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Goodlive co-MD on Austria’s ‘bumpy’ restart

Goodlive Artists Austria (GAA) co-MD Silvio Huber has brought IQ up to speed on the industry’s fortunes since the resumption of touring.

The Vienna-based promoter belatedly kicked off its concert year in March with a concert by Yanya Nilüfer at 700-cap club Grelle Forelle in the capital, while recent successful shows have included Conan Gray at the city’s 3,000-cap Gasometer.

And while Huber, who was head of booking for Arcadia Live before switching to Goodlive’s newly launched Austrian office last year is delighted to be back in business, it has not all been plain sailing so far.

“First of all, it’s great that we are able to promote shows again, but I would call it a bumpy restart,” he says. “There are lots of different and new challenges we must adapt to. We started with the first shows when the country saw the highest infections numbers ever, which wasn’t really a solid argument to buy a ticket.”

“We have noticed a very late buying pattern, especially in the first weeks after reopening”

Huber says the natural enthusiasm from the public to see international artists for the first time in two years has been tempered by the market being “slightly overplayed”.

“Postponed shows compete with new ones and not everyone is feeling ready for indoor shows yet,” he observes. “We have noticed a very late buying pattern, especially in the first weeks after reopening. Sometimes almost 50% of total sales were in the last one to two weeks, followed by high no-show rates of 30% or similar.

“Currently those figures are better, but we do see a hesitant buying attitude for shows in the autumn and winter.”

GAA has forthcoming dates with the likes of George Ezra, Moderat and Macy Gray, and has just started working with Dice following the ticketing platform’s expansion to Germany.

“That will be an exciting journey for sure,” says Huber. “Additionally, it underlines our ambition to abandon the well-trodden paths and break new ground.”

“We need to find a way to balance out rising costs, ticket prices and artist fees”

Though Huber admits to some trepidation with regards to the latter part of 2022, he believes that live music is well placed to overcome the obstacles of an increasingly challenging economy.

“This year’s cold season will be an unpredictable and tough challenge,” he advises. “Even if Covid isn’t an issue anymore and most of the current problems have been solved, we still have to deal with the impact of high inflation. Therefore we need to find a way to balance out rising costs, ticket prices and artist fees, but need to consider that people have less money to spend.

“On the other side, they will be looking for entertainment to get distracted. With this in mind our industry should be able to overcome another big challenge after the pandemic.”

 


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Germany’s Goodlive Artists expands to Austria

Goodlive Artists, the booking and touring division of Berlin-based Goodlive, has launched Goodlive Artists Austria in Vienna.

Headed up by Silvio Huber, formerly head of booking for Arcadia Live, and Philipp Maly, co-owner of Czech promoter Selection and formerly part of the management team at Colours of Ostrava festival, Goodlive Artists Austria will focus on creating “new concepts and visions in the Austrian market”, according to an announcement from the new company.

Huber brings his own roster to Goodlive Artists Austria, having promoted shows by George Ezra, Tame Impala, AnnenMayKantereit, Conan Gray and more, while Maly’s Selection has worked with acts including Lewis Capaldi, Jamie Cullum and Woodkid.

“Above all, we would like to thank Goodlive Artists for the trust they have placed in us in such turbulent and unusual times, and so we are looking forward to a positive industry relaunch in a strengthened, motivated and hopeful manner,” say Huber and Maly in a joint statement.

“Philipp and Silvio fit perfectly into our team … With this step, we will be able to expand our touring services for our artists”

“Although we have only had a few and limited opportunities to get to know our new colleagues, we feel more than welcome and part of the family after only a short time.”

Goodlive Artists sits alongside other Goodlive companies including Melt! Booking, Der Bomber Der Herzen, Full Force Concerts and the recently launched Nitelive Artists, and Goodlive Artists Austria says it plans to take advantage of the synergies between the firms “in the best possible way”.

Justus Mang, managing director of Goodlive Artists, comments: “Philipp and Silvio fit perfectly into our team, both personally and professionally. With this step, we will be able to expand our touring services for our artists and act more strategically.

“In our talks beforehand, we all quickly realised that we share the same views on many things, that our visions are similar and that we could draw great motivation from this exchange. I’m incredibly excited about this collaboration and more Wiener melange in my life.”

 


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