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AIF welcomes six new board members

The UK’s Association Of Independent Festivals (AIF) has announced six new board members.

As part of the organisation’s annual rotation, CEO Paul Reed welcomed Lauren Down (End Of The Road), Zac Fox (Kilimanjaro Live), Kate Osler (AEI/El Dorado), Jon Walsh (Shambala), Chris Rutherford (Boomtown Fair) and Gill Tee (Black Deer) to the board of directors at yesterday’s (11 November) AGM in London.

AIF, which now represents 90 festivals, also reported year-on-year membership growth of 34% and announced the return of its flagship Festival Congress at M Shed Museum in Bristol on 15 February 2022. The post-conference festival party will take place at Lost Horizon – an independent venue launched by the team behind Glastonbury’s Shangri La area.

The theme of this year’s AGM was ‘Resilience’ in recognition of the unprecedented challenges faced by the festival sector since the onset of the pandemic.

The fact that AIF has welcomed so many new members in recent months demonstrates the power of the collective

“When considering the last 18 months, resilience really is the word, and our sector should take great pride from the way it has adapted and survived during the pandemic,” says Reed. “AIF is pleased to have played its part in supporting independent festivals and fighting their corner.

“The fact that AIF has welcomed so many new members in recent months demonstrates the power of the collective and the need for community in difficult circumstances.”

Reaffirming its commitment to action on the climate emergency, the trade body revealed that it is supporting and funding an industry-wide green code of conduct that will be developed by Vision 2025. It also confirmed it will relaunch its Safer Spaces campaign and charter before the 2022 festival season to raise awareness around sexual harassment and violence, and promoting best practice at member events.

In addition, AIF announced a new, wide-ranging partnership with Music Support, which includes discounted Mental Health First Aid training for members and free access to Music Support’s recently launched Addiction And Recovery awareness training.

“The pandemic isn’t over, of course, but it’s good to be able to turn one eye to the future with some new faces on the board to drive us forward,” adds Reed. “There are plenty of other issues facing our industry that we have a duty to confront head on. Not least reaffirming our commitment to taking practical action on the climate emergency, as well as sexual violence and harassment at events.

“I’d also like to thank Music Support for their partnership in helping us strive for better mental health provisions for our members. It is more vital than ever given the turbulence of the last 18 months that they have access to the right support services.”

 


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MMF appoints new five-person board for 2021

The UK’s Music Managers Forum (MMF) has appointed its board for 2021, with members reelecting the association’s vice-chair, Kwame Kwaten (Ferocious Talent), and electing four new members.

As part of its annual general meeting yesterday (1 July), the MMF welcomed Adenike Durosaro (Big Drum Entertainment), Ross Patel (Whole Entertainment Group), Sandy Dworniak (This Much Talent/Twisted Talent) and Karl Nielson (William Orbit, Maeve) as board members, with Adam Tudhope (Everybody’s Management), Lisa Ward (Red Light Management), Ric Salmon (ATC Management) and Rachael Bee (ILuvLive).

At the AGM, MMF CEO Annabella Coldrick revealed that the association has increased its membership from 700 in 2019 to more than 1,200 today. She puts the the dramatic increase to successes in outreach, training and campaigning, including new initiatives such as Unite (the MMF’s forum to discuss race, anti-racism and injustice, run in collaboration with The Zoo XYZ), emergency funding programme ReBuild, which has provided nearly £500,000 of support to managers’ businesses to survive the pandemic, and the continued development of Accelerator, the grants and education programme for music managers.

The MMF’s membership, she said, is now 38% female or non-binary/gender non-confirming and 29 black, Asian or minority-ethnic.

Seven new associate partnerships were also announced at the AGM: livestreaming platform Moment House, funding platform beatBread, NFT marketplaces Bondly and Serenade, revenue share platform Shout4, advertising platform Feed and royalty firm CWorks. These companies join the MMF’s 44 existing associate members, including Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, TikTok and Songtrust.

Coldrick also gave an update on the MMF’s advocacy work, including #LetTheMusicMove, the campaign to end post-Brexit restrictions around European touring which now has the backing of more than 1,000 artists.

“It’s been a ludicrously tough 12 months and throughout the MMF has rallied to support the management community with initiatives like ReBuild, Unite and Accelerator, extensive virtual learning sessions and tireless campaigning and advocacy work. I’ve no doubt it’s why we’ve seen such a huge and rapid increase in our membership,” she says. “Music management can be an isolating and highly pressurised way of making a living, and I’m proud of the way the MMF continues to be an organisation where knowledge is shared and everyone is welcome.”

“As board members, the contribution made by Adam Tudhope, Lisa Ward, Ric Salmon and Rachael Bee has been immense, and I’d like to thank them sincerely for their generosity and input over many years of service,” comments MMF chair Craig.

“Alongside my redoubtable vice-chair, Kwame Kwaten, I would also like to welcome our four new board members Nike, Ross, Sandy and Karl. Their expertise and experience will be vital as we strive to ensure the MMF makes ongoing progress to represent all in our community.”

 


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AIF appoints new board members at 2019 AGM

The UK’s Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) added three new board members at its 2019 annual general meeting (AGM) today.

Rewind Festival’s Katt Lingard, Kevin Moore of Vision Nine (Boardmasters and NASS) and Nozstock’s Rob Nosworthy were all added to the trade body’s board of directors, increasing the number of board members to 11 from eight. They join representatives from AIF members Deer Shed, ArcTanGent, Kilimanjaro Live, Broadwick Live, Greenbelt, Standon Calling, Liverpool Sound City and the Fair.

The AGM was AIF’s first as a fully autonomous body, having separated from the Association of Independent Music (AIM) in April 2018. The event welcomed guest speaker Ellie Giles from Step Music Management, who spoke about independent approaches to artist management and the importance of the live sector and festivals to artist development.

“We’re delighted to welcome Katt, Rob and Kevin, all of whom bring a range of skills and unique perspectives to the table, to the AIF board”

At the meeting, AIF CEO Paul Reed delivered an overview of the association’s first year as an independent company. In the year since becoming independent from AIM, AIF celebrated the introduction in May 2018 of a standalone PRS festival tariff, which it had pushed for and championed over the previous three years. It launched the Drastic on Plastic campaign, which sees member festivals committing to eliminating single-use plastic by 2021, this year.

Commenting on the new appointments, Reed says: “We’re delighted to welcome Katt, Rob and Kevin to the AIF board, all of whom bring a range of skills and unique perspectives to the table. With a membership of 65 festivals from 500 to 60,000 capacity, it is important that the complete range is represented. These are excellent appointments and it feels like we’re in a strong place going into 2019–20.”

AIF now has more than 65 members, with recent additions including Love Saves the Day, Mutations, Walthamstow Garden Party and We Are Fstvl.

 


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