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2019 Under the Microscope: Who was on top in electronic music?

Anybody working in the live music industry today will tell you that 2020 came out swinging, with the colossal price tag of the coronavirus pandemic rising steeply every day.

As the industry came to a halt following the cancellations of gigs and festivals all over the world, Viberate looked back on brighter days and crunched the numbers behind the top 100 DJs across all genres to see who’s behind the mixing board.

 


We could just say that the average top DJ was a 34-year-old EDM-playing American who gained the highest number of new followers on YouTube. This, however, doesn’t hit all the right notes, as the wider picture is much more colourful. So what else is there?

As a global music platform connecting over half a million artists and around 5,000 festivals, Viberate analysed popularity across numerous social and streaming services in the past year in order to put the top 100 DJs in the world under the microscope.

Using similar data gymnastics, Viberate populated the artist-specific categories for the International Dance Music Awards, which are traditionally presented at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, but remained in the digital realm this year.

This review provides a fuller reflection of the industry…

 

1. The mainstream and the underground: Who’s winning the genre game?

EDM takes the crown

The undisputed winner is dance, as more than a half of the top 100 DJs have it as their main subgenre. At the end of the day, mainstream popularity brings the numbers, so there’s no curveball to be expected here.

Next is house, which is represented all around the world, and then dubstep, downtempo and trap/future bass, which are the most popular in English-speaking countries. In dubstep, eight out of ten DJs represented are from North America, while one is from the UK and one is Israeli. In trap/future bass, six out of nine DJs are from North America, and one is Australian.

Techno, however, is Europe-based, as all representatives (except the one Siberian in the mix) are European. Trance and drum and bass remain more underground, but have one strong representative each, both Dutch: Armin van Buuren and the Noisia trio, who are on their farewell tour in 2020.

 

2. Building a fan base: The strongest channels

How many followers did the average top DJ gain in 2019?

Taking a closer look at the numbers of new followers on Spotify, Instagram and YouTube per genre, it’s clear that the average dance DJ is the winner of 2019. Of the whopping 3.5m new followers on average, 43% are YouTube subscribers, 35% were gained on Spotify and 22% on Instagram.

Next is house (860k new followers), with the growth per channel more evenly distributed. Trap/future bass is at its heels, with 850k new followers, almost half of them on YouTube (47%). The average Techno winner of the year got 710k new followers, most of them (72%) on Instagram – not surprising, as neither YouTube nor Spotify are the main outlets for techno artists.

With downtempo (420k new followers), the allocation of new followers is pretty proportional, while dubstep (260k new followers) mirrors dance, gaining most of its new fan base (43%) on YouTube.

 

3. The demographics behind the superstars

Where do the top 100 DJs come from?

The countries that have given us the most Top DJs are the US and the Netherlands, with 28 and 12, respectively. While Marshmello, Skrillex, the Chainsmokers and Steve Aoki, representing the US, have become household names, the picture changes if we consider the population of both countries.

The Netherlands is around eight times more populated with top DJs such as Martin Garrix, R3hab and Oliver Heldens – there must be something in the air. And if we compare Europe and North America as a whole, 46 of the top 100 DJs come from the Old Continent, and 35 from the US and Canada.

How old are they? Almost half of the DJs are in their 30s, and 4% of them are still going strong in their fifties.

And where are the ladies? In electronic music in general, men have the numbers, but in techno the situation is level at the top, as the wave of successful women is taking the lead: Charlotte de Witte, Amelie Lens, Nina Kraviz and Deborah De Luca are challenging the status quo. The sister duo Krewella has been rocking EDM, and you can’t miss Alison Wonderland and REZZ in bass music.

The fastest rising stars were Peggy Gou, Charlotte de Witte and Amelie Lens, who each at least doubled the number of followers on all three analysed channels and made 2019 their year. Even though the world of electronic music might still seem like a boys’ club, there are strong players fighting to change the stereotypical figure behind a mixing board.

 

4. Sick Festivals: What does the future hold for 2020?

To stay informed about postponed and cancelled festivals, Viberate has created the website Sick Festivals, where you can follow current information.

At the moment, the coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on more than 550 festivals – find out more at SickFestivals.com.

 


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‘Fans are resilient’: Across-the-board growth for LN in 2019

Live Nation exceeded expectations for both revenue and adjusted operating income (AOI) in 2019, according to its just-released full-year financial results, painting a rosy outlook for the year ahead, despite growing concerns of the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

The final year of the 2010s saw the concert giant deliver its ninth consecutive year of growth, with turnover up 7%, operating income up 19% and AOI up 14%, to US$11.55 billion, $324.8 million and $942.5m, respectively.

Revenue from sponsorship and advertising grew 17%, to $590.3m, with festival sponsorship having a particularly strong year, bolstered by the addition of Rock in Rio to the LN portfolio. Some 98 million people attended a Live Nation concert in 2019 – a 5% increase on the previous year – while Ticketmaster grew its AOI 11% and delivered 115m tickets in 31 countries worldwide.

Live Nation shares increased around 1.3% following yesterday’s (27 February) earnings call, though the price – in common with other live entertainment stocks – is still down on the all-time high achieved in February 2020, as the coronavirus continues to spook markets worldwide.

Responding to a query from analyst Brandon Ross, who asked how Covid-19 could affect Live Nation’s business in 2020, CEO Michael Rapino said while he expects to see further cancellations and postponements, there will be no decline in the appetite for live entertainment.

The business is real strong. The consumer still seems to be buying the tickets on a global basis”

“[W]e always talk about the resilience of the concert fan,” he said, “and, as of last night, we had a sellout in Australia on a festival [Splendour in the Grass]. The business is real strong. The consumer still seems to be buying the tickets on a global basis.

“So supply [and] demand will be there. We’re going to take this cautiously as we watch the markets and we assume a hotspot will flare up and a show will be cancelled here and there. But we’re confident that, long-term, the show will happen. The revenue will flow and the fan will show up.”

Rapino also revealed that average ticket prices for the promoter’s arena and amphitheatre shows have increased by double digits since 2017, with sales of dynamically priced Platinum tickets increasing 66% in 2019. Despite this, “concerts remain a great deal for fans relative to other live experiences: our average ticket for a concert at one of our amphitheatres was $46 in 2019, relative to about $75 for an NBA [basketball] game and over $100 for an NFL [American football] game,” said Rapino.

“In summary, 2019 was another strong year for Live Nation, building our global concerts business and driving growth in our high-margin venue, sponsorship and ticketing businesses,” Rapino says in a statement.

“Looking at 2020, we believe that our double-digit fan and show count growth so far this year, against a backdrop of very high artist activity across all venue types and markets, sets up our flywheel to deliver another year of strong global growth.”

 


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The decade in live: 2019

The start of a new year and, perhaps more significantly, a new decade is fast approaching – and while many may be thinking ahead to New Year’s Eve plans and well-meaning 2020 resolutions, IQ is casting its mind back to the most pivotal industry moments of the last ten years.

The final edition of IQ’s decade in live brings us right up to the present day. From the turbulent early post-financial crisis years, the live industry has emerged triumphant, repeatedly setting new records and reaching new heights in the latter part of the decade.

A number of artists have cropped up repeatedly during IQ’s decade analysis with both Bon Jovi and U2 topping the year-end tour chart twice.

Other acts to perform well throughout the decade include Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and Pink – with three top-five appearances, including one top spot, each; Beyoncé, with four top-five tours; Metallica with three; and AC/DC, Roger Waters, Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, Bruno Mars and the Rolling Stones, who all achieved double top-five appearances.

Major industry players were hard at play in 2019, as Live Nation completed 20 acquisitions over the year, as well as recording its highest-ever quarterly operating income in Q3; AEG Facilities and SMG finalised their mega-merger to create ASM Global; Superstruct continued its run of festival roll-ups; Oak View Group launched internationally; CTS Eventim expanded its rapidly-growing promoter network, and much more.

However, perhaps the biggest deal of the year came from one of the live industry’s most controversial members – Viagogo. The company’s US$4.05 billion all-cash acquisition of fellow secondary ticketer StubHub signals that the secondary ticketing debate will carry over well into the new decade.

 


2019 in numbers

The live concert business is seeing out the decade in style, with new records set in gross revenue by the top 100 tours worldwide.

The ten biggest touring artists of 2019 brought in a collective $1.6bn, falling short of the more than $2bn brought in the year before, with 2018’s charts skewed by Sheeran’s massive Divide tour ($432.4m) and Swift’s Reputation stadium tour ($345.1m).

Sheeran was the man of the moment in 2019, as his colossal Divide tour became the highest-grossing tour in history after knocking U2 off the top spot in August. The tour wrapped up having generated $768.5m and sold 8.8m tickets over three years. The singer came in at number three on 2019’s chart, grossing $211.7m.

Pink, the highest-grossing artist of the year, generated $215.2 million on her Beautiful Trauma trek, which sold 1.8m tickets in 2019, adding to 2018’s 1.3m, and earning her Ticketmaster’s global ticket of the year accolade.

Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour came in at second, grossing $212m, with Metallica’s WorldWired tour at four with $179m and the Rolling Stones’ No Filter tour at five with $177.8m.

Twelve artists grossed more than $100m in 2019, one more than the year before, with BTS, Bon Jovi, Ariana Grande, Michael Bublé, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and Backstreet Boys, in addition to the top five, clearing the nine-figure mark.

 


2019 in brief

January
DEAG acquires the remaining 24.9% of shares in MyTicket from German publishing house Axel Springer SE.

Scandinavian promoter Beatbox Entertainment rebrands as Down the Drain Concerts, after its parent company Down the Drain Group.

February
More than ten million people “attend” EDM star Marshmello’s virtual concert in the popular free-to-play video game Fortnite.

Live Nation acquires or takes a majority shareholding in promoters Planet Events and Embrace Presents; marketing company Neste; festivals Blockfest and Tons of Rock; and ticketer Moshtix (through Ticketmaster).

Providence Equity Partners, the parent company of festival operator Superstruct, buys into industry leading staging specialist Tait.

March
Oak View Group (OVG), the US-based venue development, advisory and investment company co-founded by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and ex-Live Nation chairman Irving Azoff, launches its new international business at ILMC.

CTS Eventim announces plans to combine 26 of its majority-owned promoters into a new London-based, pan-European live entertainment network, called Eventim Live.

Australian promoters Michael Gudinski and Michael Chugg announce a new joint venture between their respective companies, Frontier Touring and Chugg Entertainment.

The decade in live: 2019

Marshmello performs in-game in Fortnite to over ten million people © Keneth Cruz

April
AEG Presents joins forces with Frontier Touring, Australia’s last major independent promoter, in a strategic joint venture that sees the companies merge operations in Australia and New Zealand.

Competition regulators examine the proposed mega-merger of venue behemoths AEG Facilities and SMG, as the companies look to roll up an international portfolio that includes more than 300 venues.

Providence Equity-backed Superstruct Entertainment takes corporate control of Global’s festival arm, amid rumours Broadwick Live is undertaking a management buyback of its events.

May
Superstruct Entertainment invests in Down the Drain Group, forming a partnership with the largest independent concert and festival promoter in Denmark.

BookMyShow, India’s largest online ticketing company, expands into the Middle East after signing a five-year deal with AEG Ogden’s Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

DEAG becomes the latest major live music player to invest in the fast-growing esports sector, acquiring a minority stake in ally4ever Entertainment, a specialist gaming events agency.

June
BTS-mania hits London for a second time, with the Korean pop superstars making history by playing to 120,000 people over two nights at Wembley Stadium – and another 140,000 fans across the world via a £21-a-head livestream.

Oak View Group (OVG) partners with Live Nation to build and run a new entertainment and sports arena in Santa Giulia in Milan.

DEAG acquires a majority stake in three promoters: Stuttgart-based C2 Concerts; I-Motion, the German division of electronic music behemoth, LiveStyle; and Swiss concert promoters Live Music Production and Live Music Entertainment.

The decade in live: 2019

Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena © AEG Ogden

July
Live Nation makes moves in Latin America, confirming it will acquire a majority stake in South America’s biggest festival, Rock in Rio, and in Latin America’s largest promoter, Ocesa Entertainment.

Google suspends secondary ticketing site Viagogo as an advertiser indefinitely, following pressure from industry organisations, anti-touting groups and politicians.

After five years as partners, London’s Coda Agency formally merges into its Los Angeles-based parent company, Paradigm Talent Agency, becoming Paradigm London.

August
Ed Sheeran’s ÷ tour becomes the highest- grossing concert tour of all time, breaking the current record of $735.4m set by U2’s 360° stadium tour in July 2011.

Superstruct Entertainment invests in Germany’s ICS, adding leading metal event Wacken Open Air to its stable of European festivals, which also includes recently acquired hip-hop event Parookaville.

Australasian live entertainment powerhouse TEG, the parent company of Ticketek and TEG Dainty, acquires the UK’s MJR Group.

September
Through its Swedish division, FKP Scorpio Sverige, FKP Scorpio acquires Stockholm-based promoter Woah Dad! Live.

Oak View Group launches the International Venue Alliance, a network of independent venues modelled on its US Arena and Stadium Alliance, with Silverstone Circuit as founding member.

AEG takes full control of its ticketing business, AXS, from co-owners TPG Capital and RockBridge Growth Equity.

The decade in live: 2019

Ed Sheeran’s ÷  tour became the highest-grossing of all time in 2019, generating a total of $768.5m © Ed Sheeran/Instagram

October
CTS Eventim expands into Russia, acquiring 51% of concert promoter Talent Concert International.

AEG Facilities and SMG complete their merger to create a single worldwide venue management company: ASM Global.

Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners acquires Australia’s TEG, adding to a live portfolio that also includes Oak View Group, MSG and Endeavor.

November
Upcoming shows by Spanish star Enrique Iglesias in Croatia, Belarus and Latvia are cancelled, as Iglesias’s agency, CAA, declares a lack of compliance on behalf of promoter Art BG.

In a landmark deal that brings together the world’s two largest secondary ticket sellers, Viagogo announces its acquisition of StubHub for $4.05bn in cash.

Just four months after its indefinite suspension from Google Ads, Viagogo advertisements once again appear at the top of Google’s search results as the ban is lifted.

December
CTS Eventim makes official its acquisition of a majority stake in Barracuda Music, formerly the largest independent promoter in Austria.

Live Nation makes its 20th acquisition or equivalent deal of the year, taking a controlling stake in the live entertainment division of Malaysian promoter PR Worldwide.

 


The decade in live: 2019

Keith Flint (1969–2019) © The Prodigy

Who we lost

Croatian concert promoter Jordan Rodić; the Prodigy frontman Keith Flint; singer-songwriter Scott Walker; Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading of UK band Her’s and tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson; VMS Live founder and managing director Steve Forster; Matt Ward, Manchester Arena’s head of event marketing and PR; ATC Live agent and LeeFest/Neverworld festival director Chris Meredith; SFX Entertainment founder Robert FX Sillerman.


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The Crystal Ball: Predictions for 2019

IQ: Panellists, what do you anticipate being next year’s greatest challenges, both for you and for the wider industry?

Emma Bownes, vice-president of programming, AEG Europe: I think most of the industry is concerned about the impact of Brexit on the music industry – will it lead to restrictions on travel for British acts?

The government have to make sure that musicians, particularly smaller ones, can continue to tour the EU easily without the need for visas – and similarly for European artists – while they develop as artists and build their fan-bases and careers.

Beverley Whitrick, strategic director, Music Venue Trust: So much attention is being focused on Brexit that it makes it even more difficult to advance with the changes needed to protect the grassroots of the music industry. Not surprisingly, enormous and necessary energy is being spent trying to safeguard international touring and ensuring that the UK continues to be a leader in music.

Trying to reconcile what is needed at home with these global concerns poses the greatest challenge for 2019.

Stephan Thanscheidt, managing director, FKP Scorpio: A challenge faced by both the touring and festival sectors is the rising costs in all areas, such as personnel, production, administrative expenses and, especially, artist fees. Of course, ticket prices cannot – and should not – be scaled limitlessly, so we need to find ways to optimise and allocate these expenses.

Okan Tombulca, managing director, eps: I think our biggest challenge will be the same as for the rest of the industry: labour. Europe-wide, there is a huge problem with the availability of staff – security, stagehands, event co-ordinators – as well as equipment.

“Europe-wide, there is a huge problem with the availability of staff”

Kim Bloem, vice-head promoter, Mojo Concerts: The biggest issue over the last two years is the lack of personnel and materials for the number of events taking place from May to September. The number of shows, festivals and special events is rapidly increasing in this period, and therefore building crew, technicians, riggers, security personnel, etc., get exhausted because they’re working crazy hours.

We need to make sure live music remains a safe working place for everybody, but getting the number of people needed is very challenging.

Okan Tombulca: I think 2019 will be the biggest year in 20 years in terms of the number of events going on.

Jules de Lattre, senior agent, United Talent Agency: The issue of ticket pricing, both on the primary and secondary markets. Although significant progress was made in 2018, how to combat illicit secondary-ticketing practices will continue to be an issue we deal with on a daily basis.

As the secondary market becomes more regulated but not fully eradicated, will a more widely used and accepted model of dynamic pricing on the primary market emerge?

IQ: How about the biggest opportunities?

Jules de Lattre: As music consumption on ISPs explodes, there will be increasing opportunities for fans to fully connect with artists in the live space.

Mark Yovich, president, Ticketmaster InternationalThere are more opportunities than ever before to empower artists to connect with their fans and harness their live experience. Whether that’s through digital tickets or facial recognition, we are continuing to innovate in a wide range of products that are changing the landscape of the live business.

“Hopefully, 2019 will see further action to ensure that live music is accessible to the widest possible audience”

Emma Bownes: This year saw a great deal of progress made in terms of restricting the ability of professional ticket resellers to acquire and resell large amounts of tickets with a huge mark-up. The British government introduced new legislation to ban resellers from using bots to purchase tickets in bulk, secondary ticketing sites Get Me In! and Seatwave are closing down, and the O2 and the SSE Arena, Wembley, both introduced a digital ticketing system featuring a dynamically changing barcode system that ensures tickets cannot be copied or shared on secondary sites.

Hopefully, 2019 will see further action to ensure that live music is accessible to the widest possible audience.

IQ: Can you identify any key market trends you expect to see emerging next year?

Stephan Thanscheidt: Concentration of power. Next to the continuously evolving activities of FKP Scorpio in Germany and abroad, as well as the strategic partnership with AEG, the live sector of [FKP majority owner] CTS Eventim is growing further due to purchases in Italy and Spain. The same can, of course, be observed at Live Nation and other international companies.

Beverley Whitrick: More grassroots music venues will close unless people who claim to be supportive actually start demonstrating that support through their actions.

Stephan Thanscheidt: Another observation is the formation of investors and investment groups who don’t have a background as a promoter buying up festivals all over Europe.

“Apart from music and comedy, we see the market for speaking events growing”

Mark Yovich: One word: mobile. We’ve been saying it for years, but 2018 saw a huge spike in the percentage of mobile traffic and, more importantly, mobile ticket sales. We think mobile-first with everything we do, from how fans discover events through to digital methods of entry.

Beverley Whitrick: Local activism and campaigns to support music will grow. Both artists and audiences are getting more vocal about the value of live music to communities, local economies, and health and wellbeing.

Emma Bownes: Alongside the music programming you’d expect to see at both venues, we’re seeing a lot of shows coming through the O2 and The SSE Arena, Wembley, that are aimed at more of a family audience: Hugh Jackman, Cirque du Soleil, NBA, Harlem Globetrotters, Strictly Come Dancing, WWE…

We’re also hosting Superstars of Gymnastics at the O2 – a major new showcase of the sport, featuring Simone Biles and Max Whitlock.

Kim Bloem: My colleague Gideon Karting promoted a show with K-pop band BTS this year, which was huge, so that is definitely something that we expect to see emerging in the market in the next few years.

Also, apart from music and comedy – the latter of which is a genre that sees massive audience interest – we see the market for speaking events growing. This year, Barack Obama did a couple of events, and I hope we can have his wife Michelle come to the Netherlands at some point. We can hopefully embrace this kind of role model and learn from them how we can all contribute to a better world.

“I’d like to see much better communication between all sectors of our industry”

IQ: What are you most looking forward to in 2019?

Mark Yovich: The Sunday night at Reading Festival for Foo Fighters. Their London Stadium gig was amazing and I can’t wait to see them again.

Emma Bownes: Sheffield Wednesday turning things around and making it to the play-offs.

Jules de Lattre: We have a very exciting summer of major international festivals planned for Christine and the Queens in 2019. Considering how strong and unique her live show is, I expect the summer will have a significant impact on this campaign. I’m excited for festivalgoers to see and experience this incredible show.

Mark Yovich: Muse and Fleetwood Mac are some other great stadium shows I’m looking forward to, as well as Billie Eilish at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in early 2019.

Beverley Whitrick: Continuing to meet amazing people whose passion for music makes the work we do worthwhile.

IQ: Finally, what, if anything, could the industry do better together in 2019?

Okan Tombulca: In Germany, we have a twice-yearly meeting of all festival promoters and service companies, to share information about health and safety and develop one set of rules for the whole country. I’d like to see much better communication between all sectors of our industry, to share knowledge, help each other and work better together.

“Anyone in the business should do whatever they can to provide support to those in need”

Kim Bloem: Be a bit nicer to each other, work more closely together, and try to reduce the amount of paperwork and covering our own asses all the time. If we work hard and well, we should be able to trust each other’s judgment.

Jules de Lattre: Conversations about mental health are becoming more commonplace and I hope will continue to do so. Anyone in the business should look around them and do whatever they can to provide reliable health and wellness support to those in need.

Gender diversity and equality in the music industry as a whole – from the presence of female-fronted acts at festivals to gender pay gaps and fairer access to leadership roles in the music industry – will also remain a major talking point in the year to come.

Mark Yovich: Accessibility is a huge issue in our industry and we’re working closely with Attitude is Everything on their Ticketing Without Barriers campaign to make sure more is being done.

There seems to be some great momentum, and now is the time for us all to come together to find solutions to ensure equal access to live entertainment.

Stephan Thanscheidt: We need to stand united against political and societal injustice.

Music is being used by groups who are against democratic values and human rights – so why shouldn’t we do the same for freedom and peace?

 


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Wacken Open Air 2019 sold out already

Just weeks after the closing acts of this year’s festival, tickets for Wacken Open Air 2019 have already sold out. A total of 75,000 tickets have been purchased for the 2019 event, which will celebrate 30 years of the world’s biggest heavy metal gathering.

In a statement on their website, the Wacken team thanked fans for their show of support. “We are completely overwhelmed by your loyalty and your support which seems to be unbroken for almost 30 years now,” it reads.

“We promise to achieve an Anniversary which you shall remember for a long time! You are and were always the heart of our festival and without you all of this would not be possible.”

However, amongst the excitement and gratitude, organisers have also issued a warning to fans who were unable to get tickets to next year’s event to stay away from secondary ticketing outlets.  Organisers have told fans to avoid buying tickets from eBay, Viagogo, Laolaevents, Global-tickets, Eventtickets24 and tickets75, adding that this list of what they deem to be untrustworthy retailers may be added to in the run up to 2019’s event.

“We are completely overwhelmed by your loyalty and your support which seems to be unbroken for almost 30 years now”

“We have no business relationship with these and other platforms and dealers,” reads a statement from organisers.

“Many of the pages have not only attracted attention by inflated prices, but also by the sale of stolen or deactivated tickets. In some cases, they are even selling tickets that they do not own at all.”

Their warning follows a recent similar caution from the Singapore Police Force, after a rise in the number of fraudulent tickets being sold through secondary marketplaces. In some cases, victims parted with up to S$400 only to receive blank sheets of paper in place of tickets.

Fans are being advised to join the Wacken Open Air 2019 official waiting list for tickets. It is expected that a number of spaces will come available over the course of the next ten days, due to ticket returns and advance payments not being made in time.

 


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Vivendi to launch new festival in France in 2019

French media conglomerate Vivendi has announced it will be launching a new festival in the French city of Limoges in 2019. The festival will be organised and produced by the team behind Brive Festival, another Vivendi-owned event.

For the media giant, this is the latest in a series of French music festival acquisitions. After buying Brive Festival four years ago, Vivendi and its subsidiaries have been keen to add to this portfolio. Earlier this year, it was agreed Olympia Production, a subsidiary of Vivendi, would co-produce Les Déferlantes and Live at Campo, two festivals based in the South of France. Additional to this, as of June 2018, Vivendi is close to finalising a deal to acquire Garorock festival, located in France’s south west.

“It is a question of innovating and proposing, besides the numerous concerts, multiple animations likely to allure the family.”

Next year’s festival in Limoges is already being welcomed by some residents and local media. 2018 saw the disappearance of two of the city’s most popular summer festival events, Lost in Limoges and Urban Empire. Next year’s event represents the opportunity to build on past events, with French news website Le Populaire’s Limoges edition saying: “It is a question of innovating and proposing, besides the numerous concerts, multiple animations likely to allure the family.”

Though revellers have a year to wait before they can enjoy another festival in Limoges, some details of the event are already being released. The two-day event will be dedicated to urban and electro music and aims to have something for a family of all ages to enjoy. It will also see a campsite installed inside the festival grounds.

 


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Live Nation announces new venue in New Orleans

2019 will see the opening of a brand new venue in New Orelans, Live Nation has announced today (21 June). To mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary San Francisco venue The Fillmore West, the 2,000 capacity Fillmore at Harrah’s Casino will open in homage early next year.

In keeping with its Californian namesake, the New Orleans Fillmore will showcase state-of-the-art production, vintage poster art, VIP amenities and outstanding hospitality. Rob Bension, president of Live Nation’s club and theatre group, hopes the new venue will attract artists who might usually overlook New Orleans.

“The venue’s industry-leading amenities and intimate 2,000-person capacity fill a gap in the market and will attract performers that often bypass the city, which will ultimately give audiences an even wider array of concert experiences to enjoy,” he says.

“In a city where live music abounds from street corners to the stage, The Fillmore is a perfect addition”

The original Fillmore in San Francisco has hosted some of America’s most impressive acts, with Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix all having topped the bill at some point. The new Fillmore will occupy the second floor of the Harrah’s Casino. The prospective venue therefore not only has to live up to its Californian counterpart’s reputation, but the reputation of the well established casino it will reside in.

Dan Real, general manager of Harrah’s, has said that the end result will fulfil both legacies: “In a city where live music abounds from street corners to the stage, The Fillmore is a perfect addition to Harrah’s New Orleans and will create memorable experiences for both locals and guests.”

Across the US, there are Fillmore venues in Florida, Philadelphia and North Carolina among others. According to Live Nation, this newest Fillmore will embrace its New Orleans setting, with gas street lanterns and ‘hints of Mardi Gras’.

 


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