Festival giant Superstruct Entertainment has acquired live music and broadcast platform Boiler Room from ticketing firm Dice.

Founded by Blaise Bellville in 2010, dance music specialist Boiler Room broadcast events spanning 120 markets last year.

“We are proud to welcome the talented team at Boiler Room, who have managed to consistently grow the platform over the last 15 years whilst maintaining a distinct cultural approach,” says Superstruct CEO Roderik Schlösser. “This partnership perfectly aligns with Superstruct’s mission to celebrate and amplify cultures through creativity, collaboration, and live entertainment. Boiler Room is in the best position it has ever been and we are excited to support them in their promising future ahead.”

Boiler Room’s team will continue to lead the business under the new ownership, bolstered by support from Superstruct’s “global resources and expertise”. In addition, Dice will remain the official ticketing partner for Boiler Room.

“As we turn 15 and enter our next stage of growth, we’re excited to be partnering with Superstruct for this chapter,” says Bellville. “We feel in good company with their roster of brands, they offer us new opportunities to grow, whilst understanding the importance of staying true to the authenticity that, at its core, is what makes Boiler Room special.”

Private equity firm CVC secured a stake in Superstruct in October last year – just weeks after KKR’s acquisition of the festival behemoth was given the green light. Fellow global investment giant KKR acquired Superstruct from Providence for €1.3 billion in June.

“Boiler Room is an incredible brand and the team is exceptional, creating cultural-defining moments time and time again”

Superstruct owns and operates over 80 music festivals across 10 countries in Europe and Australia, including Wacken Open Air, Parookaville, Tinderbox, Sónar, Øya, Benicàssim, Kendal Calling and Boardmasters.

The company was founded in 2017 by Schlosser and Creamfields founder and former Live Nation president of electronic music James Barton while at Providence. Barton will be the Hotseat interview for ILMC 37.

Boiler Room, meanwhile, was previously acquired by ticketing and event discovery platform Dice in 2021.

“Boiler Room is an incredible brand and the team is exceptional, creating cultural-defining moments time and time again,” adds Phil Hutcheon, Dice CEO and founder. “It has been a hugely successful three years and they have a great future ahead with Superstruct, a company we know very well.”

It was reported last summer that Dice was in discussions to sell a “significant stake” that would value the company at hundreds of millions of dollars.

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The Cure’s touring team have spoken to IQ about live’s integral role in the multi-pronged strategy that helped the band’s first studio album in 16 years top the charts across Europe.

Songs of a Lost World reached the summit last week in most major European markets, including their native UK where it outsold the rest of the top 20 combined.

The LP – which gave the Robert Smith-fronted band their first UK #1 since 1992’s Wish, and their first ever chart-topper in several other countries – dropped via Polydor on 1 November. The promotional campaign included two solid days of Cure content and interviews across BBC channels between 31 October and 2 November (lead single Alone also premiered on Mary Anne Hobbs’ 6 Music show on 26 September).

Central to the coordinated approach, the group performed two world exclusive live sessions for BBC Radio 2 In Concert and BBC Radio 6 Music on 30 October, followed by a global livestream from the 3,100-cap art deco East London venue Troxy on the day of release.

Charlie Renton of Primary Talent International tells IQ how the Troxy show, which has attracted more than 1.7 million views on YouTube, came together.

“It needed to be a venue with character, have the facility to park nine trucks and a facility to house a 10-camera shoot”

“Robert got in touch with us towards the end of the summer saying he had a confirmed album release date, could we find a relatively small venue ‘with character’ to put on an album launch show on the release date which would be livestreamed,” says Renton.

“Not having a huge amount of lead time on this, we were so lucky to get Troxy to move a few dates around for us! It really worked out well being such a beautiful venue and so well set up for the filming too.”

Pete Wilson of promoter AAA Entertainment reveals the event was just three months in the making.

“At the back end of July, we got emails from Primary asking us what we could find for a livestream on 1 November,” he says. “After a series of calls and emails over the next 48 hours, we set about seeing what might be available in London and Brighton at around 1,000 capacity.”

Wilson explains that from an original list of 30 venues, it quickly came down to a handful.

“It needed to be a venue with character, have the facility to park nine trucks and a facility to house a 10-camera shoot,” he continues. “Eventually, the Troxy was the optimum choice and we set about trying to clear pencils. This, with the relief of all concerned, was achieved.

“To create an event with a live vibrant fanbase, media and guests was a challenge, but it happened.”

“The main focus was that we needed to make sure the tickets went to real fans – especially due to the show being livestreamed”

Tickets for their BBC Radio 2 In Concert set were allocated via a free ballot, while the Troxy gig went on sale via Dice, with the band maintaining their well-documented low price, anti-scalping stance. Applications for each night stretched well into six figures.

“The main focus was that we needed to make sure the tickets went to real fans – especially due to the show being livestreamed,” notes Renton. “As it was the album launch show, it was set up so fans pre-ordering the album would get a code to enter the onsale.

“Robert wanted it to be a very reasonable ticket price, with no dynamic pricing and any fees to be made absolutely clear from the very start of the buying process. The final £50 ticket price ended up including a £1 charity donation to War Child, too.

“Troxy was already partnered with Dice, which was really helpful with its pricing clarity and anti-tout set up.”

Simon Eaton, head of live at Troxy, elaborates: “In order to have the opportunity to purchase a ticket, customers were first required to preorder the band’s new album Songs of a Lost World, in order to obtain a one time use code. Once on sale, the code allowed fans to purchase a maximum of two tickets per person which could not be sold or transferred to another person, with ID required on entry.

“Messaging was explicitly clear from the outset: if it’s not been purchased on Dice, it’s not a legitimate ticket. The few that did appear on Viagogo for extortionate rates were forgeries, sent cease and desist letters and removed immediately.”

Moreover, Eaton hails the concert as “three hours of solid beauty”.

“None of this could have happened without Robert Smith, who deserves a very special mention,” he adds. “It’s rare to never that artists get involved directly, we usually only deal with their background teams. He was there right from the start, a breath of fresh air.

“His decision to not only have the show streamed globally, but to make it available to all for free is unprecedented, given the potential revenue stream if it was charged. He oversaw the merch which was made specific for the night, with the date and venue printed on, badges were given out as freebies to everyone on entry. These are things that don’t happen every day and something that will stay in the memory for a long time to come.”

“Most bands become big and then either implode or spend years trying to maintain that level, but The Cure have just continued to build”

More than 45 years after forming, The Cure have enjoyed a huge surge in popularity and keep getting bigger with every outing. In 2023, they achieved the highest-grossing tour of their career, with their 30-date North American tour selling 547,000 tickets for a gross of $37.5 million.

“The Cure have always been unique,” says long-term agent Martin Hopewell. “Most bands become big and then either implode or spend years trying to maintain that level, but The Cure have just continued to build – without ever compromising or shifting styles to match whatever else was going on at the time – and you’d have to say that much of the reason for that has been their live performances.

“The fact is that they’re a bloody good band and they consistently deliver some truly epic live shows. The success of this new album – and the coordinated campaign to launch it – is obviously very exciting for all of us and I’m really thrilled for Robert and the rest of the band. They deserve everything they get.”

Smith recently told Radio 6’s Matt Everitt that the band have another LP “virtually finished”, with a third new record also in the works. He also elaborated on their future touring plans up to their 50th anniversary in four years’ time.

“We’ll start up again next year,” said Smith. “Seriously, I have to finish the second album. We were going to play festivals next year, but then I decided that we weren’t going to play anything next summer.

“The next time we go out on stage will be autumn next year. But then we’ll probably be playing quite regularly through until the next anniversary – the 2028 anniversary!”

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Ticketing and event discovery platform Dice is reportedly in discussions to sell a “significant stake” that would value the company at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Bloomberg reports that Dice initiated a more formal process after being approached by a prospective buyer, with one of its biggest investors, Softbank, keen to sell its stake.

Citing “conversations with a few people directly involved”, Bloomberg notes that three of the interested parties are private equity firms.

Launched in the UK in 2014, Dice currently operates in the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy and Spain. It declared its intention to step up its global expansion plans last summer after raising a $65 million funding round led by music-focused investment company MUSIC.

Dice declined to comment on the report when approached by IQ.

Dice’s most recent accounts, filed in the UK with Companies House, show that its net revenue increased 360% from $6m in the pandemic-hit 2021 to $28m in 2022, powered by “continued expansion in existing territories alongside expansion into new markets”.

The group made a $50m loss for the financial year “largely driven by the successful move into North America and the continued R&D investment into building the leading global discovery platform”. Net assets were $40m.

Elsewhere in the sector, CTS Eventim recently completed the acquisition of Vivendi’s festival and international ticketing businesses in a €300m deal.

Global creative engineering group for live experiences Tait has just announced equity investment from Goldman Sachs

The links with private equity companies mark a continuation of the increasingly close ties between the international touring industry and PE.

American global investment firm KKR acquired festival giant Superstruct Entertainment from Providence in a €1.3 billion deal last month, while Tait, the global creative engineering group for live experiences, has just announced equity investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ private equity business.

Goldman Sachs will acquire a majority stake in the company from affiliates of Providence Equity Partners. Pennsylvania-headquartered Tait, which opened a UK base in London this year, designs, constructs, manufactures and operates stages and installations for clients including Taylor Swift, Cirque Du Soleil, Royal Opera House, NASA, National Geographic, Beyoncé and The Olympics.

“Since its inception, Tait has partnered with clients across the globe to bring visionary concepts to reality and create extraordinary live experiences,” says Tait CEO Adam Davis. “As we look to our future – where the digital and physical worlds seamlessly merge into bespoke, individually tailored events, we are thrilled to partner with Goldman Sachs. This collaboration will unlock new opportunities and reinforce Tait’s position as an industry leader in delivering culture-defining experiences.

“Goldman Sachs’ network and expertise will enable us to grow our global footprint and offerings, empowering the company to better serve clients, drive innovation, and pioneer new technology.”

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

“We believe that Tait is exceptionally well-positioned to benefit from secular tailwinds as the entertainment space continues to grow in scale and complexity, and see tremendous value creation opportunities for Tait as the company continues to broaden its technology offering and market coverage,” adds Simon Kubbies, MD at Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

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The LGBTIQ+ List 2024 – IQ Magazine’s fourth annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business – has been revealed.

The ever-popular list is the centrepiece of IQ’s fourth Pride edition, sponsored by Ticketmaster, which is now available to read online and in print for subscribers.

To get to know this year’s queer pioneers a little better, we interviewed each of them on the development of the industry, the challenges that are keeping them up at night and more.

Throughout the next month, IQ will publish a new interview each day. Catch up on yesterday’s interview with Pembe Tokluhan (she/her), founder and CEO of Petok Productions.

The series continues with Priscilla Nagashima (she/her), VP of engineering at DICE.

Priscilla Nagashima brings over 18 years of expertise in product, engineering and AI/ML across music, marketing, ticketing, payments and mobility systems. As an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and diversity in STEM, she drives inclusive initiatives within her product and engineering team at DICE. She holds an MSc in Software Engineering from the University of Oxford and is recognised for her strategic tech leadership and extensive public speaking engagements at global events like TEDx.

Tell us about the professional feat you’re most PROUD of in 2024 so far.
It was so cool working behind the scenes with the team at DICE to see some massive events selling out so quickly and smoothly on our platform – Primavera Sound, Sónar and several Boiler Room shows to name a few.

What’s your most pressing challenge in the industry right now?
Competing with bots, touts and ticket scammers. DICE has always focused on how we fix ticketing for fans with features – like our Waiting List and mobile tickets locked to smartphones – that are hassle-free for fans but a nightmare for touts. It breaks my heart to see people selling through unofficial channels, sometimes to their detriment. With the evolution of AI and more sophisticated software, the fight must continue.

“I am proud that my engineering leadership team at DICE has a majority female representation, with most coming from diverse backgrounds too”

Tell us about some of the work you’ve done in DICE’s Pride 365 Employee Community Group.
I have proudly and actively championed LGBTQIA+ inclusivity at DICE as the executive sponsor of our Pride 365 ECG (Employee Community Group). The group focuses on LGBTQ+ issues, policies, events, product features and community-building, with incredible people promoting inclusivity within the company and beyond. My work with them has been on coaching, supporting initiatives and pushing for change, helping make company-wide policies or product features happen faster to benefit our community.

How do you ensure engineering leadership reflects a mix of gender identities, neurodiversity, and LGBTQIA+ representation?
I come from a diverse background, having been born and raised in Brazil to a half-Brazilian and half-Japanese family. Being a queer woman of colour in tech also means I have fought, throughout my career, to do whatever was necessary to bring more diversity to the table in whatever position or company I worked for. I am proud that my engineering leadership team at DICE has a majority female representation, with most coming from diverse backgrounds too – whether in terms of gender, race, sexual orientation or neurodiversity. But as much as I have championed it and made it a topic for our agendas, the truth is that this was only possible by working closely with other teams, pushing for diversity in our talent pool and putting provisions in place to guarantee inclusivity and fairness throughout the hiring process.

“We all agree that bringing more representation and different voices to the table is wonderful, but very few out there are walking the walk on that”

How do you see ticketing technology developing in the next few years?
With the cost of living crisis, people are becoming more picky about how they spend their disposable income. Going out is expensive so it’s a matter of finding the right things at the right price. This is where I think the commoditisation of AI will thrive and become more popular but only the companies that think of fans and have amazing user experiences will stand out.

Name one thing the industry could do to be a more equitable place.
Invest more actively in the education and employment of people in disadvantaged communities. Overall, we all agree that bringing more representation and different voices to the table is wonderful but very few out there are walking the walk on that.

Name one queer act you’re itching to see live this year.
Billie Eilish. Brownie points if Lana del Rey joins her on stage for a duet, just like at Coachella.

“Being a queer woman of colour in tech also means I have fought, throughout my career, to do whatever was necessary to bring more diversity to the table”

Shout out your biggest ally in the live music industry.
Corrie McLean, DICE’s head of artist development programmes. A legendary human being, an endless fountain of energy and the real queen of queers at DICE.

Shout out any LGBTIQ+ cause(s) you support.
Massive shout out to Goal Diggers FC, a non-profit women’s and non-binary football club in East London that makes football accessible regardless of ability. I have been part of the club for over a year and can say it’s such an inclusive, open and supportive community, embracing people from all backgrounds. The club has its regular night out event in Hackney called Murder On Zidane’s Floor (MOFZ) – you’ve gotta look it up!

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Dice has announced a new marketplace for event creators and fans as part of its wider strategy to expand its operations beyond ticketing.

The first product feature within the new marketplace is Dice Extras, which will allow event creators to offer enriched experiences and auxiliary products to fans, in addition to their concert tickets.

Launching in July in the US and UK, it will enable event creators to create, manage, report on and market their add-ons to fans. Extras include ‘Experiences’ such as area passes, meet & greets, after-parties, VIP upgrades, and skipping the line; ‘Accommodation and Transport Options’ like parking, coach or bus services, and camping area passes; ‘Food and Drink’ provisions and ‘Merch’.

To support the development, the live music network and ticketing company has appointed Jack Driessen as its new VP of commerce, with responsibility for creating, building, and overseeing the launch of its unified concert marketplace.

“The Extras suite will allow fans to effortlessly discover and purchase everything music-related in one place from tickets to VIP upgrades and unique experiences,” explains Driessen. “It also empowers our artist, venue and promoter partners to connect directly with audiences whilst streamlining their operations and boosting their bottom line.”

Driessen’s previous experience includes stints as GM of apparel at Whatnot, COO of Saturdays NYC and director of e-commerce strategy at Tommy Hilfiger. He also held leadership roles at Amazon and Abercrombie & Fitch.

“Dice has already nailed the ticket-buying experience, and now we want to build on that, making it even easier for fans to get the most out of live events”

“Dice has already nailed the ticket-buying experience, and now we want to build on that, making it even easier for fans to get the most out of live events, all on one platform,” he adds. “It’s an exciting moment for Dice, and I’m looking forward to growing our product capabilities to help fans get out more and get closer to the artists they love.”

The launch follows a Beta phase which saw 44 partners across the UK and US benefit from increased revenues and enhanced fan experiences. The firm notes that independent venue and promoter partners have seen up to 30% increase in average event revenue so far.

“Since partnering with Dice, our RnB Slow Jams events continually sell out, and we’re always seeking new ways to engage with our growing community of fans,” says Matthew Bridgeman, events manager at RnB Slow Jams. “Our Valentine’s Day shows at London’s Koko felt like the perfect fit to trial Dice’s commerce offering and test the new Extras features. We were thrilled to see hundreds of fans snapping up the queue jump tickets on top of their regular admission tickets.

“The seamless integration has not only enhanced our fan experience but also boosted our revenue. We’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with Dice and leveraging more of the app’s commerce features in the future.”

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Companies from across the UK’s live music sector were honoured at the 2024 Music Week Awards, held last night (2 May) at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London.

Presented by Apple Music 1 radio host Dotty, the sold-out ceremony saw 25 awards handed out across the music industry.

Winners included CAA (Live Music Agency), Live Nation UK (Live Music Promoter), Wireless (Festival) and Dice, who triumphed in the Ticketing Company category for the second successive year.

In their acceptance speech, CAA’s Maria May paid tribute to the “amazing artists we get to work with every single day”, while fellow agent Paul Franklin added: “Thanks also to the managers, the labels, the promoters but mainly to the CAA team who work incredibly hard every day.”

In addition, Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre clinched the Grassroots Venue: Spirit Of The Scene award, which is supported by Music Venue Trust and was decided by a public vote.

“Tonight is proof that pop music matters”

The night’s top award, The Strat – awarded annually to an industry icon – went to Fascination Management founder Peter Loraine, who was presented with the honour by his clients, Girls Aloud.

Loraine’s 30-year music career has included stints as magazine editor, label head and artist manager. He also famously gave the Spice Girls their nicknames.

Video tributes were provided by the group’s Melanie C and Emma Bunton, along with artists Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Will Young, Jessie Ware, Jake Shears, S Club 7, Bananarama, All Saints and Steps, in addition to Universal Music Group’s Sir Lucian Grainge, David Joseph and Selina Webb.

“If I think about it for any amount of time, I just think it’s wild,” said Lorain. “I’ve been able to turn my childhood obsession with pop music into a 30-year occupation. As a teenager, I only wanted three things: I wanted to move to London to work for a music magazine, for a record company and to be friends with Bananarama – not much to ask for really… Tonight is proof that pop music matters.”

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Music ticketing platform Dice has furthered its expansion across North America by launching in Toronto, marking its debut in Canada.

The launch comes alongside the app’s announcement of exclusive deals with partners including Toronto’s largest independent concert promoter Collective Concerts, as well as Transmit Presents, The Garrison, Baby G, Not Dead Yet, Soluna, South Paw and Prepare the Ground.

“Toronto is the perfect stage for Dice’s Canadian debut,” says Dice president Russ Tannen. “With our new partners, we can bring fans in Canada the shows they love with an easy, innovative, and transparent ticketing experience that was designed for them.”

Dice has also announced 15-year Toronto music industry veteran Dave Lock as its first Canadian hire.

“I’m thrilled to be leading Dice’s expansion into Canada and can’t wait to see how this transforms an industry that has been in desperate need of innovation”

“After my introductory meeting with the Dice team, the first thing I thought was how much I wish we had Dice when I was going to shows in Toronto growing up,” says Lock, who will serve as Dice’s director of venue & promoter partnerships in Canada.

“Their fan first app and discovery features are game changers that almost every promoter and venue owner I’ve worked with over the past 15 years have been asking for. I’m thrilled to be leading Dice’s expansion into Canada and can’t wait to see how this transforms an industry that has been in desperate need of innovation.”

Dice launched in North America in 2019, quickly scaling into key markets across the US including New York City and Los Angeles.

In August, the company raised a $65 million funding round led by MUSIC, which has helped accelerate Dice’s geographical expansion. Dice has recently entered new markets such as Scotland, Liverpool and Miami, in addition to landmark deals in Europe with venues like Alexandra Palace and recent renewals with Troxy, among others.

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Ticketing and event discovery platform Dice is stepping up its global expansion plans after raising a $65 million funding round led by music-focused investment company MUSIC.

MUSIC CEO Matt Pincus has also joined the Dice board of directors, while other investors include Structural Capital and Ahdritz Holding LLC, the investment vehicle for Kobalt Music founder and chair Willard Ahdritz, alongside follow on investments from Exor Ventures and Mirabaud Lifestyle Fund.

The funding will help accelerate Dice’s launch in new cities, as it continues to grow across the US and globally, with a new partnership announcement for Austin, Texas, imminent in the wake of a series of European deals. It will also support Dice’s ongoing product investments.

“The live music industry is adopting Dice faster than ever and proves our thesis that if you treat fans well, they buy more tickets, and go out more often,” says the company’s founder and CEO Phil Hutcheon. “We’re investing heavily in building even more technology and this year alone we released over 60 new features for fans, venues and artists. I’m excited that Matt has joined the board and we’re more focused than ever on our mission to get fans out more.”

In addition, Ali Byrd, most recently of AI healthcare technology company Olive, has been appointed as the firm’s chief financial officer. New York-based Byrd previously held senior positions at Microsoft, CoverWallet and Limewire.

“Dice did the impossible: They made buying a ticket fun. And by doing that, they became much more than a transaction provider,” says entrepreneur and investor Pincus. “Dice is the premier user-centric engagement platform for the most important consumers in music: people who love to go to shows.”

“Dice has come a long way on their vision, and today it’s even clearer that the live industry needs changing”

Launched in 2014, Dice reported the biggest year in its history last year, with more than 55,000 artists and 10,000 venues and promoters using the firm to sell tickets to their shows, but confirmed a number of redundancies earlier this summer as part of a restructure of the business.

“We recently made the difficult decision to restructure parts of our business to ensure we can focus on our most important initiatives,” said a spokesperson for Dice earlier this month. “This is not an exercise we carry out lightly and we’re sad that we have to say goodbye to colleagues that we love working with and respect enormously.”

The company, which launched in Scotland in April, already operates in markets including the UK, US, France, India, Italy, Spain and Germany.

“I met Phil [Hutcheon] in 2015 having heard about Dice,” says Ahdritz. “Rolling out AWAL at that time, I needed so many more venues for all my acts to play. Dice delivers a transformative experience for all stakeholders – from fans to venues to artists and looked like the future for live music. Dice has come a long way on their vision, and today it’s even clearer that the live industry needs changing. I am excited to have the opportunity to be part of the company as an investor.”

Kai Tse, structural capital co-founder and managing partner, adds: “Structural Capital is very excited to be involved in helping Dice continue its success and future growth. We believe Dice is a true industry innovator.”

This funding follows a string of strategic hires including the appointment of music industry veteran Caron Veazey to Dice’s board of directors, as well as former SVP of growth and marketing at HBO Max, Katie Soo, as chief business officer.

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Ticketing and event discovery platform Dice has confirmed it has let go a number of employees as part of a restructure of the business.

Resident Advisor reports the creative and marketing teams most heavily affected, as the firm plans to work with more freelancers going forward. It is believed the number of redundancies accounts for less than 10% of Dice’s global workforce.

Launched in 2014, Dice reported the biggest year in its history last year, with more than 55,000 artists and 10,000 venues and promoters using the firm to sell tickets to their shows.

“This is not an exercise we carry out lightly and we’re sad that we have to say goodbye to colleagues that we love working with and respect enormously”

“We recently made the difficult decision to restructure parts of our business to ensure we can focus on our most important initiatives,” says a spokesperson for Dice. “This is not an exercise we carry out lightly and we’re sad that we have to say goodbye to colleagues that we love working with and respect enormously.”

The firm, which launched in Scotland in April, operates in markets including the UK, US, France, India, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Dice tells The Ticketing Business that it would be continuing to make “strategic hires that will drive forward” growth opportunities, such as the appointment of Katie Soo as chief business officer earlier this year.

Dice raised up to US$122 million in Series C funding in 2021, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with follow on investments from Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, Blisce, French entrepreneur Xavier Niel, Mirabaud Private Equity, Cassius and Evolution.

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The LGBTIQ+ List 2023 – IQ Magazine’s third annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business – has been revealed.

The ever-popular list is the centrepiece of IQ’s third Pride edition, sponsored by Ticketmaster, which is now available to read online and in print for subscribers.

To get to know this year’s queer pioneers a little better, we interviewed each of them on the development of the industry, the challenges that are keeping them up at night and more.

Throughout the next month, IQ will publish a new interview each day. Check out yesterday’s profile with Saskhia Menendez, Keychange innovator & board of directors at The F-List Music in London, UK.

The series continues with Dev Mistry (he/him/his), global internal comms manager at DICE in London, UK.

Dev Mistry started his career in communications just under ten years ago, working across automotive, entertainment, and tech industries. Working predominantly within communications roles, he also championed DEI within his work and personal life, ensuring practices and processes were amended to be more equitable, creating safe spaces and forums, and more recently, championing diverse representation in live performance spaces – both on and off stage.

Now at DICE, Dev not only co-chairs the #Pride365 employee community group, but he also consults on LGBTQ+ projects across the business, as well as being an active performer in London’s queer cabaret scene.

Tell us about the professional feat you’re most PROUD of in 2023 so far.
Helping to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ members at DICE, to encourage debate, conversation, and community. We’re in our early stages, but it’s been refreshing to see people actively want to get involved and drive conversations on topics, which range from queer pop culture to legislation and human rights. It’s important to me that people from across DICE globally have this space to share how they feel but also feel seen, heard, and included.

Name one queer act you’re itching to see live this year.
Tom Rasmussen! I’ve already seen them, so this is technically cheating, but I’d been wanting to see them for so long, and their music and stage presence are insane. The setup was so simple, but the execution was perfect – you could hear the passion in their voice, and the crowd lapped it up.

What advice could you give to young queer professionals?
Believe in your work and yourself. Your identity is a strength, giving you a unique insight and lens on the world and that should be championed. We’re so often pigeonholed into how we should look and behave in the workplace – which is often based on outdated stereotypes, and actually what’s overlooked is what we actually bring to the table. I’ve worked on that through my career, with the help of mentors and friends, and now I use my identity as a strength, the power of self-understanding goes a long way.

“I once called my former COO ‘hun’ in a meeting by accident…it opened a conversation that I never dreamed of happening”

What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?
I once called my former COO ‘hun’ in a meeting by accident. It was mortifying at the time, but it opened a conversation that I never dreamed of happening. We spoke more about LGBTQ+ experiences, about being our authentic selves at work, and also about how corporate workplaces are often subconsciously designed to be daunting to anyone who isn’t a cis white straight man.

In terms of challenges in the industry, what’s currently keeping you up at night?
The appropriation of queer culture, communities, and aesthetics, without the reinvestment into the LGBTQ+ community and also the creation of safe spaces and policies for LGBTQ+ people. There have been countless examples of this in 2023 so far alone, and it’s something that needs to be addressed across the industry. Mighty Hoopla festivals are a great example of teams who are getting this right – creating safe spaces that are enjoyable and engaging.

How do you see the live music business developing in the next few years?
DICE’s mission has always been ‘to get people out more,’ and I don’t think that will change, people will always be drawn to live music as it continues to bring people together. I think the way we see people come up through different platforms will shake up the traditional ways in how artists and venues are discovered and championed.

“Physical accessibility is one obvious way in which venues and artists could do better”

Name one thing you’d like to see the live music business change.
I’d like it to be more accessible from a number of angles. Physical accessibility is one obvious way in which venues and artists could do better, but also when we look at accessibility to live events as a concept – what are the barriers that are holding people back from attending live shows, and how can we help remove them?

Name one thing the industry could do to be a more equitable place.
Find ways to combat secondary ticketing touting and remove dynamic pricing as a concept. It’s unfair to fans and prices people out of seeing their favourite artists, almost immediately.

Shout out to your biggest ally in the live music industry.
I can’t pick one – it takes an army, but I’d like to give a shout out to all of the venues in London that are becoming safe spaces for queer people, as many queer venues have unfortunately had to close in recent years. Training their security and staff, allowing queer people to enjoy live music and entertainment freely, and being supportive of queer rights and lives.

Do you support any LGBTIQ+ causes?
There are too many to mention, but off the top of my head, I’d say: London Trans Pride, The Bitten Peach, First Brick Housing, The Cocoa Butter Club, and The Royal Vauxhall Tavern – London.

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