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For more than two decades, the Arthur Awards, the live music industry’s Oscar equivalents, have been handed out during ILMC – and last week’s ‘Close Encounters of the 30th Kind’ anniversary event was no exception, with the brightest stars of the concert business taking a host of UFOs (unidentified f—ing objects) back to their own galaxies.
Taking place for the second year in the sumptuous surroundings of 8Northumberland, the Gala-ctic Dinner & Arthur Awards saw 350 interstellar travellers don their best spacesuits and set a course for an evening of mirth, merriment and glittering gongs.
On entertainment duties were host Emma Banks, who returned to captain the USS ILMC, and Whitney Houston tribute act Belinda Davids, who gave stirring renditions of ‘I Will Always Love You’ and ‘One Moment in Time’.
Also returning to the stage was Rock Werchter founder and 2017 Bottle Award winner Herman Schueremans, who presented the Bottle Award 2018 to ILMC’s founder, Martin Hopewell. Hopewell – who believed he would be, as usual, presenting the Bottle Award – was instead its recipient, and received a standing ovation from the audience (after tearing up the now-useless speech he’d prepared for the ‘winner’).
An emotional Hopewell closed the ceremony by paying tribute to ILMC’s former producer, Alia Dann Swift, and Dave Chumbley of Primary Talent, both of whom passed away in 2018.
Notably, all Arthurs for individuals – the awards for best assistant, professional services, new talent, agent and promoter – were won by women. The ceremony, on Thursday 8 March, coincided with International Women’s Day.
To view a photo gallery of the evening, visit flic.kr/s/aHskuAJjEp.
A full list of Arthur Awards 2018 winners is below.
Venue (First venue to come into your head)
The O2, London (UK)
Production services (Services above and beyond)
eps
Professional services (Most professional professional)
Gillian Park, MGR Touring
Festival (Liggers’ favourite festival)
Glastonbury (UK)
Ticketing (The golden ticket)
Ticketmaster
Assistant (The people’s assistant)
Eliza-Jane Oliver, AEG Presents
New business talent (Tomorrow’s new boss)
Anna-Sophie Mertens, Live Nation
Agent (Second least offensive agent)
Natasha Bent, Coda
Promoter (The promoters’ promoter)
Anna Sjölund, Live Nation Sweden
Bottle Award
Martin Hopewell
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Legendary artist manager Peter Mensch used his appearance at last week’s ILMC 30 Breakfast Meeting to put to rest his much-publicised feud with Justin Bieber, telling delegates: “I’m a Belieber now!”
The self-professed ‘greatest manager in the fucking world’ said he had two things to say before the interview started in earnest. First off, he paid tribute to Brian Murphy, West Coast president of AEG Presents and Goldenvoice and co-founder of Avalon Attractions, who died on 6 March.
Then he stood up and removed his jumper to reveal a Justin Bieber T-shirt. Five years ago, he revealed, he’d done a talk at the Royal Albert Hall in which he insulted Justin Bieber and his manager, Scooter Braun, by suggesting the Canadian singer’s career would be over in three years. (He also told the Sun he’d “take Bieber to the woodshed and spank him” to instil some some discipline in the wayward popstar.)
“I was wrong,” Mensch said at ILMC. “I will acknowledge Justin didn’t go away… I’m now a Belieber.”
He also paid tribute to Braun for his role in organising the One Love Manchester tribute event, saying he thinks “Scooter is OK”.
Breakfast Meeting host Dan Steinberg (Promoter 101) – standing in for Ed Bicknell, who’d broken his leg – got the questions off to a confrontational start: “Why so angry?”
“I don’t give a flying fuck if you can play live… You always get better”
“Because if you manage bands you’re mummy bird and they’re baby bird and anyone doesn’t help you feed them…” responded Mensch. “You’ve got to lead or follow or get the fuck out of the way.”
The ‘mummy bird’ to Metallica, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others said he got into management after a stint as “the world’s worst tour accountant,” and in the office still sits next to his “best friend and only friend in the business,” QPrime partner Cliff Bernstein.
“The most important thing a manager can do is get the best music out of the act they can,” he told the room.
“I don’t give a flying fuck if they can play live. We managed Foals for two years and no one had seen them live. It’s all about the music. You always get better at live. Maybe you’re never gonna be God’s gift, but you’ll get better.”
Mensch said there’s one key to choosing the artists they work with: “It’s the music. Someone sends us music, we listen to it, someone says ‘it sucks’, end of conversation. Two of us listen and say ‘that’s a good record’ and on the way to Popeyes Fried Chicken we decide to manage them.
“Like Muse’s third album. The first album sold 10,000 albums, second didn’t come out in the US. We listened to the third record [loved it], went to Bologna, went to see them and said ‘we want to manage you in America’ and they started laughing because they’d had zero success in America.”
“The most important thing a manager can do is get the best music out of the act they can”
He also admitted to looking forward to Mondays, not Fridays, “because I don’t work on Saturday and Sunday.”
“So what motivates one of the greatest managers in the world?” asked Steinberg: “I’m fuelled by hate! I’ve had the chip [on my shoulder] since I was ten.
“We’re the best in the fucking world. We want to shove it down people’s throats.”
So what’s the ideal fan experience for Mensch? “Three hours of my favourite band. I want to have a great time and great sound. I wanna bang my head and walk out feeling amazing.”
However, you’re not likely to see him in any small clubs looking for a new act any time soon. “Most music is crap for me. I don’t hear as much amazing music as I used to. I don’t listen to as much new stuff because I only care about my acts. Cliff listens to a lot more – my feeling is, ‘If I don’t manage you, fuck you’.”
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Organisers of the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) expect to sell out in advance of next week’s tenth-anniversary edition, taking place the day before the 30th International Live Music Conference (ILMC) at the Royal Garden Hotel in London.
Organised by not-for-profit organisation A Greener Festival and supported by ILMC, GEI tackles head-on important environmental and social topics surrounding the events industry. The full agenda was published today, and includes and speakers from Greenpeace, Roskilde Festival, Glastonbury, New Internationalist, Bestival, Surfdome, Watermills, Soil Association, Pohoda Festival and Resources Futures.
“From poo to power, from waste to water, from activism to eco-currencies and even a brand of beer that is brewed using salvaged bread, delegates can expect to have their minds boggled by innovation and their spirits ignited by green experts and inspiring individuals who will present tried-and-tested solutions to common event management problems,” say organisers.
“If you organise or are involved with an event or festival and are concerned with waste, plastics, climate change and sustainability, you can’t afford to miss this event.”
The 10th GEI takes place on Tuesday 6 March at the Royal Garden Hotel. For more information and to register, click here.
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With just under three weeks to go, the 30th International Live Music Conference (ILMC) has sold out, organisers have announced.
All tickets for the ‘Close Encounters of the 30th Kind’-themed anniversary conference, which kicks off with Tuesday 6 March’s 30th Birthday Blast-Off, have now been snapped up, as well as for the Gala-ctic Dinner & Arthur Awards on Thursday 8 March. A limited number of passes remain for the 11th ILMC Production Meeting (IPM) and the tenth Green Events & Innovations (GEI) conference, which both take place on 6 March.
“We’re thrilled that so many of the great and good of the global live music business will be joining us to celebrate ILMC’s 30th birthday,” says ILMC MD Greg Parmley. “Demand for places at ILMC is at a record level this year, and with over 1,100 delegates now confirmed, we’re set for one of our best editions yet in just two weeks’ time.”
Highlights of the agenda this year include legendary artist manager Peter Mensch in conversation with Ed Bicknell during the Breakfast Meeting session on Friday 9 March; and Security: Rock and a hard place, which asks what’s next for a business still reeling from multiple serious incidents over the last two years.
“We’re thrilled that so many of the great and good of the global live music business will be joining us to celebrate ILMC’s 30th birthday”
Gender: Calm down, what’s the fuss? questions whether the live industry has a problem with gender and equality, while Business Ethics: Why do we alien-ate each other? lifts the lid on murky business practices. This year’s Think Tank session invites industry notables Barry Dickins, Pino Sagliocco and Jackie Lombard to discuss their routes to the top of the business in an intimate format.
Also returning are the popular Festival Summit and Venue Summit strands with a day of discussion dedicated to both sectors, while workshops for 2018 include Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies, deciphering these disruptive new technologies, and the Riders Booking Workshop questions whether they’re worth the paper they’re written on.
In addition to GEI and IPM, there are still a limited number of passes for the opening party, as well as Friday’s closing dinner.
ILMC 30 takes place at the Royal Garden Hotel in London from 6 to 9 March. A full conference programme, including the agendas for IPM 11 and GEI 10, is available from 30.ilmc.com.
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Organisers of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) today launched the conference schedule for March’s ‘Close Encounters of the 30th Kind’ anniversary edition.
Topics scheduled for discussion at the world’s leading live music business event range from artist fees, security, ticketing and ethics to blockchain, gender, virtual reality and a galaxy of agency, venue and festival sessions.
“With external threats from terrorism to Brexit, new technologies driving change and topics such as gender and ethics questioning the very framework of the business, there’s never been an edition of ILMC when there was more to discuss,” says conference head Greg Parmley.
A raft of the industry’s top companies have already lined up to support the conference’s 30th year – the second in its new midweek format – set to kick off with a UFO-themed opening party on Tuesday 6 March, with many from the wider music industry also invited.
A committee of more than 100 professionals worldwide helps build the ILMC agenda, with input also drawn from key industry associations. The invitation-only event welcomes more than 1,000 of the world’s leading live music professionals from over 60 countries each year.
Highlights of the agenda this year include legendary artist manager Peter Mensch in conversation with Ed Bicknell during the Breakfast Meeting session on Friday 9 March; and Security: Rock and a hard place, which asks what’s next for a business still reeling from multiple serious incidents over the last two years.
“There’s never been an edition of ILMC when there was more to discuss”
Ticketing: Paying the price sees pricing, pre-sales and secondary go under the microscope, while The Music Business: United we stand?, which invites five industry figureheads to discuss what shape the joined-up wider music business will take.
Gender: Calm down, what’s the fuss?, meanwhile, questions whether the live industry has a problem with gender and equality, while Business Ethics: Why do we alien-ate each other? lifts the lid on murky business practices. This year’s Think Tank session invites industry notables Barry Dickins, Pino Sagliocco and Jackie Lombard to discuss their routes to the top of the business in an intimate format.
Also returning are the popular Festival Summit and Venue Summit strands, while workshops for 2018 include Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies, deciphering these disruptive new technologies, while the Riders Booking Workshop questions whether they’re worth the paper they’re written on.
Further sessions and details of all guest speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The full ILMC agenda can be viewed here.
ILMC takes place at the Royal Garden Hotel in London from 6 to 9 March.
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Classic concert posters
Is there anything in the history of rock music art as magnificent as Kate Burness’s poster for the Stones’ 1973 show at Cardiff Castle, depicting a dragon with an unfortunate case of Mick Jagger-mouth?
This particular print is sadly sold out, but there are plenty more to choose from at Classic Posters, including the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the Who.
No Pasta No Show
No Pasta No Show: My 40 Years of Live Music in Italy, Barley Arts founder Claudio Trotta’s new autobiography, is part memoir by a promoter responsible for more than 15,000 live events over five decades, and part history of the Italian concert business.
Or, in the words of Rock Rebel Magazine, “the story of 40 years of live music in Italy: a gallery of unforgettable characters and their stories”. Get it for €16.92 from Amazon.
Sleep Safe tape
At your tenth show this week? In a dingy basement surrounded by drunk students when you’d much rather be at home in bed with your wife/husband/cuddle pillow? Treat yourself to 40 winks mid-gig with these extremely convincing stick-on fake eyes.
Just £5 from Wish.com… for the agent who has everything.
Ticket Masters
Dean Budnick and Josh Baron’s Ticket Masters – subtitled The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped – chronicles the history and growth of the modern live music industry, with a particular focus on the changing, often controversial, ticketing market.
A 2011 Maclean’s review calls the book a “fascinating insider’s portrait of the music business once all of the pulsing lights, fog machines and sound equipment have been turned off”.
Musical Ruler
Wanted to be a rock star but lacked the musical talent? Never fear: Dan Wieden’s Musical Ruler offers you the chance to “become a musician in just a few hours!”
For just £5.99, the stationery maestro will guide you through “the highs, the lows and a variety of twanging thrills” of “modern ruler playing” – perfect for the failed musician in your life.
Isolate ear plugs
Starting at just £24.99, Flare Audio’s aluminium Isolate ear protectors promise to shield your ear drums from permanent hearing damage by blocking loud noise – such as live music – while still allowing you to ‘hear’ in detail through bone conduction.
Muse’s tour director, Glen Rowe, describes them as “bloody brilliant”, while legendary producer Tony Visconti (Bowie/T. Rex/Morrissey) says they’re “the best plugs I’ve ever used”. High praise indeed.
Desk Tape Series
If you want to raise money for a worthy music-related cause this Christmas, you could do worse than ARCA’s Desk Tape Series.
ARCA advocates for road crew, which it describes as the “backbone of Australian music”, especially those in crisis. All proceeds from the sale of the recordings will be used to assist road crew: The roadie who worked on the show will receive 80% of the profit, with 20% being retained by ARCA for its charitable Roadies Fund.
Emperor Palpatine mask
What better way to celebrate ILMC’s close encounters-themed 30th anniversary than with this truly horrifying silicone mask of the most evil man in the galaxy, Star Wars’s Darth Sidious/Sheev Palpatine?
It’s yours for just £517.90 from Ireland’s Madhouse FX Studio. Just make sure you let your colleagues know if you’ve ordered one – one Sith lord in the Royal Garden Hotel is probably more than enough…
Shameless plug: IQ Magazine
Not yet a subscriber to the only essential magazine for the international live music business? There’s still time to get your order in before Christmas, making sure you keep on top of the all latest live music industry news, features and insights throughout 2018.
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Legendary artist manager Peter Mensch will be the subject of the ILMC 30 Breakfast Meeting, the leading touring/festival business conference’s keynote interview, organisers announced today.
The news comes as the International Live Music Conference announces the first round of agenda topics for the 30th anniversary edition of the event in March 2018.
From 1979 to 1982, Mensch worked as a manager at Leber Krebs, where he was responsible for AC/DC, Scorpions, Def Leppard and Michael Schenker. Starting on April Fools’ Day 1982, Mensch and Cliff Burnstein formed Q Prime with just Def Leppard. The company’s roster currently includes Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse, Snow Patrol, Foals, Silversun Pickups, Cage the Elephant and the Black Keys.
The Breakfast Meeting, which takes place at 10.30 on Friday 9 March, will be hosted by former artist manager and raconteur Ed Bicknell. Previous interviewees in the hot-seat have included artist managers Paul McGuinness and Doc McGhee, WME’s Marc Geiger and Live Nation’s Arthur Fogel.
Also announced is the first round of conference sessions, including ‘BREXIT 2025: Looking back’, chaired by UK Music’s CEO Michael Dugher, which considers the impact of Brexit on the European touring business.
“We’ve never had an edition of ILMC when there were so many topics to cover”
‘Gender: Calm down, what’s the fuss?’, meanwhile, sees Coda Agency’s Natasha Bent chair a panel of industry leaders to discuss gender and inclusivity in the live music business, with guests including renowned investment banking head and mother of nine Dame Helena Morrissey.
Meanwhile, ILMC’s Venue Summit strand will include ‘Venues Summit: Corridors of power’, chaired by Kilimanjaro Live’s Stuart Galbraith, which considers whether venues hold the real power in the global touring business. ‘Venues Venue: Spaces for stars’, chaired by Ahoy Arena’s Peter van der Veer, presents a first look at new data from the NAA, EAA and IQ’s European Arena Yearbook while discussing the race to meet changing consumer tastes.
“We’ve never had an edition of ILMC when there were so many topics to cover,” says conference head Greg Parmley. “The full agenda will be announced in January, and with some of the industry’s biggest names and most active campaigners already confirmed, it’s shaping up fast.”
An invitation-only event, ILMC will welcome over 1,000 delegates to the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington from 6–9 March 2018. Companies supporting ILMC 30 include Live Nation, Ticketmaster, CTS Eventim, DEAG, Showsec, Malaysia Major Events, AirX, Eventbrite, United Talent Agency, WME Entertainment, eps, Emporium Presents, Feld Entertainment, Green Copper and Buma Cultuur.
Full information on ILMC’s schedule of networking and events is online at 30.ilmc.com.
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The organisers of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) today launched the event’s ‘Close Encounters of the 30th Kind’ anniversary edition, which will bring together more than 1,000 key decision-makers to London next March for four days of panels, talks and workshops dissecting the business of live music.
A raft of the industry’s top companies have already lined up to support the conference’s 30th year – the second in its new midweek format – set to kick off with a UFO-themed opening party on Tuesday 6 March, with many from the wider music industry also invited.
“With its ongoing mission to maintain peace and harmony among the live music worlds, ILMC 30 will feature more meetings, events, networking and out-of-body experiences than ever,” says conference head Greg Parmley.
“ILMC 30 will feature more meetings, events, networking and out-of-body experiences than ever”
ILMC – described by Ticketmaster International president Mark Yovich as “the leading conference for live entertainment” – has sold out in advance for more than a decade, with delegates including booking agents, promoters, festival organisers, venue operators and related professionals.
Within the schedule, the Arthur Awards – the live music industry’s equivalent of the Oscars – will be presented during a Gala Dinner at 8Northumberland on Thursday 8 March.
ILMC 30 will take place from 6–9 March 2018. The new website, which calls on “otherworldly inhabitants of the live music universe to congregate at the top secret Royal Garden HQ space base in Kensington”, is live at 30.ilmc.com.
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The International Live Music Conference (ILMC) – described by partners as “the leading conference for live entertainment” – has announced the first round of supporters for its 30th anniversary event in March 2018.
Live Nation reprises its role as platinum sponsor, with Ticketmaster returning as gold sponsor and CTS Eventim one again stepping up as silver sponsor. Associate sponsors are German live entertainment giant DEAG – which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year – leading security expert Showsec, air charter specialist AirX and Malaysian tourism initiative Malaysia Major Events.
“Our partnership with ILMC is hugely important to us,” says John Reid, president of concerts at Live Nation Europe. “The conference acts as an annual meeting point for the whole Live Nation family along with our key partners and clients.”
Mark Yovich, president of Ticketmaster International, adds: “ILMC’s support of the leaders and decision-makers within the world of live entertainment is vital to ensuring continued success for the industry as a whole. Ticketmaster is looking forward to our continued partnership with the leading conference for live entertainment.”
Registration for ILMC opens next week, when the conference theme will be revealed, alongside plans to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The 2017 edition of the conference included a keynote interview with former U2 manager Paul McGuinness, new Venue Summit and Festival Summit conference strands, workshop sessions from Snapchat and YouTube, and topics stretching the breadth of the contemporary touring and festival businesses.
“It’s great to have a conference that’s as inspiring and forward thinking as the live entertainment industry as a whole”
“It’s great to have a conference that’s as inspiring and forward thinking as the live entertainment industry as a whole,” says CTS Eventim chairman and CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg. “CTS Eventim is happy to be part of ILMC 30.”
DEAG CEO Peter Schwenkow, whose company turns 40 in 2018, comments: “ILMC is the most important meeting point for the live entertainment industry, and DEAG is proud to be a partner in the year of DEAG’s 40th anniversary.”
ILMC 30 takes place from 6–9 March 2018 at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, London. The event includes the annual Gala Dinner & Arthur Awards (the industry’s Oscar-equivalents), the ILMC Production Meeting and Green Events & Innovations Conference – which both take place on Tuesday 6 March – as well as various annual general meetings of key industry associations.
ILMC is an invitation-only event which typically sells out in advance. The conference is attended by over 1,000 delegates from around 60 countries.
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