooperation has been primarily focused on the exchange of the

showcase program between the Cities, but for the upcoming edi-

tion the conference program will also take place in Bratislava… The

conference schedule now sees the conference program starting on

October 2 in Vienna, with the second day taking place in Bratislava

on October 3.

For the first time the Vienna conference will take place in the Univer-

sity Of Music and Performing Arts, alongside the Vienna Music Busi-

ness Research Days. This conference is quite interesting as it combines

the world of science and academics with that of the music business.

Invited speakers among others are Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music

News (US), Peter Jenner (UK), Keith Harris of PPL (UK), and our own

Allan McGowan.

Further information can be found on: http://www.wavesvienna.

com/en/update/artikel/waves-vienna-bratislava-music-conference-1/

16

Waves Vienna Meets Bratislava Music ConferenceManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

www.ammbcon.com

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

Youtube - A Tactical Power Player Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

The Google subsidiary Youtube intends to enter the new market for

music streaming services. In recent years Youtube became one of the

most important platforms for promoting music and apparently would

like to extend its position in the mar-

ket joining other recently established

players such as Spotify, Deezer and

Wimp...

Youtube’s mother ship Google cur-

rently has a market cap of $375 bil-

lion and is known for delivering im-

pressive business results such as the

$59.8 billion revenue and net income

of $12.9 billion reported for 2013.

Google does not declare business re-

sults for Youtube within its financial

reports.

However, the results itself are certain-

ly satisfyingly for shareholders but may cause exaggerated demands

from those who produce and supply the raw material for what ac-

tually makes Youtube popular. In terms of the business agreements

with the market suppliers for streaming services, the decision takers

at Youtube seem determined not to overpay some of these content

providers.

In fact Youtube is already quite well known for holding on to the

bucks. A bit like Apple or Amazon, Adidas or Burger King, and oth-

er usually corporate companies that often attract media awareness

when it comes to allegations of poor working conditions or other

questionable business practices.

In terms of questionable business practices Youtube is now confront-

ed by protests from independent labels who simply do not want to

sign the license agreements proposed by Youtube for its new stream-

ing service. According to the trade organisation WIN (Worldwide

Independent Network), the contractual demands are considered by

many labels as, ‘highly unfavourable’, setting out non-negotiable

terms, undercutting existing rates in the marketplace from partners

such as Spotify and Deezer.

It is already well documented that in particular less well known artists

receive less per year in license fee payments from streaming services

than a busker normally earns per day. But what do these ongoing

developments mean for the live music industry community?

The answer is simple: a trend that has already manifested itself over

more than one decade now, basically rising fees and ticket prices!

The live music business has been compensating artists for their drasti-

cally reduced income from recorded

music for years now. On the one

hand promoters, artists and agents

benefited from rising visitor figures

and ticket prices. On the other hand

the question remains what does this

development mean for the live music

industry in the long run?

The music business is a fast changing

industry that continues to re-invent

itself. It is evident that the regular

introduction of new technologies

has caused significant development,

amendments and innovations, from

the invention of the Gramophone,

the shift from shellac to vinyl records to CDs, the rise of radio and TV,

and lately the digital distribution of recorded music via online outlets.

Yes, the live music sector has benefitted and experienced a long last-

ing boom in recent years. Yes, Youtube reached agreements for its

new music service with Sony, Warner and Universal Music. But the

latest news as reported in the Financial Times on June 17 is that You-

tube is “about to begin a mass cull of music videos by artists including

Adele and the Arctic Monkeys, after a number of independent record

labels refused to sign up to the licensing terms for its new subscrip-

tion service.”

These reports undoubtedly indicate that Youtube is a tactical power

player. Using its powerful position to obtain better conditions for its

new service. But while the live music industry currently is only indi-

rectly affected by these kind of business practices by players such as

Youtube, it is only a question of time until one of the corporate tech

& online giants such as Google, Apple or Facebook will reach out

and launch services such as ticketing systems or media platforms that

perhaps will be as demanding and onerous for the live music sector.

With this in mind, it might be time that particularly the live music

industry sends a signal of solidarity towards those that are already

facing the power of Youtube and their business associates. And for

those power players within the corporate concert companies it might

be helpful to bear in mind, that the profit results of Google alone are

twice as much as the overall revenue returns of Live Nation...

18

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2014

An Event Site As Battle Ground Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

For the public the news, just a few days before the festival took place,

that the current edition of Rock Am Ring is the last one to be held at

Nürburgring came as something of a shock. Though insiders were not so

surprised, as some told VIP News that MLK.com had already started to

search for a new location last year.

To cut the story short, from 2015 the Nürburgring event site will have a

new management and owner. The famous motor racing site previously

operated by Nürburgring GmbH had already filed for insolvency in July

2012. The company was owned by the German district government of

Rhineland-Palatinate and suffered financial collapse after the political

stakeholders failed in their ambitious plan to develop the site in to a tour-

ist hot spot. The financial loss for taxpayers is estimated to exceed 500

million Euros.

After a call for bids at the beginning of March 2014, the administrators

declared that car supplier company Capricorn had submitted the success-

ful tender, committing to a payment of 77 million Euros. However, the

whole insolvency procedure already was dogged with many legal aspects

that are still ongoing. The European Commission officially launched an

investigation of Germany regarding the wrongful declaration of 486 mil-

lion Euros in subsidies for the site that were in violation of EU regulations.

Entangled in this legal mess, Capricorn as the new owner of the site

started at a very early stage to negotiate with MLK as promoter of Rock

Am Ring about the lease conditions for the site in 2015. Capricorn then,

according to media reports, cancelled the lease contract while Marek

Lieberberg complained that Capricorn was asking for a higher profit par-

ticipation than he had agreed.

The news that Rock Am Ring won’t continue to be staged at Nürburgring

gained massive media attention and gained further interest with the news

within the news that Capricorn had teamed up with DEAG in order to

develop a successor event in 2015 on the same dates previously planned

for Rock Am Ring entitled “Grüne Hölle” (Green Hell).

And if that wasn’t already enough, on June 12 the administrators of the

Nürburgring GmbH put out a press release confirming the filing of an in-

terim injunction against MLK and Marek Lieberberg regarding statements

made by him in the news magazine Spiegel, claiming that he had the idea

for Rock Am Ring and for the brand and that the brand was not owned

by the Nürburgring.

The administrators argue that the Rock Am Ring was launched 1985 as a

joint project between Mama Concerts of which Lieberberg was a stake-

holder and the Nürburgring GmbH. Until the recent edition the Nürbur-

gring GmbH acted as co-promoter of Rock Am Ring and is party to former

agreements in 2003 and 2007 that apparently state that the company is

a co-owner of the brand rights for the event.

Nürburgring GmbH additionally announced the intention to file an official

case against Lieberberg in order to protect its rights to the brand.

The official databank of brands by the Deutsche Patent- und Markenamt

reveals that the brand Rock Am Ring is registered twice According to the

rights for brands, they can be registered in various classes. The first regis-

tration of the brand ‘Rock Am Ring’ was filed in October 1993 by MLK in

the classes 41 and 9 according to the classification of brands defined by

the so called Nice statutes, and covers the right of the owner of this brand

to promote concerts and release records under this name.

The second registration was undertaken by the Nürburgring GmbH

in August 1997. The second entry protects the brand name within the

Nice-classifications 16, 18, 25, 28, regarding amongst other permissions,

the production of print products, photographs, sunshades and walking

sticks...

At the moment no further news about the future of Rock Am Ring is con-

crete. Lieberberg meanwhile stated in media reports to move the currently

unofficially entitled event as Rock Without Ring to a site in Monchenglad-

bach or to a airport in Mendig...

On June 23 the first hearing of the case by the district court in Koblenz

decided that the name Rock Am Ring belongs to both parties. For MLK

the ruling means that Lieberberg is not the sole owner of the brand as

he has a partnership under civil code with the Nürnburgring GmbH as a

co-promoter of the event.

19

VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > JUNE 2014 MUSIC IN SHARES

Music in SharesManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

CTS EventimIn the last issue VIP News reported a share price for CTS Eventim of

41.71 Euro. This time it is 23.18 Euro. Shocking? No, it is just theesult

of the Company’s previously announced share split with the conversa-

tion rate of 1:2. At the beginning of the year and with the share split

in mind, the share stood at 19.75 Euro. In the so-called 52 weeks

comparison the share gained a plus of 54.9 percent.

DEAGLast time one DEAG share cost 5.66 Euro. In the meantime the share

gained more than 50 cent and stand now at 6.24 Euro on June 23

when this report went on to press.

Live NationLady Gaga became a management client of Live Nation while the

share price is nevertheless on the rise. On May 23 VIP News reported

$24.01, this time it is $23.57. However, in the 52 weeks comparison

the gain is like the one of CTS Eventim at 54.9 percent.

SFX EntertainmentWho says Google became evil unless this role within the serious con-

cert industry is dedicated to questionable secondary ticketing compa-

nies? Besides a share price of $7.02 and the poor results for Q1-2014

as reported in the last issue, this time the share is on its way up. To-

gether with its new secondary ticketing partner Viagogo, who agreed

a sponsorship deal worth $75 million for the next five years the cur-

rent share price rose to $8.35…

20

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VIP-Magazine: The most In-Depth B2B Magazine for the people of the LIVE Music Industry.

To read the VIP-Magazine or book your advert – go to www.vip-booking.com

www.berlin-music-week.de

Chloe Charles Territory: EuropePeriod: September/OctoberAgency: Paperclip Agency / Agent: Hilde SpillePhone: +31 243239322E-mail: hilde@paperclip-agency.comHomepage: www.paperclip-agency.com

ORBITAL ñ 25th year anniversary tour in 2014 Territory: The World excluding USAPeriod: May onwardsAgency: Value Added Talent / Agent: Dan SilverPhone: +44 207 704 97 20E-mail: dan@vathq.co.ukHomepage: 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: JPR@JohnRegna.comHomepage: www.AlanParsonsTourPromo.com

GlasvegasTerritory: EuropePeriod: 2014Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Ben WinchesterPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: ben@primarytalent.comHomepage: www.glasvegas.net

THE ORCHESTRA starring ELO former membersTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: 2014-2015Agency: World Entertainment Associates of AmericaAgent: John Regna - Artist Agent/ManagerPhone: +1 407-993-4000E-mail: jpr@johnregna.comHomepage: www.THEORCHESTRAonline.com

Afro Cuban All Stars Territory: East Europe, Middle EastPeriod: JulyAgency: GreensmithAgent: Dragan GreensmithE-mail: dragan@greensmithltd.comHomepage: greensmithltd.com/artistprofile/afro-cuban-all-stars/

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ARTIST AVAILS

Orbital

VIPNEWS > MISC > JUNE 2014 MEMBER PRESENTATION

MOJO Concerts was founded in 1968 and since then has become one of the largest

and most important entertainment companyís in the Netherlands.

The main activity of MOJO Concerts is the organisation of concerts and festivals,

artist bookings and the devellopment of new and innovating events.

Besides that MOJO Concerts is engaged with the corebusiness resulting in extra

activities like production, theatre, management and publishing.

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

est database for the European Live Entertainment Industry

www.vip-booking.com developed as a tool for industry profession-

als. Since it’s launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered

our subscribers the very best in database services and now boast sub-

scribers in over 30 countries.

Today VIP-Booking offers a range of tools for the industry – including

VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract.

Please visit vip-booking.com for further information.

Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

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