Country Profile: Switzerland

Once a market of notably independently minded promoters, Switzerland has gradually consolidated in recent years, but in many ways the market has opened up at the top. Since the lifting of Good News’s exclusive deal with the Hallenstadion some years ago, it has not been uncommon to see a wide range of Swiss promoters, including independents, taking a chance on much bigger shows.

Powered by two years of pent-up demand, the arenas and stadiums of the land have been busier than ever in 2022. Meanwhile, leading festivals such as OpenAir St. Gallen and Paléo both quickly sold out, demonstrating that while tough times may be in the post for many of us, they haven’t dampened Swiss enthusiasm for a major event.

Gadget, Wepromote, and local veteran André Béchir’s abc Production were amalgamated by CTS Eventim just a month or two before the pandemic hit and now operate as Gadget abc
Entertainment Group – 60%-owned by Eventim, with the rest held by the Swiss partners. Gadget abc may well be the largest promoter in Switzerland these days, and its shows this year have included two Rammstein Letzigrund sell-outs; the Stones, Elton, and Imagine Dragons at Stadion Wankdorf in Bern; and a number of Hallenstadions.

Director of concerts and touring Stefan Wyss says there are broad tastes in the market, and all genres can find an audience. “While the top artists are still selling very well – we have Bruce Springsteen, which sold out immediately, and Lewis Capaldi has sold a huge number of tickets – the middle section is a bit more difficult because there are so many shows on sale.” He says there is a risk some of the club venues in Zurich may close within a few years, which would leave the city lacking infrastructure. “We don’t have enough of those venues at the moment, so if any closed, it would be challenging.”

“While the top artists are still selling very well – we have Bruce Springsteen, which sold out immediately, and Lewis Capaldi has sold a huge number of tickets – the middle section is a bit more difficult because there are so many shows on sale.”

Nonetheless, he adds: “This is still a healthy market. People want to go out, they want to see music, and they’re still buying tickets.” Act Entertainment, another Eventim company, celebrates
its 30th anniversary this year, and among the shows in its banner year were two sell-outs at the Hallenstadion with Hans Zimmer.

Comedians, too, are selling well, according to CEO Thomas Dürr. Mainland, originally formed from the union of Black Sheep, Cult Agency, and Redda Music, has been a part of Live Nation
since 2018. This year, in addition to a torrent of smaller shows, it brought Machine Gun Kelly, Backstreet Boys, Alicia Keys, and Volbeat to the Hallenstadion; Kendrick Lamar to the Vaudoise
Arena in Lausanne; and Sting to both, with Depeche Mode and Coldplay coming up in 2023.

Live Nation also owns leading Swiss festival Openair Frauenfeld, whose headliners included A$AP Rocky, J.Cole, and Tyler, The Creator this year, although Metallica’s headlining
turn at Frauenfeld Rocks in June was scuppered by a case of Covid in the travelling party. Switzerland’s other big-hitting promoters include the DEAG-owned Good News and Geneva’s Live Music Production, also part-owned by DEAG since 2019, which this year has put Burna Boy into arenas in Geneva and Zurich, as well as French rap superstar Soprano at the Pontaise Stadium in Lausanne.

“We are selling more tickets than in 2019. If there is a problem, it is obviously that there are too many shows on the market at the same time, but the purchasing power of the consumers in Switzerland is still there.”

“Generally speaking, the recovery after Covid has been very good for us,” says Live Music Production managing director Michael Drieberg. “We are selling more tickets than in 2019. If
there is a problem, it is obviously that there are too many shows on the market at the same time, but the purchasing power of the consumers in Switzerland is still there. We broke our attendance record with 54,000 spectators at our Sion Sous Les Étoiles festival and filled the Big Top with Cirque du Soleil in Geneva for six weeks,” he adds.

But amidst all the consolidation, there remain independents still. Winterthur-based AllBlues, who promoted Ed Sheeran’s first Swiss shows a decade ago, this year promoted Sheeran’s pair of Letzigrund shows in September. Founded in 2006, Lausanne-based promoter Soldout Productions also motors on, feeling – as CEO Julien Rouyer told IQ earlier this year – “Shaken but alive. Recovering. Reorganising. Rising. It looks like every piece of the puzzle somehow made his way out of the crisis and is now ready to rumble again to get his part of the cake.”

“Shaken but alive. Recovering. Reorganising. Rising. It looks like every piece of the puzzle somehow made his way out of the crisis and is now ready to rumble again to get his part of the cake.”

Vincent Sager’s Nyon-based Opus One, part of the Paléo organisation, focuses largely on shows in Geneva and Lausanne. Paléo itself returned this year revamped, with new stages, blockchain ticketing, and a cashless payment system. Founded in 2009, French-Swiss indie TAKK has worked with the likes of Muse, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, and Paolo Nutini, and continues to punch hard.

“We could count on the support of the authorities till [the] end of June, and we then had a brilliant summer, with strong acts playing festivals such as Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Smile, Idles, Royal Blood, Paolo Nutini, Loyle Carner, Amy Macdonald, Kings of Convenience, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Parov Stelar, and many more,” says TAKK founder Sebastien Vuignier. “But the autumn was weaker. Headline shows didn’t sell as they did before the pandemic.”

This summer, TAKK added promoters Théo Quiblier and Mathéa Léger. Quiblier arrived from fellow indie Two Gentlemen and brought with him a roster that includes The National, The War on Drugs, Mitski, Fontaines D.C., and Wet Leg. Two Gentlemen continues to work with TAKK and, among other shows, showcases Oneida, Viagra Boys, and Swiss industrial rockers The Young Gods either side of Christmas.