88rising cancels new Jakarta festival
Asian-American music powerhouse 88rising has called off its new festival, 88 Degrees & Rising.
The one-day event was supposed to take place on 9 September at the JIExpo convention centre in Jakarta, Indonesia, but has now been called off due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
NIKI, Rich Brian, Warren Hue and Stephanie Poetri, along with XG, MILLI, Atarashii Gakko! and Spence Lee were lined up to perform.
Other events that will not take place in 2023 include Made in America (US), Fest Festival (Poland), Falls Festival (Australia), Rolling Loud (US), Summerburst (Sweden), Hills of Rock (Bulgaria), InMusic (Croatia), Wireless Germany, Hear Hear (Belgium) and Tempelhof Sounds and Tempelhof Sounds Presents (Germany).
“We love our fans in Indonesia and can’t wait to bring you a great show in 2024”
“We are saddened to share that due to unforeseen circumstances, 88 Degrees & Rising Jakarta will not be taking place this year,” 88rising wrote in their statement. “All tickets will be automatically refunded to point of purchase. We love our fans in Indonesia and can’t wait to bring you a great show in 2024.”
88 Degrees & Rising would have been the company’s second festival in Indonesia after debuting its Head in the Clouds festival in Jakarta at the end of last year. A second edition is scheduled for this autumn.
The festival brand also has a presence in Los Angeles, New York and Manila, with a new edition launching in China this September.
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Head in the Clouds festival exported to NY
Head in the Clouds festival will debut in New York this spring, following successful editions in Los Angeles, Jakarta and Manila.
NIKI, Rich Brian, ITZY, beabadoobee, DPR Live & DPR Ian, MILLI and XG will perform at the two-day event, led by Asian-American music powerhouse 88rising.
The East Coast festival will be produced alongside frequent 88rising collaborator and Southern California promoter Goldenvoice (Coachella, Stagecoach), as well as new partner The Bowery Presents.
The East Coast festival will be produced alongside Goldenvoice and The Bowery Presents
Head in the Clouds NY will take over Forest Hills Stadium in Queens between 20–21 May during, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
This marks the first time the festival has branched out to a new market in North America following a successful run in Los Angeles (2018-19, 2021-22) and 2022 festivals in Jakarta and Manila.
The inaugural NY event also represents a homecoming for 88rising, which was founded in New York City back in 2015.
Masiwei, Atarashii Gakko!, P-Lo, Raveena, Warren Hue and more will also perform at the event.
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88rising hires Sameen Singh as chief strategy officer
88rising, the Asian-American music powerhouse behind Head in the Clouds festival, has announced the appointment of Sameen Singh as chief strategy officer & chief digital officer.
In his new role, Singh will spearhead 88rising’s global strategy, orchestrate partnerships, power digital business development, and shepherd inorganic growth, according to a release.
Additionally, he will lead the cultivation and execution of strategic initiatives and commercial innovation, facilitating 88rising’s growth and evolution as a next-generation media and music company.
Singh will be based in Los Angeles and will report directly to CEO and founder Sean Miyashiro.
“The company that Sean has built is truly ahead of its time in the way it speaks to its audience and empowers its artists”
“I’ve been a day one fan of 88rising so it’s wonderfully thrilling and gratifying to now be a part of it,” says Singh. “I’m excited to help drive 88rising’s ability to be a multi-dimensional music powerhouse connecting culture forward. The company that Sean has built is truly ahead of its time in the way it speaks to its audience and empowers its artists. I look forward to continuing to push the envelope through creative innovation and risk-taking.”
Singh’s previous roles include chief strategy officer at music technology company Create Music Group and director of strategy and operations at pan-European live entertainment giant Superstruct.
He launched his career on Wall Street as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley before becoming an investor at private equity behemoth Providence Equity Partners, which backs Superstruct.
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88rising investor Atwater racks up $100m in funding
Atwater Capital, a media and entertainment-focused investment firm, has drawn funding from investment behemoths Goldman Sachs Petershill and KKR.
According to the company, the funding will increase the total backing of Atwater’s new Atwater Capital Fund I, LP to over $100 million.
Atwater’s portfolio includes 88rising, a US-based artist management company, record label and media brand focused on Asian and Asian American artists that hosts the Head in the Clouds festival in Los Angeles and now, Jakarta, Indonesia.
The firm is also a backer of Swedish royalty-free soundtrack provider Epidemic Sound, and wiip Productions, the independent studio behind TV shows such as Mare of Easttown and The Summer I Turned Pretty, among others.
Atwater was founded in 2017 by Vania Schlogel, who sits on the board of Epidemic Sound as a director. She previously served as its chairwoman from 2017 to January of this year, when she was succeeded by former Shazam boss Andrew Fisher.
“It is a hugely exciting time to be investing in media and entertainment, an asset class which is acyclical and buoyed by both digitisation and significant growth in global demand,” says Schlogel.
“We view the commitments from these two blue-chip financial institutions as a strong confirmation of [our] long-term vision”
“We are delighted to be able to partner with Goldman Sachs Petershill, a recognised leader in sponsoring and supporting private equity firms globally, alongside the world-class team at KKR, as we launch our inaugural fund. We view the anchor commitments from these two blue-chip financial institutions as a strong confirmation of the long-term vision that we have for the Atwater platform.”
Schlogel served as a former member of KKR’s Private Equity team from 2009 to 2014, specialising in the media sector. She is also known as the former chief investment officer of Roc Nation, and the CIO of another then-Jay-Z-owned company, TIDAL.
“We are delighted to invest with Vania and her team as they identify and back a group of extraordinary media and entertainment entrepreneurs,” says KKR partners Philipp Freise and Ted Oberwager.
Alisa Amarosa Wood, partner at KKR, adds: “This is the continuation of the great relationship we have built over many years of collaboration with Vania – from her time at KKR and beyond. She shares our values, our partnership-oriented approach, and we are truly thrilled to be investing alongside her in this new endeavour.”
Christian von Schimmelmann, co-head of Goldman Sachs Petershill, adds: “We have a history of partnering with successful private equity firms globally and are excited to welcome Atwater as a natural addition to the Goldman Sachs Petershill family.”
“We look forward to providing strategic support as Atwater builds upon its history of investing in groundbreaking people and the companies they operate.”
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Live Nation, 88rising add to Asia festival boom
Live Nation and 88rising are the latest promoters to announce new events in Asia, buoying a festival boom on the continent.
The news comes shortly after Rolling Loud announced plans to expand its hip-hop franchise to Thailand in 2023, and Lollapalooza revealed intentions to launch in Mumbai early next year.
Live Nation’s contribution to the uptick is a one-day urban festival in Tokyo, Japan, in collaboration with the country’s leading promoter Creativeman.
Tonal Tokyo will take place at the Ariake Arena (cap. 15,000) on 29 October this year, featuring a mix of domestic and international acts.
Charli XCX, Jamie xx, Years & Years and Lany are among the artists slated to perform across the main arena and the sub arena.
“We aim to create a new-generational music festival that brings together the diverse sounds and colours of Tokyo”
“This autumn, a new urban festival will be born in our Tokyo. Tonal means ‘timbre’ or ‘colour’. We aim to create a new-generational music festival that brings together the diverse sounds and colours of Tokyo and sends them out from Tokyo to the world,” says the event’s organisers.
Tickets for Tonal Tokyo go on sale on 3 September, with general admission billed at ¥16,500 (€123) and VIP tickets going for ¥30,000 (€224).
Elsewhere, Asian-American music powerhouse 88rising is preparing to bring its US-festival Head in the Clouds to Jakarta, Indonesia, this winter.
The festival will take place at Community Park PIK2 on 3 and 4 December, featuring performances from “artists around the world” – though the line-up is yet to be announced.
Head in the Clouds Jakarta will follow the California edition on 10 and 11 August, which is co-produced with AEG Presents.
Jackson Wang, Jay Park, Rich Brian, MILLI, Chung Ha, eaJ and Bibi are among the artists slated to perform in Los Angeles.
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88rising to host global livestream festival
Asian-American music powerhouse 88rising is holding a global livestream festival to celebrate the Year of the Tiger (2022).
Double Happiness will feature exclusive performances from artists across the world including Jackson Wang, MINO, Woosung, Audrey Nuna, Stephanie Poetri, Warren Hue, Seori, MILLI, Adawa, Alex Porat, Mỹ Anh, Shayiting EL, Youngohm and Yuzhen.
The broadcast can be watched via Facebook, YouTube, and 88rising Radio on SiriusXM on 4 February at 19:00 PT, and donations from the stream will support the Asian Mental Health Collective.
Asia Rising Together attracted 5 million viewers and was recognised with a Gold Shorty Award
The live stream follows the success of the group’s 2021 virtual event Asia Rising Together which attracted 5 million viewers and was recognised with a Gold Shorty Award.
The year before, 88rising held the Asia Rising Forever livestream which became the #1 trending topic on both YouTube and Twitter and drew 8.5 million viewers.
It was recently announced that 88rising will be presenting Head in the Clouds Forever at this year’s Coachella in what has been touted as “a historic, live experience culmination of what 88rising represents”.
88rising worked with Coachella promoter Goldenvoice last November to produce the group’s LA-based music festival, Head in the Clouds.
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Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Ye to headline Coachella ’22
Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival organisers have announced the full line-up for the upcoming 2022 edition.
Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Ye (aka Kanye West) are to headline the festival’s first in-person event since 2019, which will run across two weekends (15–17 and 22–24 April) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
Styles’ headline set will mark his debut Coachella performance, while Eilish’s will qualify her as the youngest-ever headliner at Coachella, following a seminal performance at the festival back in 2019.
Travis Scott was reportedly set to top the bill but was allegedly removed following the crowd crush tragedy at his Astroworld event last year.
Other artists billed for the Goldenvoice-promoted festival are Swedish House Mafia, Flume, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, 21 Savage, Phoebe Bridgers, Doja Cat, Joji, Jamie xx and Run the Jewels.
Danny Elfman, Carly Rae Jepsen, Big Sean, Idles, Spiritualized, Stromae, Brockhampton, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Caribou, Caroline Polachek, Vince Staples, Ari Lennox and Kim Petras are also slated to perform.
Travis Scott was reportedly set to top the bill but was allegedly removed following the tragedy at his Astroworld event
According to today’s announcement, the 2022 edition will also include a collaboration with 88rising, a US-based artist management company, record label and media brand focused on east Asian artists.
The poster references the label’s annual LA-based music festival, Head in the Clouds. No further details have been revealed yet.
Coachella had its 2020 festival postponed twice due to the pandemic. It was rescheduled to April 2021, but postponed once again in January of that year, when the public health officer in charge of Riverside County, where the festival is held, signed a public health order cancelling Coachella and its sister festival, the country music event Stagecoach.
News emerged last October that Goldenvoice had signed a long-term agreement with the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, which will enable the promoter to stage additional festivals on the site.
Goldenvoice is one of the world’s biggest promoters; the company produces several festivals, including recently announced California Vibrations, operates 14 mid-sized venues and promotes over 1,800 shows per year.
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88rising announces North American tour
The Asian-American music collective 88rising has pleased fans once again by announcing a 16-date North American tour, just weeks after announcing their inaugural Head in the Clouds music festival.
Co-produced by Live Nation, the tour will kick off on 28 September in Philadelphia, PA and make stops across the US and Canada before wrapping up on 31 October in San Francisco, CA. It will feature label favourites including Don Krez, Keither Ape and NIKI.
News of a tour follows a busy year for the group. As well as planning for a tour and a festival, artists in the collective have been working on their forthcoming studio album, also called Head in the Clouds.
“88rising means ‘double happiness’ and that’s what we intend to bring to the live experience for years to come.”
The record will feature the label’s big names, including Rich Brian, Joji and Higher Brothers. The first single from the upcoming album, titled ‘Midsummer Madness‘ has just been released and is currently topping both Spotify’s Global Viral 50 and United States Viral 50 charts.
On the subject of their upcoming live performances, 88rising founder and CEO Sean Miyashiro says: “88rising means ‘double happiness’ and that’s what we intend to bring to the live experience for years to come.”
88rising’s success is partly down to the rising popularity of Asian artists in western markets. In the past few years, a number of Asian performers, in particular South Korean artists have found huge success in the US and Europe. 88rising consider themselves to be the bridge between Eastern and Western youth culture.
Tickets for the 88 Degrees & Rising tour go on sale to the public on 22 June at 10am local time at LiveNation.com
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