Download - VIP-News Premium - Vol. 135 - April 2011
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PreMIuM ›› VOl. 135 ›› APrIl 2011
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The never-ending pursuit of music indus-
try knowledge and news for your infor-
mation and, hopefully, entertainment has
taken me to Estonia, Scotland and France
since the last issue of VIP-News. The first
of these trips, to Tallinn Music Week, also
attended by VIPs Ronni and Peter, cer-
tainly had its thrills and spills; Eurosonic/
Noorderslag’s Peter Smidt and Ruud Ber-
ends and myself found ourselves staring at
the still iced over sea from the roof of what
looked like a Soviet era concert hall with
some very ominous cracking noises com-
ing from under our feet. I joined several
others slipping on treacherously icy pave-
ments – I’d show you the bruises but we’d
have to know each other very well! – but
the worst casualty was Martin Elbourne
of the Great Escape and Glastonbury who
unfortunately broke three ribs in a fall – we
wish him a speedy recovery! However, as
you will see from our extensive report the
event itself was certainly worth visiting.
The visit to the ‘Athens of the North’, Scot-
land’s second biggest City and it’s capital,
Edinburgh was completely opposite in
terms of weather, unseasonably warm and
sunny, but ‘Wide Days’ was also a confer-
ence and showcase event worth attend-
ing. I’ve always been impressed – and I
don’t say this purely because of my family
connections, honest! – by the concentra-
tion of the panel audiences at events like
this and GoNorth, and by their willingness
to ask questions. I was quite surprised in
Tallinn by the numbers of lap-tops and
smart phones in use during the panels
– some were taking notes of course but
certainly many were doing other things.
Much has been written about a generation
of ‘multi-taskers’, so maybe this is what
we’re seeing and maybe we’ll just have to
get used to it – or make panels so dynamic
and interesting that everyone will be to-
tally absorbed!
Paris by the way was to discuss plans for
the second edition of the MaMA Event,
which will again be based in the venues
along Pigalle and in the cafes and bars of
Montmartre and will take place on Octo-
ber 21-22 – watch this space!
With the festival season not far off and
with the US business in particular hoping
to avoid the slow sales, cancellations and
postponements of last year the 2011 buzz
phrase appears to be ‘value for money’.
Following the news that U2’s 360° tour has
overtaken the Rolling Stones’ Bigger Bang,
making £341m with 20 gigs to go, Manag-
er Paul McGuinness said he and the band
were proud of the tour. “That dollar figure
for the gross looks enormous,” he said. “Of
course I can’t tell you what the net is, but
I can tell you that the band spend enor-
mous sums on production for their audi-
ence. Fans all over the world agree that a
ticket to U2 360° is good value for money.”
Talking about the 2011 US Festival season
John D’Esposito, founder of US festival
Bamboozle planned for April 29-May 1 in
East Rutherford, N.J, remarked, “It’s like a
Walmart/Costco kind of scenario,we are
providing so much entertainment. If you
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McGowan’s Musings:
Allan McGowan
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added up the eight bands on every-
body’s main stage and put their average
ticket prices together, then match that
to the (entry cost), it’s a value.”
Certainly Festivals internationally gener-
ally held up well last year so maybe the
fan is looking for a measurably higher
return for his or her money, this year’s
Coachella, for example will present more
than 150 bands (does anybody actually
get around to seeing them all?) includ-
ing Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye
West and The Strokes.
On the touring circuits there is a return
to ‘packaging’, New Kids on the Block
and the Backstreet Boys for instance are
presenting a double bill (I can’t wait!).
So, as long as it’s not just a case of ‘Never
mind the quality – feel the width’ I sup-
pose you can’t deny that these types
of bills are value for money, but it’s not
always the ‘All You Can Eat’ restaurants
that send you home feeling good about
what you’ve consumed.
On that note Ladies and Gentlemen,
here’s an absolutely huge edition of the
News to get your teeth into!
InitiativeMusik to support eTePManfred Tari [email protected]
The German organisation Initiative
Musik has announced that it will pro-
vide funding for the European Talent
Exchange Programme. ETEP recently
received EU Culture Fund support of
about 2.1 million Euro receive and will
now receive 50.000 Euro per annum
from Initiative Musik for a buy on that
will ensure that for the next five years 4
German bands will play at the Euroson-
ic festival in Groningen.
1st Top Ten Booking Chart by ETEP
The organizers of the ETEP have re-
vealed the first official booking chart
for the festival season 2011. So far The
Great Escape has confirmed the most
bookings confirming 9 acts, followed
by Europavox and Printemps De Bourg-
es with 7 bookings each and the only
US-festival Coachella with 6 bookings.
Anna Calvi GB 8
White Lies GB 5
Crystal Fighters ES 4
James Vincent
Mc Morrow IE 3
Kvelertak NO 3
Selah Sue BE 3
Moss NL 3
James Blake GB 2
Mount Kimbie GB 2
SBTRKT (Live) GB 2
Anna Calvi part of the ETEP
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The German Live Entertainment Awards (LEA) this year held in
Frankfurt for the first time as part of the Musikmesse Frankfurt,
attracted some unexpected additional media awareness.
The 6th edition of the LEA definitely didn’t turn out as the organ-
izers and its jury expected. The prominent German promoter
Marek Lieberberg refused all awards that he was supposed to be
honoured with. Instead Lieberberg delivered an attack on almost
everything to do with the Awards and in particular Jens Michow
and the LEA Jury. The trade magazine Pollstar quoted him as say-
ing, “We want our achievements to be taken seriously and not ridi-
culed by this dubious conglomerate.”
This statement was only one of many. Launched by Michow,
president of the trade organisation bdv (Bundesverband Veran-
staltungswirtschaft) in recent years the LEA has been generally
accepted as an annual platform to recognise the various players
of the German live music industry. But this year’s edition mainly
turned out to be perfect platform for Lieberberg to undertake a
thorough media bashing blaming Michow, the LEA Jury, the cer-
emony itself and the rest of the German live music industry, tell-
ing Pollstar that the LEA is a: “so-called award show with obscure
categories and c-grade prominence.”
In an interview in the daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt
Lieberberg said that the organizers of the LEA were not able even
to evaluate Lieberberg’s lifetime of work. In 2007 the promoter
was very upset when he attended the award show and didn’t win
a best festival LEA for Rock Am Ring in that year.
Michow, who could be said to have a Lieberberg sized ego, re-
sponded to his many media interview statements with a press re-
lease in responding to what he considered insulting accusations
made by Lieberberg.
One of the 1.100 visitors that had been in Frankfurt commented
afterwards that Lieberberg probably wrongly thought this year’s
LEA edition stood for Lieberberg Entertainment Award.
However, leA 2010 winners at a Glance
• BestArena-Tour-HeleneFischer
-„Sowieichbin“-Tournee2010
By Dieter Semmelmann for Semmel Concerts
• BestFestival2010-M´eraLuna
By Folkert Koopmans for FKP Scorpio
Konzertproduktionen
• Club-Tour2010-BenL OncleSoulTour
By Hamed Shahi-Moghanni for SSC Group
• ConcertoftheYear-JamieCullumatStadtpark
Hamburg
By Ossy Hoppe for Wizard Promotions Konzertagentur
• BestTourpromoteroftheyear-WizardPromotions
Konzertagentur
Ossy Hoppe
• Bestlocalpromoteroftheyear-HannoverConcerts
GmbH
Michael Lohmann
• Bestagent/manager-SundanceCommunications
Oliver Wirtz
• BestNewcomerSupport-ReeperbahnFestivalGbR
Alexander Schulz
• ConcertCluboftheYear-Jazz-ClubA-Trane
Sedal Sardan
• Concerthalloftheyear-Kuppelsaal
by Joachim König for Hannover Congress
• JuryAward–SafteyconceptforRockAmRing
Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur
• LifetimeArchivementAward-MarekLieberberg
ShowoftheYear-BülentCeylan
by Silke Marthen and Stefan Schornstein for
KULTURBUREAU & S-Promotion
• NewStyleEventoftheYear-30SecondstoMars
sponsoredbythefashionbrandNewYorker
Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur
Personality Clash surrounds leA-AwardManfred Tari [email protected]
Helene Fischer and Michael Bolton performed at LEA 2011 Ossy Hoppe wins concert of the year at LEA 2011
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VIP-News attended the City Session
organized by Festival Awards at the Is-
lington O2 Academy on April 15, which
dealt with two areas of financial con-
cern for Festivals, PRS and Policing.
In June last year PRS announced a re-
view of the tariff for live music events.
Although the existing tariff is at 3% one
of the lowest in the world, the Collec-
tion Society’s timing for this announce-
ment was not good, coming at a time
when ticket sales were dropping off
and a VAT rise was due to make these
tickets even more expensive.
PRS set in place a consultation system,
calling for comment and opinion from
the business concerning the Live Music
Tariff.
As yet no decision on the rate has been
taken, but following approaches from
a worried festival industry about the
effects that any rises would have on al-
ready high budgets concessions have
been announced for Festivals for the
element of the ticket price covering
non-music content, such as comedy
and theatre, and accommodation and
camping.
At the Session Director of Public Per-
formance Sales Keith Gilbert said he
could not predict the outcome of the
PRS For Music Board’s decision – ex-
pected later this year, but he told del-
egates it was quite likely there would
be no change to the tariff in the near
future. He stressed that PRS wishes
to continue a dialogue with the busi-
ness, and even though the formal
consultation period is closed urged
festival organisers to get in touch with
thoughts and concerns so that PRS
could institute the best solution for all
concerned.
Continuing dialogue was also the mes-
sage from Derek Smith, Director of Fi-
nance, West Midlands Police, the officer
with overall responsibility for Charging
for Police Services.
The City Sessions is a series of regional
mini-conferences produced by Festival
Awards Ltd, organiser of the UK Festi-
val Awards and Conference in Novem-
ber. It is supported by AcademyMusic
Group, Doodson Entertainment and
MusicTank.
No Change to Prs FOr Music Fees for Festivals this YearAllan McGowan [email protected]
Pop Up, the music convention based
in Leipzig has announced the can-
cellation of the exhibition part of
the music fair. While the festival and
conference program will go on as
scheduled, the exhibition, until now
considered one of the key assets
for this business event, has suffered
from a lack of demand by potential
exhibitors.
The tenth edition of the event will
take place on May 20/21. For further
information please check:
www.leipzig-popup.de
Pop up Cancels exhibitionManfred Tari [email protected]
Leipzig Pop Up 2010
Keith Gilbert - PRS
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For many years, and particularly during
the ‘golden’ period when live music was
riding high as the ‘cash cow’ of the music
industry, it was often said, and accepted
pretty much as fact that “You cannot rep-
licate the live experience.” However many
fans that attend concerts in major venues
or festivals have become more and more
used to watching the artists on giant
screens, rather than straining to see those
tiny figures off in the distance.
So perhaps it’s not surprising that there
seem to be more and more instances of
live shows being made available on a vari-
ety of remote screens: Prodigy have been
screening a concert film, entitled ‘World’s
On Fire’ and recorded at the Milton Key-
nes Bowl last July, in cinemas from 31 Mar.
Also a new AC/DC concert film will be pre-
miered on the UK’s largest cinema screen,
apparently. The movie, called ‘AC/DC Live
At River Plate’, will be screened at London’s
Hammersmith Apollo on 6 May. The film is
of a 2009 concert in Buenos Aires, Argen-
tina, and features performances of no less
than 19 songs. The screening is really to
promote the DVD and Blu-Ray release of
the live show, which will follow on 9 May.
Also Spotify has streamed performances
by Delphic, The Naked And Famous and
Pony Pony Run Run, plus a DJ set by La
Roux’s Elly Jackson, from London’s Koko
venue on 5 Apr. The event is a co-promo-
tion with Nissan, as part of its Nissan Juke
‘Behind The Hit’ campaign. Spotify’s Gen-
eral Manager, Jonathan Foster said of the
event: “Giving our users access to great
live music in their own home is the next
step in the Spotify experience. We hope to
see many more in the near future!”
So, what with improvements in sound in
cinemas and on smaller screens plus all
sorts of other effects including 3-D and
holograms, maybe we can no longer take it
for granted that “You can’t recreate the live
experience.” Let’s see what happens next...
recreating the live experienceAllan McGowan [email protected]
AC/DC Movie screened at cinemas
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“Wide Days is the type of event I would
like to attend myself. Like our regular Born
To Be Wide nights, the aim is to provide
a focal point for all elements of the Scot-
tish music business/scene, and provide
a bridge to the rest of the UK and Conti-
nental Europe. This is how Olaf Furniss,
journalist and founder of Born To Be Wide,
sums up the aspirations of his organisation
and this event.
This was the second edition of an intimate
but highly effective one day event, mainly
attracting the Scottish music industry but
with a few, like myself, making the trip
across the border – from down south.
The 2010 edition produced results for the
small number of showcasing acts, with
Meursault playing Glastonbury, and Car-
rie Mac, supporting Alexandra Burke on a
nationwide arena tour. Found went on to
sign to Chemikal Underground and Hope-
less Heroic landed a management deal
with Scott Cohen. This year’s gigs attract-
ed capacity audiences at Cabaret Voltaire
for Withered Hand and Rachel Sermanni
– who also played a couple of numbers in
the crowded front room of the flat which
hosted a welcoming party for delegates
on the night before the main day of the
event - and Sneaky Pete’s for Letters and
Paws, while the Electric Circus was 80% full
for Capitals and Gogobot.
Panels took place in the wood panelled
splendour of Teviot Row House included
and were all well attended and lively – it
appeared to me that those who wished to
be informed were and took away good in-
formation from sessions such as ‘Not Just
SXSW’, which yours truly took part in, Mu-
sic Making Money (there’s a novel idea!),
with The Orchard’s Scott Cohen and Music
in Films – some really good tips on getting
music on to film and TV soundtracks. The
keynote interview featured Regular Mu-
sic co-founder Barry Wright – some great
stories of the early days of promoting Pink
Floyd in 1968 and finding Edinburgh floors
for The Ramones, Iggy Pop and others to
sleep on, before progressing to putting on
shows with the likes of U2, Oasis and Frank
Sinatra.
Furniss, who like Helen Sildna of Tallin Mu-
sic Week is a well known figure at many of
the international conference and show-
case events told VIP-News, “The panels
are intended to be entertaining, as well
as informative, while the workshops are
geared to providing information which
will be useful to young bands and veter-
ans alike. Our events are designed to act as
a leveller and give senior industry figures
an insight into new ideas and approaches
happening at grassroots level. This year
we set up a facility whereby delegates
could book appointments with many of
the speakers and the idea is to get people
to socialise during the day and later in the
evening. With the showcases we prefer
to have a small number of acts and work
closely with them to make the best use of
the opportunities. It is important that the
industry guests should be able to enjoy
the music, rather than feeling that they are
being initiated in some kind of brainwash-
ing cult.”
This was a very enjoyable event and its
compactness allows you to relax whilst ac-
tually seeing and hearing a lot. As I said in
the panel, SXSW started off as a localised
and reasonably compact event and look at
it now, so lets hope that Wide Days doesn’t
get enormously wider, but it has some
way to go before that happens, and in the
meantime definitely merits support.
More Information: www.widedays.com
‘wide days’ in edinburghAllan McGowan [email protected]
Rachel Sermanni
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A PRS survey has revealed that over three
quarters of people interviewed in Man-
chester were happy that the local music
scene offered a good variety of gigs to
choose from. Newcastle was close behind
on the percentage of satisfied live music
fans, but Manchester can now claim offi-
cial recognition of having the best music
scene in the country, beating all other UK
cities and regions.
However it may really depend on how
easily the interviewees are satisfied as op-
posed to the actual share of available live
music. It would seem that London must
have more gigs – albeit over a larger area
– but only came fifth in the live music sat-
isfaction survey.
Londoners are notoriously hard to please!
Thefulllistingis:
1. Manchester - 77%
2. Newcastle - 77%
3. Nottingham - 73%
4. Lancashire - 70%
5. London - 68%
Meanwhile,thosesurveyedinthefollow-
ingareasfeltthereweren’tenoughlocal
gigs:
1. Derbyshire - 71%
2. Somerset - 65%
3. Yorkshire - 59%
4. Kent - 56%
5. Essex - 54%
PRS spokesman Barney Hooper told CMU:
“Local live music gigs are a great way to
bring communities together and for peo-
ple to discover local talent. Manchester
has always been a hot contender as music
capital of the UK, but we also thoroughly
encourage venues in the surrounding ar-
eas, such as Derbyshire, to seek local talent
and host more live gigs”.
Manchester Tops Prs surveyof local Gig sceneAllan McGowan [email protected]
Manchester tops UK Local Gig Scene
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FesTIVAls
The Green evolutionManfred Tari [email protected]
Julie’s Bicycle Announce New Industry
GreenAwards:
London, 18th April 2011 – Julie’s Bicycle,
the not-for-profit organisation working
with the creative industries to support en-
vironmental sustainability, has announced
the award of their prestigious Industry
Green (IG) certificates to fourteen UK mu-
sic festivals.
Thesepioneeringfestivalsare:
Big Chill
Glastonbury
Grass Roots
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
Isle of Wight
Latitude
Leeds
Lovebox
Reading
Shambala
Sonisphere
T in the Park
Truck
Wood
The IG certification scheme recognises
evidenced commitment to understand-
ing, measuring, improving and communi-
cating environmental initiatives with an
emphasis on lowering carbon emissions
year on year. IG certifications are awarded
on a 1 to 3 star basis, with 3 stars being the
highest award.
Shambala is the first festival to receive
3 star IG certification. The festival, run
on almost 100% renewable energy, has
proven reductions of 63% in its primary
emissions from 2009 - 2010, and is com-
mended for its innovative approach to
sustainability including locally sourced
and ethical food, 100% FSC certified con-
struction timber used on site, research
into audience attitude towards sustain-
ability, an offsetting scheme offered to
those driving by car to the festival; and a
sustainability checklist for suppliers ap-
plying for festival tenders.
Of the fourteen festivals, four have been
awarded 2 star IG: Lovebox Weekender,
Isle of Wight Festival, TRUCK and Wood.
Lovebox achieved CO2e emissions reduc-
tions of 38% between 2009 – 2010, despite
almost doubling ticket sales in the same
year. The Isle of Wight Festival made re-
ductions of 22% due to improvements to
audience travel emissions and have suc-
cessfully restored bee populations to the
island with their Let it Bee campaign.
TRUCK decreased its emissions by 10%
and has been encouraging audiences to
travel green through subsidised bus travel
and rewards for cyclists. Its smaller sibling,
Wood is the first UK festival to go fossil fuel
free, and is aiming to be 100% renewably
powered within the next three years. Wood
managed to decrease bio diesel demand
by 30% from 2009 – 2010 despite audience
numbers almost doubling, and promoted
sustainable living with composting toilets,
showers heated by wood-burning stove
and a solar-powered stage.
Nine festivals have been developing ‘base-
lines’ for 2010 and are implementing strat-
egies for 2011 festivals. Together they are
committing to a range of sustainability
initiatives, many of which are new. These
festivals all achieved 1 star in 2010
Examples of initiatives range across staff
and audiences campaigns, recycling, pub-
lic transport, locally sourced merchandise
and food, renewable and low carbon ener-
gy, and reduced water and landfill waste.
IG provides the festivals with a common
framework that means Julie’s Bicycle can
develop the first industry average bench-
marks working with this pioneering group
of festivals. They also join a host of other
creative companies across music and per-
forming arts which are leading the cultural
response to climate change by becoming
IG certified.
These initiatives and achievements send
clear messages from a community of in-
fluential organisations to the rest of the
creative industries (and wider audience of
artists and fans) about the importance of
building a sustainable, low-carbon future
for the creative industries. Shambala festival received a Green Award
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Alison Tickell, Director of Julies Bicycle
said: The challenge of reducing impacts
while growing the business is being tack-
led head on by this brave group of festi-
vals, It’s not always comfortable to put the
green brand to the test. This group of fes-
tivals are doing it for real.
Chris Johnson, Director, Kambe Events
said: ‘Finally there is a credible approach to
benchmarking and assessing sustainable
practice in the events sector. We think the
Ig is worthwhile - its robust, but easy to use
for promoters, and importantly, it places an
emphasis on continual improvement.’
GO-Grouplaunchnewthinktankproject
forthelivemusicindustry.
Of course these days all festivals, tours and
concerts worldwide are already optimised
for consideration as being totally environ-
mentally friendly. But there a few that are
doing just bit better than the others.
For many years conferences such as ILMC,
Eurosonic Noorderslag and even Midem
have put green issues related to live music
on their agenda. Often these panels only
attract a very small numbers of attendees.
But lets face facts. Folkert Koopmans told
VIP-News recently, “Heavy weather condi-
tions are meanwhile one of the biggest
risks festival promoters have to deal with.”
It is not only the weather that changes; it is
a fact that the climate is also doing so.
Time for a proper workshop that deals
with these issues perfectly timed just
before the new festival season takes off.
In February some of those activists con-
cerned with green issues met in Berlin and
agreed on the subjects that will be on the
agenda for this workshop that also acts as
think tank.
The workshop is an outcome from the
GO Group founded in Bonn in November
last year at the GreenEvents Conference.
GO stands for “Green Operation” and the
founders are Bucks University, Green-
Events Conference, Green Music Initiative
(GMI), Julie’s Bicycle (tbc) and Yourope.
Alison Tickell - Julies Bicycle
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The first GO Group Workshop for Sustain-
able Festivals & Events will take place in
Amsterdam on May 23/24, and will work
to the following agenda received from the
organisers.
On Day 1 (23 May) we will discuss best prac-
tise cases on how to overcome dirty and
expensive generators, how to apply renew-
able energy sources practically and how to
run operations more efficiently and thereby
reduce costs and CO2 emissions. Day 1 will
be hosted and moderated by Teresa Moore
(Bucks University, UK) and Jacob Bilabel
(Green Music Initiative, Germany).
On Day 2 (24 May) we will share effective
communication tools on how to involve
the audience in your green efforts, how to
communicate sustainability to your visitors
before, during and after the event. We will
share information how the audience can be
informed, guided, encouraged and stimu-
lated. Let´s discuss what worked and what
did not. Day 2 will be hosted and moder-
ated by Linnea Svensson (Öya Festival, Nor-
way) and Holger Jan Schmidt (RhEINKUL-
TUR Festival & GreenEvents Conference,
Germany).
In addition the founders of this new or-
ganisation also set up a working agenda
which contains the following topics:
1)Identify international best practices
insustainableinnovationsforthemusic
festivalandeventindustry.
2)BuildaSustainabilityTrainingCurricu-
lum for festival andeventpromoters in
collaborationwithBucksUniversity.
3) Aggregate, communicate and share
thecollectiveknowledgewithinterested
stakeholdersfromalloverEurope.
4) Establish working relationships be-
tweendifferent industrygroupstoena-
blepracticalandspontaneousexchange
ofpersonalexperiences.
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Live music is by no means a new thing for
the countries of Eastern Europe, and major
acts have been including shows in the re-
gion since the 70’s. In many territories there
are established promoters and good ven-
ues, however problems varying from overly
zealous state controls and low incomes have
held back realisation of the potential that
these markets hold in terms of lucrative ad-
ditions to international tour schedules and
local talent, apart from classical, jazz, and
traditional folk music, most are still consid-
ered ‘emerging markets’, however over the
last few years ‘emergence’ has been very
noticeable. The festival market with events
like Sziget in Hungary and Exit in Budapest
has grown year on year, attracting more
and more fans from the West. Venues too
have developed, offering attractive rates
for both corporate and music events.
This year’s Emerging Markets panel at
ILMC was co-chaired by veteran Hungar-
ian promoter Laszlo Hegedus, who along
with Estonia’s Juri Makarov and others
have been long term regulars at this lead-
ing live music conference event. Laszlo
highlighted the presence of many new,
young, promoters from the region includ-
ing them in the discussion. In fact there
were 110 delegates from 16 Eastern Eu-
ropean countries at ILMC 23, around 10%
of the entire international attendance. It
would appear that things are on the move
in the region.
In this and future issues VIP-News will take
a look at what is happening in these mar-
kets. Just to be contrary we will start in
the Baltic region in Northern Europe with
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia.
It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of
Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to
the south by Latvia,and to the east by Lake
Peipsi and the Russian Federation. Sweden
lies to the west and Finland to the north.
The sole official language, Estonian, is
closely related to Finnish. With a popula-
tion of 1.34 million, Estonia is one of the
least-populous members of the European
Union, Eurozone and NATO. Today, Esto-
nia has the highest GDP per person of any
country that used to be part of the Soviet
Union.
VIP-News joined invited international del-
egates at the 3rd edition of Tallinn Music
Week, at the time when Tallinn received
confirmation of becoming European Capi-
tal of Culture, to see what the country’s
music industry has to offer.
eastern europe– Active emerging MarketsAllan McGowan [email protected]
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Tallinn Music Week started out in 2009 in
partnership with the Foundation of “Tal-
linn 2011” and in all 3 years has remained
one of the key events of the Capital of
Culture’s programme. “Back in 2009 the
Capital of Culture’s partnership was in
fact the first piece of support that gave us
the courage to put the crazy idea of a mu-
sic industry conference and a showcase-
festival into action and make it happen,”
comments Helen Sildna, the organizer of
Tallinn Music Week. “A lot has happened
ever since and we now have a newly formed
organization Estonian Music Development
Centre in place and together with the Acad-
emy of Music and Theatre we are working
on a music manager’s training programme
to enhance and develop the growth of our
industry and talent. The Estonian music sec-
tor has joined forces and we are determined
to make it work for ourselves and the artists’
scene.”
The third edition of Tallinn Music Week
took place on 24. - 26. March – the event
brought 194 international delegates to Tal-
linn and was close to being sold out with
423 delegates in total. The festival show-
cased 147 artists, including 123 from Esto-
nia and the others from 9 different coun-
tries to 7600 enthusiastic music lovers over
3 nights in 11 music venues.
TallinnMusicWeek2011innumber:
- 3 nights
- 16 stages / 11 clubs
- 147 artists from 10 countries
- 123 artists from Estonia
- 7600 festival visitors
- 423 delegates (229 Estonian)
- 194 international delegates
- 52,483 unique homepage visits from 88
countries
TallinnMusicWeek2010innumbers:
- 3 nights
- 100 artists
- 6000 visitors
- 352 delegates
- 107 international delegates from 17 coun-
tries
- 29 608 unique homepage visits from 74
countries
Organiser Helen Sildna has become a well-
known face at many of the major music
trade events and has been instrumental in
convincing international professionals to
attend TMW. She told VIP-News:
“As for my own comments or thoughts – I
think I can really say it was in a way a break-
through year for us, first of all locally – for
the first time I really had the feeling that
the local music scene was actively taking
part of the event and the bands and art-
ists in the line-up were much more active in
promoting themselves. In terms of interna-
tional communication, I am glad we were
lucky to have the Capital of Culture news
together with our 3rd edition – exactly the
kind of a build-up we really needed also in
our own development cycle. What I am ex-
tremely happy about is that there seems to
be suddenly quite a lot of interest interna-
tionally in the Estonian music and this has
really escalated within these 3 years. Today
I can say, we just got the promising singer-
songwriter IIRIS confirmed for the Great Es-
cape this year, and we are looking forward
to having our bands play MaMA, Musiikki
& Media, Iceland Airwaves, Popkomm and
EuroSonic. And I just saw the news the Esto-
nian indie-pop band Ewert & the Two Drag-
ons have made a deal with the Icelandic
online store Gogoyoko. What it all means is
that Estonian music is suddenly spreading
out there into the world, bit by bit. There is
definitely excitement in the air.”
The importance of the music industry to
Estonia was made clear by the presence
of the country’s President, Toomas Hen-
drik Ilves. It was obvious from his opening
speech that he had an active interest in
various styles of music.
VIP-News spoke to President Ilves:
VIP-News: Music, particularly live music, appears to have been an essential ele-ment for the bringing about of change and the securing of independence in Esto-nia - I am involved with the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in Lon-don and have got to know Juri Makarov quite well, I also met Rein Lang briefly in Tampere last year, so know a little about Rocksummer Festival and the ‘singing revolution’. Do you think that music re-mains as important to Estonians and do you think that both the export and import of artists and commercial music is a desir-able thing in both cultural and economic terms for the country?
»I do not believe that music or artists are exportable
or importable. People and especially artists are not
commodities«
- Toomas Hendrik Ilves
President Ilves: Music remains important
as ever in Estonia even as its social/politi-
cal function (if we want to speak of music
so crudely) has changed over time. Our
song-festivals began in the middle of the
19th Century as form of social cohesion
building: peasants came to understand
they had and were a culture. Under Soviet
occupation, song-festivals, concerts, etc.
similarly allowed Estonians to feel Estonian
and not just a part of an atomised mass of
Soviet People. This kind of negative pres-
sure is missing today yet concert-going
from avant-garde rock to classical remains
popular. Especially in the latter case, visi-
tors to Estonia frequently remark on how
many young people attend serious music
concerts. A visiting conductor recently la-
mented to me that if one looks at classical
music audiences in Europe today, in anoth-
er twenty years the only place to perform
classical music will be Tallinn. While this is
an exaggeration, of course, but the remark
does capture a bit of the distinctiveness of
the Estonian music scene.
Tallinn Music weekAllan McGowan [email protected]
Helen Sildna - organiser at Tallinn Muisc Week
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I do not believe that music or artists are
exportable or importable. People and es-
pecially artists are not commodities. The
art they produce, however, either finds
acceptance and popularity elsewhere or
it doesn’t. I do believe, moreover, that we
need to recognize that music and creative
endeavours more broadly are an impor-
tant sector of the economy. Arvo Pärt’s
(renowned Estonian classical composer)
music probably does not generate much
money for the Estonian economy but it
does make Estonia a recognizable place
on the world map, which in turn does con-
tribute to the economy.
Until IceSave, (The diplomatic dispute that
began in 2008 between Iceland on one
hand and the and the UK and the Nether-
lands centred on the creditors of the pri-
vately owned (since 2003) Icelandic bank
Landsbanki, which offered online savings
accounts under the “Icesave” brand.) tiny
Iceland (1/3 of ‘tiny Estonia’ ) was known
above all for Björk and Sigur Ros; there’s no
doubt as to which is the preferred brand.
VIP-News: You obviously take an interest in music yourself, you mentioned Arcade Fire in your speech, what other artists have
stimulated your interest, both Estonian and international? Do you play yourself? You have I think, some background in ra-dio, was music a part of this?
President Ilves: Ever since I can remem-
ber anything at all music has been a core
interest. Melomane is the French; I am
not sure, though, if melomaniac would
be the appropriate translation, but since
childhood my friends have remarked that
I have an inordinate if not obsessional
interest in music. For me it’s just part of
life. Which means also that I have rather
catholic (small ‘c’ there) tastes and always
have, with little regard for genre. “Help me
Rhonda” clicks just as much as the Gold-
berg Variations. I discovered Arvo Pärt lis-
tening to a new music programme on CBC
in my car in the early 1980. I was mesmer-
ized, pulled over to the side of the road to
listen to the end and was dumbstruck to
hear that the piece (“Cantus in memory of
Benjamin Britten”) had been written by an
Estonian composer. In other words, I listen
without regard to categories. Eubie Blake
and Steve Reich, Georgian choirmusic and
Gregorian chants, Indian ragas, Pearl Jam,
the Band, I really like them all.
I am alas completely talentless as far as
playing anything, however. I have played
piano, saxophone and guitar, all with abys-
mal results. My experience in radio was
strictly journalistic.
VIP-News: What are your opinions of the relevance and importance of Tallinn Mu-sic Week. Did you get the opportunity to attend any other parts of the event this year?
President Ilves: TMW is for me a fantas-
tic showcase for new music and musi-
cians in the Nordic/Baltic region, which
I hope also leads to new synergies - yes
that sounds like ad copy but I do believe
that regional interplay and influences
can make for something more than by
just listening to records. In Vienna in the
18th-19th century there was no recorded
music so it’s not a surprise that proximity
played a large role in musical develop-
ment but San Francisco in the 1960s and
Seattle in the 1990s became creative caul-
drons from people just playing together,
even though by then recorded music
was the rule. I hope TMW does the same.
I attended one concert at the Von Krahl
theatre the night before the opening and
managed to listen to four bands - Finnish,
Lithuanian and Estonian. I was especially
taken by Alan McKim. So much power in
just a voice and a single acoustic guitar:
simply amazing and precisely the kind of
experience TMW is for.
Nokia Concert Hall - Tallinn
Aivar Sirelpuu is General Manager of the
Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn’s state of the
art venue, and a man with long experi-
ence in the concert business. VIP-News
spoke to him in Tallinn:
VIP-News: Did you find Tallinn Music Week useful for networking purposes? How did it compare to other events that you attend?
Aivar Sirelpuu: This year definitely was
the most interesting year of Tallinn Music
Week – in the music & networking sense.
Of course it’s different from huge events
like the ILMC, but a very necessary and de-
veloping event, which is a much needed in
our region too.
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Tallinn Music Week
Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn
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VIP-News: I hear that you were involved with Juri Makarov, who I know quite well from ILMC, and Rein Lang in the early days of using music and I think a music festival to bring about political change in your country. Is this what got you into the music and events business? What have you done between then and now in your career?
Sirelpuu: Indeed I had the pleasure of
working with both Jüri & Rein during the
early days of the Estonian Republic and
even before that. With Rein I had the plea-
sure to organise a music festival in the
town of Tartu, in South-Estonia, which dur-
ing the late 80s was one of the main ‘rebel’
events against the Soviet occupation here.
We just celebrated the event’s 30th birth-
day a few years back, so we did another
festival with Rein & the crew from back
then. I’m glad Rein has also continued on
the culture path now, becoming the cul-
tural minister of Estonia.
With Jüri we organized a huge rock festi-
val called Rock Summer at the legendary
Song Festival Ground in 1988, one of the
first major international festivals in the So-
viet Union. Probably being apart of those
festivals and meeting the artists we man-
aged to get there is one of the fondest
memories I will ever have.
During the 90’s, I ventured to different
paths but still worked as a production
manager and promoter with some huge
concerts in Estonia like Michael Jackson,
Tina Turner & Rolling Stones. From 2004
to 2008, I worked at Saku Arena as the GM
there. In late 2008 Peeter Rebane from the
BDG group asked me to come and work
with a new venue at the Solaris centre. The
ambition and investments really made it
appealing, so here I am today...
VIP-News: Are the Solaris venue and the Nokia Concert Hall one and the same, or is the Concert Hall just a part of the overall facility?
Sirelpuu: Nokia Concert Hall is one of the
entertainment establishments situated in
the Solaris Center. Solaris also features two
hi-tech cinemas, shops, restaurants etc.; A
true centre of Tallinn.
VIP-News: When did Nokia come in as a sponsor? The Solaris brochure mainly seems to refer to Conferences and Cor-porate events, what concert events have taken place in the last few years.
»I’m very optimistic.I can see new enthusiastic faces coming up in recent
years, who have a fresh approach & who could really
make big things happen«
- Aivar Sirelpuu
Sirelpuu: We approached Nokia as we
were trying to name the hall. As I had
previously worked closely with Nokia dur-
ing the 90’s, I sat down with them and we
worked out a deal that made both sides
happy. We’ve had hundreds of events al-
ready, most of them actually are concerts
and shows – most known performers in-
clude Macy Gray, Procol Harum, Joe Bona-
massa, Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N’Dour,
Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Marillion,
Rufus Wainwright etc.
VIP-News: Do you think that more interna-tional acts will come to play in Tallinn and is there an audience that wants to see and can afford to buy tickets for these acts?
Sirelpuu: Of course, with a small market
doing shows and budgeting is of great
importance. If you have a known good act
in a good venue with a reasonable ticket
price – people will come.
VIP-News: Do you see the music industry growing in Estonia, and are you optimistic about the future?
Sirelpuu: I’m very optimistic. I can see new
enthusiastic faces coming up in recent
years, who have a fresh approach & who
could really make big things happen. The
music scene is the most vibrant in decades,
there are more venues (club and concert)
being built, more bands breaking out of
Estonia & a fresh approach to promoting
and organizing events.
Comments from TMw delegates
VIP-News asked various delegates for their
opinions of the event and its impact on the
Estonian music business. Starting with an
Estonian artist manager. Rein Kutsar man-
ages the Nikns Suns:
I have attended TMW every year since it
started and I can see that due to the Tal-
linn Music Week Estonian artists are more
into experimenting and the festival itself
actually helps artists to grow their wings. In
my opinion those wings are getting bigger
and bigger every year. However, this festi-
val is still quite young and it needs some
upgrading. But I think that this is only ques-
tion of few years and it will adapt itself as a
full-grown plant reaching towards the sun,
because of Estonian music and musician’s
needs to be discovered by other coun-
tries, promoters and fans. As our President
Toomas-Hendrik Ilves said at the opening,
Tallinn Music Week
Aivar Sirelpuu GM of Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn
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there’s no reason to look away and try to
find “this” from abroad because “it” is hap-
pening right here at this very moment.
Most of the international delegates ap-
peared impressed by TMW:
Rob Berends, Network Europe and Paper-
clip Agency, Netherlands:
My last visit to Estonia was exactly 20 years
ago, when one of my Dutch bands (Poppi
Uk, also favoured by John Peel who record-
ed them for the BBC in his famous ‘Peel
Sessions’) was asked to play Jüri Makarov’s
Rock Summer Festival, about a month be-
fore formal independence of Estonia from
the Soviet Union.
Tallinn Music Week 2011 gave me the op-
portunity to recognize many spots in Tal-
linn, and at the same be amazed at the
pace of change in Estonia. Despite all the
IT-modernity (Skype is from there, and cell
phones were abundant there a long time
ago), Estonia has still retained its tradition-
al love for singing and music. Singing and
music have been instrumental in keeping
Estonian culture alive despite centuries
of oppression and slavery by the Teutonic
Knights from Germany, the Swedes, the
Russian czars, the Nazi’s and Stalin. In the
decade before independence (which came
in 1991), singing Estonian songs in public
became a form of mass-protest against the
Soviet occupation. The Rock Summer Fes-
tivals fitted into that protest.
With 1.3 million inhabitants, Estonia is a
small country. Nevertheless, the impor-
tance of the musical history promises a
wealth of good music. Tallinn Music Week
is a much-needed initiative to present Es-
tonian music to the world. Hats off to the
organization for starting this in 2009, and
hats off for the 2011-edition that presented
a very useful list of international delegates,
very interesting panels (although the one
I thought was the most interesting, was
the only one in Estonian…), and the right
amount of showcase events.
Most Estonian musicians and industry peo-
ple are still a bit shy when it comes to sell-
ing themselves and their music. The TMW
organization is focusing on trying to help
change this, and that’s excellent. Shake off
the shyness, shake off the modesty next
to assumed Big Brother Finland, and show
the world that Estonian culture shines!
Ilya Bortnuk, Light Music, St.Petersburg –
Russia:
This year Ilya’s Company is promoting
concerts with Mogwai, Cut Copy, Oi-Va-
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Voi, Gogol Bordello, Gotan Project, Mati-
syahu, Morcheeba and Richard Galliano in
St.Petersburg, as well as 2 festivals: Stereo-
leto - June, 25, July, 2 with APPARAT BAND,
Chinawoman, Architecture in Helsinki,
Uusi Fantasia, Casiokids, etc, and Muzatsi-
ya - July, 23 - Asian Dub Foundation, Los
Del Abajo and others.
As Tallinn is very close to St.Petersburg I
see a lot of way for communications - to
plan a join routing for the artists, Helsinki -
St.Petersburg - Tallinn for example.
As for the local bands - I’ve seen some good
artists, and we’ll consider the ways that
we can do their shows in St.Petersburg.
Of course the event is not yet as effective
as Music and Media for example, but it’s
good chance to meet the new partners -
especially from Estonia.
Paulina Ahokas, Executive Director Music
Export Finland:
It is hard to remember that this was only
the third Tallinn Music Week: it is already
such an important date in the calendar
for Baltic-Nordic networking and a really
wholesome update on the most important
and timely Estonian music on a broad base.
I thought adding even more genre spread
to the showcase programme worked pret-
ty well, as it seemed all of the programme
was presented by the right sub-promoters:
all of the key Estonian festivals and promot-
ers had collected their strength and this is
incredibly wise of them. Thus, each of the
showcases seemed to collect the right
crowd both locally and internationally. My
personal highlights were President Ilves´s
opening speech (what an inspirational and
passionate person!), Ismo Alanko & Teho
gig at VonKrahl Rabarock showcase, James
Reipas showcase at Rock Café (great venue
as well), our Music & Media VIP reception
at Sfäär Restaurant, the energy of Mimicry
at Rock Café, wonderful Iiris: thanks to
Helen Sildna and all the Estonian team and
partners Tallinn Music Week is really full of
fruitful encounters.
Alex Knight, Fat Cat Records: Brighton (UK):
As far as the music was concerned I must
admit to having had my preconceptions
blown out of the water, I had been tipped
off about Mari Kalkun and band but the
live performance surpassed my expec-
tations, beautiful instrumentation, gor-
geous 3 part vocal harmonies and an
exceptionally talented pool of musicians,
I’ve bought her CD and look forward to
settling down and giving her a good lis-
ten. Pastacas also created a phenomenal
live experience, exceptional musicianship
linked with a creative mind and a taste for
the avant-garde made for a very enjoyable
experience. On a whole the artists I saw
were far more than a pastiche of western
bands and scenes, I was excited to hear
people foraging in new found- sounds
and exploring their Estonian roots to
create complex, original and sometimes
beautiful new music, they seemed to be
blessed with a strong support network
and a whole array of original venues in
which to ply their craft!
Paul Cheetham, Popkomm - Berlin:
“What I see in Tallinn Music Week is a pure
realisation of Helen’s original vision; the
event is cultured, passionate, dynamic,
intriguing, inclusive, and soulful - every-
thing she would insist on. The seamless
mixture of classical, jazz, rock and pop is
surely unique amongst the myriad music
events already in the calendar. Despite its
rapid growth, Tallinn Music Week remains
a truly bespoke occasion. There is a feeling
of specialness about being a delegate. I al-
ways return from Tallinn feeling satisfied,
with new contacts, fresh perspective, and
having discovered 1 or 2 fascinating new
acts to explore further”.
»The seamless mixture of classical, jazz, rock and pop
is surely unique amongst the myriad music events already
in the calendar. Despite its rapid growth, Tallinn
Music Week remains a truly bespoke occasion«
- Paul Cheetham
Jesper Borup, Spot Festival - Denmark:
I´ve attended TMW since the first issue
in 2009, and it has been very interesting
to monitor the explosive development
the festival has gone through. 2011 has
Paul Cheetham at Tallinn Music Week
Paulina Ahokas at Tallinn Music Week
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definitely been the best so far, with many
good bands and a production-team that
takes good care of the delegates. The Es-
tonian music scene is indeed very interest-
ing with many original artists, and it seems
that with TMW it has grown to trust its own
cultural musical origins. That has resulted
in a high amount of Estonian bands now
doing their own thing, and not trying to
copycat what has become mainstream.
Artists like Abrahams Cafe, Mari Kalkun,
Pastacas and Ewert and the Two Dragons
was some of the highlights of the festival.
Joe Porn, Music Glue: (UK)
I was extremely impressed with my first
visit to Tallinn, I found the people warm
and friendly, the city wonderful to explore
and the local music scene to be of a very
high standard. The Tallinn Music Week
program was very interesting and diverse,
the selection of venues to be great too.
Delegates were treated very well and I
found it very helpful to meet music in-
dustry professionals from around Europe.
I certainly hope to be coming again next
year and would have no problems seeing
Estonia artists perform to a UK audience
Jan Sneum, Danish Radio:
After having the great pleasure of being
present at three editions of Tallinn Music
Week my interest in Estonian music is still
growing. I simply want to know, learn, see
and hear more. About the music scene and
about Estonian art and culture at a much
larger scale. During Tallinn Music Week
2011 I heard more music, made more inter-
views and bought more records and book
than ever before. I do hope to be back in
2012!
John Rogers, Brainlove Records:
As a debutante at Tallinn Music Week, I
was struck first by the beauty of the city of
Tallinn and the depth and richness of the
music on show - from stunning contempo-
rary classical performances in spectacular
vaulted spaces to experimental industrial
music in dark basements: there was a very
impressive range of music to engage with.
I think several of the acts I came across
could appeal to existing audiences in Eu-
rope, the UK and the USA, where inter-
national variants on avant-garde musical
practice are an interest already. The Odes-
sa Pop night started with a trilogy of ex-
cellent acts in Multiphonic Rodent, Pasta-
cas and Kreatiivmootor: three thrillingly
inventive projects. Cleaning WOmen was
a very interesting avant-garde band. The
performance of “North Wind, South Wind”
by Helena Tulve was also a highlight.
Peter Smidt, Buma Cultur: Eurosonic, Am-
sterdam Dance Event:
I think Tallinn Music Week offers a great
opportunity to meet the music sector of
the fast developing region of Estonia and
surrounding territories. You also can wit-
ness a high number of acts this region has
to offer in a nice and very well organized
setting.
Grimur Atlasson, Iceland Airwaves:
Regarding the Estonian music scene I have
to say it has some years yet to develop on
the popside of matters - but in the tradi-
tional and classical/jazz front you are really
on top level. I liked most the bands that had
the unique sound and did what was their
stuff: Kreatiivmootor and Mari Kalkun. I will
probably try to book Kreatiivmootor. I’m
going to have one more look at Iiris before I
book her - she’s has a huge talent.
Shain Shapiro, Canadian Blast:
I really enjoyed TMW. The hospitality
shown by everyone and the ardour on dis-
play from the bands displayed Estonia as
one of the most exciting hubs for new mu-
sic in Europe. I hope they invite me again’
Martin Elbourne, Great Escape:
I thought the level of organization and
hospitality Tallinn Music Week provided
was superb. Tallinn’s concert venues were
great. It was one of the most enjoyable
conference showcase events I have been
to (and I have been to a few!).
www.tallinnmusicweek.ee
Artist applications for TallinnMusicWeek
2012 together with delegates’ registration
will open up in September 2011.Jan Sneum at Tallinn Music Week
Peter Smidt at Tallinn Music Week
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Business NewsManfred Tari [email protected]
New contract last until 2016 and
covers100concertswiththepop-
ularviolinist
DEAG has announced that it has
signed another exclusive agree-
ment with its top artist David Gar-
rett. The deal is said to guarantee
the artist the highest payment ever
had paid to a classical music artist.
Nevertheless the company has not
released definite information about
the payment. DEAG declared that
180.000 tickets have already been
sold for Garrett’s current Rock-
Symphonies tour starting in May. In
2012 the artist will play a tour with
8 concerts where he will only play
classical pieces.
deAG Prolong its deal with david Garrett
Becoming one of the very few invest-
ments by a foreign company in the
German live music market, UK compa-
ny Festival Republic Ltd has purchased
a 51 percent stake in the Berlin Festival
GmbH & Co KG. Following the acquisi-
tion Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn
has been appointed joint managing
director for the company alongside
Matthias Hörstmann, both have a 50
percent voting rights.
In 2009 Hörstmann invested in the
event and involved Stefan Lehmkuhl as
the artistic director. Lehmkuhl who is
also in charge of the Melt! Festival and
Melt Booking managed with his team
to establish a successful music festival
in the German capital for the first time.
The event itself was launched in 2005
by Hilary Kavanagh and Cornelius Op-
per, and is meanwhile located in the
inoperative airport Tempelhof.
Last years festival edition suffered
from a questionable decision by local
authorities to interrupt the event as
they assumed that one of the hangars
where concerts took place was over-
crowded. The decision had been made
in the light of the fatal incident at the
Loveparade in Duisburg and meant
that almost half of the program of the
festival had to been rescheduled dur-
ing the event. But it also revealed the
very limited experience of the Berlin
authorities with music festivals and
their audience.
However, the upcoming edition of the
festival will be expanded significantly.
Lehmkuhl will continue as the artistic
director for the event and also oversee
as well the nighttime extension to in-
clude various concert clubs and ven-
ues in the Kreuzberg district. The basic
idea is to continue the festival after
its curfew on the Tempelhof site. The
name of this part of the festival is “Club
Xberg” clubs such as Arena, Arena Club,
Glashaus, Lido, Magnet, Comet and As-
tra Kulturhaus are already confirmed
for the event.Another possible exten-
sion is cooperation with the “Club-
nacht” by the Berlin Club Commission
that will go on in 30 venues.
The taking on board of Festival Repub-
lic by the Berlin Festival could have a
significant impact on the German festi-
val landscape. The team around Hörst-
mann and Lehmkuhl have already
proved with the success of the Melt!
festival that they are able to establish
in short time an event that managed
to attract international visitors and
be successful. Taking into considera-
tion that Berlin has become a tourist
hotspot especially for young visitors is
another element that could contribute
to the success of this festival.
Festival republic Acquires Majority in Berlin Festival
Melvin Benn appointed MD for Berlin Festival
David Garrett
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VIP-BOOKING.COM
dub syndicate(feat. Adrian sherwood and style scott)Territory: EuropePeriod: November - December 2011Agency: Paperclip AgencyAgent: Rob BerendsPhone: +31 24 323 9322E-mail: [email protected]: www.paperclip-agency.com
rahzel (The roots)Territory: Europe, AfrikaPeriod: May 7th - 28th and JulyAgency: Frero Music EntertainmentAgent: JF EhrhartPhone: +33 611 503 615E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.freromusic.com
Anthony B Territory: EuropePeriod: 24th of June to 23rd of July 2011Agency: MagicboxAgent: Pedro PontesPhone: +31 5 915 378 951 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.magicbox.pt
Barclay Jame Harvest feat. les HolroydTerritory: EuropePeriod: Summer 2011, October 201Agency: Kultopolis GmbHAgent: Markus SollnerPhone: +49 6 861 939 980E-mail: [email protected]: www.kultopolis.com
lA Guns (feat. Phil lewis & steve riley)Territory: EuropePeriod: 01.09 - 31.10.2011Agency: ARM EntertainmentAgent: Dana StrutzPhone: +1 651 483 8754E-mail: [email protected]: www.laguns.net
Groove ArmadaTerritory: Europe / Worldwide Period: Worldwide 2011 Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor Entertainment Agent: Steve Hogan E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: www.groovearmada.com
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artist avails ››
MOREARTISTAvAILSON:WWW.vIP-BOOKING.COM
POSTYOURARTISTAvAILSON:WWW.vIP-BOOKING.COM
VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1
notiCe board ››
AnothernewserviceintheimprovedandredesignedvIP-NewsistheNotice-board,whichisavailableforallreaders.Reader’smessageswillbepostedontheNotice-boardasafreeservice,passing on announcements, job postings, buying and sellingnotices, inquiriesoralike.Announcements [email protected]
LIvE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5rJrvdn0gk
Original Foundingmembers JerryMartini, Cynthia Robinson andGreg
ErricobringyouthehitsofSly&TheFamilyStone.
Keeping the legacy true to its original sound and raw funk groove, these
Everyday People will leave you Taken Higher. Cynthia, Jerry & Greg contin-
ues giving you the musical experience that has brought them in front of
over half a million people through Europe and the US; spreading the roots
of funk that is The Family Stone Project.
The Family Stone is available for touring in Europe around September4!
I look forward to your respective proposals and remain with best regards
Nina Pernica
THe FAMIlY sTONe
The Family Stone
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VIP-BOOKING.COM
THESELECTER is fronted by the original singing duo of Arthur
‘Gaps’ Hendrickson and the female icon of the two-tone era
Pauline Black. Classic hits like ‘Three Minute Hero’, ‘Missing
Words’, ‘Too Much Pressure’’ ,“ On My Radio” and of course ‘Too
Much Pressure’ will herald the return of one of the most vital, vis-
ceral and important Ska acts ever, who will deliver what prom-
ises to be a stunning performance and a must see for any Two-
Tone fan.
Monthly featured artist ››
Origin: UKStyle: Ska - WorldmusicTourperiod: May 2011 - December 2011Territory: Europe - Asia
Agency: ArtistagencyName: Bart QuintensEmail: [email protected]: +32 16 777 670
VIP- News - August 2005
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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1
THe seleCTer
The Selecter
selector’s Pauline Black andArthur “Gaps” Hendrickson reunite
The VIP-Booking european live entertainment BookAdvertising in the VIP Book will make you visible to 10.000 business
professionals all over europe. You will find no better place to expose your
company to the whole european live entertainment Industry.
›› reserVe YOur Ad NOw ON www.VIP-BOOKING.COM
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VIP-BOOKING.COM
InthissectionweoffermembersofvIP-Booking.comsomespacetopresenttheircompanytovIP-Newsreaders.IfyouwouldalsoliketopresentyourcompanypleasecontactPeterBriggsatpb@vip-booking.com
MeMber presentation ››
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®
vip-booking.com
VIP-BOOKING.COMVIP-BOOKING.COM | 145-157 St John Street | UK - London Ec1V 4PW | Phone +44 870 755 0092 | Fax +44 870 622 1953 | e-mail: [email protected]
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About Our Company
VIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and largest data-base for the European Live Entertainment Industry www.vip-book-ing.com developed as a tool for industry professionals. Since it’s launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered our subscrib-ers the very best in database services and now boast subscribers in over 30 countries.
Today VIP-Booking offers a range of tools for the industry – inclu-ding VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract.
Please visit vip-booking.com for further information.
Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.
VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 1 1
Cult Concerts Agency GmbHSince 1993, we have booked more than 3000 shows for national
and mainly international artists in Switzerland and Europe. Cult
Concerts Agency and Black Lamb Productions have now become
one of the main Swiss booking agencies for festivals and tours.
Our clients include The Metropop Festival, Sound Arena, Baregg
Festival, AVO Session, Open Air Gampel, Outside Zürich Festival,
Bex Rock Festival, Balélec, Out-in-the-Green festival, Open Air St.
Gallen, Paléo Festival, Gurtenfestival, X-Tra Limmathaus, Kaserne
Basel, Fri-Son, Bierhübeli, AlpenRock House and many others.
TheToursandoff-dates:
We act as local promoters for international acts performing in
Switzerland, either on the promoters requests or on agent¹s re-
quest. Our job is to look for artists for the clubs/venues/promot-
ers/special events/festivals or to look for places to play for the
Artists on tour.
We also are exclusive booking agents for several Swiss and In-
ternational acts.
TheFestivals,corporateandspecialevents:
We have exclusive deals with some of the most important fes-
tivals in Switzerland as well as with a growing number of cor-
porate events. What we do for them varies from case to case:
it goes from the making of the programme to the coordination
of the overall organisation, Production Management, Artist Rela-
tions, Backstage management (dressing rooms & catering), Art-
ist Transports, Press Office, Security, etc.
Management&publishing:
We are managing and taking care of the publishing of some art-
ists
Futuredevelopments:
We intend to consolidate our position on the Swiss market in
terms of festivals and corporate bookings as well as developping
our booking activities for Swiss and International acts in Europe.