In an important panel session at the 2024 International Festival Forum (IFF), a top group of industry figures discussed the lack of Black representation within the live events business and what could be done to improve the situation.

Hosted by Global Carnivalz CEO Pax Nindi, the panellists included agents Hannah Shogbola of UTA and Primary Talent International’s Dotun Bolaji, plus Ferocious Talent head and Cr8ing Vision co-founder Kwame Kwaten and Chris “Tofu” Macmeikan, renowned DJ and founder of Glastonbury’s Shangri-La.

The session got underway with acknowledgements about the positive changes in the festival industry for Black leadership. “There are more of us now than there were before, and while the number can obviously be raised times 10, it’s still a positive compared to what it was,” said Kwaten, who added that it would be almost impossible to imagine a festival without Black music. “It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever that there isn’t any Black leadership in major festivals across the UK.”

Alongside Nindi, Tofu oversees the Festival and Carnival Lab — a free nine-week course designed to open up the industry for 18 to 35-year-olds with Black, BAME, and PoC backgrounds — and was instrumental in launching Shangri-La at the Somerset extravaganza. “Glastonbury is quite possibly the only festival to actually spend money on diversifying the workforce,” stating that £120,000 has been spent annually on this initiative despite the lack of senior Black representation in the country’s biggest festival.

“Glastonbury is quite possibly the only festival to actually spend money on diversifying the workforce”

“With [his event company] Continental Drifts, we would produce gigs for half a million people a year including the Hackney Carnival, and there’s absolutely nobody in senior production from the Black community,” he lamented, shocking the audience further when he revealed that there are “more senior Black figures in banking than there are in this industry.”

When the discussion veered towards improving representation, UTA’s Bolaji championed the benefits of community outreach. “So often, I don’t think people are aware of the different roles that exist in the industry,” he said. “Education needs to be accessible, especially to younger people who are interested in entering the live events ecosystem. It benefits them and the industry as a whole to be more visible.”

Shogbola agreed: “I think there’s a lot of initiatives that have been done, but I definitely think outreach is really important,” she said. “People and organisations within the live events industry also have a responsibility to educate themselves. There’s so many incredible programmes and initiatives and charities that more needs to be done when it comes to self-education.”

Shogbola’s comments segued into a discourse on what practical steps can be taken to continue enhancing Black leadership in the industry. “We talk to a lot of festival organisers and ask them what’s going on,” explained Tofu. “Issues still remain, but the doors aren’t exactly closed on the topic.”

“The way to get around this gap is to amplify the criticism,” added Kwaten. “Also, one thing Black creators do really well is inventing new forms of music and pushing whatever genre that is quickly forward, so supporting that is vital.”

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A trio of expert panellists offered tips on how festivals can keep pace with the changing expectations and demands of Generation Z in a discussion on the final day of the 2024 International Festival Forum (IFF) in London.

Emily Anatole of United Talent Agency and Mika Christofferson of Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, plus Ella McWilliam of PR and creative communications agency Full Fat each gave presentations in the Changing Demand: Couch surfing to crowd surfing session moderated by TicketSwap’s Oscar Kriek.

Anatole, who leads cultural insights at UTA IQ, the company’s data, research and client strategy division, began by detailing the results of a recent study that showed Generation Z’s motivations for attending festivals.

“They are experiencing the loneliness epidemic at the highest rates of all generations, which correlates with their highest levels of digital connectivity,” she explained. “Seventy-nine percent of US Gen Zs feel lonely, according to a study from Cigna. This, in turn, makes the in-person connection and community that festivals provide all the more important to them, so festivals that really emphasise this and that can still feel intimate – even if they are mass in scale – are especially appealing to them.”

Anatole noted that Gen Z is “experience-oriented”, crediting it with contributing to the rise of music tourism.

“When you take the experience of festivals and their love of travel, we found that they feel that it maximises benefits and the best of both worlds,” she continued. “That’s not to say they aren’t going to festivals close to home. But among Gen Z music festival attendees, one in two of them agree that festivals are an excuse to travel, so it’s an impetus to book a trip.”

“While they are going big in terms of what they want out of festivals and their willingness to travel far, they aren’t partying as hard as other generations”

Alcohol consumption was another talking point, with Anatole citing research that US Gen Z’s have been found to drink 20% less booze per capita than millennials.

“While they are going big in terms of what they want out of festivals and their willingness to travel far, they aren’t partying as hard as other generations,” she said. “This sober curiosity tendency is translating over to festivals: they are spending a lot of money and want to be fully present and enjoy the experience – and festivals are increasingly responding to their desire for expectations on site that are zero or low alcohol.

“They’re also looking for wellness, beyond drinking less, just in terms of festivals having this as an amenity overall. This is a far cry from the past, where people would go to festivals, party hard, put their health on the back burner and then be really worn down afterwards. Instead, Gen Zs want to go to festivals to not just maintain their healthy habits, but to improve upon them mentally and physically. So we’re seeing a lot of festivals with more offerings in this vein.”

Moreover, Gen Z-ers also expect festivals to align with their values in terms of championing diversity, inclusivity and sustainability.

“Gen Zs, typically in the US, are the most multicultural generation, and about half are non-white, so it makes sense that they’re looking to be represented on the stages that they go to,” said Anatole. “And just as they support brands and organisations that champion diversity and inclusivity, they vote with their wallets for festivals that do so as well. We’re seeing this actually impact the lineups – in 2023, it was the first time that a major US festival like Lollapalooza had a K-pop artist as a headliner – and this past year at Coachella they had more Latin artists than ever before.”

Anatole added that six in 10 Gen Z festivalgoers were attending with the purpose of discovering new artists.

“This is a generation that really takes pride in being the first to discover something, to share it with others, to be in the know.” she said. “So they’re going to festivals not just to know all the names on the lineup, but to be there and see an artist first before everyone else.”

“Don’t just start your campaign off when your first announcement happens, make sure you’re communicating with your audiences throughout the whole year”

In her talk, Christoffersen, Roskilde’s head of DEI and behaviour, further outlined the audience’s increased expectations.

“They are expecting more from the festival: more comfort, safe spaces and the art as a tool for change,” she said. “The level of information that we have to provide is way higher than what it was with millennials, and that’s going to be a barrier to entry for a lot of the Gen Z if they can’t find that information.

“We are seeing an increase in the no alcohol space, especially in alcohol-free beers. We’re also seeing an increase in caffeine products because what are you going to do when you’re not drinking alcohol? You still want to party all night. You’re doing the mate green teas, those kind of products with lots of caffeine but low sugar. That’s the niche product that we’re seeing.”

McWilliam, meanwhile, urged events not to limit their promotion to certain points of the year.

“Don’t just start your campaign off when your first announcement happens, make sure you’re communicating with your audiences throughout the whole year,” she stressed. “As soon as you finish your festival, you should be working towards communicating for next year’s event.”

The agency co-founder and CEO also tackled the effectiveness of utilising influencers around event marketing, saying it comes down to “authenticity and trust”.

“This is a question we get asked all the time, do influencers even work? And actually done right, they definitely do,” she said. “There’s definitely an art form to it. Sixty-nine percent of consumers trust what influencers and recommend. That is a widely recognised statistic, and it’s growing. And actually, people are buying from their influencers – people they see online, people that they trust, that they follow – and so they cannot be ignored.”

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The team behind Primavera Sound gave a history lesson on the festival, reflected on its international expansion and revealed what’s next for the brand in the keynote interview at this year’s International Festival Forum (IFF).

Co-director Alfonso Lanza, head of press and public relations Marta Pallerès, and head of bookings Fra Soler sat down with ILMC MD Greg Parmley to talk shop over a host of topics surrounding the iconic festival, including the recent cancellation of the brand’s South American spin-offs.

Here are some of the highlights of the hour-long discussion, starting with a time warp back to 2001…

Primavera Sound’s origin story…

Fra Soler: “I was there since day one! We were very young and very passionate about music, and we thought that the idea of an urban festival where people can attend just by walking or catching the subway from their houses was a good one. As we grew up camping at festivals and other places you’d have to travel to, we thought it would be amazing if we could do that in the city. At the time, we were aiming for small crowds, but the first Primavera Sound was so successful that we simply decided to grow it. We were fortunate enough to find a space in Barcelona, close to every corner of the city where we could have our festival, but the original idea was to forgo camping to host it in urban surroundings.

“In 2001, the core of the festival took place in an 8,000-capacity venue. Afterwards, we started to use some of the city’s venues to be a part of Primavera and to have shows around the main festival, which is a process we’ve kept to this day. Our early success forced us to move to a bigger site [Parc del Fòrum], which is massive compared to where we started at the Poble Espanyol.”

Its relationship with Barcelona…

Alfonso Lanza: “Today, it’s really good, but in the 23 years we’ve been around, we’ve had six mayors, so there have been some ups and downs. Nowadays, they declare it as the most relevant cultural event not just in Barcelona, but in Spain as well. Before, we’d also receive complaints about being in the middle of the city and causing neighbour disturbances and whatnot, but I can say that the relationship is doing very well. And with our current international expansion, while travelling with the Barcelona flag, the people are appreciating what Primavera is doing for the city.”

Marta Pallerès: “It’s not like Primavera happens for three main days for a full week with extra shows, then we disappear. We promote shows all year long. We had Interpol two days ago in a very small venue in Barcelona, girl in red two weeks ago, and it’s going to be like this for the rest of the autumn calendar, packed with big international names to local up-and-comers. This makes it easier for others to understand that we are intertwined with the city, because we’re operating with six to 12 venues throughout the year.”

AL: “Today is easier as well, because we don’t ask for any money unlike when we received public grants during the infancy stages of the festival. This makes a huge difference.”

“The effect a gender-balanced lineup has had for us is reflected in our audience demographics”

The secret to Primavera Sound’s great lineups over the years…

FS: “There’s no secret. We’re music lovers, we enjoy what we do, and we love to listen to music. So, I think that enables us to get some of the artists before they break through on a global stage. We always take pleasure in discovering and meeting bands, and that’s helped us build lasting relationships with them. Some of the headliners played at Primavera before they became headliners for little money, and they appreciate the fact that we spotlighted them from the beginning. And the other thing is we try to avoid super big headliners and create a big gap between them and the rest of the lineup.”

MP: “To quote one of our senior bookers Abel [Suárez], a perfect day at Primavera Sound would firstly being able to enjoy your favourite band that you weren’t able to see when they were the headline act. Secondly, you’ll discover an act who is going to be your next favourite artist. Thirdly, finding a genre that challenges you like a K-pop group you can’t understand or a Belgian metal band who fascinates you. All of those factors would add up to a perfect day at the festival.”

Launching the first gender-balanced lineup in 2019…

MP: “No festival of our size has done that before, and it was quite noticeable because we made headlines for it absolutely everywhere that year. What happened in 2018 was that, without really thinking about it, we realised that the lineup was 36% female, and on one of the main stages on the Saturday was 100% female. It got us thinking, and the following year, we managed to host the first ever gender-balanced lineup for a festival of our size and standing. On the Saturday of this year’s edition, the headliners were completely female. The 2024 lineup again was 50/50. If we’re talking about headliners… on the Saturday we had SZA, PJ Harvey, Mitzki, and Charli XCX as headliners, with Roisin Murphy, Bikini Kill, and Romy from The xx in the slots underneath them.

“The effect a gender-balanced lineup has had for us is reflected in our audience demographics, which features a large number of female attendees. We’ve also been working a lot on safe spaces and fostering diversity, not just for gender but also for LGBTQ+ communities, as well as trying to book bands from Asia and Latin America. We don’t have a ‘Woodstock ’99’ kind of problem here, because ‘bro culture’ isn’t allowed at Primavera.”

“It was tough having to cancel two years in a row… But we basically devised our strategy for the festival’s future during those two years”

Bringing Primavera Sound to Portugal in 2012…

AL: “It all started with this Portuguese promoter who was a huge fan of our festival, and we knew it would be in good hands because he was such a big supporter of Primavera. After doing Parades de Coura for many years, he reckoned that Primavera could succeed in Porto. This was our first international experience, and it was an amazing opportunity to expand the Primavera brand, especially for the booking team who would send offers to many artists who would eventually find it easier to come to Barcelona that year. It was a great strategic move to book a second weekend in a row in Spain before the debut Portuguese edition, and Porto is somewhat a mirror city of Barcelona, being the most culturally-minded city in the country. It’s not the same size as Barcelona, but it’s still enjoyable in different ways.”

The Covid effect…

AL: “It was tough having to cancel two years in a row [2020 and 2021]. Of course, we kept our plans in the office because we all knew at some point that the pandemic was going to end. But we basically devised our strategy for the festival’s future during those two years, so it wasn’t totally useless at all for us. We managed to build a plan that would see us diversify the company and whatever’s related to the Primavera brand after Covid, including going global afterwards.”

MP: “The lineup for 2020 was already sold out, and 2021 didn’t happen at all. We wanted a fresh lineup for 2022, so we thought, why not do two weekends? The first weekend would see a lineup we would’ve put out if Covid didn’t happen, and the second would feature the bill intended for 2022. And because everyone is going to be here, why not do a full week of activities in between? So we had 17 venues operating at the same time in Barcelona, but I hated this so much because I was pregnant. However, I was the only one because the half a million people who attended were absolutely thrilled! It was amazing to make such a great comeback like that.”

“We realised that they wouldn’t guarantee another successful edition in Argentina, so we ended up taking the heat and skipping a year to focus on the next”

Expanding Primavera Sound while “protecting” its flagship edition…

FS: “Our flagship site is Barcelona, and that’s always going to take more time to dedicate each of our jobs to our city. But for the rest, if we have the manpower and will to make it work, we will. I thought going global was a good idea even before Covid, we already had conversations about expanding and were in negotiations with other countries about hosting the festival over there.”

The cancellation of its four Latin American editions in 2024…

FS: “A lot of factors were taken into consideration this year, but I would rather refer to this as us skipping a year instead of an outright cancellation. This industry presents a lot of challenges in terms of the lineup you’re aiming for. So, there’s a so-called ‘headliner draft’ which affects every promoter, and when you go to a different territory, there’s a lot of adjustments that need to be made because every territory has a different preference on what they want to listen to. There’s no guarantee that a band that was popular for the Barcelona edition would get the same reception at Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo, plus a scarcity of relevant headliners would leave you with very few options. So that’s what pretty much happened this year, when a headliner dropped out at the last minute. And while trying to find a replacement, we realised that they wouldn’t guarantee another successful edition in Argentina, so we ended up taking the heat and skipping a year to focus on the next. We realise it would be a bit damaging, but we always strive to deliver a festival experience that would be up to Primavera’s standards.”

Future ambitions…

FS: “To keep delivering meaningful and interesting lineups!”

MP: “That, plus being able to cater for everyone from younger fans, underprivileged kids, and those who are 70 years old. I want girls, guys, everyone to come and see their favourite artists!”

AL: “All of that as well. I love the festival and our lineups right now as it is!”

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The power of festivals on performers, audiences and communities was explored in a panel at this year’s International Festival Forum (IFF).

Hosted by ILMC chief operating officer Jonathan Lomax, The Responsibility Session: Festival Power brought together agents Clementine Bunel of Wasserman Music and ATC Live’s Will Church, alongside festival bookers Pavla Slivova of Czech Republic’s Colors of Ostrava and Michal Kaščák, founder of Slovakia’s Pohoda.

The session began by stressing the need to look at the bigger picture when it comes to booking lineups, rather than placing too much emphasis on headliners.

“Obviously, headliners want to get the biggest fee possible for their performances, but it’s crucial that there’s money still left in the pot for artists lower down the bill,” Church said.

“You want to pick a headliner that will guarantee an audience, but we have a responsibility to accommodate artists regardless if they’re the main act or are in the middle or the bottom of the bill,” added Slivova. “It’s always about communicating the balance of the other costs between production, artist fees, and everything else, and eventually a compromise can be had.”

Despite the role festivals have in platforming and furthering performers’ careers, Bunel indicated the relationship between festivals and major artists has changed in recent years.

“We are seeing more huge names venture towards big money tours over taking a prime slot at a festival”

“Nowadays, we are seeing more huge names venture towards big money tours over taking a prime slot at a festival,” she said. “At a certain level, some of them have fallen out of love with festivals.”

Kaščák flipped the script somewhat when talking about the responsibilities of festivals and performers.

“You’re paying them to play, but some artists still aren’t willing to promote your festivals,” he explained, adding that he has encountered this behaviour more from mid-level acts rather than bigger names.

Regarding festivals’ responsibilities towards fans, topics such as rising ticket prices, audiences’ expectations, and health and safety came into the fore.

“People just want to see value for money,” suggested Church, citing the debate over Glastonbury’s prices.

Bunel added that due to the fierce competition in the market, “higher standards” are demanded by the audience.

“The demographic isn’t what it was 10 or 15 years ago, and festivals like Glastonbury aside, they usually won’t attend the same festival twice unless they’ve had a spectacularly good time,” she said.

“Sometimes, as festival organisers, we think we’re James Bond who will be able to fix anything and everything, but we can’t”

Crowd safety was an especially pertinent topic for Kaščák, given that this year’s Pohoda was brought to a premature end due to a severe storm, injuring 29 festivalgoers.

“Sometimes, as festival organisers, we think we’re James Bond who will be able to fix anything and everything, but we can’t,” he said. “You can have the best procedures in the world, but there will always be risky situations that we’ll be forced to deal with. So it’s our responsibility to reduce risks by using all the tools at your disposal to keep audiences safe even under extreme weather conditions.”

Inclusivity and accessibility were other considerations, with Slivova emphasising the importance of looking after fans with disabilities.

“At Colors of Ostrava, we launched a project called Colors Without Barriers after we noticed an increase in the number of attendees with a mobility impairment,” she explained. “We reduce the price of fees, we have assistance, they can call a taxi, they can call for help, the venue’s wheelchair-ready, and so on. They can get anywhere around the festival site.”

Meanwhile, with the heightened awareness over current geopolitical issues and festival sponsors and their affiliations towards certain entities, Bunel noted that agents nowadays can’t book gigs for the sake of booking them.

“For the 2025 season, there’s been an increase in the number of artists asking who’s sponsoring which festival and to make sure the festival partners aren’t investing into arms or anti-LGBTQ+ associations,” she said. “We have to be very knowledgeable about our artists, where we see them play, and be quite thoughtful about whether this festival is really for them.”

In closing, Kaščák added it was vital that festivals are fully aware of who they choose to partner with.

“We’ve been working with NGOs since 1998, and we’re in a perpetual conflict with our politicians,” he said. “But while it’s not easy, it’s a testament to the importance of a festival’s role towards the wider community as a whole.”

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The litany of obstacles facing the festival sector formed the basis of the opening panel of this year’s International Festival Forum (IFF).

Held today (25 September) in London Bridge, The Festival Season 2024 was moderated by IQ magazine’s James Drury, featured high-profile agents Summer Marshall of CAA and Primary Talent International’s Matt Bates, plus Serbia’s Exit Festival co-founder Dusan Kovacevic and Goodlive’s Fruzsina Szép, MD of Munich’s Superbloom and festival director of Lollapalooza Berlin.

The session began with a presentation of ROSTR x IQ’s analysis of the European festival summer by ROSTR co-founder and CEO Mark Williamson.

A key talking point related to gender equality, as 69% of all artists across all lineups were men, while 97% of every band and every solo act that played a headline slot were male (the full analysis appears in the new issue of IQ).

“There’s still a lot of big female artists out there, but rather than playing at festivals, they’re staging their own outdoor shows,” offered Bates, who added the trend was not exclusive to women performers. “When you’re a huge artist nowadays, there’s a tendency to do your own thing rather than performing at a festival which would’ve been the norm 10 to 15 years ago,” he said.

“A major positive about headliners doing their own thing is that festivals now have a better opportunity to help break through emerging acts and mid-level artists”

Bates considered the shift could yet be a blessing in disguise for festival organisers.

“A major positive about headliners doing their own thing is that festivals now have a better opportunity to help break through emerging acts and mid-level artists,” he explained.

Kovacevic agreed with the sentiment, pointing out that, in Exit’s case, it forces the festival itself to become the headline act rather than a select number of big names. “This will force other festivals to not rely too much on headliners, but to focus on the overall experience instead,” he said.

Szép added that increased awareness of the types of brands sponsoring festivals and rising costs have made festival-goers more cautious when it came to expenditure.

“The younger generation are a lot more sensitive to what they’re spending their money on, which mirrors what artists are questioning when it comes to choosing what festival they’re willing to put their names on,” she explained.

“It’s a very personal decision for each artist, and as an agent, if you’re presented a deal a year in advance but the sponsors haven’t been confirmed yet, it becomes a tricky situation”

The session also touched upon navigating the controversial issue of artists pulling out of festivals due to sponsors affiliated with various political situations.

“It’s all about communication,” Marshall said. “It’s a very personal decision for each artist, and as an agent, if you’re presented a deal a year in advance but the sponsors haven’t been confirmed yet, it becomes a tricky situation.”

“As an agent, we’ll be quite careful not to have our own opinion, so we really have to stay neutral all the time,” Bates added. “Some of the situations involving artists pulling out of slots aren’t just due to political reasons. I’ve had acts that refused to play because they didn’t like the brand, which they might find to be damaging to their own reputation. It’s always a balancing act.”

Furthermore, the panel agreed that festivals would have to cater for audiences that are more socially and financially conscious than in the past.

“We can’t continue raising ticket prices every year, so it’s important to keep thinking of creative solutions to keep the younger demographic coming to festivals,” said Szép, who cautioned: “A festival nowadays is a very risky business.”

And despite the issues that have threatened the festival business since the pandemic, the panellists remained optimistic about the direction of travel.

“It’s absolutely vital that festivals focus on spotlighting emerging artists and continue to create the headliners of tomorrow,” Kovacevic said, with Szép adding that this is a “great way to minimise costs that would usually increase significantly with major headline acts”.

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The ups and downs of the metal sector – and the lessons the genre can offer the mainstream scene – were pored over in a candid discussion at the International Festival Forum (IFF) in London.

Jan Quiel of Wacken Open Air chaired the Metal: Keeping in time, shredding old rules panel, which brought together Jouni Markkanen, promoter of Finland’s Tuska Festival, K2 Agency’s Sharon Richardson and Merle Doering, owner and MD of Catch 22 agency.

A key question centred on the lessons other events could learn from metal’s enduring ability to nurture a dedicated fanbase.

“Metal festivals are not focused on such a tiny pool of super-hot bands,” said Markkanen. “I don’t focus only on the headliners, but on the balance. You need to have a very strong start to the day; the party needs to start when the gate opens and it needs to last until the gate closes.

“At Tuska, we never made the mistake of just putting on one massive band because then it is like a park concert with a few support bands. Of course, somebody is closing the night, but it’s the collection of art for the weekend. You are trying to serve the wider audience; we are not just looking at modern metal bands, there is a twist of all genres here and there. Communication with the audience is super-important.”

“The pool of available bands was diminishing and we were like, ‘Okay, we need to find a new batch – a new style – to get the audience average age down.'”

Quiel added the metal “community” had bred fan loyalty through the years, although Doering pointed out that happened organically.

“I don’t think that can be learned,” she advised. “In pop music, you can have a one-hit wonder, but nobody cares about them the next year because they’re on to the next trend. I grew up very close to Wacken, and we went to Wacken on the first weekend of August. It didn’t matter who played; that was just what we did. And that’s a thing with metal culture – people identify very strongly with the festivals.”

The panellists also shared how they had succeeded in attracting a younger demographic in recent years, with Markkanen explaining he had changed his booking strategy “quite drastically” over the last few years, leading to fresh headliners such as Ghost, Electric Callboy and Lorna Shore.

“The audience was getting older and older,” he said. “The pool of available bands was diminishing and we were like, ‘Okay, we need to find a new batch of bands – a new style – to get the audience average age down.’ We didn’t do it in one stroke, but added more modern stuff here and there.”

Markkanen noted that this year’s booking of electronic rock band Pendulum was greeted with a frosty response on social media, yet their set attracted the festival’s third biggest crowd ever.

“Festival booking has become a fight for smaller to medium-sized bands, because so many bands want to tour and there are so few slots”

“Trying to find new ways of shocking the audience is nothing bad,” he added. “Of course, the old audience says that, ‘Markkanen has ruined the festival, Tuska has nothing to see anymore.’ But we grew from 15,000-cap to 23,000 and we’re selling out.”

On a similar theme, Richardson noted that K2 achieved a “phenomenal” result after securing a slot for Canadian metal band Spiritbox on the Reading & Leeds bill.

“Your job as an agent is to build that artist profile, but to get longevity out of an artist, so the slots for festivals are really important,” she said. “Reading & Leeds nowadays is more of a pop-indie festival, so for Spiritbox to play on the main stage was really difficult for them. But they won the crowd around, and it was a really good result in the fact that we put Alexandra Palace on sale around [their performances] – that’s 10,500-capacity – and it sold out in two and a half weeks, which was a phenomenal result from taking a risk.”

Wrapping up the session, Doering stressed that the metal scene was not without its struggles.

“A lot of changes need to happen because we are facing a lot of challenges,” she cautioned. “I don’t think the scene is necessarily handling the challenges very well overall, but generally it is adapting. Festival booking has become a fight for smaller to medium-sized bands, because so many bands want to tour and there are so few slots.

“At least for me, there’s a bigger threshold to taking on bands from North America because the cost of bringing them over are so much higher… Building a smaller act, especially from abroad – and you probably all know what flight costs are like nowadays – is so much more challenging. The financial situation of the band is something that comes up very early on, which was probably not the case to the same degree 10 years ago.”

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With just two weeks to go until the 2024 International Festival Forum (IFF), the event’s conference and agency showcase schedule is now complete.

Organised by the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) and held in association with TicketSwap, the invitation-only gathering returns to Omeara in London Bridge between 24-26 September, with 950 delegates now signed up.

The conference programme is doubling in number this year, with the opening The Festival Season 2024 panel to begin with a short presentation of ROSTR x IQ’s analysis of the European festival summer, hosted by ROSTR co-founder and CEO Mark Williamson.

Speakers this year include Matt Bates (Primary Talent), Dusan Kovacevic (Exit), Fruzsina Szép (Good Live), Summer Marshall (CAA), Jana Posth (DreamHaus), Jan Quiel (Wacken Open Air), Mark Williamson (ROSTR), Hannah Shogbola (UTA), Sharon Richardson (K2 Agency) and many others, capped by a keynote interview with the team from Primavera Sound.

Booking agency partners on this year’s IFF are CAA, WME, Solo Agency, Primary Talent, ATC Live, Wasserman Music, ITB, One Fiinix Live, and Pure, with the final partner showcases at the event now confirmed for IFF’s 10th edition.

Since launching in 2015, IFF has brought the industry’s principal buyers and sellers together each autumn

Two up-and-coming artists from Pure Represents’ roster, Forest Claudette and Tokio Myers, who will kick off proceedings on 25 September, followed by One Fiinix Live’s JC Stewart, JERUB, RØRY and Walt Disco.

ATC Live artists Ebbb, Lambrini Girls, Loverman and Ugly will then take the spotlight on 26 September.

Showcases by Solo Agency, ITB, Primary Talent International and X-ray Touring have already been revealed. In addition, Dutch Music Export and The Spanish Wave will present emerging acts from the Netherlands and Spain, respectively, for this year’s International Showcase.

The final night of IFF will also see a Rising Metal night presented by Doomstar Bookings, Catch 22, Napalm Events and The Link Productions.

Partners for this year’s event include CTS Eventim, See Tickets, Tysers Live, FKP Scorpio, All Things Live, iTicket Global, TVG Hospitality, LMP Group and production partners John Henrys.

Since launching in 2015, IFF has brought the industry’s principal buyers and sellers together each autumn, when conversations about the following year’s festival lineups are well underway. Past editions have included early performances from Lewis Capaldi, Tom Grennan, Yonaka, Bob Vylan, Sam Ryder, Slaves, Raye, Black Midi, Loyle Carner, Dermot Kennedy and Shame.

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The International Festival Forum (IFF) has revealed the first round of agency partner showcases for its 10th edition, presented in association with TicketSwap.

The invitation-only event, organised by the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), will return to Omeara in London Bridge between 24-26 September, with 1,000 delegates expected to attend.

Today, IFF has revealed the first four agency showcases with Solo Agency, ITB, Primary Talent International and X-ray Touring.

Solo Agency will kick off IFF’s 2024 live programme on Wednesday afternoon (25 September) with two upcoming artists from its roster, The Clause and Mitch Saunders.

Following that, ITB will spotlight three burgeoning acts on its books, Naima Bock, Sister, Wings of Desire.

Primary Talent International will kick off Thursday’s (26 September) showcases with Matt-Felix, Sunday (1994), Tia Gordon and Tommy WÁ and X-ray Touring-repped acts Låpsley and Pauli The PSM will continue the festivities.

Agency showcases from ATC Live, Pure Represents and One Fiinix Live will be announced in the coming weeks.

IFF has revealed the first four agency showcases with Solo Agency, ITB, Primary Talent International and X-ray Touring

As previously confirmed, Dutch Music Export and The Spanish Wave will present emerging acts from the Netherlands and Spain, respectively, for this year’s International Showcase.

In addition, the final night of IFF sees a Rising Metal night presented by Doomstar Bookings, Catch 22, Napalm Events and The Link Productions.

The conference programme is doubling in number this year, with two new sessions already announced. On Wednesday 25 September, the programme will kick off with The Festival Season 2024, chaired by European Festival Report editor James Drury, with Jana Posth, head of festival operations at Berlin-based DreamHaus, chairing The Responsibility Session: Festival power later that morning.

Elsewhere, the team behind Primavera Sound will star in IFF’s keynote interview on Thursday 26 September. The Barcelona-hailing festival’s co-director Alfonso Lanza, head of press and institutional relations Marta Pallarès and head of booking Fra Soler will sit down to discuss the history, identity and development of one of the leading lights of the European scene.

Booking agency partners on this year’s IFF are CAA, WME, Solo Agency, Primary Talent, ATC Live, Wasserman Music, ITB, One Fiinix Live, and Pure, with many agencies showcasing new artists at the event. Previous editions of IFF have included early performances from Lewis Capaldi, Tom Grennan, Yonaka, Bob Vylan, Sam Ryder, Slaves, Raye, Black Midi, Loyle Carner, Dermott Kennedy, Shame and others.

Partners for this year’s event include CTS Eventim, See Tickets, Tysers Live, FKP Scorpio, All Things Live, iTicket Global, TVG Hospitality, LMP Group and production partners John Henrys.

Since launching in 2015, IFF (International Festival Forum) has brought the industry’s principal buyers and sellers together each autumn, when conversations about the following year’s festival lineups are well underway. More than 850 delegates have signed up for this year’s gathering so far.

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The team behind Primavera Sound will star in the keynote interview at the 2024 International Festival Forum (IFF) in London.

The Barcelona-hailing festival’s co-director Alfonso Lanza, head of press and institutional relations Marta Pallarès and head of booking Fra Soler will sit down to discuss the history, identity and development of one of the leading lights of the European scene at the 10th edition of the leading annual gathering for festivals and booking agents.

The IFF Keynote takes place on Thursday 26 September from 11.30am to 12:30pm. Full details are here.

“We’ve previously welcomed some incredibly well respected guests for IFF’s annual keynote including Melvin Benn, Emma Banks and Mike Greek, Michael Eavis, Folkert Koopmans and Herman Scheuremans,” says IFF co-founder Ruud Berends. “Hosting the Primavera team this year continues that tradition, and promises to be an inspiring hour spent with one of the European industry’s biggest festival brands.”

in an IFF first, a quartet of European metal agencies are uniting to present the Rising Metal Talent showcase

An invitation-only event organised by the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), IFF will return from 24-26 September. Since launching in 2015, it has brought the industry’s principal buyers and sellers together each autumn, when conversations about the following year’s festival line-ups are well underway.

Meanwhile, in an IFF first, a quartet of European metal agencies are uniting to present the Rising Metal Talent showcase at 8pm on Thursday 26 September, which will see one emerging artist from each of the rosters of Doomstar Bookings, Catch 22, Napalm Events and The Link Productions. Immediately before the showcase, the first (official) Metal Mixer will take place.

Booking agency partners on this year’s IFF include CAA, WME, Primary Talent, ATC Live, Wasserman Music and many more. Previous editions of IFF have included early performances from Lewis Capaldi, Tom Grennan, Yonaka, Bob Vylan, Sam Ryder, Slaves, Raye, Black Midi, Loyle Carner, Dermott Kennedy, Shame and others.

This year’s edition is expected to sell out with more than 1,000 delegates.

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IQ 128, the latest issue of the international live music industry’s favourite magazine, is available to read online now.

In the June/July issue, Gordon Masson goes behind the scenes of Take That’s This Life on Tour, and Derek Robertson charts the success of Switzerland’s leading promoter Gadget Entertainment as the company turns 30.

Elsewhere, Kerrang‘s Sam Law provides an in-depth report on the metal genre, and Adam Woods investigates one of the most robust music markets in the world – Germany.

Readers can also gain insight into the 2024 festival season, find out where some of the first New Bosses are today, and preview the forthcoming IFF (International Festival Forum).

For this edition’s comments and columns, Mamas in Music founder Mary Leay provides encouragement for mothers working in the music business, while MMF’s Manasvi Dethekar shares five takeaways from the association’s recent workshop in collaboration with Futures Forum.

As always, the majority of the magazine’s content will appear online in some form in the next four weeks.

However, if you can’t wait for your fix of essential live music industry features, opinion and analysis, click here to subscribe to IQ from just £8 a month or click here to purchase your print copy.

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