UK Swifties ‘lose £1m’ to Eras Tour ticket scams
UK Taylor Swift fans are estimated to have lost over £1 million (€1.2m) in a wave of online scams since tickets went on sale for the European leg of The Eras Tour last July, according to fresh data.
Analysis by Lloyds Bank of scam reports made by its own customers found a surge in fraud cases from those buying tickets for Swift’s upcoming UK stadium dates.
More than 600 customers have come forward to report being scammed – significantly more than for any other music artist. The average amount lost by each victim was £332, although in some cases it was more than £1,000.
As the figures are based solely on Lloyds’ own customer data, it estimates that across the UK there are likely to have been at least 3,000 victims since tickets went on sale, with over £1m being lost to fraudsters so far.
“For her legion of dedicated Swifties, the excitement is building ahead of Taylor’s Eras Tour finally touching down in the UK this summer,” says Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank. “However, cruel fraudsters have wasted no time in targeting her most loyal fans as they rush to pick up tickets for her must-see concerts.”
“Buying directly from reputable, authorised platforms is the only way to guarantee you’re paying for a genuine ticket”
The record-shattering Eras Tour lands in the UK and Ireland in June with special guests Paramore for stops at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium (7-9 June), Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium (13-15 June), Principality Stadium in Cardiff (18 June), London’s Wembley Stadium (21-23 June & 15-20 August) and Aviva Stadium, Dublin (23-30 June).
Lloyds says that more than 90% of reported cases start with fake adverts or posts on Facebook, where dozens of unofficial groups have been set up specifically for people looking to buy and sell tickets for Swift’s concerts. Likewise, Facebook Marketplace has various listings for tickets at venues all over the country.
“It’s easy to let our emotions get the better of us when we find out our favourite artist is going to be performing live, but it’s important not to let those feelings cloud our judgement when trying to get hold of tickets,” adds Ziegler.
“Buying directly from reputable, authorised platforms is the only way to guarantee you’re paying for a genuine ticket. Even then, always pay by debit or credit card for the greatest protection. If you’re being asked to pay by bank transfer, particularly from a seller you’ve found on social media, that should immediately set alarm bells ringing.”
UK Swifties are not alone in being targeted by con artists around the tour. Australian Taylor Swift fans reportedly lost in excess of A$260,000 (€157,000) in a fake ticket scam for the singer’s February concerts in the country, while Inside Retail reports that Singapore-based recommerce platform Carousell suspended the sale of tickets in all of its six markets to prevent scams ahead of Swift’s Singapore dates in March.
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K-pop festival Waterbomb splashes into new markets
Touring K-pop festival series Waterbomb Festival is expanding to several global markets this year, with new editions set for the US, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, the UAE, Singapore, and China.
Set to kick off this May in Xiamen, China, the international series will take water-soaked stars to Hong Kong in June before touring South Korea and Japan in July and more cities across both, plus Singapore, in August. A Bangkok edition has been set for September, with stints in Los Angeles, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei, and Dubai to be announced.
First held in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea, the festival series first expanded to new markets in 2023 with two editions in Japan and one in Bangkok. This year, the series will visit nine cities in South Korea, four in Japan, and one in Thailand, along with the new editions.
The event was launched by Hong Kong-based streaming platform Viu and Singapore-based Evergreen Group Holdings, with local promoters helping bring it to new territories.
The K-pop genre continues to soar to new hights and into new markets
As the name suggests, Waterbomb intertwines various water activities alongside local and international lineups of K-pop, hip-hop, and EDM performers. Though lineups vary by city, performers include K-pop supergroup TWICE’s Nayeon, American rapper Jay Park, and SHINEE’s Taemin, and South Korean singers Hwasa, Chung Ha, and Bibi, among a variety of others. Former performers include Blackpink, aespa, Simon Dominic, and Jessi.
The K-pop genre continues to soar to new heights and into new markets, with behemoth HYBE reporting its concert revenue skyrocketed by 40% in 2023, reaching KRW 359.1 billion (€253m) in the year. Last autumn, fellow agency SM Entertainment announced its Q3 revenue surged 40% year-on-year, partly attributed to their star’s expansive world tours.
KCON, the world’s biggest K-pop and culture convention, also expanded to a fifth region this year, adding Hong Kong to its 2024 lineup of Japan, Los Angeles, Saudia Arabia, and to-be-announced Europe.
The 2024 schedule is as follows:
May
18-18: Xiamen, China
June
1-2: Hong Kong
July
5-7: Seoul, South Korea
13: Jeju, South Korea
13: Fukuoka, Japan
20: Daegu, South Korea
27: Busan, South Korea
27-28: Tokyo, Japan
August
3: Incheon, South Korea
10: Daejeon, South Korea
10: Osaka, Japan
17: Sokcho, South Korea
17: Nagoya, Japan
24: Suwon, South Korea
24-25: Singapore, Singapore
31: Gwangju, South Korea
September
TBA: Bangkok
TBA
Los Angeles, United States
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Taipei, Taiwan
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Frank Turner attempts world record with 24hr tour
Frank Turner is bidding to set the official Music Venue Trust (MVT) world record for the most concerts played in different cities within 24 hours.
The British singer-songwriter and MVT patron has 15 shows scheduled across UK grassroots venues between 12.30pm on Saturday 4 May to 12.30pm on Sunday 5 May. The 500-mile undertaking is due to start at Liverpool’s Jacaranda and conclude at The Brook in Southampton, with all gigs to last a minimum of 20 minutes.
The attempt, which is designed to support grassroots venues and independent record stores across the country, has been timed to celebrate the release of Turner’s upcoming 10th album, Undefeated, which drops on 3 May. Several dates have already sold out.
“With nearly 3,000 shows under my belt, I’ve never been one to do things by halves or shirk a challenge – I once played all 50 American states in 50 days, for goodness sake,” says Turner. “It’s not just self-promotion either. We’re working with 13 independent record shops and 15 independent grassroots music venues for the shows, highlighting two bits of the infrastructure of the underground that I care about most. It’s going to be tough, but hopefully fun too. Come down for a show!”
“Frank will be criss-crossing the nation hitting some of the country’s finest grassroots music venues for an action-packed day”
The official record is currently held by Hunter Hayes, who performed 10 shows in 10 cities in 24 hours in 2014.
Transport between Turner’s shows is being provided by sponsor FREENOW. The taxi app launched the Ride For Music initiative in 2023, which donates £1 from every ride to the Pipeline Investment Fund (PIF) – a grant-giving fund established by MVT with the support of the Music Venues Alliance.
“We are delighted to support Frank Turner’s attempt to set the official Music Venue Trust world record for the most gigs played in 24 hours,” says MVT CEO Mark Davyd. “With the help of FREENOW black cabs, Frank will be criss-crossing the nation hitting some of the country’s finest grassroots music venues for an action-packed day which promises to set the global standard for dedication to live music.”
Turner’s full itinerary is as follows:
Saturday 4 May
12.30pm – Liverpool, Jacaranda – instore
2.30pm – Huddersfield, Parish – outstore for Vinyl Tap
4pm – Leeds, Boom – outstore for Crash
6pm – Sheffield, The Foundry – outstore for Bear Tree
7.30pm – Chesterfield, Gasoline – outstore for Tailbird
9pm – Nottingham, Saltbox – outstore for Rough Trade
10.30pm – Birmingham, RMBL – outstore for Eclipse Records
Sunday May 5
12am – Leamington Spa, Temperance – outstore for Head
2am – Leighton Buzzard, Crooked Crow Bar – outstore for Black Circle Records
4am – London, Underworld – outstore for Rough Trade
6am – Kingston, Banquet Records
7.30am – Aldershot, West End Centre – outstore for 101 Collectors
9am – Portsmouth, Staggeringly Good Brewery – outstore for Pie & Vinyl
10.30am – Winchester – The Railway – outstore for Pie & Vinyl
12pm – Southampton, The Brook – outstore for Vinilio
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Take That’s This Life On Tour nears 1m sales
Take That manager Chris Dempsey has given IQ the lowdown on the group’s successful return to touring with one of the biggest outings of their career.
The trio – Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen – kicked off the This Life On Tour at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena on 13 April, following a prolonged period of rehearsals at LH2 near London, with more than 80 shows scheduled before the end of 2024.
“There are a whole maelstrom of emotions on the opening night of a big tour – nerves, anticipation, anxiety – but there was also a nice degree of confidence as well, and a really feel good vibe in the camp ahead of the show, so it was a good weekend and a great first couple of shows,” says YMU’s Dempsey.
“As you know Take That shows are very production heavy, with many creatives feeding into an overarching concept. But this time the development of the music and the production went hand in hand, meaning we spent longer in LH2 than we would have normally, before having four or five days in the arena in Sheffield ahead of time, as well. I think everyone preferred that way of developing the show, rather than get the setlist down in a rehearsal studio, then bringing in the production to fit around it.”
“They had the biggest domestic album of last year; and now they have the biggest selling UK artist tour this year”
With This Life hitting both indoor arenas and outdoor stadiums on its 41 UK dates, the scale of that production is set to change across the 15 British cities the tour is visiting between now and June, before it then heads to continental Europe.
“When I sat down with the boys just over a year ago, and we were all talking about what success would look like, they really had a desire to get out to some new markets, as well as some markets that they’ve not been to a decade or more,” says Dempsey, noting that a number of those destinations are yet to be announced.
“In the UK, Take That probably can’t get too much bigger, so they’re just overjoyed that they get to go and put these big shows into arenas and stadiums. But internationally, we’re going to go to some new places and there will be different kinds of shows that we’ll do there, because the boys still have that ambition and drive. That’s the exciting thing: they’re in their 50s and they had the biggest domestic album of last year; and now they have the biggest selling UK artist tour this year with 700,000 tickets sold.
“They’re also doing their own festival in Malta, which is exciting, so on the international front we’ve got an exciting year ahead of us.”
With 700,000 tickets sold for the UK leg alone, Dempsey notes that total tour sales are closing in on one million tickets
With UTA taking over agency duties for the band last year, Dempsey says the choice of which new markets they should include on the tour, which will visit Australasia and Asia later this year, was helped by fan data from those territories.
“If you’re going to go to new places, you need some data to give you a level of comfort, and to try to evaluate that opportunity,” he notes. “But sometimes data doesn’t cover everything, and it might boil down to the enthusiasm of a local promoter, or simply if we can make something work routing wise.”
Among the highlights on the current UK tour leg will be six nights at The O2 in London, seven dates at the new Co-op Live arena in Manchester, and they become the first band to play four nights at Leeds’ first direct arena. The tour comes off the back of their ninth studio album, This Life, which was the biggest-selling album from a UK artist in 2023.
Noting that the band’s fanbase continues to evolve, Dempsey reports that the early shows have seen many fans bringing along their kids. “And I think I’ve seen more blokes at the shows as well. But there are definitely a lot of young people, so it’s a real range – the real original fans from the 90s; and the people who discovered the band from when they reformed in 2006 – they’re bringing their kids, they’re bringing their parents, they’re bringing their husbands, so it’s pretty broad.”
With 700,000 tickets sold for the UK leg alone, Dempsey notes that total tour sales are closing in on one million tickets. “Let’s see how we go, but Europe sales are strong. On the last European tour, for example, we didn’t play any shows in Spain, and now we’re playing seven. Germany has been incredible; Ireland is stronger than ever with two arenas and three big outdoors; we did a show in Denmark last summer, and now we’re doing two this summer.”
He adds: “This tour shows the sort of level of ambition and commitment that Gary, Howard and Mark still have. They’re going to playing over 80 shows this year, which is the most amount they’ve ever done in their career, and they’re still looking to grow the fanbase in new markets. Now we just have to go out and deliver on that.”
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OVG’s Jessica Koravos on Manchester’s Co-op Live
Oak View Group (OVG) International president Jessica Koravos has previewed the company’s new Manchester venue Co-op Live ahead of its hotly-anticipated opening next week.
A joint venture between OVG and City Football Group (CFG), the 23,500-cap development will become the UK’s largest arena when it launches at Etihad Campus, the site of Manchester City FC’s Etihad Stadium, on 23 April. Harry Styles has also invested in the project.
Speaking to IQ, Koravos says the “music-first” arena – which boasts an innovative bowl design and state-of-the-art acoustics – will give the UK “one of the best music venues in the world”.
“The only reason I say ‘one of’ is because my boss, [OVG MD] Tim Leiweke, will get very angry if I say it’s the best, because we’ve built some other very good music venues in the US,” she says. “But given that we haven’t had to make any of the kinds of compromises around basketball or ice hockey that maybe North American buildings have to make, I feel like it is going to be the best arena for music in the world.
“For whatever reason, the rest of the venues in the UK, for the most part, are designed around North American sports despite there being a very limited audience for those. We have the biggest standing floor and our back seat on the top row is actually 24 metres closer to the stage then at other venues. There’s not a bad seat in the house, so that’s another big selling point.”
“Manchester has revolutionised itself over the last 20 years and is a top cultural destination in its own right”
Koravos indicates that OVG’s decision to move into Manchester was at least partly influenced by statistics.
“From the late 1990s onwards, Manchester has punched way above its weight and sold more music tickets than many other cities with much bigger populations,” she explains. “And so it was an obvious market that we felt was underserved by its current infrastructure, with a lot of room to expand. And just as a city, Manchester has revolutionised itself over the last 20 years and is a top cultural destination in its own right.”
Comedian Peter Kay will kick-off Co-op Live’s star-studded opening lineup, with The Black Keys set to be the first music act to tread the boards on 27 April.
“Those two Peter Kay shows actually broke the Co-op presale record,” notes Koravos. “There have been 60 onsales to date and that’s been the biggest response. Peter Kay is just loved in the UK and in Manchester in particular. I believe he’s actually the top selling act in the UK currently and so we could think of no better start.”
Other highlights from its first few months include residencies by Take That, Eagles, Liam Gallagher and The Killers, exclusive arena dates with Pearl Jam and Stevie Nicks, plus shows by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Nicki Minaj, Jonas Brothers, Kings of Leon, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Eric Clapton, Pet Shop Boys and Megan thee Stallion.
“We are absolutely thrilled to see the number of artists that are doing two, three, four, or even five or six nights at Co-op Live”
“It was the hope that we would attract multi-night residencies, but it had not been the case traditionally in Manchester before Co-op Live, so we are absolutely thrilled to see the number of artists that are doing two, three, four, or even five or six nights at Co-op Live,” says Koravos. “It really vindicates our hopes for the market. But it’s the artists’ decision, so we’re thrilled they are showing their faith in this venue and in Manchester – those are the decisions that tell us we’re onto a winner.”
Koravos points out that several shows have sold at a faster rate than their London equivalents.
“What’s unusual about their presale is that becoming a member of Co-op costs £1, so it’s a very low barrier to entry,” she says. “It’s a much more accessible presale than the others and I think that is one of the key reasons that it’s been so successful and has come out of the gates incredibly strongly.”
Co-op Live will go head-to-head with ASM Global’s near 30-year-old AO Arena in Manchester, which recently underwent a £50 million reconstruction which included a capacity increase from 21,000 to 23,000. Koravos believes that upgrade in itself illustrates the benefits of competition to consumers.
“We can see that that just the announcement of Co-op Live – never mind the opening – has had a great impact on competition in that that venue has announced its own programme of renovations and such,” she says. “So I think we can say that Co-op Live has pulled the entire infrastructure stock up by the bootstraps in that way, and that is classic competition operating in a good way for Manchester.
“But it’s also the case that having extended the availability of that scale venue dates in the country, enables more tours to come through the country. Every time a new project opens in the UK, it means that more artists can tour at a larger scale and expands the availability for fans.”
“It’s a gift to be able to design from scratch when it comes to sustainability, because these systems are very hard to retrofit once you’re up and running”
Co-op Live has been designed “with sustainability at its core”, according to OVG, and will use electricity for everything from air-source heat pumps for heating and domestic hot water through to cooling and catering, without any gas supply serving the site.
“It’s completely fundamental and has been from day one of our design conversations,” says Koravos. “It’s a gift to be able to design from scratch when it comes to sustainability, because these systems are very hard to retrofit once you’re up and running. The biggest thing was that we were able to design the building to be 100% electric from the beginning.”
In addition, Co-op Live and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) last month announced a ground-breaking initiative which will see travel on Metrolink and new city centre shuttle buses included in all arena event tickets from 20 April to 30 June, during the venue’s opening season.
“Our efforts are going to be focused on ‘Scope 3 sustainability’, which is trying to influence the behaviour of the audiences coming to and from,” adds Koravos. “We can control our own operations, but we can’t control the audience choices so much in terms of how they get to the venue and back. So we have spent a lot of time and money with Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester in crafting a raft of measures.”
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DoJ ‘to file antitrust suit against Live Nation’
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in the coming weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Citing anonymous sources, the WSJ reports that the suit – which could be filed as soon as next month – would claim the Ticketmaster parent has abused its market-leading position in the ticketing business to harm competition, although specific details of the lawsuit have not been confirmed.
In response to the report, a Ticketmaster spokesperson tells the publication: “Ticketmaster has more competition today than it has ever had, and the deal terms with venues show it has nothing close to monopoly power.”
Neither Live Nation or the DoJ have commented. However, LN president/CFO Joe Berchtold addressed the DoJ’s investigation in a recent interview at the Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco.
“We’re fully giving them everything they asked for and they’ll define the timetable,” he said. “Meanwhile, we’ll continue to run a great business. Again, I’ll say it over and over, our strategy, our culture, is to super-serve the artists. I don’t think we have anything to be ashamed of with having that as a strategy.
“I think that our structural behaviour is positive for the industry. Big is bad today, but I feel very good about how we are as a company trying to operate what we’re trying to do and what our opportunities are going forward.”
“The Ticketmaster of 2010 did not face the level of competition that we face today”
Speaking during the promoter’s earnings call in February, CEO Michael Rapino said Live Nation was “100% cooperative” with investigators following reports that the US Justice Department had sent out a new raft of information requests in connection with the probe.
Four years ago, a US district court issued a judgment extending the ‘consent decree’ governing the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster to 2025. The DoJ alleged the firm had violated provisions of the decree on multiple occasions – claims that were strenuously denied by Live Nation.
Berchtold also defended Ticketmaster’s practices when appearing before a US Senate antitrust panel in early 2023, spurred by the fallout from the presale for Taylor Swift’s stadium tour.
“We hear people say that ticketing markets are less competitive today than they were at the time of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. That’s simply not true,” he argued. “The Ticketmaster of 2010 did not face the level of competition that we face today… Ticketmaster has lost, not gained, market share since the merger.”
While the company has come under increased scrutiny from lawmakers since the 2022 Eras Tour onsale, it is understood the DoJ inquiry predates the controversy.
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TikTok announces AXS ticketing partnership
TikTok has partnered with AXS to offer fans a new way to discover and buy tickets to live events.
The in-app ticketing feature enables Certified Artists on TikTok to promote their live dates to new and existing fans globally on the platform by allowing them to add their AXS event links to their videos before publishing.
The feature, which sees AXS become the second major ticketing firm to team with TikTok, will initially go live in the US, UK, Sweden and Australia, with other markets to follow.
“TikTok’s partnership with AXS allows us to connect millions of users with legendary artists, venues, and festivals, and allows artists to promote their live dates and reach their audience in a whole new way,” says TikTok’s global music partnership development lead Michael Kümmerle. “We are very excited to start this journey with AXS and look forward to supporting the further growth of ticketing on TikTok in the future.”
“The partnership will provide seamless ticket-buying access to some of the world’s most iconic venues, festivals, and tours”
TikTok is now an official discovery partner in the AXS Anywhere programme, joining the likes of Spotify, Bandsintown and others. AXS Anywhere allows venues, artists and partners to drive additional sales and revenue by reaching fans where they discover events with targeted ticket offers and experiences.
“TikTok has become one of the most important global platforms for music content attracting an incredible community of artists and fans.” adds AXS chief strategy officer Marc Ruxin. “By combining the reach and influence of TikTok artists with AXS’ global ticketing platform, the partnership will provide seamless ticket-buying access to some of the world’s most iconic venues, festivals, and tours. This is the perfect example of discovery-driven content and commerce for music fans.”
The move comes after TikTok expanded its ticketing partnership with Ticketmaster last year to more than 20 new markets following the launch of the link-up in the US in 2022.
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George Strait on pace to break US attendance record
Country music legend George Strait could break the all-time attendance record for a ticketed concert in the US with his June performance at a Texas football stadium.
The one-off show at Texas A&M University’s stadium, dubbed The King at Kyle Field, has already sold 100,000 tickets since its announcement on 28 March. His only home-state performance this year, set for 15 June, the potentially record-breaking venture will see him play in the round during the venue’s first-ever concert. He’ll be supported by two additional Texas natives, Parker McCollum and Catie Offerman.
While seats are still available, including platinum-level seats ranging up to US$2,750, the gig could break the standing record of 107,019 set by the Grateful Dead in 1977 during their Terrapin Station Tour at New Jesery’s Raceway Park. Internationally, Italian singer Vasco Rossi holds the overall record with over 225,000 tickets sold for his 2017 show at Modena, Italy’s Enzo Ferrari Park.
Strait’s performance could also break the College Station football stadium’s attendance record, set at 110,633 during a 2014 matchup between the Aggies and the University of Mississippi’s Rebels.
“George has always said he has the best fans, and there’s nothing like a Texas crowd,” says longtime promoter and Messina Touring Group founder, Louis Messina.
“We knew the show at Kyle Field would be exciting as it’s the first-ever one of its size to be held in the stadium, but even I didn’t expect we’d sell over 100,000 tickets in just a few days. He’ll play to more people in one night than we did at AT&T in 2014! It’s a testament to George’s reputation as an entertainer and performer that here we are, still setting records and personal bests years later.”
“Bringing these magical nights from the King of Country music to fans has been one of the greatest honors of my life”
The homecoming gig is on pace to break Strait’s personal attendance record of 104,793, set in 2014 during his Cowboy Rides Away stop at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The finale to his 47-show retirement tour grossed over $18.1 million, a record for the largest gross at a single-show country concert. Strait has since played speciality productions, including his 17-weekend Vegas residency Strait to Vegas at T-Mobile Arena (20,000-capacity).
“The King of Country Music”, Strait’s career spans five decades and includes a multitude of accolades, including a Grammy; Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 2013; Academy of Country Music Awards Entertainer of the Year in 1990 and 2014; and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
The 71-year-old has landed 60 No. 1 hits, the record across all charts by an artist in any genre of music, a record he’s held since 2013 with Give It All We Got Tonight. He’s also the only artist to have a top 10 hit every year for 30 years and has sold more than 105 million records worldwide.
Strait’s upcoming performance — his first one in Texas since 2022 — lands amid his 10-stop summer stadium outing alongside Chris Stapleton, supported by Little Big Town. Kicking off 4 May at Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium (70,000), the country pioneer will play MetLife Stadium (82,500) in New Jersey, Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium (51,444), and Soldier Field (61,500) in Chicago. After a break in the autumn, the tour will wrap up at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium (65,000) on 7 December.
“We’ve spent the last few years playing specialty one-off shows in markets he’ll likely never play again,” Messina adds. “I’m excited about this summer of special shows with Chris Stapleton – it’s always been such a great experience for the fans. Bringing these magical nights from the King of Country music to fans has been one of the greatest honours of my life.”
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Pompeii to host 10-concert summer series
UNESCO World Heritage Site Pompeii is set to host a programme of 10 concerts this summer.
The ancient Roman city will welcome a diverse lineup comprising Carmen Consoli (8 June), John Legend (11 June), Russell Crowe (9 July), Ludovico Einaudi (12 July), Il Volo (17 July), Biagio Antonacci (18-20 July), Pooh (22 July) and Francesco De Gregori (26 July).
The 2,000-cap performances, which are supported by the Italian culture ministry and the Pompeii Archaeological Park. will be staged in the amphitheatre – the oldest surviving gladiator arena – that dates to 70BC, reports Wanted in Rome.
“We are celebrating the very happy union between the artistic cultural heritage and one of our national excellences”
“We are celebrating the very happy union between the artistic cultural heritage and one of our national excellences, [operatic singing style] bel canto, recognised as such by UNESCO,” says culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, as per Ansa. “These two elements come together and combine to enhance our cultural heritage.”
The historic Naples venue’s music connection was solidified by the concert film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, which saw the band’s Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason play in a ruined amphitheatre to an audience of the film’s production crew and some local children.
Gilmour returned to Pompeii 45 years later to play two solo shows in July 2016, promoted by D’Alessandro e Galli (Di and Gi). Elton John and King Crimson have also performed at the site.
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CAA appoints nine MDs, expands agency board
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has named nine managing directors and expanded its agency board in an evolution of its leadership team.
The revised structure will see MDs Rob Light (music), Howard Nuchow, Paul Danforth and Michael Levine (sports), Joe Cohen, Chris Silbermann and Tiffany Ward (TV), and Joel Lubin and Maha Dakhil (motion picture), work alongside co-chair and CEO Bryan Lourd, co-chairs Kevin Huvane and Richard Lovett, and president Jim Burtson.
The agency board members, meanwhile, include Katie Anderson, Emma Banks, Lorrie Bartlett, Matt Blake, Alan Braun, Austin Brown, William Brown, Libby Bush, Ben Dey, Jaime Feld, John Garvey, Liz Gray, Sloan Harris, Jeff Krones, Franklin Latt, Brandon Lawrence, Michelle Kydd Lee, Joe Machota, Lisa Joseph Metelus, Matthew O’Donohoe, Praveen Pandian, Dan Rabinow, Rachel Rusch, Roeg Sutherland, Nick Thimm, Natalie Tran, and Ida Ziniti.
Variety reports the MDs will work on an array of strategic and operation matters, while the agency board will focus on organisation, dealmaking, sustained innovation and development and training.
CFO Carol Sawdye and chief legal officer Hilary Krane will continue to serve in leadership roles.
“We have always been clear in our mission – to deliver world-class personal service to world-class clients”
“Today’s announcement highlights not only the strength, momentum, breadth and depth of today’s CAA, but the incredibly exciting promise of our future, with two new teams of exceptionally talented, proven leaders, committed to serving our clients and colleagues,” says Lourd.
“We have always been clear in our mission – to deliver world-class personal service to world-class clients. With our expanded corporate leadership structure and an entire company of the world’s best dealmakers, creative thinkers and career representatives, CAA has never been better positioned to help clients capture the best opportunities and navigate the challenges of today’s media and sports industries.”
Artémis, an investment firm led by billionaire French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, acquired a majority stake in CAA last September. Pinault is chairman and CEO of Paris-headquartered luxury goods company Kering, owner of brands such as Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent.
Founded in 1975, CAA is headquartered in Los Angeles, and has offices in New York, Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, Miami, London, Munich, Geneva, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing, among other locations.
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