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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 109 ›› DeCeMBer 2008
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The last News of 2008, would you credit
crunch it - it all started off reasonably
well, then indications of unease became
apparent in the US in the spring, but we
got through the Festival season in pretty
good shape before the true and increas-
ingly ugly picture revealed itself and we
became more aware that things were so
serious that even our seemingly buoyant
live industry was likely to be affected and
we were taking Banks of our sponsor wish
lists, now we’re having to keep a close eye
on things – by March 2009 there will be
much to discuss at ILMC 21!
Certainly 2008 had its success stories and
at least at the top end of the business the
money continued to roll in, according to
the ever dependable keeper of the figures,
Billboard Boxscore, from November 2007 to
November 2008 Bon Jovi’s North America
and Europe Lost Highway tour promoted
by AEG Live, grossed $210.6 million and
drew 2,157,675 fans. Bruce Springsteen
& the E Street Band’s Magic tour came in
second grossing $204.5 million for the pe-
riod. The rest of the top 10 included Ma-
donna, The Police, Celine Dion (!), Kenny
Chesney, Neil Diamond, The Spice Girls,
The Eagles and Rascal Flatts who grossed
a mere $55.8 million! Grosses reported to
Billboard Boxscore for the international
touring industry, totalled just under $4
billion worldwide, the most ever for a year
and up almost 13% over last year.
A recent press release from live industry
investment specialists Edge Performance
VCT plc stated, “The live music and fes-
tival market in the UK has continued to
demonstrate strong growth. Research by
BRMB/TGI data indicates that 60 million
visits are made annually to paid live music
events across all musical genres generat-
ing £1.9bn in 2007 in UK ticket revenues
alone, up 20% on 2006.” 2008 figures are
of course not yet fully collated.
But although these figures are impressive
they are mainly inflated by high ticket pric-
es paid for long established and re-formed
acts with fewer shows taking place and,
concert attendance down, although this
reflects the decrease in the number of
shows, on individual shows, at least in the
US, the data is more encouraging with av-
erage attendances up.
Certainly the industry is expecting to deal
with the fact that there will be less money in
ticket buyers pockets next year; Edge Group
founder (see Business News in this issue.)
David Glick said: “No sector is recession-
proof, but we believe the impact of the cur-
rent downturn on live music will be a flight
to value. Acts who set ticket prices at the
appropriate level will continue to do well.”
Michael Rapino, head of Live Nation, has
stated that they may have to consider dis-
counting tickets, although their own new
ticketing operation may save fans money
as they have announced that they intend to
cut back on the sort of handling fees previ-
ously charged by Ticketmaster. The newly
formed Ticketmaster Entertainment has
jumped in quickly however announcing
that their first major tour of 2009 with the
Eagles will be free of handling fees.
1
McGowan’s Musings:
Allan McGowan
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VIP-News is published by: VIP-Booking26 York StreetLondon W1U 6pZ
Managing Director: Ronni [email protected]
General Manager: Peter [email protected]
writer and editorial: Allan [email protected]
writer: Manfred Tari [email protected]
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
T in the Park Ticket scamAllan McGowan [email protected]
T in the Park 2009
T in the Park organisers have warned fans not to buy tickets from a Hungarian-based web-
site, www.tinthepark2009.com, which falsely claims to have passes for next year’s festival.
Promoters DF Concerts emphasise that the site has no ticket allocation and that fans should
not under any circumstances give their credit card details, legal action is to be taken against
the unauthorised Hungarian site.
Meanwhile The Bonnaroo and Langerado
music festivals have responded to the eco-
nomic crisis in the US by employing a famil-
iar tactic used by many other retailers by
offering staggered payment plans, what we
used to call hire-purchase, on weekend tick-
ets to the festivals in 2009. It will be interest-
ing to see if other events in both the US and
Europe adopt the idea.
As far as acts on the road next year there
seems to be no let up in this reformation
business, (as the Pope said to Henry VIII) –
next year we’ve got Tina, Fleetwood Mac,
The Faces (allegedly!), The Kinks, Cliff Rich-
ard & The Shadows (!) and now …Blur (isn’t
it a bit soon?) and apparently Morrisey and
Johnny Marr are speaking again, so anyone
want to put a bet on dates on hold for The
Smiths?
But whatever happens in 2009 we must take
confidence from the fact that the live indus-
try is made up by resilient characters, quite
capable of dealing with crises, and I think
now, perhaps more than in the past, adapta-
ble enough to work together – co-operation
may well be necessary to see us through
this. Also in down times people need cheer-
ing up, they will still be looking to be enter-
tained and that’s our product and when and
where there’s demand there’s business!
So we hope you all have a good and relaxed
Christmas holiday and a Happy and if not
exactly prosperous – comfortable - New
Year (if anyone is thinking of sending me
a Christmas present Euros would probably
fit quite nicely thanks – my pounds appear
to have shrunk!) Finally lets all add positive
thinking to our New Year Resolutions and
please – continue to let us have your opin-
ions and your news in 2009.
In the meantime, Ladies & Gentlemen – here
is the last News of 2008….
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http://www.ilmc.com/21
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6th european Border Breakers Awards at eurosonic Noorderslag 2009
On January 15, 2009, ten European groups
and artists will receive this year’s European
Border Breakers Awards during a show to
take place on the opening night of the Eu-
roSonic Noorderslag Festival in the Neth-
erlands. The ceremony will be hosted by
musician and presenter of the BBC-televi-
sion programme ‘Later’, Jools Holland, and
Jan Fígel, the European Commissioner re-
sponsible for Education, Training, Culture
and Youth.
In giving these awards the European Com-
mission, in cooperation with the European
Broadcasting Union (EBU) wishes to re-
ward debut artists’ and groups’ success in
crossing national borders. The prizes are
also intended to highlight and promote
the richness and diversity of European
music, its creativity and its contribution to
innovation.
10 debut acts will receive a European Bor-
der Breaker Award during a spectacular TV-
show recorded live at The Oosterpoort, Gro-
ningen and broadcast throughout Europe.
The ceremony will be recorded by Dutch
national television (NOS) and broadcast on
Saturday January 17th from 20.15 hrs on-
wards, and will receive European coverage
through the EBU broadcasting network of
European television and radio stations.
Former winners of European Union Bor-
der Breaker Awards include artists such
as Carla Bruni, Tokio Hotel, Damien Rice,
The Thrills, Gabriel Rios, The Fratellis,
Basshunter, Dolores O’ Riordan and many
more.
This is the sixth edition of this European
Union award, with which the European
Commission – in close partnership with
the European music industry – aims to
highlight the creative richness and diver-
sity of European contemporary music,
the existing need to open up the Europe-
an market to European creativity and to
stimulate the mobility of artists and their
work within Europe and beyond. The Eu-
ropean Border Breakers Awards honour
those debut artists, groups, the compa-
nies, composers and text writers who suc-
ceed in reaching audiences outside their
own country.
The artists receiving this award are se-
lected on the basis of statistics provided
by the Billboard Information Group and
the European Broadcasting Union ac-
cording to the following criteria: Original
debut album of artists or groups from a
country participating in the EU Culture
Programme; Sales in EU Member states
outside the country of production; Sales
during the last year (between September
2007 and 31 August 2008) Experience in
touring outside the country of origin and
ability to perform live.
Trade events in 2009Allan McGowan [email protected]
The new year launches us straight in to the new trade event calendar: The VIP-Booking team will of course attend all the
major events, here is up to date information on the first three of 2009. This year the dates of Eurosonic Noorderslag col-
lide somewhat with Midem, but in a spirit of ‘entente cordiale’ transport will be provided from Groningen to Amsterdam
Airport to ensure that delegates attending both catch the only direct flight to Nice. Co-operation may well be the order
of the day in many areas of the business in 2009!
Both EuroSonic Noorderslag and Midem will emphasise the trade and cultural need for acts to continue to cross inter-
national borders by showcasing ‘export ready’ talent. After some years in Cannes, The European Commission takes its
European Border Breakers Awards ceremony to Groningen.
ILMC, having considered the showcasing element appear to have found it well enough catered for by these two events
and others, and will continue to do what it does best, which is to provide a high level forum dedicated to the discussion
and often resolution of the major concerns of the international live music industry.
Jools Holland will host European Border Breakers Awards at Eurosonic 2009
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MIDeM Talent 2009
Never mind the Bol***ks, Here’s the IlMC!
The 43rd MIDEM will again take place at
the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France
from 18-21 January 2009, and will feature
the second edition of MidemTalent.
This event will showcase an array of up-
coming artists with strong international
potential. Around 20 groups or artists cov-
ering pop/rock, electro, folk, world music
and jazz, hailing from every continent, will
perform in Cannes in front of an audience
of industry executives and the public.
American rock group Blue October; Co-
lombian artist Monica Giraldo, recently
nominated in the “Best New Artist” cat-
egory at the Latin Grammys and South
African band The Parlotones, crowned
Best Rock Group at the 2006 South African
Music Awards, are among the artists due
to perform. They will be joined by John
Shannon (U.S.), Hogni (Faroe Islands),
Charlie Winston (U.K.), Ndidi Onukwulu
(Canada), Sliimy (France) and Magnus
Lindgren’s Batucada Jazz (Sweden).
Aimed at discovering and developing art-
ists, MidemTalent event offers four days of
concerts and conferences. It is sponsored
by the world’s leading independent video
game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc.
and its Guitar Hero franchise, and by the
on-line promotional platform Sonicbids.
MidemTalent is organised in association
with Billboard, Musikwoche, Pangaea/A&R
Worldwide and VIP Booking.
Line-up so far:
ABHIJIT POHANKAR URBAN RAGAS
(Big Music - India)
ANNE PACEO (Laborie Jazz – France)
BLUE OCTOBER (Brando/Universal – U.S.)
CHARLIE WINSTON, U.K.
(Atmosphériques, France/Real World, U.K.)
DAVE STAPLETON QUINTET
(Westbury Music – UK)
DORANTES (World Music Factory – Spain)
FRØY AAGRE (Pling Music – Norway)
HJALTALIN (Kimi Rec. – Iceland)
HOGNI (Tutl – Faroe Islands)
JOHN SHANNON (ObliqSound Inc. – U.S.)
MAGNIFICO (ARIH D.O.O - Slovenia)
MAGNUS LINDGREN’S BATUCADA JAZZ
(Higher Ground - Sweden)
MAMAS GUN (Decca Rec. – U.K.)
MATTHEW ANDRAE (France Music – USA)
MISINTERPROTATO (Jazzhead - Australia)
MONICA GIRALDO, Colombia
(Wattsup!/Codiscos - USA & Colombie)
NDIDI ONUKWULU, Canada
(Naïve - France)
ROTARY DOWNS (Rookery Records, U.S.)
SCOTT MCKEON BAND
(Provogue Records – U.K.)
SLIIMY (Warner - France)
THE GHOST, Faroe Islands
(Sunday Best – U.K.)
THE PARLOTONES
(Sovereign Ent. – South Africa)
YODELICE (Mercury - France)
For more information on MIDEM and
MidemTalent:
www.midem.com/midemtalent
Blue October plays at Midem 2009
ILMC 21 will take place from March 13-15th 2009
The annual International Live Music Con-
ference returns to The Royal Garden Hotel,
London, UK on 13th – 15th March 2009
when ILMC 21 will no doubt take a serious
look at, amongst other things, how the live
music industry is weathering the world
wide economic crisis. But, as ever with this
long established market-leading event,
which takes its fun theming very seriously,
all will certainly not be doom and gloom!
Having come down from last year’s spaced
out mellow hippy trip theme, ILMC 21
lurches to the other end of the pop music
spectrum by celebrating all things Punk!
In their own words:
More raw than a nasty sore throat, more
dangerous than running with a pair of scis-
sors, more street credible than a traffic war-
den with toothache. Yes, the ILMC is back
– but this time we’ve moved on from be-
ing boring-old-fart hippies. Thirty years on
from the heyday of punk we’re spitting and
bouncing up an’ down and hell-bent on a
new wave of anarchy and destruction.
It seems that it’s not just ‘Anarchy in the UK’,
but anarchy on a global scale. With chang-
ing fortunes affecting almost everyone in
the industry the ILMC will be focusing on,
amongst other points, the world’s eco-
nomic crisis. As well as the usual spread of
panels, meetings and social events, we will
as ever be offering up a multitude of sur-
prises. Further announcements of panels
will be made early in January 2008.
ILMC has reached the ripe old age of 21,
but rather than leaving home and getting
a sensible job involving a suit, we will be
donning our tartan, safety pins and bad
language and endeavour to bring you more
of what the delegates enjoy every year.
More information:
www.ilmc.com
http://www.midem.com/midemtalenthttp://www.ilmc.com
6
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WITH2500 International delegates250 European acts100 Panels and industry meetings24 EBU public radio stations 150 European festivals 80 European journalists29 Nationalities
MEET THE EUROPEAN (LIVE) MUSIC INDUSTRY AT EUROSONICNOORDERSLAG 2009
THE EUROPEAN MUSIC CONFERENCE AND SHOWCASE FESTIVAL
15 16 17 JAN09THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY GRONINGEN | THE NETHERLANDS
WWW.EUROSONIC.NL WWW.ETEP.NL
REGISTRATION DEADLINES: Late 235,- (if registered before 16 December 2008)Walk Up 260,- (after 16 december 2008)
“THE MOST IMPORTANT GATHERING IN THEEUROPEAN LIVE MUSIC BUSINESS CALENDAR"POLLSTAR (US)
"THE PLACE TO SECOND GUESS WHO'LL BE THE BIGEUROPEAN BANDS OF THE YEAR" NME (UK)
http://www.eurosonic.nl
7
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Green initiatives for the live music industry continued to attract at-
tention throughout 2008 and great strides have been made in the
education of both those working in the industry and audiences.
But as I was made aware at last week’s Julie’s Bicycle (The not for
profit company established to find ways to reduce the UK music
industry’s greenhouse gas emissions – www.juliesbicycle.com)
Christmas gathering in London efforts will have to be redoubled
to keep the Green Agenda to the fore during a time when indi-
viduals and companies become distracted by the preoccupations
of the downturn in the world economy.
The financial crisis will pass, but global climate changes continue
to happen, and they are some of the biggest threats to the world.
UN’s climate experts recommend immediate action if the most
serious consequences of human emission of greenhouse gasses
are to be avoided.
The 2009 Roskilde Festival’s ‘Green Foot-
steps’ initiative intends to put the focus
on climate changes calling for a united
approach towards climate change agree-
ment.
The festival’s campaign intends to show
how the festival can shoulder its part of
the responsibility to solve the potential cli-
mate catastrophe. Naturally, festivalgoers
are invited to be part of the campaign to
take Green Footsteps in the right direction
and to join in sending a message to the
world that there is no time to waste with
regards to obtaining a globally sustainable
climate.
It appears that there are still way too many
people who do not take the climate issue
seriously nor recognise that we all play an
active role in the climate changes. Danish
newspaper Politiken carried an article stat-
ing that 40 % of the Danish population still
do not believe in the greenhouse effect.
Roskilde Festival wants to deal with this.
The Festival’s own Green Footsteps to re-
duce the greenhouse gas-emitting activi-
ties will include: The instigation of a CO2
account, making it possible to calculate
the emission from Roskilde Festival; In the
energy sector, the festival will go over the
possibility of buying windmill power and
getting generators running on vegetable
oil instead of diesel; working on recycling
as much garbage as possible so that in-
cineration of waste and the following CO2
emission is reduced.
Odeon is the festival’s ‘green’ stage, low-
energy stage lighting is used, and an ‘LED
carpet’ functions as a big screen. Power
will be produced with renewable tech-
nology – by generators running on bio-
mass fuel, vegetable oil, solar cells and
windmill(s).
The Audience will be motivated to be
part of it all and to economize on CO2 to
take part in the climate battle. They will
be encouraged to see that it is an advan-
tage to save the environment. As thanks
for their environmentally friendly actions
– e.g. using public transport or turning
off stand-by power at home – the festival
will let the participating audience mem-
bers reserve a spot at the camping area,
thus securing an advantageous spot even
before the camping area opens. These
festivalgoers will be part of the festival’s
Climate Community – a camping quarter
primarily running on CO2-neutral energy.
The energy will come from sources such
as energy-producing bicycles and ditto
dance floors.
Green Footsteps is a step in the right direc-
tion – a step that we all have to take to
stop the global climate changes from run-
ning out of control.
Green Issues - recession May Cause DistractionsAllan McGowan [email protected]
Climate Focus at roskilde Festival ‘09
Roskilde Festival introduce ‘Green Footsteps’
http://www.juliesbicycle.comhttp://www.schleyerhalle.de/index.php?tacoma=webpart.pages.TacomaDynamicPage&navid=4114&coid=4114&&cid=0
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VIP-News asked Karsten Jahnke about his
opinion of Record Companies earning
money from concerts, the recession and
the difference between corporate or own-
er driven concert businesses.
VIP-News: How was the concert business 2008?
Karsten Jahnke: Pretty good, thank you.
VIP-News: You have been in the business for so many years now. What has changed in recent years?
Jahnke: You cannot help but worry about
the big trust companies getting more and
more power
VIP-News: Do you see many differences in working with corporate or stand alone companies?
Jahnke: Well, in stand-alone companies
like mine we have to actually make and
earn money so we have to calculate pretty
hard to compete. On the other hand we
know our business from the inside out and
can offer the best possible promotion plus
we can put our companies reputation (in
my case, even my own name) behind the
work we do. With the corporate compa-
nies it’s a whole different ballpark: To get
an impressive roster together, these com-
panies have a lot more money they can
throw into the pit to raise their chances
of actually getting an act they want. They
do not necessarily have to make money
on the spot as we do, so it’s a bit like them
having the opportunity of ‘playing’ with
money that is actually not their own. Obvi-
ously this kind of distorts the whole finan-
cial system behind our business.
VIP-News: There are many record compa-nies these days aiming to participate in the live music income of their artists. What is your point of view on this one?
Jahnke: Well, good luck to them.
VIP-News: Do you believe that they deserve to take a share out of the concert business earnings of their artists?
Jahnke: I can see their point when it comes
to establishing an act from scratch these
days, but I doubt this will work with any es-
tablished act. And by the way sooner or later
they will find themselves in the same bidding
war as everybody else if the newly estab-
lished act becomes hot news and successful
because of that. The list of artists whose live
careers I’ve built up from the very beginning
is long - I’ve had contracts with all of them
- but as we all know: If you really want, you
can get out of any contract you like.
In Dialogue with Karsten JahnkeManfred Tari [email protected]
VIP-BOOKING.COM THE VIP-BOOK VIP-NEWS
Having the right tools for the job is often the key to success. Through our ongoing communication with key Live
Entertainment Industry Professionals, we have developed a range of services to meet the demands of agents, pro-
moters, talent buyers, venue bookers etc. It’s no coincidence that we are now considered to be the No. 1 information
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The VIP-BookThe ultimate print directory for the Eu-ropean Entertainment Industry, packedwith contacts and easy to use. An es-sential reference book for every offi ceproviding basic contact informationand a solid overview.
VIP-Booking.com VIP-NewsWritten by our highly merited journalists, Al-lan McGowan and Manfred Tari, with over 50years of experience between them in the En-tertainment Industry, VIP-News brings the lat-est news and views directly to your computerkeeping you up to date at all times.
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?
VIP-Booking.com is now the most widely used online information service for the European Live Entertainment Industry with subscribers in over 25 countries. Using the latest technology and state of the art tools, the service provides in-depth information streamlining the day-to-day operations of industry professionals, saving both time and money.
Karsten Jahnke
http://www.vip-booking.com
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VIP-News: When it comes to the recession there are serious concerns in the business that high price shows won’t sell as they used to do. Do you agree with this?
»It will take until next yearuntil the recession that is in
everybody’s minds now arrivesin real life and is fully felt,
so we’ll have to watch that«
- Karsten Jahnke
Jahnke: Yes and no. It will take until next
year until the recession that is in every-
body’s minds now arrives in real life and is
fully felt, so we’ll have to watch that. But
despite this culture and arts have always
had high times in troubled times. Maybe
not the over-expensive shows, but I have
no fear for the casual live music business.
As long as a band is really good and doesn’t
lose its ground, there will be people want-
ing to see them.
VIP-News: Are you happy with the back-ing and considerations of the political and administrational bodies for the concert industry?
Jahnke: For Hamburg locally, yes. We have
a established a great relationship work wise
over the last couple of years, especially
their support for our Reeperbahn Festival
is excellent. On the national level we’re far
from being quite there yet to be honest.
VIP-News: What are your expectations re-garding developments in the concert busi-ness in the near future?
Jahnke: Well, it’ll stay thrilling, won’t it?
With so many new developments on the
cards you’ll have to watch every step pret-
ty carefully.
VIP-News: What is on your agenda for 2009?
Jahnke: Quite a lot, actually: We’re begin-
ning the planning for our fourth Reeper-
bahn festival, which we’re about to show-
case internationally at the Eurosonic and
SXSW Festivals in 2009 for the first time;
we´re about to set up a sequel to last
years highly successful Open Air Festival
in Uelzen (smaller northern town in lower
Saxony) in August; I’m further establish-
ing my own little concert series for new
young and exciting contemporary jazz
artists called Jazz2day, our beloved Stadt-
park Open Air season is about to take
more and more shape - plus lots of other
things we cannot talk about openly at the
moment.
The general financial crisis, and local author-
ity opposition to live venues aggravated by
the recent closure of several Madrid venues
following the widely publicised death of
an 18-year-old youth following his violent
ejection from a well-known city centre dis-
cotheque, have made things very difficult
for live music in Spain.
Hopefully, two live music initiatives for small
venues will help new talent and strengthen
the live music circuit, in both the Spanish
capital Madrid and the country as a whole.
From December 2 until 21, 19 concerts have
and will be staged in 19 different Madrid
venues of up to 300-capacity. Libertad 8,
Barco, Galileo Galilei, La Sala Live!, Clam-
ores, La Frontera (Villalba ), Colonial Norte
Reciclaje (Guadarrama), Sol, Siroco, La Boca
del Lobo, Jimmy Jazz, Cardamom, Búho
Real, Hebe, Joaquín Sabina -TAF (Móstoles),
Wurlitzer Ballroom and Cafe La Palma.
The event, called ‘Alternativas En Concierto’
and now in its fourth year, sees emerging
artists support better-known stars, many
having begun their careers playing in these
same venues and now with gold discs to
their names. The initiative has been or-
ganised by Madrid’s 45-venue La Noche
En Vivo, the AiE artists and interpreters as-
sociation, the Agedi collection society, and
financed in part by the Madrid regional
government.
La Noche En Vivo VP Angel Viejo, who has
run Madrid’s Galileo Galilei club for the past
26 years, told Billboard Biz that in 1985 the
city had some 112 small venues, but that
the 45 existing members still stage some
10,000 concerts per year.
Spanish/French Co-Operation:
Also, Acces, Spain’s national association of
concert halls, and its French counterpart,
La Fédurok, continue to develop an accord
signed in late October at the 20th Mercat
de la Musica Viva in Vic near Barcelona, in
the presence of representatives of both
the Spanish and French culture ministries,
aimed at sharing experiences to strengthen
live music and venues, and bringing aware-
ness of their cultural and business value to
local and regional administrations. In atten-
dance were regional live music associations
from Catalonia (Asacc), Galicia (Clubtura),
Andalucia (Cosa), Basque Country (Kultura
Live), and Castilla y León (Old Castile).
The accord aims to encourage small-venue
live music either side of their common
border. Acces communication director
Armando Ruah says Acces is interested in
learning from the La Fédurok’s experience,
as “France is one of the pioneer countries in
defence of its popular music and the recog-
nition of its own culture.”
live Initiatives in spainAllan McGowan [email protected]
Libertad 8
10
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resistant to recession?Manfred Tari [email protected]
Exponents of the concert business mostly
appear unimpressed by the economic cri-
sis. But if we take a look at the event mar-
ket the situation differs: The sector that
earns its money with the organisation of
company parties and business galas is suf-
fering a lot of cancellations. Moreover the
actual economic models seem to confirm
the conclusion that it will take a long while
until ‘Business as usual’ returns.
In the champions league of the live music
industry, the tour and concert business,
the core business seems to be still going
strong. Thorsten Seif of Buback Konzerte,
responsible for well known German acts
like Deichkind und Jan Delay comments:
“For the concert business the economic cri-
sis will not have immediate consequences.
Especially if you try to budget the concerts
carefully and keep them on a good value
level as we do.”
The opinion of Klaus Maack from Contour
Music, who is organiser of the Summerjam
Festival and tour agent of Beenie Man and
Anthony B., is similar. He thinks that the
economic crisis has only little influence
on the concert business because he esti-
mates “that the people will spare money by
avoiding big expenditures but not concerts
and tickets if they are on a reasonable price
level.”
Ralf Scheffler, chief of the venue Batschkapp
in the finance metropolis Frankfurt, an-
swers the question of how the crisis will
affect his daily business as follows: “In no
way, I hope. We still don’t know yet if this cri-
sis really will come or if it is just hysteria. I’m
a little bit sceptical as to whether it is just a
media hype.”
»Strange to say but small eventsor events in the rock and pop segment are yet not affected«
- Berhard Lewkowicz
Bernhard Lewkowicz is executive direc-
tor of the regional presenter Concertteam
NRW. He appreciates the situation in the
event market is more critical: “It is gener-
ally the case in the event market that you can
hardly say exactly why an event works well
or not, so you just can assume.” But Lewko-
wicz adds: “What I can clearly say is that
family events like ‘Bob the Builder’ or ‘Käpt´n
Blaubär’ which normally attract two adults
and two kids from the middle class with only
little money for spare time activities, are suf-
fering a lot from the actual development.
Strange to say but small events or events
in the rock and pop segment are yet not af-
fected.”
All respondents are of the opinion that ne-
gotiations with bankers regarding financ-
ing these days are no fun. Seif remarks:
“This is definitely the case, we are a company
and we don’t even have an overdraft limit
and we won’t get it these days anyway.”
Maack is sceptical, too: “My situation is quite
comfortable because I’ve been running a fes-
tival for 24 years and we have results and ex-
perienced data. But for new projects I think it
will be very difficult to get any credits.”
“Of course I have experienced that.” Lewko-
wicz agrees. The long time Toten Hosen
agent comes to the point: “Every segment of
our business that is affected by the monetary
sector like pre-financing a show, overdraft
credits or what ever has big problems. The
bankers are keeping their wallets closed.”
Scheffler states bluntly: “My banker hasń t
given me money before and he won’t give
me any now. Common sense would say ‘O.K.
let’s be sensible and finance the medium
sized business’, but the reaction of the fi-
nance sector at the moment is ‘We keep our
money and in the best case, do nothing’. But
they can’t do that in the long term because if
they do they won’t earn money.”
Klaus Maack
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DeAG release Business report for the 3rd QuarterManfred Tari [email protected]
CTS Eventim announced that it
will provide European wide tick-
eting for the art exhibition ‘Van
Gogh and the Colours of the
Night’. The exhibition will take
place in the Van Gogh Museum in
Amsterdam and will run from the
13th of February until 7th of June.
The show itself is presented in col-
laboration with the MoMA (Muse-
um of Modern Arts) in New York
where the exhibition is on show
until January 9 and is expected to
draw at least 800.000 visitors of
which two thirds are expected to
come from abroad.
CTS offers the tickets via their
website www.eventim.com and
their network partner. The ar-
rangement furthermore foresees
the usage of a ‘print at home’ ser-
vice that is compatible with the
scanner system of the Van Gogh
Museum as well as hotline and
box office service provided by
CTS Eventim.
CTs handle euro-Ticketing for Van Gogh exhibitionManfred Tari [email protected]
Peter Schwenkow - CEO DEAG
In the first 9 months of the business year
2008 DEAG gained a turnover of 80. 8
million Euros , but declared a good will
impairment of 5 million Euros due to
the “increasing pressure on margins in
the international Rock/Pop business”
and amended currency exchange rates.
Therefore the net loss of DEAG is 5.2 mil-
lion Euro. Nevertheless DEAG expects
to gain a revenue of about 110 million
Euros for the entire business year . The
company furthermore announced a cost
cutting program of its administrative ex-
penses and “a more performance based
executive board remuneration.”
Within the last 52 weeks the DEAG Share
has dropped by about 80 percent. VIP-
News spoke to DEAG CEO Peter Schwen-
kow about the current situation of the
company and the financial market in
general.
VIP-News: Could you please comment on the current situation regarding share price development.
Schwenkow: It’s the same for Live Na-
tion, Ticketmaster or any entertainment
company listed on the stock exchange.
We find ourselves in a gigantic crisis in
the condition of the financial market
and so it has nothing to do with the ac-
tual condition of the company. Look at
shares such as those of Daimler Benz or
Commerzbank.
VIP-News: To what extent in terms of financing and investments is your com-pany affected by the credit crunch?
»I think that we are facingan enourmous economic crisis,which will become even more
dramatic than weimagine today«
- Peter Schwenkow
Schwenkow: At the moment in no way.
In comparison to other suppliers we
have very low commitments. We have
two financial partners: One is Dresd-
ner Anschutz Mezzanine Invest and the
other is the Commerzbank and we have
a very good relationship with both of
them. I can very well imagine that we
will look for acquisitions again in the
coming year and we definitely have
the resources to do this. My opinion is
that the only winners will be those that
stabilize their resources for the next
six or twelve months and learn to run
a leaner operation than at present. We
have started this process very early and
announced two weeks ago that we are
undertaking a good will amortization.
This step has also been well received
within the financial community. I think
that we are facing an enourmous eco-
nomic crisis, which will become even
more dramatic than we imagine today.
Please take a look at the fact that the
three big American automobile compa-
nies have requested $15 billion just to
keep them alive until Barack Obama´s
inauguration on January 20. In refer-
ence to this I think a company must be
very lean and aggressive today to in or-
der to survive.
VIP-News: What about the fact that the DEAG has increased its long-term debts from 5.6 to 9 million Euros?
Schwenkow: Yes, through this we fi-
nanced acquisition of Raymond Gubbay
Ltd., which is from our point of view a
brilliant acquisition.
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VIP-News: But at the same time it is stated that within the financial results 1 Million Euros is specifically a result of interest paid.
Schwenkow: Yes, but that is consequential.
When I buy something I have to pay higher
rates and have bigger bonds. I think that
Raymond Gubbay Ltd is a superb acquisi-
tion such as the one in Good News which
is one of the best investments we have ever
made. They make their business exclusively
in in the fourth and first quarter.
VIP-News: What will happen to Good News when André Béchir steps down as MD?
Schwenkow: At the moment he has a con-
tract until the end of 2009, which will cer-
tainly be extended. Béchir is Good News
and Good News is Béchir! André wanted
to have a four-day working week to have
more time for himself after spending more
than 30 years in the business. He wants to
do more private things and that is a wish we
totally understand. In order to accommo-
date that we have to supplement the team,
but besides that Béchir will always stand for
Good News and that is very good.
VIP-News: I assume that your competitors have put you under pressure this year in the light of Waldbühne and the ticketing deal with the O2 Arena?
Schwenkow: The Waldbühne is a great
loss even though the venue hasn’t made
money in the last years. Although it is not
a financial loss for us it is bitter for us be-
cause Waldbühne was part of the identy of
DEAG as the venue was the first deal we did
in 1981.
VIP-News: DEAG built up the reputation of the Waldbühne and undertook a lot of ef-forts to run the arena…
Schwenkow: Of course it hurts us, but in my
opinion every breakup is also the chance for
a new start. Nevertheless we have a joint
venture with Anschutz Entertainment for
the O2 Arena and we will present concerts at
Waldbühne in the future as well. I think we
already started the pre-ticket sales for the
first events last week. There is a saying that
the death toll is counted after the battle, so
we have to analyse the situation very gradu-
ally. Over a three-year run it is quite a chal-
lenge to guarantee a mortgage of 750.000
Euros per year, that’s quite something!
VIP-News: Yes, that’s right, but you have to admit that CTS Eventim is certainly in a good condition today and can therefore easily afford to take this on…
Schwenkow: I can’t say anything against
that...
VIP-News: There are rumours that CTS is also interested in moving into the classic music market which is a domain of DEAG.
Schwenkow: First of all: I think 95% of the
stars in classical music have long-term con-
tracts with us. Secondly: I don’t see any
CTS activity in the classical segment so far,
with this in mind I can´t comment. The only
exception is Juan Diego Florés for whom Marek Lieberberg is responsible because of
private passion, that’s it!
The British venture capital company The
Edge Performance VCT PLC have an-
nounced another live music investment
fund. The new fund aims to raise £10 mil-
lion and aims to invest in ‘Blue-Chip Artists’.
The Edge, which has already issued C- and
D-Shares for their existing investment bas-
kets, declared that it will issue a new share
entitled as E-Share.
The minimum investment is £5,000 and
is linked with an incentive program that
means that every subscriber who signs be-
fore the first of January will receive a bonus
of 30 additional E-Share for every1.000 E-
Shares, then before 1st of February 20, and
until the 1st of March 10 E-Shares. Holders
of C- and D-Shares who apply for this offer
also receive another bonus of about 20 ad-
ditional E-Shares for the purchase of every
1000 E-Shares.
In the press release Alasdair George, Di-
rector of Edge Investment Management
concludes, “The live music and events sec-
tor continues to attract strong demand with
world class individual performers and groups
selling out within minutes of tickets becom-
ing available. As the industry leader we an-
ticipate good deal flow and that we will con-
tinue to have a pick of first class investment
opportunities.”
He goes on to explain the investment tar-
gets of Edge PerformanceVCT: “Since the
establishment of Edge our performance has
outstripped those targets set out by the Board
by some considerable margin. [A total return
per Ordinary share of 87p is anticipated, for
a net cost of investment of 60p, versus a tar-
geted return of 75p] While the economy and
stock markets are unsettled, Edge has offered
both capital security and dividend flow.”
David Glick the founder of the Edge Group
founder is quoted as saying: “No sector is
recession-proof, but we believe the impact
of the current downturn on live music will be
a flight to value. Acts who set ticket prices at
the appropriate level will continue to do well.
We believe our market-leading position as
an investor, our unrivalled team of executive
talent and our established relationships with
market-leading promoters will stand us in
good stead.”
According to the Edge, the company invest-
ed 2008 in concerts of ‘blue-chip names’
such as Bon Jovi, Primal Scream, Kanye West.
The term Blue Chip itself is a well know term
within the financial community and means
- well, maybe in these days probably meant
- financial heavy weights.
The edge Offer New live Music FundManfred Tari [email protected]
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TICKeTINGAllan McGowan [email protected]
where Next in the Fight against Ticket Touts?
regulation Attempts
In January 2008 The House of Commons
Culture, Media and Sport Select Commit-
tee, chaired by MP John Whittingdale,
criticised eBay’s practices in allowing the
auction of charity event tickets (such as
Live 8) and called for the estimated £1 bil-
lion ticketing industry to clean up its act.
Event promoters have repeatedly urged
MPs to recommend a change in the law to
make ticket touting illegal, claiming those
who sold tickets at grossly inflated prices
often deprived grassroots fans of the op-
portunity to see their favourite bands or
sports team or collaborate with criminal
gangs – and promoters have tied the issue
to dodgy websites selling non-existent
tickets.
Recently legitimate online ticketing agen-
cies called on the UK government to
clampdown on rogue online sites after a
spate of cases involving bogus tickets and
high profile examples of consumers being
ripped off - including Reading Festival tick-
ets, the Led Zeppelin reunion, and shows
by Bruce Springsteen and the Kings of
Leon amongst others. The Association of
Secondary Ticket Agents called for a ‘kite
- mark’ (a recognised industry stamp of ap-
proval) scheme to reassure consumers but
promoter Harvey Goldsmith said “there is a
huge criminal element involved in this busi-
ness - they send hundreds of people out to
buy tickets, then have a cache of tickets they
sell for as much as they can”.
The UK government is already working with
the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers
to draw up a new code of conduct in an at-
tempt to soft-touch regulate ticketing. But
the Select Committee cited recent polls
that showed many consumers saw touts as
a ‘godsend’ to fans who were desperate to
obtain tickets for oversubscribed events, or
who wanted to sell on tickets they could no
longer use. At present, buying and selling
second-hand tickets is not illegal, except
for football games in England and Wales.
Under the 1994 Criminal Justice and Pub-
lic Order Act, now extended by the Foot-
ball (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999 and
Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 any fan
selling or offering to sell, without authority,
a ticket for a ‘designated football match’ in
any public place faces a fine of up to £5,000.
The law was introduced after the Taylor re-
port into the Hillsborough disaster. Its aim
was to crack down on touts, and keep op-
posing fans segregated.
David MacLean, then a Home Office minis-
ter, indicated that the law was not intended
to trap the fan seeking to get rid of an un-
wanted match ticket (although it does and
can be seen as particularly criminalising for
those with innocent intentions). The Guid-
ance for the 2006 Act, which extends the
legislation to internet sites, makes it clear
that the legislation is in place to preserve
public order rather than for commercial
considerations. Similar legislation will be
introduced for the 2012 London Olympic
Games, prohibiting the re-sale of tickets.
The 2010 Glasgow Commonwealth Games
will also have similar provisions although
Without doubt all sectors of Ticketing have
been the biggest area of discussion in the
live industry throughout 2008. Particu-
larly, the vexed question of the legitimacy
of secondary ticketing has been hotly
debated, by government, in conference,
on-line, in print, and of course privately.
This Newsletter has of course regularly
reported on developments, so in this last
issue of the year we turned to an expert
observer for a summing up of this ever-
contentious topic. UK Lawyer Ben Challis
had already compiled an overview of de-
velopments for his excellent Music Law
Updates (see link at end of article), which
he has adapted for VIP-News. Although
this concentrates mainly on the UK Market
it is relevant to the secondary practice in
all main markets.
Ben specialises in entertainment law, acts
as General Counsel for 3A Entertainments,
one of the UK’s leading concert promoters,
and for the Glastonbury Festival for which
he is also Executive Producer for televi-
sion, managing the Festival’s broadcast
and other media rights. He regularly writes
articles and other material on music busi-
ness and intellectual property law, contrib-
utes to books and is a regular conference
speaker in particular on the live music in-
dustry. Ben sits as a magistrate in Cumbria,
England and is a Visiting Professor in law at
Buckinghamshire New University.Ben Challis
Promoter Harvey Goldsmith
15
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there may a distinction to protect fans re-
selling tickets at face value.
The re-sale of other event tickets might be
‘immoral’ to some and indeed is usually
in breach of the terms and conditions laid
down by the event organiser - but it is not
currently a criminal offence in the UK. The
use of terms and conditions can give pro-
moters a legal tool to prevent the re-sale of
tickets but such terms have to be reason-
able and certain in the UK when applied
to consumers (under the Unfair Contracts
Terms Act 1977) and in the only test case
this writer is aware of, the Australian Fed-
eral Court found against the promoters of
the Big Day Out, Creative Festival Entertain-
ment, who included a term prohibiting re-
sale, as it was found to be misleading under
the Australian Trade Practices Act 1974. In
fact one solution to touting that has been
put forward is the ‘Queensland Solution’,
an Australian concept that allows fans to
resale tickets up to 10% over face value.
A long Term Debate
Industry self regulation
The debate on whether or not to crimi-
nalise ticket touting is hardly new. In 1989
this exchange took place in the House of
Commons between conservative MP The-
resa Gorman and Home Office minister
John Patten:
Mrs. Gorman “Will my hon. Friend agree that ticket touting is a form of brokerage between
a willing seller and a willing buyer - that it is
no more reprehensible when it takes place
on a pavement than when it takes place in
one of our City exchanges, that brokers are
risk-takers and that everyone is jealous of
them when they make a profit but nobody
has sympathy for them when they make a
loss?”.
Mr. Patten: “I do not want to get into ideo-logical trouble with my hon. Friend, but I
agree with her that nobody is compelled to
take part in the process, that the person who
raises the price of a ticket to sell it on the street
does not defraud the person who originally
set the ticket price and that the person who
pays the price is not unaware of the differ-
ence. I believe that it is pretty obnoxious and
that it is extraordinary the prices people are
prepared to pay, but it is a lawful activity”.
A similar debate took place in the House
of Lords in 1990 with Baroness Gardner
saying “the way that the system works now
it is not a free market. It is being taken over
to too large an extent by a criminal ele-
ment. Big money has become involved. If
there were some system whereby people
were licensed to sell tickets they would
still be making a profit. It could still be an
open market with tickets freely sold. But
we would not have tickets being sold and
resold for so many times their value” and
calling for legislation on ticket tout-
ing which would include local author-
ity licensing. In response Lord Monson
compared ticket touting with the City of
London saying “always providing that they
are acting within the law, the touts fulfil
the useful, indeed Thatcherite, function of
bringing supply into line with demand... In
a sense touts can be compared with jobbers
in the City of London ... Surely the solution
is to let the initial price of the ticket reflect
the demand just as the price of old masters,
Impressionists or first, second, third, fourth
or fifth growth clarets reflect the ebb and
flow of demand, and let a due proportion
of the additional profits made by increas-
ing the prices be paid over to the Treasury
in corporation tax to the benefit of the rest
of us ... Therefore if one wishes to eliminate
the unsavoury type of ticket tout one must
encourage the promoters to get their prices
right in the first place”.
Whilst free markets are perhaps now
seen as the main cause of the current
global economic downturn, ticket tout-
ing wasn’t banned in 1994 and there
seems little chance it will be now or in
the near future. Select Committee chair
John Whittingdale criticised companies
and individuals selling second-hand tick-
ets for popular events but stopped short
of recommending a change in the law,
http://www.recordoftheday.co.uk/http://www.pop1000.com/
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saying that legislation should remain “a
last resort”. Whittingdale called for a vol-
untary code of practice to be drawn up
by the Office of Fair Trading that would
block the resale of charity tickets (with
perhaps a test case against secondary
agents) and he gave his support to a
“middle way” which would see promot-
ers license secondary ticket sellers in re-
turn for a share of the profits adding “It
would neither be practical nor in the inter-
ests of consumers to impose a ban on the
onward sale of tickets to events through
the secondary market”.
Artist manager Petri Lunden’s view re-
flects this “although loud voices within the
live industry scream for legislation against
the touts, I am sure the industry as a whole
is brighter than this” calling on the live
music industry to come up with realistic
solutions to ticket reselling and saying
that ticket trading isn’t going to go away,
adding “if you own it, you should be able to
trade it if you so wish, at whatever price you
can get for it”. The UK government’s posi-
tion is set out in its response to the Select
Committee’s report:
The Committee commented that regula-tion must be a last resort and the Govern-ment agrees with this. The Government does not see a case for any general restric-tion of ticket resale. However, the Govern-ment has listened to the arguments that some aspects of ticket resale may restrict access to sport or major cultural events; especially where these events are unique,
of national or international significance and meet public interest objectives.
John Whittingdale
The Fans View
Fraudulent sales
The Football example
Now a recent survey of 5,200 predomi-
nantly UK music fans seems to support the
idea that the public are reluctantly toler-
ant of ticket touts, often considering them
a necessary evil! Results from the www.vir-
tualfestivals.com survey of music fans on
a range of matters ranging from environ-
mental concerns to festival tourism asked
fans about touting and with the question
‘what do you think about tickets being
sold above face value on eBay and other
sites’. Only a tiny percentage (2%) didn’t
care about the issue at all, and 4% posi-
tively supported online auction sites say-
ing it was a great way to get tickets. 10%
didn’t see a real problem in a free market,
leaving a finely balanced argument be-
tween those who thought the procedure
was appalling - 40% saying online touting
should be stopped, and 44% feeling that
whilst they didn’t approve, the practice
was acceptable in a demand driven mar-
ketplace and it couldn’t be stopped. In fact
more fans are agitated about booking fees
charged by bona-fide ticket agencies. Four
out of five consumers surveyed by watch-
dog magazine Which? thought that book-
ing fees from ‘official’ agents expensive
and poor value for money, and many were
incensed that ticketing charges and ‘credit
card’ fees were not refunded in the event
of a cancellation - even more wanted more
transparency in pricing event tickets.
Even if promoters do secure legislation
against ticket touts and touting, what
shape this would take? It is important here
to differentiate between selling counter-
feit or non-existent tickets and touting.
Counterfeiting, fraud, theft and obtain-
ing money by deception are all charges
at the disposal of the Crown Prosecution
Service and the courts have a variety of
disposals available for existing criminal ac-
tivities. Only recently police closed down
Paperticket who had advertised shows by
Barry Manilow and Kings of Leon amongst
others and have arrested the owner, John
Koukoullis who now faces charges under
the Fraud Act. In another case four compa-
nies including London Ticket Shop linked
to the owner of GetMeTickets, Michael
Rangos (which had itself been compulsory
liquidated in 2006) were wound up in the
High Court with registrar John Simmonds
saying that having read the evidence he
was satisfied that there had “been a con-
spiracy to defraud the public and benefit
Rangos”. And finally here, after an inves-
tigation by the Serious Fraud Office there
have now been five arrests in connection
with Xclusive Tickets, the operation that
allegedly sold non-existent tickets to over
4,000 people for music festivals including
Reading and sold out events at the 2008
Beijing Olympics. Ebay users are most cer-
tainly not exempt; a fraudster who sold
counterfeit electronic goods on the inter-
net auction site has been fined £55,000.
Ebrahim Rahimtulla had previously been
sentenced to 12 months in prison after
being convicted in August 2007 of selling
fake phone accessories and games.
Criminalising touting of legitimate tickets
will produce its own ‘law of unintended
consequences’ - and will the music in-
dustry end up with the same position as
football where “hundreds of normally law-
abiding football fans involve themselves
17
VIP-BOOKING.COM
17
VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
each weekend in a criminal act because a
law aimed at ticket touts can trap ordinary
supporters. It is a familiar scene outside
every football ground, or in nearby streets
and bars. A supporter, let down by a friend
who unexpectedly cannot attend a game,
makes contact with someone looking for a
spare ticket. they complete their seemingly
innocent transaction and proceed content-
edly to the match. But in the eyes of the law,
their exchange amounts to illegal touting.
The offence is committed even if - as gener-
ally happens - the ticket has changed hands
between followers of the same club and
at face value”. I for one wouldn’t want to
differentiate between the fan who needs
to sell a ticket and ‘any reasonable offer
secures’ and the fan out to make a profit
who advertises a ticket as ‘highest offer
secures’.
A Telegraph survey of police forces with Pre-
miership clubs in their areas back in 1996 re-
vealed stark differences in the way the police
deal with the re-sale of football tickets. A fan
arriving at Southampton’s ground, the Dell,
looking to dispose of a ticket would proba-
bly be successful - police are unlikely to take
action unless he offers it to a rival supporter.
However, someone attempting the same
exercise outside the away end at Leeds or
Bradford could expect to be arrested and
charged. Remember here the police are pri-
marily concerned with maintaining public
order - something that couldn’t be levelled
at music events - and even here there have
been unintended and sometimes harsh
consequences for fans just wanting to pass
on unwanted tickets - as well as empty seats
at games - when there are willing fans want-
ing to see the game.
Another possible unintended conse-
quence is the potential cost to promot-
ers (and fans) here. With the Association
of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) wanting to
now charge for policing large scale events,
promoters will also then have to ‘pay’ to
police touting and would have to pass on
the cost to fans (or the artist) – otherwise
they would be paying to arrest their own
customers! I am not sure that making the
re-sale of tickets a criminal offence would
help event organisers remove tickets from
being resold on eBay and other online
sites. Whilst two recent French court deci-
sions held that eBay was liable for damag-
es after allowing the auction of counterfeit
goods, the internet site’s ‘mere conduit’
defence proved successful in a US fed-
eral court when accused of allowing trade
mark infringement.
So where to next in the fight against touts?
Some events like Glastonbury have intro-
duced complex registration systems to try
and eliminate touting and enable real fans
to buy tickets; certainly well written terms
and conditions prohibiting re-sale might
prove valuable in the future but the ef-
fectiveness of these have yet to be tested
in a British civil court and the Glastonbury
system is not fool proof - and indeed was
partially abandoned in the run up to the
2008 Festival when Glastonbury almost
didn’t sell out.
The Resale Rights Society has been set up
by the Music Managers Forum with the
support of the MCPS-PRS Alliance with the
role of (attempting) to regulate the second-
ary ticket market and impose a levy on tick-
ets re-sold on sites like Viagogo and Seat-
wave. The RRS has two primary aims: first,
to ensure music fans are protected from
unscrupulous or bogus resellers through
the introduction of a ‘kite-mark’ scheme
for ticketing sites; second to ensure that
artists and the live music industry share
in the proceeds of resold tickets. But there
must be inherent difficulties here: Whilst
the MCPS-PRS Alliance can legally collect
royalties for its own members because of
the statutory provisions of copyright law,
tickets have no such ‘protection’. Other
ideas are more pragmatic. There are the
fan’s own ticket exchange sites like Scarlet-
Mist where tickets can be swapped at face
value and indeed the Concert Promoters
Association recently talked of setting up
their own similar scheme. Some artists, like
Madonna, have embraced secondary tick-
eting as a solution to the ‘problem’ of tout-
ing and secondary ticketing, appointing
an ‘official’ premium and secondary ticket-
ing partner. But will any of these schemes
really put an end to touting?
Recent headlines from world of football
such as “touts net huge profit on ille-
gal cup final tickets” suggest not: Whilst
Football League spokesman John Nagle
might well say “Re-selling match tickets is a
criminal offence and where tickets are made
available for purchase this year action will
be taken” the fact remains that there are very
few prosecutions of any nature and the prob-
lem is compounded because “almost all the
sites are based abroad, making it harder for
the authorities to bring prosecutions.”
As the live industry (as well as the leisure
sector) still comes to terms with the neg-
ative fallout from the 2003 Licensing Act,
is more government legislation which
may not even be effective really what
the live sector needs? In the 2004-2005
football season just 146 individuals were
arrested for touting football tickets and
in the 2005 - 2006 season just 99 – and in
both seasons just fourteen club grounds
were affected. In 2006 eight premiership
grounds had arrests - with 11 at Chelsea’s
home ground, 10 at Arsenal, 7 at Liver-
pool and just 2 at Manchester United.
The majority of Premiership clubs had
no arrests and these included Tottenham
Hotspur, Fulham, West Ham, Everton,
Blackburn and Manchester City. Only six
Championship clubs had arrests (with
the highest being just 2 at Preston North
End). There were no arrests in Divisions
1 and 2.
Football fans say that they “doubted that
the highly lucrative practice would ever
be stamped out” and Toby Brown, editor
of Chelsea fans’ online forum CFC.net,
said “For every site you close down five
will spring up”. Perhaps in the digital age
the issue of touting is one which promot-
Next?
New Thinking Versus legislation?
VIP-BOOKING.COM
steve winwood Territory: Europe, Australia & Asia Period: January - February 2009 Agency: Helter Skelter Agent: Peter Nash Phone: +44 207 376 8501 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.stevewinwood.com
Alvin Youngblood Hart Territory: Europe Period: March 2009, Summer 2009 Agency: Kultopolis GmbH Agent: Markus Sollner Phone: +49 6861 939980 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.kultopolis.com
Barclay James Harvest feat. les Holroyd Territory: Worldwide Period: Summer 2009Agency: Kultoplis Gmbh Agent: Markus Sollner Phone: +49 6861 939980 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.kultopolis.com
Bobby CaldwellTerritory: Europe Period: May - July 2009 Agency: H.O.T.B Agent: Mark van den Burgh Phone: +31 20 470 9474 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.hotb.tv
scooter Territory: Worldwide Period: By request Agency: Boese & Friends GbR Agent: Maik Boese Phone: +49 40 736 775 610 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.boeseandfriends.com
eddie & The robbers feat. eddie Jordan Territory: Worldwide Period: 2009 Agency: Incredible Artists Ltd Agent: Anita Watson Phone: +44 7768 848119 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.incredibleartists.co.uk
18
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
ers, artists and fans will just have to live with - whether face to face or in
cyberspace.
The digital age has led to significant challenges for the music industry. The
recorded music sector, particularly in the USA, has provoked hostile criti-
cism and public ridicule for brining civil and criminal actions against music
fans – and for each illegal download the record labels get paid nothing. For
each legitimate ticket sold on eBay the promoter has at least been paid the
value they set for the ticket. If promoters and artists are concerned about
the number of tickets reaching the secondary market then they should
implement systems to control this – or embrace secondary ticketing. If
promoters and artists are concerned about tours selling tickets at vastly
inflated prices then they should look at pricing structures – the live sector
already has sponsors tickets and hospitality tickets – Live 8 had a very vis-
ible golden circle for the privileged not-so-few – and at the moment it is
the travel industry who have set the standard in flexible pricing balancing
supply with demand. We don’t need new laws. We need new ideas.
Ben Challis is a lawyer and edits www.musiclawupdates.com.
He is a visiting professor in law at Buckinghamshire New University.
ht tp://w w w.homeof f ice.gov.uk /documents/ VCR A-football - guidance.pdf?view=Binary
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-05-11/Orals-2.html
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1990/apr/18/ticket-touts
http://www.urban75.org/football/tickets.html(Article by Colin Randall Daily Telegraph 1996)
Crackdown urged on rip-off web ticket touts The Observer 23 December 2007
Pressure grows on the online touts dream ticketThe Observer Media 6th January 2008
Whose Ticket? (Petri Lunden)IQ Issue 15 2007 p13
eBay International AG v Creative Festival Entertainment Pty Limited at http://www.craddock.com.au/Document/eBay-Scores-Partial-Win-in-Big-Ticket-Case.aspx and in Legal News (Ben Challis)IQ Issue 18 2008 p10
Virtual Festival’s fan survey (European Festival Report)IQ Issue 20 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/technology/15ebay.html?em&ex=1216267200&en=4dcc0c8323ecf63b&ei=5087%0A
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437322-details/Touts+net+huge+profit+on+illegal+cup+final+tickets/article.do
Statistics on Football-Related Arrests and Banning Ordershttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary Greenfield S, Osbourne G & Roberts S Contradictions Within The Criminalisation Of Ticket Touting: What Should Be The Role Of The Law?http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2008/issue3/greenfield3.html
Which? Survey reported in Live UK Issue 1-2 p8
Court Closes rip-off ticket website companies Live UK issue 99 p4
references
http://www.stevewinwood.comhttp://www.kultopolis.comhttp://www.kultopolis.comhttp://www.kultopolis.comhttp://www.kultopolis.comhttp://www.hotb.tvhttp://www.decimacolina.pthttp://www.boeseandfriends.com http://www.incredibleartists.co.ukhttp://www.vip-booking.com/http://www.vip-booking.com/http://www.musiclawupdates.comhttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/VCRA-football-guidance.pdf?view=Binaryhttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/VCRA-football-guidance.pdf?view=Binaryhttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-05-11/Orals-2.htmlhttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198889/cmhansrd/1989-05-11/Orals-2.htmlhttp://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1990/apr/18/ticket-toutshttp://www.urban75.org/football/tickets.htmlhttp://www.dailytelegraph.co.ukhttp://www.craddock.com.au/Document/eBay-Scores-Partial-Win-in-Big-Ticket-Case.aspxhttp://www.craddock.com.au/Document/eBay-Scores-Partial-Win-in-Big-Ticket-Case.aspxhttp://www.craddock.com.au/Document/eBay-Scores-Partial-Win-in-Big-Ticket-Case.aspxhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/technology/15ebay.html?em&ex=1216267200&en=4dcc0c8323ecf63b&ei=5087%0Ahttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/technology/15ebay.html?em&ex=1216267200&en=4dcc0c8323ecf63b&ei=5087%0Ahttp://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437322-details/Touts+net+huge+profit+on+illegal+cup+final+tickets/article.dohttp://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437322-details/Touts+net+huge+profit+on+illegal+cup+final+tickets/article.dohttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binaryhttp://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/2008/issue3/greenfield3.html
19
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united stage Artist
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About Our Company
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8
United Stage Artist is an independent company within the
Swedish music industry. Our main activities are to exclusively
represent record-artists as tour agents and tour producers. The
company represents close to 100 artists today. (enclosure: ros-
ter) History/ United Stage was set in 1984. When Managing Di-
rector, Anders Larsson, founded the company in Malmö it had
a very strong regional influence but has over the years become
one of the two leading companies in the Swedish market. In
1991 United Stage established a minor office in Stockholm and
in 1996 the whole operation was moved to the capital. During
the autumn of 1997 a rival company, Siljemark Production AB,
was incorporated within the company. Activity/United Stage
Artist is a service company catering for the artist, its client. This
service is divided into two parts, consulting and administration
It´s very important with co-ordination in the market, negotia-
tions and agreements. New Adventures/ Recently, the company
established a department that will act as a concert promoters
for public shows, an activity that is not limited to the perform-
ances of the artists represented by United Stage. It includes a
wider range of entertainment arrangements, without artistic or
geographical limits. Along with the development of the concert
promotion department, the company will increase its activities
in the growing market of corporate events Best Regards! United
Stage Artist
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