Primavera Sound Porto expands for 10th edition
Primavera Sound Porto will gain an extra day and a bigger investment for its 10th-anniversary edition, taking place this June at Parque da Cidade.
The Portuguese festival will expand from three days to four, from 60 to 76 artists and from 35,000 capacity to 45,000 – thanks to the park increasing by six hectares.
Though the site could now host up to 60,000 people, Primavera Sound Porto director José Barreiro stressed the importance of “sustainable growth” that attracts more foreigners, mainly from the North American market.
Barreiro also revealed in a press conference on Tuesday (21 March) that the budget for this year’s festival has increased to €13 million. Porto City Council this year is more than tripling its previous contribution, from €200,000 to €650,000, but organisers are yet to announce the major sponsor that will replace NOS.
The Portuguese festival will expand from three days to four, from 60 to 76 artists and from 35,000 capacity to 45,000
“We will have news [about sponsorships] soon because there is a lot to be negotiated,” said Barreiro. “Of course, the support of the municipality is very important, but it does not solve all problems because we are talking about an investment of €13m and we need not only public support but also private support.”
Primavera Sound Porto 2023 has already announced Blur, Kendrick Lamar, Rosalía, FKA twigs, Halsey and more for what organisers are calling “the best lineup in the festival’s history”.
The 10th edition will take place between 7–10 June, with tickets starting from €70 and €170 for day tickets and full festival tickets, respectively.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
S.Korea’s SM Entertainment eyes expansion
South Korean entertainment giant SM Entertainment is planning to launch a headquarters in Singapore, in order to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia.
The Seoul-based operation, which is home to K-pop acts such as Red Velvet, Girls’ Generation, EXO, SHINee, NCT and Aespa, says that the new HQ will be tasked with “managing joint ventures in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as communicating with [its South Korea office] for other related ventures and plans.”
SM Entertainment founder Soo-Man Lee told CNBC that the company is already “in the midst of hiring more local talents, which will hopefully increase the full-time staff count.” The company is also “looking at hiring local undergraduates or fresh graduates for internships.”
On top of that, the company plans to launch retail businesses in Singapore, including cafes, merchandise stores and pop-up exhibitions.
The Singapore HQ will be tasked with “managing joint ventures in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand
The SM boss also revealed ambitions to slowly expand not just to other parts of Southeast Asia, but also to the wider continent, including the Middle East.
The company made its first foray into the region earlier this year after partnering with the Saudi Arabian investment department.
The deal will see SM discover, nurture and produce local S-pop (Saudi pop) artists with the active support of the Saudi Ministry of Investment, with plans to establish a venue “that can hold music festivals year-round”.
SM also plans to build a metaverse platform to “share Korean and Saudi culture” and “actively promote local business… production of various contents, and production and sales of products using IP”.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
TicketSwap continues to expand with UK launch
Ethical ticket resale platform TicketSwap is continuing its European expansion by launching in the UK.
The resale firm caps all ticket resale prices and also works directly with event organisers to offer verified SecureSwap tickets on its platform.
Since launching in 2012, the Amsterdam-headquartered company has attracted 9 million users active in 36 countries worldwide, plus 1.5 million registered users in the UK.
This year alone, the company has opened offices in Sao Paulo (BR), Stockholm (SE), Berlin (DE), Paris (FR), Madrid (ES), Milan (IT) & Krakow (PO).
The company’s international expansion comes after its first investment of US$10 million from Million Monkeys.
Hans Ober, CEO of TicketSwap says: “We’re delighted to formally enter the UK market, having already built a huge community of more than 1.5 million dedicated live music fans over the last few years.
“It’s clear there is a need for another innovative resale platform in the UK, and we look forward to working alongside the most respected and innovative brands in live British music to get as many fans to the artists and shows they love as possible.”
“It’s clear there is a need for another innovative resale platform in the UK”
Michael Robinson, Country Lead, TicketSwap UK comments: “I’m really excited to be leading TicketSwap’s partnership efforts in the UK, alongside our stellar team Sharen & Chris. TicketSwap has so much to offer promoters, especially with regards to helping them reach sell out quicker and identifying new audiences – something that’s so important in such a competitive landscape. We’re looking forward to working closely both with our partners and associated trade bodies across the UK.”
To mark its UK launch, TicketSwap has announced exclusive partnerships with the likes of LWE (Junction 2, Cogo, Tobacco Dock), with many others in the pipeline.
Paul Jack, Owner LWE (Exclusive promoters at Tobacco Dock) says: “We’re delighted to be one of TicketSwap’s launch partners for the UK market, helping to bring a safe ticketing experience to over 250,000 live music fans across more than 70 events annually. Fans today demand the flexibility to be able to sell their tickets last minute, and through our collaboration with TicketSwap we can ensure every event we run reaches full capacity, which results in a quality experience for everyone; artists, fans and promoters.”
TicketSwap says it works with several UK-based trade associations across the music industry to ensure its operations respect certain industry regulations, as well as providing data and insight on consumer behaviours.
The firm is also a member of the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticketing industry STAR (the Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers), as well as the Association of Electronic Music, Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) and Music Venue Trust.
TicketSwap this year partnered with the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) and was the title sponsor of its sister event, the International Festival Forum (IFF).
Outside of the UK, TicketSwap works with over 6,000 promoters, venues, festivals and ticketing companies including ID&T Group (Netherlands), Sziget Festival (Hungary), Bootshaus (Germany), Norbergfestival (Sweden), Entourage and Ingresse (Brazil).
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Rolling Loud heading to Thailand in 2023
Rolling Loud, the world’s biggest hip-hop festival franchise, will plant its flag in Thailand next year.
The expansion was announced via Rolling Loud’s Twitter account on Tuesday (26 July), with a caption reading: “Rolling Loud Thailand. See you 2023”. Details on the festival’s lineup, location, dates and tickets are yet to be announced.
The festival’s foray into Thailand will mark its first official event in Asia after a failed attempt at venturing into Hong Kong in 2019. The Hong Kong edition was scheduled to take place in October 2019 but was cancelled due to the city’s ongoing riots and protests at the time.
Rolling Loud Hong Kong would have been headlined by Migos and Wiz Khalifa with additional performances from the likes of Playboi Carti, Smokepurpp, Ski Mask The Slump God and more.
The festival’s foray into Thailand will mark its first official event in Asia
Founded in 2015, Rolling Loud has previously expanded from its flagship Miami festival to launch in cities including Los Angeles, New York and Sydney.
Earlier this month, Rolling Loud made its European debut in Portugal. Headlined by J Cole, A$AP Rocky and Future, the Live Nation-backed event was held on Praia Da Rocha Beach, Portimão, in the Algarve. The Portuguese spin-off was originally set for the summer of 2020 before being called off due to the pandemic.
In addition, Rolling Loud is expanding to Canada for the first time with headliners Dave, Future and Wizkid at Ontario Place, Toronto from 9-11 September. Its New York edition, meanwhile, is lined up for Queens Citi Field from 23–25 September, headed by Nicki Minaj, A$AP Rocky and Future.
Alongside its sister events, the brand also joined forces with the Netherlands’ Woo Hah! hip-hop festival to launch Woo Hah! x Rolling Loud at Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek. Held from 1–3 July, acts included J Cole, Future, Dave and Roddy Ricch.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Ticketmaster enters South Africa
Ticketmaster is expanding to South Africa, opening a new headquarters in Cape Town.
Sporting teams, artists, promoters, festivals and venues will be able to take full advantage of Ticketmaster’s suite of products and digital ticketing tools.
The official announcement follows Ticketmaster’s highly successful on-sale for Justin Bieber’s Justice World Tour, the first-ever major international tour to sell all tickets online in South Africa, and the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 on sale which is set to deliver the country’s first-ever 100% digital sporting event.
“As a popular stop for the world’s biggest artists and major international sporting events, South Africa is a natural choice for us,” says Mark Yovich, president of Ticketmaster.
“As a popular stop for the world’s biggest artists and major international sporting events, South Africa is a natural choice”
“Our unparalleled technology and continued investment in innovation will enable our South African team to provide the best ticketing experience to event organisers, venues and fans across the country.”
Justin Van Wyk, managing director of Ticketmaster South Africa, says: “Our local team of experts have been living and breathing live events for 20+ years and are ready to bring their industry-wide knowledge coupled with the world’s largest ticket marketplace to clients and fans here.
“As a country rapidly adopting digital technology, South African fans are sure to embrace Ticketmaster’s industry-leading digital ticketing innovations.”
Ticketmaster’s move into South Africa brings the company’s operations to 31 countries worldwide.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Ticketmaster grows presence in Mexico, Chile
Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketer, is expanding its presence in Latin America with new operations in Mexico and Chile.
The news comes shortly after Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation acquired Ocesa Entretenimiento, the third-largest promoter in the world and the parent company of Ticketmaster Mexico.
Under the new ownership structure, Ticketmaster Mexico will transition from a licensing agreement to integrating operations with the broader organisation.
According to Ticketmaster, the move will enable the Mexican business to gain access to the company’s full suite of technology, products and services.
“”Latin America is an incredibly important live entertainment market and a core focus of our global expansion efforts”
In Chile, where Ticketmaster will launch for the first time, the initial market focus will be on increasing digital ticketing use.
Chile and Mexico are the latest markets to be added to Ticketmaster’s Latin American portfolio, which already includes Argentina and Brazil.
The company has long had a foothold in Argentina, delivering ticketing services for several venues and festivals.
While in Brazil, the company focuses on supporting Live Nation’s Rock in Rio music festival and touring business, with plans to bring its digital ticketing technology to the market in 2022.
“Latin America is an incredibly important live entertainment market and a core focus of our global expansion efforts,” says Mark Yovich, Ticketmaster president. “The region has become an important destination for global touring artists, and we have also seen significant growth in venue and festival activity over the last several years.
“Bringing Mexico into the fold and launching in Chile is such a positive way to finish off the year. We look forward to working with our strong base of partners to elevate the fan experience and further our support of the region.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Mad Cool adds fifth day for 2022 edition
Live Nation’s Mad Cool has announced an additional day for next year’s edition, in celebration of the festival’s fifth anniversary.
According to organisers, the expansion comes from “a commitment to offer the best experience for the community of music fans” who attend the Spanish festival in 2022.
The five-day event will take place between 6–10 July 2022, in Madrid, with acts including Florence + The Machine, Queens Of The Stone Age and Haim.
The fifth-anniversary edition was due to take place in 2020 with a reduced capacity, increased stage numbers and a fourth day (up from three days).
However, both the 2020 and 2021 editions of Mad Cool were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The expansion comes from “a commitment to offer the best experience for the community of music fans”
Since launching in 2016, Mad Cool has grown rapidly from an overall capacity of 45,000 to 80,000 last edition.
This “massive growth” has led to some “incidents” in past editions, festival director Javier Arnáiz told IQ in a post-season reflection.
Florence + The Machine, Queens Of The Stone Age and Haim are among 32 new names announced today.
The likes of Chvrches, Sam Fender, Arlo Parks, Glass Animals and Easy Life have also been added to the bill.
Those artists join the 104 acts announced for Mad Cool 2022 last June, which include Muse, The Killers and Metallica.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
CTS share price peaks after N.America expansion
CTS Eventim’s share price is at an all-time high following its expansion into the North American ticketing market.
For the first time in the Munich-based company’s history, its share price has peaked at €65.80 – up almost 10% in the last five days.
The spike comes days after CTS, the second-largest ticketing company in the world, announced its goal to “establish an alternative to the dominant providers in the US and Canada” as it began selling tickets for its first US client, Big Apple Circus, on 26 September.
Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, CTS was selling more than 250 million tickets for around 800,000 events every year, making it the world’s second-largest provider of ticketing solutions and the number one in Europe.
“North America is the most attractive market in the world for live entertainment and ticketing”
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS Eventim, says: “North America is the most attractive market in the world for live entertainment and ticketing. The platform eventim.com puts us in an ideal position to benefit from the restart there.
“The sale of tickets for Big Apple Circus is a first step on this journey. We are already in discussions with potential partners and customers about making our cutting-edge ticketing systems available to them soon.”
The Big Apple Circus is being co-produced by veteran entertainment executive Michael Cohl, a longtime promoter of bands like The Rolling Stones who briefly served as chairman of Live Nation in 2008.
Last year, CTS and Cohl formed the joint venture EMC Presents with the goal of bringing leading international artists to stages in the United States and Canada.
The move is CTS’s second foray into the US market. In 2009, Live Nation partnered with CTS Eventim to launch Live Nation Tickets, a platform intended to challenge Ticketmaster’s dominant position in North America.
Before it was launched, Live Nation pulled out of the deal and merged with Ticketmaster instead, a move which led to CTS Eventim suing for breach of contract. The disagreement was settled in arbitration in 2013.
This summer also saw the launch of Eventim Live Asia. The new company, headquartered in Singapore and led by CEO Jason Miller, focuses on the rapidly growing live entertainment markets in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
In addition to Eventim Live Asia, Eventim Live, formed in early 2019, includes 36 promoters in 15 countries, the most recent addition being Matt Schwarz’s DreamHaus in Germany.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival to expand for 2021
Grammy award-nominated rapper Travis Scott has announced that his Astroworld Festival will return this year with an expanded format due to ‘overwhelming demand’.
The third edition of Astroworld Festival will take place on 5 and 6 November at NRG Park in Scott’s hometown, Houston, Texas, with a line-up curated by the artist himself.
Scott has revealed that he will be headlining Astroworld Festival 2021, which will adopt the theme ‘Open Your Eyes To A Whole New Universe’, while the full line-up will be announced closer to the time.
The previous two events have sold out before line-ups were revealed.
In 2019 the festival became the largest single-day artist-curated music festival in the country
According to Live Nation, in November 2019, the festival became the largest single-day artist-curated music festival in the country, as well as the largest music festival in Houston as the sold-out event played host to over 50,000 fans.
The festival, which celebrates hip-hop, pop music, has hosted the likes of Post Malone, Rosalia, Pharrell Williams, Da Baby, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Playboi Carti and Megan Thee Stallion.
Two-day GA passes will be available for purchase beginning next 5 May at 10 am CT on AstroworldFest.com.
A portion of proceeds from Astroworld Festival 2021 will be donated to the festival’s official charity partner, Cactus Jack Foundation, founded by Scott.
The expansion of the festival follows Astronomical, Scott’s record-breaking in-game concert event which took place in Fortnite in April 2020 and attracted more than 12 million players.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Dice launches in the US
Disruptive UK ticketing company Dice is to launch in the United States, it announced this morning.
Initially offering tickets to shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco (Sam Smith, Khalid, Matthew Dear and Vevo’s SF Hallowe’en event in San Francisco are among its first events), Dice US has big plans for the world’s largest, and most competitive, ticketing market, says Dice founder and CEO Phil Hutcheon.
“We’re focused on a younger demographic that’s fed up with how ticketing is,” says Hutcheon. “They’re disengaging, and we need to be careful because live music is in competition with Netflix, with bars [and] with eating out”.
“We have ambitious plans to roll out across the US in the coming months”
“If you keep screwing over fans, they won’t come back. Dice is the ethical platform that fans trust to get tickets. We get fans in, keep scalpers out and we have ambitious plans to roll out across the US in the coming months.”
Dice launched in the UK in 2014, carving out a niche with a booking fee-free model that ties tickets to mobile devices, making unauthorised resale impossible. It earlier this month announced it was introducing ‘hangover days’ for worse-for-wear staff, and in May debuted an industry first no-questions-asked refunds policy for customers no longer able to attend shows.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.