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What’s going on… with gender-balanced festival lineups?

At the International Festival Forum last year, music biz directory and data platform ROSTR revealed that across 50 festival lineups in Europe, the number of men on stage during headline performances was up to 92% (from 90% in 2023).

ROSTR’s analysis disclosed that across those 50 events, the gender balance for all acts saw the split as 69% male, 22% female, mixed 9%, and non-binary less than 1%. Two of the 50 surveyed events – Denmark’s Roskilde Festival and Primavera Sound in Barcelona – have already achieved gender balance, skewing the figures even further.

In an effort to help other events improve their gender balance ahead of this year, IQ spoke with principals at both festivals to learn how they managed to be so far ahead of the curve.

How difficult was it to achieve gender balance at your event?
“We realised that in 2018, 35% of the artists on our lineup were women, and that was without trying,” says Marta Pallarès at Primavera Sound. “So, then we thought, ‘What if we tried?’ And in the following year, we achieved our first-ever gender-balanced lineup, and we called it the ‘new normal’ because, to us, it should be normal to have as many women as men on stage.”

“I find the topic to be fairly straightforward,” comments Thomas Sønderby Jepsen, Roskilde’s head of music. “Having a balanced programme should be a given by now. That said, our programme has not always been as balanced as it is now, so it is something we have become more and more aware of and worked towards. Our team of bookers and scouts is also quite diverse, and it helps us to reach broader and experience more tendencies and talents. As a cultural institution, we have a responsibility – and an obligation – to seek out, embrace, and incorporate the agendas of tomorrow, striving to create meaningful change.”

“There are a lot of great female and non-binary artists, so it is just a matter of being curious”

What tips would you give other events who want to achieve gender balance?
MP: “Look at your own Spotify list, your Grammy nominations, your chart sale. You can’t deny that women are making music – they are topping all the charts right now. And the more aware you are of the fact that maybe you’re not doing enough, the more you can work to improve that. For example, we have now also started counting the non-binary artists, to improve our diversity there.”

TSJ: “There are a lot of great female and non-binary artists, so it is just a matter of being curious – go experience and book some of those names.

“Another approach I would recommend is focusing on your poster and billings. These can serve as a powerful platform for showcasing diversity. For instance, you might highlight a specific artist or spotlight a trend directly on your poster to make a meaningful statement. At Roskilde Festival, curating a balanced and inclusive programme is a top priority for driving meaningful change.

“Equally important, however, is cultivating an engaged community that can also amplify the message behind your efforts. The connection between artists and audience plays a vital role in building this engagement and atmosphere, so paying attention to this interaction is key to creating an impactful event.”

“Every time you book [a female artist/band] you are creating a more diverse environment for everyone”

Have you seen any changes in the festival demographics or audience behaviour?
TSJ: “Our community mirrors society – not only in Denmark but on a global scale. And like society, we evolve all the time, driven by the active engagement of our participants. One thing that characterises our participants is that they also pay a lot of attention to topics like diversity, inclusion, and how we treat each other within the festival community.”

MP: “Every time you book [a female artist/band] you are creating a more diverse environment for everyone. And this is good for business: if you’re catering to a more diverse audience with a more diverse lineup, you’re going to sell more tickets because there are more people interested. We released the Primavera Sound lineup some weeks ago, [and we’re already] sold out of full tickets.

“Also, our sponsors are big supporters, because as a brand, you want to be associated with something like this: to know that your brand is aligning with fans’ values.”

Christina Hazboun (Keychange) will run a workshop on gender-balancing events at ILMC 37 on 26 February.

 


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Primavera Sound sells out five months in advance

Primavera Sound Barcelona has sold out its 23rd edition more than five months in advance of the event.

All full festival passes and day tickets have been snapped up within 67 days of going on sale for the 75,000-cap festival at Parc Del Fòrum.

Organisers believe the feat offers an endorsement of the 2025 bill, which is headlined by Charli XCX & Troye Sivan, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan from 5-7 June.

“Selling out is the absolute confirmation of the cultural relevance of the work of these three artists who have had a colossal 2024,” they note, “but also of a festival model that looks much farther and that brings together legends like LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Stereolab and Spiritualized and new icons like FKA Twigs, Clairo, Jamie xx, Central Cee and Haim, rock renovators like Fontaines D.C., Idles and Turnstile with the most promising names of the moment like MJ Lenderman, Wet Leg, Madgalena Bay and Fcukers.”

The lineup for complementary concert series Primavera a la Ciutat will also be announced in the next few weeks, while traditional free opening day – with performances by Caribou, La Casa Azul, Hinds and Llum – will open reservations a few weeks before it starts.

“We always like to present acts at the early stages of their careers and bet on potential headliners of the future”

Meanwhile, closing party Primavera Bits x Nitsa, organised with Nitsa Club on its 30th anniversary, will star Michael Bibi, Paul Kalkbrenner, Carlita, BUNT. and Ona.

Primavera Sound’s head of bookings Fra Soler disclosed the festival’s criteria when it comes to booking headliners in a recent interview with IQ.

“Since we are a tastemaking festival, we always like to present acts at the early stages of their careers and bet on potential headliners of the future,” he explained. “It has occurred several times that an act we booked in September has become a headliner by the time Primavera happens in June.

“We have a very deep lineup, with more than 100 acts, and our idea has always been to tell different stories through our lineup. In a way, our curation is also one of our headliners. That said, we also look for quality, relevance, success, and freshness in a headliner.”

Tickets are still available for Primavera Sound Porto, which runs from 12-15 June. Acts will include Charli XCX, Central Cee, Jamie xx, Paul Kalkbrenner, Haim, Deftones, Michael Kiwanuka, Caribou, Fontaines D.C. and Anohni and the Johnsons.

 


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Charity gig raises €775k for Spanish flood victims

A charity concert held in Barcelona has raised €775,000 for victims of the Spanish flooding disaster.

Barcelona amb València took place at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi on 29 November, with tickets priced between €38-80, and attracted almost 15,000 people.

The event, which was coordinated by Barcelona-based promoter TheProject, featured acts such as Joan Manuel Serrat, Estopa, Andrea Motis, Judit Neddermann and Lucia Fumero.

The concert was co-organised by Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat with the support of ARC (Professional Association of Representatives, Promoters and Managers of Catalonia), ASACC (Association of Concert Halls of Catalonia) and APM (Association of Music Promoters). Donations can still be made here until 5 December.

The Spanish sector also united for the sold out Music from the Heart benefit gig at Madrid’s WiZink Center (cap. 17,456) on 24 November. Performers included Amaral, Arde Bogotá, Dani Fernández, David Bisbal, Hijos de la Ruina (Natos, Waor & Recycled J), Malú, Manuel Carrasco, Pablo Alborán, Raphael, Rozalén, Sole Giménez, Vanesa Martín and Viva Suecia.

Promoter Pino Sagliocco is teaming with Teatro Pereyra Ibiza to present a further charity gig on 14 December

Collaborators included Valencia-based promoter The Music Republic, as well as other Spanish event organisers, record labels, artist managers and music associations. The amount raised from the show is yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, Live Nation Spain president Pino Sagliocco is teaming with Teatro Pereyra Ibiza to present a further charity gig: Ainhoa ​​Arteta and Ramón Vargas together for the DANA. The show will be held at the theatre on 14 December.

The fundraisers come in the wake of the weather phenomenon known as DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos), which caused the deadliest flooding catastrophe to hit Europe in 50 years and led scores of events to be cancelled.

Valencia was the hardest-hit region, with the death toll exceeding 200, with fatalities also reported in the Castilla La Mancha region and Andalusia. Valencia’s live music industry reported material losses exceeding €5 million and the cancellation of 300 concerts and festivals.

The Valencian Federation of the Music Industry, which represents 60 companies including venues, promoters, artistic agencies and festivals, has requested the creation of a short, medium and long-term recovery plan that includes financial aid, logistical support and fiscal measures that allow the reactivation of the sector.

 


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Primavera Sound Barcelona unveils 2025 lineup

Primavera Sound Barcelona has unveiled its “all-embracing, eclectic and unparalleled” 2025 lineup, headlined by Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter.

Hailed by organisers as “the three most important artists of the moment”, the trio are among the first 147 names to be confirmed for the festival’s 23rd edition, which features acts such as FKA Twigs, Haim, LCD Soundsystem, Anohni and the Johnsons, Beabadoobee, Wet Leg and Zaho de Sagazan.

Returning to Parc Del Fòrum from 5-7 June, the gender-balanced bill also includes the likes of Idles, Jamie xx, Beach House Stereolab, Sturgill Simpson, Paul Kalkbrenner, Alan Sparhawk, Caribou, Amaia, DJ Koze, Kim Deal, Armand Van Helden, Turnstile, TV On The Radio, Cat Power, Floating Points, Denzel Curry and Fontaines D.C.

Full festival tickets go on sale on 29 October, cost €295 (€265.50 for Revolut clients), with VIP tickets available for €495 (€445.50).

Primavera co-director Alfonso Lanza, head of press and public relations Marta Pallerès and head of bookings Fra Soler gave an insight into the success of the event in a keynote interview at last month’s International Festival Forum (IFF) in London.

“There’s no secret,” said Soler. “We’re music lovers, we enjoy what we do, and we love to listen to music. So, I think that enables us to get some of the artists before they break through on a global stage. We always take pleasure in discovering and meeting bands, and that’s helped us build lasting relationships with them.

“Some of the headliners played at Primavera before they became headliners for little money, and they appreciate the fact that we spotlighted them from the beginning. And the other thing is we try to avoid super big headliners and create a big gap between them and the rest of the lineup.”

“The effect a gender-balanced lineup has had for us is reflected in our audience demographics”

Pallerès went on to discuss launching the first gender-balanced lineup in 2019.

“No festival of our size had done that before, and it was quite noticeable because we made headlines for it absolutely everywhere that year,” she said. “The effect a gender-balanced lineup has had for us is reflected in our audience demographics, which features a large number of female attendees.”

The promoters also explained the decision to cancel all of the brand’s South American festivals in 2024

“I would rather refer to this as us skipping a year instead of an outright cancellation,” said Soler. “This industry presents a lot of challenges in terms of the lineup you’re aiming for. So, there’s a so-called ‘headliner draft’ which affects every promoter, and when you go to a different territory, there’s a lot of adjustments that need to be made because every territory has a different preference on what they want to listen to.

“We realise it would be a bit damaging, but we always strive to deliver a festival experience that would be up to Primavera’s standards.”

Primavera Sound Porto – the brand’s Portuguese edition – is set for Parque da Cidade from 12-14 June 2025.

 


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Gent Jazz draws 57k, ALMA Fest attendance surges

The resurgence of Gent Jazz continues after the Belgian institution pulled in 57,000 punters to its 2024 festival – 15,000 more than last year.

It was the second edition of international jazz festival to be staged by Ghent-based promoter and booking agency Greenhouse Talent, which acquired the event after previous organiser – the not-for-profit Jazz en Muziek – went backrupt at the end of 2022.

Running from 5-20 July, this year’s lineup included Air, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Jamie Cullum, Andre 3000, Birdy, Diana Krall, Selah Sue and DJ Shadow, among others.

“It was a top edition with a nice mix of concerts,” a spokesperson for Greenhouse tells Nieuwsblad. “They were well received by the public and it was very pleasant. As far as we are concerned, the festival can last forever.”

A total of 92 artists performed over 14 days, 42 of whom had Belgian roots.

“That is something to be proud of,” says the promoter. “Our country has a lot of musical talent and we are looking for a good mix between national and international artists.”

“We have achieved almost 20,000 more attendees than last year”

First held in 2002, the 5,500-cap festival has attracted acts such as BB King, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Sting, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Gregory Porter and Grace Jones.

As well as established names, the festival places a particular focus on young and emerging talent, with jazz and instrumental hip-hop trio Kin Gajo coming out on top in its annual Young Jazz Talent Ghent competition this year. The band were rewarded with a €10,000 cash prize and a residency at the city’s Ha Concerts venue.

“The icing on the cake is that they will be playing as the opening act on the main stage of Gent Jazz next year,” adds Greenhouse. “The first name of the next edition has already been announced.”

Spain’s APMusicales reports that attendance figures were also up this summer at Barcelona’s ALMA Festival, which drew 67,000 fans to Poble Espanyol between 24 June and 21 July.

Headliners included Queens of the Stone Age, Hozier, Vetusta Morla, Glen Hansard, Sheryl Crow, Take That, Alice Cooper, The Cat Empire, Marisa Monte, The Divine Comedy, Valeria Castro, Cat Power, James Blunt and Kool & the Gang. Eight of the concerts sold out, with the series recording an average occupancy of 77%.

“Getting 67,000 people to join us in this second edition in our new location after 10 years in the Pedralbes Gardens is a success that we celebrate enormously,” says Martín Pérez, director of the festival and promoter Concert Studio. “We have achieved almost 20,000 more attendees than last year. We are deeply grateful for the warm welcome from the Barcelona public once again this year.”

 


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Primavera Sound 2024 celebrates record numbers

A record number of visitors attended Primavera Sound’s 2024 edition, organisers have revealed.

The festival returned to Barcelona’s Parc Del Fòrum for its 22nd edition from 29 May to 2 June, headlined by Pulp, Vampire Weekend, Justice, Lana Del Rey, The National, Disclosure, SZA, PJ Harvey, Mitski and Charli XCX.

In total, the weekend’s 253 concerts drew an overall attendance of 268,000, including 130,000 unique visitors – 15,000 more than last year. Fans attended from 134 countries, with more than half (59%) coming from outside Spain.

“This makes us the biggest festival in Spain and one of the biggest in Europe,” says Marta Pallarès, Primavera Sound’s head of press, as per Catalan News.

Pallarès adds that 40,000 ticket-holders were Barcelona residents. “We are not a festival that lives only from external visitors,” she points out.

Speaking to IQ last month, Pallarès said: “We are still one of the cheapest festivals compared to our direct competitors. The median price is around €280 if you compare early bird up to the last batch of tickets – €5 cheaper than last year. Taking into account recession and inflation, it’s quite impressive.

“We are very well aware of the fact that it’s not easy times for anyone financially. People are choosing to spend their time and money with us so we have to work till we can give them the best experience. I always like to say that we work all year long to give the audience the best weekend of that year.”

“Primavera Sound is the second most economically important event in Barcelona, after Mobile World Congress”

Meanwhile, co-director Alfonso Lanza predicts the festival’s economic impact on the city will be in the region of €200 million, up from €180m in 2023.

“Primavera Sound is the second most economically important event in Barcelona, after Mobile World Congress,” he says.

He adds that festival staff pulled out all the stops to minimise disruption for local residents, saying they “worked particularly well” to address concerns around sound and cleanliness, adding that the people who live closest to the venue were “very satisfied with the level of control”.

Primavera Porto starts tomorrow at Parque da Cidade, Porto, with Lana Del Rey and SZA heading a female-dominated bill, as Primavera continues to pave the way for gender-balanced festival lineups. Mitski, PJ Harvey, Kim Petras, Pulp, The National, Justice, Ethical Cain and This Is The Kit are also among the 48 names due to perform at the 11th edition, scheduled for 6-8 June.

Primavera Sound Barcelona 2025 has been confirmed for 5-7 June. The festival took place in both Barcelona and Madrid in 2023, but organisers described the latter as “one of the most complicated” editions of Primavera Sound and chose not to proceed with a sequel.

The brand is also returning to Latin America in 2024 after attracting close to 350,000 people across its events in the region last year. Primavera Day Montevideo will premiere on 21 November, followed by the third editions of Primavera Sound Buenos Aires (23-24 November) and São Paulo (30 November-1 December), with Primavera Day Asunción set for 29 November.

Plus, Bogotá, Lima and Santiago will again host Road to Primavera concerts.

 


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FEAT enlists first venue members

The Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) has inducted its first venue members, Spain’s Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and Palau Sant Jordi.

The non-profit organisation, formed in 2019 to promote better ticket resale practices across Europe, has worked on several EU-wide campaigns to develop better laws to protect fans and promoters against predatory ticket resellers.

Today, Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and Palau Sant Jordi – both based in Barcelona and owned by Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) – become the first major venues in Europe to join FEAT.

The 55,000-capacity Estadi Olímpic is one of the biggest stadiums in Spain and regularly hosts concerts, with Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Rammstein, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers gracing its stage in the past few years. The stadium has also been used by FC Barcelona for training and fixtures in the 2023/24 season whilst their home ground undergoes renovation.

“Estadi Olímpic and Palau Sant Jordi are of huge cultural significance in the city”

The 18,500-capacity Palau Sant Jordi is the largest indoor arena in Spain. It also has a 4,500-capacity club at the back of the building. Between the two venues, Palau Sant Jordi provides a space for medium and large-scale concerts for a wide range of genres and artists. In 2023/2024 alone, the venue will have hosted both national and international artists.

In 2023, the venues closed a record year with 2.1 million spectators and more than 160 programmed events.

“Ticket resale directly affects venues such as the Palau Sant Jordi and the Olympic Stadium,” says Anella Olímpica director Carmen Lanuza. “Joining this initiative is part of our commitment to generate unique and safe experiences for all those who visit us. It is essential to join efforts to make it possible to end this practice.”

Neo Sala, CEO of Doctor Music and Founding Director of FEAT, said “I am extremely excited to welcome BSM, and the venues that they represent, to FEAT. Estadi Olímpic and Palau Sant Jordi are of huge cultural significance in the city bringing the world’s greatest artists to Barcelona. It is great news that they believe in FEAT’s mission of face-value ticket resale and we look forward to working with them to protect fans from predatory resellers.”

FEAT recently celebrated the implementation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which brings with it major implications for the online secondary ticketing market.

The organisation’s members include Ben Mitha (Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion, DE), Christof Huber (Gadget, CH), Ewald Tartar (Barracuda, AT), Kim Worsøe (All Things Live, DK) and Peter Aiken (Aiken Promotions, IE) among others.

 


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Primavera’s Marta Pallarès talks booking strategy

Primavera Sound’s Marta Pallarès has spoken to IQ about the 2024 edition, which kicks off today in Barcelona.

This year marks a return to form for the Spanish festival, which took place in both Barcelona and Madrid in 2023. Organisers described the latter as “one of the most complicated” editions of Primavera Sound and chose not to proceed with a sequel.

The flagship event returns to Parc Del Fòrum for a 22nd edition, headlined by Pulp, Vampire Weekend, Justice, Lana Del Rey, The National, Disclosure, SZA, PJ Harvey, Mitski and Charli XCX.

Having set a precedent for gender-balanced lineups in 2019, the 75,000-capacity flagship has once again delivered a diverse and heavy-hitting bill, leaving ‘pale, male and stale‘ festivals in the dust.

In the following Q&A, Pallarès reveals the festival’s progressive booking strategy, discusses its pressing challenges and mulls the brand’s expansion opportunities…

How have ticket sales been for Primavera Sound 2024?
MP: We are selling wonderfully. We typically have really strong sales in the last week before the festival so we’re expecting 65–70,000 fans on Thursday and Saturday, and up to 75,000 on Friday – that’s the ‘Lana’ [Del Rey] effect.

Despite reports of a ‘headliner drought‘ Primavera has secured a raft of big-name acts for 2024. How has the booking process been for this edition?
We work very far in advance. We have been doing that for years but it’s very crucial now. Bookings like Lana’s might take 35 months, for example. So now, we are talking to artists for the next edition but also some headliners for 2026. That’s the way to secure big names before they decide to do stadium shows or organise a tour. But there’s also a risk [with this approach]. How do you know if an artist will still be relevant in two years? How do you know that the budget you have for them is going to be appropriate in two years? It’s very difficult to [take this approach] unless you have a very solid relationship with agents and agencies. And you have to have a strong taste of what you are programming because otherwise, you might find yourself in two years with something that’s a complete flop. So we are very happy this hasn’t happened to us.

“Gender balance is not only about numbers, it’s also the position or the spotlight you’re giving those artists”

How’s the gender balance looking for this year’s festival?
When we released we were 42% female, 42% male and 18% mixed acts but [after last-minute changes], I think we might have more female than male artists now. This is if you’re counting [binary] genders only. We started counting non-binary artists last year. In that way, the lineup is even more diverse because we have a small percentage of non-binary artists.

Gender balance is not only about numbers, it’s also about the position or the spotlight you’re giving those artists. It’s not okay if you just say, ‘I have 50 female acts but none of them is a headliner’. If you take a look into Saturday, it’s almost exclusively women: SZA PJ Harvey, Mitski, Charli XCX, Bikini Kill, Roisin Murphy, Romy, 070 Shake, Atarashii Gakkoi, Dorian Electra and Earth Eater. It’s three lines of women at the top of the bill. We truly believe that they are there because they deserve to be there.

“We are a ‘full festival ticket’ festival… that means we need to programme really strong days every day”

How does Primavera’s booking team manage the bill diversity?
Everything is colour-coded so we can see if we are lacking different ethnicities – if we don’t have enough artists from Asia for example, we are also looking at that. Gender-wise, we also code artists so the moment you see too much of one colour, we’re not doing well. And then our motto is “think more” –  that’s what the bookers say all the time.

What are the other challenges with booking, in the current climate?
We are a ‘full festival ticket’ festival; we don’t rely that much on day tickets. That’s what we have always been. That means we need to programme really strong days every day. It’s not just okay to have your big headliner on Friday and that’s it. We know that typically people come for the full festival experience and that’s not that common for our intel from other festivals.

We are very well aware of the fact that it’s not easy times for anyone financially. People are choosing to spend their time and money with us so we have to work till we can give them the best experience. I always like to say that we work all year long to give the audience the best weekend of that year.

“Technical riders are more complex than ever”

Has Primavera made any changes to ticket prices this year?
We are still one of the cheapest festivals compared to our direct competitors. The median price is around €280 if you compare early bird up to the last batch of tickets – €5 cheaper than last year. Taking into account recession and inflation, it’s quite impressive.

Tell us about some of the challenges Primavera is experiencing.
Technical riders are more complex than ever. A lot of artists are coming to the festival and bringing shows that before would be only for stadiums, like Dua Lipa in 2022 who brought with her a catwalk and everything. But our biggest challenge is securing stability in our venue. We work with contracts that are four-year leases and now we are in the middle of one of those. We need to work with stability because we’re booking two years ahead. We really need to know that we can continue our festival here because Parc Del Forum is something that you can’t find anywhere else. Fortunately, we are on excellent terms with Barcelona Town Hall. Another challenge that we might face is accommodation in Barcelona. Right now Primavera Sound is the biggest event in our city – maybe even in Spain – and we have to accommodate 1,200 artists and crew members for the week, as well as our staff.

“Weather is becoming an issue [in the sector] but we are lucky to be in Barcelona”

Primavera Sound Madrid’s first day proper was called off due to adverse weather, which is an increasing issue in the festival sector. Is it a concern for the Barcelona event?
We are lucky because of the time of the year. You don’t usually see extreme weather in Barcelona at the end of May/the beginning of June. Of course, anything can happen but we are monitoring that. We have meteorologists on our payroll and receive daily reports so production can know that if we’re expecting winds this afternoon, then we should switch the order of the production so everything runs smoothly. Weather is becoming an issue [in the sector] but we are lucky to be in Barcelona.

Primavera’s global footprint has rapidly expanded in the last few years. Do you have any new editions or markets in the works?
Latin America is working beautifully and has always been an ongoing plan. We have two full festivals, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, and some one-day festivals and headline shows. In order to be competitive as an independent festival, we need to be able to offer several cities for those big headliners, otherwise it’s unaffordable for us and the act. So that’s the idea behind the headline shows, but they also act as a test: if we find the right partners, the right venue, the right suppliers and the right audience, we could launch a full festival in that city as well. The seven dates in Latin America are pretty much fixed right now but that might change in the future. With Montevideo [Uruguay] for example, if we sell out what we are planning there, then maybe we can decide to organise something bigger. We are always on the lookout if something cool comes up. Slow and steady is key here.

 


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Barcelona-Madrid rivalry extends to live music

The famous football rivalry between La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid is spilling over into international touring following the refurbishment of the latter’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Home of the 14 times European champions, the Bernabéu (cap. 65,000 for concerts) reopened for music bookings last year following an extensive renovation. It will host the sole Spanish date of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on 30 May and three nights with Karol G from 20-22 July, as well as performances by Duki, Manuel Carrasco, Luis Miguel (two shows) and Aitana.

The venue has both a retractable roof and pitch – enabling it to stage live music shows all-year-round (the Aitana show is scheduled for 28 December).

Elsewhere, Civitas Metropolitan Stadium – home ground of Real’s city neighbours Atlético Madrid – has three upcoming shows by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and two concerts by Metallica, plus dates with Estopa and Morat, bringing the number of stadium gigs in the Spanish capital in 2024 to an unprecedented 16.

FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou is currently out of action due to renovation, with work expected to be completed in 2026. However, the club’s temporary home – the city’s 56,000-cap Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – attracted nine concerts in 2023, including the likes of Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Madonna. It has four shows announced for 2024: Springsteen (two nights), Rammstein and Estopa.

Nouvelles du Monde notes that Barcelona’s proximity to the French border has traditionally boosted tourism, but Madrid now benefits from its peninsular centrality.

“Madrid is becoming more competitive, and even more so this year with Barça at the Estadi”

“Madrid is becoming more competitive, and even more so this year with Barça at the Estadi,” Live Nation Spain president Pino Sagliocco tells the publication, while Tito Ramoneda, president of The Project, declares “a new era begins”.

Doctor Music’s Neo Sala, however, notes that although the Madrid stadiums have “much improved their infrastructures”, that is “not decisive for international tours, in which other factors must be taken into account account: geographical, strategic and technical”.

The Bernabéu hired former Live Nation Spain partnerships director Rocio Vallejo-Nágera in 2023 as head of large events and concerts.

“We are treating it like a new stadium,” she told IQ last year. “Up until now, there have been some concerts here – Bruce Springsteen in 2016 and the Rolling Stones in 2014 – but it hasn’t really been a big thing to do at the Bernabeu. It wasn’t built for football, not music, because the production tunnels were too narrow, etc. So we’ve changed that, and that’s why I’m here.

“I think in the past 10 years, Madrid has become one of the main cities for global tours. Some years ago, maybe Barcelona was a little bit more blooming, but I think Madrid is taking its place in the international touring agenda as a main place to visit.”

 


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ALMA launches second site for 2024 edition

The ALMA festival concert series will take place in two major Spanish cities for the first time in 2024.

Between 2013 and 2022, the outdoor concert series took place in the Jardins Pedralbes of Barcelona under the name Festival Jardins Pedralbes, before it moved location to Poble Espanyol in 2013 and was renamed.

Next year’s event adds Parque Enrique Tierno Galván in Madrid as a second city from 30 May to 17 June, with artists including Deep Purple, Jamie Cullum, Valeria Castro and Vetusta Morla confirmed.

“ALMA has become one of the great musical events in the Catalan capital”

The Barcelona line up, scheduled from 25 June to 17 July, has announced performances from Queens of the Stone Age, Take That, Jamie Cullum, James Blunt, Hozier and Glen Hansard.

Organisers say: “The festival brings together renowned national and international artists to offer a unique musical experience in a spectacular setting. With a careful and eclectic programme, ALMA has become one of the great musical events in the Catalan capital.”

The festival series is promoted by Barcelona-based Concert Studio, which also books artists including Ruth Lorenzo, Bad Boy, Ana Belen, Paco Ibáñez and Carla Bruni.

 


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