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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 131 ›› DeCeMBer 2010
www.VIP-BOOKING.COM
So here we go with the very last News of
the year, also the last of the first decade of
the twenty first century. They say time flies
when you’re having fun so at the rate this
last year seems to have shot past I must
be having the time of my life! I’ll probably
consider that when I’m snowed in some-
where for Christmas. Of course one of the
worst things about snow is that it provides
perfect camouflage for seagulls – they can
creep right up on you before you know and
they’re famous for pecking the eyes out
of snowmen! Well, they’re not really, but I
just thought I’d have another go at them to
wind up the year!
It’s not been the greatest year for everyone
in the live music industry, particularly in the
US. However it’s not been too bad for Bon
Jovi who were the most successful live act
of the year with takings of $146.5m. The
hard work on coming up with these and
many other sets of figures, which the indus-
try finds fascinating and useful, is often un-
dertaken by Billboard magazine, but even
this seemingly rock solid journal of the mu-
sic industry is having its problems and had
announced the closure of its London office.
Advertising revenues, the lifeblood of print
magazines have dropped off in all areas
during the economic crisis, but of course
the music industry has been particularly hit
with the demise of the majors and the space
left where the new album release full pages
used to be is harder and harder to fill.
Still back to Bon Jovi who sold 1,591,154
tickets for 69 gigs between 20 November
2009 and 28 November 2010 on their ‘The
Circle’ tour, they were also the highest-
grossing live act of 2008, having taken
$210m (£133.4m) on its Lost Highway tour.
Jon Bon Jovi is reported as saying that fans
bought tickets “because they’re willing to
spend their disposable dollars”. Which is
a bit strange when the likes of Live Nation
spent the better part of last year cutting
prices because presumably in an uncertain
economic climate people didn’t have dis-
posable dollars to spend?! Oh well Jon’s got
lots of disposable dollars of his own now to
do as he wants with, and more to come as
the tour when it finishes in Portugal on 31
July 2011, will have played 135 shows in 30
countries.
So it seems that some people are definitely
still making money out of playing live even
though worldwide figures indicate a 26.4
percent decrease in gross, a 12.3 percent
decrease in attendance and a 14 percent
decrease in the number of shows reported.
It was not an easy year, but it should still be
remembered that these worrying figures
still report concert attendances of slightly
more than 65 million people. That’s a big
market! The US figures were down by twice
the drop off reflected in global numbers.
But even there some still reported suc-
cess, Certain sectors, including country,
most major festivals and tours by super-
stars in pop, urban and dance/electronic-
performed well and whilst Live Nation lan-
guished AEG had one of its best years yet.
As AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips says. “If an
artist is hot, people are motivated to find a
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McGowan’s Musings:
Allan McGowan
The VIP-Booking european live entertainment BookAdvertising in the VIP Book will make you visible to 10.000 business
professionals all over europe. You will find no better place to expose your
company to the whole european live entertainment Industry.
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0
way to go. If they’re not, I don’t care how
much money you spend on marketing or
how you package things, it’s not going to
work.”
So the live music industry, for so many
years now, the sector that others in the
music industry looked to for salvation,
enters 2011 leaner and more wary than it
has for some time, but maybe this is not
such a bad thing, There are pitfalls to be
looked out for, such as alienation of fans
through overpricing in both primary and
definitely secondary ticketing, and the
fact that younger fans are dropping off
in attending live shows, and maybe as
an industry more concentration will be
brought to bear on these areas, which
will be good for the future.
So, lets start the new decade on a posi-
tive note, we wish you all a great holiday
and health and prosperity in the New
Year. And as ever, let us know what you’re
doing, there is no News without you!
Interview with TicketscriptAllan McGowan [email protected]
Ticketing has become a tough market,
software for distributing tickets is some-
thing everyone can make easily nowa-
days.
So what does it take to be a player in this
competitive market?
Ticketscript is a fast growing operator in
Europe, VIP-News asked CEO Frans Jonk-
er about the way to success…
VIP-News: Please give us a few facts on your company; you have offices in Ger-many, UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, right?
Frans Jonker: Ticketscript is a European
market leader in the next generation of
ticket sales through SaaS (software as a
service) solutions. Ticketscript is a multi-
national company as a result of mer-ging
Ticketscript (pan European) with Trinity
Mobile, the leading UK mobile ticket-
ing platform provider. Ticketscript now
operates across 5 European countries.
A new office has recently opened in
London and we will soon be operating
out of Manchester as well. In addition
to this, we have offices in Amsterdam in
the Netherlands, Berlin and Dusseldorf
in Germany and Antwerp in Belgium.
The company provides events with an
online plug-and-play ticket shop for sell-
ing e- and mobile tickets from the event’s
own website. The company is actively in-
volved across music events, nightclubs,
pop venues, festivals, fairs, sporting and
other events. Ticketscript was runner-up
in the 2008 Accenture Innovation Award
and has been nominated for the Van
Speijk Innovation Prize.
VIP-News: In a world with a lot of compe-tition in the ticketing market, why should a promoter choose your service instead of some of the other service providers?
Frans Jonker: To receive our service,
there is no cost to set up the ticket-
shop and no hidden costs at all. We also
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0
boast very low service fees. Our service
includes mobile ticketing so all custom-
ers need to do is bring their phone to
the event and not worry about any paper
tickets. Through mobile ticke-ting we can
collect data on ticket buyers for marketing
purposes.
Customers are able to set up their own on-
line ticket shop. There are over 50 national
and inter-national payment methods for
transactions. We can also connect your
ticket shop with social media networks to
promote ticket sales. We provide free en-
trance solutions and an unmatched per-
sonal service for our clients. Payout is also
extremely fast.
Since its launch in 2006, more than 2000
event organizers across the Netherlands,
Belgium, Germany, Austria and UK have uti-
lized ticketscript’s free web application.
VIP-News: Mobile ticketing, will that be the next big thing or what do you think?
Frans Jonker: Since our recent merge, our
focus has turned to increasing the usage
of mobile tickets across Europe and utiliz-
ing the mobile database for event promo-
tion/customer contact to drive ticket sales.
Ticketing is the ideal product for mobile
phones, it is efficient and there is no need
to see it, try it out or anything else before
you buy! Not only that, we will be able to
offer mobile marke-ting capabilities, the
ability to buy tickets via mobile phones
and provide mobile entrance Apps.
We feel that over the next two years, mo-
bile will be very important and big in the
ticketing and event industry.
VIP-News: What is your goal for the future, do you intend to expand to the rest of Eu-rope or will you fo-cus on the countries you are now represented in?
Frans Jonker: Having recently received
significant investment, we will continue to
grow in 2011 and by the end of 2011 will
have a presence in at least one more large
European destination. Our goal is to re-
main one of the market leaders in Europe.
We will be a pan-European company but
our solution and service for each location
will be tailor-made for that country.
Frans Jonker
UNIQUE AND DOUBLY GOOD
Tel. +49 (0) 711/9554-40Fax +49 (0) 711/9554-500
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0
The upcoming three Take That shows in
Germany in July 2011 have set new stand-
ards in many terms. Except for the Munich
show all ticketing is handled exclusively
by Smart Tickets and as such excludes not
only the market leader CTS Eventim and
its rival Ticketmaster.de from selling Take
That tickets, apart from a small number of
high price VIP-packages.
MCT, the German promoter of the three
shows in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Mu-
nich have undertaken a promising attempt
to exclude secondary ticketing platforms.
Smart Tickets provides a state of the art tick-
eting platform and MCT is using all possible
features to make the ticketing for these
concerts very different. All tickets will be
sold personalized and ticket buyers need to
produce ID-cards at the shows. Another re-
markable move involves the business terms
that accompany purchase of these tickets.
Conditions for the resale of tickets are clear-
ly defined and can only be done through
a ticket exchange provided by Smart Tick-
ets. Resale is made consumer friendly by
restricting surcharges to a maximum of 15
percent of the original purchase price.
But what has upset many promoters since
resale platforms such as Ebay, Fansale.de,
Seatwave and Viagogo entered the ticket-
ing market has happened again. While all
the afore mentioned business terms and
conditions that go with Take That-tickets
are well displayed on the website of Smart
Tickets and MCT, there are, as usual, lots
of overpriced tickets on sale at the men-
tioned resale platforms.
When asked about this Scumeck Sabottka,
MD of MCT said: “MCT and our assigned
law firm CMS Hasche Sigle will take action
against every unauthorized vendor that is
offering tickets.” To further confirm that
Seatwave & Co aren’t eligible to sell Take
That tickets, Sabottka said: “There are,
apart from Tickets.de and München Ticket
(Munich Ticket) no other authorised plat-
forms.”
In reference to the legal consequences
arising from the unwanted resale of tick-
ets, Sabottka said: “There are manifold le-
gal options, which we prefer not to make
public in detail.”
One problem is communication 2.0. In the
beginning when tickets went on sale for
the tour, the German version of the search
engine Google ranked the official website
takethat.tickets.de in places five to seven
in the top ten search results.
Meanwhile this has changed and the offi-
cial ticket sale website is in first place. But
with Seatwave and Viagogo placing online
advertisements at Google linked with the
match words ‘take that’ & “tickets”, Goog-
le.de also benefits indirectly very well from
the upcoming Take That tour. The search
results for the tour are spiked with several
advertisements of questionable ticket sell-
ers that certainly can’t be considered as
legal ticketing platforms at all.
As regards the business terms of MCT and
Smart Tickets for this tour, Google simply
misdirects punters to non-eligible ticket-
ing platforms for this tour. Adapting the
search words ‘Take That’ & ‘tickets’ & ‘Düs-
seldorf’ bring up at least two referrals to
press articles in the newspapers Rheinische
Post and the tabloid paper Bild, warning
about extortionate prices for Take That-
tickets by not only the usual suspects.
But this is only the case for search re-
sults for the show in Düsseldorf. Top ten
search results by Google.de for shows in
Hamburg and Munich do not display any
articles warning about the strict business
terms that are linked with these tickets.
The main problem is that punters can’t see
on the first view who legally sells these
tickets. Besides this, normal concertgo-
ers in general have no idea how second-
ary ticketing works and they are fooled by
touts on many of these platforms.
Having asked Sabottka about the com-
munication strategy regarding the busi-
ness terms he said: “Before the pre-ticket
sale started a press release with informa-
tion about ‘regulated pre ticket sale’ was
send out. Additionally on our website mct-
agentur.com we display information about
this too. Furthermore we are going to do
interviews regarding this matter.”
While Seatwave has a disclaimer on the
web site informing that Take That tickets
are only sold personalized, Viagogo only
inform purchasers about this restriction
after they have bought a Take That ticket.
But that’s it. Both companies actually un-
dertake no efforts to inform that they are
actually not allowed to sell Take That-tick-
ets. And of course, ticket prices are rising
on these platforms. The most expensive
ticket for a single ticket in the standing
room in Hamburg is 550 Euro plus a serv-
German Promoter Fights Fake Tickets resellersManfred Tari [email protected]
Take That
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ice charge of 82.50 Euro for Viagogo plus
postal service charges.
However, the law firm that Sabottka have
engaged is an international company that
employ 600 lawyers and is specialized in
antitrust and competition right. Bearing
this in mind and considering the very strict
terms and conditions that apply for Take
That tickets in Germany, Sabottka seems
to be the very first promoter that is able to
cut out ticket resellers.
Unfortunately other promoters like Marek
Lieberberg do not seem to back Sabottka’s
efforts in doing something against second-
ary ticketing. In the trade paper Musikwo-
che Lieberberg said in a press conference
regarding the upcoming Herbert Gröne-
meyer tour in Germany in 2011, “On the
Grönemeyer 2011 tour there are already
tickets available for just only 36 Euro, this is
very reasonable for a stadium concert com-
pared to U2 or other international artists”
Lieberberg furthermore says in Musikwo-
che that he does not work with these tick-
eting platforms. Whatever he means by
that, the fact is that Viagogo and Seatwave
are selling tickets for this tour as well.
A Viagogo View on secondary Ticketing and the German Take That-TourManfred Tari [email protected]
Peter Feldmeier - Viagogo
Peter Feldmeier is the national manager of
Viagogo in Germany. He has had a career
in economic science and of course was a
banker for a short time before he started
working for Viagogo.
VIP-News: How would you describe the secondary ticketing market these days?
»Over the last four years,the secondary market hasbeen widely embraced by
major sporting, music and festival organisers«
- Peter Feldmeier
Peter Feldmeier: Since Viagogo launched
in 2006, the business has grown in multi-
ples as opposed to percentages which is a
testament to how much consumers value
the safe and secure service viagogo offers
in the secondary market.
Over the last four years, the secondary mar-
ket has been widely embraced by major
sporting, music and festival organisers and
this is evident from the partnerships Viago-
go has formed. Viagogo holds partnerships
with many of Germany’s leading sports,
music and publishing properties, including
FC Bayern Munich, Kaiserslautern and Bild
and has partnered with artists such as Ma-
donna on major European concert tours.
By working with Viagogo, event organisers
are able to manage how their tickets are
resold and protect fans from online fraud
and ticket scams by offering a safe and se-
cure place to buy and sell tickets.
VIP-News: Has Viagogo experienced a change in terms of consumer behaviour recently?
Feldmeier: Prior to Viagogo, there was little
choice for consumers who wanted to pur-
chase tickets to sold-out events. Many con-
sumers met touts on street corners or dingy
pubs with no idea if the ticket was ‘fake’
and/or how much to pay for the ticket.
The service Viagogo offers has been widely
accepted by consumers as they understand
that they if they buy a ticket on Viagogo that
they are guaranteed to get the ticket they
paid for in time for the event. This level of
service and security didn’t exist before and
consumers have welcomed this change.
VIP-News: The German promoter for the upcoming Take That tour included in his business terms that the resale of tickets for these three concerts in Germany, other than at Tickets.de, is forbidden. Are you concerned that more tour & concert pro-moters might adopt such a sales policy?
Feldmeier: Viagogo believes that once a
person has purchased a ticket, it is their
property and they should be allowed to
sell it if they wish. In the same way that
someone who has purchased a book or a
car that they no longer need can resell it
on, they should be able to resell a ticket.
Viagogo’s own research confirms that the
majority of consumers agree, that if they
cannot use a ticket, they should have the
right to recoup the cost of that ticket.
Viagogo believes that T&Cs that prevent
people from reselling their unwanted tick-
ets are unfair on consumers. Consumers
would not accept such restrictions on any
other item, why should they accept such
restrictions on tickets.
VIP-News: Has Viagogo had to lay off any staff in the last couple of months?
Feldmeier: As highlighted above, Via-
gogo has grown in multiples as opposed
to percentages in the past four years and
now operates local language websites in
26 countries and local offices in the UK,
Germany, France and Holland. Viagogo is
headquartered in London and employs
over 100 people in the UK.
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To survive in a business as volatile as the
Live Music Business is something that not
many people do but to survive for 40 years
with the same company and with the same
man at the helm is an achievement worthy
of recognition. VIP-News asked Dragan
Nikitovic, the man behind Joybringer
Concerts, about his experiences along the
road from 1970 – 2010.
VIP-News: How did you come into the concert business and what was your first show?
Dragan: I started promoting shows al-
ready when I was at school. We started
Joybringer in 1970. Our first show was a
concert with the German act Guru Guru
on November 3, 1970 at the University in
SAARBRÜCKEN / Germany.
VIP-News: What have been the major changes in the business from the early days until today?
Dragan: Due to the technical evolution
and the development of communication
tools the promotion of concerts has be-
come much easier and more effective. Do-
ing concerts in the Seventies used to be
much more adventurous. We considered
promoting concerts as being fun rather
than just being a business.
VIP-News: Which concerts, artists or may-be stage riders have provided you with the most remarkable memories in your career?
Dragan: We did a show with the Rolling
Stones in the late eighties. In their stage
rider they requested 40 phone lines on
the site. We had to go all the way to the
former Post Minister to fulfill this request,
as everybody at the Deutsche Telekom
just laughed about it and asked us, “do
the Rolling Stones want to play a con-
cert or do they just want to make phone
calls”?
VIP-News: Who are the artists you’ve en-joyed working with for many years?
Dragan: BB King and Joe Cocker. After
many concerts BB King gave us one of his
guitars as present. The guitar is named
Lucille and has been hanging in my office
ever since.
VIP-News: Joybringer runs offices in three markets. Please tell us about the differ-ences between these markets.
Dragan: In fact there aren’t that many dif-
ferences between these markets as our
offices are located close to each other. But
since ten years back we have also been
promoting shows in the East in countries
such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and
also in Albania, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia.
VIP-News: Are there differences in terms of the audience’s demands and in particu-lar also in terms of their behavior in these markets?
Dragan: At the end of the nineties there
was a strong demand only for classic
rock acts in Eastern Europe, artists who
had their biggest success in the seventies
and eighties. But over the years this has
changed and now the audience over there
wants to see the same acts that are popu-
lar in Western Europe.
VIP-News: As a local promoter you are mainly active in provincial regions. Is this an advantage business wise in these times and if so why?
Dragan: No, I wouldn’t say so, it is almost
the same as in more urban regions.
VIP-News: What kind of productions do you like the most, small or big ones?
Dragan: Small, because these kind of con-
certs are more intimate and personally
I enjoy this. I feel like the music is near to
the people...
Joybringer Concerts Celebrates 40 Years In BusinessAllan McGowan [email protected]
Elton & Dragan
Dragan
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IlMC 23 to ‘explore the unknown’Allan McGowan [email protected]
The 23rd edition of the International Live
Music Conference will again take place at
The Royal Garden Hotel, London, UK from
11th – 13th March 2011.
As usual the ILMC which has seen at-
tendance grow every year for last three
editions, will continue its tradition of
balancing the serious intent of the Con-
ference Agenda with a tongue-in-cheek
approach to the look and feel of the dé-
cor and dressing of the conference rooms
and related events. Next year’s theme
will centre on ‘Lost Worlds’. The following
press release says it all really….
Legend tells of a lost world cut off from
civilization by the towering cliff face
of a forgotten plateau and the impen-
etrable jungle that surrounds it. Forever
shrouded from curious eyes by a veil of
mist, it is a land where for aeons time has
stood still, where the once great edifices
of long lost civilizations now lie in ruins
and where savage prehistoric beasts still
roam, feeding on each other for their sur-
vival. A mysterious place where fortunes
are to be won and lives lost...
In March 2011, the International Live Mu-
sic Conference (ILMC) is launching its 23rd
major expedition – a voyage of discovery
to explore and chart this realm beyond
the imagination. With 1000 of the most
celebrated and intrepid adventurers on
the planet expected to land at the adven-
tures starting point in London we expect
the journey to be a perilous undertaking.
With a year of doubt ahead of us the po-
tential perils and pitfalls will be discussed
across the reaches of the ILMC’s home the
Royal Garden Hotel. With three days of
panels, networking events and awards
dinners the journey should be a memo-
rable one.
The “Lost Supper and Arthur Awards”
will be at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in
Knishtsbridge, London and promises to
be the biggest celebration of the lead-
ers in the international live music busi-
ness since the dawn of time! For those of
you who don’t know, The Arthurs are the
awards for the international live music in-
dustry which started off as a bit of irrever-
ent fun but recently have become highly
sought after accolades.
VIP-News: Would you say that business has become more competitive over the years?
Dragan: Yes.
VIP-News: Joybringer is an independent company. What is your opinion of corpo-rate concert companies?
Dragan: We have to persist alongside
those companies and nonetheless have
to find interesting artists we are able to do
business with.
VIP-News: What are your personal recom-mendations to newcomers in the Live Mu-sic Industry?
Dragan: The concert industry is now much
more difficult than it was 40 years ago. To-
day there is a lot of competition and new
players on the market have to bring loads
of money with them in order to launch a
new concert company successfully.
Martin Hopewell as Indiana Jones at ILMC 23
Dragan with his wife and son
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Continuing our occasional series of spot-
lights on European Markets, we take a
brief look at the state of the live business
in Italy, with the help of Claudio Trotta
of Barley Arts and Attilio Perissinotti of
Virus Concerts. We also feature an article
by guest writer, Christoph Storbeck of
Striker Entertainment.
A recent (Oct. 26), report produced by Mi-
lan-based university Libera Università di
Lingue e Comunicazione (IULM) in associa-
tion with collecting societies SIAE, SCF and
publishers trade body FEM, estimated the
total financial worth of the Italian music in-
dustry in 2009 at €3.7 billion ($5.1 billion)
- a 9% decline on the previous year.
According to the report the 2009 turnover
on physical music sales retail of €375 mil-
lion (518.2 million) indicated a drop of 25%
from the previous year. On a more positive
note IULM professor Luca Barbarito, who
presented the report’s finding’s in Milan
yesterday identified growth of 13% in the
digital market with online sales generat-
ing €44 million ($60.8 million) in 2009. But,
he noted that despite the growth in sales
revenue, the market remained “a tenth the
size of the British market and a fifth of the
French and German markets.”
The Report produced overall figures for
the live industry indicating an overall
worth of €781 ($1.07 billion) in 2009, an
increase of 3% on 2008. However Bar-
barito cited an increase in ticket prices as
a key factor in the sector’s growth.
Commenting on the report Claudio Buja,
MD of Italian publisher Universal Music
Ricordi Publishing, noted that the French
music industry, “…which has reported
growth for the last four quarters, is clearly
doing better. This is not because their in-
dustry is better than ours, but because
their politicians actually help it. Politics in
Italy is, across the spectrum, pure dema-
goguery.” He continued, “We need leg-
islation that will help the music industry
and we need responsible politicians who
aren’t scared of the electorate.”
Politics, right or wrong certainly appear
to figure prominently in music industry
events in Italy; recently The European
Commission investigated the spending of
approximately 600,000 euros of European
Union regional development funding on
an Elton John concert held in Naples last
year. The organisers of the Piedigrotta fes-
tival, of which the concert was part, claim
it helped promote Naples, and brought
in new custom for local businesses, but
controversial right wing Euro MP Mario
Borghezio from the north of the country,
says the gig was a “shameful” misuse of EU
funds. The money may have to be repaid.
The Professionals’ Point of View:
Claudio Trotta of Barley Arts is one of
Italy’s most established and well-known
characters, having promoted some 5000
concerts in a thirty-year plus career. Italy
was not seen as an organised or trustwor-
thy market by US and UK agents when he
started making offers for international
acts. But starting off with mid-level acts
he built up trust in both his Company and
the territory, and soon progressed to pre-
senting major artists such as Bruce Spring-
steen, Kiss, Elvis Costello and many others.
In November this year, Attilio Perissinotti
of Virus Concerti was presented with the
official Italian independent music prize
PIMI 2010 at the 14th edition of the annual
M.E.I (Independent Labels Meeting Festi-
val). The Award recognises his work as an
Agent, and a promoter, over the last twen-
ty years. His roster includes Il Teatro Degli
Orrori, Linea 77, T.A.R.M., Casino Royale,
One Dimensional Man. In the mid 1990’s
he started the Music in Village Festival
and the Beach Bum Rock Festival. He pro-
motes Italian and international artists such
as Placebo, Simple Minds and Iggy & The
Stooges. In 2007 he founded TIJ Events
in London, to bring the best Italian musi-
cians, such as Ligabue, Roberto Benigni,
Franco Battiato, Giovanni Allevi, Beppe
Grillo, Tiromancino, Negramaro, Vinicio
Capossela to the city.
VIP-News asked Claudio and Attilio to give
us their views on business in Italy today
and in the future:
VIP-News: Currently the live industry is facing problems in certain sectors and particularly in certain territories. The US and some European territories are suffer-ing due to the economic downturn. How do you see the overall state of the market in Italy at the moment?
»The Italian Music Market is suffering a public crisis due
to a lack of investment by the Government, particularly in
small capacity venues«
- Attilio
Claudio: Quite bad, most of the shows are
not selling out and not even getting close
and I believe the worst has still to come...
Attilio: The Italian Music Market is suffer-
ing a public crisis due to a lack of invest-
ment by the Government, particularly
in small capacity venues. Concerts with
capacities of 4000 and more are doing
pretty well.
ITAlY: An OverviewAllan McGowan [email protected]
Market Features
Attilio
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VIP-News: Are certain sectors doing partic-ularly well, or particularly badly at the mo-ment? It appears to me that Italy should be a good territory for Festivals, but apart from Arezzo Wave and some City events the Festival market seems to be, shall we say, inconsistent? What is your view?
Attilio: Alternative music is doing well
now, but has never been a good territory
for festivals. There are a lot of new free
events under 5000 capacity that are doing
well but are really unlike events in the rest
of Europe. It’s a problem of our culture,
and I don’t think it’s only a matter of music
culture!
Claudio: Italy is NOT the country for fes-
tivals...people are too conservative and
snobby, locations are not guaranteed for
years as they should be to create a real
following, not dependent only on headlin-
ers. On the top of this HEINEKEN JAMMIN
FESTIVAL have illogically overpaid acts for
the last 10 years, going nowhere, and us-
ing wrong sites, like the one in Venice re-
cently. This all makes it impossible for real
entrepreneurs to develop events based on
reality and not on simply throwing money
away...the only sectors still doing well are
a few big Italian acts, a few new acts, out-
standing rock superstars like Bruce Spring-
steen, AC/Dc, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden,
and a few high class acts performing in
high class venues both in and outdoors.
VIP-News: How are major concerts doing - is there a worry as elsewhere that there is a lack of headliners, or that the available headliners are trying to play the same cit-ies too often?
Claudio: Yes, it is getting worse with a lack
of acts able to play arenas, stadium and
open air sites and I guess this is an interna-
tional issue and not only an Italian one
Attilio: Major Concerts are going well, but
yes, there is a lack of headliners or better
new bands/artists that could be future
headliners.
VIP-News: How is the club and middle-sized venue circuit doing? Do any of these venues receive subsidies or other support? Is sponsorship still readily available in Italy?
Attilio: Club and mid-size venues are clos-
ing or book cover bands. It’s unlikely that
anyone receives subsidies from the Gov-
ernment.
Claudio: They are suffering, no support or
subsidies, sponsors are only on big acts
and they do not support new music and
newcomers at all
VIP-News: How is the market for local acts? Are there many Italian acts becoming ‘ex-port-ready’?
Claudio: Now the only new acts breaking
are the ones from reality shows like X Fac-
tor, Amici and so on. Most of the time they
do not have any skill or personality unfor-
tunately and I personally hate these hor-
rible TV shows and the way they treat mu-
sic and musicians. Not really any new acts
ready to be exported, we still have only a
few acts with international appeal, Laura
Pausini, Eros Ramazotti, Paolo Conte, Zuc-
chero and that’s it...
Attilio: At the moment there are some new
acts that could be ‘exportable artists, that
don’t sing in Italian or produce a specific
‘melodic’ sound. Acts such as Crookers,
Bloody Beatroots, ZU, Aucan, Motel Con-
nection, Heike Has The Giggles are surely
the new generation of music that is ready,
and European Promoters are becoming
aware of it.
VIP-News: A recent IULM report (see intro) said that although the overall music mar-ket had declined, Italy’s live music industry was worth €781 ($1.07 billion) in 2009, an increase of 3% with respect to 2008. The report cited an increase in ticket prices
as a key factor in the sector’s growth. Do you agree with this and do you feel that the live market is actually growing? How is your own business at the moment? Have you had to adapt the way you do things re-cently or is business much the same?
Attilio: The Market is not growing , the
ticket price yes! My own business has in-
creased by 45% in 2010 because all of our
artists toured across Italy, three of them
with great new albums.
Claudio: It is not so easy to change the way
you work as a booking agent but we are
developing some projects with sponsors,
as well as expanding beyond Italy setting
up offices in major European capital cities.
Claudio: Yes it grows only because of the
crazy ticket prices we all charge. My busi-
ness is stable but all is so very very dif-
ficult and the costs are too high to make
real money and to think happily about the
future.
VIP-News: How do you see the future?
Attilio: Hard for new acts and promoters
will not be so big.
Claudio: Tough, tough and tough!
Christoph storbeckstriker entertainment:
For several years now, I have been tour-
ing and running around international fairs
and events; either for my own artists and
business, or representing the interna-
tional affairs of AudioCoop, MMF Italy, or
of course being hired as a booker or tour
Claudio Trotta with Springsteen
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manager. Exchanging opinions about Ital-
ian music and culture with people from all
around the world has been inspiring and
has raised one question in particular: What
is needed to generate hope in the midst
of a cultural and economic crisis, not just
specific to the music industry?
Politics and music
Italy is generally threatened by bureaucrat-
ic and political problems. Public funding is
an obscure experience. The FUS, the pub-
lic funding for performing arts and music,
has been widely discussed by politicians. It
has been increased, decreased and might
be totally cut. Right now almost half of it
supports Opera, and less than 14% goes
to all other kinds of music. In Italy a public
funding of popular music through the FUS
will probably remain at best science fic-
tion, or even more remote regarding the
tendency towards constant cuts.
A dubious driver of the current Italian Live
business are the free public funded shows
staged in squares, streets, town parties
and at religious events. Here the artists
perform as a grand finale and are mostly
pretty overpaid. This business often suf-
fers from favouritism and supports only
the commissioners, which include political
and other organizations.
There is no official export bureau. Past
initiatives between the trade associations
have come to a bad end. Any public fund-
ing through other entities like the cham-
ber of commerce, the Ministry for Youth,
appears erratic – so it’s best not to count
on it. Artistic and business criteria are of-
ten secondary and success is often related
to how good the political connections are.
As in some other European countries, a
huge drift to right wing, ultra conservative
and sometimes just profit-oriented power
politics have been affecting Italy for quite
some time now. This obviously hinders
concerts, Milan for example, has an almost
ridiculous dB limit of 78 (!).
A recent fatal example is the migration of
Rototom Sunsplash from Osoppo to Beni-
cassim in Spain: After 16 years, Europe’s
biggest reggae festival was kicked out of
the country. Rototom had been the most
important festival in Italy, with exclusive
acts and international first class booking,
which generated a huge turnover in that
little northern Italian region. To deny the
licenses and to finally expel the festival
the organizers were accused of promoting
drug abuse.
Cultural distinctions
Besides the cultural and geographical dif-
ferences between north and south, there’s
another problem that comes to light when
promoting acts abroad. The music man-
agement educational programs have only
been introduced within the past few years,
so there’s still a lack of professionalism in
the industry. Also the artists, and not only
the Italians, have to decide: Stay in the box
or get out of it.
For international export, the language
barrier is still a problem. Especially in the
contemporary rock/indie scene, English
is a must. Artists that are accepted both
in Italy and in English speaking countries
are rare. To succeed, the only card they can
play is to be seen as cool and exotic.
For a long time the Italian market has been
self-sufficient. Realizing that markets other
than Italy are necessary partners and that
the rules are not made in Italy must be a
shock. Here is another: To play a role in the
21st century, the Italian music market has
to change. If it does not, sooner or later the
international business, and potential audi-
ences, will move on and it will be a matter
of “next please”.
excellent!
However there are many good things
about Italy, everybody loves Italy! Bill Em-
mott former director of the English jour-
nal The Economist obviously does so and
makes some supportive suggestions on
Italy’s development in his new book ‘For-
za, Italia’. According to him, Italians need
to gain a positive ‘can-do’ attitude. It is
not surprising that at a music conference
organised by AudioCoop/MEI at Sangiorgi
in north-Italian Como the consensus was
pretty much the same.
The Italians excel in producing romantic
love songs delivered by outstandingly
gifted voices. Some songs appear to be
squeeze thousands of years of melodra-
matic history into three-and-a-half min-
utes. Eros, Gianna, Laura, Tiziano… like it
or not: it is undeniably well produced and
succeeds in international markets.
There are a lot of Italian acts that definitely
could make it internationally. Some have
done well so far: The Crookers and the
Bloody Beetroots are definitely poster
boys of a let us call it ‘Italo-Dance’ revival.
Reggae-Star Alborosie attracts huge at-
tention in the reggae community world-
wide. Lacuna Coil has always had a huge
fanbase abroad. For international success
it seems important to have some particular
international link like heritage, residence
or management. Funnily enough most of
these international careers do not auto-
matically include national success within
Italy. Yet there is hope.
Today the number of international careers
starting from an Italian career increases.
You might know the excellent Jovanotti,
Vinicio Capossela and Carmen Consoli
who frequently perform in the US and
have gained some serious media coverage
(NY times, NPR). For all three the same NY
PR and marketing-company MG Limited
does a great job. Also ‘Very Italian’ Roy
Paci, Bandabardò and Modena City Ram-
blers tour pretty successfully abroad, as
do Italo-Alternative #1 Afterhours some-
times.
Lately, Italo-stadium-softrocker Vasco
Rossi filled out the Tempeldrome in Berlin
and Italian ‘Bruce Springsteen Ligabue has
his eye on foreign countries as well. Vasco-
‘UK’-shirts are sold at the Italian mega-
stores and the news speak about the “con-
quering of foreign lands”. This sounds very
promising but let us take a look behind
the scenes: Thanks to discount airlines
fans can follow their idols all over Europe.
Bloody Beetroots
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It is quite common for crowds of Italian
fans to jump on a plane for the chance
to meet face to face with their Italian su-
perstar in a small club in London, Paris
or Berlin. The recruitment of the strong
Italian ex-pat communities plays an im-
portant role, too.
True or false - it is the news of ‘Italy tour-
ing the world’ that encourages Italian
musicians and that can generate a ‘real’
international audience in the end.
Thanks to the increasing interest, Interna-
tional promoter TIJ Events very success-
fully promotes Italian artists around Eu-
rope. Italo-music promo event Hitweek
looks into the States (LA and NY, for 2010
in the two weeks before CMJ) and fea-
tures big names, supported by FIMI (ma-
jor record company association), trade
commissions and government as well.
The problem for the artist is how to make
up in a short time for what has not been
treated properly in the past. So thumbs
up to those, who have the courage to
set up international careers from the be-
ginning: Ghost Records who have great
returns; Calibro 35 who have just been
merged into RED with Bruce Willis and
Mojomatics who must be exhausted af-
ter touring the globe.
Highlights in Italy
Let get to heart of the aspiring Italian
music business where the Indie-Label La
Tempesta provides excellent taste and
spirit. Having a strong focus on Italian
language, La Tempesta has been sign-
ing many of the most popular Italian
speaking Indie/Rock music. Their port-
folio might turnout as the jackpot. (More
insights on that in all-italian onlinemag
www.rockit.it)
Definitely a place to be is the Sicilian
Ypsigrock festival which is set up in the
medieval castle of Sicily’s most avant-
guard town Castelbuono. The festival
surprises with a selective indie/electro/
rock-line up and has built a fine reputa-
tion over the last years.
Those of you who already have been
touring in Italy will confirm: For the ma-
jor part it’s good fun, nice clubs, great
food and cool people. And these days
you get paid as well, even if you’re al-
most unknown!
How to become rich and wealthy
For sure Italian artists can refer inherited
assets such as their understanding of
melody and vocal traditions, which are
to their comparative advantage, and to
my mind, something to be proud of. Do
Italians write the better songs? Not nec-
essarily, but including the Italian heart
and soul in a business-plan seems a
good idea to me.
It is necessary to open up and under-
stand where the actual status quo in the
international network: Being ‘Famous
in Italy’ doesn’t really matter right now.
Considering foreign culture and habits
in everyday business is what I am trying
to do in my small, grass roots business
with Second Grace, Waines and others.
Installing a solid ground in the home
country through a change of politics and
offering good international education to
professionals could definitely improve
the situation, particularly for working
abroad.
Anyway, if I had already found the passe-
par-tout-solution I would probably be
rich and wealthy, instead of muddling
through all the time, but I believe myself,
and Italy, to be on the right track.
Second Grace
Calibro 35
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Business NewsManfred Tari [email protected]
Music In shares – the Annual round up
live Nation – looking Forward to 2011
One year ago the share price of Live Nation was $8.0. Until April 26
the share price only went up, even reaching the level of $16.70 be-
fore melting down on August 16 to $8.17. But since then the share
price was on the rise again and recovered up to $11.50.
Live Nation still is alive, but a bit less kicking as the company has
had to dismiss staff. In the Netherlands the subsidiary Mojo Con-
certs laid off 11 of the 90 staff. The attempt by Live Nation to set
up an office in Germany failed. However, in a research report by
Goldman Sachs from the beginning of December the share price
recommendation for the next 6 months was $12.50.
In reference to Live Nation and the concert market in general the
analysts came to some interesting conclusions. One is: “Further
constraining demand, we believe that the North American con-
cert industry is losing the young concert-goer. Roughly 2/3rds of
the acts that made up the top 50 tours in 2009 were over the age
of 45.”
In addition to this the analysts prdict, “After an expected double-
digit attendance decline for the industry in North America in 2010,
we do expect attendance to grow modestly in 2011, especially as
U2, Prince, Lady Gaga and Kenny Chesney return to the road.”
VIP-BOOKING.COM
Alannah Myles - Acoustic/unplugged TourTerritory: EuropePeriod: 1/3/2011 - 30/4/2011Agency: ARM EntertainmentPhone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.alannahmyles.com
sass JordanTerritory: EuropePeriod: February / MarchAgency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Hilde SpillePhone: +31 24 323 9322E-mail: [email protected]: www.paperclip-agency.com
Admiral TTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: 2011Agency: CARAMBA SpectaclesAgent: ClotairePhone: +33 1 4218 1718E-mail: [email protected]: www.caramba.fr
lA Guns (feat. Phil lewis & steve riley)Territory: Europe Period: 1/9/2011 - 30/11/2011 Agency: ARM Entertainment Agent: Dana Strutz Phone: +1 651 483 8754 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.armentertainment.com
ledfootTerritory: EuropePeriod: March - AugustAgency: Vox ArtistAgent: Eivind BrydoyE-mail: [email protected]: www.ledfoot.no
Martha reeves and The VendellasTerritory: EuropePeriod: 15/02/2011 - 30/03/2011Agency: Sport Star Management ApSAgent: Carsten Hilding LarsenPhone: +45 4071 7722E-mail: [email protected]: www.sportstarmanagement.dk
16
artist avails ››
MoRE ARTIST AVAILS on:WWW.VIP-BookInG.CoM
PoST YouR ARTIST AVAILS on:WWW.VIP-BookInG.CoM
VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0
As usual, the share price of the German market leader is on its way up. One
year ago at 33.10 Euro, the share is now at 45.50 Euro. After maintaining its
price level until end of February, the share maintained from March onwards to
mid July when it dropped down to 34.40 Euro until August. But since then it
has climbed more than 11 Euro.
The financial market seems to be impressed by latest business reports and
forgets that CTS Eventim once intended to become a global ticketing concern
due to its deal with Live Nation. Now the company is focusing on expansion
in Europe only, but nevertheless is able therewith to compensate income ex-
pectations linked with that deal.
It took the DEAG share until the middle of August to raise the price level. In
2009 on December 15 the share was just hitting the two Euro border at 2.01.
On May 24 it even went down to 1.6 Euro, but on November 30 the share
climbed up to 2.74 Euro before it went down until November 15 to 2.47 Euro.
Basically the share prices of these three companies are better than one year
ago. While the market in the US appears to be experiencing more difficult
times than in Europe, it is the case that market over here is also shifting. Lower
sales of high price shows and in general less stadium and arena shows have an
impact on the big ones of this industry. So far it is too early to do an outlook
for 2011 but it seems to be like 2010. The announcements for very big shows
in the top segment of this business are not in sight yet except for a very few
such as Take That.
However, the progress of these companies in the last two years is already a
good sign because it is not so long ago that the world economy was consid-
ered crushed.
CTs eventim – Moving up
DeAG – The December Increase
17
VIP-BOOKING.COM
EIL BRoPHY BAnD (based in Copenhagen)
would like to play at your festival in 2011.
nEIL BRoPHY BAnD are currently record-
ing new tracks for next years CD RAG &
BONE. Some of these tracks are taken from
the solo album ROOTS BOOTS & BARS.
Earlier on this year The Record Collec-
tor 7” EP Red Vinyl Single was released
on Record Collector 7. on international
Record Store Day. This label will also be
releasing all of Neil’s back catologue on
CD and MP3.
nEIL BRoPHY BAnD 2011
Songsmiths, Crowdsmiths, Folksmiths &
Rocksmiths are what make this band boil.
Both Brian Armstrong & Martin Dale are
tradesmen of live performance coming
from a rich woolly background of folk / rock
and backed by the driving rythms of the
native New Zealander Sharne Nathan. The
band always deliver an energetic upbeat
performance with their anthemic choruses
and catchy melodies fronted by Neil Brophy
and his charmful approach to personally
delivering his songs to the audience.
THE RECORD COLLECTOR 7” EP was re-
leased on International Record Store Day
in april and received some great reviews
and national airplay in Denmark & the UK
where it was played on BBC 2’s Glory Days
program hosted by record producer Pete
Waterman.
“Another gem from one of the unsung
heroes of English songwriting. Essential
listening for everyone who enjoys proper
music.” - GRAHAM JONES author of Last
Shop Standing (Whatever Happened to
Record Shops?)
One to watch, On this 4-track EP. Brophy’s
Billy Bragg-like social commentary cov-
ers collecting records, football and life in
general, Paul Rigby’s Most Wanted. - THE
RECORD COLLECTOR
Festival reviews
oysterbands Big Session Festival:
Following Curtis is Denmark based Neil
Brophy. Neil is a man with a unique voice,
versed in the traditions of English folk and
Dylan-esque protest. His songs talk of a
land where the Devil can be found in a
whisky jar and brave honest local lads de-
fend their jobs and homes against wicked
Iron Masters. Its great stuff, entirely pre-
dictable, and all the better for it.
www.virtualfetsival.com
Levellers Beautiful Days Festival:
Neil is known for his English/Celtic acous-
tic folk anthems, catchy, lively charm-
ing songs that have been going down a
storm across Europes festivals. His char-
ismatic stage presence oozes warmth,
the songs push out the melody and the
choruses are irrepressible. Flitting across
the musical mores, a little folk here, a lit-
tle rock there a lot of fun everywhere, he
is a real crowd pleaser.
Middlewich Festival
So, Neil Brophy, not only one of the nice
guys in the business but a competent per-
former who’s songs paint pictures. He’s
your real contemporary folkie not out of
place on folk club or main stage and he
has been around a bit, seen a bit of life and
sings about it because it means something
to him, a genuine professional. He opened
up for Nick Harper at Middlewich this year
and audience wanted more. Main stage for
Neil next year without a doubt.
.........Liz Rosenfield Middlewich Folk and
Boat Festival Event Organiser
Monthly featured artist ››
origin: EnglandStyle: Folk Roots Rock / CelticTour period: Summer 2011Territory: Scandinavia / UK / Benelux / Germany
Agency: Brophy Bookingsname: Neil BrophyEmail: [email protected]: +45 2023 7149
VIP- News - A u g u s t 2 0 0 5
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VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0
NeIl BrOPHY BAND
Niel Brophy Band
18
VIP-BOOKING.COM
In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-news readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at [email protected]
MeMber presentation ››
In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-news readers. If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at [email protected]
®
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About Our Company
VIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and largest data-base for the European Live Entertainment Industry www.vip-book-ing.com developed as a tool for industry professionals. Since it’s launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered our subscrib-ers the very best in database services and now boast subscribers in over 30 countries.
Today VIP-Booking offers a range of tools for the industry – inclu-ding VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract.
Please visit vip-booking.com for further information.
Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.
VIP- News - D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 0
Christopher entertainment
Christopher Entertainment is a Danish owned management,
promotor and booking agency, established in 1986.
Christopher Entertainment has over the years presented some of
the world’s finest artists such as: Whitney Houston, Tina Turner,
Santana, Boyzone, The Corrs etc. As a booking agency Christo-
pher Entertainment has delivered artists to major festivals such
as: The Roskilde Festival, The Midtfyns Festival, The Langeland
Festival, The Skanderborg Festival, The Jelling Musicfestival etc.
Christopher Entertainment is management for mostly Danish
artists: Stig Rossen, Gudrun, Jacob Andersen etc and we repre-
sent Andrew Strong and Barrage in Scandinavia.
For more info please see www.christopher.dk