x

The latest industry news to your inbox.


I'd like to hear about marketing opportunities

    

I accept IQ Magazine's Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Lech the good times roll: Poland market report

With a new, more liberal government incoming, and a population whose demand for live entertainment is increasing year on year, Poland appears to be on the brink of a new era. However, some tricky obstacles during 2023 have made that path a bit more complex to navigate than many in the live music business would have wished. Adam Woods reports.

These are significant days in Poland – “the end of the evil times,” as prime minister-in-waiting Donald Tusk called them, after taking a close second place in the country’s parliamentary election in November, in a result that looks likely to oust the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in favour of a centre-left coalition.

For now, liberal democracy seems to have given populism a bloody nose in the fifth-biggest nation in the EU, although certain obstacles – including an incumbent right-wing president – still remained at the time of writing.

And just as Poland’s political direction is both full of promise and yet somewhat undecided, so its live business is an intriguing work in progress. It has been buffeted lately by some familiar challenges, but it remains a maturing market with huge untapped potential, moving in the right direction. “And we know it,” says Mikołaj Ziółkowski, founder and CEO of Alter Art, promoter of Poland’s biggest festivals, including Open’er and Orange Warsaw. “We have not been using our resources to their full potential. We feel we have still got space to develop as an industry, and we are really optimistic about the upcoming year.”

Certainly, Poland has a great deal going for it. In terms of national wealth, its GDP per capita of $45,343 sits just ahead of European markets such as Portugal, Hungary, and Croatia, and not too far behind Czechia, Spain, Lithuania, and Estonia [source: IMF]. Likewise, its appetite for tickets is also formidable, and while Warsaw is clearly the focus of things, other big cities are in the mix, such as Kraków and Katowice in the south, Łódź in the centre, Poznań further west and Gdańsk on the Baltic coast.

“There’s certainly a lot of things happening,” says Good Taste Production creative director Sara Kordek. “You have lots of festivals, at all levels; you have different venues, at all levels; you have 38 million people that listen to music.”

“We now have to work twice as hard to build trust among our potential clients to make sure they have no reservations about buying tickets in advance”

It is true that the year nearly gone has been a complicated one, due to a list of factors any live professional can reel off with ease: cost of living; production and talent inflation; competition for headliners; and the effect on the market of several years’ worth of stadium shows all arriving at once.

Under these conditions, highly active Polish promoter Follow The Step came unglued in August. The heavily undersubscribed On Air and FEST Festival events were both cancelled as their parent company’s troubles mounted, and Follow The Step has since suspended operations and focused on attempting to settle its liabilities and find a buyer for certain assets.

The impact of the failure of such an ambitious promoter has been felt across the business, with sponsors losing some of their nerve and ticket-buyers questioning the safety of their investment.

“A situation like this affects everyone in the business ecosystem, including artists, industry professionals, customers, and venues,” says Konrad Kozioł, director of sales and marketing at Arena Gliwice. “We now have to work twice as hard to build trust among our potential clients to make sure they have no reservations about buying tickets in advance.”

Poland is accustomed to playing a difficult hand. With Germany to the west and Belarus and Ukraine – and, of course, Russia – to the east, it has regularly been caught in the push and pull between bigger powers, leaving a question mark against its name in the minds of many further west – booking agents among them.

“Poland stands out as a unique market in various respects”

“Poland stands out as a unique market in various respects,” says Filip Potocki at FKP Scorpio Poland. “On one hand, the enthusiasm for live events in the country is comparable to that of the largest European markets, with Warsaw closely trailing its Western counterparts. However, on the other hand, Poland’s geopolitical location poses challenges that can significantly impact the industry.”

But particularly in Poland’s big cities, which typically are strongly pro-Ukraine and pro-EU, the electoral swing towards Europe feels like a welcome platform for good things to come.

“All the economic predictions for next year are very good,” says Ziółkowski. “Our industry is very connected to what is happening with the country, and if the political situation and the economy are better, more stable, more progressive, it will give us the opportunity to develop the market as well.

“If you compare Poland to many other countries, I really hope we are coming back in the right way. I hope we will be a bright star of Europe.”

Promoters
The Follow The Step debacle, which erupted in early August, has had major consequences across the Polish business. In addition to the two cancelled festivals, there have been debts unpaid, many tickets unrefunded, and outstanding concerts taken on, in some cases, by other promoters and venues.

“They did a lot of wonderful shows. I went to FEST Festival several times, and it was a really great festival”

Initial reports of bankruptcy turned in September to talk of “restructuring”, with FEST Festival ticketholders contacted and invited to accept free future tickets in lieu of refunds. FEST president Marcin Szymanowski said in October that the festival will be sold to a new investor if the restructuring can be settled, though no further updates have yet been announced.

One sad aspect of the Follow The Step collapse – which Szymanowski attributed to extremely soft sales of On Air and FEST Festival tickets, combined with crippling production costs – is that the promoter in many respects represented an ambitious and energetic face of the Polish scene.

As well as the much-admired FEST and other festivals, it staged 100 international headline shows per year for artists including Alan Walker, Avril Lavigne, Melody Gardot, Hardwell, Robert Glasper, Boris Brejcha, Rise Against, and Denzel Curry – though clearly there were flaws in the model, and the market may bear the scars.

“It damages Poland because they over-offered for so many artists. If an artist usually gets around €10,000 in Czechia or Austria, for example, they would offer 15k or even 20k in some cases,” says Charm Music Poland promoter Weronika Tomkowska, who is also quick to give Follow The Step credit for a commendable booking policy.

“They did a lot of wonderful shows. I went to FEST Festival several times, and it was a really great festival. It’s a real pity that it’s happened. But I know several people that worked [at Follow The Step] – all wonderful people – and there was a kind of a [standing] joke that they were constantly losing money on a sold-out show. So, the agents are now used to the fees that Follow The Step offered, and other promoters don’t really have a fighting chance.”

“There were 11 stadium shows in two months, all sold out, and the rest of the industry still worked well”

The evidence of a busy summer suggests that damage to consumer confidence, at least, is unlikely to be permanent. The Live Nation stadium roadshow that did such good business across Europe this summer came to Poland in force, with two Beyoncé shows, plus Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd, Depeche Mode, P!nk, Harry Styles, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium.

Live Nation has operated in Poland for many years, with Steven Todd, managing director, Central and Eastern Europe, at the helm since 2014. In spite of its heavy megastar calendar, Live Nation’s Polish business is broad; in 2019, it acquired Poznań-based promoter Go Ahead, the country’s leading promoter of club shows, and now stages numerous smaller shows for both international and domestic artists.

And while blockbuster shows clearly drew a great deal of money out of the gig-goer’s pocket in 2023, local promoters are satisfied at how well the broader ecosystem held up. “There were 11 stadium shows in two months, all sold out,” says Ziółkowski, “and the rest of the industry still worked well. Our attendance in 2023 at Open’er was the same as in 2019, with completely different ticket prices. We knew 2023 wouldn’t be easy, and we were happy to get the result we got.”

As well as its festival business, Alter Art promotes headline shows – including, most prominently, three Taylor Swifts at PGE Narodowy Stadium on the first three nights of August next year.

“We sold out three National Stadium shows, which is a record,” says Ziółkowski. “And our other headline arenas and clubs – because we go from small clubs to stadiums – is looking very good, as are our family entertainment shows. We are maintaining our numbers; we have got a lot of shows going on.”

“Our approach is characterised by thoughtful planning, a focus on the long term, and a commitment to avoiding hasty decisions”

FKP Scorpio Poland is a big player taking things carefully in Poland. Under Warsaw-born Potocki, who also heads FKP Austria, it will next year bring Ed Sheeran to the Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk for two nights, though typically its shows, while numerous, are generally more modest.

“We have deliberately pursued a strategy of gradual and consistent growth in the number of events we organise,” says Potocki. “Our approach is characterised by thoughtful planning, a focus on the long term, and a commitment to avoiding hasty decisions. Looking ahead, we anticipate a substantial boost in our market presence next year.”

Among FKP’s Polish shows this year were Irish rockers Inhaler and YouTube-powered Hungarian stars Peter Bence and Azahriah, with British comic Bill Bailey and Finnish stand-up ISMO coming in the new year.

“This year marked a successful foray into organising not just musical events but also comedy shows,” says Potocki. “We are pleased to observe a growing interest in Poland for events tailored to individuals who are at ease with the English language.”

Good Taste Production mixes a connoisseur’s appreciation of jazz – having put on Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Jacob Collier and others in recent years – with international stars such as Jack Savoretti and Jamiroquai, plus a lot of Polish talent.

“We have 30 arena shows announced for domestic acts like Mrozu, Daria Zawiałow, Kwiat Jabłoni, and Ralph Kaminski”

“We do have lots of domestic acts,” says Kordek. “In fact, we have 30 arena shows announced for domestic acts like Mrozu, Daria Zawiałow, Kwiat Jabłoni, and Ralph Kaminski. Last year, we were doing club tours with these artists, and then we put them on our Summer Sounds project, our travelling festival, and now we have announced arena tours for spring, and they are selling pretty well – like, 80% sold out in some cases.”

While international artists may initially have been spooked by the nearby war, there are suggestions that efforts to reroute around the conflict may be benefiting the Polish market.

“Before, most tours went to Germany and Czechia, then Ukraine and Russia, and then to the Baltics,” says Kordek. “And now, suddenly, artists that didn’t intend to stop in Poland have to cross Poland, and when you have 800 kilometres to cross, it’s actually reasonable to give it a try.

And then you stop by, and it works.” To establish exactly what the Polish market is capable of, Kordek suggests it is important for promoters to try different things and establish new circuits.

“We have a very different strategy to other promoters,” she says. “We have more smaller projects, but we cover the whole of Poland. Most of the promoters do tours, but it’s Warsaw, Poznań, Kraków. We might offer 20 shows, because Poland is quite big, and we don’t have many mid-size venues – we have 1,000-cap clubs and then you have arenas. So, for artists that are more like 2,000-cap or 3,000-cap, it can be better to do a small tour. You can actually go to the fan base, and it just works better.”

“We did several shows on Progresja’s Summer Stage. It’s kind of the only outdoor space in Warsaw… that offers this kind of festival vibe”

Charm Music, an offshoot of Turkish promoter Charmenko, has run in Poland since 2009 and has recently promoted Eros Ramazzotti at the Atlas Arena in Łódź, as well as artists including Alt-J and Foals, with, as yet unspecified plans for a couple of stadium shows next year.

“We’ve got a bit more into outdoor shows as a promoting agency. We did several shows on Progresja’s Summer Stage,” says Tomkowska, referring to the 9,000-cap outdoor stage erected by the nearby Progresja club in Wola on the west side of Warsaw. “It’s kind of the only outdoor space in Warsaw in the capital city that offers this kind of festival vibe.”

Kraków’s DM Agency, meanwhile, scored a coup with its stadium tour for local artist Sanah in August and September, which stopped at the Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, the Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk and, finally, PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, where she became the first Polish female star to sell out the venue, with 70,000 in attendance. Also on DM’s books as the year wrapped up were a show for Bryan Adams at Arena Gliwice and one for veteran local metallers TSA at Spodek Katowice.

Among other promoters in Poland are Prestige MJM, which has a busy 2024 in sight, including the Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews Band, and Andrea Bocelli in Warsaw.

Knock Out Productions specialises in rock and metal and is one of the promoters of Gdańsk’s Mystic Festival and B90 Club. Knock Out also promotes indoor arena shows together with B90’s Arkadiusz Hronowski, who notes the rise and rise of domestic music within Poland’s own borders.

“The Polish music scene is doing well. But it is a closed camp, because apart from a few bands, most of them are unknown outside Poland”

“The Polish music scene is doing well,” says Hronowski. “But it is a closed camp, because apart from a few bands, most of them are unknown outside Poland. Most of the fans come in droves to concerts, both club and indoor and recently even stadiums. The biggest problem of the Polish scene is going outside of Poland. I think that many of them dream of a career outside, but they are not ready to go out of their safe bubble because they know that often the mission is impossible. [Gdańsk-born extreme metal band] Behemoth is an example that you can achieve success all over the world.”

Festivals
The 20th anniversary of Poland’s biggest festival, Open’er, took place between 28 June and 1 July 2023, at its usual home of Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport on Poland’s Baltic coast, with more than 110,000 attendees and a lineup Ziółkowski remains enthusiastic about, including Arctic Monkeys, Lizzo, Lil Nas X, SZA, and Kendrick Lamar, plus Labrinth, Caroline Polachek, Rina Sawayama, Queens of the Stone Age and others.

Part way through the 2024 booking process, and with Foo Fighters and Dua Lipa already announced, Ziółkowski is pleased again. “After a few months of work and dealing with the headliners and the artists, it’s looking positive,” he says.

In a nation of independent festivals, alternative beacon OFF Festival in Katowice is more independent than most. Founded by musician Artur Rojek and wife Anka in 2006, OFF has been described as “one of the best-curated festival experiences in Europe” and Artur can reflect on a successful 2023 against a turbulent backdrop.

“This was the first post-pandemic edition without rolled-up sales like we had in 2022, when we had an audience with tickets bought before the pandemic and with tickets bought after,” he says. “Additionally, this year, the festival industry was hit by a crisis. Most festivals in Poland had a decline of around 30-40%. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt us that much. We had almost a full audience, and great shows by Pusha T, King Krule, Confidence Man, and Tamino. Due to the fact that the lineup included artists such as Homixide Gang and Lancey Foux, there were also more young people.”

“No other promoter is doing festivals on this scale in such a way, so we don’t really have any competitors in this field”

And even if festivals have had a bumpy year or two, plenty of promoters have further festival ambitions,
Charm Music Poland among them. “Definitely. I mean, the place that FEST Festival used was amazing,” says Tomkowska. “It was this huge, beautiful park in Silesia [Silesian Park in Chorzów, near Katowice], and I think it has a huge potential. And if someone doesn’t just jump in and take over, it’s going to be a waste.”

Good Taste Production has a different take on festivals to most, with a stable of ten smaller events. “All of them except one are up to 5,000 capacity,” says Kordek. “And I think that makes a difference because they’re calculated in a different way when you think about the production. You don’t need international superstars to make them work. And the sponsors are more eager to invest because they know that they have a more dedicated audience.”

Among Good Taste’s productions is the venerable Jarocin rock festival near Poznań, the boutique, experience-focused Salt Wave on Hel Peninsula (which separates the Bay of Puck from the Baltic Sea), and the travelling Letnie Brzmienia [Summer Sounds] festival.

“It has Polish arena-level headliners – eight slots per day – and we’ve played in nine cities,” says Kordek. “No other promoter is doing festivals on this scale in such a way, so we don’t really have any competitors in this field.”

In Łódź, musician and producer Maciej Werk organises the long-running Soundedit, the International Festival of Music Producers and Sound Designers, which this November drew 700 people to the city for workshops and shows by the Sisters of Mercy and Hania Rani at the city’s Wytwórnia Club.

“We have now got to the point where it’s so saturated that it’s become quite hard to sell out an event, which was previously an achievable goal”

“Łódź is a musical city,” says Werk. “At the beginning of the 1990s, end of the 80s, there were a couple of scenes that started to develop in Poland, and Łódź was really good: electronic, post-industrial, gothic – these types of genres. The local artists are very strong.”

Venues
While some note the Warsaw-centric nature of the Polish live business, the odd fact is that, of all the active larger arenas in Poland – from the largest (the 22,000-capacity Tauron Arena in Kraków) to the newest (the state-of-the-art Arena Gliwice in Upper Silesia, which opened in 2018) – none of them are in the capital.

Mikołaj Ziółkowski, for one, hopes that the likely new ruling coalition has a few ideas on that score. “We need a new big arena in Poland,” he says. “In Warsaw, there is no proper 20k arena. As you can imagine, that would give us a lot of opportunities, so I hope that is something the new government will look at pretty quickly.”

Arena Gliwice, located near Katowice in southern Poland’s industrial heartland, has been visited by 350,000 people in 2023, between shows and sporting events and corporate functions. The 13,752-seat main arena, which can scale up to 17,178 spectators, has become a frequent stop on international tours, though Kozioł notes the challenges of the market.

“The market in Poland is continuously growing,” says Kozioł. “We have now got to the point where it’s so saturated that it’s become quite hard to sell out an event, which was previously an achievable goal.

“The post-Covid market in Poland is a bit different now. People are buying tickets last moment, sometimes even the same day”

“Predicting the total cost of events in advance is still a challenge given the changing prices of energy and labour costs. We’ve also seen a shift when it comes to marketing events. Strategies that were effective last year aren’t producing the same results this year, which means that we have to look for new ways of reaching our audiences.”

The largest arena in Poland is the 22,000-capacity Tauron Arena Kraków, which opened in 2014 and hosts a wide range of sport, as well as taking the pick of the touring international shows, with recent visitors including Harry Styles, Alicia Keys, The Cure, Backstreet Boys, Alan Walker, and Pearl Jam, as well as Louis Tomlinson, whose concert was originally intended to be a Follow The Step event.

“The agency went bankrupt, and we were wondering what would happen with Louis Tomlinson’s concert at our venue,” says Tauron Arena’s Łukasz Pytko. “Fortunately, another agency took over the organisation, and finally, the artist played here in September.”

For its tenth birthday next year, the venue will promote a large concert of its own for the first time in its Main Arena. And while events are still numerous – around 380 last year, and a similar number this year – Pytko notes that the mechanics of the market have shifted.

“The post-Covid market in Poland is a bit different now,” he says. “People are buying tickets last moment, sometimes even the same day.”

“We will be hosting some of the most legendary names in the music industry, like Depeche Mode, Niall Horan, Rod Stewart, Sting…”

The 13,805-capacity Atlas Arena in the central city of Łódź – Poland’s third-largest city – is the second-biggest indoor arena in the country and has seen Avril Lavigne, Scorpions, 50 Cent, and Il Divo this year.

“Our undoubted advantage is our location in central Poland, an hour’s drive from Warsaw by highway,” says vice president Maciej Łaski. “Łódź is experiencing significant development in infrastructure and urban renewal, and new investments in public transport, including the modernisation of tram lines and road networks, are enhancing connectivity.”

Next year, Atlas Arena will celebrate its 15th anniversary. “We will be hosting some of the most legendary names in the music industry, like Depeche Mode, Niall Horan, Rod Stewart, Sting, Within Temptation, Architects, Alessandro Safina, and André Rieu, and we expect more big announcements in the coming months,” says Łaski. “The family entertainment segment is also doing very well in Atlas Arena, and we have announced some great Polish stars with very ambitious music productions.”

In Katowice, the Spodek Arena, built in 1971, was the largest indoor venue in Poland until the arrival of the Tauron, but it remains well frequented, with international volleyball, the prog-focused Summer Fog Festival and a visit from Megadeth all taking place this year.

 


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.

Follow The Step initiates restructuring proceedings

Polish promoter Follow The Step has initiated restructuring proceedings after its flagship festival, Fest Festival, filed for bankruptcy last month.

Restructuring is usually the first stage in the process of agreeing a way forward with creditors in order to manage repayment of the debt, without the client becoming insolvent.

“This procedure is aimed at obtaining approval of the arrangement that will enable us to settle our liabilities,” reads a statement from the Warsaw-based company.

“We would also like to inform you that Follow The Step is temporarily suspending its participation in the organisation of all upcoming events.”

The statement goes on to say the company has made “intensive efforts to re-organise upcoming events so that you will still have the opportunity to participate”.

Concerts with Louis Tomlinson, Gorgon City, I AM Hardstyle, Boris Brejcha, Dimension, Chase & Status, Sub Focus, T78 and Illenium have been passed over to other promoters.

“We will provide detailed information about the fate of individual events as soon as possible on Facebook pages dedicated to these events and in direct e-mails sent to ticket buyers,” it continues.

“Follow The Step is temporarily suspending its participation in the organisation of all upcoming events”

Fest Festival, one of the fastest-growing music festivals in eastern Europe, filed for bankruptcy after selling only 50% of its tickets for the 2023 edition.

The fourth edition of the Follow The Step-promoted event was due to take place between 9–13 August at Silesia Park in Chorzów, near Katowice, with acts including The Chemical Brothers, Peggy Gou and Kasabian.

The festival was faced with a number of financial challenges in its four-year existence due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion in neighbouring Ukraine.

Its cancellation came two months after the Polish promoter cancelled the second edition of its Warsaw festival, On Air.

Follow The Step was launched in 2015 by Maciej Korczak and Marcin Szymanowski. The agency owns two music venues (Smolna and Praga Centrum) and seven festivals (World Wide Warsaw, Made in WWA, Summer Contrast, FEST Festival, On Air Festival, and Undercity) and organises over 100 international headline shows per year.

IQ has reached out to Follow The Step for comment.

 


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.

Poland’s Fest Festival files for bankruptcy

Fest Festival, one of the fastest-growing music festivals in eastern Europe, has filed for bankruptcy after selling only 50% of its tickets for the 2023 edition.

The fourth edition of the Follow The Step-promoted event was due to take place this weekend (9–13 August) at Silesia Park in Chorzów, near Katowice, with acts including The Chemical Brothers, Peggy Gou and Kasabian.

Today’s announcement comes two months after the Polish promoter cancelled the second edition of its Warsaw festival, On Air.

In a statement published on Fest Festival‘s website, organisers said today is “the most painful day in the history of Fest Festival”.

“Our festival was in a phase of dynamic growth, with attendance increasing by over 30% each year,” reads the statement. “Such dynamic development led us to believe that this year would be just as successful. However, despite the tremendous support from many of our partners and sponsors, this year’s crisis in the event and entertainment industry significantly reduced ticket sales, making our projections incorrect.

“Despite tremendous support, this year’s crisis in the industry significantly reduced sales, making our projections incorrect”

“In the last few weeks, we have done everything in our power to cope with this new situation. We used all available funds for event organisation and the necessary preparations. Over the past months, we held discussions with public institutions, sponsors, and funds to secure additional funding for this year’s edition. We reduced costs and diversified promotional channels. Unfortunately, none of these actions yielded the expected results or secured the finances for the upcoming event. We fought with all our might until the last moment. ”

The first edition of Fest Festival took place in 2019 and drew 16,000 people each day, placing the festival among the largest music events in Poland. Organisers called it “the most challenging period in our country’s history to launch a new festival initiative”.

“Any new project of this kind requires several years to reach profitability,” continues the statement. “In our case, the previous editions of the festival were funded from ongoing operations, contributions from the owners, and loans from external companies. Despite four years of efforts, the project did not receive sufficient support from public entities, which significantly complicated its organisation.”

In 2020, Follow The Step was forced to cancel the second edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, Fest Festival was permitted to go ahead at full capacity but under strict Covid-19 rules. With 35,000 festivalgoers over four days, it was the biggest event in Poland in 2021.

The following year was just as challenging due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s neighbouring country, which saw “a massive hike in inflation and a twofold increase in costs, putting the festival in an exceptionally challenging situation”.

“We are forced to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, which prevents the company from making any payments at the moment”

“We managed to overcome last year’s problems, but 2023 painfully verified our plans – in mid-June, the 30% sales growth trend of tickets reversed, resulting in lower sales compared to the previous edition of Fest. Other issues did not help either – a further significant increase in event organisation costs due to inflation, exceptionally strict “upfront” payment conditions for subcontractors and artists, the international crisis, lack of expected support from the province, and a delay of 5 days in handing over the event site.”

Warsaw-based Follow The Step says Fest Festival 2023 ticketholders will be contacted about the refund process but adds that “in the current situation, we are forced to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, which prevents the company from making any payments at the moment. This is the only way for us to settle the organisation of the festival.”

Other festivals that will not take place in 2023 include Falls Festival (Australia), Rolling Loud (US), Summerburst (Sweden), Hills of Rock (Bulgaria), InMusic (Croatia), Wireless GermanyHear Hear (Belgium) and Tempelhof Sounds and Tempelhof Sounds Presents (Germany).

Follow The Step was launched in 2015 by Maciej Korczak and Marcin Szymanowski. The agency owns two music venues (Smolna and Praga Centrum) and seven festivals (World Wide Warsaw, Made in WWA, Summer Contrast, FEST Festival, On Air Festival, and Undercity) and organises over 100 international headline shows per year.

 


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.

Two major Polish festivals called off for 2023

Poland’s festival summer has rapidly diminished with the cancellations of two major events: Kraków Live and On Air.

“Festivalgoers, Kraków Live will have its beginning in a new formula and place next year. See you in summer 2024!” reads a statement posted on Kraków Live’s Facebook page, on 5 June.

Promoter Alter Art, which also organises Open’er and Orange Warsaw, last year announced that Kraków Live would move from its longtime home of the Polish Aviation Museum due to site changes, but added that the event would return in 2023. Ultimately, no details of the 2023 edition were given before it was pulled.

Kraków Live has taken place at the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków since 2007 and was known as Coke Live Festival until 2013.

The two-day event has hosted stars such as Calvin Harris, Post Malone, Travis Scott, Lewis Capaldi and The Chemical Brothers, and typically attracts 60,000 people each year.

“Kraków Live will have its beginning in a new formula and place next year”

On Air, a new festival from Fest Festival promoter Follow the Step, was also cancelled this week on Wednesday (7 June).

“We made a decision to postpone our festival to next year,” reads a statement on On Air’s Facebook page. “The second edition will take place in September 2024,” the statement continues, adding that refunds or ticket exchanges will be offered to ticketholders.

On Air was due to return to the 70,000-capacity Bemowo airport in Warsaw between 8 and 9 September 2023, with the line-up yet to be announced.

Following last year’s debut, Follow the Step co-founder Maciej Korczak told IQ of the challenging but rewarding launch.

“Launching a new festival is never easy, especially in the post-pandemic times,” says Korczak. “The biggest challenge that we faced was that On Air took place at the very end of the festival season and a lot of fans already used their festival budget.

“Normally it wouldn’t be a problem as it’s actually a good time for organising a festival in the capital – people are coming back from holidays and students to the universities – but this year because of the high inflation and because of many festivals and events being moved to this summer due to the pandemic, it meant that tickets were harder to sell this year.”

IQ has contacted Follow the Step and Alter Art for comment on the cancellations.

 


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.

Major fests confirm new blockbuster acts for 2023

Major festivals including Boardmasters (UK), MEO Kalorama (PT), Fest Festival (PL), NOS Alive (PT) and Orange Warsaw (PL) have revealed new names for their 2023 editions.

Boardmasters music and surfing festival in the UK has unveiled the first wave of more than 30 acts, including two headline performers, for next year.

Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and Florence + The Machine will headline the festival in Newquay, Cornwall, on 9–13 August 2023.

Other acts announced for the Superstruct-backed event include Little Simz, Four Tet, Example, Dylan, Bob Vylan, Cassyette, Kid Kapichi, Jockstrap, Connie Constance, Gwenno, Katachafire, Gretel Hänlyn and Wunderhorse.

The festival, which usually attracts about 50,000 people, is held at Watergate Bay and Fistral beach.

Liam Gallagher and Florence + The Machine will headline Boardmasters

Organisers said “tens of thousands” had already signed up for pre-sale tickets before the general release on Friday (25 November).

Elsewhere, Portugal’s MEO Kalorama is set to return to Bela Vista Park in Lisbon between 31 August and 12 September, after a successful debut.

The second edition of the 40,000-capacity event will feature acts including Arcade Fire, Florence and the Machine, Foals and Metronomy.

The Blaze, Amyl and the Sniffers are also slated to perform at the event, which is promoted by House of Fun and Last Tour – the cultural company behind events such as Bilbao BBK Live, Azkena Rock Festival, Cala Mijas and BIME Live.

Elsewhere in Portugal’s festival market, NOS Alive‘s first artist confirmation is American rock duo Black Keys.

The second edition of MEO Kalorama will feature Arcade Fire, Florence and the Machine, Foals and Metronomy

The 15th edition is due to take place between 6–8 July 2023 held in the Algés riverside, close to Lisbon.

This year’s NOS Alive, promoted as usual by Everything Is New, welcomed 210,000 people over four days and 165 artists across seven stages.

Poland’s 2023 festival summer is also shaping up, with Fest Festival and Orange Warsaw detailing their forthcoming editions.

The fourth annual Fest Festival will see performances from the likes of The Chemical Brothers, 070 Shake, Gibbs, Oki, Oliver Heldens, Rubens, The Stickmen Project, Two Feet and Yungblud.

The 50,000-capacity event will once again return to Chorzów’s Silesia Park – the largest park in Europe – between 9 and 13 August, 2023. Fest Festival is promoted by Follow The Step, which also stages On Air festival in Warsaw.

Poland’s capital will also see the return of Orange Warsaw next year, taking place at the Horsetrack Warsaw-Służewiec between 2 and 3 June.

English superstar Sam Smith has been confirmed for the 14th edition of the 10,000-capacity event, promoted by Alter Art (Open’er, Krakow Live).

 


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.

The New Bosses 2022: Maciej Korczak, Follow The Step

The 15th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses was published in IQ 114 this month, revealing 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

To get to know this year’s cohort a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2022’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.

Catch up on the previous New Bosess 2022 interview with Lewis Wilde, head of music partnerships at DICE. The series continues with Maciej Korczak, co-founder at Follow The Step in Poland.

In 2015, at the age of 23, he opened concert agency called Follow The Step (FTS) with his business partner Marcin Szymanowski. The first concerts organised by the agency included Post Malone, The Internet, Anderson .Paak, Mount Kimbie, Rhye, and Autechre.

In 2016, FTS opened a club called Smolna, which quickly became the most popular techno club in Poland, hosting DJ’s such as Tale of Us, Kiasmos, Jeff Mills, Amelie Lens, Dubfire, Charlotte de Witte, Laurent Garnier, Miss Kittin, Sam Paganini, Fatboy Slim, and many more.

Nowadays, FTS owns two music venues – Smolna and Praga Centrum – and seven festivals (World Wide Warsaw, Made in WWA, Summer Contrast, FEST Festival, On Air Festival, and Undercity). Artists such as Jorja Smith, Tame Impala, Jamie XX, The Chainsmokers, and Stromae have headlined at FTS’s events in 2022.

FTS also organises over 100 international headline shows per year, including Louis Tomlinson, Alan Walker, Avril Lavigne, Melody Gardot, Hardwell, Robert Glasper, Boris Brejcha, Rise Against, Denzel Curry, and is constantly growing and developing.

 


Your career, so far, has been pretty remarkable. Tell us a bit about how you managed to book Steve Aoki and Kygo while you were still a teenager?
Determination is the key! At the age of 19, I’d already organised plenty of high-school events. I’ve booked overseas electronic artists for them like cyberpunkers or Tiga. My goal back then was to work for one of the most popular venues in Warsaw at the time, and I was told by the manager of the venue that in order to do that I have to bring them a big overseas act, so that’s what I did – three weeks later, we’d done the Steve Aoki show thanks to my booking, and it was a sold-out event.

“We decided to open a techno club there called Smolna…we like to call it a Polish Berghain”

There were already some big promoters in Poland when you launched Follow The Step. What was your strategy to make the business a success?
Passion! The whole Follow The Step team honestly love what we’re doing and we are always hungry for more. Our company doesn’t have a certain strategy, we’re just simply doing the best we can, and we’re always up for new challenges.

Follow The Step was officially launched in 2017 as a booking agency for international DJs for Polish venues and clubs. From the very start, I wanted to focus on the booking, so I was lucky that I met co-owner of the company – Marcin Szymanowski – who is focusing on the business side of our company.

At first, we wanted to book club nights and then we became interested in small gigs. After a while, we started looking for a place for our office and this way we’ve found a dumpy basement in the centre of Warsaw, which we restored and [then] decided to open a techno club there called Smolna. We like to call it a Polish Berghain, and it was our springboard to establishing a concert agency in Poland, talking to agents, and networking.

Nowadays, being at IFF [the International Festival Forum] I’m talking to agents about artists that could easily fill up Polish arenas but also we’re entering new markets like Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

“I’d make [the industry] more gender balanced as I think it’s still something that the industry must work on”

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
It was definitely organising a charity concert to support Ukraine when the war started, together with television station TVN, in less than two weeks. We sold out the show for 10,000 people and raised over $2m (€2m).

As a new boss, what one thing would you change to make the live entertainment industry a better place?
I’d make it more gender balanced as I think it’s still something that the industry must work on. That’s why in Follow The Step most of the employees are women, and we very much believe that they can work within every sector of music industry from production and sponsoring to media and marketing.

For a young company, the pandemic must have been tough. Can you tell us a bit about your Covid experience?
It was a tough time for sure and full of uncertainty about what was going to happen next, but we’ve used this time the best way we could. We were doing everything we could to maintain the company, and our main goal was not to fire a single person as our employees are the most important to us; we know that we can’t do anything without our team. We were lucky that we got support from our government, so it also allowed us to do that.

We were also the first agency in Poland that managed to do gigs and a festival during Covid and managed to give people some entertainment in a safe way. We also decided to take a risk and organise FEST Festival for 30,000 vaccinated people, as one of very few festivals in Europe in 2021.

“I never thought that I’ll end up having seven festivals, headline shows, and events, or over 70 people in our agency”

Setting up seven festivals in less than six years is very impressive. What tips would you give to other people who are looking to launch new events?
Try and don’t give up! Also don’t be scared to dream. When I was first starting, I never thought that I’ll end up having seven festivals, headline shows, and events, or over 70 people in our agency. But If you’re passionate enough and [you don’t mind sacrificing] most of your personal life, then it’s definitely something worth trying. But please remember that music and festivals are addictive, so you have to remember your [loved ones] and don’t give all of your time to work, as it’s easy to forget when you’re always hungry for more.

Having a good bond with agents and artist managers is crucial. How did you maintain contact with people during the pandemic, and do you feel that the working relationship between agents and promoters has changed over the past couple of years?
We’ve been in touch with agents and artist managers mainly through Zoom meetings. I think that what has changed during the pandemic is that people in the music industry started to be nicer to each other and actually care how the other person is feeling and checking on each other – I guess this time showed us that we’re all just humans at the end of the day.

“I see Follow The Step being one of the leading concert agencies in Eastern Europe”

What one thing would you like artists to learn about coming to perform in Poland?
That every single person that came to their concert is there for a reason. We have one of the most dedicated music audiences in Poland. And probably the craziest.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I see [myself and also] Follow The Step being one of the leading concert agencies in Eastern Europe. I really want us to expand to other markets. It would be perfect to be able to offer artists a whole tour in this part of Europe and not just Poland. This is our goal now!

IQ 114 is available now. To subscribe, and get access to our latest issue and all of our content, click here.

 


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.

The New Bosses: Introducing the class of 2022

The 15th edition of IQ Magazine‘s New Bosses can now be revealed, highlighting 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

New Bosses 2022 inspired the most engaged voting process to date, with hundreds of people taking the time to submit nominations. The final 20 comprises executives working across agencies, promoters, ticketing companies, charities and venues in 12 different countries.

In no particular order, the New Bosses 2022 are:

Benji Fritzenschaft, DreamHaus (DE).
Clara Cullen, Music Venue Trust (UK).
Dan Rais, CAA (CO).
David Nguyen, Rock The People (CZ).
Daytona Häusermann, Gadget ABC (CH).
Grant Hall, ASM Global (US).
James Craigie, Goldenvoice (UK).
Kathryn Dryburgh, ATC Live (UK).
Resi Scheurmann, Konzertbüro Schoneberg (DE).
Seny Kassaye, Fort Agency (CA).
Agustina Cabo, Move Concerts (AR).
Sönke Schal, Karsten Janke Konzertdirektion (DE).
Steel Hanf, Proxy Agency (US).
Steff James, Live Nation (UK).
Stella Scocco, Södra Teatern (SE).
Vegard Storaas, Live Nation (NO).
Lewis Wilde, DICE (UK).
Zoe Williamson, UTA (US).
Jonathan Hou, Live Nation (US).
Maciej Korczak, Follow The Step (PL).

Subscribers can read shortened profiles of each of the 2022 New Bosses in issue 114 of IQ Magazine, which is out now. Full-length Q&As will appear on IQ in the coming days and weeks.

Click here to subscribe to IQ for just £7.99 a month – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:

 


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.

Poland’s Follow the Step on launching On Air festival

Follow the Step co-founder Maciej Korczak has spoken to IQ about the challenging but rewarding launch of new festival On Air.

The inaugural edition took place last weekend in Warsaw and was the Polish promoter’s first outdoor festival in the capital city.

The two-day event debuted at the 70,000-capacity Bemowo Airport, which has hosted concerts from the likes of Madonna and Metallica, as well as three editions of Sonisphere festival between 2010 and 2012.

On Air, meanwhile, saw artists including Tame Impala, Jorja Smith, Celeste and The Kooks perform across two stages at the airport.

“Our main goal is to book A-list artists,” says Korczak. “We are really proud of the line-up – hosting such artists at the first edition of the festival is a dream.

“On Air was already hailed by people and the media as one of the best festivals in Warsaw and Poland.”

“We are really proud of the line-up – hosting such artists at the first edition of the festival is a dream”

Even with a star-studded lineup, a myriad of external issues meant that Follow the Step didn’t sell as many tickets as it hoped for the inaugural edition.

High inflation and a saturated market were key obstacles for the festival, alongside a less-than-ideal weather forecast for the weekend.

“Launching a new festival is never easy, especially in the post-pandemic times,” says Korczak. “The biggest challenge that we faced was that On Air took place at the very end of the festival season and a lot of fans already used their festival budget.

“Normally it wouldn’t be a problem as it’s actually a good time for organising a festival in the capital – people are coming back from holidays and students to the universities – but this year because of the high inflation and because of many festivals and events being moved to this summer due to the pandemic, it meant that tickets were harder to sell this year.

“We also had to allocate a significant portion of the budget to raise awareness among people about the existence of the festival and break through the noise about other summer events that already had their fanbase.”

With that said, Follow the Step has already announced the second edition of the festival, set to take place on 8 and 9 September 2023 at the same location.

In addition to On Air, the Warsaw-based festival and concert agency promoter organises marquee event Fest Festival, based in Chorzów, which this year marked a record attendance.

 


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.

Poland’s Fest Festival draws 50,000 to third edition

Fest Festival welcomed 50,000 attendees over four days for this year’s edition, marking a record attendance for the Polish festival.

The third annual event, promoted by Warsaw-based promoter Follow The Step, took place between 10 and 13 August at Chorzów’s Silesia Park – the largest park in Europe.

The Chainsmokers, Rudimental, Nothing But Thieves, Rüfüs du Sol, James Arthur and Jungle were among the 200 artists performing across 11 stages during Fest.

“The third edition of Fest Festival came to an end and was hailed by festivalgoers and media as the most beautiful festival this summer in Poland,” says a spokesperson from Follow The Step.

The Chainsmokers, Rudimental and Nothing But Thieves were among the 200 artists performing across 11 stages

“During the whole festival, we gathered almost 50,000 attendees – a record attendance for Fest – and the festival ran continuously for 120 hours.

“Fest Festival means way more than an exceptional music celebration. The festival town plays a special role that encourages festivalgoers to take the most from its attractions such as artistic performances, social campaigns and workshops.”

Unlike the vast majority of European festivals, Fest Festival was able to go ahead last year, with 35,000 Covid-19-vaccinated concertgoers. The 2021 edition was the largest event to take place in Poland that year.

Follow The Step continues its festival season with On Air, slated to take place on 9 and 10 September in Warsaw.

 


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.

Follow the Step to launch new festival in Warsaw

Follow the Step has revealed details of its new On Air Festival in Warsaw.

Tame Impala, Jorja Smith and Celeste will top the bill at the debut edition, which will take place at the 25,000-cap Bemowo Airport from 9-10 September.

The Polish agency describes the event as a mixture of Lovebox and Lollapalooza festivals, transferred to Warsaw, with top quality production and an atmosphere heralding the end of summer.

The first wave of acts  announced also includes The Comet is Coming, Tash Sultana, Alexandra Savior, Ralph Kamiński and Baasch.

Warsaw’s Bemowo Airport has previously hosted superstar acts such as Madonna and Metallica

Warsaw’s Bemowo Airport has previously hosted superstar acts such as Madonna and Metallica.

The area will be decorated with colourful installations and decorations designed for On Air, while the festival city will also include chillout zones, bars, food trucks and other attractions.

Early bird tickets are on sale at 89 PLN (€84) for a two-day season ticket and 249 PLN €54 for a one-day pass.

Follow the Step also organises Fest Festival, which welcomed 35,000 attendees over four days for last year’s edition, making it the biggest event in Poland in 2021.

 


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.