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VIP-News is a FREE online newsletter. VIP-News is emailed monthly to more than 20.000 Entertainment Industry Professionals all over the world. Our statistics show that 75% of recipients actively open and read VIP-News every time they receive it. Readers consider VIP-News a valuable source of information for keeping themselves in the loop and up to date with all the latest news, views and insider info. VIP-News is sent to the desks of key decision makers in over 70 countries and reaches: 6000+ agents - 2000+ concert & tour promoters - 1500+ artist managers 10.000+ talent buyers - 2000+ record labels - 1700+ music journalists
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VIPNEWS PREMIUM > VOLUME 180 > JUNE 2015
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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
McGowan’s Musings
Well the longest day was yesterday so we’re
now officially on the rundown for the rest of
the year, so with that comforting thought in
mind welcome to this edition of the News!
Travels since the last issue have included visits
to Inverness in the Scottish Highlands and
Paris for me, and Cannes, France for a couple
of others in the team. The Cannes trip was
of course for Midem, still the grandfather (or
grandmother?) of all the music trade shows,
but facing difficulties as far as convincing
music business folk to pay the still expensive
registration fees. This was the first year that
the event was moved to June, great for the
weather in the sunny South of France, but
this did not swing it for the attendance;
Midem organisers admitted that the numbers
were down by 11% on January ’14 figures.
However the VIP team enjoyed it and, like
others, reckoned that the decreased numbers
made it easier to do business. 2016 will
apparently see the event move till later in
June, so we’ll see, although I can’t see many
festival promoters being available at that time.
The trip to Scotland for the first Xpo North was
somewhat marred by the plane developing a
fault and diverting to Edinburgh – now I’ve
got nothing against that capital city, but
hanging around for hours in any airport is
not fun, we finally argot to our destination
over 8 hours late! However, Inverness is a
very attractive City, and even though the
mountains in the distance still had snow on
them, there were a couple of days when
the sun shone to rival Cannes. I also got to
experience one of the best drummers I’ve
ever seen and heard, Audrey Tait of Hecter
Bizerk is a slight figure but as powerful as
any male kit players that I’ve seen. With the
absence of their bass player she and Glasgow
rapper Louie still produced quite a set!
And what of Paris you ask? Well that was for
the planning meetings for this year’s MaMA
event in October – we’ll keep you informed!
There’s been a couple of stage accidents
of late with some knock on effects, Five
Seconds of Summer’s singer (how’s that for
alliteration!) will probably be staying away
from pyros for some time after setting fire to
his hair and burning his face during a show
at Wembley Arena – he has recovered you’ll
be glad to know. Then Dave Grohl – he of
the Foo Fighters managed to fall off the
stage in Gothenburg, breaking his leg in the
process, though adopting the show must
go on ethic, the rest of the band played a
set of standards before a plastered ( not in
the drinking sense of course!) Dave returned
to complete the set sitting down. However
as a result the show will not be going on at
several festivals including Pink Pop, St.Gallen,
Rock Werchter and Glastonbury. Florence
and the Machine have however moved up
the bill to make up for things on the Pyramid
Stage. Organiser and founder Michael Eavis
has taken it all very calmly though as you’d
expect from a 79 year old who maintains that
the hugely-successful festival “could go in a
wink” and will be outlasted by his dairy farm
In a new film on BBC iPlayer, he reveals his
proudest achievement is nothing to do with
the festival, but is in fact the moment he won
the gold cup for best herd from the Royal
Association Of British Dairy Farmers – so he’s
got his priorities sorted!
Now, what else before we move on! Ah
yes! Van has become Sir Van, not known for
always being in the best of moods, it’s not
known whether Northern Irish singer Van
Morrison cracked a smile when he got the
news that he’d been knighted in the Queen’s
honours list. Also a well-deserved OBE,
Order of the British Empire, went to my good
friend, Keith Harris, UK manager of Stevie
Wonder, amongst many other things. Oh
and Take That got the keys to The O2, having
performed on the London stage 22 times!
… no, I didn’t get anything, but anyway
Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the News!
COLOPHON >
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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
The first edition of XpoNorth took place
in the Highland Capital of Inverness across
the 10th and 11th of June. The event was
known as goNORTH from 2001 to 2014
and featured content from a range of
creative strands including music, screen and
broadcast, fashion and crafts, publishing
and gaming. The event continues to be a
free festival due to the funding and support
from Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE)
and the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF).
Attracting around 1500 attendees,
highlights from the music programme
included a keynote with legendary
Australian promoter Michael Chugg, along
with seminars from PRS for Music, Music
Publishers Association (MPA), the Music
Producers Guild (MPG) and the Scottish
Music Industry Association (SMIA). The
event also featured over 60 live showcases
from acts including SAY (see below) Award
winner Kathryn Joseph, KLOE, Monogram,
Catholic Action, Man of Moon, Hector
Bizerk and Miss Irenie Rose.
XpoNorth is one of the few events where
you can get to see most, if not all, of the
acts as the venues are all within walking
distance. The only thing I missed this year
was the late night gathering in one of the
hotel bars, where as is the case as I’m sure
many of you know, much of the networking
is done. Seems that the hotels weren’t keen
on extra bar take – in Scotland? Surely not!
XpoNorth Director, Amanda Millen said,
‘We’re delighted with the success of our
first festival under the XpoNorth banner.
This was our most ambitious programme
to date, and we’re pleased that the event
continues to achieve growth, both in terms
of attendee numbers and range of content.
It’s fantastic to bring such a cross-reach
of industry figures together in a beautiful
city to connect with the most exciting new
talent in Scotland.’
First Edition of Xpo North Reports SuccessAllan McGowan [email protected]
XpoNorth DirectorAmanda Millen
Xpo North 2015Picture - Paul Campbell Photography 135
Xpo North
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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
Continuing with things Scottish, on June
18 The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY)
Award announced the latest winner of the
coveted award – having appeared at Xpo
North Kathryn Joseph took the SAY Award
for her album ‘Bones You Have Thrown
Me And Blood I’ve Spilled’. The event was
hosted by Janice Forsyth and Vic Galloway
of BBC Scotland, also an attendant of Xpo
North.
Produced by The Scottish Music Industry
Association (SMIA), and now in its fourth
year, The SAY Award has grown to become
the most prestigious music prize in Scotland.
Each shortlisted album wins the artist
behind it a £1,000 prize and a one of a kind
quilt from Glasgow School of Art graduate
Vanessa Hindshaw.
The winner of this year’s public vote was
Paolo Nutini’s ‘Caustic Love, which won an
automatic place on the shortlist after a 72
hour public vote. The remaining nine slots
were awarded by The SAY Award’s panel of
independent judges.
Stewart Henderson, chair of the SMIA,
said:“It’s been a flagship year for The SAY
Award, our biggest yet, so I’m absolutely
delighted for Kathryn. ‘Bones You Have
Thrown Me And Blood I’ve Shed’ is a
beautiful, very special album. I’m just
incredibly proud of all the music our artists
have released over the last 15 months – and
for The SAY Award to recognise a talent like
Kathryn, well, we must be doing something
right. It’s shaping up well for The SAY’s fifth
anniversary next year.”
Leonie Bell, director of arts & engagement
at Creative Scotland, said: “Huge
congratulations to Kathryn Joseph as this
year’s winner! The SAY Award has firmly
established itself as a significant celebration
of contemporary music from Scotland
that illustrates the talent and energy that
exists within Scotland’s music industry and
that emanates internationally. From the
longlist, to the shortlist and now the winner,
the award is a fantastic way to celebrate,
recognise and promote the achievements of
Scotland’s talented musicians and producers
- of which there are many.”
Peter Leathem, CEO of PPL, said: “The SAY
Award is a fantastic way of supporting
and raising the profile of Scotland’s world
class music scene and it is a real pleasure
to be associated with such an increasingly
important event. Huge congratulations go
to all the performers involved.”
Previous winners of The SAY Award
include Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat (2012),
RM Hubbert (2013) and Young Fathers
(2014) – who were also longlisted again this
year for their album DEAD.
Kathryn-Joseph
Leonie Bell, director ofarts & engagement at Creative Scotland
Scottish Albumof the Year AwardAllan McGowan [email protected]
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VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015
The Early Birds...Manfred Tari [email protected]
The festival season 2015 is in progress,
delivering first results and findings.
According to the promoter DEAG,
controversy over the inauguration of its
new festivals ended with an announcement
of a total figure of 160.000 visitors for its
festivals Rock im Revier in Gelsenkirchen,
Rockavaria in Munich, Rock In Vienna and
an edition of the Sonisphere Festival in Biel
in Switzerland.
The Berlin Festival previously held in
September went ahead without the
music convention Berlin Music Week on
a new date (May 29-31) in the Arena
Park. According to the promoter the
event attracted 15.000 visitors for its 10th
anniversary. The business unit behind Berlin
Festival is a joint venture between the
Hörstmann Unternehmensgruppe (HUG),
the mother ship of the music magazine
Intro, Melt Festival and Melt Booking and
the Live Nation subsidy Festival Republic.
Berlin Music Week will be replaced by a new
festival entitled Pop-Kultur at the end of
August.
The newly appointed MD Fruzsina Szep
commented: “What we dreamed of creating
in the past months, what we developed and
planned with the entire team, became a
reality. The city of Berlin has found its mirror
image in the Berlin Festival – all its facets, its
music, arts and culture, its secrets, bringing
together Berliners and Berlin fans at a truly
magical venue!”
Szep formerly worked as a program director
for Sziget-Festival and moved to Berlin at the
end of last year where in her new position
she will also oversee the first edition of
the Berlin Lollapalooza event in September
The current edition of Berlin Festival has
attracted some positive media reports
by local newspaper but also some harsh
criticism for making the event cashless.
While cashless systems have been in use
for some years in various football arenas in
Germany, such as Munich, Dortmund and
Gelsenkirchen, important daily newspaper
such as Tagesspiegel and Berliner Zeitung
have criticised the organisers of Berlin
Festival sharply for operating the system.
A particularly sharp article appeared in
the Berliner Zeitung. Under the headline
“Berlin Festival Between Consume And
Control” and from a total of 970 words
only 50 were dedicated to the line up. The
rest of the article rather featured extensive
descriptions of long queues and editorial
comment focused on big data regarding
the drinking habits of festival goers and
referenced personalized tickets. Right at the
beginning of the story, the US mother ship
of Festival Republic Live Nation was referred
to as an “Entertainment Monopolist”. Well,
from a Berlin point of view this must be true.
The biggest European festival promoter by
far, FKP Scorpio, is not affiliated with Live
Nation but is associated with CTS Eventim.
The European leading ticketing company
unlike Live Nation is not listed on New
York Stock Exchange but does appear on
the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, reported for
its events Hurricane and Southside a total
figure of 125.000 visitors. According to the
company Hurricane gained 5.000 visitors
more than its sister event Southside with
60.000 visitors.
FKP Scorpio also chose to run this year’s
edition of the Hurricane festival with an RFID
Fruzsina Szep
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VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015
(radio-frequency identification) cashless
payment system. After a failed attempt in
2012 to make this event cashless, the current
implementation also encountered serious
problems before improving. On the first
day of the event, on Thursday, June 18, the
radio communication system didn’t work
properly and caused long lasting queues;
also bar and shop staff on on the site didn’t
want to service customers offering cash as
they feared being fined. (This is exactly the
same situation as occurred on the first day
of the Download Festival in the UK – Ed.)
Folkert Koopmans, MD of FKP Scorpio, one
of the most unpretentious promoters ever,
addressed the difficulties in a press release
by the company, committing honestly:
The system itself was not to blame for the
occurring problems, which we were not able
to solve until Thursday evening. However,
some of our guests also had to wait for a
long time to receive their badges, for which
I would like to apologize.”
Well, the synthetic viral money exchange
thing is one thing. Especially when media
reports raise the question of what happens
with the money that is not being re-funded
to punters. At Hurricane for instance the
re-fund was only returned in round figures,
a slightly different policy than at Sziget-
Festival which refund the correct sum of the
deposit the festival goers paid in advance.
Anyhow “cashless” is an issue that can be
read in various ways.
The German agency Four Artists who
together with 0711-Entertainment promoted
for the last fifteen years the one day festival
Mixery Hip Hop Open will not continue the
event in 2016. The current edition on July 18
in Stuttgart will be the last one. According to
the company rising production costs, Gema
(the German copyright collection society)
fees, and staff wages makes it impossible
for the promoters to continue to promote
their event. Additionally it seems to be a
problem in Stuttgart to find a suitable site
that is also suitable for installing camping
facilities for the audience.
In line with this there is also frightening
news from France where in 2013, according
to a survey by industry associations SACEM
and IRMA, 1400 plus festivals took place.
Public funding for music festivals has
been traditionally available for more than
two decades, but 2015 seems to be a
turnaround year for many events that until
now benefitted from public funding.
According to the website “ cartocrise-
culture-francaise” more than 40 festivals
have been cancelled, including events such
as Crazy Week à Nice, where previously
acts like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Mika,
Simple Minds played. According to a report
in the daily newspaper Nice Matin, the
promoter Ivoire Music reported insolvency,
blaming, amongst other costs, high concert
royalties charged by the French collection
society Sacem.
Amongst other endangered events are the
festival Voix du Garou in Six Fours-les-Plages
near Toulon in Southern France, which last
year presented headlining artists Placebo,
Stromae, Woodkid, and Massive Attack.
Also the world music festival Résonances in
Roquefort, will stop after 20 years, having
gained up to 20.000 visitors in previous
years.
A propos “cashless”, the football club
Borussia Dortmund announced for the
upcoming season 2015/2016 beginning
in August to abstain from its previously
cashless payment system and to re-
introduce cash payments in its arena...
Festival
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VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015
As mentioned in the Musings, Dave Grohl broke his leg during a show in Sweden,
resulting in Foo Fighters cancelling this year’s set at Belgium’s Rock Werchter 2015
(amongst other festivals).
It was as you might imagine, an eventful week at the Rock Werchter office. Phone calls
were made and e-mails were sent out trying to find a great alternative. (On this subject,
also read wikihow’: ‘Headliner cancels. Now what?’ on www.rockwerchter.be).
Faith No More and Royal Blood graciously stepped in to appear on Thursday June 25th,
adding a double dose of rock to the bill. Faith No More was in popular demand by the
festival audience.
Last February, Royal Blood received the BRIT Award for best British Band which was
presented to them by Jimmy Page. Plenty of reasons Wechter decided, to grant them
not one but two spots on the Rock Werchter Main Stage, both on Thursday and on
Saturday!
Faith No More and RoyalBlood for WerchterAllan McGowan [email protected]
CONFERENCE · SESSIONS WITH WILL PAGE (SPOTIFY) · PETER RIEGER (PETER RIEGER KONZERTAGENTUR) · ALISON WENHAM (IMPALA) · THORSTEN SCHÄFER-GÜMBEL (STELLV. SPD-VORS.) · CHRIS BARTON (SHAZAM) · PAUL HASLINGER (COMPOSER) · TERRY HALL (FORMERLY THE SPECIALS) · INEKE DAANS (PIAS) · DANIEL MÜLLENSIEFEN (UNIVERSITY OF LONDON) · STEPHAN THANSCHEIDT (FKP SCORPIO) · RALPH SIMON (MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT FORUM) · JOHNNY HAEUSLER (SPREEBLICK) · FRANCINE GORMAN (NORDIC PLAYLIST) · BURAK ÖZGEN (SESAC) · BEN RODENBERG (GASTSPIELREISEN) · FIONA BRANDES (PAY OR SHARE) · AND MANY MORE · SHOWCASES · NETWORKING · MEETINGS · AWARDS FESTIVAL · CONCERTS · WANDA · SÓLEY · TORRES · MAC DEMARCO · AURORA · METZ · LÅPSLEY · XOV · JORIS · TRÜMMER · PALMA VIOLETS · VÖK · COSMO SHELDRAKE · HAPPYNESS · CRISTOBAL AND THE SEA · GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS · A.O.S.O.O.N · DAN MANGAN · ROMANO · ODDISEE · AND MANY MORE · LITERATURE · FILM · FINE ARTS - PERFORMANCES
REEPERBAHNFESTIVAL.COM Organiser: Reeperbahn Festival GbR and Inferno Events GmbH & Co. KG
23.-26. SEPT. 2015
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VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015
Leicestershire police force has defended
scanning the faces of 90,000 festival-goers
over the weekend of 12th-14th of June,
and checking them against a list of wanted
criminals across Europe. The force used facial
recognition technology on festivalgoers
at Download, staged at a rainy Donington
Park, and say that the information gathered
has now been destroyed. It was believed to
be the first time the software had been used
at an outdoor event in the UK.
The trial was criticised by campaign group
Big Brother Watch as “worrying”. Images of
people were compared against a database
of criminals who target music festivals
across Europe, the force said. Chief Supt
Chris Haward said no one who came to the
festival to enjoy themselves had anything
to worry about. “The software provided an
efficient and effective way of picking known
offenders out of a crowd - something that
officers would previously have been done
using paper briefings,” he said.
But Renate Samson from Big Brother Watch
said the way police went about the scheme
was “a great worry”. “We’re very keen for
bad people to be caught but we’re also
keen for innocent people to go about their
day-to-day business, have a good time at
festivals they’ve paid good money for, and
not feel as though they’re being surveyed by
police,” she said.
A cashless payment system was put in
place for the first time in a bid to cut crime,
but the system seemed to suffer the same
teething problems as that implemented at
FKP Scorpio’s Hurricane Festival in Germany
(see above).
Every single person on site, including staff,
children, RIP and VIP customers needed
a dog tag to get around the festival and/
or buy something at the stalls. Cash was not
accepted at any bar, food stall, market stall,
fun fair ride or merchandise stand. The tags
are also used to grant attendees access to
different areas of the site. Early attendees
on the first day reported problems in
topping up, with systems crashing and
traders unable to take money for items.
As attendees were asked not to bring cash
and there was no fall-back system available.
Things were resolved for the main days,
headlined by Slipknot, Muse and Kiss, with
main support from Judas Priest, Faith No
More and Mötley Crüe.
Police Defend Face Scanning at DownloadAllan McGowan [email protected]
Download Festival
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VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015
A few days before UK Music published its
report stating that so called music tourism -
people travelling to music events - generated
£3.1 billion for the British economy,
representatives for the festival sector made
a submission to the government’s Business
Rates Review expressing concern that the
Valuations Office Agency, which advises the
tax man on the taxable value of property,
has been recommending business rates be
applied to festival sites where previously no
such payments were required.
In its submission to the review, the festival
sector wrote: “The festival and events
industry has significant concerns about the
current reassessment of festival and events
sites being conducted by the Valuations
Office Agency. As a result of this, we are
seeing land which has previously been
outside the business rates regime, on the
grounds of its status as agricultural land,
now being reassessed as rateable, and have
seen a number of instances where site-
owners are receiving bills backdated as far
as five years, in circumstances where they
could not reasonably have anticipated such
bills”.
The festival reps state their viewpoint that
no such rates should apply to festival sites
which are, after all, “temporary and ancillary
uses of agricultural land”.
Moreover, they object to the unpredictability
of the VOA’s recent activity. They write:
“Since there is no clear policy set out in
the VOA Rating Manual, or elsewhere, with
regard to the rateability of festival sites
taking place on agricultural land we have no
way of understanding the guiding principles
of the reassessment. It is unfair that festival
and events sites are apparently subject to a
reassessment which appears to be arbitrary
and piecemeal, without any clear policy
framework”.
The submission concludes: “This issue
requires a discussion at ministerial level
about how business rates policy will help or
inhibit business growth. As part of this we
believe it is essential that there is a review
of the evidence around the contribution
that festivals and events bring to the UK
economy, and the rural economy; and
how an increase in business rates liability
may impact business investment, the
competitiveness of the UK events industry,
the cultural life of the UK and the economic
and social impact on rural areas”.
Amongst the organisations backing the
submission were the UK Live Music Group,
the Concert Promoters Association, the
Association Of Festival Organisers and the
Association Of Independent Festivals.
Live Sector Raises Concerns over Business Rates Being Applied to Festival SitesAllan McGowan [email protected]
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10
VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015
Building on the success of the
groundbreaking partnership with BBC
Introducing that has seen emerging
talent matched with independent
festivals throughout the UK since 2012,
The Association of independent Festivals
(AIF), the London based organisation that
represents over 50 of the UK’s independent
music festivals, has announced details for
this years artist and festival pairings under
the scheme including the partnership of a
UK artist and international festival for the
first time.
The two groups first worked together at
the Radio 1‘s Big Weekend in Hackney in
2012 to showcase emerging artists from
East London in the year of the London
Olympics. Artists who have since benefited
under this initiative include Savages, The
Heartbreaks and, in 2014, James Bay at
Larmer Tree Festival, who went on to be
the BRITs Critics choice, releasing a debut
album that went straight to Number One
in March 2015.
Successful artists and bands are selected
from a pool recommended by regional BBC
Introducing teams from across the UK. AIF
then puts a shortlist to each AIF member
festival based on genre and aims to match
artists with relevant festivals. It is a great
opportunity for emerging artists to be
discovered on a national level.
The festivals participating in the initiative
this year include Bestival, Blissfields, Kendal
Calling, Larmer Tree Festival, No Tomorrow,
Nozstock the Hidden Valley, Pete The
Monkey (France) and Village Green with
artists such as Bearcubs, Shelter Point and
Lisbon joining their lineups this season.
Paul Reed, General Manager of AIF
said, “With the festival season rapidly
approaching, AIF members are proud to
again partner with BBC Introducing for this
initiative. Festivals play a huge role in artist
development and the perpetual question
is, “Who are the festival headliners of
tomorrow?” This partnership is part of the
answer, connecting the most exciting new
acts in the UK to our most creative and
successful independent festivals”.
Jason Carter, Head of BBC Introducing said,
“We are delighted to be teaming up once
again with the Association Of Independent
Festivals. By pairing BBC Introducing artists
with a number of independent festivals,
we’re opening the doors for new acts to
experience the thrill of playing a festival
stage and being seen by whole new
audiences”.
Ongoing Initiative Aims to Match Best Emerging talent to Independent Festivals in the UKAllan McGowan [email protected]
Paul Reed,General Manager of AIF
Jason Carter,Head of BBC Introducing
11
VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
In the May issue of the News we reported on the successful Music
Cities Conference held in Brighton just before The Great Escape. At
the event it was announced that a report was being prepared in
Canada looking at the ways that a strong local music industry can
strengthen a city’s wider culture and economy, and how these cities
could encourage and enable a stronger music business community.
Prepared by global record industry trade the IFPI and Music Canada
the report called ‘The Mastering Of A Music City’, has now been
launched. Its authors say the report “provides a simple checklist
to help local authorities, businesses, community groups and the
creative sector capitalise on the potential of music to build, grow
and strengthen their cities”.
Among the tips offered to anyone wanting to master a music city,
are...
Music and musician-friendly policies, from licensing and
liquor laws to parking and planning regulations to affordable
housing and artist entrepreneur training.
The creation of music offices to help musicians and music
businesses navigate the broad range of government policies
and regulations that impact music.
The formulation of music advisory boards to engage the
broader music community in a collaborative way and to
facilitate dialogue with city governments.
Engaging the broader music community to ensure the people
most affected by music policies are involved and informed.
Access to spaces and places for artists to practice, record, and
perform at every stage of their career.
A focus on audience development, ensuring that there is an
engaged and passionate audience for local musicians as well
as international touring artists, now and into the future.
Music tourism or the development of a ‘music city’ brand to
leverage a thriving live music scene, rich music history, or
large music festivals in order to reap the significant benefits
associated with music.
Launching the report, Music Canada boss Graham Henderson told
reporters: “A vibrant music sector delivers an extensive array of
social, cultural and economic benefits to its community; from job
creation and retention to city identity and music tourism, to social
cohesion, music can play an essential role”.
He went on: “Communities of any size, anywhere in the world,
can assess the extent to which they have the essential ingredients
for a Music City, and deploy the strategies successfully used in the
likes of Nashville, Melbourne, Toronto, Berlin and other renowned
Music Cities, in order to enhance or grow theirs. These strategies
don’t necessarily require heavy investment - addressing red tape and
establishing dialogue between leaders in the music community and
city officials are inexpensive ways to grow music’s contributions”.
Go to: www.ifpi.org
The Mastering of a Music CityAllan McGowan [email protected]
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Music Canada,Graham Henderson
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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
UK Music has published new figures on the
contribution music tourism makes to the UK
economy in the latest edition of its ‘Wish
You Were Here’ report.
The figures confirm that music tourism
numbers increased by 34% between 2011
and 2014, with 9.5 million festival fans
travelling to UK music events in 2014 alone.
Over half a million came from overseas,
and the rest apparently covered more
than “three times the average commuting
distance” of an event’s local region in
order to attend. (I think I understand that
particular factoid! – Ed.)
The UK Music report also states that £3.1
billion was generated by music tourism
last year, while the 546,000 music tourists
coming from abroad spent an average of
£751 while in the UK. The music industry
group also reckons that 38,238 full time jobs
were sustained by music tourism last year.
Welcoming the new report, recently
appointed Culture Secretary John
Whittingdale told reporters: “It’s fantastic
news that our music industry drew in 9.5
million tourists last year but it’s no surprise.
British music is legendary around the world
and continues to go from strength to
strength, with UK artists now accounting for
one in seven albums sold worldwide. Festivals
like Glastonbury hold an iconic status on the
world music scene and are one of the reasons
why international tourism is booming in the
UK, drawing in streams of visitors to all parts
of the country. We know our UK creative
industries contribute an astonishing £76.9
billion to the UK economy but this report
confirms they are truly world-class and a
powerful advert for the UK”.
Speaking for UK Music itself, the industry-
wide trade group’s CEO Jo Dipple said: “The
UK’s rich music heritage and infrastructure
has made the UK the go-to destination for
live music globally and these statistics show
how tourism is now a bedrock of British
music and the wider economy.”
UK Music Tourism Generates £3.1 billionAllan McGowan [email protected]
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale
13
VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
European Commission grants clearance for
the establishment of a ground breaking
licensing and processing hub. PRS for Music,
STIM and GEMA combine to create brand
new, cost efficient and one-stop service
across Europe on behalf of over 250,000
songwriters.
In a ground breaking move, PRS for Music
(UK), STIM (Sweden) and GEMA (Germany)
have today been given clearance by the
European Commission to set up a pan-
European online music rights licensing and
processing hub. It is the first combined
offering of its kind
This will transform pan-European music
licensing by enabling ease of access for
digital music services to music rightsas well as
provide faster and more accurate payments
of royalties to writers and their music
publishers, according to STIM.
PRS says that benefits of the new joint
venture include:
Faster and more accurate invoicing
and royalty payments at a time when
the usage data from online services
is growing from billions to trillions
annually;
Simplified licensing negotiations for
digital music services operating across
Europe, reducing barriers for innovative
new online services;
Trusted service from organisations
representing significant European
repertoire with years of combined
experience of back office processing
and music licensing;
Reduced processing costs based on
unparalleled economies of scale;
Full transparency for all rightsholders,
with confidence inspired by collective
ownership;
A major contribution to online cultural
diversity as the new hub will bring
multi-territory licensing within reach of
smaller repertoires.
The joint venture will also aim to
resolve issues related to split-copyright
licensing by integrating back office
processing and matching services with
front office licensing services.
Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive, PRS for
Music said, “This is a very significant day
for online music licensing as our new joint
venture is uniquely positioned to deal with
the rapidly transforming online music market.
Karsten Dyhrberg Nielsen CEO STIM
added: “Today’s Competition Clearance
announcement is testament to the incredible
work that has gone into the design of this
new offering, which will provide a seamless
service for both music rightsholders and pan-
European digital service providers. It’s the
result of years of productive collaboration
between STIM, GEMA and PRS for Music
to deliver a solution that will help the digital
market grow.”
“What this clearance means is that we are
now able to work even more effectively on
behalf of songwriters, composers and their
music publishers, while at the same time
helping to develop the Digital Single Market
across Europe.”
www.prsformusic.com
www.gema.de
www.stim.se
PRS, STIM and GEMA injoint ventureFrom VIP-Daily News
Karsten Dhyrberg Nielsen, STIM, Photo Fredrik Hjerling
14
VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
The Music Managers Forum have just
completed a series of events in the three
main music cities in the US - New York,
Nashville and Los Angeles. Titled “From a
Whisper to a Stream” the seminars were
led by Jon Webster and Jonny Dawson.
Co-Chair Stephen Budd joined the New
York event and MMF Board Member Scott
Rodger the LA one.
Last year the MMF and FAC partnered
with Spotify to organise presentations and
discussions about the latter’s service and
streaming in general in the same US cities.
Other events have also been held at SXSW
and around Coachella.
CEO Jon Webster said “The seminars were
initially themed around streaming and timed
to coincide with the (subsequently delayed)
launch of Apple Music which covers radio
and fan connection as well. Managers
turned up in significant numbers and it was
a great opportunity to exchange knowledge
and express hopes and concerns with
their peers. The conversations eventually
covered a wide range of issues from
free to freemium; data and accounting;
breakage to representation; safe harbours
to the recently formed International Artists
Organisation”.
Artist David Byrne also joined the meeting
in New York.
More events are planned for the autumn
and next year.
MMF Talk Streaming in the USAllan McGowan [email protected]
CEO Jon Webster
15
VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
In the last few issues of the News we have
reported on the problems being faced by
certain UK venues, and indeed the closure
of far too many for various reasons including
noise complaints from residents of newly
built neighbouring properties We have also
featured the efforts being made by the
Music Venues Trust to gain more protection
for established venues. The MVT have often
referenced the ‘agent of change’ principle
implemented in Australia.
The MVT is now backed in this by the
Musicians’ Union, which has now placed this
issue high up its agenda, lobbying Parliament
and government over the introduction of
the principle. The agent of change principle
is the idea that if property developers erect
new residential buildings next to existing live
music venues, they should have a legal and
financial responsibility to provide whatever
sound proofing is necessary to ensure the
venue and future residents can co-exist. The
aim is to overcome the increasing incidents
arising from people moving in next to
a music venue, which may have helped
make a previously undesirable part of town
attractive again, and then complaining
about the noise, often forcing the venues
to cut back their music programmes or shut
down entirely. In the main these grassroots
music venues rarely have the budgets
required to pay for costly sound proofing to
be put in. Too many venues have faced this
challenge in recent years, and several more
are set to in the near future.
Commenting on the MU’s bid to introduce
the agent of change principle, the Union’s
General Secretary John Smith said: “Music
venues across the country are vitally
important - both for musicians and bands
who rely on them for their livelihoods and
for music fans and local communities.
Venues must, of course, stick to the terms
of their licence and residents must be able
to complain if they do not comply or are
causing a genuine nuisance. But a growing
number of well-established venues have
been forced to close or to undertake
expensive noise reduction work as a result
of noise complaints and abatement notices
served by new developments. We would like
the government to consider introducing the
agent of change principle in order to help
protect these important cultural spaces”.
MU Lobbies for Agent of Change Principle for VenuesAllan McGowan [email protected]
Union’s General SecretaryJohn Smith
Aarhus City Festival has hired 50-year-old
Rikke Øxner as their new director. She joins
in October replacing Jens Folmer Jepsen,
who has headed the Aarhus City Festival
for nine seasons. Rikke Øxner is a very
experienced and recognized culture profile
after 20 years at Roskilde Festival, where
she in the past several years has been part
of the leadership, head of booking and
artistic director.
She still lives in Copenhagen, but is moving
to Aarhus soon. “I must have my base
here and have the city under my skin and
I can only do that if I live here”, she says.
“Both Roskilde Festival and the Aarhus City
Festival are about doing events in a defined
area. At Roskilde Festival, we had a great
field where we had to create something,
and here we have an urban space that we
need to put in play”, she says.
She will not transform the festival week and
shake all the traditions: “I have no ambition
to turn the city festival into a music festival,
but I have many, many ideas”, she says.
She will not concretize her vision before
the upcoming festival week is held and she
starts the new job.
Rikke Øxner has been hired on a four-year
contract. Her first task will be to help to
hire a new head of administration for the
festival week. Aarhus Festival was first held
in September 1965. Last year the festival
week had 500,000 visitors.
The Fender company has announced the
appointment of a new CEO in the form
of Andy P Mooney, who joins the musical
instrument firm from surf wear company
Quiksilver.
Mooney also previously worked for Disney
and Nike. Confirming his new role, he said
yesterday: “As a longtime fan and user of
Fender products, it’s a dream come true to
be asked to lead a brand and company that
I personally have so much admiration for”.
His new boss, Fender co-Chair Mark
Fukunaga, added: “Andy has proven
success in connecting consumers to brands.
His personal passion for Fender guitars and
the company’s long and storied history
makes him a great fit for our culture. We are
tremendously excited to have an executive
of Andy’s calibre at the helm of Fender and
we look forward to great success in the
future under his leadership”.
Rikke Øxner new director of Aarhus City Festival From VIP-Daily News
Fender appoints new CEO From VIP-Daily News
Rikke Øxner
Andy Mooney
17
NAMES & JOBSVIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
Big band leader James Last has died in
Florida, aged 86.
The German-born musician`s manager said
he died at his home “peacefully and in the
presence of his family”.
“In him, the world loses a unique
ambassador whose expressive and all-
encompassing language was music.
“We bid farewell to the man, friend and
visionary, who by his impressive strength and
openness, his professionalism, modesty and
love of life served as a role model and as an
inspiration for many generations worldwide.”
Last sold millions of records with his
trademark “happy music” - upbeat versions
of pop and classical favourites performed by
his orchestra.
Last started his music career in the 1960s,
making instrumental recordings as James
Last and His Orchestra - a big band with
additional strings and a choir.
Born Hans Last, his record company changed
his name to James to make him sound less
German when his debut album came out
in the UK. He was not consulted about the
change - but went along with it.
During his career, he charted with 65 albums
in Britain alone, and at his peak was creating
two albums a month.
He gained a large and loyal fanbase - but
was derided by many music purists who did
not like his middle-of-the-road versions of
classic tunes.
His illness took a “life-threatening” turn
last September and apparently forced him
to face the fact that “a man full of plans,
needs to not just slow down but give up
his life on tour altogether”, That led him to
announce his final British shows - his 89th
and 90th concerts at London`s Royal Albert
Hall - which took place in March.
“I can`t talk about goodbye - it`s a terrible
feeling,” he told the BBC at the time.
James Last dies at 86 From VIP-Daily News
James Last
Agents Clementine Bunel and Cecile
Communal of 2 For The Road Events to ATC
Live.
Clementine & Cecile have successfully built
independent agency 2 For The Road Events
over the past 5 years and bring their full
roster of artists with them including Benjamin
Clementine, Songhoy Blues, Stromae, Mulatu
Astatke and Francois & The Atlas Mountains.
Sharing the same artist focused and creative
approach as ATC Live, their artists join the
growing roster that includes Passenger, The
Lumineers, Half Moon Run, Shura, Soak,
Curtis Harding and The Districts.
Clementine and Cecile will be assisted by
Milo Steelefox.
2 For The Road Events joinATC Live From VIP-Daily News
CecileCommunal
Clementine Bunel
NAMES & JOBSVIPNEWS > JUNE 2015
18
VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > JUNE 2015 MUSIC IN SHARES
MusicIn SharesManfred Tari [email protected]
CTS Eventim - The Winner Gains It All
DEAG - The Market Shaker
CTS Eventim is a cheer leader among those corporate companies
covered within this section. While the business figures for the first
quarter 2015 only reveal a slight revenue increase from 150.4 one
year ago up to 151.7 million Euro, the profit results grew significantly.
The Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation & Amortisation
(EBITDA) went up 11.7 percent from 32.9 to 36.8 million. The usually
impressive results for the ticketing division of CTS Eventim provide
an almost boringly repetitious read; revenue for this part of the
company went up from 69.4 to 76 million Euro. The EBITDA results
therefore grow “only” by 7.7 percent from 27.1 up to 29.2 million
Euro. These are profit margins that really deserve the term don’t you
think?
Within the live entertainment sector the revenues shrunk a little bit
from 88.1 to 77.3 million Euro. The EBITDA therefore is 7.6 million
Euro.
Nevertheless the share price of CTS Eventim appears to be the
overall winner in this section. At the beginning of January the share
was at 23.19 Euro. On June 22 the share price was 31.74. The market
capitalisation is currently at 3 billion Euro.
The turmoil has calmed down, but DEAG has managed to shake up the festival
market in Germany and Austria with its three new festivals. The financial results
for this attempt to launch new festival formats in an already challenging market
environment apparently won’t be visible until DEAG release its results for 2nd
quarter. The ones raised for the first quarter compared to Q1-2014 rose from 32.6
up to 38.96 million. The Earnings Before Interests & Taxes (EBIT) rose from 1.48 up
to 1.83 million.
However, the share price of DEAG came under pressure when various newspapers
reported weak ticket sales for the new festivals with acts including Metallica, Muse
and Kiss. From 6.88 Euro at the beginning of the year the price was down to 5.63
Euro when this report went on to press. Earlier on at the end of February the share
even celebrated a peak moment when the share went up to 8.20 Euro. The market
capitalisation currently is 93.2 million and the current share price indicates that the
financial community is waiting a bit until the business results for Q2-2015 will be
revealed.
19
20
VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > JUNE 2015 MUSIC IN SHARES
Live Nation - Investors Approve Incentive Plan And Spotted Protesters
SFX Entertainment -De-Listing And Plaintiffs In Sight
Sometimes it is surprising how emotional investors can be. At the
recent annual meeting on June 10 the share holder community
of Live Nation approved a bonus and incentive plan for the top
notch management of Live Nation with a voting result of 99
percent. Another incentive plan for stocks for the company top
management only received a positive voting of 77 percent. The
most exciting election results refer to that of the board of directors
of Live Nation:
The incentive plans for the company management are probably a
bit more lucrative than for those who work for Live Nation as stage
hands. The Los Angeles Times reported the working conditions
for stage hands by the subcontractor Crew One Productions, a
service supplier for Live Nation. Within the article among others it is
reported “ sometimes the workers aren’t even given water to drink”
and that “safety training is all but nonexistent” The stage hands
getting as little as $9 per hour. These kind of working conditions
obviously caused concerns and led to an extraordinary non-official
annual meeting outside during the annual meeting of Live Nation.
Since the beginning of the year the share went up from $26.16 to
$28.73. The market capitalisation of the company therewith grows
up $5.79 billion.
The announcement by company founder Robert F.X. Sillerman
tregarding his buy back of SFX Entertainment shares with the
purpose of de-listing from NASDAQ has caused legal actions
by various opponents. One of these opponents is the law firm
Brodsky & Smith, LLC, which announced that it is evaluating to
launch “potential claims” against the management of the company
under the aspect of “possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other
violations of state law in connection with the sale of the Company”
to Sillerman. With a similar intention the law firms Marc S.
Henzel also considers as undertaking potential claims against
SFX Entertainment as well as Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., Dunnam &
Dunnam, Faruqi & Faruqi and The Shareholders Foundation.
Well, so called “squeeze out” procedures are always good to call
out opponents of such measures on the plan. The main purpose
of such legal actions is to increase the buy back price of shares on
which Sillerman set a so called “put price” of $5.25. Additionally
the rating agency Moody’s announced that it will take the former
credit ratings for credits of 325 million under review for a possible
downgrade.
At the beginning of the year share price was $4.49, currently it is
$4.46. The current market capitalisation is $418 million, within the
last 52 weeks the share price reached a peak of $8.67 and lost until
then 46.9 percent of its former value.
Nominees For Against Abstained Pass Rate Broker Non-Votes
Mark Carleton 129,462,026 42,409,468 1,434,426 75 % 7,667,904
Jonathan Dolgen 171,733,831 125,193 1,446,896 99 % 7,667,904
Ari Emanuel 172,305,929 129,616 870,375 99 % 7,667,904
Ted Enloe 143,928,393 27,942,341 1,435,186 83 % 7,667,904
Jeff Hinson 171,432,459 426,994 1,446,467 99 % 7,667,904
Jimmy Iovine 172,250,858 185,552 869,510 99 % 7,667,904
Peggy Johnson 171,484,359 375,544 1,446,017 99 % 7,667,904
Jim Kahan 171,732,462 127,573 1,445,885 99 % 7,667,904
Greg Maffei 133,823,712 38,622,845 859,363 77 % 7,667,904
Randall Mays 167,832,231 4,605,701 867,988 97 % 7,667,904
Michael Rapino 172,301,035 158,453 846,432 99 % 7,667,904
Mark Shapiro 144,677,668 27,770,241 858,011 83 % 7,667,904
VIPNEWS > MISC > JUNE 2015
Noel Gallagher`s High Flying BirdsTerritory: EuropePeriod: 2015Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Ben WinchesterPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.noelgallagher.com
BANCO DE GAIATerritory: World incl USAPeriod: May 2015 onwardsAgency: Value Added TalentAgent: Dan SilverPhone: +44 20 7704 9720E-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]
Bo Kaspers OrkesterTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: By requestAgency: Lifeline EntertainmentAgent: Michael HenrikssonPhone: + 46 70 632 00 23E-mail: [email protected]: www.lifeline.se
DIE KRUPPSTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: September 2015Agency: IBDAgent: Sabine WaltzPhone: +49 (0) 8202 9049870E-mail: [email protected]: www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial?fref=ts
THE ORCHESTRA starring ELO former members Territory: WorldwidePeriod: 2015Agency: World Entertainment Associates of AmericaAgent: John Regna - Artist Agent/ManagerPhone: +1 407 993 4000E-mail: [email protected]: www.THEORCHESTRAonline.com
Peter Doherty Territory: EuropePeriod: 2015Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Matt BatesPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.albionrooms.com
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Roskilde Festival is the largest music festival in
Northern Europe – attracting audiences from all
over Europe and the rest of the world. It is an
independent, non-profit festival organised by The
Roskilde Festival Charity Society. Roskilde Festival
presents an up to date and progressive music programme as well as lots of events, art
and activities. Approximately 160 bands play at the festival. The camping areas open
on the Sunday preceding the festival with upcoming acts playing the smaller stages
Rising and Apollo Countdown and many activities during the days up to Thursday.
An extensive environmental programme is implemented each year including a refund
system. All profits from the festival are donated to humanitarian, cultural and non-
profit projects that benefit people all over the world. The festival is located on the
Festival Site, outside the town of Roskilde, 35 km from Copenhagen.
Musicians representing all conceivable genres, from all over the world, play minimum
one-hour sets on the smaller stages and often 90-minutes sets on the biggest stages.
The long sets make the Roskilde Festival music experience fundamentally different
from most competing festivals in Europe.
Roskilde Festival was established in 1971 and has since then presented acts like
Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Beastie Boys, Björk, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Nick
Cave & The Bad Seeds, Coldplay, The Cure, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Bob Dylan, Faith
No More, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Paul Kalkbrenner,
Kings of Leon, Kraftwerk, Bob Marley, Mastodon, Metallica, M.I.A., Muse, My Bloody
Valentine, Nirvana, Outkast, PJ Harvey, Prince, Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine,
Rammstein, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rihanna, The Rolling Stones, Ravi Shankar, Slayer,
Slipknot, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Streets, The Strokes, Talking
Heads, Tiësto, Tool, U2, Roger Waters, Kanye West, Jack White, The Who, Brian
Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.
21