Italy’s Artist First launches promotions division

Italian music group Artist First has launched a new live music promotions division, called Artist First Live.

The new department will be headed by Alessandro Fabozzi, the founder of Milan-based artist management company 432 Srl and digital agency Officine Orange – both of which sold majority shareholdings to Artist First in recent years. Fabozzi will work alongside Artist First founder and CEO Claudio Ferrante.

Artists exclusively promoted in Italy by Artist First Live include Le Vibrazioni, Alfa, Francesco Gabbani, Zero Assoluto & Mace. The company has also announced a series of Italian arena dates by UK artist Blue, which will include performances in Rome, Milan, Bari and Padua, with 35,000 tickets sold in less than an hour on pre-sale.

Artist First’s move into live music promotions sees it make a significant leap towards becoming the first Italian music company with a 360-degree offering.

“We are going to be very selective about who we work with to ensure we can fully focus on their individual needs”

Claudio Ferrante, founder and CEO of Artist First, says: “We have launched Artist First Live to work with great artists, domestic and international, who want to perform to Italian audiences. This new division builds on the great work we are already doing in other areas of the industry and brings us closer to our aim of being the only Italian music company to offer an authentic 360-degree service to artists and rights holders.

“We are going to be very selective about who we work with to ensure we can fully focus on their individual needs and to offer a bespoke, transparent, collaborative service. Unlike some of the bigger promoters in Italy who have built their businesses purely on volume we are passionate about music and are approaching things in a much more artist-focused way.”

Founded in 2009, the Milan-based firm deals in distribution, record labels, brand divisions, digital marketing, artist management, talent booking, music publishing and merchandising.

The company works with numerous successful Italian artists alongside a number of high-profile international acts. It also distributes a wide range of labels and has its own roster that includes Gazzelle, Fulminacci, Alfa, Dardust and Zero Assoluto, and has significant shareholdings in a number of other music companies such as Color Sound.

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