To celebrate the hard work of the numerous independent operators that make the live entertainment industry such a vibrant – and growing – business worldwide, IQ is publishing its inaugural Indie Champions list.

Our shortlist of 20 companies were chosen by the IQ readership and have headquarters across 11 different nations but service live events the world over, thanks to their various satellite offices and the artists and partners they work with.

The Indie Champions will become an annual staple of IQ, so if your company did not make it onto this year’s debut list, fear not, as you have a full ten months to prove your credentials to friends, colleagues, and business partners ahead of next year’s nomination process.

IQ will publish entries across all categories over the coming days, and you can find the whole cohort in the latest edition of IQ here.

Alter Art (PL)

Alter Art is the largest independent promoter of festivals and concerts in Poland, with a history that dates back over 25 years when it was launched by Mikołaj Ziółkowski. Emerging from the world of alternative and punk music, Ziółkowski has helped shape today’s live music business in Poland, driven by his profound passion and love for music, coupled with a desire to foster new phenomena.

Alter Art promotes a swathe of international and local acts across a portfolio of events from small clubs to stadium shows, while it also runs some of the biggest festivals in Poland, including Orange Warsaw (40,000) and its flagship event, Open’er, which in 2024 attracted more than 130,000 festivalgoers. This year’s highlights include co-promoting Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which became the first tour to play three consecutive nights at PGE Narodowy Stadium, and arena shows for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Cigarettes After Sex, and Jacob Collier.

With a workforce that comprises 58% women, Alter Art champions equality and diversity

The company also has a family entertainment division, Alter Art Show, which hosts events including Cirque du Soleil, Disney On Ice, and PAW Patrol Live!.

With a workforce that comprises 58% women, Alter Art champions equality and diversity.

In 2024, the company organised around 50 concerts in Poland, entertaining hundreds of thousands of music fans.

Bird On The Wire (UK)
Bird On The Wire was conceived by Clémence Godard and Tim Palmer in 2009, who met at a concert at the now closed Bardens Boudoir in London. “We had the opportunity to book some shows into the same venue. We met… and to our surprise, we managed to break even and have a great time. That led us to book one more show, then another, and it just built organically from there,” says Palmer.”

Among the first acts to benefit from Godard and Palmer’s enthusiasm were The Tallest Man On Earth, and The War On Drugs, who both remain on the roster to this day. Also on the company’s promoting roster are Big Thief, Mac DeMarco, Moses Sumney, Weyes Blood, Nils Frahm, and Black Country, New Road, to name a handful.

“It was only in 2012 that we realised we could make this our actual jobs and founded the company,” says Palmer, noting that the payroll has now expanded to seven people.

2024 has been another busy year, with close to 150 shows, most of them sold out long in advance

Bird On The Wire strives to nurture artists from early on in their career, and despite primarily focusing on booking/producing concerts in London, more recently they have promoted national tours for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

2024 has been another busy year, with close to 150 shows, most of them sold out long in advance, and the second edition of 10,000-capacity RALLY festival in Southwark, where the likes of Mount Kimbie, Nilüfer Yanya, Two Shell, and ML Buch performed to an already dedicated audience.

Cap-Cap Produccions (ES)
Xavi Manresa established Cap-Cap Produccions in 1988, driven by his passion for bringing punk, hardcore, and alternative music to the forefront of the Iberian peninsula’s live music scene. “At the time, there was a significant lack of representation for these genres, and we aimed to fill that gap by offering a platform for both emerging and legendary bands alike,” he tells IQ, noting that early tours included the likes of Green Day, The Offspring, and Fugazi, playing 300-800-capacity clubs.

Nearly four decades later, Cap-Cap’s core team of five staff specialise in organising tours across all capacity venues and festivals, while Manresa also books international acts for a number of festivals, as well as providing advice on production and business development.

“The potential of Georgia for club, auditorium, arena shows, and new festivals, it is extraordinary”

Harking back to Cap-Cap’s inception, Manresa says working in Spain when there was very little infrastructure and corporate promoters did not yet exist were the most memorable days of his career. As a result, he this year launched an operation in Tbilisi, Georgia – where the current scene reminds him of 1980s Spain.

“We want to export our knowledge and experience to help develop the live music industry in this country,” he says. “The potential of Georgia for club, auditorium, arena shows, and new festivals, it is extraordinary, and we already booked our first show, the fantastic band Tinariwen, this past September, while we have major projects coming for 2025 in Georgia in the main cities, Tbilisi and Batumi.”

Crosstown Concerts (UK)
When Metropolis Music was acquired by Live Nation in January 2017, self-confessed “anti-corporate” promoters Conal Dodds and Paul Hutton decided to start afresh. They partnered with businessman Fraser Duffin to launch their own firm, Crosstown Concerts.

“Principally, we are concert promoters, but we now also promote book tours, spoken word tours, are dabbling in comedy, have launched a new student club-night series (Choker), and have interests in a management company and PR,” says Dodds of the expanding empire.

With 19 full-time staff across Bristol, London, Cardiff, and Oxford, and dozens of freelancers, Crosstown has organised around 600 shows this year, including tours with Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Pixies, The Vaccines, Richard Hawley, Slowdive, The Cat Empire, Patti Smith, and Barenaked Ladies.

“2025 is going to be a big year for us!”

“Our open-air series, Bristol Sounds, has expanded to seven shows, and we had the likes of Placebo, Annie Mac, Busted, and James Arthur appear this year,” says Dodds.

Next year is looking strong, too. “We already have dates on sale with the likes of Snow Patrol, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Franz Ferdinand, Jack Savoretti, and we’ve just announced a four-night series at the Royal Albert Hall with Sigur Rós,” adds Dodds. “2025 is going to be a big year for us!”

Destroy All Lines (AU)
Destroy All Lines was formed 20 years ago, but up until 2016 was primarily a nightclub promoter that actively toured around ten artists a year. Chris O’Brien joined the business in 2016 to head up touring, and as a result, its 2024 activity will amass in excess of 750,000 tickets across 120 tours.

Destroy All Lines has a touring company, booking agency, and organises festivals, including Good Things and Knotfest Australia. Among the acts to benefit from its efforts are The Offspring, Bring Me The Horizon, Parkway Drive, Simple Plan, They Might Be Giants, Soft Cell, James Blunt, Falling In Reverse, The Dropkick Murphys, The The, The Flaming Lips, Deftones, Belle and Sebastian, The Human League, While She Sleeps, The Happy Mondays, Hanabie, Babymetal, Slipknot, Behemoth, and Weezer.

2024 activity will amass in excess of 750,000 tickets across 120 tours

Helping the business operate are 29 employees and hundreds of freelancers across its festival brands. Among 2024’s highlights are Korn headlining Good Things with Sum 41, The Violent Femmes, Electric Callboy, and Mastodon; and Parkway Drive and James Blunt’s sold-out arena tours. Other tours hitting the market between October and December include Dropkick Murphys with Alkaline Trio, Heilung, Chris Williamson, The Reytons, and Real Estate. Meanwhile, Monolith Festival will feature Coheed and Cambria, Periphery, and Leprous.

Looking further ahead, Slipknot will return to headline Knotfest in March 2025.

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