vip-news vol. 128 - september 2010

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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 128 ›› SePTeMBer 2010

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Some of the VIP crew have recently re-

turned from long and wide corridors of

Tempelhof. The almost monumental pas-

senger areas of this legendary Berlin air-

port are now the new home of Popkomm,

and facilitate the business of internation-

al music business people rather than the

devious journeying of the international

spies and men and women of mystery of

yesteryear – although, come to think of

it I have met a few characters at various

music conferences who might quality for

the latter descriptions! In fact if I’m hon-

est I do get the “What exactly do you do?”

query myself every now and again – still

as I’m not even sure myself what I want

to be when I grow up how can I expect

anybody else to know? Anyway, I didn’t

make it to Popkomm myself, as I was dou-

ble booked into a cabin with a sauna by

a lake in Finland – don’t ask! Bit you’ll be

glad to know that you will find reports on

the return of Popkomm in this issue.

I will however be heading to Hamburg to

take part in various panels during Reep-

erbahn Campus in the next few days, fol-

lowed by a trip to ‘You Are In Control’ in

Reykjavik at the start of October, then to

Paris for the MaMA event in mid October

– again details are in this issue and we’ll

report back from all of these events in the

October issue.

Some of the panels in these upcoming

conferences will no doubt address live

music topics, festivals, touring, ticket

prices and the like, and it’ll be interest-

ing to see, considering certain develop-

ments whether the sector continues to

be referred to in the upbeat tones which

we have become used to. Following a

summer of cutting ticket prices Live Na-

tion’s 4th quarter returns are expected to

make even more distressing reading, par-

ticularly for shareholders, than the ‘disap-

pointing’ 3rd quarter figures. AEG, who

seemed to be quietly getting on with it

have just been sued by Michael Jackson’s

mother, who is seeking unspecified dam-

ages alleging the firm failed to provide

life-saving equipment and oversee a doc-

tor who was hired to look out for the pop

star’s well-being as he prepared for what

were intended to be his comeback con-

certs in London.

Even HMV who seemed to have sorted

out the shortfall problems in their core

music retail business by moving into live

with the purchase of the Mama Group are

having their problems (see report in this

issue). To add to it all, UK Collection So-

ciety PRS are proposing to raise Perform-

ance Royalty Rates, at the moment UK

promoters pay 3% on concert returns, in

other territories this is a lot higher, with

Italian promoters for instance paying

10%, so there are fears that this could rate

could escalate dramatically, responses to

an industry open consultation document

are due in the next month.

In the light of all this Music Tank, a busi-

ness development network for the UK

music industry, owned and operated by

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McGowan’s Musings:

Allan McGowan

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VIP-News is published by: VIP-Booking26 York StreetLondon W1U 6pZ

Managing director: Ronni [email protected]

General Manager: Peter [email protected]

writer and editorial: Allan [email protected]

writer: Manfred Tari [email protected]

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the University of Westminster which

sets up regular panel events engaging

with industry, innovation and change

across the music business, are present-

ing a session in London, at PRS head-

quarters, called ‘Saving the Golden

Goose’ investigating the present situa-

tion for live. (see story in this issue) This

will I feel be the first of many such scru-

tinies over the next few months.

However, lets not go out on a complete

downer, as far as we can see at VIP,

there are areas of the live business that

still seem to be ticking over quite nicely,

most of the problems seem to be at the

top end, where cash strapped punters

feel that they are not getting value for

money, but the grassroots live business

has generally continued to offer good

value for money. So, all of you in that

sector keep up the good work!

Right, while I get back to seeing if I can

get away with being an international

man of mystery, here is the News!

AeG live refute Jackson lawsuitAllan McGowan [email protected]

AEG Live has responded to Katherine

Jackson’s filing of a lawsuit filed which

accuses the live music major of liability

for the death of her son Michael.

Mrs Jackson’s lawsuit claims that the

promoters had a contractual duty of

care of her son in regard to the ‘This

Is It’ London residency. She maintains

that they failed to to oversee Michael

Jackson’s well being when they hired

Dr Conrad Murray, the medic accused

of causing the late king of pop’s death.

The lawsuit concludes that AEG put

a “desire for massive profits” before

Michael Jackson’s well being.

In a short statement yesterday, AEG’s

lawyers called Mrs Jackson’s lawsuit

“inaccurate, unsubstantiated and mer-

itless”. They stressed that Murray had a

professional relationship with Jackson

before he began work on their ‘This Is

It’ show, and that he was hired as the

singer’s personal physician at the star’s

request.

The statement says: “The lawsuit is inac-

curate, unsubstantiated and meritless.

Dr Murray was Mr Jackson’s longtime

personal physician. AEG did not choose

him, hire him or supervise him”. Having

pledged to fight the Jackson family’s

lawsuit, AEG added: “In honour of our

professional relationship with Mr Jack-

son and his estate, we will make no fur-

ther public statements”.

AEG Live

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According to the promoters the kick off for

the newly formed Berlin Music Week was

successful, though for many foreigners and

even Germans the set up of Berlin Music

Week, combining Popkomm, A2N (All To-

gether Now) and Berlin Festival under one

roof still seems complex.

After last year’s cancellation Popkomm

took place on September 8 to 10 in the

former airport Tempelhof. The organizers

reported satisfactory visitor and exhibitor

figures. According to the promoter of the

convention, Popkomm was visited by 7.500

trade visitors and 10.000 normal visitors

on the open to public day re-instated after

many years.

Spokespersons for the stands of Aus-

tria and Switzerland said that they were

pleased with their results, also the Swed-

ish and Finnish stand organizers seemed

to be satisfied with their presence at Pop-

komm, while the feedback from the Dutch

stand was negative. The current edition of

Popkomm proceeded with the absence of

stands for France and the UK, previously

long established regular stand participants

at Popkomm.

The lay out of the massive Tempelhof air-

port necessitated lengthy walks; also the

the stands location was one very long tun-

nel in the part of the building where the

airport gate ways were located. As a result

companies and countries who had their

stands located in to the middle part of the

building gained more footfall than those

located towards the end of the left and

right of the terminal gang way.

On the airfield and in the airport hangars

the Berlin Festival also took place. On Sep-

tember 10 festival ticket holders could also

access Popkomm. But also on the public

day, not many people found their way to

the stands on the left and right extremes

of the terminal gang way. Also the sign-

posting caused some problems, at least for

Popkomm and A2N, as some visitors simply

couldn’t find stands or conference rooms.

The second edition of the Berlin Festival

promoted by Melt Booking in visitor terms

was a success, reporting around 20.000

visitors. This is the first festival event to suc-

ceed in Berlin; previous attempts by other

festival promoters have never managed

to install a proper festival in the German

capitol.

Due to architecture and lay out of Tem-

pelhof the set up for this festival was quite

unique. One main stage directly located

under the roof topped airfield in the mid-

dle of the building and two side stages in

the hangers within the gigantic building

made this festival very special.

The event was very well produced and in-

stituted various measures to ensure high

safety standards. Since the fatal disaster

at the Loveparade in Duisburg, much has

changed in Germany. Limited capacities

in the two hangars on the opening day of

Berlin Festival on the night of Friday Sep-

tember 10, an incident at the entrance of

Hangar 4 led to drastic changes to the fes-

tival program.

Melt Booking had set up separate gates 20

metres before the hangars in order to con-

trol the flow of people into the hangar. In

a press release regarding the incident the

promoters wrote: “Since a lot of people

were denied entrance at hangar 4, a very

few festival goers vented their displeas-

ure via aggressive behaviour towards the

security and the police resulting in uncon-

trolled activity in front of the pass gate at

a late hour. This consequently led to the

police’s recommendation to discontinue

the event even though the hangar itself

was not overcrowded at any time, and the

authorities’ regulations and requirements

regarding the hangar’s capacity were satis-

fied.”

After the incident Melt Booking resched-

uled many concerts and even cancelled

some of them, just to make sure of avoid-

ing a repeat situation. But what comes out

of this shows how seriously safety meas-

ures are being taken in Germany since

Loveparade One visitor wrote a readers

letter to Pop100 after a report on the inci-

dent at Berlin Festival, saying that he was in

the group of people that wanted to enter

Hangar4 and at no time did he have the im-

pression that he was in any danger. He de-

scribed the situation as normal for festivals

when people are queuing up.

After the incident Melt Booking undertook

enormous efforts, printed over night leaf-

lets about the changes in the line up and set

up trouble shooter counters where punters

could receive their money back when they

wanted so. However, as a result, on the

second day the Berlin Festival continued

smoothly and only a minority claimed their

money back due to the significant changes

in the line up of the event.

Berlin Music week, Popkomm and Berlin FestivalManfred Tari [email protected]

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Hopefully you will be reading this just

before this increasingly important event,

Sept 23-25, if so try and come along, if

you’re reading it whilst in Hamburg please

come along to the panels mentioned be-

low, three, perhaps four, will be hosted by

your’s truly so come and say hello.

If you are looking for “New International

Music” in Germany, 180 bands and solo

artists from 20 nations will appear in

clubs and venues, most of which are walk-

ing distance from each other, during the

Reeperbahn Festival. On the occasion of

the fifth anniversary of the Reeperbahn

Festival the First Mayor of Hamburg, Chris-

toph Ahlhaus, will welcome the guests.

Following this the State Minister Bernd

Neumann (Photo), Federal Government

Commissioner for Culture and Media, will

hold a speech on the importance of fund-

ing for Popular Music in for Germany. Sey-

mour Stein, who discovered international

stars like Madonna, the Ramones, Talking

Heads, The Cure or The Pretenders, will

then open up the in-depth discussion with

his keynote “Memories of Germany… and

others” on Thursday, 23.09.2010, 3.00 p.m.,

at the Schmidt Theater.

Reeperbahn Campus aspires to be a new

fixture for all professionals of the creative

industries in northern Europe and will

present some 70 events .

Music City Hamburg: In 1997 the tradi-

tional industry meeting point “Music City

Hamburg” was established. This is where

the local, national and international mu-

sic industry meets up to discuss current

topics. This year’s topic: “National and

international networking”. During the in-

formal get-together Peter Smidt (NL, Crea-

tive Director EuroSonic and Manager Pop

& Rock Buma Cultuur) will introduce the

EuroSonic Nooderslag Festival to the audi-

ence. Moderator Olaf Furniss (UK, Born to

be Wide) will then take a short (outside)

look at the music scene and music industry

in Germany. Thursday, 23rd of September,

7.00 p.m., Grünspan.

Also on Thursday 23rd, 1:30 pm-2:30 pm, I

will have the pleasure of moderating three

panels. Starting off with:

‘Do They Ever Listen to Music?!’ will look

at how the music industry features, or

doesn’t, alongside other cultural industries

in the workings of diverse national and re-

gional political and administrative bodies

throughout Europe. Panelists: Peter Smidt,

NL (Eurosonic Festival) Phil Patterson, UK

(UK Trade & Investment), Egbert Rühl, DE

(Hamburg Kreativgesellschaft) and Aline

Renet, FR (Prodiss - Veranstalterverband)

reeperbahn CampusAllan McGowan [email protected]

http://www.hallenduo.de

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Festival season 2010/11; 4:00 pm-5:00 pm,

the name is pretty self explanatory and I

will be joined by international festival pro-

moters, Stefan Lemkuhl, DE (Melt!) Christof

Huber, CH (Sankt Gallen Open Air), Rikke

Oxner, DK (Roskilde Festival), Rob Challice,

UK (Association of Independent Festivals),

and Eric van Eerdenburg, NL (Lowlands).

We will consider the trends of the festival

season 2010, look at how the business did,

and, most important, what are the results

for the upcoming season.

The Sound of Politics, 5:15 pm-6:15 pm,

is the second stage of an experiment – a

Transpanel format consisting of a series of

single performances that allows expand-

ing an idea and a process of understand-

ing over 3 different events: C’n’B – Creative

Business Convention, Cologne – Reeper-

bahn Campus, Hamburg – You are in Con-

trol, Rejkjavik. This uses ‘fishbowl’ format

involving panellists but bringing on-stage,

into the ‘fishbowl’ audience members who

wish to contribute to the ongoing discus-

sion.

The first step: at C’n’B - June: addressed

The Sound of…Creativity - Production,

Distribution, Communication of Music and

Creative Content.

In Hamburg the Second step moves on to:

The Sound of…Politics - Social Responsi-

bility and Political Influence of Music. Pan-

elists include Benny Adrion, DE (Founder

of Viva Con Agua), Zhou Yunpeng, CN

(Chinese folk singer), Kolbrun Halldors-

dottir, IS (artist, journalist, Minister for the

Environment (2009), Minister for Nordic

Cooperation (since 2009), President of

the Federation of Icelandic Artists (since

2010), and Jacob Bilabel (Green Music Ini-

tiative.

The Third and final step will take place at

You are in control (see separate story be-

low – Ed.) – September, Reykjavic, and will

conclude with - The Sound of…Change -

Music and Creatives as Game Changers.

Reeperbahn Campus in cooperation with

Network Europe will invite all Reeperbahn

Campus delegates to meet agents, book-

ers, promoters and talent buyers from all

over Europe on Saturday 25.09., 12 - 4 pm,

at Restaurant Medusa.

Network Europe is the only international

association for agents, bookers, promoters

and talent buyers, and is represented at

Reeperbahn Campus by several members.

This Speed Meeting session (or, if you wish,

Match Making, or One-on-Ones) of course

also offers the opportunity to Speed Meet

with all other Reeperbahn Campus del-

egates who participate.

Network Europe members that attend

Reeperbahn Campus are: Alessandro

Ceccarelli (Estragon Lab, Italy), Attilio

Perissinotti (Virus Concerti, Italy), Chris

Burr (S.O.F.A. Agency, Switzerland), Chris-

tian Bilda (x-why-z, Germany), Christoph

Storbeck (Striker Entertainment, Italy),

Hilde Spille (Paperclip Agency, The Neth-

erlands), Mattias Albinsson (Headstomp

Productions, Sweden), Nuno Saraiva (Art-

House, Portugal), Rob Berends (Paperclip

Agency, The Netherlands), Sabine Waltz

(IBD Booking, Germany), Sasha Vadillo

(x-why-z, Germany), Thomas Ryjord (Polar

Artist, Norway) and Tom van Dingenen

(Quiet Concerts, Belgium). .

German Music Conventions Join up for

Reeperbahn Event:

There has been a definite rise in the

number of German music business confer-

ences in the last two years, and with the

return of Popkomm this year, much discus-

sion has revolved around the competition

amongst the events. But cooperation ap-

pears to be the way of the (foreseeable)

future, as three of the annual events have

decided to cooperate via a new joint ven-

ture called ‘Drei Dimensionen’ (Three Di-

mensions).

Reeperbahn, Berlin Music Week and Co-

logne’s c/o pop will be hosting an event

next Saturday as part of Hamburg’s Reep-

erbahn Festival. The idea is to individu-

ally promote each location’s vital music

scenes and trade associations, whilst fur-

ther developing German music culture

and jointly presenting it on an interna-

tional scale.

Reps from the Three Dimensions will be

revealing more about their collaboration

at the Campus Lounge at the Reeperbahn

Festival on Saturday at 6pm.

More about the Reeperbahn Festival is on-

line at:

www.reeperbahnfestival.com

Reeperbahn Festival

http://www.reeperbahnfestival.com

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Live Nation have announced that one of the UK’s premiere con-

cert venues, the Manchester Apollo will officially be changing its

name to O2 Apollo Manchester with immediate effect.

The O2 Apollo Manchester will add to the existing O2 Academy

portfolio, which has been in operation for just over 2 years. The

O2 Apollo Manchester is owned and operated by Live Nation

and becomes the 15th venue in the Live Nation / Academy Music

Group partnership. The Grade II listed venue will undergo a full

interior re-decoration in keeping with its Art Deco style. O2 cus-

tomers will get the same benefits, which include access to tickets

48 hours before general release on O2 Priority.

O2 Apollo Manchester has been a mainstay of the British touring

circuit for decades, attracting Best Venue nominations and pre-

senting shows from every major rock, pop and comedy act on the

touring circuit. With both fully seated and part-standing formats,

the venue increases its footfall and presentations year on year.

Paul Latham, COO International, Live Nation commented, “It gives

me great pleasure to announce this partnership with O2 and it fa-

cilitates our investment in one of the greatest music venues in the

UK. Concert fans deserve the best and this partnership delivers

that and so much more”

Manchester Apollo Becomes O2 Apollo ManchesterAllan McGowan [email protected]

The O2 Apollo Manchester

http://www.musikwoche.de/VIP

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On September 23 at PRS headquarters in

London a Music Tank panel will investigate

the present situation for live, addressing

the possibility, or more likely the probabil-

ity, that the music industry’s dependence

on live returns to make up shortfalls in oth-

er areas is finally taking its toll. Although

on the surface all seems well at present

with the UK boasting the most success-

ful live market in the world, with six of the

world’s top ten earning venues, and com-

bined tickets sales of £2.9million for the

first half of 2010, this session is based on

the premise that if looked at more closely

things aren’t all they seem.

The panel outline notes that ‘With more

and more people looking to get in on the

action and with artists’ growing depend-

ence on touring revenue, booking fees

have risen, ticket prices have followed and

just as night follows day, the past twelve

months has seen a surge in the number

of tours, concerts and festivals under

perform or even be cancelled.’ The ses-

sion will ask what can be done to give the

public a better experience. The panel will

include artist managers, booking agents

and promoters.

VIP will report on the outcomes of this dis-

cussion in the next issue.

Full details on: www.musictank.co.uk

PRS Tariff Increase Proposals:

Live Nation chief operating officer

Paul Latham is unable to attend

the gathering at Copyright House

but Music Week reports that he

has written to the organisers to

contribute his opinions on one of

the main topics he wishes to see

discussed, namely PRS For Music’s

proposals to increase the tariff live

music has to pay to songwriters

and composers.

He writes, “The bounty hunters

that are PRS are looking for a big-

ger slice of a pie that they already

get more of, given theirs is a flat

3% of the box office income. Thus

in all the time ticket prices have

been rocketing those who genu-

inely deserve to be rewarded for

their endeavours have benefited

while at the same time other par-

ticipants in the equation have seen

their margins compromised.”

He adds, “If it really was an attempt

to deliver more to songwriters I

would question why nearly 12p

in every £1 collected goes to the

overhead of PRS….in such austere

times that would be the first place

to look I would think.”

PRS are waiting to receive indus-

try responses to a consultation

document available on www.

prsformusic.com/customercon-

sultation before presenting their

proposals to the industry.

Saving the Golden Goose:An Investigation of the present State of liveAllan McGowan [email protected]

Voting is now open for the UK Fes-

tival Awards which will take place

alongside the UK Festival Confer-

ence at the O2 Dome on 18 Nov. The

long lists for each category will go

live today at:

www.festivalawards.com

Everyone who votes will be entered

into a draw to win tickets to the 2011

editions of every festival, which

wins a prize at this year’s awards.

Recently appointed Festival Awards

MD James Drury said: “It’s been a

fantastic season, which has further

demonstrated the British love of

Festivals. The UK Festival Awards is

the chance for the public to tell the

industry, which were their favourite

events. Last year 500,000 votes were

cast and we’re expecting even more

people will get involved this time”.

Festival Awards Voting OpensAllan McGowan [email protected]

Paul Latham COO Live Nation

http://www.musictank.co.uk

http://www.prsformusic.com/customerconsultation



http://www.festivalawards.com

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On September 10th the O2 World Berlin

celebrated its 2nd birthday, having at-

tracted over 2.75 million people to 266

events in its first two years.

Detlef Kornett, , and Mike Keller, O2 World

Berlin share their positive look back.

CEO Anschutz Entertainment Group De-

tlef Kornett said, “We are quite happy

with the numbers for these first two years.

Our goal has always been to attract three

million visitors and host 300 events over

the first three years – we will reach those

numbers at a much earlier stage. One of

the reasons for the success is surely the O2

World’s wide-ranging appeal since a great

number of our visitors come from Berlin’s

surrounding areas. We are especially

happy to see that the demand for our

premium-products such as event suites

and premium-seats continues to grow.

The turnover in premium sales has dou-

bled compared to year one which proves

that our premium products that were not

self-explanatory eventually established

themselves in the marketplace and were

embraced by satisfied customers.”

»It is our objective to be evenmore flexible and responsive

to market requirements«

- Mike Keller

General Manager Mike Keller comments,

“Over our first two years of operation

we have learned a lot and, by now have

identified the potentials for adaption and

innovations. It is our objective to be even

more flexible and responsive to market

requirements. That is why we have devel-

oped a ‘half-house-configuration’, which

accommodates between 5.000 and 8.000

people. With this, the O2 World will create

more interest not only for small concerts

but also for company-events, fairs and TV

productions. In addition to that, we have

managed to increase the standing room

capacity of the ground level by up to

1.300. Standing room is particularly popu-

lar at rock and pop concerts as well as at

dance events and we are highly delighted

about meeting the customer’s demand.

My greatest debt of appreciation goes to

all of our O2 World partners, especially to

our founding partner and suite-holder

O2, the promoters, service providers and

public authorities, as well as to the whole

Anschutz Entertainment Group team for

the constructive and successful collabo-

ration in the first two years.”

In 2010 the Anschutz Entertainment

Groups founded the Anschutz Entertain-

ment Group hilft e.V. to support several

non-profit organizations in Berlin. The

charity currently promotes projects of

Grenzkultur/Shake!, the doctor’s and den-

tal surgery for homeless people at Stral-

auer Platz of the MUT GmbH, the Arche in

Friedrichshain, as well as the initiative fit-4-

future and other selected projects in close

proximity to the O2 World. Money will only

be donated to found specific activities or

acquisitions, not projects in general.

Two years of O2 world BerlinAllan McGowan [email protected]

You are in Control, an international

conference exploring digital busi-

ness developments in the music,

media, arts and gaming industries,

will take place for the fourth con-

secutive year in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The conference is hosted by Ice-

land’s creative industries and aims

to empower attendees with knowl-

edge on how to maneuver in the

fast changing digital distribution

world.

You Are In Control brings together

prominent players from all the

creative industries in a cooperative

fashion to answer some of digital

debate’s most burning questions:

How to expand the pie so everyone

receives their fair share? What unites

design, music, films, visual arts and

gaming? How do business models

already overlap and what does the

future hold?

Speakers confirmed for 2010 in-

clude Yancey Strickler, cofounder of

Kickstarter, Benji Rogers, creator of

PledgeMusic.com and Christopher

Peterka, founder of the consultancy

firm Gannaca.

Creative Industries Conference in IcelandAllan McGowan [email protected]

O2 World Berlin

Mike Keller General Manager O2 World

Reykjavik, Iceland

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Even during periods without events in the

Arena, the area surrounding the O2 World

attracted numerous visitors. Over 60.000

people attended the sand-sculptures-

exhibition Sandsation and the Beach-Vol-

leyball European Championships had over

20.000 spectators on the spot.

The “Ausbildungsplatztag - 2010” (appren-

ticeship training position day) which was

held in cooperation with the Job Centre,

welcomed 5.000 adolescents on the arena

plaza in front of the O2 World, who were

looking for apprenticeship training posi-

tion. The O2 World-team supported the

Job Centre in the execution and organi-

zation of the plans and provided the area

free of charge.

This year, for the first time, the O2 World

Ticketing department took over the tick-

eting services for three external events;

the track and field event ISTAF at Olym-

piastadium, Sandsation and the Beach-

Volleyball European Championships. O2

World Ticketing was responsible for the

complete organization and implementa-

tion of the ticket sales including the set-

up of the events in the O2 World-ticketing

system, the sales process of the in-house

call centre, the maintenance of events on

site, running the box offices and market-

ing- and promotion- activities. For the

ISTAF 45.000 tickets were sold by the O2

World’s selective distribution. The col-

laboration with the ISTAF will continue in

2011. The expansion of this business field

is planned.

So far the O2 World has played host to:

Metallica, Herbert Grönemeyer, Tina Turn-

er, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Paul McCartney,

Alicia Keys, Udo Jürgens, Leonard Cohen,

Beyoncé, Neil Young, Coldplay, NOKIA

Night of The Proms, Britney Spears, Die

Toten Hosen, KISS, Michale Bublé, Wet-

ten, dass..?, ECHO 2009, MTV Europe Music

Awards, Nena, boxing matches of Vitali Kl-

itschko against Samuel Peter and of Arthur

Abraham against Jermaine Taylor, Bas-

ketball Final Four, Rihanna, Saltimbanco,

Peter Gabriel, The Black Eyed Peas, Green

Day, Depeche Mode, Fleetwood Mac,

Muse, a-ha, Mario Barth.

Up-coming event-highlights include: “We

Are One” with Paul van Dyk, Armin van

Buuren and Underworld, Sting, Santana,

Supertramp, Linkin Park, Marius Müller-

Westernhagen, David Garreth, Peter Maf-

fay, Simply Red, Mario Barth, NOKIA Night

of The Proms, Michael Flatley – Lord of the

Dance, Die Fantastischen Vier, Joe Cocker,

André Rieu, Roger Waters – The Wall, Kylie

Minogue and much more.

In past issues we have mentioned the ac-

tivities of Pledge Music who work with

artists in the raising of fan funding. Pledge

helps artists and bands design a specifical-

ly tailored fundraising campaign to raise

money for their next release and encour-

ages the artists to participate with their

fans by creating exclusive content and

experiences. The list can be anything from

DJing at your house party, to attending a

rehearsal, or even a movie and dinner with

the band. At present 1473 acts are using

the Pledge facility.

Most recently long established band, Gang

of Four released Content, their first set of

new songs in 16 years, funded entirely over

the internet, via Pledge having gathered

417 pledges of money. “What I’ve been

thrilled by over the years is that our music

still seems to make sense to our audiences,

however old they are,” Andy King said in a

statement, “and these days they’re mostly

under 30.”. They also sold signed T-shirts,

hand-written lyric sheets, and box sets in-

cluding phials of band-members’ blood.

Fans also bought cassette Walkmans with

bootlegs of Gang of Four’s first gig, costing

£175. The band have been issuing updates

throughout the creation of the record, as

well as downloadable ephemera like old

gig posters and reviews.

Pledge founder Benji Rogers told VIP-

News, “ Things at PledgeMusic have really

been moving from strength to strength.

We’ve been excited and humbled by both

the amazing calibre of artists and also their

seemingly endless creativity in the way

that they communicate with their fans.

Since launch our success rate amongst art-

ists has hit 77%, which we are constantly

trying to improve upon and the platform

is scaling wonderfully to cater to the

number of bands that are now coming to

us. We are now working with both signed

and unsigned artists and have some key

appointments in both the US, UK and now

Australia & are now running campaigns

landed in five currencies. We couldn’t be

happier though we could all use a bit more

sleep.”

Pledge Music work with Gang of FourAllan McGowan [email protected]

Benjii Rogers - Pledge Music

11

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This year’s edition of The Summit, the event organised by live

business magazine LIVE UK, takes place on 6-7 October at the

Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London’s West End, and is followed

by the inaugural Live Music Business Awards (LMBAs), which will

present accolades across 25 categories, ranging from Best Venue

Teamwork and Agent of the Year to Unsung Hero and Best Record

Company Partner

HMV’s CEO Simon Fox, who led the take-over of venues and festi-

vals owner MAMA Group earlier this year by the High Street music

retailer, will be the principle keynote speaker at LIVE UK The Sum-

mit. (See story below)

Other major speakers at the event will include John Giddings

of Solo, agent for artistes such as Madonna, U2 and the Rolling

Stones; Neil Warnock, worldwide CEO of The Agency Group; Soni-

sphere festival co-founder Stuart Galbraith of Kilimanjaro Live;

CAA agent Emma Banks, Primary Talent International agent Dave

Chumbley and See Group CEO Rob Wilmshurst.

Summit registration costs £315 + VAT, with a special rate of £275 +

VAT available until 10 September.

See www.livemusicuk.com and www.livemusicawards.com

According to a report in UK Newspaper

The Daily Mail, HMV has lost a tenth of its

value after warning that its push into live

music events had failed to live up to its

billing.

Although CEO Simon Fox is scheduled

to give a keynote speech at The Summit

event in London (see above story in this

issue), which was expected to be ‘bullish’,

recent events have not been positive for

the books and music retailer.

HMV’s first foray into the festival market

with the High Voltage festival featuring

ZZ Top and Foreigner in London’s Victoria

Park in July was not a success, Fox was re-

ported as saying, “‘Our expectations for a

brand new, year-one festival were just too

high.”

Last year’s £46million purchase of Ham-

mersmith Apollo venue owner Mama

Group was seen as a bold and initially ef-

fective move to revive HMV’s fortunes by

moving into the more buoyant live music

scene. Having already branded several

major venues with the HMV tag, Fox said

his aim for the company is to “have a venue

in every major city”, and provide a compre-

hensive service for music fans. In the press

release for The Summit (see above) in ref-

erence to his keynote speech, the follow-

ing quote from Fox is used, “Not only will

what HMV achieves in the live sector have

a huge impact, if successful, but it will also

change the shape of music marketing and

distribution for the wider music industry.”

However the initial results of business in

the concerts and festival world have not

provided the boost needed to offset the

loss of 89-year old HMV’s music business

to the internet. Sales at its music store

chain fell a massive 14.9 per cent between

May and September, even worse than City

analysts had expected.

However, to be fair to Simon Fox, it is still

early days, he made a bold move and it’s

difficult to imagine what other sector, oth-

er than live, in the overall music business

he could have targeted to recover HMV’s

fortunes. Let’s see what happens in the

longer run.

reports Indicate Big losses at HMVAllan McGowan [email protected]

The Summit Introduces live AwardsAllan McGowan [email protected]

hMv

John Giddings will keynote The Summit in London

http://www.livemusicuk.com

http://www.livemusicawards.com

12

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It’s quite a unique set up, the framework

for the AVO Session’s in Basel, Switzerland;

the list of acts of top artists playing in an

exclusive environment in the Festhalle of

the Basel Fair, the number of broadcasts

of live music recordings taken from the

AVO Sessions and the fact that the AVO

Sessions even have their own fan club of

local heavyweights that support the ses-

sions financially.

A look at the current list of artists playing

the 25th anniversary edition of the AVO

Sessions reveal that this concert series is

taken very seriously. The opening con-

cert on October 22 features Jamiroquai

and Roy Ayers, followed by Robert Plant

and the Band of Joy on October 23, Sheryl

Crow on October 25, Ray Davies and Ra-

zorlight on October 26. Further concerts

until November 14 include artists such as

Mary J. Blige, Joe Jackson, Anastacia and

Jessye Norman.

The line up of previous editions featured

such prominent names as Chuck Berry,

Pink, Natalie Cole, Tom Jones, Diane Krall

and upcoming artists such as Emiliana

Torrini, Amy Mc Donald or Stefanie Heinz-

mann.

VIP-News spoke to Beatrice Stirnimann

and Matthias Müller of the AVO Session’s

about their history and the development

as a media format.

VIP-News: Who had the idea for the AVO SESSION Basel and how did it all get start-ed?

Matthias Müller (President): I founded

the festival in 1986 together with two

colleagues. Today I am happy to run the

Avo Session Basle in its 25th jubilee edi-

tion together with Beatrice Stirnimann, as

the other founders are not working in our

company anymore. We started as a five-

day-festival in five different locations and

it was quite informal if you compare it to

today’s 30 TV-recorded concert highlights.

VIP-News: Looking back, what has changed in terms of the early years and recent editions for the Avo Sessions.

Beatrice Stirnimann (CEO): In the first

years we only covered jazz, blues and

gospel. After a while we integrated world

music, singer-songwriting and in the past

years our main focus turned towards pop,

rock and soul. But we will never forget our

roots, which are based on jazz, blues and

gospel. This year we are happy to present

Jamie Cullum and Dianne Reeves playing

the same night what means a lot of fun

for us.

VIP-News: You have many top artists play-ing your events. Due to the limited size of the Festsaal Basel, how do you finance these concerts?

25 Years of AVO Sessions in BaselManfred Tari [email protected]

The managing director of the Post-

hof in Linz died on September 3.

Since 1985 Werner Ponesch had

been one the driving forces behind

the Posthof venue in Linz in Austria.

He leaves a wife and three children.

Ponesch was a very passionate mu-

sic manager who also launched the

independent record distribution

company Ixthuluh.

The Posthof whicht celebrates its

25th anniversary in 2008 is current-

ly considering setting up a farewell

tribute concert for Ponesch.

werner Ponesch Passed AwayManfred Tari [email protected]

Werner Ponesch

Avo Session

13

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Matthias Mueller: The reason why huge

acts like Mary J. Blige, Pink or Robert Plant

accept to play our small 1,530-seats venue

is our image. We managed to prove to art-

ist managers and agents that we are a very

reliable partner. The artist receives a very

nice fee (calculated per seat it might be

one of Europe’s highest), and additionally

the artist can get interesting added value

like huge promotional impact due to our

TV broadcasting clients in 40 countries on

all 5 continents. This is especially interest-

ing for Acts with new products like Jamiro-

quai in this year, who will launch his new

CD at our event in a pre-listening show.

VIP-News: Please tell us about the network of supporters. Who are these people and what are there motives?

Beatrice Stirnimann: We have a group of

commercial sponsors who can buy a limit-

ed number of tickets. They pay an upfront

fee to be part of the festival. Further, we

have a very prestigious members club. We

have a lot of applications for participation

but keep the club limited to 40 people.

They support us in order we are in the po-

sition to afford our most expensive artists.

Said support by Basel residents is unique

and I doubt that such a members’ club

consisting of festival fans could be found-

ed in another city.

VIP-News: How is the supporters network involved in the development of the AVO SESSIONS?

Matthias Mueller: The festival format,

program and concept is our idea and crea-

tion. We are quite experienced in balanc-

ing artist’s needs and requests and realize

whether an artist fits our format or not.

Therefore, a direct contact between artist

and sponsor is not necessary.

VIP-News: Does the supporters network also have an impact on the booking poli-cy?

Beatrice Stirnimann: Not directly, but if

they have an input, we are happy to have a

drink with them.

VIP-News: How many people are working full time and how is the company struc-tured?

Matthias Mueller: For all operational work

it’s Beatrice who is in charge with a team of 9

full time managers. So I have the privilege to

focus on the program and special projects

or to help wherever we have a problem.

VIP-News: Does it become more difficult to convince artists to accept the production settings?

Beatrice Stirnimann: No, we used to have

more problems in the earlier days when

our format was not yet known. Today,

all big agencies and many different art-

ist managers have experienced our high

standards of production and they usually

are very happy here.

VIP-News: Which stage riders and produc-tions caused you to raise your eyebrows?

Matthias Mueller: James Brown wanted to

use a helicopter to come to town from the

airport. As I explained to his manager that

it would take the same time from the air-

field to the helicopter as it takes to get to

the venue via car, he accepted our stretch

limo… But basically, if an act accepts to

play our format, he does this for a special

reason and we always found ways of com-

promise so far. Our production director is

Christoph Stahel, who is also in charge at

the Montreux Jazz Festival, so this is a very

experienced and relaxed guy.

VIP-News: The AVO Sessions are widely ex-ploited media wise in terms of broadcast ar-rangements. You even managed to estab-lish your own media format. Can you please explain the settings for this part of the AVO Sessions; how does it work and how long did it take to develop this format?

Beatrice Stirnimann: This is a long story

and without all the legends that have al-

ready played our festival, we would never

have reached this level. A lot of our success

is based on a system of classical WIN-WIN

situations. If the artist gets what he wants,

he is prepared to grant rights to the festi-

val in order that the festival can finance the

high production costs of such high level TV

recordings. We do not earn money from

the broadcasts; we just want cost recovery

for us and for the artist. We want to control

what happens so that the artist can trust

us.

VIP-News: Has the demand for live concert recordings by TV stations risen in the re-cent past and how many media partners do you work together with?

Matthias Mueller: No, the number of slots

for live music has decreased so you need

to offer the TV channels more for less

money. That’s what they get: More quality,

more variety of genres and a very reliable

service. On the other hand we can create

a huge impact for acts with new products

what makes our festival sexy.

VIP-News: How much do you have to deal with affiliated partners of artists such as record companies, publishers & manag-ers when it comes to broadcasting agree-ments?

Beatrice Stirnimann: Every artist has a dif-

ferent procedure and system of work. You

have to understand a lot of different com-

panies and personalities. You need to be

able to travel and convince people. Based

on 25 years of successful work we have

achieved what it needs for this.

Beatrice Stirnimann and Matthias Muller with Grace Jones

14

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VIP-News: In which way have these kind of arrangements evolved in the last of couple of years, in particular since you have to consider more and various media formats for clearance?

Matthias Mueller: You can’t move in gi-

ant steps. Managers need to understand

what’s in it for their clients and then they

push the agents to book their artist at our

festival. But one more time: If you don’t de-

liver the top-level quality at first, you won’t

achieve managers’ attention.

VIP-News: When you are intent on book-ing a certain artist, who do you approach first, the particular concert agent or the manager of the artist or even his record company?

Matthias Mueller: Of course it’s the agent

who is our contact person. In special cas-

es – for example with new products – we

have direct contact with band managers

and record companies. But it’s not our

goal to go around the agent, that would

confuse the process.

VIP-News: Quite early on you developed hospitality packages for corporate clients. What do these packages include and do these arrangements still sell well these days?

Beatrice Stirnimann: You have to put

more into a package than in the earlier

days. But basically it’s the same: The price

earning ratio has to be fair compared to

other music festivals or similar events. The

companies like our event, as they know

exactly what they get. We again sold all

hospitality packages in 2010.

VIP-News: AVO Sessions became a brand for concerts of top artists in a more or less exclusive environment due to the limited capacity of the Festsaal Basel. What does this means for the ultimate fans of certain

artists? Where does the audience comes from and what is your point of view on sec-ondary ticketing platforms?

Beatrice Stirnimann: Fans have to be es-

pecially well informed and have to secure

their tickets fast. We sell out some shows

within minutes or hours. Our sold capacity

is regularly between 97 and 100% of the

whole ticket capacity and this has been

our tradition for years.

VIP-News: Were there any shows that ever caused you sleepless nights?

Matthias Mueller: The worst case was

when we presented B.B.King on Nov 1,

1986. Due to a chemical accident near Ba-

sel all flights and trains were cancelled for

several hours. We did not know until the

afternoon if the authorities would approve

the show going ahead. But B.B.King came,

played and won! This was exactly 25 years

ago by the way...

http://www.mama-event.com

15

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http://www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl

16

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16


Prior to the occasion of its forthcoming

AGM, the German Promoters Association,

known till now as IDKV, have taken the op-

portunity to remind the foreign media and

others that it is constantly updating the

English section of the website www.idkv.

de in order to make information about its

activities and researches readily available.

The forthcoming AGM will see a change in

the present branding acronym from idkv

- to bdv. This changes the old initials to

the actual name Bundesverband der Ver-

anstaltungswirtschaft, which has actually

been in use since 2003. The new domain

will be www.bdv-online.com. The mail-

address will change to info@bdv-online.

com although the old communication

details will still be usable. For further de-

tails visit the website or call Doris at +49

40 4605767

VIP-News spoke to Association President

Jens Michow.

VIP-News: How did the IDKV start?

Jens Michow: First of all please allow me

to correct you regarding our brand: our

association is about to enter into the next

25 years with the new abbreviation: ‘bdv’.

This finally takes into account the fact that

correctly this stands for ‘Bundesverband

der Veranstaltungswirtschaft’. The old

abbreviation ‘idkv’ results from the 80’s,

when the association was founded to rep-

resent agents. When in the beginning of

the 90’s more and more promoters joined

the association, we changed its name to

‘Federal Association for the Promotion

Business’, however without changing the

abbreviation too. So it’s now high time to

bring the abbreviation into accordance

with the name.

VIP-News: Ok, so the ‘bdv’ started as an as-sociation of agents?

Jens Michow: That’s correct. It was started

in 1985 as a bastion against the German

Federal Employment Office. At that time,

the work of agents and managers was

considered to be an illegal employment

service. Punishment and banning from

the profession of many colleagues was the

consequence. Lots of companies gave up.

When they started proceedings against

my agency Michow Concerts, I initiated the

idkv as an alliance against this practice. In

response, we started proceedings against

the Employment Office and in 1989 we fi-

nally secured a ruling by the Federal Social

Court stating that the work of agents and

managers was not all a breach of law. By

winning this extraordinary victory, the idkv

had virtually achieved its aim, but as by

that time more and more promoters had

joined the association, we decided, to let

the idkv become the professional trade as-

sociation and representation of all German

promoters, agents and managers. I know,

that a common association of these three

branches would be totally unimaginable

in the UK or the US. However, it worked

fantastically over here, as the main issues

of all three branches are very similar.

»The German Parliament hearsus whenever industry-related

laws such as ‘withholding tax’, ‘artist social security’ or

VAT- issues are to be changed«

- Jens Michow

VIP-News: What is the AIM for bdv?

Jens Michow: The general aim, or let me

better say target, is to exert constant influ-

ence on an appropriate legal framework

for our industry. We feel responsible for all

our members’ professional issues. We have

developed an influential network to con-

nect with political Berlin and we are lob-

bying on all relevant legal issues affecting

the branch. The German Parliament hears

us whenever industry-related laws such

as ‘withholding tax’, ‘artist social security’

or VAT- issues are to be changed. bdv’s

yearly branch meetings and international

conferences, especially on tax matters, are

legendary.

VIP-News: How many members do bdv have and what types of members?

Jens Michow: Today the bdv represents

more then 330 companies within the in-

dustry. The greatest numbers of them are

promoters, followed by agents and manag-

ers. The level of members ranks from small

one man companies to the big stock listed

companies of the industry, be it the pro-

German Promoters Association IdKV to be Known as BdVAllan McGowan [email protected]

Board of IDKv with Jens Michow in front

http://www.idkv.de

http://www.idkv.de

http://www.bdv-online.com

17

VIP-BOOKING.COM

17


moters of the CTS Eventim Group, DEAG or

the musical company Stage Entertainment

AG, besides one to three single promoters.

bdv now counts nearly every promoter in

the pop and rock field as its members.

VIP-News: What is the most important is-sues that IDKV has dealt with since it’s be-ginning in 1985?

We are proud that we were able to pro-

vide professional education of the young

generation through the establishment

of an official apprenticeship. More then

8.000 (!) young people were approved

as “Event Managers” since 2001. We had

decisive influence in the German tax leg-

islation, mainly the withholding taxation

in the beginning of this century and the

later transfer of the ruling of the European

Court into German Law as well as the art-

ist social security fund legislation, which

we constantly try to keep as practicable as

possible.

We started in the 80’s to develop standard

form contracts for promoters, agents and

managers, which are used today by almost

all companies. Since 1995 we have been

releasing constant statistical data on the

German concert and event market provid-

ing the only statistic information available

to the branch.

Just now we are working on the foundation

of a bdv-collecting society in the interest

of more efficient recognition of the ancil-

lary copyright of the promoter. This will be

unique in Europe. Our members are paying

the monthly artist social fund contribution

via an association ruled organisation. This is

a unique relief on administration.

And finally we succeeded in establishing,

with LEA - The German Live Entertain¬ment

Award, a highly renowned media event,

which inimitably gathers every participant

of the branch for one night in one location.

By this, LEA has become ‘the’ yearly Ger-

man meeting point for the whole industry

and a most helpful voice for all issues of

our business.

VIP-News: What is the biggest challenge for bdv in the years to come?

Jens Michow: Every year brings new chal-

lenges. If you had asked me five years ago,

I wouldn’t have dreamt of what we have to

deal with today. One of my personal aims

is that the withholding taxation system

gets totally abolished as in the Nether-

lands for example. I can’t see any reason,

why at least European artists and produc-

tion companies shouldn’t be taxed in their

country of residence as is common proce-

dure for all other companies.

I am personally most involved as a lecturer

in business education - be it in business

schools or universities like the Pop-Acade-

my Mannheim or the high school in Muni-

que. Also the 2 ½ year apprenticeship of the

event manager must become a more highly

recognised qualification in the school sys-

tem responsible for the theoretical part as

well as by the companies responsible for

the practical part of the education. The time

of learning by doing has long expired. The

industry needs real professionals, mainly

with serious mercantile knowledge.

Last but not least: although an association

can’t do much about it: the industry has to

make strong efforts in order to maintain

control over artist fees and in consequence

ticket prices. In Germany for two years in a

row we have been faced with a substantial

downturn in the turnover of the concert

and event market. So far, it might not have

led to severe consequences for many pro-

moters, as sometimes less may even mean

more, however: the writing is on the wall!

VIP-BOOKING.COM THE VIP-BOOK VIP-NEWS

Having the right tools for the job is often the key to success. Through our ongoing communication with key Live

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moters, talent buyers, venue bookers etc. It’s no coincidence that we are now considered to be the No. 1 information

provider for this thriving industry.

The VIP-BookThe ultimate print directory for the Eu-ropean Entertainment Industry, packedwith contacts and easy to use. An es-sential reference book for every offi ceproviding basic contact informationand a solid overview.

VIP-Booking.com VIP-NewsWritten by our highly merited journalists, Al-lan McGowan and Manfred Tari, with over 50years of experience between them in the En-tertainment Industry, VIP-News brings the lat-est news and views directly to your computerkeeping you up to date at all times.

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?

VIP-Booking.com is now the most widely used online information service for the European Live Entertainment Industry with subscribers in over 25 countries. Using the latest technology and state of the art tools, the service provides in-depth information streamlining the day-to-day operations of industry professionals, saving both time and money.


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deadmau5Territory: UK / EuropePeriod: UK Winter 2010 Europe Spring - Summer 2011Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Ent.Agent: Steve HoganE-mail: [email protected]: www.deadmau5.com

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

Adler’s AppetiteTerritory: EuropePeriod: 1/2/2011 - 1/3/2011Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: [email protected]: www.adlersappetiteonline.com

Groove ArmadaTerritory: Europe / WorldwidePeriod: Europe Winter 2010 Worldwide 2011Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Ent.Agent: Steve HoganE-mail: [email protected]: www.groovearmada.com

Admiral TTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: 2010 - 2011Agency: CARAMBA SpectaclesAgent: ClotairePhone: +33 1 4218 1718E-mail: [email protected]: www.caramba.fr

Sass JordanTerritory: EuropePeriod: February / MarchAgency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Hilde SpillePhone: +31 24 323 9322E-mail: [email protected]: www.paperclip-agency.com

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artist avails ››

MORE ARTIST AVAIlS ON:WWW.VIP-BOOkING.COM

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The March 2010 appointed manag-

ing director for Live Nation Germany

has unexpectedly left the company.

Wessels who brought in his team

from his previous company Music

Pool Europe to launch the company

wasn’t available for a comment on

the move. Currently only shows of

five artists, Steve Winwood, Richard

Marx, Ben Horward and Exit Calm

are announced at LiveNation.de

In the imprint of the website Alan

Ridgeway and Niall Dunphy are

named as managing directors of

Live Nation Germany. Since 2007

Ridgeway is the CEO of the Interna-

tional Music Division of Live Nation.

The latest developments at Live Na-

tion Germany lead to speculation

amongst industry insiders as to Live

Nation’s future plans for the German

concert market. Previously tours and

concerts by Live Nation acts such as

Sting and Shakira have been promot-

ed by MLK and sold via CTS Eventim.

Wessels former company Music Pool

lately belonged to DEAG but is now

in liquidation.

Johannes wessels quits at live Nation GermanyManfred Tari [email protected]

Johannes Wessels

http://www.deadmau5.com

http://www.xraytouring.com

http://www.xraytouring.com

http://www.adlersappetiteonline.com

http://www.groovearmada.com

http://www.caramba.fr

http://www.paperclip-agency.com

http://www.vip-booking.com/

http://www.vip-booking.com/

http://www.recordoftheday.co.uk/

http://www.pop1000.com/

19

VIP-BOOKING.COM

Popkomm was successfully relaunched in 2010 and reclaimed its

place as the leading platform for the music and entertainment in-

dustry. This was the first time Popkomm took place as part of the

Berlin Music Week. Dr. Ralf Kleinhenz, Managing Director of Pop-

komm GmbH: “This week the city impressively demonstrated its

potential as a creative venue. As the nucleus of the Berlin Music

Week Popkomm positioned itself as an event that not only pro-

vides a forum for artistic creativity and new business models, but

also for supply and demand. The positive mood on the stands was

proof that the new concept and the new location were very well

received.“ 60 per cent of the 470 exhibitors were from abroad, mak-

ing Popkomm the leading international meeting place of the music

and entertainment industry in Germany.

Popkomm Showcase Festival – a major attraction for the public

At the Popkomm Showcase Festival on 8 and 9 September, 60 art-

ists and bands representing an eclectic range of music performed

in front of audiences at 14 venues on the grounds of legendary Tem-

pelhof Airport in Berlin, as well as in the pulsating neighbouring dis-

trict of Kreuzberg. Over a period of two days Popkomm provided

talented musicians from around the world with an ideal platform to

showcase their acts in front of industry experts and music fans. In

the past, Popkomm has launched the international music career of

a number of artists. Some of the bands who performed at the Pop-

komm Showcase Festival have already made it onto the big festival

stage this year too. In addition to performing at Popkomm, Cast of

Cheers, De Staat, Jesse, Rich Aucoin, Spleen United, The Megaphon-

ic Thrift, Therese Aune and Yes Cadets played on stage at the Berlin

Festival on the grounds of the former airport in Berlin Tempelhof.

Peter James, Popbüro Region Stuttgart and VuT board member:

“Happily the effort was worth it – Popkomm and the Berlin Music

Week are the right pairing for Berlin to calmly face up to the chal-

lenges of the future. Keep up the good work!“

Scott Cohen, founder, The Orchard, uSA: “I love the new post-

apocalyptic setting for the conference at the abandoned Tempel-

hof Airport. It is a living analogy of our industry. As the old ways

crumble down a new business rises in its place. Popkomm is back.

Better than ever.”

Sudhir Shreedharan, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, India:

“I think Popkomm 2010 redefined the way in which Indian music

labels export music content and talent internationally. We had a

number of positive meetings and look forward to attending Pop-

komm 2011 with a much larger delegation.”

Rofhiwa Manyaga, Producer Manager, IMEXSA, Independent

Music Exporters South Africa: “Popkomm 2010 was very helpful

for us because we were able to meet people from different cultures,

with whom we will exchange music in the future, among them Ger-

many, Denmark, China, Austria and India.”

www.popkomm.com

notiCe board ››

Another new service in the improved and redesigned VIP-News is the Notice-board, which is available for all readers. Reader’s messages will be posted on the Notice-board as a free service, passing on announcements, job postings, buy-ing and selling notices, inquiries or alike. Announcements should be emailed to [email protected]

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

19


Popkomm 2010 upbeat after relaunch

vIP-Booking ApS cannot be held responsible for loss or damages

incurred as a result of transactions with individuals or companies

through the notice board. We recommend all to make the necessary

enquiries before entering into any agreements.

vIP-Booking ApS may not, for reason of space, be able to post all

announcements received. Announcements should be emailed to

[email protected], including name and email address.

Please shorten your message to the extent possible, to make room for

as many notices as possible.

http://www.popkomm.com

20

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]

®

vip-booking.com

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20

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.


european Talent Broker AB

European Talent Broker is an independent company within the

Swedish music industry. Our main activities are to exclusively repre-

sent record-artists as tour agents, tour producers and/or as manage-

ment. The company represents 10 artists today. (enclosure: roster)

History/ The company Siljemark Production was founded by Lars

Telbrant and Jonas Siljemark in 1992 and grew to one of the bigger

agency’s in Europé within it’s niche during the 1990s, with clients

such as Ace of Base, Dr Alban, E-type, Haddaway, Culture Beat, Red-

nex, Lutricia McNeal and many more. During the autumn of 1997

Siljemark Production merged with Sweden based United Stage and

formed one of the largest agency’s in Scandinavia called United

Stage Artists 2001. Lars Telbrant sells his stocks in United Stage and

founds the new agency and management company European Tal-

ent Broker AB Geographic/ The Company is situated in Rosersberg

just outside of Stockholm, Sweden, its focus is on the World wide

market Activity/ European Talent Broker is a service company for its

client. The agency part of the company’s responsibilities include…

* Booking tours and concerts * Economising the project * Renting of

technical equipment / hiring of personnel * Arranging travel, trans-

port and accommodation * Project direction and co-ordination

* Sponsorships * Consultation in general management with the

project * Consultation in marketing and copyright legislation * Con-

sultation with record companies. Current Roster/ ALCAZAR / Top 3

in Germany, Top 2 in Italy, Top 13 in UK etc during 2001 with the

song “Dancing in the discoteque” ARMY OF LOVERS / New album

out “Le Grand docu-Soup” BOBBY FARRELL / Former member of

Boney M with more than 150 million sold units and hits like “Daddy

Cool”, “Sunny, Ma Baker”, “Rivers of Babylon”, “ Rasputin” and many

more. Bobby is currently working in the studio on his new album

together with parts of the “Army of Lovers/Alcazar/Vacuum” pro-

duction team. This is something to look up for. BOSSON / Top ten

in 10 country’s in Europé with the song “One in a million” DEE / The

sidekick of E-type has gone solo, now with two released singel’s in

the luggage. The new upcoming singel is the titel team from the

American movie “Blade” DR ALBAN / World wide mega star with

over 11 million albums sold. Hits: “Its my life” “Sing halleluja”, “Hello

Africa”, “No coke” and many more. LUTRICIA MCNEAL / 1,2 million of

the debut album “My side of town” and 1,5 million of the first singel

“ Aint it just a way” sold throughout the world. New album released

during 2002 partly produced by Brian Rawling (Tina Turner, Cheer,

Enrique Iglesias etc.) REDNEX / Number 1 in the German chart for 10

weeks with the song “spirit of the hawk” autumn 2000. Other hits

“Cotton eye joe”, “Old pop in an oak”, Wish you where here”. New

singel of the upcoming album is released during march 2002 RICHI

M / Released his debut album 1998 and the second album “Songs of

tomorrow” the year after. Both of them top 20 in the Swedish chart

and was also nominated to the Swedish Grammy Award in the cat-

egory of “Modern dance”. Richi M makes us dance. A few people are

born to make people dance and he is one of them. The first singel of

the new album will be released soon. VACUUM / Biggest territory’s,

Scandinavia and Russia. Biggest hit: “II breathe” Specialization /

Dance & pop oriented festivals Rantarock festival in Vaasa Finland

Beat machine festival / Beiruth, Dubai Gorgy park dance festival /

Moscow / 150 000 in the audience/


vip-news vol. 128 - september 2010

Documents

live music topics

uk music industry

music business people

music tank

various music conferences

core music retail business

vip book

vip crew