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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 134 ›› MarCh 2011

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Before we get into anything else in this

edition of the News I think it very neces-

sary that we make mention of the terri-

ble events in Japan which create a sense

of proportion that make the majority of

things that occupy us seem trivial. The ter-

rible consequences of earthquake and tsu-

nami are now added to by the risk of nu-

clear meltdown, all in all the disaster is too

huge to take in, I found myself trying to dis-

miss the sight of people in cars desperately

trying to outrun huge waves of water and

debris then disappearing as shots from a

disaster movie… then being shocked into

the realisation that this was real life…and

death. Lets hope that the nuclear reactors

are made safe, that the tremors abate and

that all those affected receive all the possi-

ble help that they can to start the slow and

difficult process of recovery.

Last weekend’s International Live Music

Conference appears to have been a re-

sounding success. This 23rd edition again

sold out with registrations closing after a

1000 plus professionals booked in for the

event. You have to have recommendations

from two professionals, or members, who

have attended the ILMC before in order to

register and it is a good indication of how

the business is growing to note that there

were 250 new delegates at London’s Royal

Garden Hotel. The presence of this ‘new

blood’ contributed to a freshness of the

event, particularly in the conference ses-

sions, where more new voices were heard in

contributions from the floor – a very good

thing! As we all know 2010 was marked by

various problems including a shaky world

economy and a drop off in concert attend-

ances and ILMC 23 set out to consider these

setbacks and to discuss remedies, even the

‘Lost World’ theme suggested a quest for

rediscovery, however in the event the over-

all atmosphere and much of the comment

was to do with future growth and optimism

(see report in this issue).

Talking of improvement the UK record

business seems to be quite pleased with it-

self in terms of performance with the great

rival across the Atlantic. For the first time

in 25 years UK acts Adele, former Floetry

singer Marsha Ambrosias and Mumford &

Sons have taken the top three places in the

US charts. Also 140 UK acts are performing

at SXSW in Austin, Texas this week, the larg-

est contingent of any country outside of

the USA. Feargal Sharkey of UK Music com-

mented, “…while the investment involved

in breaking an act internationally remains

considerable, I’m convinced that with in-

creased strategic support across music and

creative content industries there’s no limit

to the growth we could achieve”. So that’s

all right then!

As it happens I decided not to go to SXSW

this year, but as certain people send me

messages talking about 26-degree tem-

peratures and the fun they’re having I’m

beginning to miss Austin! Still maybe I’ll

just go for a walk by the sea and pretend to

love the cold North wind that’s blowing at

the moment, or shall I just stay in the warm

and finish off, just for you Ladies and Gen-

tlemen…The News!

1

McGowan’s Musings:

Allan McGowan

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analysing the Ticket: live Nation launches liveanalyticsAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

As in the last couple of years one of the

main buzzwords at ILMC was ‘data’. The

word was of course particularly prevalent

in the many rooms where ticketing, pri-

mary, secondary, paperless, mobile etc,

etc, was discussed. (Farhad Wadia of E17

in India told me that he can’t understand

the concerns and worries about secondary

ticketing – as he says in his market they’re

still getting primary off the ground!) It cer-

tainly seems that data is king and he or she

who owns or has access to the data on the

fan and the ticket buyer and knows how to

analyse it, is ahead of the game.

In the Sunday Supplement panel at ILMC

23 it was revealed that certain larger tick-

eting companies are ‘borrowing’ ideas and

techniques from the many new smaller,

and enterprising ticketers who now work

directly with promoters, venues, manag-

ers and artists. So it’s not surprising to hear

that Live Nation in the US has launched a

new division called LiveAnalytics which

will provide promoters selling tickets via

the Ticketmaster platform with more stats

and such like on their artists’ fans.

The launch of this service certainly seems

to coincide with a changing view within

the live music area as to what is more valu-

able; the commercial incentives many tick-

eting agencies offer in return for exclusive

ticket sale rights, or the control over ticket

sales that promoters, venues managers or

artists, can benefit from by selling direct to

fans rather than handing over all tickets to

a third party agency like Ticketmaster

The new business is a joint venture be-

tween Ticketmaster and an analytics com-

pany called Teradata, and they say that the

new firm will offer Ticketmaster’s clients

“rich data analytics products that provide

clients with fan insights for their business”.

How the clients access this data and ex-

actly what it is plus various other specifica-

tions are not yet fully clear.

As previously reported, now that Ticket-

master is owned by arch-rivals Live Nation

live music giant AEG Live has withdrawn

from the platform and has formed a JV

with a Canadian company called Outbox

Technology which plans to offer promot-

ers and venues a technical solution which

enables them to manage their own online

ticket-sales and access any analytics gen-

erated. Ticketmaster’s move to provide cli-

ents with more stats may be a bid to beat

its new competitor.

Confirming the new venture, Ticketmaster

CEO Nathan Hubbard told reporters: “The

launch of LiveAnalytics is a key step in our

plan to further build on the value we bring

to our clients in helping them connect with

fans and to ultimately sell more tickets. We

plan on being the global leader in fan data

insights and consulting that will bring a

new level of service and knowledge to our

client base”.

Nathan Hubbard

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Eurosonic Noorderslag has been awarded

a grant of 2,1 million euros from the Eu-

ropean Union for the European Talent

Exchange Program (ETEP). The grant will

enable Eurosonic Noorderslag to expand

the already successful ETEP program over

the next five years, which will benefit more

European artists.

Eurosonic Noorderslag developed the

unique European exchange program in

2003 in collaboration with the European

Music Office, Buma Cultuur, the EBU (Euro-

pean Broadcasting Organisation), Yourope

(The European Festival organisation) and

with support from Sena Performers.

The ETEP program supports European

bands in securing gigs at 60 of the biggest

ETEP member European summer festivals.

ETEP’s goal is to stimulate the circulation of

European artists within Europe and inter-

nationally, by performing at selected ETEP

festivals throughout Europe. Since 2003

over 400 European acts have performed at

over 1100 festivals, outside of their home

country. The ETEP system has helped acts

such as Kaizers Orchestra, Franz Ferdinand,

Within Tempation, Voicst, zZz, Wir Sind

Helden and White Lies to achieve cross

border success at the start of their careers.

Peter Smidt of Buma Cultuur and one of

the founders of the Programme told VIP-

News, “We have been working on Euro-

pean ETEP funding since 2003. Thanks

to our partners, Sena Performers, EMO,

Yourope and all other supporters we have

been able to develop the scheme. Thanks

to this grant we will be able to expand and

work the program for the next five years

and help to create better circulation of

European repertoire in Europe. It is very

positive that the European Commission is

rewarding our work but more important

is that it seems that Commission starts to

understand the importance of the circula-

tion of repertoire in Europe and the need

for European careers for European artists,

both for Cultural and economic reasons.”

Over the next five years Eurosonic

Noorderslag aims to expand the ETEP pro-

gram from 60 to a 100 festivals and gen-

erate more media attention for European

music and artists. This is made possible

by a unique partnership which comprises

a total of 13 European partners such as

the European Broadcasting Union (EBU),

festival organisation Yourope, Initiative

Musik in Germany and the festival Italia

Wave, who will collaborate and work on

the shared goal of creating more expo-

sure and opportunities for European mu-

sic in Europe. Also, a specific part of the

ETEP programme has been designed for

the Central Eastern European countries in

close cooperation with Sziget and Exit Fes-

tival. (VIP-News will report more on this in

the next issue.)

For more information on Eurosonic

Noorderslag and ETEP visit the websites:

www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl

www.etep.nl

eurosonic Noorderslag receives aeuropean grant for eTePAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

ETEP Festival

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The Arthur Awards were originally intro-

duced at ILMC as a ‘jokey’ response to

Awards elsewhere in the entertainment

industry – titles such as ‘The Most Stroka-

ble Agent’ etc demonstrated this, and the

Arthur figure was based on a down at heel

somewhat seedy would be entrepreneur

character. However all that has changed as

the winners and the media began to take

these Awards for live music greatness very

seriously.

At ILMC 13 the winners were:

Best Tour:

Muse

Best in Show:

Walking With Dinosaurs Stage Show

Best Festival:

Montreux

Best Promoter:

Simon Moran, SJM

Best Agent:

Steve Zapp, ITB

Best New Boss:

Tom Taaffe, The Agency Group

Best Production:

Wob Roberts

Best Professional:

Ben Challis, Charming Music

The People’s Assistant:

Prue Almond, ITB

First Venue to Come into Your Head:

O2 Academy Brixton Brixton

Best Service Company:

Beat the Street

Bottle Award (Outstanding Achieve-

ment):

Neil Warnock, The Agency Group

First Venue To Come Into Your Head:

O2 Academy Brixton

The following Press Release shows just

how seriously the Arthurs are now taken:

‘First Venue To Come Into Your head’ - arthur awards 2011 IlMC 23

O2 Academy Brixton triumphed at the

‘Arthur Awards’ on Saturday 12th March

2011, winning the title of ‘First Venue To

Come Into Your Head’ at the ceremony held

at London’s Jumeirah Carlton Tower. The

Arthur Awards are the live music industry’s

favourite and most established awards and

the winners are only decided by ILMC (In-

ternational Live Music Conference) mem-

bers and subscribers to IQ Magazine.

The ‘Arthurs’ recognise the heroes and

highlights of the international concert

business, from venues, promoters, agents,

festivals, production stars and tours. Beat-

ing off stiff competition from its sister

venue in the Capital, O2 Shepherd’s Bush

Empire (London), Hallenstadion in Zurich,

The O2, Dublin and Paradiso (Amsterdam),

O2 Academy Brixton once again cele-

brates its iconic status in the international

live music scene.

O2 Academy Brixton is a must-play for art-

ists and must-visit for music lovers. It has

scooped the NME ‘Best Venue’ award an

incredible twelve times, received the Mu-

sic Week ‘Venue Of The Year’ accolade,

hailed ‘Favourite Venue’ at the prestigious,

music industry TPi Awards as well as rec-

ognition from Time Out (Live Venue Of The

Year) and Smooth Radio’s ‘Love London

Award’ to name but a few.

With a capacity of almost 5,000, the world

famous O2 Academy Brixton attracts over

500,000 visitors per annum, hosting over

120 events in a calendar year.

arthur awards PresentedAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Neil Warnock won the Bottle Award at the Arthur Awards during ILMC

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IlMC The 23rd:Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

For quite some time there were many that

considered the International Live Music

Conference to be an annual meeting of the

good old boys network. But going by this

year’s edition the ILMC is no longer what

it used to be.

As already mentioned in last years report

on this live music convention, this top

gathering of live music insiders is becom-

ing younger. Not only in reference to the

average age of its delegates, but also in

terms of the conference agenda and its

speakers. The ILMC appears to be under-

going a strict course of modernising while

retaining its essentials.

The main asset of the ILMC is that it is a

highly valuable hotspot for contacts and

information. Besides the carefully under-

taken measures of revamping the interior

appearance of the conference each year,

this industry event has been able, un-

likethan Midem or Popkomm for instance,

to maintain its attendance level in difficult

times for a music industry which in gen-

eral is going through many changes.

Of course the basic lay out of Midem and

Popkomm and their target groups are very

different from that of the ILMC or other

conventions such as Eurosonic Noorders-

lag or by:Larm. But it is obvious that while

the ILMC becomes older its inventory ac-

tually gets younger.

This year’s the usual ‘Flight Attendant’s

Briefing’, assumed the new title of, ‘The

Baggage Carrier’s Briefing’ which saw

ILMC founder Martin Hopewell as usual

delivering the opening introduction for

the conference. Besides saying “Nothing

last forever” Hopewell revealed the main

statistics of the ILMC. This year the event

sold out one week in advance and lured

over 1.000 visitors from 60 countries to the

Royal Garden Hotel in London, of which

200 had been ILMC ‘newbies’. Hopewell

also asked the assembled delegates to

thank Carl Leighton Pope for his amaz-

ing contributions to previous conference

agendas of the ILMC over the years with

his legendary ‘Talking Shop’. The omission

of this session was probably the biggest

victim of the modernisation process of the

ILMC and it is certainly missed as a very

classic item that for many years drove the

vibe of this conference.

Greg Parmley, one of the team behind

ILMC and the Editor of IQ-Magazine mod-

erated ‘The Open Forum’ as the replace-

ment for the ‘Talking Shop’. He did well

and steered the discussion with questions

based on incomplete quotes from recent

headlines of financial and other newspa-

pers, in the style of the UK comedy news

quiz ‘Have I Got News for You’. He opened

up by asking his guests to complete the

sentence with their own words, “New Blow

to Music as “…..” Fizzle”, in reference to a

headline in the Wall Street Journal about

the decline of ticket sales for concerts

and record sales. While putting the com-

plete sentence on screen with the missing

word ‘Concerts’ Fizzle”) the panellists were

asked to comment on the relevance of this

article. The overall opinion of the panel’s

four industry heavyweights was that this

headline was too US-centric and did not

reflect the entire situation of the interna-

tional live music industry.

»Growth had largely been driven by rising ticket prices, even as the number of tickets

sold remained roughly consistent«

- Greg Parmley

Paul Latham. COO of Live Nation Interna-

tional said “We’ve seen growth over 40

years” and Peter Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG

added that the concert industry now serves

“target groups aged from 8 to 88”. The dis-

cussion continued with Parmley referring

once again to the WSJ article stating that

“growth had largely been driven by rising

ticket prices, even as the number of tickets

sold remained roughly consistent.”

Neil Warnock, CEO of The Agency Group

said that “saturation point had not been

reached yet” and that the growing East-

ern European market nowadays enables

him to book “a whole second tour” for

artists. He added that today a world tour

could last up to 2 ½ years instead of only

8 months in former times. Serge Grimaux,

CEO of Ticketpro ventured that emerging

markets such as Poland for instance are

still growing, with cities catching up and

now having up to 4 or 5 venues. He also

assumed that “never before there was so

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much great music” creating “exciting new

scenes” but also agreed that these are “dif-

ficult times” for the live music industry.

On the subject of high ticket prices, An-

thony Addis, the manager of Muse, con-

cluded that “people are greedy” and that

“too many people want to have the fast

buck”. Addis also said that the message of

a flop travels fast in the business in refer-

ence to overpriced artists in response to

Warnock asking “How do we position our

artists?” Warnock emphasized that high

price tickets only involve 3 to 4 percent of

top artists and that tickets prices for con-

certs should perhaps be seen in compari-

son to the high cost of London’s West End

musical shows.

Parmley fed the discussion with more

headlines. Another was taken from The

Guardian headline, “Just the Ticket for

Live Nation” referring to the merger be-

tween Live Nation and Ticketmaster ear-

lier in 2010. The article stated, “It doesn’t

take a genius to see that inflated ‘service

fees’ and rising ticket prices are turning

customers off.” Latham explained that

Tickemaster invested $35 million in its

new software and that the danger of mar-

ket domination in the UK is not a big issue

as the company only has a market share

of 25 percent of the concert market. War-

nock’s view of the merger’s impact on the

concert market was that, “It is too early to

comment.”

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Dan Silver from Value Added Talent who

was in the audience contributed the com-

ment that “booking fees are a big issue” to

which Latham replied that it was too easy

to blame Ticketmaster as they are not the

only ones charging service fees that left

ticket buyers wondering. As the discus-

sion remained on the subject of ticketing

Grimaux asked: “I wonder who is not in

ticketing?” before moving the conversa-

tion on to the topic of “dynamic pricing”.

Latham argued that “the power is with the

artist” while Grimaux stated there is no dy-

namic pricing in sport and other entertain-

ment business.

The next headline was: “The show must

go on for EMI” from The Telegraph at the

beginning of February 2011. Schwenkow

said that the earning rates before taxes,

depreciation and amortisation for record

companies is at 15 to 18 percent while for

the live music industry it stands at 4 per-

cent. Actually net profit results for record

companies are almost the same as for the

live music industry or even negative as in

the case of Warner Music or Live Nation.

Already by this stage it had become obvi-

ous that for the first time differently from

earlier ILMC editions, the panels benefited

from a more rational conversation culture

than the previous typical ILMC emotional

but entertaining, for the rank and file of

the business, rhetorical showdowns by the

‘establishment’ of the live music industry.

This first debate was also truly differ-

ent from the ‘Talking Shop’ episodes

by Leighton Pope, especially since in his

speeches he very often emphasized look-

ing out for the next generation of live mu-

sic entrepreneurs and players. The ‘Open

Forum’ was very well chaired and moder-

ated by Greg Parmley and every aspect

that matters for the state of today’s live

music business was appropriately cov-

ered and considered. The only aspect that

may have fallen short on this panel was

an emphasis on awareness of the issues

that matter for the upcoming generation

in this business. However, the generation

change at ILMC is already very visible and

the organizers initiated an overall process

of modernisation throughout the rest of

the agenda anyway.

VIP-News will publish a second part of the

adventurous IMLC 23 in the next issue.

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One of the main worries for the future

health of the live industry often referred

to in a somewhat troubled 2010 was the

development of new talent – where was

this to come from with the record compa-

nies no longer investing? The live industry

was aware that developing new acts to fill

the midsize venues and festival stages was

vital as these would then – hopefully – go

on to become the arena and stadium acts.

Chris Carey of PRS for Music presented

some interesting information about the

present and future state of the live indus-

try as part of the ‘Solutions’ panel at ILMC.

There was one reference to the age of the

artists in the leading concert attractions

which was gleaned from the following

Technology Media and Telecommunica-

tions (TMT) Predictions document from

international accountants Deloitte:

The whole article is very relevant to the

A&R question and can be accessed at

www.deloitte.com but for the conve-

nience and the information of VIP readers

we include it here:

Deloitte predicts that in 2011 the live music

sector, with festival organizers at the fore-

front, will singly or jointly start expanding

their talent creation and nurturing roles

that until now have been largely left to mu-

sic labels’ Artist and Repertoire (A&R) divi-

sions. The live sector will identify, invest in,

develop and commercialise the next gen-

eration of stadium-filling artists, using a va-

riety of approaches, from talent contests at

festivals to dedicated facilities for nurtur-

ing new talent. All aspects of the live music

sector may get involved: venue owners,

concert promoters, television production

companies, ticket sales agencies and even

some established recording artists.

The recorded music industry has tradi-

tionally built a pipeline of up-and-coming

music acts through their A&R divisions. In

2010, the industry spent almost $5 billion

on development and promotion of all acts,

with about half going to foster new talent.

However, after a decade of declining sales,

the labels’ A&R spending is shrinking both

in absolute dollars and as a percentage of

sales. In some countries, A&R investment

as a percentage of revenues is down about

25 percent since 20062. By contrast, the

first decade of this millennium has been

particularly prosperous for the live music

industry. Revenues rose steadily and even

fared relatively well during the recent

recession3. However, the decade ahead

looks to be more challenging, perhaps

due to the ongoing decline in A&R invest-

ment by the labels.

There are two cyclical factors that could

soften live music revenues in 2011 and

beyond, forcing the live sector to pick up

some of the slack in terms of identifying

and commercialising new acts.

One factor is the vintage of the current

highest grossing live acts. Some of the

last decade’s biggest draws appear to be

approaching the twilight of their touring

careers. In 2011 the lead singers for eight

of the 20 highest grossing live acts in the

US from 2000-2009 will be 60 or older.

(The on-line article includes a pie chart that

shows that of the top 20 grossing acts $05

were in their 60’s, 19% in their 50’s, 35% in

their 30’s and 6% in their 30’s - Source: Delo-

itte Deloitte Touche Tohamtsu Limited, 2010,

based on live tour data from Pollstar4; ages

of lead singers from various websites.)

Only one of the top 20, Rascall Flatts, re-

leased its first album this century (in 2000).

Through 2009, Rascall Flatts grossed $222

million from touring. The other 19 acts, the

majority of which rose to prominence on

the back of single and album sales (and the

associated promotional activity) grossed a

cumulative $6 billion in ticket sales during

the last decade: the sexagenarians alone

brought in more than $2.5 billion

A second factor is the economy, particu-

larly in industrialized countries. Stubborn

unemployment, increases in value added

tax, and an austerity-focused public sec-

tor might keep consumer confidence low

and concert attendance down5. In fact,

a weak economy might have been one

of the key factors behind the 17 percent

decline in the US live market in the first

half of 20106.

Planning for the FutureAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

RascalFlatts

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While record companies will always exist, they might

be unable or unwilling to handle their previous level

of investment in new acts. If so, another part of the

industry might need to take up the slack of identify-

ing and publicizing new talent to a point where fans

are willing to pay $100 or more a ticket to see them

perform. The live music industry will need to build

this new role into its long-term business model. The

role of festivals in A&R is likely to increase as they rely

most heavily on musicians to sell their tickets. This

differs from an arena or stadium whose major mo-

tivation is to book any act that can fill up its seats,

including, for example, stand-up comedians whose

staging costs are generally far lower.

Television’s role in identifying new talent may start

taking an increased focus on acts that are great re-

cording acts but are even better at touring. Bottom

Line As festivals start become more involved in nur-

turing talent, one of the promotional activities they

are likely to take on is the release of new albums

and singles (and all of the marketing activity that

goes with it). This is likely to remain the principle

way to raise awareness of bands and their latest

outputs; for many fans, seeing a number one single

performed live is likely to remain a key selling point.

The live music industry might want to co-invest in

the A&R process with companies outside of the mu-

sic sector that wish to use music to promote their

products.

Given society’s seemingly limitless affection for mu-

sic, most vertical sectors — from fashion to mobile

phones to automobiles — would likely value an as-

sociation with music. Live music businesses could

tap these brands to help pay for part of the talent

development process, such as the funding of record-

ing studios.

The record companies’ traditional A&R process was

very effective, but also very resource intensive. In to-

day’s environment where music fans seem to value a

live experience more than a recording, the live music

industry might be in a better position to identify top

talent — specifically, the talent that can really de-

liver on stage. The various players in the live music

industry must recognize their common need for an

ongoing pipeline of new acts to replace the existing

big draws — and they must take combined action.

Over the next few years, label-sourced A&R is likely

to decline by roughly $500 million per year globally.

It seems reasonable to assume that the live music in-

dustry — or other source of funding — will need to

step in to prevent the well from running dry.

© 2011 Deloitte Global Services Limited:

www.deloitte.com

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Get Plugged In:

Of course new acts are vital to the future of

the live industry but it is also important to

consider where the new business profes-

sionals – promoters, venue managers etc

are coming from.

In the UK MusicTank a non profit business

development network for the UK music

industry has partnered with Andy Inglis,

co-creator and manager of north London

venue The Luminaire to create a live indus-

try course.

Designed as a much needed best-practice

roadmap of the processes involved in live

music promoting and venue manage-

ment, the six part course draws on Inglis’

two decades of experience, sharing les-

sons learned and highlighting the pitfalls

plaguing promoters and venue operators

UK wide.

The course will cover an extensive range of

topics concerning venue owners, promot-

ers and programmers such as promotion,

ticketing, legislative issues as well as the

future issues facing Britain’s venues.

Inglis will be joined by a raft of lead-

ing industry figures such as Dominique

Czopor, founder of Guildford venue The

Boileroom, to give their accounts of the

industry focusing on areas of specific ex-

pertise. Czopor will focus on the litany of

legislation imposed on event and venue

operators, be it bureaucracy linked to the

Licensing Act, or a mounting list of health

& safety regulations.

The course will draw to a close with a de-

bate featuring Dave Newton, WeGotTick-

ets, the leading paperless ticket agency in

the UK; Howard Monk and Paul Hutton of

promotions companies The Local and Me-

tropolis Music as well as Andy Duggan of

live music booking agency Primary Talent

and David Phillips, manager of London’s

live institution Koko.

Despite the 100 Club’s recent rescue from

the brink there have been some much

publicised London closures of late, The Lu-

minaire itself not escaping the recession’s

icy clutches. Part of the course will inves-

tigate the events that led to its closure, as

well as what this award winning venue did

to gain such an avid following and a spe-

cial place in the hearts of Londoners.

Appealing to venue promoters and own-

ers as well as tour managers, booking

agents and artists this extensive course

promises to guide and encourage those

learning their trade as well as identify the

risks felling even the industry titans in one

of the last sectors of the business still able

to generate income for new bands.

Andy Inglis commented, “I have 21 years ex-

perience in the music industry and co-found-

ing and running The Luminaire has been,

by turns, a hugely rewarding and massively

frustrating experience. If I can’t illuminate

the mistakes I made and stop others from

making them, then what the hell. At least I

got to hang out with Wanda Jackson.”

Keith Harris, Chairman of MusicTank added

“With Live music becoming increasingly the

most important part of the music business,

this course is a timely opportunity to learn

about ‘doing it live’ from the ground up.”

Targeting tour managers, promoters,

booking agents, marketers, DIY artists and

small-to-medium sized venue owners and

operators, this innovative 6-part course

sets out to provide all with a thorough

grounding in the business of live music.

Current practice will also be analyzed in an

open forum, to distill ways of improving

revenue and maximizing opportunity.

Drawing from an extensive pool of expe-

rience, Luminiare co-founder Andy Inglis

(with industry guests such as Live and The

Boileroom founder, Dominique Czopor)

will be looking at the live music industry’s

continually evolving ecosystem providing

pointers for best practice and comparing

UK and European markets and helping to

inform and inspire a new wave of live in-

dustry entrepreneur.

The Course will take place at the Chalk

Suite: Meeting Room 2, University of West-

minster, 35 Marylebone Road, London:

1. The Lie Of The Land

A Live Sector Overview

4th April 2011

From 150 capacity rooms like The Windmill

in Brixton, to 20,000 cap. arenas, we’ll ex-

amine both the common issues (market-

ing, promotion, how to turn a profit and

customer service) and the unique issues

they face (how to keep the regular bar

punters happy while there’s a Japanese

noisecore band playing in the corner). This

introductory session will also explore the

changing nature of the audience as atten-

tion spans shorten and technology takes

over from live entertainment, as well it will

delve into how venues can adapt to sur-

vive the worst recession in decades.

2. Selling The Gig

Marketing & Promotion

11th April 2011

From the break-even-backroom gig all the

way to national promoters we’ll look at the

marketing methods used- what works and

what doesn’t. Investigating whether press

ads are worth the money and whether es-

Building the live Business – New PromotersAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Keith Harris - Chairman of Musictank

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VIP-BOOKING.COM

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VIP- News - M a r c h 2 0 1 1

sentially the same methods are used to

promote pub gigs and stadiums we will

use Live Nation and Kilimanjaro amongst

others as case studies in navigating the in-

tricate world of gig marketing.

3. Selling The Gig

Ticketing

18th April 2011

As Ticketmaster squares up to WeGotTick-

ets, secondary ticketing opens up a whole

new front jostling for a slice of the lucra-

tive festival market. We’ll look at booking

and administration fees, kickbacks, paper-

less tickets and what new technologies

will mean for the future of ticketing.

4. Compliance

9th May 2011

Venue owners and promoters face a slew

of legislation from the Licensing Act to a

burgeoning raft of health and safety re-

strictions. We’ll ask how this affects the

day-to-day of the live sector, who exactly

is responsible and how the legislation best

managed.

5. Learning By Example

UK & Overseas Case Studies

16th May 2011

The Luminaire- from award-winning venue

to joining the ranks of the fallen London

venues. A thorough examination of why

it was opened, how it tried to be different,

what worked and what went wrong from

one of the people who built and managed

it. For an international perspective, we’ll

look at other markets covering mainland

Europe but with a focus on that super-rich

anomaly of Norway - the world’s third larg-

est oil exporter pumping tens of millions

of pounds into culture a year.

6. What happens next?

23rd May 2011

With recording income slowly dying, can

live music support the weight of the in-

dustry or even an independent touring

band? We’ll analyze what role festivals

play and whether they can be used by art-

ists to provide year round income. Round-

ing off the course with a debate, four

industry experts from opposing corners

of the industry will discuss whether the

booking agents have too much power, if

the national promoters are muscling-in

on the independents’ turf and whether

there is room for everyone in the new in-

dustry landscape.

Link to further information including fee

can be found at:

www.musictank.co.uk/events/courses/

live-industry-course

‘Start up’ gigs are vital for the development

of new music talent and it is essential that

small clubs and pubs are encouraged to

provide stages for young bands and artists

to learn their craft and to build up fan bases.

The UK 2003 Licensing Act introduced new

provisions that were meant to make it eas-

ier for small venues to present live music,

however the Act introduced complications

that had the opposite effect and resulted in

many stopped presenting gigs.

Liberal Democrat Lord Tim Clement was

convinced that the Licensing Act had to be

amended in order to promote live music

and to help the growth of new talent and

with high level support from the likes of

Lord Grade and Baroness Bakewell his Live

Music bill has made good progress. Fol-

lowing his private members bill passing

through its second reading in the House

of Lords earlier this month Clement-Jones

has begun discussions with the Govern-

ment about the sort of changes it would

wish to see in his Live Music Bill before it

moves in to the House of Commons.

At the recent International Live Music

Conference in London Lord Tim Clement-

Jones told VIP-News, “ It has been a great

pleasure being among friends at the ILMC

this weekend. At the extremely lively and

informative Venues panel I was able to

update conference goers on the progress

on my Live Music Bill . With the support

of UK Music, the MIA, the MU, Equity and

the ISM and the public house industry

I’ve proposed an exemption from the Li-

censing Act for audiences up to 200, for

unamplified music across the board and a

number of other reforms designed to re-

duce the red tape surrounding live music

performance. I’m delighted that the Co-

alition Government has now indicated its

support for the Bill subject to a number

of amendments-mainly technical chang-

es- and an official Impact Assessment to

ensure there are no unintended conse-

quences. As a result I’m confident that

that finally we’re going to see real change

which will greatly benefit musicians and

small venues and enhance our great live

music heritage in Britain.”

Once the Bill has passed through the com-

mittee stage it will go to a third reading

before moving to the Commons where it

will have to be sponsored by an MP.

uK Government Prepared for discussions on live Music BillAllan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Tim Clement-Jones

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VIP-BOOKING.COM

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VIP- News - M a r c h 2 0 1 1

Business NewsManfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

Music in shares

Preliminary annual Business re-port 2010 by CTs eventim

Analysts and financial media evaluate

latest figures with some concerns.

While in recent years sceptical media or

research reports regarding CTS Eventim

have been very rare the current prelimi-

nary report on the company’s business

results for the business year 2010 have

caused some concerns.

On first viewing the results indicate growth

and solid prosperity, and in fact CTS Even-

tim remains a profitable company but the

current figures did not meet the expecta-

tions of some analysts. Revenue rose from

466.7 to 519.6 million Euro, but the com-

pany had to face a backlash on the earn-

ings of about 15 million Euro due to the

acquisition of Ticketcorner and See Tickets

Germany (Ticket Online) as well as higher

spending on legal affairs regarding the

ongoing case with Live Nation. While no

information was given on the net result of

the company in the current press release,

CTS Eventim reported an EBITDA result

(Earnings before interests, taxes, depre-

ciation and amortisation) of 88.0 million

Euros and an EBIT result (Earnings before

interests and taxes) of 70.6 million Euros.

An analyst report by Warburg Research

states that CTS Eventim did not meet the

expectations. In particular the figures for

the 4th quarter of 2010 did not meet up

with expectations. The report states that

results are 13 percent lower than estimat-

ed. The revenue expected by the analyst

for the Live Entertainment division for the

past business year was 349 million Euro but

was actually only 333 million Euro. How-

ever, once again CTS Eventim was able to

increase its revenue result for this part of

the company, as in 2009 this was 318.7 mil-

lion Euros. Nevertheless the profit margins

did not rise in line with the improved rev-

enue result. The EBITDA went up from 24.5

14

VIP-BOOKING.COM

14

VIP- News - M a r c h 2 0 1 1

to 26.5 million Euros, the EBIT results from

22.2 to 24.5 million Euros.

The Ticketing division was and is the pride

of the company. But unusually the profit

margin for this part of the company shrank

due to the acquisition expenses of Ticket-

corner and See Tickets Germany. EBITDA

result within this segment was 61.5 million

Euro and an EBIT result of 46.1 million Euro.

The revenue rose from 152.5 to 193.9 mil-

lion Euros.

The Warburg Research analyst rates CTS

Eventim in the light of the latest results as

‘under review’ while a research report by

Nord LB recommends t ‘hold’ the share but

mentions that the current price level is al-

ready on a high level and that the analyst

considers the business model of the com-

pany to be still promising.

While on February 25 the share stood at

48.9 it has since dropped to 42.95 Euro.

live Nation losses widen

Tough times for the global concert giant.

Once again the 2010 annual business results

for the leading player in the concert market

reports a loss for all company segments.

The company turnover went down from

$5,584bn to $5.063bn, the net loss rose

from $60.1 to $228.3 million, and the long

term debts reached the level of $1.67bn

compared to $699m the year before.

»We are focused on increasing online ticketing conversion,

growing our online advertising business and

building out our fan database and CRM resources«

- Michael Rapino

In the report Michael Rapino commented:

“We have entered 2011 with the strategic

benefit of our combined operations fo-

cused on executing our plan to maximize

ticket sales and improve our operating

performance.” Rapino furthermore said:

“Our investment priorities centre on fur-

ther building on the value proposition of

Ticketmaster.com, one of the world’s top

five eCommerce sites. We are focused on

increasing online ticketing conversion,

growing our online advertising business

and building out our fan database and

CRM resources.”

In reference to the overall difficult business

situation for the company he said: “While

the macro-environment remains challeng-

ing given pressure on the consumer, we

are encouraged with overall year-to-date

ticket sales trends. In addition, the pipe-

line of artists planning to tour this year is

strong and we are taking steps to better

price and promote our shows, while care-

fully managing our costs.”

The number given for total attendances

went down from 52.148mn to 47.262mn,

for the different business units the rev-

enue figures decreased within all five

company segments. The revenue in the

concert department went down from

$3.7bn to $3.4bn, in the ticketing division

from $1.18bn to $1.039bn, the revenue for

Artist Nation fell about 20 percent from

$452.8mn to $362.2mn. Only the decline

for the eCommerce and Sponsorship

departments was moderate. The eCom-

merce revenue went down from $89.6mn

to $87.9mn while the income stream for

sponsorship only went down by about

0.4 percent from $162.4mn to $161.7mn.

The price of Live Nation shares went down

from $11.45 on February 18, to $10.0.

speculation regarding Take Over of deaG

On February 24th The German financial

newspaper Handelsblatt reported ru-

mours regarding a likely take over of DEAG

as unlikely; the German trade magazine

Musikwoche picked up on the story again

on March 17 in reference to an analyst

report by tradecentre.de published on

March 14 concluding that take over of the

company could be likely.

Sony Music and Live Nation had been

mentioned in the story as potential buy-

ers. Also the Handelsblatt actually wrote in

their story that the company structure of

DEAG could make a hostile take over pos-

sible, but also reported that other analysts

currently did not see evidence for such a

buyout attempt. The journal furthermore

reported that a fund had quit its engage-

ment in DEAG and that therefore a higher

number of shares was available in the mar-

ket which were bought by an unknown

buyer. Currently since February7 the share

has moved from 2.5 Euro up to 2.88 Euro

before coming down to 2.62 Euro on

March 18.

Vince Power Floats Festival Com-pany on stock exchange

Vince Power, the music entrepreneur who

built up the Mean Fiddler group of venues

Vince Power

15

VIP-BOOKING.COM

Kaizers OrchestraTerritory: EuropePeriod: 1st of April (Vienna day after) + Summer FestivalsAgency: Vox ArtistAgent: Eivind BrydoyPhone: +47 45 048 048E-mail: eivind@voxartist.noHomepage: www.kaizers.no

anthony B Territory: EuropePeriod: 24th of June to 23rd of July 2011Agency: MagicboxAgent: Pedro PontesPhone: +31 5 915 378 951 E-mail: pedropontes@magicbox.pt Homepage: www.magicbox.pt

ePMdTerritory: EuropePeriod: 27.05 - 31.05.2011Agency: Company EntertainmentAgent: Nawid CompanyPhone: +49 511 562 411E-mail: nc@company-entertainment.deHomepage: www.company-entertainment.de

la Guns (feat. Phil lewis & steve riley)Territory: EuropePeriod: 01.09 - 31.10.2011Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: ds@armentertainment.comHomepage: www.laguns.net

within TemptationTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: March 2011 and onwardsAgency: X-Ray TouringAgent: Paul BoltonPhone: +44 (0) 20 7749 3500E-mail: paul@xraytouring.comHomepage: www.xraytouring.com

Groove armadaTerritory: Europe / Worldwide Period: Worldwide 2011 Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Agent: Steve Hogan E-mail: SHogan@wmeentertainment.com Homepage: www.groovearmada.com

15

artist avails ››

MOrE ArTIST AVAILS ON:WWW.VIP-BOOKING.COM

POST YOUr ArTIST AVAILS ON:WWW.VIP-BOOKING.COM

VIP- News - M a r c h 2 0 1 1

and took them to the stock market, goes public again next month with the

planned flotation of a venture hosting music festivals in Britain and Spain.

Power’s Music Festivals Company is to be floated on the London Stock Ex-

change’s alternative investment market.

Organisers of the Hop Farm and Benicàssim events, Music Festivals is joining

Aim in April, six years after Mean Fiddler was taken private. Chief executive

Power and finance director Jon Hale, also ex-Mean Fiddler, are hoping to raise

a minimum of £3m in the public offering, advised by corporate finance group

Merchant Securities. The cash is required to help buy other fledgling festivals

in the UK and overseas.

The listing comes three months before this year’s festivals. The Hop Farm

event, the fourth so far, is in early July, headlined by the Eagles and Morrissey.

Previous headliners at the Kent festival have included Bob Dylan, making his

only 2010 UK appearance, and Neil Young. In Spain, Benicàssim is in mid July,

with headliners including Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys and Tinie Tempah.

Power is best known for his time in charge of Mean Fiddler, which he founded

in the 1980s with one venue in north London and expanded to included the

Reading festival and a 39% stake in Glastonbury. He floated Mean Fiddler on

Aim by reversing into a failed dotcom business in 2001, and sold it in 2005 for

£38m to a consortium of the US entertainment group Clear Channel and the

Irish firm Gaiety Investments.

Power pocketed £13m from the deal but lost £7.9m when his music promo-

tions and pubs business, Vince Power Music Group, went into administration

last year. He eventually bought it back from the administrators for £600,000.

Things that make you laughRonni Didriksen rd@vip-booking.com

16

VIP-BOOKING.COM

Not our typical Irish singer songwriter, Simon blends elements of

gospel and folk with acoustic rock to produce a big Americana

sound. He is renowned for his live shows which vary from the

very imitate solo gigs, to the highly energetic full band shows.

Simon is planning a UK tour in April/May to coincide with the

release of the ‘Music Xray Compilation - Great Tracks by Independ-

ent Acts’ album. Due for release through Flicknife records (Uni-

versal) in the UK, where Simon’s track ‘Damn Honey’ will be the

second single, promoted to UK radio.

He is then looking to tour the festival circuit throughout the

summer.

This classically trained artist has been performing music in some

for or another since the tender age of 5. In the last two years he

has released 2 EPs, an album; toured Ireland, the UK, US, Canada

and Egypt; supported Smokey robinson; Lionel richie, Ocean

Colour Scene; and performed on over 40 radio shows including

9 BBC prime time shows.

“Outside Looking In” – Album Out Now

“’Water’s Edge’… Truly mouth-watering” – Hot Press

Album Of The Week – RTE Radio 1

Best Performance – International Songwriting Competition

“I love it when I hear something this compelling and recognize it on

a first listen“ –Huffington Post, USA

“Good honest song writing” – Drop-d.ie 9/10

Monthly featured artist ››

Origin: Dublin, IrelandStyle: Acoustic Rock (Americana/Folk-Rock)Tour period: Summer ‘11Territory: Europe

Agency: Loose Robe ProductionsName: Andrew WilkinsonEmail: andrew@sianrecords.comPhone: +35 387 241 2000

VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 0 5

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VIP- News - M a r c h 2 0 1 1

sIMON FaGaN

Simon Fagan

17

VIP-BOOKING.COM

In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-News readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at pb@vip-booking.com

MeMber presentation ››

In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-News readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at pb@vip-booking.com

®

vip-booking.com

VIP-BOOKING.COMVIP-BOOKING.COM | 145-157 St John Street | UK - London Ec1V 4PW | Phone +44 870 755 0092 | Fax +44 870 622 1953 | e-mail: vip@vip-booking.com

17

about Our Company

VIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and largest data-base for the European Live Entertainment Industry www.vip-book-ing.com developed as a tool for industry professionals. Since it’s launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered our subscrib-ers the very best in database services and now boast subscribers in over 30 countries.

Today VIP-Booking offers a range of tools for the industry – inclu-ding VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract.

Please visit vip-booking.com for further information.

Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

VIP- News - M a r c h 2 0 1 1

rwe halle - NOT just a Venue- showbiz-Management & Booking agency

rWE Halle - a multi functional Venue focused in Concerts, Galas,

Conferences & Sport Events offering a perfect service to visi-

tors, Artists and Promoters.

In the Heart of Germany with best infrastructure and Cities around

like Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen, Cologne and Düsseldorf – 15

million people catchment area.

Capacity from 1000 to 4000, seated 3500 and 3 variable Tribunes

gives multiple potentialities.

Some Facts and services we offer:

Large Foyer incl. separate Ticket Entries, Bars, Guest Wardrobes

and culinary offers, Luxury VIP Lounge, 3 tiers variable to use, Ex-

ternally roofed huge Terrace, Close to City Centre and Central Sta-

tion & Airport, 14 Wardrobes incl. Showers and Lounge Furniture

Sauna area, Weight & Sport room, Production Offices incl. LAN,

ISDN & Fax, WLAN all over the Venue, Press & Conference & Cater-

ing Rooms, Short distance (under 10 meter) from Loading Dock to

Stage ground level, Bus and Tram stations named “RWE HALLE”

are immediately outside the Venue.

Showbiz-Management & Booking Agency is the exclusive Mar-

keter & tenant for the RWE Halle - 45468 Mülheim an der Ruhr -

Germany

All kind of booking enquiries could be sent by e-mail to:

rwe-halle@showbiz-management.com

RWE Halle