ATC joins forces with Raw Power Management
ATC Management has announced a majority investment in Raw Power Management, bringing two of the UK’s leading artist management companies together under one roof.
Founded in 2006 by CEO, Craig Jennings, Raw Power Management represents rock artists including Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine, The Mars Volta, Don Broco and The Damned.
Under the new partnership, Raw Power’s UK team, including Jennings and commercial director Don Jenkins will relocate to ATC Management’s London HQ, with both companies’ Los Angeles-based operations also merging in the US.
“I am delighted to welcome the expertise and talent of Craig and the Raw Power team to ATC, along with their stellar roster of artists,” says ATC Group CEO Adam Driscoll. “At heart, our two companies have a common purpose – to support artists and empower them to achieve their creative and commercial goals. By coming together and combining forces, the capacity to deliver on those goals has increased substantially.”
As part of the independently-owned ATC Group, which encompasses live booking agency ATC Live, merchandise company Sandbag, livestream business Driift, ATC Services and ATC Experience, ATC Management represents more than 60 artists, composers and producers. Clients include Nick Cave, The Smile, PJ Harvey, Yaeji, The Hives, Sleaford Mods, Johnny Marr, Black Country, New Road, Kelela, Isobel Waller-Bridge and Kwes.
Headquartered in London, and operates offices in Los Angeles and New York, ATC Group has sought to strategically expand its range of services to artists and industry partners since listing on the Aquis Growth Market in 2021.
“There’s a mutual admiration of what each company has achieved in the past, and a real excitement of what we’ll achieve together in the future”
“This is a significant milestone for ATC Management,” says co-founder Brian Message. “Similar to Craig and the Raw Power team, ATC’s specialism is long-term talent development on a global scale – whether that’s breaking new acts, or enabling iconic artists to continue pushing boundaries. There’s a mutual admiration of what each company has achieved in the past, and a real excitement of what we’ll achieve together in the future.”
Raw Power’s roster also includes the likes of You Me At Six, Heartworms, Kid Kapichi, The Chisel and Refused.
“Along with Matt, Don and the Raw Power team, I am delighted to begin a new era of the company with Adam, Brian, Craig and everybody at ATC,” adds Jennings. “It feels like we’re ready for ‘Raw Power Mark 2’, and this partnership fits perfectly with our ambitions for the company and our acts.
“Both ATC and Raw Power value integrity, belief in the acts we look after, passion for the music and doing everything for the benefit of our artists. I have watched over the years as ATC have developed their artists on a global scale and have always had great admiration for the team and the way they go about things. This feels like a massive opportunity to take our artists to a whole new level. I feel that together we will be a powerhouse organisation. It’s a very exciting time ”
Raw Power Management’s US president Matt Ash adds: “For Raw Power, merging with ATC is very exciting. As two London-based companies with a well-established footprint in Los Angeles and a truly global outlook, we already share a strong crossover from a musical and commercial perspective. By coming together, we can now progress a wide range of new ideas that will add to the endeavours and ambitions of all our acts.”
PHOTO: Brian Message, co-founder, ATC Group; Craig Jennings, CEO, Raw Power Management; Adam Driscoll, CEO, ATC Group; Don Jenkins, commercial director, Raw Power Management
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The Hives set to break ground with Venezuela gig
The Hives are reportedly set to become the first international rock band to perform in Venezuela for a decade.
The Swedish rockers, who have been managed by ATC Management since 2022, will headline the 6,000-cap Concha Acústica de Bello Monte in Caracas on 7 December after the US eased sanctions against the South American country.
“Because of the sanctions, it became an unviable market,” ATC’s Matthew Greer tells Variety. “We just happened to have the good timing to be the first ones in. Hopefully, The Hives can be part of the journey to re-open the country and have bigger artists go down there.
“Venezuela is such a huge country, but it’s been isolated from the benefits of the music industry boom in Latin America over the last 10 years. It’s definitely overdue for Western artists to go there.”
“We have definite arena ambitions for all over the world and I don’t think there’s anything that should stop us in achieving that”
The Venezuelan date is part of a wider tour of Latin America, which also includes slots at Corona Capital festival in Mexico on 17 November, Peru’s Indie Rock Fest on 25 November and Primavera Sound Brazil on 2 December, as well as stops in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador.
The group, who tour the UK next spring, released their first album in 11 years in August with their sixth LP The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons and supported Arctic Monkeys for the band’s UK stadium dates. They will also support Foo Fighters on their 2024 US tour.
“There’s such great demand for brilliant live bands – they’re few and far between, so this can keep going much, much further,” adds Greer. “We have definite arena ambitions for all over the world and I don’t think there’s anything that should stop us in achieving that.”
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ATC Group revenue up 33% to £12.1m
UK-based music company ATC has beaten its own expectations to record a profit on revenue of £12.1 million (€13.9m) in its first full year as a a public company.
The London-headquartered group, which opened a New York office in February 2022, has posted its financial results for its first full year of trading since listing on the Aquis Growth Market in London in December 2021 after raising £4.15 million in its initial public offer (IPO).
Its divisions include booking agency ATC Live – which it says is now the sixth largest touring agency worldwide – ATC Management, ATC Services and livestreaming company Driift. In addition, it launched ATC Experience in 2022 to “create and distribute artist-led digital and in-person experiences for global audiences”.
Revenue was up 33% for the year ending 31 December 2022, contributing to an “ahead of expectations” pre-tax profit of £0.01m, compared to a loss of £2.69m in the pandemic-hit 2021. Artist representation contributed £6.57m of total revenue, up from £3.7m in the previous 12 months, while services accounted for £2.87m (2021: £778,502).
When taking into account streaming service Deezer’s acquisition of a minority stake in Driift, the group achieved an overall post tax profit of £2.44m for 2022. ATC, which previously owned 52% of Driift, retains a 32.5% interest.
“We are delighted with the progress we have made in our first year as a PLC, delivering 33% top line growth and profitability earlier than expected”
“We are delighted with the progress we have made in our first year as a PLC, delivering 33% top line growth and profitability earlier than expected, whilst also investing in a number of important strategic developments for the group,” says ATC Group plc CEO Adam Driscoll.
“Our performance has been driven by strong growth across our core artist representation businesses, supported by improved trading conditions as live touring resumed, together with progress within the group’s complementary services and livestreaming divisions. During the year we expanded the group’s geographic footprint, attracted new agents, managers, artist clients and key operational management into the group, and launched new innovative artist service lines.
“The new year has started with continued positive momentum and a pipeline of exciting projects and opportunities. As the music industry continues to undergo rapid change, we believe there is substantial opportunity to co-create, co-produce and deliver new IP via events and experiences, underpinned by our multi-service approach across artists’ commercial interests. We look ahead with confidence in the group’s growth prospects.”
ATC Live, led by Arthur Award-winning agent Alex Bruford, boasts a roster of more than 350 artists including Fontaines D.C, Georgia, Alma, Goat Girl, Mac Demarco, Metronomy and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and says it is on course to deliver 6,000 shows in 2023.
“The live music scene in 2022 has seen strong growth in live music activities and this has created a huge demand for ATC Live’s roster”
“The ATC Live business continues to perform in line with management expectations following a highly successful 2022 and we now represent over 500 clients,” adds Driscoll in the report. “New agents continue to join the business, the most recent being Ed Thompson whose clients include Jungle, a festival headlining act.
“Our relationship with North American agency Arrival Artists continues to deepen and prosper and we are excited about the opportunities to explore new markets together in the coming months and years.”
Driscoll continues: “The live music scene in 2022 has seen strong growth in live music activities and this has created a huge demand for ATC Live’s roster as evidenced by the 400% growth in revenue from £0.56 million in 2021 to £2.22 million in 2022. In a similar vein, ATC Management also achieved double digit revenue growth of 33% from £2.89 million in 2021 to £3.85 million.
“The group expanded its live and management businesses during the year and expects to reap the long-term benefits from these investments.”
“Driift is now poised to play a key role in the renewed growth of the livestreaming sector, which is forecast to become a multi-billion dollar segment over the next three to five years”
Driift, which was co-founded by Ric Salmon and Brian Message at ATC Management, has produced dozens of online shows for artists including The Smile, Westlife, Laura Marling, Nick Cave, Niall Horan, Andrea Bocelli, Kylie Minogue, Fontaines DC and Dita Von Teese, and produced the BAFTA Award-winning Glastonbury Festival: Live at Worthy Farm in cooperation with BBC Studios. It acquired technology and sales platform Dreamstage last year amid a fresh £4m investment from Deezer.
“Driift has had a positive start to 2023 as artists and managers look beyond traditional touring and ticketing and seek promotional and revenue-generating opportunities within the livestream market,” adds Driscoll. “Having weathered tougher trading conditions in 2022, and with strong end-to-end delivery capabilities and a solid balance sheet, Driift is now poised to play a key role in the renewed growth of the livestreaming sector, which is forecast to become a multi-billion dollar segment over the next three to five years.
“Having recently signed a number of deals for upcoming events alongside partnerships with the likes of IMAX, the prospects for the business are looking very good for the coming year.”
A statement from ATC co-chairs Brian Message and Craig Newman says that ATC “continues to cement its position as a leading independent music company at the forefront of a rapidly changing industry”.
“We continue to assess any implications from wider macroeconomic headwinds, including potential pressure on consumer budgets or rising production costs,” they conclude. “However, music and ticketing have often outperformed the wider market in difficult economic times and the livestream sector should improve for Driift as larger players cut expenditure on productions, opening opportunities from talent looking to expand revenue streams. We remain positive about our prospects.”
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ATC raises £4m+ in IPO
UK-based music company ATC is planning to float on London’s Aquis Stock Exchange next week after raising £4.15 million (€4.86m) in its initial public offer (IPO).
Asset management company Schroders bought almost a 10% stake in the IPO, which was priced at 153p per share, giving the company a market capitalisation of approximately £14.66m on admission, according to Proactive Investors.
ATC (All Things Considered Group Plc) said it will use the money raised to provide additional funds and presence to enable the directors to seek growth across each of the company’s separate divisions.
The company’s divisions include booking agency ATC Live, led by Alex Bruford, which boasts a roster of more than 350 artists including Fontaines D.C, Georgia, Alma, Goat Girl, Mac Demarco, Metronomy and Nick Cave.
“[The new investors] appreciate the scale of the opportunity out there for a holistic artist-focused music group”
ATC Management, meanwhile, represents artists such as Faithless, Jonny Marr and Laura Marling and PJ Harvey.
The company also produces livestream events through subsidiary company Driift, and now also operates in the sync, brand partnerships and promotions sectors through a variety of strategic partnerships.
Headquartered in London, ATC also has offices in Los Angeles and Copenhagen.
Chief executive Adam Driscoll, says: “I am delighted that new investors have bought into our vision, appreciating the scale of the opportunity out there for a holistic artist-focused music group in a rapidly evolving industry.”
“The board and I look forward to welcoming our new institutional and individual shareholders to the group.”
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Driift celebrates success with livestream concerts
UK-based virtual producer and promoter Driift is announcing a slate of ticketed livestream concerts after successful online events with Laura Marling, Lianne La Havas and Dermot Kennedy.
The company, founded by ATC Management’s Ric Salmon and Brian Message, trialled the pay-per-view livestream concerts with a performance from Laura Marling at the Union Chapel in London in June.
“Ticketed live streaming is currently a space that no one controls, and we believe there is a long-term and commercially viable business here. It’s incredibly exciting” says Salmon.
Capitalising on the success of Marling’s show, Driift has since produced livestream shows for Lianne La Havas at the Roundhouse and Dermot Kennedy at the Natural History Museum.
Kennedy’s livestream show, which took place last Thursday (30 June) and featured Normal People’s Paul Mescal, sold over 30,000 tickets worldwide and was broadcast live over four different time zones.
“It strikes me that this is just the beginning of an exciting opportunity for artists and their teams to create new art that many will choose to pay for,” says Message. “If we get this right, ticketed livestream productions, whether live shows or something not yet dreamt of, can comfortably sit alongside promotional videos, traditional live shows and other ways fans and artists relate.”
This is not a replacement for live, this is a coming of age for livestreaming
Now, with investment from shareholders Beggars Group, Driift is producing more high profile livestream shows including a one-off worldwide performance from Biffy Clyro on 15 August from an iconic Glasgow venue and a performance from Sleaford Mods at the 100 club on 12 September.
“We’ve felt for a long time that livestreaming has been undervalued,” says Ruth Barlow, director of live at Beggars Group.
“We’re excited about the creative and commercial opportunities for the business, the artists and their fans; who no longer have to be in a particular city at a particular time to experience unique live music events.
“This is not a replacement for live, this is a coming of age for livestreaming.”
Driift will oversee ticketing, production, licensing, rights management and digital marketing for the livestream concerts – allowing artists to rebuild live music into their release campaigns and overall strategies.
Having collaborated with live industry giants such as CAA, Dice, Universe/Ticketmaster, YouTube, Pulse Films and Jackshoot, Driift is expanding its offering outside of the UK, with a number of shows being set up in North America.
This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.
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IQ teams up with Wide Days for Focus special
IQ is joining forces with Scottish music convention Wide Days for this week’s virtual IQ Focus session, which will shine a light on the team behind Laura Marling’s pioneering live stream shows in London earlier this year.
The panel, Laura Marling – A Streaming Success is taking place as part of this year’s virtual Wide Days conference (23 to 25 July), and will be aired on Facebook and YouTube on Thursday 23 July at 4 p.m. BST/ 5 p.m. CET.
To access the rest of the Wide Days programme, purchase a ticket here.
In June, Laura Marling made history with two, back-to-back shows at London’s Union Chapel, with the first performance livestreamed to Europe and the second exclusively for North America.
Selling over 6,000 tickets, the gigs proved that it’s not just stadium acts that can generate revenue from broadcasting to an online audience.
IQ is joining forces with Scottish music convention Wide Days for this week’s virtual IQ Focus session
Key figures who helped make Marling’s vision a reality will come together on the panel to discuss how the shows can serve as a template for other acts.
Chaired by music industry consultant Tina Hart, panellists include ATC Management’s Ric Salmon, who was a driving force behind the Union Chapel shows and has since set up ticketed livestreaming business, Drift; Amy Oldham of Dice, who provided the ticketing and one of the livestreaming platforms for Marling’s concerts; and award-winning director Giorgio Testi of Pulse Films, who was in charge of filming the shows.
Additional members of the panel are yet to be announced.
To watch Laura Marling – A Streaming Success on Thursday head to the IQ Magazine page on Facebook or YouTube.
Read IQ Magazine’s feature on Laura Marling and the rise of the paid live stream here.
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Laura Marling and the rise of the paid live stream
“When the first song was over and, of course, no applause followed… I found the awkwardness of it somewhat thrilling,” says Laura Marling of her groundbreaking 6 June livestreamed gigs – the first for fans in UK and Europe, followed hours later by a second show tailored for fans in North America.
“It felt similar to a sound check in that people around you are getting on with their jobs and, in my case as a solo performer, you’re left there to get on with it, to do my job – there’s something I really enjoy about that. To sing in an empty church is a pleasure at any time. Also, my shows certainly aren’t famous for my mid-set one liners… so a lack of audience interaction didn’t factor too much.”
While the thousands of fans who bought a ticket for the Union Chapel concerts were probably unaware of the historic significance of the shows, the reaction to the format was almost unanimously positive, with Marling’s haunting lyrics, song choices and mesmeric performance complemented by the setting of the empty and silent venue. Indeed, the artist herself was one of the biggest fans of the format and she is already working with her management team – ATC Management’s Brian Message and Ric Salmon – on another bigger livestreaming concept. To that end, Message and Salmon have established a new company called Driift to capitalise on the potential of the new ticketed livestreaming model.
Held down
In terms of performance, thousands of acts around the world have found themselves redundant since politicians started banning mass gatherings and confined live music to all but a memory of better times. Using a variety of platforms, however, numerous acts have been video livestreaming from their own homes, albeit with little quality control on either audio or visual aspects. And using the technology at hand, only those with huge followings have been able to generate revenues through the likes of advertising that, again, they rarely have any say about.
“Without an audience, there’s tremendous possibility with what could be done in a space”
Where Marling’s activity differed was in charging fans for a ticket to access the live broadcast of her show, which transported her out of the ubiquitous corona confines of the living room/bedroom/bathroom/home studio setting, to a proper, recognisable venue. There she could call upon state-of-the-art sound, lighting and camera equipment, and even an award-winning director, Giorgio Testi, and Pulse Films, to deliver something meaningful and give ‘attendees’ something lasting.
“Without an audience, there’s tremendous possibility with what could be done in a space,” enthuses Marling. “An unforeseen bonus to an audience-free show, which of course means no front-of-house sound, is that you can get incredible sound – close to studio quality… With this set-up, we could use mics on everything without fear of feedback.”
Manager Ric Salmon tells IQ, “The genesis of the idea was born out of frustration. Laura had sold out her solo, acoustic tour around Australia, North America, the UK and Europe. But then Covid hit.”
When it became clear that not just the North American leg was doomed, but the remainder of the entire tour, the Marling team, like so many others, announced the cancellation: 41 dates in total. Ever proactive, ATC management convinced Marling to fast track the release of new album, Song for Our Daughter, and started revising plans for promo. “Laura is social media averse, but she was comfortable doing guitar tutorials for fans, so we sent her HD cameras to use in her house and she quite enjoyed performing remotely – culminating in a home performance for Later with Jools on the BBC.
“For the tour, we’d refunded about 25,000 people who missed out on seeing her, so we came up with the idea of broadcasting a show from a proper venue, to tap into that demand. But then the discussion was about who would pay for it, as nobody had sold tickets for any livestreamed shows at that point.”
“Just like a normal ticketed gig, people were nervous about missing out so they decided to buy early”
Taking that situation as a challenge, the ATC partners set about pulling the necessary team together. “Laura suggested the Union Chapel because that venue means so much to her and, because we’re not technologists, we reckoned the best idea would be to aggregate the best companies in their class,” explains Salmon.
Pulse Films and director Testi topped ATC’s wish list and having worked extensively with DICE in the past, the company’s new DICE TV platform also made them a clear choice. Finally, YouTube was added, given its global footprint, but that plan, Salmon admits, had one major flaw: “Being ad-funded, they don’t do paywalls, but Dan Chalmers at YouTube really championed the idea and before we knew it there was terrific forward momentum.
“The primary function was not to make money, hence the ticket price of just £12 (€13). But Laura was mortified about cancelling the tour, so this was more about offering her the chance to perform to fans. And it worked brilliantly, as she is in her element when it’s just her and her guitar. So it was some sort of replacement for the tour.”
Wild fire
As often happens with any new concept, when word started to spread about the Laura Marling pay-per-views, sceptics rattled out cautionary ‘you can’t replicate live’ adages. But with locked-down fans desperate for any kind of shared experience, demand for tickets uncannily replicated ‘normal’ sales patterns.
“The level of interest around the announcement was incredible,” reports DICE chief revenue officer, Russ Tannen. “Just like a normal ticketed gig, people were nervous about missing out so they decided to buy early.” Another familiar aspect was a sales spike on the day of the event – a whopping 16% of total sales for the UK show.
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Live professionals talk diversity in next IQ Focus
Continuing the weekly series of IQ Focus virtual panels, Beyond Rhetoric: Race in Live Music will look at the problems of systemic racism within the live business and discuss what needs to be done to make the industry a more diverse place.
The session, the eighth in the IQ Focus series, will be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube on Thursday 25 June at 4 p.m. BST/5 p.m. CET.
Earlier this month, Blackout Tuesday brought the industry to a standstill and thrust the topic of diversity in the music business back into view.
So just what challenges do black promoters, agents and managers face, and what’s needed to counter systemic racism both within the business, in performance spaces and touring markets?
Live Nation’s David Carrigan will lead this timely discussion to ask how changes can be made, and the current momentum can be maintained over the months and years ahead.
Joining Carrigan on the panel are Ammo Talwar MBE, CEO of music and arts agency Punch and chair of UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce; Kiarn Eslami, a promoter at Metropolis Music;
Lucy Atkinson from Earth Agency; Sumit Bothra of ATC Management; and ICM Partners’ Yves Pierre.
All previous IQ Focus sessions, which have looked at topics including management under lockdown, the agency business, the festival summer, grassroots music venues and innovation in live music, can be watched back here.
To set a reminder about Beyond Rhetoric: Race in Live Music session on Thursday head to the IQ Magazine page on Facebook or YouTube.
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Futures Forum: Beyond Touring: Full-stack futures
MelodyVR is a company specialising in virtual reality broadcasts of live gigs. Founder Steven Hancock said his firm’s mission is not about replacing the live experience, but about making it accessible to people who can’t get to a show. He said everyone in the rights chain gets a cut of the revenue, including venues and agents as well as artists and publishers and labels. However, this is still an emerging technology, so the revenues aren’t huge, he added.
Jules O’Riordan – better known as DJ Judge Jules – said as VR hardware has become more affordable, it’s become more popular. But he added that it has less potential in the dance music perspective, because the genre is less focussed on watching a stage.
Gary Cohen of management firm ATC said brand and artist partnerships are evolving rapidly, with content creation being a core focus right now. “It’s all about ‘the thumb stop’,” he said. “What branded content will make someone stop scrolling on their timeline and press play.”
Brands are under pressure to be entertaining, and are looking for ways to hit the passion points of their potential customers, he advised. But more important was authenticity. “People are more than prepared to feel good about a brand that brings them closer to the artists they love, but it also has to be entertaining.”
Chris Hassell of UK creative agency Ralph, said brand partnerships today are about collaboration – can each side offer each other something?
“People are more than prepared to feel good about a brand that brings them closer to the artists they love, but it also has to be entertaining”
O’Riordan said there’s a temptation to do deals which are good for short term cashflow but not great for long term development of the band.
So, how can the industry work best with brands? Hassell said that the earlier an artist gets involved the better, because the creative will require input from the act. However, sometimes lawyers and management get involved first, which can cause hold-ups.
The recent growth of added-value ticketing, such as paying more for things like meet-and-greet opportunities was considered, but that these options should be considered on a case by case basis. It needs to be right for the artist, cautioned O’Riordan.
Cohen said this is becoming more popular, but that’s it’s crucial that managers balance the need to make as much money as possible on the road, with making sure the hardcore fans that are buying these extras get value for money.
Chair Rhian Jones asked what was the one thing that will add value to creatives? Hassell’s opinion was to break down barriers to artists. “Get artists more involved creatively,” he said. Cohen’s advice was to have the artist as a stakeholder, so the partnerships are true collaborations.
O’Riordan said it’s important for artists to understand who their fan base is. If you understand what makes your fans tick, you’ll know what partnerships to do that don’t alienate them.
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