VIP-News Premium - June 2015

VIPNEWS PREMIUM > VOLUME 180 > JUNE 2015

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

McGowan’s Musings

Well the longest day was yesterday so we’re

now officially on the rundown for the rest of

the year, so with that comforting thought in

mind welcome to this edition of the News!

Travels since the last issue have included visits

to Inverness in the Scottish Highlands and

Paris for me, and Cannes, France for a couple

of others in the team. The Cannes trip was

of course for Midem, still the grandfather (or

grandmother?) of all the music trade shows,

but facing difficulties as far as convincing

music business folk to pay the still expensive

registration fees. This was the first year that

the event was moved to June, great for the

weather in the sunny South of France, but

this did not swing it for the attendance;

Midem organisers admitted that the numbers

were down by 11% on January ’14 figures.

However the VIP team enjoyed it and, like

others, reckoned that the decreased numbers

made it easier to do business. 2016 will

apparently see the event move till later in

June, so we’ll see, although I can’t see many

festival promoters being available at that time.

The trip to Scotland for the first Xpo North was

somewhat marred by the plane developing a

fault and diverting to Edinburgh – now I’ve

got nothing against that capital city, but

hanging around for hours in any airport is

not fun, we finally argot to our destination

over 8 hours late! However, Inverness is a

very attractive City, and even though the

mountains in the distance still had snow on

them, there were a couple of days when

the sun shone to rival Cannes. I also got to

experience one of the best drummers I’ve

ever seen and heard, Audrey Tait of Hecter

Bizerk is a slight figure but as powerful as

any male kit players that I’ve seen. With the

absence of their bass player she and Glasgow

rapper Louie still produced quite a set!

And what of Paris you ask? Well that was for

the planning meetings for this year’s MaMA

event in October – we’ll keep you informed!

There’s been a couple of stage accidents

of late with some knock on effects, Five

Seconds of Summer’s singer (how’s that for

alliteration!) will probably be staying away

from pyros for some time after setting fire to

his hair and burning his face during a show

at Wembley Arena – he has recovered you’ll

be glad to know. Then Dave Grohl – he of

the Foo Fighters managed to fall off the

stage in Gothenburg, breaking his leg in the

process, though adopting the show must

go on ethic, the rest of the band played a

set of standards before a plastered ( not in

the drinking sense of course!) Dave returned

to complete the set sitting down. However

as a result the show will not be going on at

several festivals including Pink Pop, St.Gallen,

Rock Werchter and Glastonbury. Florence

and the Machine have however moved up

the bill to make up for things on the Pyramid

Stage. Organiser and founder Michael Eavis

has taken it all very calmly though as you’d

expect from a 79 year old who maintains that

the hugely-successful festival “could go in a

wink” and will be outlasted by his dairy farm

In a new film on BBC iPlayer, he reveals his

proudest achievement is nothing to do with

the festival, but is in fact the moment he won

the gold cup for best herd from the Royal

Association Of British Dairy Farmers – so he’s

got his priorities sorted!

Now, what else before we move on! Ah

yes! Van has become Sir Van, not known for

always being in the best of moods, it’s not

known whether Northern Irish singer Van

Morrison cracked a smile when he got the

news that he’d been knighted in the Queen’s

honours list. Also a well-deserved OBE,

Order of the British Empire, went to my good

friend, Keith Harris, UK manager of Stevie

Wonder, amongst many other things. Oh

and Take That got the keys to The O2, having

performed on the London stage 22 times!

… no, I didn’t get anything, but anyway

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the News!

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

The first edition of XpoNorth took place

in the Highland Capital of Inverness across

the 10th and 11th of June. The event was

known as goNORTH from 2001 to 2014

and featured content from a range of

creative strands including music, screen and

broadcast, fashion and crafts, publishing

and gaming. The event continues to be a

free festival due to the funding and support

from Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE)

and the European Regional Development

Fund (ERDF).

Attracting around 1500 attendees,

highlights from the music programme

included a keynote with legendary

Australian promoter Michael Chugg, along

with seminars from PRS for Music, Music

Publishers Association (MPA), the Music

Producers Guild (MPG) and the Scottish

Music Industry Association (SMIA). The

event also featured over 60 live showcases

from acts including SAY (see below) Award

winner Kathryn Joseph, KLOE, Monogram,

Catholic Action, Man of Moon, Hector

Bizerk and Miss Irenie Rose.

XpoNorth is one of the few events where

you can get to see most, if not all, of the

acts as the venues are all within walking

distance. The only thing I missed this year

was the late night gathering in one of the

hotel bars, where as is the case as I’m sure

many of you know, much of the networking

is done. Seems that the hotels weren’t keen

on extra bar take – in Scotland? Surely not!

XpoNorth Director, Amanda Millen said,

‘We’re delighted with the success of our

first festival under the XpoNorth banner.

This was our most ambitious programme

to date, and we’re pleased that the event

continues to achieve growth, both in terms

of attendee numbers and range of content.

It’s fantastic to bring such a cross-reach

of industry figures together in a beautiful

city to connect with the most exciting new

talent in Scotland.’

First Edition of Xpo North Reports SuccessAllan McGowan [email protected]

XpoNorth DirectorAmanda Millen

Xpo North 2015Picture - Paul Campbell Photography 135

Xpo North

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

Continuing with things Scottish, on June

18 The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY)

Award announced the latest winner of the

coveted award – having appeared at Xpo

North Kathryn Joseph took the SAY Award

for her album ‘Bones You Have Thrown

Me And Blood I’ve Spilled’. The event was

hosted by Janice Forsyth and Vic Galloway

of BBC Scotland, also an attendant of Xpo

North.

Produced by The Scottish Music Industry

Association (SMIA), and now in its fourth

year, The SAY Award has grown to become

the most prestigious music prize in Scotland.

Each shortlisted album wins the artist

behind it a £1,000 prize and a one of a kind

quilt from Glasgow School of Art graduate

Vanessa Hindshaw.

The winner of this year’s public vote was

Paolo Nutini’s ‘Caustic Love, which won an

automatic place on the shortlist after a 72

hour public vote. The remaining nine slots

were awarded by The SAY Award’s panel of

independent judges.

Stewart Henderson, chair of the SMIA,

said:“It’s been a flagship year for The SAY

Award, our biggest yet, so I’m absolutely

delighted for Kathryn. ‘Bones You Have

Thrown Me And Blood I’ve Shed’ is a

beautiful, very special album. I’m just

incredibly proud of all the music our artists

have released over the last 15 months – and

for The SAY Award to recognise a talent like

Kathryn, well, we must be doing something

right. It’s shaping up well for The SAY’s fifth

anniversary next year.”

Leonie Bell, director of arts & engagement

at Creative Scotland, said: “Huge

congratulations to Kathryn Joseph as this

year’s winner! The SAY Award has firmly

established itself as a significant celebration

of contemporary music from Scotland

that illustrates the talent and energy that

exists within Scotland’s music industry and

that emanates internationally. From the

longlist, to the shortlist and now the winner,

the award is a fantastic way to celebrate,

recognise and promote the achievements of

Scotland’s talented musicians and producers

- of which there are many.”

Peter Leathem, CEO of PPL, said: “The SAY

Award is a fantastic way of supporting

and raising the profile of Scotland’s world

class music scene and it is a real pleasure

to be associated with such an increasingly

important event. Huge congratulations go

to all the performers involved.”

Previous winners of The SAY Award

include Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat (2012),

RM Hubbert (2013) and Young Fathers

(2014) – who were also longlisted again this

year for their album DEAD.

Kathryn-Joseph

Leonie Bell, director ofarts & engagement at Creative Scotland

Scottish Albumof the Year AwardAllan McGowan [email protected]

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VIPNEWS > INDEPTH STORY > JUNE 2015

The Early Birds...Manfred Tari [email protected]

The festival season 2015 is in progress,

delivering first results and findings.

According to the promoter DEAG,

controversy over the inauguration of its

new festivals ended with an announcement

of a total figure of 160.000 visitors for its

festivals Rock im Revier in Gelsenkirchen,

Rockavaria in Munich, Rock In Vienna and

an edition of the Sonisphere Festival in Biel

in Switzerland.

The Berlin Festival previously held in

September went ahead without the

music convention Berlin Music Week on

a new date (May 29-31) in the Arena

Park. According to the promoter the

event attracted 15.000 visitors for its 10th

anniversary. The business unit behind Berlin

Festival is a joint venture between the

Hörstmann Unternehmensgruppe (HUG),

the mother ship of the music magazine

Intro, Melt Festival and Melt Booking and

the Live Nation subsidy Festival Republic.

Berlin Music Week will be replaced by a new

festival entitled Pop-Kultur at the end of

August.

The newly appointed MD Fruzsina Szep

commented: “What we dreamed of creating

in the past months, what we developed and

planned with the entire team, became a

reality. The city of Berlin has found its mirror

image in the Berlin Festival – all its facets, its

music, arts and culture, its secrets, bringing

together Berliners and Berlin fans at a truly

magical venue!”

Szep formerly worked as a program director

for Sziget-Festival and moved to Berlin at the

end of last year where in her new position

she will also oversee the first edition of

the Berlin Lollapalooza event in September

The current edition of Berlin Festival has

attracted some positive media reports

by local newspaper but also some harsh

criticism for making the event cashless.

While cashless systems have been in use

for some years in various football arenas in

Germany, such as Munich, Dortmund and

Gelsenkirchen, important daily newspaper

such as Tagesspiegel and Berliner Zeitung

have criticised the organisers of Berlin

Festival sharply for operating the system.

A particularly sharp article appeared in

the Berliner Zeitung. Under the headline

“Berlin Festival Between Consume And

Control” and from a total of 970 words

only 50 were dedicated to the line up. The

rest of the article rather featured extensive

descriptions of long queues and editorial

comment focused on big data regarding

the drinking habits of festival goers and

referenced personalized tickets. Right at the

beginning of the story, the US mother ship

of Festival Republic Live Nation was referred

to as an “Entertainment Monopolist”. Well,

from a Berlin point of view this must be true.

The biggest European festival promoter by

far, FKP Scorpio, is not affiliated with Live

Nation but is associated with CTS Eventim.

The European leading ticketing company

unlike Live Nation is not listed on New

York Stock Exchange but does appear on

the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, reported for

its events Hurricane and Southside a total

figure of 125.000 visitors. According to the

company Hurricane gained 5.000 visitors

more than its sister event Southside with

60.000 visitors.

FKP Scorpio also chose to run this year’s

edition of the Hurricane festival with an RFID

Fruzsina Szep

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(radio-frequency identification) cashless

payment system. After a failed attempt in

2012 to make this event cashless, the current

implementation also encountered serious

problems before improving. On the first

day of the event, on Thursday, June 18, the

radio communication system didn’t work

properly and caused long lasting queues;

also bar and shop staff on on the site didn’t

want to service customers offering cash as

they feared being fined. (This is exactly the

same situation as occurred on the first day

of the Download Festival in the UK – Ed.)

Folkert Koopmans, MD of FKP Scorpio, one

of the most unpretentious promoters ever,

addressed the difficulties in a press release

by the company, committing honestly:

The system itself was not to blame for the

occurring problems, which we were not able

to solve until Thursday evening. However,

some of our guests also had to wait for a

long time to receive their badges, for which

I would like to apologize.”

Well, the synthetic viral money exchange

thing is one thing. Especially when media

reports raise the question of what happens

with the money that is not being re-funded

to punters. At Hurricane for instance the

re-fund was only returned in round figures,

a slightly different policy than at Sziget-

Festival which refund the correct sum of the

deposit the festival goers paid in advance.

Anyhow “cashless” is an issue that can be

read in various ways.

The German agency Four Artists who

together with 0711-Entertainment promoted

for the last fifteen years the one day festival

Mixery Hip Hop Open will not continue the

event in 2016. The current edition on July 18

in Stuttgart will be the last one. According to

the company rising production costs, Gema

(the German copyright collection society)

fees, and staff wages makes it impossible

for the promoters to continue to promote

their event. Additionally it seems to be a

problem in Stuttgart to find a suitable site

that is also suitable for installing camping

facilities for the audience.

In line with this there is also frightening

news from France where in 2013, according

to a survey by industry associations SACEM

and IRMA, 1400 plus festivals took place.

Public funding for music festivals has

been traditionally available for more than

two decades, but 2015 seems to be a

turnaround year for many events that until

now benefitted from public funding.

According to the website “ cartocrise-

culture-francaise” more than 40 festivals

have been cancelled, including events such

as Crazy Week à Nice, where previously

acts like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Mika,

Simple Minds played. According to a report

in the daily newspaper Nice Matin, the

promoter Ivoire Music reported insolvency,

blaming, amongst other costs, high concert

royalties charged by the French collection

society Sacem.

Amongst other endangered events are the

festival Voix du Garou in Six Fours-les-Plages

near Toulon in Southern France, which last

year presented headlining artists Placebo,

Stromae, Woodkid, and Massive Attack.

Also the world music festival Résonances in

Roquefort, will stop after 20 years, having

gained up to 20.000 visitors in previous

years.

A propos “cashless”, the football club

Borussia Dortmund announced for the

upcoming season 2015/2016 beginning

in August to abstain from its previously

cashless payment system and to re-

introduce cash payments in its arena...

Festival

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As mentioned in the Musings, Dave Grohl broke his leg during a show in Sweden,

resulting in Foo Fighters cancelling this year’s set at Belgium’s Rock Werchter 2015

(amongst other festivals).

It was as you might imagine, an eventful week at the Rock Werchter office. Phone calls

were made and e-mails were sent out trying to find a great alternative. (On this subject,

also read wikihow’: ‘Headliner cancels. Now what?’ on www.rockwerchter.be).

Faith No More and Royal Blood graciously stepped in to appear on Thursday June 25th,

adding a double dose of rock to the bill. Faith No More was in popular demand by the

festival audience.

Last February, Royal Blood received the BRIT Award for best British Band which was

presented to them by Jimmy Page. Plenty of reasons Wechter decided, to grant them

not one but two spots on the Rock Werchter Main Stage, both on Thursday and on

Saturday!

Faith No More and RoyalBlood for WerchterAllan McGowan [email protected]

CONFERENCE · SESSIONS WITH WILL PAGE (SPOTIFY) · PETER RIEGER (PETER RIEGER KONZERTAGENTUR) · ALISON WENHAM (IMPALA) · THORSTEN SCHÄFER-GÜMBEL (STELLV. SPD-VORS.) · CHRIS BARTON (SHAZAM) · PAUL HASLINGER (COMPOSER) · TERRY HALL (FORMERLY THE SPECIALS) · INEKE DAANS (PIAS) · DANIEL MÜLLENSIEFEN (UNIVERSITY OF LONDON) · STEPHAN THANSCHEIDT (FKP SCORPIO) · RALPH SIMON (MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT FORUM) · JOHNNY HAEUSLER (SPREEBLICK) · FRANCINE GORMAN (NORDIC PLAYLIST) · BURAK ÖZGEN (SESAC) · BEN RODENBERG (GASTSPIELREISEN) · FIONA BRANDES (PAY OR SHARE) · AND MANY MORE · SHOWCASES · NETWORKING · MEETINGS · AWARDS FESTIVAL · CONCERTS · WANDA · SÓLEY · TORRES · MAC DEMARCO · AURORA · METZ · LÅPSLEY · XOV · JORIS · TRÜMMER · PALMA VIOLETS · VÖK · COSMO SHELDRAKE · HAPPYNESS · CRISTOBAL AND THE SEA · GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS · A.O.S.O.O.N · DAN MANGAN · ROMANO · ODDISEE · AND MANY MORE · LITERATURE · FILM · FINE ARTS - PERFORMANCES

REEPERBAHNFESTIVAL.COM Organiser: Reeperbahn Festival GbR and Inferno Events GmbH & Co. KG

23.-26. SEPT. 2015

http://www.rockwerchter.be

http://www.reeperbahnfestival.com

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Leicestershire police force has defended

scanning the faces of 90,000 festival-goers

over the weekend of 12th-14th of June,

and checking them against a list of wanted

criminals across Europe. The force used facial

recognition technology on festivalgoers

at Download, staged at a rainy Donington

Park, and say that the information gathered

has now been destroyed. It was believed to

be the first time the software had been used

at an outdoor event in the UK.

The trial was criticised by campaign group

Big Brother Watch as “worrying”. Images of

people were compared against a database

of criminals who target music festivals

across Europe, the force said. Chief Supt

Chris Haward said no one who came to the

festival to enjoy themselves had anything

to worry about. “The software provided an

efficient and effective way of picking known

offenders out of a crowd - something that

officers would previously have been done

using paper briefings,” he said.

But Renate Samson from Big Brother Watch

said the way police went about the scheme

was “a great worry”. “We’re very keen for

bad people to be caught but we’re also

keen for innocent people to go about their

day-to-day business, have a good time at

festivals they’ve paid good money for, and

not feel as though they’re being surveyed by

police,” she said.

A cashless payment system was put in

place for the first time in a bid to cut crime,

but the system seemed to suffer the same

teething problems as that implemented at

FKP Scorpio’s Hurricane Festival in Germany

(see above).

Every single person on site, including staff,

children, RIP and VIP customers needed

a dog tag to get around the festival and/

or buy something at the stalls. Cash was not

accepted at any bar, food stall, market stall,

fun fair ride or merchandise stand. The tags

are also used to grant attendees access to

different areas of the site. Early attendees

on the first day reported problems in

topping up, with systems crashing and

traders unable to take money for items.

As attendees were asked not to bring cash

and there was no fall-back system available.

Things were resolved for the main days,

headlined by Slipknot, Muse and Kiss, with

main support from Judas Priest, Faith No

More and Mötley Crüe.

Police Defend Face Scanning at DownloadAllan McGowan [email protected]

Download Festival

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A few days before UK Music published its

report stating that so called music tourism -

people travelling to music events - generated

£3.1 billion for the British economy,

representatives for the festival sector made

a submission to the government’s Business

Rates Review expressing concern that the

Valuations Office Agency, which advises the

tax man on the taxable value of property,

has been recommending business rates be

applied to festival sites where previously no

such payments were required.

In its submission to the review, the festival

sector wrote: “The festival and events

industry has significant concerns about the

current reassessment of festival and events

sites being conducted by the Valuations

Office Agency. As a result of this, we are

seeing land which has previously been

outside the business rates regime, on the

grounds of its status as agricultural land,

now being reassessed as rateable, and have

seen a number of instances where site-

owners are receiving bills backdated as far

as five years, in circumstances where they

could not reasonably have anticipated such

bills”.

The festival reps state their viewpoint that

no such rates should apply to festival sites

which are, after all, “temporary and ancillary

uses of agricultural land”.

Moreover, they object to the unpredictability

of the VOA’s recent activity. They write:

“Since there is no clear policy set out in

the VOA Rating Manual, or elsewhere, with

regard to the rateability of festival sites

taking place on agricultural land we have no

way of understanding the guiding principles

of the reassessment. It is unfair that festival

and events sites are apparently subject to a

reassessment which appears to be arbitrary

and piecemeal, without any clear policy

framework”.

The submission concludes: “This issue

requires a discussion at ministerial level

about how business rates policy will help or

inhibit business growth. As part of this we

believe it is essential that there is a review

of the evidence around the contribution

that festivals and events bring to the UK

economy, and the rural economy; and

how an increase in business rates liability

may impact business investment, the

competitiveness of the UK events industry,

the cultural life of the UK and the economic

and social impact on rural areas”.

Amongst the organisations backing the

submission were the UK Live Music Group,

the Concert Promoters Association, the

Association Of Festival Organisers and the

Association Of Independent Festivals.

Live Sector Raises Concerns over Business Rates Being Applied to Festival SitesAllan McGowan [email protected]

Go online - www.vip-booking.com

Need to know who is touring Europe? ®

vip-booking.com

http://vip-booking.com

10


Building on the success of the

groundbreaking partnership with BBC

Introducing that has seen emerging

talent matched with independent

festivals throughout the UK since 2012,

The Association of independent Festivals

(AIF), the London based organisation that

represents over 50 of the UK’s independent

music festivals, has announced details for

this years artist and festival pairings under

the scheme including the partnership of a

UK artist and international festival for the

first time.

The two groups first worked together at

the Radio 1‘s Big Weekend in Hackney in

2012 to showcase emerging artists from

East London in the year of the London

Olympics. Artists who have since benefited

under this initiative include Savages, The

Heartbreaks and, in 2014, James Bay at

Larmer Tree Festival, who went on to be

the BRITs Critics choice, releasing a debut

album that went straight to Number One

in March 2015.

Successful artists and bands are selected

from a pool recommended by regional BBC

Introducing teams from across the UK. AIF

then puts a shortlist to each AIF member

festival based on genre and aims to match

artists with relevant festivals. It is a great

opportunity for emerging artists to be

discovered on a national level.

The festivals participating in the initiative

this year include Bestival, Blissfields, Kendal

Calling, Larmer Tree Festival, No Tomorrow,

Nozstock the Hidden Valley, Pete The

Monkey (France) and Village Green with

artists such as Bearcubs, Shelter Point and

Lisbon joining their lineups this season.

Paul Reed, General Manager of AIF

said, “With the festival season rapidly

approaching, AIF members are proud to

again partner with BBC Introducing for this

initiative. Festivals play a huge role in artist

development and the perpetual question

is, “Who are the festival headliners of

tomorrow?” This partnership is part of the

answer, connecting the most exciting new

acts in the UK to our most creative and

successful independent festivals”.

Jason Carter, Head of BBC Introducing said,

“We are delighted to be teaming up once

again with the Association Of Independent

Festivals. By pairing BBC Introducing artists

with a number of independent festivals,

we’re opening the doors for new acts to

experience the thrill of playing a festival

stage and being seen by whole new

audiences”.

Ongoing Initiative Aims to Match Best Emerging talent to Independent Festivals in the UKAllan McGowan [email protected]

Paul Reed,General Manager of AIF

Jason Carter,Head of BBC Introducing

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

In the May issue of the News we reported on the successful Music

Cities Conference held in Brighton just before The Great Escape. At

the event it was announced that a report was being prepared in

Canada looking at the ways that a strong local music industry can

strengthen a city’s wider culture and economy, and how these cities

could encourage and enable a stronger music business community.

Prepared by global record industry trade the IFPI and Music Canada

the report called ‘The Mastering Of A Music City’, has now been

launched. Its authors say the report “provides a simple checklist

to help local authorities, businesses, community groups and the

creative sector capitalise on the potential of music to build, grow

and strengthen their cities”.

Among the tips offered to anyone wanting to master a music city,

are...

Music and musician-friendly policies, from licensing and

liquor laws to parking and planning regulations to affordable

housing and artist entrepreneur training.

The creation of music offices to help musicians and music

businesses navigate the broad range of government policies

and regulations that impact music.

The formulation of music advisory boards to engage the

broader music community in a collaborative way and to

facilitate dialogue with city governments.

Engaging the broader music community to ensure the people

most affected by music policies are involved and informed.

Access to spaces and places for artists to practice, record, and

perform at every stage of their career.

A focus on audience development, ensuring that there is an

engaged and passionate audience for local musicians as well

as international touring artists, now and into the future.

Music tourism or the development of a ‘music city’ brand to

leverage a thriving live music scene, rich music history, or

large music festivals in order to reap the significant benefits

associated with music.

Launching the report, Music Canada boss Graham Henderson told

reporters: “A vibrant music sector delivers an extensive array of

social, cultural and economic benefits to its community; from job

creation and retention to city identity and music tourism, to social

cohesion, music can play an essential role”.

He went on: “Communities of any size, anywhere in the world,

can assess the extent to which they have the essential ingredients

for a Music City, and deploy the strategies successfully used in the

likes of Nashville, Melbourne, Toronto, Berlin and other renowned

Music Cities, in order to enhance or grow theirs. These strategies

don’t necessarily require heavy investment - addressing red tape and

establishing dialogue between leaders in the music community and

city officials are inexpensive ways to grow music’s contributions”.

Go to: www.ifpi.org

The Mastering of a Music CityAllan McGowan [email protected]

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Music Canada,Graham Henderson

http://www.ifpi.org

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VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

UK Music has published new figures on the

contribution music tourism makes to the UK

economy in the latest edition of its ‘Wish

You Were Here’ report.

The figures confirm that music tourism

numbers increased by 34% between 2011

and 2014, with 9.5 million festival fans

travelling to UK music events in 2014 alone.

Over half a million came from overseas,

and the rest apparently covered more

than “three times the average commuting

distance” of an event’s local region in

order to attend. (I think I understand that

particular factoid! – Ed.)

The UK Music report also states that £3.1

billion was generated by music tourism

last year, while the 546,000 music tourists

coming from abroad spent an average of

£751 while in the UK. The music industry

group also reckons that 38,238 full time jobs

were sustained by music tourism last year.

Welcoming the new report, recently

appointed Culture Secretary John

Whittingdale told reporters: “It’s fantastic

news that our music industry drew in 9.5

million tourists last year but it’s no surprise.

British music is legendary around the world

and continues to go from strength to

strength, with UK artists now accounting for

one in seven albums sold worldwide. Festivals

like Glastonbury hold an iconic status on the

world music scene and are one of the reasons

why international tourism is booming in the

UK, drawing in streams of visitors to all parts

of the country. We know our UK creative

industries contribute an astonishing £76.9

billion to the UK economy but this report

confirms they are truly world-class and a

powerful advert for the UK”.

Speaking for UK Music itself, the industry-

wide trade group’s CEO Jo Dipple said: “The

UK’s rich music heritage and infrastructure

has made the UK the go-to destination for

live music globally and these statistics show

how tourism is now a bedrock of British

music and the wider economy.”

UK Music Tourism Generates £3.1 billionAllan McGowan [email protected]

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale

13

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

European Commission grants clearance for

the establishment of a ground breaking

licensing and processing hub. PRS for Music,

STIM and GEMA combine to create brand

new, cost efficient and one-stop service

across Europe on behalf of over 250,000

songwriters.

In a ground breaking move, PRS for Music

(UK), STIM (Sweden) and GEMA (Germany)

have today been given clearance by the

European Commission to set up a pan-

European online music rights licensing and

processing hub. It is the first combined

offering of its kind

This will transform pan-European music

licensing by enabling ease of access for

digital music services to music rightsas well as

provide faster and more accurate payments

of royalties to writers and their music

publishers, according to STIM.

PRS says that benefits of the new joint

venture include:

Faster and more accurate invoicing

and royalty payments at a time when

the usage data from online services

is growing from billions to trillions

annually;

Simplified licensing negotiations for

digital music services operating across

Europe, reducing barriers for innovative

new online services;

Trusted service from organisations

representing significant European

repertoire with years of combined

experience of back office processing

and music licensing;

Reduced processing costs based on

unparalleled economies of scale;

Full transparency for all rightsholders,

with confidence inspired by collective

ownership;

A major contribution to online cultural

diversity as the new hub will bring

multi-territory licensing within reach of

smaller repertoires.

The joint venture will also aim to

resolve issues related to split-copyright

licensing by integrating back office

processing and matching services with

front office licensing services.

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive, PRS for

Music said, “This is a very significant day

for online music licensing as our new joint

venture is uniquely positioned to deal with

the rapidly transforming online music market.

Karsten Dyhrberg Nielsen CEO STIM

added: “Today’s Competition Clearance

announcement is testament to the incredible

work that has gone into the design of this

new offering, which will provide a seamless

service for both music rightsholders and pan-

European digital service providers. It’s the

result of years of productive collaboration

between STIM, GEMA and PRS for Music

to deliver a solution that will help the digital

market grow.”

“What this clearance means is that we are

now able to work even more effectively on

behalf of songwriters, composers and their

music publishers, while at the same time

helping to develop the Digital Single Market

across Europe.”

www.prsformusic.com

www.gema.de

www.stim.se

PRS, STIM and GEMA injoint ventureFrom VIP-Daily News

Karsten Dhyrberg Nielsen, STIM, Photo Fredrik Hjerling

http://www.prsformusic.com

http://www.gema.de

http://www.stim.se

14

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

The Music Managers Forum have just

completed a series of events in the three

main music cities in the US - New York,

Nashville and Los Angeles. Titled “From a

Whisper to a Stream” the seminars were

led by Jon Webster and Jonny Dawson.

Co-Chair Stephen Budd joined the New

York event and MMF Board Member Scott

Rodger the LA one.

Last year the MMF and FAC partnered

with Spotify to organise presentations and

discussions about the latter’s service and

streaming in general in the same US cities.

Other events have also been held at SXSW

and around Coachella.

CEO Jon Webster said “The seminars were

initially themed around streaming and timed

to coincide with the (subsequently delayed)

launch of Apple Music which covers radio

and fan connection as well. Managers

turned up in significant numbers and it was

a great opportunity to exchange knowledge

and express hopes and concerns with

their peers. The conversations eventually

covered a wide range of issues from

free to freemium; data and accounting;

breakage to representation; safe harbours

to the recently formed International Artists

Organisation”.

Artist David Byrne also joined the meeting

in New York.

More events are planned for the autumn

and next year.

MMF Talk Streaming in the USAllan McGowan [email protected]

CEO Jon Webster

15

VIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

In the last few issues of the News we have

reported on the problems being faced by

certain UK venues, and indeed the closure

of far too many for various reasons including

noise complaints from residents of newly

built neighbouring properties We have also

featured the efforts being made by the

Music Venues Trust to gain more protection

for established venues. The MVT have often

referenced the ‘agent of change’ principle

implemented in Australia.

The MVT is now backed in this by the

Musicians’ Union, which has now placed this

issue high up its agenda, lobbying Parliament

and government over the introduction of

the principle. The agent of change principle

is the idea that if property developers erect

new residential buildings next to existing live

music venues, they should have a legal and

financial responsibility to provide whatever

sound proofing is necessary to ensure the

venue and future residents can co-exist. The

aim is to overcome the increasing incidents

arising from people moving in next to

a music venue, which may have helped

make a previously undesirable part of town

attractive again, and then complaining

about the noise, often forcing the venues

to cut back their music programmes or shut

down entirely. In the main these grassroots

music venues rarely have the budgets

required to pay for costly sound proofing to

be put in. Too many venues have faced this

challenge in recent years, and several more

are set to in the near future.

Commenting on the MU’s bid to introduce

the agent of change principle, the Union’s

General Secretary John Smith said: “Music

venues across the country are vitally

important - both for musicians and bands

who rely on them for their livelihoods and

for music fans and local communities.

Venues must, of course, stick to the terms

of their licence and residents must be able

to complain if they do not comply or are

causing a genuine nuisance. But a growing

number of well-established venues have

been forced to close or to undertake

expensive noise reduction work as a result

of noise complaints and abatement notices

served by new developments. We would like

the government to consider introducing the

agent of change principle in order to help

protect these important cultural spaces”.

MU Lobbies for Agent of Change Principle for VenuesAllan McGowan [email protected]

Union’s General SecretaryJohn Smith

www.etep.nl

Aarhus City Festival has hired 50-year-old

Rikke Øxner as their new director. She joins

in October replacing Jens Folmer Jepsen,

who has headed the Aarhus City Festival

for nine seasons. Rikke Øxner is a very

experienced and recognized culture profile

after 20 years at Roskilde Festival, where

she in the past several years has been part

of the leadership, head of booking and

artistic director.

She still lives in Copenhagen, but is moving

to Aarhus soon. “I must have my base

here and have the city under my skin and

I can only do that if I live here”, she says.

“Both Roskilde Festival and the Aarhus City

Festival are about doing events in a defined

area. At Roskilde Festival, we had a great

field where we had to create something,

and here we have an urban space that we

need to put in play”, she says.

She will not transform the festival week and

shake all the traditions: “I have no ambition

to turn the city festival into a music festival,

but I have many, many ideas”, she says.

She will not concretize her vision before

the upcoming festival week is held and she

starts the new job.

Rikke Øxner has been hired on a four-year

contract. Her first task will be to help to

hire a new head of administration for the

festival week. Aarhus Festival was first held

in September 1965. Last year the festival

week had 500,000 visitors.

The Fender company has announced the

appointment of a new CEO in the form

of Andy P Mooney, who joins the musical

instrument firm from surf wear company

Quiksilver.

Mooney also previously worked for Disney

and Nike. Confirming his new role, he said

yesterday: “As a longtime fan and user of

Fender products, it’s a dream come true to

be asked to lead a brand and company that

I personally have so much admiration for”.

His new boss, Fender co-Chair Mark

Fukunaga, added: “Andy has proven

success in connecting consumers to brands.

His personal passion for Fender guitars and

the company’s long and storied history

makes him a great fit for our culture. We are

tremendously excited to have an executive

of Andy’s calibre at the helm of Fender and

we look forward to great success in the

future under his leadership”.

Rikke Øxner new director of Aarhus City Festival From VIP-Daily News

Fender appoints new CEO From VIP-Daily News

Rikke Øxner

Andy Mooney

17

NAMES & JOBSVIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

Big band leader James Last has died in

Florida, aged 86.

The German-born musician`s manager said

he died at his home “peacefully and in the

presence of his family”.

“In him, the world loses a unique

ambassador whose expressive and all-

encompassing language was music.

“We bid farewell to the man, friend and

visionary, who by his impressive strength and

openness, his professionalism, modesty and

love of life served as a role model and as an

inspiration for many generations worldwide.”

Last sold millions of records with his

trademark “happy music” - upbeat versions

of pop and classical favourites performed by

his orchestra.

Last started his music career in the 1960s,

making instrumental recordings as James

Last and His Orchestra - a big band with

additional strings and a choir.

Born Hans Last, his record company changed

his name to James to make him sound less

German when his debut album came out

in the UK. He was not consulted about the

change - but went along with it.

During his career, he charted with 65 albums

in Britain alone, and at his peak was creating

two albums a month.

He gained a large and loyal fanbase - but

was derided by many music purists who did

not like his middle-of-the-road versions of

classic tunes.

His illness took a “life-threatening” turn

last September and apparently forced him

to face the fact that “a man full of plans,

needs to not just slow down but give up

his life on tour altogether”, That led him to

announce his final British shows - his 89th

and 90th concerts at London`s Royal Albert

Hall - which took place in March.

“I can`t talk about goodbye - it`s a terrible

feeling,” he told the BBC at the time.

James Last dies at 86 From VIP-Daily News

James Last

Agents Clementine Bunel and Cecile

Communal of 2 For The Road Events to ATC

Live.

Clementine & Cecile have successfully built

independent agency 2 For The Road Events

over the past 5 years and bring their full

roster of artists with them including Benjamin

Clementine, Songhoy Blues, Stromae, Mulatu

Astatke and Francois & The Atlas Mountains.

Sharing the same artist focused and creative

approach as ATC Live, their artists join the

growing roster that includes Passenger, The

Lumineers, Half Moon Run, Shura, Soak,

Curtis Harding and The Districts.

Clementine and Cecile will be assisted by

Milo Steelefox.

2 For The Road Events joinATC Live From VIP-Daily News

CecileCommunal

Clementine Bunel

NAMES & JOBSVIPNEWS > JUNE 2015

18

VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > JUNE 2015 MUSIC IN SHARES

MusicIn SharesManfred Tari [email protected]

CTS Eventim - The Winner Gains It All

DEAG - The Market Shaker

CTS Eventim is a cheer leader among those corporate companies

covered within this section. While the business figures for the first

quarter 2015 only reveal a slight revenue increase from 150.4 one

year ago up to 151.7 million Euro, the profit results grew significantly.

The Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation & Amortisation

(EBITDA) went up 11.7 percent from 32.9 to 36.8 million. The usually

impressive results for the ticketing division of CTS Eventim provide

an almost boringly repetitious read; revenue for this part of the

company went up from 69.4 to 76 million Euro. The EBITDA results

therefore grow “only” by 7.7 percent from 27.1 up to 29.2 million

Euro. These are profit margins that really deserve the term don’t you

think?

Within the live entertainment sector the revenues shrunk a little bit

from 88.1 to 77.3 million Euro. The EBITDA therefore is 7.6 million

Euro.

Nevertheless the share price of CTS Eventim appears to be the

overall winner in this section. At the beginning of January the share

was at 23.19 Euro. On June 22 the share price was 31.74. The market

capitalisation is currently at 3 billion Euro.

The turmoil has calmed down, but DEAG has managed to shake up the festival

market in Germany and Austria with its three new festivals. The financial results

for this attempt to launch new festival formats in an already challenging market

environment apparently won’t be visible until DEAG release its results for 2nd

quarter. The ones raised for the first quarter compared to Q1-2014 rose from 32.6

up to 38.96 million. The Earnings Before Interests & Taxes (EBIT) rose from 1.48 up

to 1.83 million.

However, the share price of DEAG came under pressure when various newspapers

reported weak ticket sales for the new festivals with acts including Metallica, Muse

and Kiss. From 6.88 Euro at the beginning of the year the price was down to 5.63

Euro when this report went on to press. Earlier on at the end of February the share

even celebrated a peak moment when the share went up to 8.20 Euro. The market

capitalisation currently is 93.2 million and the current share price indicates that the

financial community is waiting a bit until the business results for Q2-2015 will be

revealed.

19

20

VIPNEWS > BUSINESS > JUNE 2015 MUSIC IN SHARES

Live Nation - Investors Approve Incentive Plan And Spotted Protesters

SFX Entertainment -De-Listing And Plaintiffs In Sight

Sometimes it is surprising how emotional investors can be. At the

recent annual meeting on June 10 the share holder community

of Live Nation approved a bonus and incentive plan for the top

notch management of Live Nation with a voting result of 99

percent. Another incentive plan for stocks for the company top

management only received a positive voting of 77 percent. The

most exciting election results refer to that of the board of directors

of Live Nation:

The incentive plans for the company management are probably a

bit more lucrative than for those who work for Live Nation as stage

hands. The Los Angeles Times reported the working conditions

for stage hands by the subcontractor Crew One Productions, a

service supplier for Live Nation. Within the article among others it is

reported “ sometimes the workers aren’t even given water to drink”

and that “safety training is all but nonexistent” The stage hands

getting as little as $9 per hour. These kind of working conditions

obviously caused concerns and led to an extraordinary non-official

annual meeting outside during the annual meeting of Live Nation.

Since the beginning of the year the share went up from $26.16 to

$28.73. The market capitalisation of the company therewith grows

up $5.79 billion.

The announcement by company founder Robert F.X. Sillerman

tregarding his buy back of SFX Entertainment shares with the

purpose of de-listing from NASDAQ has caused legal actions

by various opponents. One of these opponents is the law firm

Brodsky & Smith, LLC, which announced that it is evaluating to

launch “potential claims” against the management of the company

under the aspect of “possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other

violations of state law in connection with the sale of the Company”

to Sillerman. With a similar intention the law firms Marc S.

Henzel also considers as undertaking potential claims against

SFX Entertainment as well as Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., Dunnam &

Dunnam, Faruqi & Faruqi and The Shareholders Foundation.

Well, so called “squeeze out” procedures are always good to call

out opponents of such measures on the plan. The main purpose

of such legal actions is to increase the buy back price of shares on

which Sillerman set a so called “put price” of $5.25. Additionally

the rating agency Moody’s announced that it will take the former

credit ratings for credits of 325 million under review for a possible

downgrade.

At the beginning of the year share price was $4.49, currently it is

$4.46. The current market capitalisation is $418 million, within the

last 52 weeks the share price reached a peak of $8.67 and lost until

then 46.9 percent of its former value.

Nominees For Against Abstained Pass Rate Broker Non-Votes

Mark Carleton 129,462,026 42,409,468 1,434,426 75 % 7,667,904

Jonathan Dolgen 171,733,831 125,193 1,446,896 99 % 7,667,904

Ari Emanuel 172,305,929 129,616 870,375 99 % 7,667,904

Ted Enloe 143,928,393 27,942,341 1,435,186 83 % 7,667,904

Jeff Hinson 171,432,459 426,994 1,446,467 99 % 7,667,904

Jimmy Iovine 172,250,858 185,552 869,510 99 % 7,667,904

Peggy Johnson 171,484,359 375,544 1,446,017 99 % 7,667,904

Jim Kahan 171,732,462 127,573 1,445,885 99 % 7,667,904

Greg Maffei 133,823,712 38,622,845 859,363 77 % 7,667,904

Randall Mays 167,832,231 4,605,701 867,988 97 % 7,667,904

Michael Rapino 172,301,035 158,453 846,432 99 % 7,667,904

Mark Shapiro 144,677,668 27,770,241 858,011 83 % 7,667,904

VIPNEWS > MISC > JUNE 2015

Noel Gallagher`s High Flying BirdsTerritory: EuropePeriod: 2015Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Ben WinchesterPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.noelgallagher.com

BANCO DE GAIATerritory: World incl USAPeriod: May 2015 onwardsAgency: Value Added TalentAgent: Dan SilverPhone: +44 20 7704 9720E-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]

Bo Kaspers OrkesterTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: By requestAgency: Lifeline EntertainmentAgent: Michael HenrikssonPhone: + 46 70 632 00 23E-mail: [email protected]: www.lifeline.se

DIE KRUPPSTerritory: WorldwidePeriod: September 2015Agency: IBDAgent: Sabine WaltzPhone: +49 (0) 8202 9049870E-mail: [email protected]: www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial?fref=ts

THE ORCHESTRA starring ELO former members Territory: WorldwidePeriod: 2015Agency: World Entertainment Associates of AmericaAgent: John Regna - Artist Agent/ManagerPhone: +1 407 993 4000E-mail: [email protected]: www.THEORCHESTRAonline.com

Peter Doherty Territory: EuropePeriod: 2015Agency: Primary Talent InternationalAgent: Matt BatesPhone: +44 20 7400 4500E-mail: [email protected]: www.albionrooms.com

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Roskilde Festival is the largest music festival in

Northern Europe – attracting audiences from all

over Europe and the rest of the world. It is an

independent, non-profit festival organised by The

Roskilde Festival Charity Society. Roskilde Festival

presents an up to date and progressive music programme as well as lots of events, art

and activities. Approximately 160 bands play at the festival. The camping areas open

on the Sunday preceding the festival with upcoming acts playing the smaller stages

Rising and Apollo Countdown and many activities during the days up to Thursday.

An extensive environmental programme is implemented each year including a refund

system. All profits from the festival are donated to humanitarian, cultural and non-

profit projects that benefit people all over the world. The festival is located on the

Festival Site, outside the town of Roskilde, 35 km from Copenhagen.

Musicians representing all conceivable genres, from all over the world, play minimum

one-hour sets on the smaller stages and often 90-minutes sets on the biggest stages.

The long sets make the Roskilde Festival music experience fundamentally different

from most competing festivals in Europe.

Roskilde Festival was established in 1971 and has since then presented acts like

Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Beastie Boys, Björk, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Nick

Cave & The Bad Seeds, Coldplay, The Cure, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Bob Dylan, Faith

No More, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Paul Kalkbrenner,

Kings of Leon, Kraftwerk, Bob Marley, Mastodon, Metallica, M.I.A., Muse, My Bloody

Valentine, Nirvana, Outkast, PJ Harvey, Prince, Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine,

Rammstein, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rihanna, The Rolling Stones, Ravi Shankar, Slayer,

Slipknot, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Streets, The Strokes, Talking

Heads, Tiësto, Tool, U2, Roger Waters, Kanye West, Jack White, The Who, Brian

Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.

21

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VIP-News Premium - June 2015