Fortnite virtual concert draws record 14m players
Online video game Fortnite has announced a new virtual concert record after drawing 14.3 million concurrent players to Remix: The Finale on Saturday (30 November).
The concert, which featured performances by Snoop Dogg, Ice Spice, Eminem, and a posthumous tribute to Juice WRLD, significantly surpassed the previous record of 12.3 million concurrent players for the Travis Scott concert in 2020.
It also surpassed the records set by Snoop Dogg & Ice Spice’s Times Square event earlier this year, the Big Bang event featuring Eminem concert in 2023 and the Doctor Doom fight this year.
The 15-minute Remix: The Finale showcased unique “dreamscapes” for each artist, culminating in a special moment dedicated to Juice WRLD.
The late rapper’s world premiere of Empty Out Your Pockets served as a finale, with players transforming into crystal butterfly forms during the performance.
The concert significantly surpassed the previous record of 12.3 million concurrent players for the Travis Scott concert in 2020
In addition to the 14.3 million concurrent players that joined the concert, more than three million people streamed it online according to Fortnite.
The game’s largest event of any kind was for the fictional Marvel character Galactus in 2020, which drew 15.3 million players.
Fortnite‘s virtual concerts gained enormous traction during the Covid-19 pandemic but the game has consistently drawn impressive audiences through concerts with A-list stars and partnerships with festivals such as Coachella.
The game has also continued to trial new formats, from playable concerts with acts including Karol G to the Fortnite Festival game mode headlined by the likes of The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Metallica.
Other artists that have performed in the game include Ariana Grande, Marshmello, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Easy Life and J. Balvin.
In November 2021, Epic Games acquired Rock Band and Guitar Hero creator Harmonix “to create musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite”.
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Eminem adds Bahrain concert to Gulf tour
Eminem has added a Bahrain show to his run of Middle East dates this December.
Tickets are already sold out for the Detroit rapper’s 10 December concert at the Al Dana Amphitheatre – the country’s first purpose-built live music venue, which features a 10,000-capacity bowl and 1,500-cap club space.
The ASM Global-run venue in the Sakhir desert also has upcoming gigs with Calvin Harris (25 October), Gary Clark Jr (26 October) and SZA (20 November).
Backed by Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the crown prince and prime minister, the amphitheatre opened in 2021 and was created to give the kingdom a globally recognised world-class venue and to form a regular stop on the local, regional, and international circuit. It has already welcomed the likes of Ed Sheeran, 50 Cent, Westlife, Halsey, Backstreet Boys and Imagine Dragons.
“During the summer, we’ve started putting acts through the air-conditioned Exhibition World Bahrain [also ASM Global- run],” said Al Dana CEO, Damian Bush, speaking in IQ‘s Global Arena Guide 2024. “What we’re trying to do is work with all the other venues and operators across the country to make Bahrain an important stop.
“What we offer is familiarity for the Western acts because this is a liberal country with a liberal view towards entertainment”
“What we offer is familiarity for the Western acts because this is a liberal country with a liberal view towards entertainment. Bahrain is very accessible.
“What we’re interested in is bringing in the right type of music, the right type of genre, and we don’t rule out anything. It’s about what we think is going to sell, what’s going to be popular, what’s going to be diverse.”
It was recently confirmed that Eminem will make his live debut in Saudi Arabia as one of the headliners for this year’s Soundstorm by MDLBeast festival. The 51-year-old will top the bill alongside Thirty Seconds to Mars and Muse for the fifth edition of Soundstorm, which returns to the capital Riyadh from 12-14 December.
He will also headline the Yasalam After-Race Concert Series as part of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend on 7 December, having previously performed in the UAE capital in 2019.
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Eminem to headline Saudi’s Soundstorm festival
Eminem is set to make his live debut in Saudi Arabia as one of the headliners for this year’s Soundstorm by MDLBeast festival.
The Detroit rapper will top the bill for the fifth edition of Soundstorm, which returns to the capital Riyadh from 12-14 December.
Thirty Seconds to Mars, Muse, Richie Hawtin and Marco Carola have also been announced for the 2024 lineup. Ticket prices range from SAR209-899 (€51-220).
After building its reputation as an electronic music-oriented event, Soundstorm has evolved into a multi-genre festival. Metallica became the first major heavy metal band to perform in Saudi Arabia at last year’s gathering, which also starred the likes of Travis Scott, Timbaland and Wizkid.
The country’s ongoing efforts to attract and host A-list live entertainment are documented in IQ‘s Global Promoters Report 2023 and Global Arena Guide 2024. There is great interest in the opening up of the once-closed country, with a flurry of new builds and upgrades on the way, despite controversy around the kingdom’s human rights record.
Eminem and Muse will also join Maroon 5 as headliners for this year’s Yasalam After-Race Concert Series, tied to the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix
The New Murabba Development Company, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), this week unveiled designs for a new 45,000-cap stadium. The venue will be located in Riyadh and is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2032.
Other new builds in Saudi include the 45,000-cap Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium located in Qiddiya, an entertainment and tourism megaproject in Riyadh unveiled as part of the Vision 2030 masterplan. Saudi already has four large stadiums under construction or being upgraded ahead of its hosting of the 2027 Asian Cup.
“The Saudi government has plans to build venues all across the country,” Iain Campbell, Oak View Group’s EVP Middle East and Africa, told the Global Arena Guide. “Not just in Riyadh but Jeddah and across the nation. The number of new venues in the pipeline is very exciting.”
In addition, ASM Global has planned a 20,000-cap Jeddah Arena Airport City at King Abdulaziz International Airport, and other developments are planned for Dammam.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Eminem and Muse will join Maroon 5 as headliners for this year’s Yasalam After-Race Concert Series as part of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend from 5-8 December.
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All Things Live promotes Norway’s biggest-ever gig
All Things Live has smashed the attendance record for a concert on Norwegian soil, hosting 60,000 fans at a Rammstein show.
The event took place on Sunday 24 June at Bjerke Travbane in Oslo and was the first-ever concert held at the horse racing track.
The previous attendance record was set by All Things Live subsidiary Atomic Soul with Eminem’s 2018 performance at Oslo Sommertid festival.
The rapper drew around 55,000 fans to the capital’s Voldsløkka sports stadium after tickets sold out in just six minutes.
Commenting on the Rammstein show, All Things Live Norway promoter Mark Vaughan says: “Bjerke Travbane was a fantastic venue to present this massive show. It doesn’t come any bigger than Rammstein and both band and crew were extremely happy after the show.”
All Things Live Norway has secured an exclusive agreement with Bjerke Travbane going forward, which will be the largest capacity arena in Norway.
“We have worked and invested a lot to make this venue compatible for the biggest artists in the world, now we have proved it works and we are looking forward to bringing stadium artists to Norway going forwards!” says Peer Osmundsvaag, All Things Live Norway.
“We are looking forward to bringing stadium artists to Norway going forwards”
News of the record-breaking concert comes as All Things Live announces yet another acquisition.
The private-equity-backed live entertainment group has sealed the deal with Stageway, a leading Norwegian live entertainment group that deals in artist management, booking and promoting.
The Bergen-based group’s activities are conducted via three companies: Stageway Talent, Komon Stageway and Stageway Teater.
Stageway Talent provides booking and promotion services across genres for a roster of more than 30 artists; Komon-Stageway delivers turnkey event solutions for large corporate customers and Stageway Teater produces comedy shows and acts as a management service provider for renowned Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis, among others.
Arne Svare, co-founder and CEO of Stageway, says: “We are so pleased to announce that we are joining forces with All Things Live to accelerate our joint business in Norway, the Nordics and beyond in the coming years. We have been part of the bustling live entertainment industry for four decades and known and respected the team behind All Things Live for years. Together, we will strengthen our offering to artists and customers while delivering even greater experiences for the audience.”
Knut Meiner, chairman and senior consultant of Komon-Stageway, adds: “Everyone in our companies have worked hard to build a strong reputation in the Norwegian market. We are absolutely thrilled to become part of a partnership, which is well-respected and shares our aspiration to grow the business based on deep understanding of the local market and a clear focus on bringing great live entertainment and fantastic corporate events to more people.”
“Stageway is a great business with fantastic talent, strong growth prospects and a perfect fit with our existing operations”
The management team and organisation of Stageway will remain unchanged, and existing contracts and customer relationships will not be affected by All Things Live’s acquisition of Stageway Talent, Komon-Stageway and Stageway Teater. In connection with the transaction, the current owners of the three companies become partners and co-owners of All Things Live.
“Stageway is a great business with fantastic talent, strong growth prospects and a perfect fit with our existing operations in All Things Live Norway. We are very pleased to welcome the great people behind Stageway who will contribute greatly to the development of our partnership in Norway and internationally,” says Kim Worsøe, member of the executive board of All Things Live Group.
Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Norwegian Competition Authority. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
All Things Live has been on an acquisition spree in the past fortnight, this week enhancing its presence in Belgium with the addition of management company Musickness.
Last week, All Things Live signalled its expansion into the Italian market with the acquisition of promoter and agency Radar Concerti and also recently announced the signing of international management firm Then We Take The World.
All Things Live was established in 2018 as “the new independent market leader in Nordic live entertainment” following Waterland Private Equity’s acquisition of six leading Scandinavian promoters and agencies.
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Asian promoters targeted by email scammers
Mirroring the rash of scams that targeted European and Latin American promoters in 2016–17, concert organisers in Asia have been warned to be on their guard after a surge in phishing emails from bogus ‘agents’.
The last few weeks have seen promoters, festivals and venues across Asia invited to offer for A-list talent, including Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Eminem and System of a Down, by scammers posing as their representatives.
Screenshots obtained by China Music Radar show emails purporting to be from Hannah Edds – assistant to Eminem’s agent, Steve Strange at X-ray Touring – and WME partner David Levy, from xraytouring.co and wmeentertainment.co, respectively (note the missing “m”s).
According to the site, the two emails originate from domains registered and hosted in Hong Kong.
The last few weeks have seen promoters, festivals and venues across Asia invited to offer for A-list talent by scammers
In May 2018, the UK’s Entertainment Agents’ Association issued a checklist for promoters following a spate of scams that saw fraudsters posing as agents for acts including System of a Down and Eminem, as well as Adele, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé and Mark Knopfler.
“Please be very careful if you get mails that don’t quite look right,” said CAA’s Emma Banks, who represents System of a Down. “Follow the common-sense steps that the Agents’ Association have suggested and don’t send any money until you have double checked that the ‘agent’ is indeed who they say they are.
“Please get on the phone to the agents you are doing business with – everything on email makes these scams so much easier for people to instigate.”
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Eminem 2019 Rapture tour to break more records
Eminem’s upcoming show in Wellington, New Zealand, is expected to bring record numbers of visitors to the Kiwi capital, as well as breaking the attendance record for the city’s 34,500-seat Westpac Stadium.
The rapper’s TEG Dainty-promoted 2019 Rapture tour has already been one for the history books, as a record 80,708 fans attended the Eminem concert at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday night.
A total of 45,000 fans will attend the one-off Eminem concert on Saturday 2 March in Westpac Stadium. According to stadium chief executive Shane Harmon, this will be the largest ever crowd to attend a single-day event in the stadium.
The venue organisers will have 1,500 staff members on hand at the concert, as well as installing additional food, drink and bathroom facilities.
“It’s going to be another huge weekend in the capital”
It is expected that 22,000 of these fans will be visitors, travelling from outside Wellington to attend the show. The previous record for single-day event visitors was set in 2017, when 20,000 British Lions rugby fans visited the city for a test match against the New Zealand All Blacks.
“It’s going to be another huge weekend in the capital,” says Wellington mayor, Justin Lester. “People will need to expect a bit of congestion on the streets and footpaths. Let’s welcome visitors and enjoy the occasion.”
Eminem has only played one New Zealand show before, at Western Springs Stadium (49,000-cap.) in Auckland, as part of his 2014 Rapture tour. The concert was the stadium’s fastest-selling show ever, attracting over 50,000 fans.
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Eminem breaks attendance record at the MCG
Eminem performed to a record-breaking 80,708 fans at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) last night, surpassing the stadium’s attendance record, established by the 2009 Sound Relief concert (80,518) at the stadium.
The concert, part of the rapper’s TEG Dainty-promoted 2019 Rapture tour, attracted more fans than ever before to a live concert at the MCG, which has a total capacity of 100,024.
TEG Dainty president and chief executive, Paul Dainty, has now promoted three out of the four shows with top entertainment attendance records at the MCG, with the 2017 Guns N’ Roses tour (73,756) and the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Super Showdown in 2018 (70,309).
Dainty calls the attendance record an “outstanding achievement” for the rapper.
“Eminem is one of the greatest showmen in the world with a fiercely loyal Australian fan base that continues to grow with each tour,” comments Dainty. “He is no stranger to selling out stadium shows, but this new record is just phenomenal.”
“Eminem is one of the greatest showmen in the world with a fiercely loyal Australian fan base that continues to grow with each tour”
Eminem has sold a total of 300,000 tickets for the five stadium shows that make up his Australian Rapture tour. The tour kicked off in Brisbane on 20 February, then heading to Sydney and Melbourne. The Australian leg closes on Wednesday in Perth, before the rapper heads to Wellington, New Zealand.
In 2014, Eminem played four sell-out shows across Australia and New Zealand as part of his first Rapture tour. The rapper performed at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium (51,335-cap.), Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium (43,927-cap.), Sydney’s ANZ Stadium (53,649-cap.) and Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium (52,444-cap.)
The tour also consisted of two South African dates and a show at London’s Wembley stadium (90,000-cap.).
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Eminem at Oslo Sommertid is Norway’s biggest-ever show
Hip-hop superstar Eminem smashed Norway’s record books with the biggest concert the country has ever hosted, when Atomic Soul sold out all 55,000 tickets in just six minutes for his 30 June Oslo Sommertid festival show, alongside Pusha T, Royce da 5’9”, OnkiP and Klovner I Kamp.
The promoter used the opportunity to carry out a ‘consequence analysis’ of the event, the results of which should help them, and other event organisers, with licensing applications in the years ahead.
“As part of our daily chores, we have to navigate the political landscape for licensing, park rental and other council-based activities, so we wanted to get an independent analysis done on what a concert actually generates for the city in tourism income,” explains Atomic Soul founder, Peer Osmundsvaag.
“We are extremely proud to have put on the largest event in Norwegian history”
That report, carried out by renowned economist Samfundsøkonomisk analyse, reveals that Eminem’s visit to the capital city generated additional tourism income of 80million kr (€8.2m), through the likes of hotel-room bookings, restaurant business and local transportation, and supported the equivalent of 100 full-time annual jobs.
“We were really surprised by the results of the analysis, but hopefully we can use this report as a tool when it comes to convincing the local authorities about the benefits that live music events can have to the economy and local businesses,” continues Osmundsvaag.
“We are extremely proud to have put on the largest event in Norwegian history and we’re looking forward to doing an even better job in 2019.”
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Huge summer shows are music to Twickenham’s ears
London’s Twickenham Stadium is gearing up for its biggest-ever summer of live music, as the home of England Rugby stakes its claim as a must-visit concert venue for some of the world’s biggest acts.
The Rolling Stones’ announcement earlier this week that the UK leg of its No Filter tour would include a stop at Twickenham is testament to the stadium, owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and which has a concert capacity of 55,000, fast becoming a major contender in the hotly-contested London stadium concert market.
Alongside the 19 June Stones gig, Twickenham will this July host two dates by Eminem – and RFU head of ticketing, music and new events Richard Harris reveals the venue is already in negotiations with artists touring in the next few years.
“This year we’ve filled up all our available slots,” he tells IQ, “but we’re already in talks for 2019 and even 2020.”
While Harris says Twickenham Stadium is still “very much focused on being a world-class rugby venue – that’s our bread and butter, our core business”, as well as serving as a London venue for the increasingly popular NFL American football league, stadium bosses have “ambitions” to grow its music programming after putting a temporary hold on concerts while the stadium prepared for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Music returned to Twickenham last July when U2 played two nights at the stadium as part of their Joshua Tree tour.
“I joined RFU in January 2016 as head of ticketing,” he explains, “and in 2017 I also took on the new events business. Our new chief exec, Steve Brown, is a huge music fan, and it was his vision to get music back in the stadium.”
The Rolling Stones haven’t played in the UK since 2013, and haven’t visited Twickenham since 2006 – what, then, was the process of securing that all-important 2018 date, IQ wonders?
“We’re focused on what we have: a brilliant venue for music”
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a hard one to get to London,” Harris explains. “The band weren’t even certain they were going to tour, but we went over to see them in Paris on a speculative trip in October last year and met up with [Sensible Events’] Andrew Zweck and AEG and said it would be great if the Stones could come ‘home’ to Twickenham. After all, they started out in Richmond…”
Initially, however, the Twickenham team were introduced by an unlikely figure, says Harris: the stadium’s head groundsman Keith, who met a key contact for the band while he was “giving a lecture in Devon about how to grow grass!”
Both Eminem’s Revival tour and the Stones’ No Filter are notably skipping Wembley Stadium – historically the go-to venue for stadium shows in London, but which has scaled back its live music programming slightly following the departure of former biz dev chief Jim Frayling. It does, however, still have both Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift this summer – is Harris conscious of competing with Wembley (as well as newer rival London Stadium, in Stratford) to secure shows, or is the market strong enough to accommodate everyone?
“It’s definitely a big enough market,” he says. “I used to work at Wembley, so I know the appeal. But we’re focused on what we have: a brilliant venue for music.
“The acoustics are great, the crowd are closer and the stands are steeper, so there’s a better connection with the audience…
“We’re in really good shape, and we’re really excited about the future.”
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Eminem to play first Danish show at Roskilde 2018
The European leg of Eminem’s comeback Revival tour, announced today, will include a stop at Roskilde Festival – the American rap superstar’s first-ever show in Denmark.
Eminem will headline Roskilde on Wednesday 4 July – the US’s Independence Day – with other European shows including Norway’s Oslo Sommertime Festival, Switzerland’s Frauenfeld Open Air, arena dates in Stockholm, Milan, Hanover and the Netherlands and two nights at London’s Twickenham Stadium (80,000-seat) on 14 and 15 July.
“Eminem is one of the biggest artists of his generation, and we are absolutely thrilled to finally get him to Denmark,” says Anders Wahrén, Roskilde’s head of programming. “We have wanted him at Roskilde Festival for so many years, and I must admit I almost shed a tear of joy when I got the confirmation.
“Eminem’s importance can’t be overstated. More than anyone else, he has brought hip hop to new audiences. His Reading show last year served as proof that he can conquer a festival crowd, and we can’t wait to see him on our iconic Orange stage.”
Eminem (pictured) joins around 175 acts playing Roskilde Festival 2018, including headliners Bruno Mars, Gorillaz and David Byrne.
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