Finland’s Provinssi hails ‘best-ever’ edition
Finland’s Provinssi festival has set an all-time attendance record with its 2024 edition.
Over three days, the festival recorded its largest-ever attendance of 85,000, beating the previous record of 81,000 in 2011.
Måneskin, Turnstile, Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud were among the international acts that performed at the 27–29 June event, in Seinäjoki, western Finland.
Local talent, meanwhile, included PMMP, Jenni Vartiainen and KUUMAA.
“A stunningly great weekend is behind us!” says festival director Ville Koivisto, who was appointed last year. “With the all-time attendance record, the smoothness of the entire event and the great gigs, this has been the best Provinssi ever!”
“This has been the best Provinssi ever”
Provinssi (Province) is one of the oldest festivals in Finland and one of the largest in Northern Europe. The event has been held on the island of Törnävänsaari in Seinäjoki every June since 1979.
Its previous headliners include Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine, Linkin Park, David Bowie, Muse, The Killers, Ellie Goulding, The Ramones, Blur Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Patti Smith, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Massive Attack, The Cure and Queens Of The Stone Age.
Provinssi is organised and promoted by Seinäjoki Festivals Oy, which is owned by Selmu ry and Fullsteam Agency Oy (part of FKP Scorpio group).
Fullsteam Agency recently announced that one of its other Finnish festivals, Sideways, will not take place in its current form after 2024.
In a statement, organisers said that “making a festival that is ambitious in terms of content and service offering and larger in size is rewarding but challenging”.
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LGBTIQ+ List 2024: Joona Juutilainen, Fullsteam Agency
The LGBTIQ+ List 2024 – IQ Magazine’s fourth annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business – has been revealed.
The ever-popular list is the centrepiece of IQ’s fourth Pride edition, sponsored by Ticketmaster, which is now available to read online and in print for subscribers.
To get to know this year’s queer pioneers a little better, we interviewed each of them on the development of the industry, the challenges that are keeping them up at night and more.
Throughout the next month, IQ will publish a new interview each day. Catch up on yesterday’s interview with Jason Brotman (he/him), founder of Five Senses Reeling/Obsessed and partner/head of global touring at PEG.
The series continues with Joona Juutilainen (he/him), a booking assistant at Fullsteam Agency.
Tell us about the professional feat you’re most PROUD of in 2024 so far.
I had my first sold-out show at Tavastia club, which is one of the most iconic venues in Finland and the Nordics. As a rather new promoter in the industry, that was one of the highlights of my career so far.
What’s your most pressing challenge in the industry at the moment?
To get artists to Finland. We’re not that far away from the rest of the Europe! And of course, with prices going up it’s more and more difficult to make events that most people can afford.
How would you describe Finland’s live music business at the moment?
It’s lively, looking better all the time and I love that we have a huge range of different genres. It’s not easy though at the moment since for example our government is raising taxes and the cost of living is really high. People don’t have that much money to spend on culture or even on their daily groceries.
“It’s more common to say that we have safe space principles, but how it shows in practice is important”
Name one thing the industry could do to be a more equitable place.
It might seem a small thing but unisex toilets. Plus everyone taking safe space principles as a self-evident and really working on it. It’s more common to say that we have safe space principles but how it shows in practice is important. Also, we need more non-male acts!
Shout out your biggest ally in the live music industry.
My co-worker and sister Emma-Lotta Juutilainen and founder of Fullsteam Rauha Kyyrö. Emma-Lotta was one of the people who inspired me to get into the music industry. Rauha has shown incredible courage with how to be one with oneself and be unapologetic about it. I really admire both their careers and it’s a huge privilege to work with both of them.
Name one queer act you’re itching to see live this year.
ALOK at House of Culture this June and Måneskin this year at Provinssi.
Do you have a favourite queer space in Helsinki?
There are not that many queer places in Helsinki that I’m aware of but one of the great places that I have heard about is DTM. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to visit DTM yet, but in my understanding, it’s a safe place for everyone. We definitely need more queer spaces in Helsinki.
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Finland’s Sideways Festival comes to an end
Finland’s Fullsteam Agency has announced that Sideways Festival will not take place in its current form after 2024.
The festival, which launched in 2018, will take place at Helsinki Ice Hall (also known as Nordis) for the last time between 13 and 15 June.
Bat For Lashes, Jungle and Peggy Gou are due to headline the final edition, with acts including Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Fontaines DC and Ladytron filling out the bill.
In a statement released today (28 May), organisers said that “making a festival that is ambitious in terms of content and service offering and larger in size is rewarding but challenging”.
“In particular, the general economic situation of recent years and the rise in cost levels have significantly affected the possibilities of making the organisation of the event in its current form profitable,” it reads.
“We have decided that now is the right time to turn the page and look to the future with an open mind”
The statement continues: “In addition, the long-term planning of the event has been complicated by various uncertainty factors, such as the giant Garden arena, which has been planned for years on the site of the Sideways festival area. Other development projects in the vicinity of Nordis, surrounding construction sites and other events organized in and around the ice rink have also made the development of Sideways challenging in the long term. For example, multi-year lease agreements for the event area, which are typical for the industry, have not been possible for us, which has made planning the continuity of the festival significantly more difficult.
“From the beginning, Sideways’ ideology has included innovation, pioneering, surprise and continuous development. So that there is no need to compromise on these values, we have decided that now is the right time to turn the page and look to the future with an open mind. So we don’t yet know what Sideways will look like in the future or where and when we will gather in the coming years. We will ask our customers for their wishes and thoughts about the future, because the warm and communal atmosphere fostered at the heart of Sideways is thanks to them. We are grateful for the kind of summer weekends we have experienced first at Teurastamo and now during the last seven years at Nordis.”
Fullsteam Agency represents around a hundred domestic acts such as JVG, KUUMAA, Joalin and Stam1na, and organises festivals including Provinssi and Knotfest Finland. Since 2015, the firm has been part of FKP Scorpio.
Fullsteam founder Rauha Kyyrö was recently appointed to FKP’s international board as president touring & artist development.
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LGBTIQ+ List 2024: This year’s queer pioneers unveiled
IQ Magazine has revealed the LGBTIQ+ List 2024 – the fourth annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business.
The list is once again the centrepiece of IQ’s annual Pride edition, sponsored by Ticketmaster, which is now available to read online and in print for subscribers.
The 20 individuals comprising the LGBTIQ+ List 2024 – as nominated by our readers and verified by our esteemed steering committee – are individuals that have gone above and beyond to wave the flag for an industry that we can all be proud of.
The fourth instalment comprises agents, promoters, venue directors, bookers, consultants, sustainability experts, talent buyers, managers and sound engineers from across the world.
In alphabetical order, the LGBTIQ+ List 2024 is:
Anna Sjölund, EU programming director, ASM Global (SE)
Ary Maudit, sound engineer/producer, RAK Studios/Strongroom/Saffron Records (UK)
Buğra Davaslıgıl, senior talent buyer, Charmenko (TR)
Caterina Conti, operations manager, 432 Presents (UK)
Chris May, general manager, BC Place Stadium (CA)
Dustin Turner, music marketing agent, music touring, CAA (US)
Emma Davis, general manager/agent, One Fiinix Live (UK)
Gwen Iffland, senior marketing & PR manager, Wizard Live (DE)
Jason Brotman, founder, Five Senses Reeling (US)
Joona Juutilainen, Booking Assistant, Fullsteam Agency (FI)
Luke Mulligan, director, Circa 41 (AU)
Paul Lomas, booker, WME (UK)
Pembe Tokluhan, production/founder/diversity consultant, Petok Productions (UK)
Priscilla Nagashima, VP of engineering, DICE (UK)
Rhys France, corporate & private events booker, CAA (UK)
Rivca Burns, acting head of music, Factory International (UK)
Ross Patel, green impact consultant & board member, LIVE/MMF (UK)
Sam Oldham, venue director, The O2 (UK)
Sam Booth, director of sustainability, AEG Europe (UK)
Zoe Maras, founder & artist services, Joyride Agency (NZ)
Throughout Pride Month (June), IQ will be publishing full-length interviews with each person on the LGBTIQ+ List 2024.
However, subscribers can read the full Pride edition now. Click here to subscribe to IQ from just £8 a month – or see what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below.
Check out previous Pride lists from 2023, 2022 and 2021.
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Fullsteam Agency announces new head promoter
Finland’s Fullsteam Agency has upped longtime employee Aino-Maria Paasivirta to head promoter, effective 1 January 2024.
Founder and previous head promoter Rauha Kyyrö will continue working at Fullsteam and parent company FKP Scorpio with both local and international artists. Kyyrö will also continue in her role as the chair of Fullsteam Agency.
Paasivirta started at the company in 2015 and has for the past six years worked as a promoter on shows including Ed Sheeran, Sigur Rós and Nick Cave.
She has also been a key member of the Provinssi booking team since 2016, and this year took responsibility for the festival’s programming and booking.
“I’m thrilled about the opportunity to get to further develop Fullsteam’s promoter business,” says Paasivirta. “We have an amazing team filled with knowledge, experience and enthusiasm. I couldn’t imagine a better team to work with!”
“I couldn’t imagine a better team to work with”
Fullsteam Agency has also announced the appointment of Emma Rühr, who joins the company this week from AEG Presents in London.
Rühr has worked as a tour coordinator for many years and has most recently worked on the tours of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Blackpink.
“Live music is very close to my heart and working on international tours taught me and gave me a lot,” says Rühr.
“I wanted to return to Finland and I feel that Fullsteam is exactly the place where I can grow and face new challenges as part of a wonderful and skilled team. I am excited to bring the lessons of both my international and Finnish career to my new role.”
Fullsteam Agency represents around a hundred domestic acts such as JVG, KUUMAA, Joalin and Stam1na, and organises festivals including Provinssi, Sideways and Knotfest Finland. Since 2015, Fullsteam has been part of FKP Scorpio.
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Ville Koivisto named festival director of Provinssi
Finland’s Fullsteam Agency has appointed Ville Koivisto festival director of Provinssi, effective 1 September.
In addition, the Fullsteam and Provinssi ranks will be strengthened by partnership manager Tuomas Kallio from 4 September.
Koivisto started selling tickets for Provinssi as a volunteer in 2009, before being appointed production manager in 2017.
Awarded event producer of the year at the 2018 Industry Awards, Koivisto has worked at numerous other festivals besides Provinssi, such as Sideways, Ilosaarirock and Rockfestari Naamoi.
Koivisto has also influenced numerous large-scale productions, such as Cheek’s Valot sammuu concerts (2018), Ed Sheeran’s Malmi Airport concerts (2019) and last summer’s Helsinki Olympiastadion gigs (Haloo Helsinki!, Apulanta, Ed Sheeran, Antti Tuisku).
In addition to this summer’s Provinssi, Koivisto works with Finnish rap duo JVG, who are due to perform at the Olympic Stadium in August.
“I am really grateful to Provinssi for the opportunity and trust to learn and grow in the management of the production of the event,” says Koivisto.
“It’s time to focus on making the best festival in the world from a slightly different angle”
“Starting in the fall, it’s time to focus on making the best festival in the world from a slightly different angle, and I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead!”
Kallio boasts a 15-year career in B2B sales, marketing and business development in various media houses – most recently Radio Helsinki – and also as an entrepreneur.
“It is wonderful to return to the fascinating and multidimensional world of events,” says Kallio. “What makes all of this wonderfully special is that I get to work every day with many top professionals I already know.”
Tuomo Tähtinen, CEO of Fullsteam Agency, adds: “Even when viewed internationally, Ville is one of the most competent event industry professionals I know, so I am extremely happy that we will be able to build the future of the Provinssi together with him.
“I believe that the transition to the position of festival director will be very natural for Ville, as he already enjoys the trust of the staff and the industry. We have successfully collaborated with Tuomaks on partnerships in the past. He brings a lot of new know-how and energy to the house, as well as tools for us to be able to build even more successful partnerships around Fullsteam’s entire operation.”
The two appointments come a few weeks after the agency announced a reshuffle. Marko Kivelä will swap his position as CEO of Fullsteam’s Provinssi festival for an agent/promoter role within the company from 1 September, it was announced.
Meanwhile, Aino-Maria Paasivirta, former assistant to Fullsteam founder Rauha Kyyrö, will take responsibility for Provinssi’s programming and booking.
Provinssi festival returns to Seinäjoki in Southern Ostrobothnia, western Finland, between 29 June to 1 July.
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Finland’s Fullsteam Agency announces reshuffle
Finland’s Fullsteam Agency has announced a reshuffle of responsibilities within the organisation.
Marko Kivelä will swap his position as CEO of Fullsteam’s Provinssi festival for an agent/promoter role within the company from 1 September. He will also step down as executive director of Selmu, the live music association of Finnish city Seinäjoki.
Meanwhile, Aino-Maria Paasivirta, former assistant to Fullsteam founder Rauha Kyyrö, will take responsibility for Provinssi’s programming and booking. Paasivirta has been involved in Provinssi’s programming work group since 2016.
Commenting on his new role within Fullsteam, Kivelä says: “I am really grateful to Selmu for the years together, during which I have been able to grow from an inexperienced newcomer to my current boots.
“Now is a good time for both myself and the association to experience new patterns in an already familiar environment in the nicest music company in Finland. I’m really excited about the new one, it’s time to roll up my sleeves!”
“After a successful last year and recovery from the pandemic, it is a natural time to look to the future”
Kivelä will continue working on Provinssi, especially on building the festival’s programme with Paasivirta.
In addition, Fullsteam Agency’s long-term promoter Artemi Remes, who is known for promoting Sideways festival, will work under the title of senior promoter in the future.
“After a successful last year and recovery from the pandemic, it is a natural time to look to the future and update Fullsteam’s organisation and responsibilities,” says Fullsteam Agency CEO Tuomo Tähtinen.
“The reorganisation of Provinssi is also well underway, and hopefully soon we will be able to share more news related to that as well.”
Provinssi festival returns to Seinäjoki in Southern Ostrobothnia, western Finland, between 29 June to 1 July.
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20 years of Finland’s Fullsteam Agency
From humble beginnings come great things. That’s certainly how it has panned out for Finland’s Fullsteam, a group of music companies that now encompasses a record label, management services, a booking agency, event organising, and publishing.
Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, it started out like many music industry endeavours – as a hobby for music lover Rauha Kyyrö. “I was still in high school, and I never thought it would become my profession,” she recalls. “My plan was to go and study law! But then music happened…”
Tobbe Lorentz of United Talent, one of the first agents she started to work with professionally, can certainly recall her passion. “My first memory is when Rauha turned up at my home, unannounced, and I opened the door to see this unknown kid with dreads and piercings asking to book my bands,” he says. “I believe my response was: ‘Of course you can. Now go away.’ But I booked Turbonegro with her the week after, and we’ve been working together ever since.”
Booking bands was something that, by then, Kyyrö was already adept at. She started out playing in a band but was, by her own admission, “never the best or most talented musician.” But she had smarts and determination – “I was great at getting things done,” she says.
Booking shows, promotion, logistics, and taking care of releases became her domain, and she came up with a novel way of getting her own band shows abroad.
“We did everything ourselves – book the shows, sell merch, release records, and do the PR”
“The easiest way to do that was to book shows in Finland for a Swedish or German band in exchange for getting to play with them in their home countries,” she recalls. “That’s how I first got into the business of booking shows internationally.” Her abilities earned her the nickname “Fixare” (The Fixer) – and she soon found herself dealing with agents who had got her contact details from their artists who had friends in bands she had promoted.
To do things officially and pay taxes, she started her first company Sitruunamaailma (which translates as ‘the world of lemons’) with two friends, and then things really took off. “I started promoting the first ‘bigger’ shows – those with a 900 capacity – and also my first outdoor summer festival,” she says. Bear in mind, this was all before she even left high school – “prodigious” doesn’t even come close.
Yet the financial realities of promoting and booking were somewhat harsh – in the early years, it remained very much a hobby. “I was doing all this while working in a record shop in Helsinki,” she says. Even after starting Fullsteam proper in 2002 – it began life as a record label, Fullsteam Records, and was a subsidiary of her previous company, Sitruunamaailma – her ambitions were modest.
“The idea was just to release music for great bands that couldn’t get their music out on the existing labels. And I guess it felt great to have a record label.”
Releasing music was just the start. Kyyrö soon realised there were many things she could do to help her own and friends’ bands, and so the other aspects of Fullsteam began to grow organically. “We did everything ourselves – book the shows, sell merch, release records, and do the PR. We also had a rehearsal room centre with 50 rooms, so we basically just did whatever we wanted […] for our own and our friends’ bands. It was always some kind of a 360 ̊ model, but as the business grew and things got more professional, it was necessary to have different companies for different parts of the business.”
James Rubin of WME recalls [Kyyrö] being “exceptional in problem-solving and career-building”
Kyyrö admits that it wasn’t until 2004 that she actually got paid for booking shows, when she went to work for Welldone – now Live Nation Finland – for two years. The other Fullsteam
companies continued during that time, and on leaving Welldone in 2006, she founded Fullsteam Agency. “That was the first time I started to get paid from my own company,” she says.
Those early years were characterised by a can-do work ethic and DIY spirit, traits that continue to this day and endeared Kyyrö to all those who worked with her in the beginning. Kalle Lundgren Smith of international booking agent Pitch and Smith recalls booking tours with her back in 2000, when she was still running Sitruunamaailma, and being “so impressed with her professionalism. My hardcore band was used to dealing with promoters on a very DIY level, so this was very different. We were even offered accommodation on top of the fees, which seemed like an absolute luxury to us.”
Before they met in real life, Lundgren Smith assumed she was a seasoned pro. “I was picturing someone far older in my mind. Then, when we finally met in Helsinki, it was this very young punk rock kid with long dreadlocks. We’ve been working closely together ever since.”
Many others express similar sentiments, and it’s a testament to Kyyrö and the company she’s built that so many peers remain friends and colleagues 20 years later. James Rubin of WME, who began working with her 15 years ago through Bad Taste, a Swedish management company and promoter, recalls her being “exceptional in problem-solving and career-building. She always helped with any issues my clients had.”
Paulina Ahokas, managing director of Tampere Hall, remembers being so impressed by Kyyrö’s dogged determination that she badgered colleagues at Music Export Finland to bring her along on an export mission to Japan.
“All of the Fullsteam companies work together on some level, but we don’t work in the ‘traditional’ 360 ̊ way”
“Rauha was spot-on at every single panel discussion in Tokyo,” says Ahokas. “After the panels, I asked if she needed some help with meetings. She did not. She had a list of names and addresses, a map of Tokyo, and a bicycle – she cycled to the meetings she had sourced herself. I’d been to Japan at least three times, yet knew only half of the companies on her list. I told everyone at Music Export Finland that we would be hearing a lot more from this rasta-haired dynamo, and damn, I was right.”
And it’s not just in a professional capacity that Kyyrö won people overtaking the “work hard, play hard” mantra to heart, she’s had plenty of fun, too. “I first met Rauha at a showcase festival in Canada,” says Julia Gudzent, co-founder of Misc Berlin, an agency for cultural change. “We immediately got along really well, and together with Mikko Niemelä from Ruisrock and Nina Howden from Silver Circle Distillery, we founded a synchronised swimming group in the hotel pool. We had the time of our lives and all became best friends right away.”
Since 2006, Fullsteam has continued to grow organically, a slow and steady rise governed by one clear principle – serve the artist. Today, Fullsteam Agency – “by far the biggest company [in the group],” says Kyyrö – serves as a booking agency and event organiser, booking domestic performers into every venue in Finland and bringing international artists to the country (to date, Fullsteam has promoted over 2,000 international acts).
They also organise Seinäjoki’s Provinssi Festival and Helsinki’s own Sideways Festival. On top of this, they represent around 100 Finnish performers, both popular acts and rising talent, and Fullsteam group now includes management, publishing, and record label interests. But while the businesses are deeply integrated, Fullsteam is not your typical 360 ̊ company.
“All of the Fullsteam companies work together on some level, but we don’t work in the ‘traditional’ 360 ̊ way,” says Kyyrö. “We hope to work with all the music companies in Finland, so we do not push for 360 ̊ deals. They only make sense if it makes sense for the artist and everyone else involved, and to be honest, in most cases it actually doesn’t work that well to have ‘all your eggs in one basket’. But when it does work, it can be really fantastic – we have good examples of that.”
Fullsteam Agency is now co-owned by European promoter giant FKP Scorpio, following a merger in 2014
Fullsteam group’s smaller companies remain 100% owned by Kyyrö, and she’s involved in various other businesses, albeit in smaller roles. But Fullsteam Agency is now co-owned by European promoter giant FKP Scorpio, following a merger in 2014.
The deal, says Kyyrö, “Helped us to really enter the festival market and to become more professional in many different ways.” But it wasn’t driven by finances or a desire to wield more clout. “I just really liked the people at FKP Scorpio: simple as that,” she says. “I thought they would support our team in our ambitions to grow but also let us be who we are and work the way we do. They are good, kind people – I appreciate that a lot.”
That added professionalism has manifested itself in various ways. Fullsteam has, says Kyyrö, become a better employer and partner for artists and clients. Her colleagues agree. “The best part of working as a promoter at Fullsteam is probably the creative freedom that you have; we’re not tied to one or two or even three genres but work with everything that we believe has value – be it money or something else,” comments staffer Artemi Remes.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not the case with every big agency in the world. And for me, that’s really the greatest thing as it makes every workday and every concert special. Never a dull day!” Remes says it’s difficult to pick just one highlight from more than 1,000 shows he has promoted over the past 16 years. “But pressed, I’d probably choose the Ennio Morricone concert in Helsinki in 2016. That exceeded all levels of specialness and is one that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.”
Summing up the employee experience at Fullsteam, fellow promoter Aino-Maria Paasivirta says, “The great part of working at Fullsteam is that I get to work with so many different kinds of artists – I promote everything from small club shows to arenas and festivals and many different genres, which keeps the job interesting.” Asked to share her career highlights, to date, Paasivirta states, “Nick Cave’s sold-out shows on the Conversations tour was definitely an amazing experience.”
“We have a team that’s capable of anything”
She adds, “I’m very much looking forward to the business finally opening again and the festival summer 2022 and I’m, of course, especially looking forward to Provinssi. Our last editions have been great, and I’m very proud to be in the booking team. Everyone knows working with music is more than a job, it’s a lifestyle, and I can’t imagine a better community to do it with than Fullsteam.”
It hasn’t always been plain sailing, however, and Kyyrö admits to having struggled with “how competitive and mean this business can be sometimes.” Yet she has remained optimistic and never lost her passion. “I’ve always loved being part of this community and feel that I am actually really good at this thing they call the music business.”
Modestly, she feels the company has only recently properly “arrived” and achieved lasting success. “The first time I felt that wasn’t until the end of 2019, after we’d promoted three historic events in Finland within a year – Ed Sheeran in Helsinki in July 2019, Rammstein in Tampere in August 2019, and Cheek in Lahti in August 2018. We’d also succeeded in bringing Provinssi Festival back to the top. None of those things were on my bucket list, they just happened when the time was right – or when we were ready for it.”
That’s a view shared by Fullsteam Agency managing director Tuomo Tähtinen, who believes that the platform the company has built means the best is yet to come. “Fullsteam has already come incredibly far, yet there’s still so much potential,” Tähtinen tells IQ. “We have a team that’s capable of anything. And we all know that success shouldn’t be pursued at any cost, but we need to build for the future sustainably and with respect to everyone around us.”
Recently, Fullsteam’s formal successes have been numerous. They are now Finland’s biggest, most important concert promoter and booking agency, for both alternative music and global superstars. Fullsteam Records has won Independent Label of the Year a total of six times and remains a champion and supporter of new, exciting, and unique Finnish music. And, perhaps most impressively of all, Fullsteam scooped a total of seven awards at 2019’s Music & Media Industry Awards Gala, including Booking Agency of the Year, Concert of the Year, and numerous accolades for individual staff.
“I’ve always loved being part of this community and feel that I am actually really good at music business.”
So, what’s the secret, then? What has made Fullsteam such a successful company and given them – and Kyyrö – two decades of growth, excellence, and a stellar reputation? The accolades are numerous. “They are music fans first and foremost,” says Geoff Meall of Paradigm Talent Agency. “The first correspondence is always about them wanting to work with the band or act because they like them. In a world of expanding corporatisation, I’ll always have time for companies like Fullsteam.”
Kalle Lundgren Smith agrees. “Fullsteam has a very loyal and strong team. It’s like a nice big family of true music lovers with an open and welcoming mindset. I think Rauha’s single-mindedness and creative mind – combined with her amazing staff – brought them this far.”
Tobbe Lorentz says that it’s “hard work, a great team, having their finger on the pulse, and good timing,” that’s made them so successful; Julia Gudzent agrees. “What makes Fullsteam and Rauha so special is that they do their work with complete passion, but unlike a lot of other people in the industry, they also take care of themselves and don’t forget to live and celebrate their wins. And that makes them so much better at their job.”
James Rubin says their “dedication to personal attention, being artist-friendly, and sheer excellence in everything they do has been nothing short of exceptional,” while Xenia Grigat of Danish promoter Smash!Bang!Pow! adds that there’s a “special DNA that defines Fullsteam, and it seems like a workplace that is inclusive and sees the full potential in the team. That’s inspiring, and attracts talented staff and artists.”
For Paulina Ahokas, one of the many who’ve worked with Kyyrö since the very beginning, there are three main reasons behind Fullsteam’s continued rise. “Every single person in the company has the same attitude, the need and desire to excel. Every person is willing to work harder than anyone else. And every single person in the company knows how to party! I have no idea if this is the recruitment strategy, but I know it has worked.”
“And every single person in the company knows how to party!”
And the view internally, from new partner FKP Scorpio, is just as effusive. CEO Stephan Thanscheidt credits their “friendship, loyalty, creativity, attitude, professionality, and a great taste in arts and music,” qualities he says you feel at every single Fullsteam show or event. “Their team, in combination with their family values, is hard to beat. They have an extraordinary spirit; creative and professional entrepreneurship; a great social and political attitude; and good relations with loads of talented artists.”
Certainly, their legacy seems assured. They’ve brought a lot of live music to Finland that the country might not have been able to enjoy otherwise, from the likes of Disco Ensemble, early emo bands, many Nordic artists, and numerous international superstars. They have blazed a trail for diversity and inclusivity and redefined what a group of music companies – both working together and in separate fields – can achieve on behalf of their artists.
Ultimately, that might be the single biggest factor behind Fullsteam’s success – it really is all about the music and the people who make it happen. One anecdote in particular, from Julia Gudzent, encapsulates this attitude perfectly. “I went to the Finnish music awards show once, and Fullsteam won all the prizes. Rauha took her whole team up on stage because she knew that it was not only her prize, but the whole team that won it. That impressed me so much because I’d never seen this kind of leadership before. I’ve not met a lot of people in the industry who do their job with so much modesty, kindness, and team spirit.”
What then of the future? What focus, hopes, and dreams does Kyyrö have for Fullsteam for the years ahead? “I really would like us to be the best place to work at and best partner for the people we work with,” she says. “If we succeed in that we will always be successful. We have truly amazing people working for Fullsteam and close to us, and I truly hope they will stick around, keep up with the shit in the business and shape the company and the music industry to become a better and more inclusive place for everyone.”
So we’ll be back here in another 20 years, with Fullsteam continuing to go from strength to strength? “I am sure we’ll continue to have many victories, but there are also challenging times ahead of us. I think that at the end of the day, a business like ours is just a bunch of people working together, and I hope there is room for life to happen and for people to grow and pursue their dreams at Fullsteam.”
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LGBTIQ+ List 2021: Remembering this year’s queer pioneers
This year, IQ Magazine launched the LGBTIQ+ List 2021 – the first annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business.
The landmark list was the jewel in the crown of IQ’s first-ever Pride edition, which was published on Monday (28 June) and followed our Loud and Proud agency-curated playlist.
The 20 individuals comprising the LGBTIQ+ List 2021, as nominated by our readers and verified by our esteemed steering committee, are individuals that have gone above and beyond to wave the flag for an industry that we can all be proud of.
The inaugural cohort comprised agents, promoters, COOs, CEOs, event producers, wellness specialists, tour managers and more, all of whom identify as LGBTIQ+ and, in the face of adversity, have made enormous contributions to their respective sectors.
“IQ received an unbelievable amount of heartwarming testimonials”
In no particular order, the LGBTIQ+ List 2021 is:
Steven Braines, co-founder, He.She.They (UK). Full profile here.
Sean Hill, director of tour marketing, UTA (UK). Full profile here.
Zoe Williamson, agent, UTA (US). Full profile here.
Will Larnach-Jones, managing director/head of bookings, Iceland Airwaves (IE). Full profile here.
Raven Twigg, promoter assistant, Metropolis Music/founder, Women Connect (UK). Full profile here.
Nadu Placca, global event & experience architect, The Zoo XYZ (UK). Full profile here.
Maxie Gedge, Keychange project manager, PRS Foundation (UK). Full profile here.
Mark Fletcher, CEO, Manchester Pride (UK). Full profile here.
Maddie Arnold, associate promoter, Live Nation (UK). Full profile here.
Lauren Kirkpatrick, promoter assistant, DF Concerts (UK). Full profile here.
Laura Nagtegaal, guitar technician and tour manager, MsGyver (NL). Full profile here.
Joanne Croxford, wellness + diversity specialist/ live touring/ tour assistant (UK)
James Murphy, chief operating officer North America, See Tickets (US). Full profile here.
Guy Howes, music partnerships executive, CAA (UK). Full profile here.
Doug Smith, SVP field operations UK & Ireland, Ticketmaster (UK). Full profile here.
Chris Ibbs, agent, CAA (UK). Full profile here.
Leigh Millhauser, coordinator, Wasserman Music (US). Full profile here.
Austin Sarich, director of touring, Live Nation (US). Full profile here.
Daniel Brown, event producer/programmer, Birmingham Pride (UK). Full profile here.
Rauha Kyyrö, head promoter, Fullsteam Agency (FI). Full profile here.
“I never imagined I’d be so thrilled to see my inbox soar into triple digits – that is until we opened nominations for the LGBTIQ+ List 2021,” says IQ staff writer Lisa Henderson, who guest-edited the Pride issue. “We received an unbelievable amount of heartwarming testimonials from across the business but, thanks to the help of our revered steering committee, we’ve ended up with 20 exemplary individuals who continually prove that diversity is the industry’s greatest strength.”
Subscribers can read the entire Pride edition (issue 101) of IQ Magazine now.
Click here to subscribe to IQ for just £5.99 a month – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:
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150,000 buy tickets for virtual Nightwish show
Finnish metal band Nightwish were joined by more than 150,000 fans from 108 countries for their recent virtual concert experience, An Evening With Nightwish in a Virtual World, which streamed on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 May.
Six months in the making, the show – a co-production of promoter Fullsteam Agency, VR studio Zoan and the band’s management company, Till Dawn They Count – follows Fullsteam and Zoan’s previous collaboration with the city of Helsinki, which attracted 1.4 million fans to a free virtual show by rap group JVG last May.
An Evening with Nightwish welcomed fans of Nightwish, Finland’s most successful musical export, to a 3D virtual world designed in partnership with the band, where they could watch the concert while also moving around and interacting with other concertgoers. Tickets for the show were priced between €25 and €109.
According to Fullsteam, that translates to ticket income in the seven figures (more than €1m), equivalent to a “large stadium-sized concert”.
“The key is to understand that we are not trying to replicate a live show here – it is a completely different thing”
“We all knew that there would be a lot of demand for this show, but honestly I was blown away by how great it turned out and how many tickets we sold,” says Fullsteam’s Rauha Kyyrö. “I think there is a huge potential for virtual shows that can be very unique experiences for fans.
“I think the key is to understand that we are not trying to replicate a live show here – it is a completely different thing and has to be designed to be enjoyed at home and on your portable devices. And I personally don’t think anything will ever replace the live experience anyway.”
A 30-person team – half of them Nightwish fans – from technical producer Zoan was responsible for creating the virtual world, which included a virtual tavern, The Islanders’ Arms. Zoan used a combination of high-end technology, such as photorealistic scans, and the latest Unreal game engine to produce the experience.
“It feels amazing to have cracked the code on how to provide virtual live entertainment directly to the fans,” says Zoan CEO Miikka Rosendahl. “This is the beginning of an entire new segment in the music industry.”
This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.
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