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Live Nation takes control of Lollapalooza Brazil

Lollapalooza Brazil will no longer be produced and promoted by South America’s leading live entertainment company T4F (Time For Fun).

T4F’s ten-year partnership with Lollapalooza Brazil came to an end after last weekend’s 2023 instalment in São Paulo, headlined by Billie Eilish, Blink 182, Tame Impala, Rosalía and Lil Nas X.

From 2024, the festival will be managed by C3 Presents (promoter of the Lollapalooza franchise) and Rock City (the company behind Rock in Rio) – both of which are majority owned by Live Nation.

According to a statement from T4F, Live Nation enlisted Rock City in a bid to centralise the operation of all its festivals in Brazil.

In addition to Rock in Rio, Rock City is also organising a new 105,000-capacity festival called The Town, set to take place in the same location as Lollapalooza Brazil this September.

“Our partnership with Lollapalooza Brazil has revolutionised the festival market in our country”

Commenting on the end of the partnership, T4F founder and CEO Fernando Alterio, says: “Our partnership with Lollapalooza Brazil has revolutionised the festival market in our country. We are very proud of the path we have travelled together and for having transformed LollaBR into a brand loved by Brazilians.

“It was a pleasure to lead this brand and contribute to its success and growth. I thank Perry Farrell, creator of the festival, Charlie Walker and Charles Attal, managers of C3 Presents, with whom we have always had a professional relationship, but also one of friendship and respect. I wish them and Lollapalooza Brazil success in this new model.

“Time For Fun will continue with an intense performance in the festival sector. In addition to its own brands, the company, which has solid credibility with the national and international market, will establish new partnerships and collaborate with the construction and consolidation of other events and brands dear to the Brazilian public.”

The Lollapalooza brand has grown to eight countries on four continents, including editions in the US, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, France, Sweden and India.

 


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Busted expand UK reunion tour with six new dates

Iconic pop-punk trio Busted have added six new dates to their forthcoming arena tour of the UK.

The English band, comprising Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis and James Bourne, are set to hit the road in September to mark their 20th anniversary.

The trio will play their greatest hits at venues across the country including the O2 (cap. 20,000) in London, the AO arena (21,000) in Manchester and the M&S Bank Arena (11,000) in Liverpool.

The additional dates will take place in Nottingham (23 September ), Cardiff (26), London (27), Birmingham (29), Manchester (30) and Glasgow (1 October).

The band will be joined by special guests Hanson, New Hope Club and The Tyne.

Formed in 2000, Busted had four UK number-one singles, won two Brit awards, released four studio albums and sold over 5 million records.

See the band’s full list of dates below.

SEPTEMBER
3 – Cardiff, CIA
5 – Swansea, Swansea Arena
6 – Bournemouth, BIC
7 – Brighton, Brighton Centre
9 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
10 – London, The O2
12 – Bridlington, Bridlington Spa
15 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
16 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, Utilita Arena
17 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
19 – Aberdeen, P&J Live
20 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
22 – Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
23 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena (new date)
24 – Manchester, AO Arena
26 – Cardiff, Cardiff International Arena (new date)
27 – London, The O2 (new date)
29 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena (new date)
30 – Manchester, AO Arena (new date)

 


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MSG Entertainment spin-off approved by board

Madison Square Garden (MSG) Entertainment’s board of directors has approved the spin-off of its live entertainment and MSG Networks divisions, which is expected to be complete on 20 April.

The move will see the current parent company rebranded Sphere Entertainment Co. and will be comprised of the Sphere, MSG Networks and Tao Group Hospitality businesses.

The newly formed live entertainment company will take on the name Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp and will include New York City’s 20,000-cap Madison Square Garden, The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and The Chicago Theatre, along with the firm’s entertainment and sports bookings business and long-term arena licence agreements with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

“Each [company] will be well positioned to generate long-term value for our shareholders”

“With today’s announcement, we are one step closer toward our goal of creating two distinct companies, each well positioned to generate long-term value for our shareholders,” says MSGE executive chairman and CEO James Dolan.

Shareholders of record as of 14 April will receive a distribution of one Class A or Class B share of the new company for every share of common stock held, representing 67% of the new company’s outstanding shares. Sphere Entertainment will own the remainder.

The company’s board of directors also authorised a $250 million share repurchase program for the new live entertainment company’s Class A common stock following the completion of the spin-off.

The company expects the common stock to trade in two markets on the New York Stock Exchange: in the “regular way” market under the company’s current name, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., and under the current ticker symbol, MSGE, and in the “ex-distribution” market under the new name, Sphere Entertainment Co., and under the symbol SPHR WI.

 


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Major fests put finishing touches to 2023 bills

One of Europe’s largest festivals Roskilde this week added Lizzo, Busta Rhymes, Loyle Carner, Biig Piig, Dry Cleaning and more than 100 other acts to its 2023 lineup.

They join previously announced acts Kendrick Lamar, Caroline Polachek, Lil Nas X, Rosalía, Burna Boy, Christine and the Queens, Blur, and Queens of the Stone Age.

The 51st edition of Roskilde will take place between 24 June–1 July in the Danish town of the same name. Tickets start from DKK 2400.

Elsewhere in Denmark, promoter Down the Drain has revealed full lineups for its festivals NorthSide and Tinderbox.

Little Simz is the newest addition to the NorthSide bill, which already includes Muse, The 1975, The Chemical Brothers and more.

NxWorries (feat. Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge), Lukas Graham, First Aid Kit, Sam Fender, LP, Yemi Alade and Pusha T are also slated to play the Aarhus festival between 1–3 June.

Little Simz is the newest addition to the NorthSide bill, which already includes Muse, The 1975, The Chemical Brothers

Simz is among the acts set to play the second-largest stage Echo, which this year will be covered by a 20,000-capacity tent.

“This time of the year in Denmark is very bright, in the evenings as well, and a lot of the bigger acts ask for a slot in darkness to get the full effect of their production. We’ve talked about doing this for years, but the pandemic got in the way. Now, we’re finally launching this change and creating an amazing setting for more intimate live experiences – and we can’t wait to see it in action!” says festival CEO Brian Nielsen.

Tinderbox (cap. 45,000), meanwhile, has confirmed Red Hot Chili Peppers, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and Armin van Buuren for this year’s edition, taking place in Denmark’s third-largest city, Odense.

George Ezra, Dean Lewis, Lukas Graham, Mimi Webb, Cat Burns, Gogol Bordello, bbno$, Dylan and Oliver Malcolm will also appear at the festival between 22–24 June.

“Last year, we broke records at Tinderbox, and we’ve tried our very best to give back to our loyal guests by chasing some of the world’s biggest acts,” says Nielsen.

Elsewhere in Scandinavia, Finland’s Flow Festival has unveiled a third wave of acts led by Lorde and Christine and the Queens.

Finland’s Flow Festival has unveiled a third wave of acts led by Lorde and Christine and the Queens

They join a blockbuster bill comprising Pusha T, High Vis, Caroline Polachek, Blur, Wizkid, Tove Lo and more.

The Superstruct-backed festival will return to the capital city of Helsinki between 11 and 13 August. Tickets start from €119 for a one-day ticket, €189 for two days and €225 for three days.

In the UK, Truck festival has added Mae Muller, The Reytons, Gengahr, English Teacher, Feet and Chappaqua Wrestling to this year’s edition.

The Oxfordshire festival previously announced headliners Royal Blood, Alt-J, Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats.

Self Esteem, The Vaccines, Circa Waves, Pale Waves, Everything Everything, Kate Nash and Squid are also due to play the Superstruct-backed festival, taking place at Hill Farm between 21 and 23 July. Final Tier tickets are on sale now from £160.

Elsewhere, the UK’s Standon Calling has announced two stage headliners, with Shygirl joining the all-female lineup on the Laundry Meadows stage and Sainté and D Double E heading up a new rap and hip hop night called FutureFlow on The Cowshed stage.

Las Vegas-based event Life Is Beautiful is set to host The Killers, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Khalid and The 1975

Previously announced headliners for the 2023 event include Years & Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party and The Human League.

Anastacia, Confidence Man, Dylan, Squid, Katy B, KT Tunstall and Melanie C will also perform at the 17th edition of the boutique music and arts festival.

Festival founder and director Alex Trenchard says “We’re so proud of this year’s progress in booking a gender-balanced headline bill.”

The Broadwick Live-owned festival will return to the Hertfordshire countryside between 20 and 23 July 2023.

Across the Atlantic, Las Vegas-based event Life Is Beautiful is set to host The Killers, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Khalid and The 1975 for the September edition.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Omar Apollo, Kim Petras, FLUME, Nelly and Bebe Rexha are also lined up to play the 10th-anniversary edition of the music and arts festival.

Las Vegas mainstays such as Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, Jabbawockeez, Magic Mike Live, Piff the Magic Dragon and Tape Face will also be on hand for performances and appearances.

The Rolling Stone-owned festival will return to downtown Vegas between 22 and 24 September.

 


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Goldenvoice unveils new hard rock festival

Goldenvoice has unveiled a new hard rock festival, taking place at the home of Coachella this autumn.

Power Trip will see Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, ACDC, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica and Tool perform at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, from 6–8 October this year.

The promoter teased the festival yesterday (30 March) with a video that had fans declaring Power Trip ‘the hard rock version of Goldenvoice’s 2016 Desert Trip festival’, which featured Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Who and Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters.

Goldenvoice signed a long-term agreement with the Empire Polo Club to stage additional festivals on the site

The new festival comes two years after Goldenvoice signed a long-term agreement with the Empire Polo Club, enabling the promoter to stage additional festivals on the site.

Hotel packages and VIP passes for Power Trip go on sale on 4 April, while general tickets are on sale 6 April. Tickets start from US$599+fees for a three-day GA pass, up to the Pit VIP Package for $3448 including fees. For fans looking to sit in the first third of the auditorium, tickets start at $1524 inc. fees.

When it took place in 2016, each Desert Trip weekend accommodated over 70,000 fans, with around 35,000 on reserved seats. GA tickets were $399 with reserved seats from $699. Power Trip is also offering payment plans allowing fans to put just 50% of the cost down when booking initially.

The 642-plus acre desert oasis has been home to Goldenvoice’s Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival since its inception in 1999, as well as its country music counterpart, Stagecoach, which first took place on the grounds in 2007.

Goldenvoice is a subsidiary of AEG and one of the world’s biggest promoters. The company produces several festivals, operates 14 mid-sized venues and promotes over 1,800 shows per year.

In the past two years Goldenvoice has launched a number of new festivals including California Vibrations, This Ain’t No Picnic and Portola.

 

 

 

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A post shared by Power Trip (@powertrip_live)


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BMI’s victory highlights gulf between performance rates

US collection society BMI has this week claimed victory in a long-running court battle with Live Nation, AEG and the North American Concert Promoters Association (NACPA).

The new rate of 0.5% replaces a previously tiered rate of between 0.15% and 0.3% that has been in place since 1998.

BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill says the long-running dispute “took millions of dollars and years of litigation” to arrive at, and the new rate will apply to additional revenues around shows including tickets sold directly to the secondary market, servicing fees that promoters receive, and revenues from box suites and VIP packages.

The ruling, handed down by New York District Court Judge Louis Stanton, says that the new 0.5% rate also applies retrospectively to shows that took place from 1 July 2018.

BMI had proposed a rate of 1% when negotiations began, a figure that was subsequently lowered to 0.08% when it began litigation. Requests by BMI to include revenue from sponsorship and advertising within the rate were rejected by Stanton.

BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill says the long-running dispute “took millions of dollars and years of litigation” to arrive at

Responding to the ruling, Live Nation said in a statement, “We advocated on behalf of artists to keep their costs down, and managed to hold the increase to less than 1/3 of BMI’s proposed increase. This will cost the performers we work with approximately $15 million a year spread out over thousands of artists, and cost increases for Live Nation directly are not material.”

At the outset of the case in 2018, BMI said its total income from the US concert business was $20 million annually, or less than 0.19% of the industry’s revenue. This number is less than 2% of the $1.118bn it paid to songwriters in 2018 (BMI paid $1.5bn in 2022).

While BMI’s court victory will boost its revenues from concerts, the new rate is still a far cry from other concert markets. In the UK, PRS for Music negotiated an increased rate of 4% in 2018 for most live events. German society GEMA upped its tiered performance royalty rates in 2017 which ranged up to 8% of net receipts for events over 15,000-capacity.

Spain’s troubled collection society SGAE, which was fined €2.95 for anti-competitive practices in 2019 had previously been ordered by a court to review its 10% rate for concerts. And Switzerland’s SUISA also levies up to 10% for concerts, with discounts for members of trade associations.

Nonetheless, BMI’s O’Neill says, “the music created by songwriters and composers is the backbone of the live concert industry and should be valued accordingly. [The] decision also underscores BMI’s continued mission to fight on behalf of our affiliates, no matter how long it takes, to ensure they receive fair value for their creative work.”

 


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Iconic Danish venue files for bankruptcy

One of Denmark’s largest indoor music venues, Tobakken, has filed for bankruptcy after a turbulent few years.

The former tobacco factory in Esbjerg, southwest Denmark, began hosting concerts in 1993 for up to 1,200 visitors.

It was announced on Monday (27 March) that the Tobakken board filed for bankruptcy as the Esbjerg Municipality decided not to grant the historic venue an additional DKK 5.8 million (€778,606) requested to make it through 2023.

Esbjerg mayor Jesper Frost Rasmussen stated in a press release: “We had all hoped that Tobakken would overcome its challenges, but now we have reached a turning point where we, from a political standpoint, agree that the best solution is not to provide Tobakken with more money. It hurts us to make this decision, as we believe in a future for a rhythmic music venue in Esbjerg, but it must be in an economically sustainable model, and it opens up a new and fresh start.”

“The losses have simply been too great to financially and morally sustain Tobakken”

Chairman of the culture and leisure committee Jakob Lose added: “We still have great confidence in the music scene in Esbjerg, and of course, we must also have a strong rhythmic music venue in the future, which will host both established artists and the entire growth layer. The way forward is to create a new strong organisation that can safely lead a new rhythmic music venue into the future. We now need to take the time to figure out how to do this best.”

Peter Amstrup, chairman of the board for Tobakken, said he understands why the municipality has pulled the plug: “It is a sad day, and one could hope that someone would see the potential in Tobakken and start a new music venue. But now it is the trustee who takes over. The losses have simply been too great to financially and morally sustain Tobakken.”

Tobakken has had negative equity since 2016 and negative annual results in five out of the past six years, according to a statement on the venue’s website.

The statement goes on to say that “costs had been cut significantly over the past six months by reducing the number of employees and focusing intensively on optimising operations, it has unfortunately not been enough to offset the extensive deficit that has been accrued… Tobakken’s debt is primarily to the bank, the municipality and a few major suppliers.”

The venue closed immediately but the appointed curator will decide whether an attempt will be made to carry out some of the upcoming concerts and events.

 


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Skrillex plans five-hour performance at Red Rocks

Skrillex will deliver a five-hour performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre (cap. 9,545) in Colorado next month.

The American DJ (aka Sonny Moore) will play from 7 pm to midnight ET on Saturday 29 April at the famed US venue.

The format emulates his show last month at Madison Square Garden (21,000) in New York, where he and co-headliners Fred again.. and Four Tet played the same five-hour time slot.

The format emulates his show last month at Madison Square Garden (21,000) in New York

Prior to that, the three Wasserman-repped artists joined forces for a run of three surprise shows in three nights at Camden’s Electric Ballroom (cap. 1,500), Electric Brixton (1,700) and the art deco Troxy (3,100) in London.

“It was an absolute whirlwind, it feels like a dream,” Troxy’s head of live Simon Eaton told IQ. “It’s such a short period to put on a show of that scale and I can’t believe we pulled it off. It’s great to have it out the way in one sense, but you like to look forward to these big events and I feel as though our biggest event of the year has already come and gone – and it’s only January!”

Tickets for Skrillex’s Red Rocks show go on sale tomorrow (31 March) at 12 pm ET.

 


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Eric Prydz, Honey Dijon to play new Live Nation fest

Live Nation Finland has announced a new two-day electronic music festival in the capital city, called U Nation.

International stars Eric Prydz, Charlotte de Witte, CamelPhat, Honey Dijon and The Blessed Madonna are billed to perform alongside Finnish DJs Orkidea and Mr. A at the inaugural event.

U Nation will take place in Kansalaistori Square, a sunlit plaza in the midst of Helsinki’s Hietalahti district, on 30 June and 1 July.

The festival is the brainchild of Harri Andersson, who was hired as a promoter at Live Nation Finland last autumn and has had an extensive career and received much international recognition under the artist name Proteus.

“The idea of U Nation is to provide the ultimate open-air party powered by electronic dance music”

“The idea of U Nation is to provide the ultimate open-air party powered by electronic dance music,” says Andersson. “I want U Nation to be a celebration of individuality and love, where everyone can be all that they are. I have curated the list of performers carefully and am extremely happy with our lineup. The event lineup features highly esteemed top artists in electronic music, whom we have long wanted and waited to see in Finland, as well as Finnish electronic music stars.”

Sanna Forsström, head of the brand, marketing and events unit of the city of Helsinki, adds: “It is fantastic to have a new and unique event in the middle of the Helsinki summer. We also share Live Nation’s objectives of equality between people, environmental sustainability and the freedom to be just who you are. Helsinki wants to be a lively city attracting international travel and events, and this is an excellent example of what this aim means in practice.”

Prices for U Nation start from €69 for a Friday ticket, €79 for a Saturday ticket and €135 for a two-day ticket.

 


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Viagogo fined €12m in Italy for resale breach

Italy’s Communications Regulatory Authority AGCOM has fined Viagogo more than €12 million for breaking the country’s laws on secondary ticketing.

Preliminary evidence found that the secondary ticketing platform had listed tickets for 68 events held in 2022 at prices 10 times above their face value.

Events included concerts for artists such as Måneskin, Blanco, Renato Zero and Cirque du Soleil.

An amendment to Italian legislation, introduced to Italy’s 2017 budget law to criminalise ticket touting, prevents tickets being sold for commercial purposes or for above face value.

Since 2020, Switzerland-headquartered Viagogo has been sanctioned three other times in Italy for breaking the law against ticket touting.

“The time has come for the EU’s own Consumer Protection Cooperation Network to take action”

Commenting on the ruling against Viagogo, Barley Arts promoter and prominent anti-secondary ticketing campaigner, Claudio Trotta, says, “Anyone in the entertainment business should be more than happy. However, I hope this [fine] will be paid and not cancelled for a second time by other institutions, as already happened in previous cases of fines in Italy.

“Secondary ticketing is a crime, thanks to the law obliging the use of nominal tickets. If controlled seriously by security and ushers, it’s is a win-win situation for all.”

Telling IQ he remains concerned about what impact dynamic pricing might have if it is introduced in the Italian market, Trotta adds, “The future is unwritten but it depends on us all – artists, promoters, managers, agents and the audience. I am still, and always, a true believer in the strength of human beings – if we are able to keep our humanity, of course. Let’s see…”

Sam Shemtob, director of Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT), adds: “It’s encouraging to see this action in Italy, which is proof positive that it’s possible to both adopt and enforce a tough stance on uncapped ticket resale. With over 40 major ticket resale cases taking place across the EU since 2016, the time has come for the EU’s own Consumer Protection Cooperation Network to take action.”

The president of Italy’s National Consumer Union, Massimiliano Dona, comments: “It is incredible that tickets continue to be sold with prices even 10 times higher than the actual ones, despite the numerous condemnations by the Authorities and the intervention of the legislator who has however put a stop to these intolerable and hateful speculations. Anyone who goes to a concert has the sacrosanct right to pay the right price for the ticket, without unjustified and illegal top-ups.”

 


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