Speakers for the April events in Brighton and Manchester include Wilderness promoter John Empson, Village Green director Sean McLoughlin and Wild Rumpus's Sarah Bird
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Form: Rockfeedback and One Inch Badge merge
With backing from Kilimanjaro Live, London-based RFB and Brighton's OIB are pooling resources as new "live music and multi-disciplinary arts company" Form
By Jon Chapple on 27 Feb 2020
RFB's Dan Monsell (left) and OIB's Alex Murray
Leading independent UK promoters Rockfeedback and One Inch Badge have announced their merger, creating a new joint venture, Form, with backing from Kilimanjaro Live.
The combined company will produce and promote more than 600 shows across the UK annually. The Rockfeedback (RFB) and One Inch Badge (OIB) brands will continue in their home markets of London and Brighton, respectively, while shows outside those cities will be branded Form Presents.
Kilimanjaro Live – a national promoter majority owned by Germany’s DEAG – joins as a third partner, lending its administrative and infrastructural support while remaining a separate entity.
Form’s combined live roster includes the likes of Flume, Father John Misty, the War on Drugs, Kate Tempest, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bonobo, Johnny Flynn, Fontaines DC, Future Islands, Marika Hackman, Dream Wife and Kurt Vile, while OIB and RFB will continue to collaborate on non-music events and programming for brand clients. (Previous co-productions include book launches and comedy events for Akala, Neil Tennant, Beastie Boys and Kim Gordon and ‘in conversation’ events with Jon Ronson and Making a Murderer.)
“Following on from years of successful collaboration with Alex and all at OIB, we’re delighted to have found a great, natural way to bring our brands together, while creating something that feels new and different,” say RFB directors Dan Monsell and Toby L in a joint statement.
“We’re hugely excited about looking to further enhance the way we work with fantastic performers and servicing their fans as best as possible, for what we believe to be the next generation of classic and vital acts.”
“Following on from years of successful collaboration … we’re delighted to have found a great, natural way to bring our brands together”
Kilimanjaro director Steve Tilley tells IQ the company has taken a stake in Form, and will act as an advisory to the business, lending its support and experience as the new entity grows.
“There’s quite a lot of synergy for Kilimanjaro, as we’re very conscious of the independent promoters,” Tilley explains. “We’re here to help grow what RFB and OIB have done up to this point – and the FORM set-up scales that up really nicely. We’re very excited to be involved.’’
“We’re delighted to launch Form, a new live music and multi-disciplinary arts company that strives to set the path for a more considered and progressive touring opportunity through innovation, curation and new media marketing,” comments OIB director Alex Murray.
“After a decade working as a proudly independent company One Inch Badge are excited to be part of Form with long-term friends and collaborators, Rockfeedback and Kilimanjaro.”
“I’ve known Dan, Alex and Toby for several years and when they first raised the idea of joining forces and inviting Kilimanjaro to become part of their long-term plan, it was a complete no-brainer to me,” adds Tilley. “Dan, Toby and Alex are brilliant, creative and entrepreneurial promoters and Kilimanjaro is very excited to help them build and grow their business and careers.”
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