ID&T Group announces management reshuffle
Electronic music giant ID&T Group has adopted a one-tier board structure for 2020, as the company’s former COO Ritty van Straalen succeeds Wouter Tavecchio as CEO.
Tavecchio, who founded hardcore promoter Q-Dance in 2000, became CEO of ID&T Group following a merger of the two companies in 2006. He now serves as the chairman of ID&T Group’s board of directors.
Ushered in on 1 January, the changes also see ID&T co-founder Duncan Stutterheim return to the company as a non-executive board member. Stutterheim founded ID&T in 1992, selling the business to the late Robert Sillerman’s SFX Entertainment in 2013.
Stutterheim comments that it is “the right moment to return to the group in a completely different capacity and support the new generation.”
In addition to his role as Q-Dance creative director, Jonas Schmidt joins ID&T Group’s management team as chief creative officer, completing the team along with Bastiaan Heuft, Martijn van Daalen, Michael Guntenaar and Rosanne Janmaat.
“With the new management team, we start 2020 with the strongest setup possible”
“It was a great honour to operate as the head of this dynamic company for almost 15 years and in good faith I am passing on the baton,” says Tavecchio. “With the new management team, we start 2020 with the strongest setup possible and are poised for a bright future for all the brands and people that are part of the ID&T group.”
CEO van Straalen adds that the changes allow the team to “guarantee the creativity of ID&T for the long-term future”.
The management shake-up follows December’s appointment of former Tomorrowland Brazil booker Edo van Duijn to director of music.
The ID&T Group includes the companies b2s, ID&T Events, Q-dance, Monumental (Awakenings), Air Events, Art of Dance and VD Events. ID&T organises approximately 80 events a year, including festivals such as Mysteryland, Amsterdam Open Air, Vunzige Deuntjes, Thunderdome, Defqon.1 Weekend Festival, Awakenings, Decibel Outdoor and Masters of Hardcore.
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ID&T appoints Edo van Duijn as music director
Electronic music promoter ID&T has named Edo van Duijn as its new music director, as the company prepares for a new series of global touring events in 2020.
Van Duijn, who has over 20 years of experience in the industry, will lead the music team for curating and booking events across the ID&T portfolio, including flagship brands Mysteryland, Sensation, Welcome to the Future and Amsterdam Open Air.
The new ID&T music director has a long history with the promoter, which was formerly part of SFX Entertainment (now LiveStyle), having founded sister company Plus Network in Brazil and programmed festivals such as Tomorrowland Brazil and Electric Zoo São Paulo.
He also leads ID&T’s Headliner Entertainment team, which focuses on artist management and special projects centred around artist brand activations.
Over the last decade van Duijn has toured South America with the likes of Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Afrojack, Steve Angello, Axwell and Nicky Romero, and worked on brand collaborations with Samsung, Nike and Red Bull.
“Not only are our established brands performing exceptionally, but we’re now focused on creating new event experiences for our fans”
Van Duijn has also helped to launch the careers artists including DJ Marky, Bruno Martini and Alok and co-produced festivals such as Skolbeats and Nokia Trends.
“This is an exciting time to be part of the incredible music team at ID&T,” says van Duijn. “Not only are our established brands such as Mysteryland performing exceptionally, but we’re now focused on creating new event experiences for our fans and building stronger ties with the artist and agency community.”
ID&T’s COO, Ritty van Straalen, adds: “Edo is well known in this industry for his eye for talent and music, and has great relationships with the artists, agents and managers. For me it was a no-brainer to ask him back and guide ID&T to the next chapter in electronic music.”
Founded in 1992, ID&T organises around 80 events a year, attracting more than one million visitors annually. The ID&T Group includes the companies b2s, ID&T Events, Q-dance, Monumental (Awakenings), AIR and events such as Milkshake, Thunderdome, Defqon.1 Weekend Festival, Qlimax, Awakenings, Decibel Outdoors and Masters of Hardcore.
The ID&T Group also encompasses hard dance booking agencies Platinum Agency and Most Wanted DJ, as well as management agency Headliner Entertainment.
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Dutch EDM giants partner with TicketSwap
Amsterdam-based secondary ticket marketplace TicketSwap, which caps the price of resold tickets at 20% above face value, has won the backing of some of the Netherlands’ biggest electronic dance music (EDM) festivals and promoters.
ID&T/LiveStyle’s Mysteryland, Sensation, Thunderdome, Welcome to the Future and Amsterdam Open Air festivals, along with Monumental Productions’ Awakenings festival and EDM promoters Q-Dance, Air Events and b2s, are using the company’s Secure Swap platform, which automatically invalidates unwanted tickets and issues new ones personalised with the name of the secondary buyer.
“It’s amazing that’s the biggest Dutch festivals are all getting behind TicketSwap”
TicketSwap, founded in Amsterdam in 2012, is now active in 20 countries and has 1.5 million users worldwide.
“It’s amazing that the biggest Dutch festivals are all getting behind TicketSwap,” comments company co-founder Hans Ober. “This underlines that we are on the right track. It’s really a crowning achievement of our work and shows that we can eliminate ticket fraud and touting.”
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