IQ 118 – the latest issue of the international live music industry’s favourite magazine – is available to read online now, with the physical magazine arriving on desks within the week.

The April 2023 edition celebrates 40 years since legendary artist manager Doc McGhee launched his McGhee Entertainment enterprise, and hears from the architects of Måneskin’s sell-out Loud Kids tour.

Elsewhere, IQ‘s deputy news editor Lisa Henderson talks to the founders of women-led production company Ginger Owl, as they celebrate their 10-year anniversary and Adam Woods investigates how Austria’s live entertainment business has changed in recent years.

This issue also examines the rise of ChatGPT and looks at its implications for the live music sector, and wraps up the coverage of ILMC 35 at its new home.

For this edition’s comments and columns, Rebecca Kane Burton tells readers why innovation is key to meeting customer expectations across the venues and live entertainment industries and Jon Chapple writes about the experience of living and working with cancer.

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 £6.25 a month – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:

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Top execs weighed up the pros and cons of the continued consolidation of the agency business at the recent ILMC.

Alex Hardee (Wasserman Music), Alex Bruford (ATC Live), Charly Beedell-Tuck (Solo Agency) and Ella Street (WME) shared their views on the matter during the Agency Business 2023 panel, moderated by IQ Magazine‘s Gordon Masson.

The panel, which took place at the beginning of March, marked one year since Paradigm UK was acquired by Wasserman Music, with Hardee becoming part of the managing executive team.

He told ILMC delegates he thinks the convergence of the business will continue, leaving a handful of major agencies that operate on a global scale.

“I think that there’ll be fewer and fewer agencies and they’ll fold up into bigger ones,” said Hardee, who represents Liam Gallagher and Lewis Capaldi among others.

“I don’t know how you can survive on a big scale without having a global footprint moving forward because the Americans have rigged the game in streaming and the majority of the new acts that are going to be global acts will come from America and perhaps Korea because that’s where the streaming base is. Branding – even though a lot of its smoke and mirrors – seems to be quite important. We’ve got 300 people working at our company now, just in the UK.

“I think that there’ll be fewer and fewer agencies and they’ll fold up into bigger ones”

“I don’t know how you’d operate on a cottage industry level and retain a world-class band. You’d be under so much pressure from people. I think it will be very hard. I think that there will be four or five main agencies probably like there are four or five main record labels.”

While WME’s Ella Street stressed the importance of independents in a healthy marketplace, she echoed Hardee’s point about the need for agencies to have a global footprint.

“I think competition is obviously important and we need to support those independent agencies, venues and festivals to create a healthy marketplace for everybody,” said Street, a WME veteran who represents the likes of Keane, Goldfrapp and more.

“And obviously, some artists are looking for a more boutique experience and don’t want to sign with WME or Wasserman. But I think Alex does have a point; artists and managers are coming to us and wanting a global plan. We’re having to project 18 months, two years ahead. So unless an artist is just looking to just tour the UK at a certain level, they are eventually going to involve a bigger team – they’re going to be looking for that next part of the conversation.”

Bruford, founder and MD of independent agency ATC Live, argued: “I think it’s well proven now that you don’t need a major record label or a major agency or major management to be a global success. I think there are a lot of artists out there that have managed it with all kinds of different levels of teams. For me, what matters is the quality of the work that you do. Whether you deliver not for your artists, it’s not really about the size of the company.

“It’s well proven now that you don’t need a major record label or a major agency or major management to be a global success”

“For us, the continued consolidation is beneficial because rather than being focused on volume, we’re focused on the creative and strategic representation of our artists. And that’s really our priority, rather than how many acts we represent and how big the numbers are. We’ve had really positive responses to that from a lot of the biggest artists and managers out there who want to have their artists represented in that way. There are obviously different ways of doing it and it just depends on which path artists want to take with their careers. I do totally agree that you need a global footprint – we have one – and I think that that’s a really important part of the business. It’s just part of the game.”

Beedell-Tuck, a senior agent at John Giddings’ boutique Solo Agency, reinforced Bruford’s point about the bespoke service independents can offer artists.

“It’s about how you’re servicing your clients and what kind of service you’re offering,” said Beedell-Tuck, who works with artists ranging from Iggy Pop to Megan McKenna.

“If you’re represented by a smaller boutique agency, you’re likely to get a more tailored experience because, in my opinion, you get more of the agent’s time and you’re not just another number. Having a global footprint is very important but there are other ways of satisfying that.”

Since the panel took place, there has been more movement in the agency business, with Primary Talent returning to being an independent music talent agency following a management buyout.

Primary was sold to ICM Partners in 2020, which was subsequently acquired by CAA.

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European festival promoters engaged in a heated debate about increasing ticket prices during a panel discussion at the recent ILMC.

Festival Forum: Mud Baths & Outdoor Pursuits saw Holger Jan Schmidt (Go Group/Yourope) moderate a discussion between Melvin Benn (Festival Republic, UK), Mikolaj Ziółkowski (Alter Art, PL), Nika Brunet Milunovic (MetalDays, SI) and Maiju Talvisto (Flow Festival, FI).

With all agreeing that the supply of artists, customers and infrastructure is stable for the 2023 festival season, the panel’s sticking point was how to keep tickets reasonably priced.

“There is almost always a moment in every economy when you feel you are being ripped off”

Apart from one Festival Republic event, the organisers on the panel said that they had increased prices for all of their festivals.

“We are reaching a red line,” warned Ziółkowski, who promotes Open’er, Orange Warsaw, Kraków Live in Poland. “There is almost always a moment in every economy when you feel you are being ripped off.”

“Generally, prices are higher and people are not earning more money. So probably in summer 2023, people won’t be able to buy two or three festival tickets, they’ll only be able to go to one. We have to be so clever to be more interesting and more flavorful than other cultural offerings,” he concluded.

Benn, who promotes Reading, Leeds, Latitude, Wireless and Download among other festivals, argued: “We don’t know where that red line is. We want to keep the ticket prices down but we have to compete and pay artists what they want. At a point, the public either says we’ll buy the ticket or we won’t buy it. That’s the risk; that’s the business we’re in.”

“The dilemma is: what is too expensive?… it’s relative”

Both Ziółkowski and Schmidt aired concerns high ticket prices may render festivals financially inaccessible for a large chunk of the audience.

“It’s important that we are trying to keep prices for festivals and headline shows reasonable because music should not be for rich people. Music should be for all people,” said Ziółkowski.

Schmidt echoed his point: “I would also argue that if we raise the ticket price [too much], we will exclude people who can’t afford the ticket so they will not be able to come to the festival.”

MetalDays’ Milunovic added: “The dilemma is: what is too expensive? It depends on what you get for the money that you pay for the ticket. It’s relative.”

“There’s no such thing as cuddly capitalism. Entertainment costs”

Benn commented that maintaining a top tier line up for festivals such as Reading and Leeds was crucial to their ongoing success, adding that prices would inevitably rise given the ongoing hikes in costs that all organisers are facing.  “We have to do what the market demands,” he said. “If ticket prices go up and people don’t come, we’ve lost out – so we have to try and balance it.”

Flow Festival’s Talvisto agreed that it’s a balancing act to keep costs down but pointed out that “there aren’t that many pieces in the puzzle where we can increase the revenue”.

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The stadium concert boom is showing no signs of subsiding according to the live music heavyweights who convened for ILMC’s The View from the Top panel.

Chaired by UK-based economist Will Page, yesterday’s (2 March) session at the Royal Lancaster Hotel brought together ASM Global’s John Boyle, Sophia Burn of Live Nation and Marty Diamond of Wasserman Music, alongside Jenny Hutchinson of Bristol Ashton Gate and Rocio Vallejo-Nagera of Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium.

US-based Diamond, agent for acts such as Coldplay and Ed Sheeran in North America, described 2022’s touring business as “amazing” and said this year was shaping up to be even better, but warned against oversaturation of the market.

“Coldplay put up stadium dates recently. We put up a very brief run in ’23 that blew out, we are looking further down the road: Ed Sheeran is on fire. Our SZA tour blew out. Our Kendrick ‘[Lamar] tour blew out,” he said. “Business is gangbusters, but there is a bit in the middle where there are going to be winners and losers. The fans can’t consume it all. It’s like we’re at the table now and everybody just keeps bringing out plates. And at some point, you’re full.”

Diamond went on to discuss his concerns around pricing the events.

“The desire for people to come together and have a shared experience is the big thing, post pandemic… And I don’t think that’s going away”

“My real fear with it is – and it’s so interesting, because I’ve worked with two massive clients that are so ticket price sensitive in Coldplay and Ed, largely because they understand… that a consumer isn’t necessarily buying two tickets, they might be buying four tickets,” he said. “That’s a commitment to a pocket. It’s a big ask for people. So we have to approach the future in a cautionary way.”

Nevertheless, Burn described demand for tickets for Live Nation’s summer stadium tours by artists including Beyonce, The Weeknd, Coldplay and Depeche Mode, as “just crazy”.

“I understand the pricing question but I think people are really keen to be together,” she countered. “Harry Styles’ crowd is just the most wonderful group of people partying together and making friends and I can understand the appeal of that after Covid where you could see maybe your three best friends if you tried.”

Boyle, ASM’s global chief content officer, suggested there was a strong correlation between the pandemic and the rising number of stadium shows.

“I think the desire for people to come together and have a shared experience is the big thing, post pandemic… And I don’t think that’s going away,” he said.

“Live Nation has 180 stadium shows in Europe this year versus 120 last year. That’s 50% growth. Is that sustainable? We’ll see… I want to be optimistic that it is”

He added that co-headline tours and curated bills such as Def Leppard & Motley Crue’s run with Poison and Joan Jett were most likely a sign of things to come.

“If you like metal, you’re going to this,” he said. “Packaging, so that you can get to a stadium level, is important. There are only so many acts that can do stadiums on their own: the Beyonces, the Coldplays, the Stones. So I think the packaging component is going to be important moving forward. And when you talk about the pieces of the pie, the middle is the hard part it really is. I’m told Live Nation has 180 stadium shows in Europe this year versus 120 last year. That’s 50% growth. Is that sustainable? We’ll see. I don’t know. I want to be optimistic that it is.

“In America, what I can tell you is we manage about a quarter of the NFL stadiums in major markets. There is not a weekend available this summer for a show. Everything is booked every single weekend.”

Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium hosted The Killers and two nights with Elton John in 2022 after welcoming the Spice Girls, Muse, Rod Stewart and Take That in 2019, and head of venue and events Hutchinson said the indications were that the post-Covid upswing was sustainable for the industry.

“We’re back to a new and better normal, I would say, and it will be much more exciting when we have a new stadium in Madrid”

“We thought it was just a knee jerk reaction from everything being shut down, but actually we’re seeing even more growth,” she said. “We’re seeing bigger events, big audiences and bigger spend, so the new normal for us actually looks pretty good.”

Former Live Nation Spain partnerships director Rocio Vallejo-Nágera was recently hired as head of large events and concerts at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The stadium will have both a retractable roof and pitch – enabling it to stage live music shows all-year-round – when it reopens at the end of 2023 following the completion of its extensive renovation.

Vallejo-Nágera shared her pride at the rise of Spanish language music globally, and said the country’s domestic market was also on an upward trajectory.

“Spain, especially Madrid, was quite open during the pandemic,” she said. “Everything was absolutely closed for three months, but then we did have shows – you had to be sitting down, you had to wear a mask, etc – but there was a time where Madrid was Vegas around 2021. It was the most fun city in Europe. So I think we’re 100% back to normal. We’re back to a new and better normal, I would say, and it will be much more exciting when we have a new stadium in Madrid.”

“A year ago today, Harry Styles had not played a stadium in the UK. And when I think of Harry Styles today, I think of him as a very well established stadium artist”

And Burn indicated she had few concerns about the next wave of stadium headliners coming through.

“A year ago today, Harry Styles had not played a stadium in the UK. And when I think of Harry Styles today, I think of him as a very well established stadium artist,” she said. “There are so many: Wizkid has done the first stadium he’s ever done here, The Weeknd is playing stadiums for the first time this year. There’s so much to come that I’m not really worried.

“Plus, these are still great artists. The Eagles played last year and it was amazing Bruce Springsteen’s coming this year, the shows are sold out and half of my inbox is requests from the 20-year-olds in the office that are dying to see Springsteen, so I think it’s fine.”

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The controversial topics of dynamic pricing and resale were explored during a standing-room only Ticketing panel on day two of ILMC.

While the panellists all reported that the start of 2023 was strong in terms of sales, Paul Newman of AXS Europe Ltd sounded a note of caution.

“People are loading their credit cards and there may come a stage when that finishes and they can do no more. So are we loading everything towards the start of the year and then it’s going to slow down?” he posed.

Noting that there are increasing efforts to clamp down on touts, session chair Jessica Koravos of Oak View Group International steered the conversation toward dynamic pricing.

Andrew Parsons from Ticketmaster stated that market-based pricing was just part of the arsenal in the company’s toolkit that it can offer to artists and managers. He continued, “There are other approaches to locking down tickets more effectively, such as blocking transfers… Our perspective is to have the ability to provide everyone with full array of tools.”

“I don’t have a tattoo of my favourite hotel on me, but I do have a tattoo of my favourite band and that’s the difference”

Marcia Titley from Eventim Norway & Sweden reported that her company also has the ability to price based on demand, “But not every market is ready for dynamic pricing.” She added, “The question we pose to the artist is ‘what are you trying to achieve?’, because there are other ways to increase revenue without annoying the fan.”

Noel Edwards from The Ticket Factory said that drawing comparisons on dynamic with the likes of airlines and hotels was futile. “I don’t have a tattoo of my favourite hotel on me, but I do have a tattoo of my favourite band and that’s the difference.”

Suggesting that there will be a “tipping point” in dynamic pricing, Newman nonetheless said, “The higher priced tickets allow promoters to keep the prices of other tickets lower, so there is some justification that way, too.” He added, “It’s nothing new: at the Prince [21 Nights in London] tour where tickets were priced at £31.21, there was a bubble where people could pay whatever they want, and that allowed the other tickets to be priced at £31.21.”

Highlighting that the UK operations for Ticketmaster was not involved in the controversial Taylor Swift presale in America, Parsons added that the problems had been driven by bots, meaning that conversations with the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK are definitely worth stepping up.

However, Edwards opined, “As an industry, it’s maybe worth waiting for [governmental] change, because if they are not listening to us when we’re shouting, then maybe we should bide our time.”

“In Norway it’s illegal to sell tickets over face value, [and] it’s the same in Denmark and being considered in Sweden”

Commenting on a market where there is existing legislation to tackle touts, Titley commented, “In Norway it’s illegal to sell tickets over face value, [and] it’s the same in Denmark and being considered in Sweden. By having that legislation in place, the activity on the secondary market is much lower.”

Amid calls for greater support for grassroots music and venues, Parsons acknowledged that it is more than just a moral standpoint at Ticketmaster. “As a ticketing company we have the ability to build campaigns focussed on price, for the first time, where we can encourage people to support smaller acts and venues,” said Parsons. “We want to be able to support grassroots because it makes commercial sense to do so.”

Koravos and her guest speakers agreed that one of their main goals, going forward, was to educate the ticket buying public.

Edwards told ILMC, “One issue we are seeing at our venues is people turning up with fake tickets, but branded with a legitimate ticket agency logo. So, we have an education process whereby we need to inform people that if they don’t have a ticket in our venue app then it’s not a valid ticket. The bottom line is that we need to communicate better with ticket buyers.”

Titley revealed that tentative conversations are underway in her part of the world over schemes that could introduce rebates or discounts for people buying tickets to a second or third event in a venue. “There are lot of discussions in Scandinavia to
build that kind of loyalty.”

And answering a question whether it could work where different event organisers or promoters are involved, she responded, “Yes – it’s in everyone’s interest to sell more tickets.”

“Maybe as venues we need to do better job in education too,” concluded Koravos.

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ILMC 35 kicked off with the traditional Open Forum session with this year’s host, Maria May from CAA, addressing a swathe of issues, while looking back on a monumental year for live music around the world.

May noted various statistics about the growth of the business in 2022, including the fact that ticket prices for Pollstar’s top 100 tours had increased by more than 10%, before posing a question to her guests about whether those biggest-selling productions should be doing anything to support the grassroots side of the business.

Obi Asika from United Talent Agency noted that the year ahead was looking like it would be the strongest he has ever had, reporting that his dance music and afrobeat acts were doing great business. And answering a question about the stadium business harming grassroots, he stated, “I’m more worried about the stadium effect on festivals. But I don’t see it as an issue; it’s just different.”

“We have to be brave and inclusive if we want to have new headliners”

When it comes to helping grassroots acts, he added, “We have to be brave and inclusive if we want to have new headliners.”

Q Prime Management’s Tara Richardson contested: “There’s a whole generation of ticket buyers who have skipped [going to] sweaty clubs because they have been stuck indoors during the pandemic.”

But she agreed that perhaps stadiums could support grassroots venues through sponsorship or some other system. “The record labels and publishers develop talent, but the live side seems to be the only part that does not throw money back toward grassroots,” she observed.

Addressing the issue of spiralling costs, Herman Schueremans of Live Nation Belgium admitted that most people in the business had not expected such big rises. “The bottom line is that it’s a thing of give and take – listen to each other and be nicer to each other,” Schueremans pleaded. Looking back at 2022, he reported, “By respecting people and paying part [of the money] in advance and the balance the day after show, it worked really well.

“You cannot avoid rising costs – you have to live with it and deal with it. It might mean we have to work harder but earn less. Making a profit is important, but it’s not the most important.”

“The live side seems to be the only part that does not throw money back toward grassroots”

On a related note, talking about all the various challenges that the live sector is facing, Asika pointed to the example of some of his African artists who have had all kinds of obstacles to overcome to establish careers outside of their own countries. “However complex it is, we can figure it out,” he said. “There are enough ideas and enough good people to figure it out – it’s part of the fun.”

Tackling the controversial topic of dynamic pricing, John Meglen from Concerts West noted, “Most shows do not sell out, but at the very high end it’s a very simple supply and demand issue [and] dynamic pricing is a business decision. If you sell a ticket for $100 but then watch it be resold for $500, the artist should be receiving that money, not the tout.”

Meglen suggested that blaming the ticketing system for any issues was a cop-out. “It’s up to us to set those business rules – we cannot be blaming the ticketing systems, he said. “We have an issue of pricing, and we have a resale issue. We need to make sure that the money [remains] in our business. If we’re getting market value for our tickets, the artists are going to earn more and it’s not someone outside business making the money.”

Q Prime’s Richardson drew comparisons with the price of theatre tickets when it comes to tour pricing, but also had a pragmatic idea on how the teams involved in tour planning could better handle the subject. “Maybe there needs to be a middle ground where we involve tour accountants before we route – and we have a plan A, plan B, and plan C for the tour and the production, depending on the ticket price.”

“We have an issue of pricing, and we have a resale issue”

The session also looked at how the live music industry can attract a more diverse workforce, with the speakers agreeing that more needs to be done – from the top of the business downwards – to make true and meaningful progress.

Engaging in a debate regarding the environmental impact of the live music sector, Schueremans revealed, “At Rock Werchter 2022 we recycled or recouped 95% of our plastic. It was a hell of a challenge, but we did it and we should not just be doing it as festivals, we need to do it at all shows.”

However, Richardson concluded that rather than beat up the festivals and tours, “We’d be better off having a huge industry lobby to do something about the six big companies who are contributing most to carbon emissions.”

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With the days counting down to the 35th edition of ILMC at London’s five-star Royal Lancaster Hotel, we spoke to a handful of the individuals who will be chairing sessions in the main room during the 28 February–3 March conference to quiz them on their expectations for their respective debates…

FESTIVAL FORUM: MUD BATHS & OUTDOOR PURSUITS
1 MARCH | 14:00–15:00
CHAIR: HOLGER JAN SCHMIDT, GO GROUP/YOUROPE (DE)

You have speakers on your session from a good mix of independent events and festivals owned by conglomerates – what do you think are the main shared challenges for everyone working in the festival sector in 2023?
For the European Festival Report 2022, we carried out a survey with around 200 festivals, and the top challenges that people identified were: the rise in production costs, increasing artist fees, selling tickets, staffing, and supply chain issues. However, we have to consider who was answering our survey, and had it been different people, would they have identified some other topics? And, if there were regulations in place for carbon budgets, for instance, then that would become a main topic if your event was not already prepared.

Every year there seem to be more people who bravely decide to launch a new festival, despite a very crowded landscape. What advice would you give to anyone contemplating such a risk in the year ahead?
Does “Really?! Why?” count as advice? In all seriousness, I would ask them if they had properly done their market research and identified that they have an audience for the event. I personally come from the independent festival sector, so I operate with a live-and-let-live philosophy. So, I would ask people to honestly look at whether their new event was going to compete with any existing well-established festival and to think twice about purely launching a new festival just to try to grab market share. I don’t think playing that game benefits anyone in the end.

“I hear very different things from all over Europe: events that are selling out faster than before but also other festivals that are not selling as well as they did before the pandemic”

This summer will see more stadium tours than ever before making their way through Europe. Will this added competition for consumers’ disposable income be one of the topics you address with your guests – and how do you think the festival sector can best promote the value for money that it offers to music fans?
I hear very different things from all over Europe: events that are selling out faster than before but also other festivals that are not selling as well as they did before the pandemic. I’m not sure there’s a formula to explain that. I’d argue that those stadium tours are maybe competition for each other, rather than the festivals, because we can plainly offer value for money by giving people the chance to see lots of different acts over a weekend, or sometimes a whole week, for a similar ticket price. But maybe some of our panellists who have events that also book those superstar acts as their headliners will have a very different view on the summer ahead. It will be an interesting discussion.

MARKETING 3.0:
1 MARCH | 15:30–16:30
CHAIR: JACKIE WILGAR, LIVE NATION (UK)

Social media is undoubtedly changing the way in which promoters do their marketing for events. What areas of communication will you be exploring with your guest speakers?

Marketing overall is undergoing some massive transformations in how we reach and connect with fans. New digital and social platforms can embrace an even more authentic way of communicating. Across channels there are new tools, requirements and platforms which will set the way communication will connect with consumers. How we all connect with fans is always key.

Marketing doesn’t all fall upon the promoters these days – how important is it for promoters, agents, artist management and ticketing companies to work together on the same, coherent plan?

Marketing is and always has been an ecosystem of touch points and communication. The challenge is to build a strategy which can cut through a saturated world of marketing messages and resonate with the audience. An artist marketing programme for touring and festivals needs a coherent plan across the activities scheduled, with all key marketing elements working as one.

“How we adapt and flex our reach by communicating with our audience is changing rapidly”

What are you hoping that delegates attending your Marketing 3.0 session will learn?

How we adapt and flex our reach by communicating with our audience is changing rapidly. Marketeers need to be aware of new digital platforms and how they are impacting consumers. We all need to watch and learn to help ensure we can use all marketing channels and platforms to help deliver for the artist and their fans.

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP:
2 MARCH | 14:00–15:00
CHAIR: WILL PAGE, ECONOMIST (UK)

You have studied the economics of the business. What insight will you be able to provide to delegates about the boom in large-scale shows internationally?
The first one is the complementary relationship between the resurgence in streaming and expansion of live shows. It’s like gin and tonic. Here in the UK, we saw streaming take off in 2015, and that’s exactly when box office spend really began to rally.
Up until the pandemic, consumer spend on both live and recorded was capturing an increasing share of an increasing wallet – to be clear, there was more disposable income and more of that was being spent on music. Now we’re all getting back to normal, albeit adjusting to a different crisis, it’s important that we see how these two forms of entertainment can grow each other’s gardens.

“I’d caution against this recession-proof argument, simply because no two recessions are the same”

We’re in a cost-of-living crisis, but many live music industry veterans believe that our business does well in recession years. Is there any evidence to suggest this will remain the case in 2023 and beyond?
I’d caution against this recession-proof argument, simply because no two recessions are the same. I’d also caution heavily against putting too much faith in government statistics – as the digital economy is not being captured effectively. Nevertheless, the signals so far are positive – none of the big four streaming services are struggling to grow subscribers, (the words ‘net-churn’ have yet to appear in the same way as they did for Netflix et al) and demand for concerts remains strong. I really believe music is (a) a bargain and therefore (b) resilient to downturns. We should be confident about the months ahead and in no way curtail our ambitions because of doom-and-gloom headlines.

With stadium shows competing with festivals in terms of ticket prices, will you be exploring with your guests the impact of these top-tier shows on the rest of the live entertainment market?
We’re one year away from the 20th anniversary of the 2004 article ‘The Long Tail’ – the idea that when you offer more choice, consumers take that choice and demand moves away from the head and down towards the tail. Since tackling this topic in 2008, we’ve seen the long tail turn on its head – when you offer more choices, people want more hits. In the UK, we’ve seen the head of the long tail, that is stadiums and festivals, increase their market share of box office from a fifth to almost half in under a decade – we need to dig deep into this cultural phenomenon at ILMC to tease out the economics for the audience to learn from.

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The 35th edition of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) has sold out, shifting a record number of tickets.

More than 1,300 professionals from over 60 countries will attend next week’s (28 February – 3 March) conference at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel, ILMC’s new five-star location.

This year’s conference includes a Hot Seat keynote with futurist Gerd Leonhard and a (Late) Breakfast Meeting conversation between Ed Bicknell and legendary KISS manager Doc McGhee.

Plus, a recently announced all-female Dragons’ Den will see Lucy Noble from (AEG Presents), Jacqueline Zich (DEAG) and Jolanda Jansen (The Ahoy) sit down for an up-close conversation with host Marie Lindqvist (ASM Global).

Other top guest speakers for ILMC 35 include Jessica Koravos (Oak View Group), Marcia Titley (Eventim), Melvin Benn (Festival Republic), Phil Bowdery (Live Nation), Alex Hardee (Wasserman Music), Mark Davyd (MVT), Tommy Jinho Yoon (ICA-Live-Asia), Amy Bowerman and Patrik Meyer (Deutsche Bank Park), Steve Reynolds (LS Events), John Langford (AEG Europe), Kim Bloem (Mojo Concerts) and Lisa Ryan (EFM).

“More of the world’s top promoters, agents, venues and festivals have signed up to ILMC than ever”

This year will also see ILMC’s first-ever central London showcase, London Calling, take place across four intimate Soho venues, featuring some of Europe’s most talked about emerging artists.

Plus, the Arthur Awards will return on Thursday 2 March as The ILMC Gala Fiesta & Arturo Awards, reflecting this year’s focus on the Latin live music market. More than 400 guests will attend the live music business’ best-loved awards, hosted by CAA’s Emma Banks.

“After a challenging but record-setting previous 12 months, the international live industry is clearly fully geared up for the year ahead, and business is back,” says ILMC managing director Greg Parmley. “That more of the world’s top promoters, agents, venues and festivals have signed up to ILMC than ever reflects this fact… and we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone to London next week.”

While the main ILMC conference is now sold out, a number of passes remain for Futures Forum, the one-day event for young live music professionals which takes place as part of the main conference on Friday 3 March.

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IQ 117, the latest issue of the international live music industry’s favourite magazine, is available to read online now.

The March 2023 issue sees Belgian promoter Herman Schueremans look back on 50 years in the live music industry, while Lewis Capaldi’s team discuss what made the singer’s latest tour such a success.

Elsewhere, the full agenda for the 35th edition of the International Live Music Conference is revealed and the New Tech panel is previewed.

Plus, IQ editor James Hanley examines the current state of the live event insurance market and Adam Woods puts the French business under le microscope.

For this edition’s double header of columns and comments, Marcel Hunziker talks up the benefits of developing a presence on TikTok and Sheryl Pinckney-Maas outlines the reasons to consider crowdsourced data to enhance event security.

In addition, Joe Hastings highlights the work of Help Musicians in tackling mental health issues in the music industry and Chris Bray explains how the ILMC scheme to introduce young professionals to the conference fits with ASM Global’s own future leadership plans.

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 £6.25 a month – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:

Emma Banks (CAA), Sammy Andrews (Deviate Digital) and Kirstie Loveridge (AEG) are among the latest slate of execs to join ILMC’s Futures Forum, taking place on Friday 3 March at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

Banks, CAA’s co-head, and agent Bilge Morden are set to trade perspectives on the industry during OK, Boomer: Closing the Generation Gap, Part II.

Andrews will moderate the discussion on developing online talent during Live After TikTok and Loveridge will chair True Sustainability, looking at a holistic approach to the topic.

Also joining the one-day discussion and networking event for the next generation of live music industry leaders are Lizzie Ford (CAA) on Now That’s What I Call 2023, Mira Silvers (FORT Agency) on The Young Entrepreneur and Seny Kassaye (FORT Agency) on Meet the New Bosses: Class of 2023.

Alongside new speakers, Futures Forum has unveiled its ever-popular mentoring scheme.

The industry heavyweights that are joining the scheme as mentors are:

Alan Day (promoter, Kilimanjaro Live)
Beckie Sugden (booking agent, Primary Talent International)
Guy Dunstan (managing director, ticketing & arenas, NEC Group)
John Talbot (business development director, AXS)
Lucy Fenner (commercial director, Alexandra Palace)
Lucy Wood (head of music, Roundhouse)
Marc Saunders (programming manager, AEG Presents/The O2)
Marcia Titley (managing director, Eventim Norway & Sweden)
Ollie Rosenblatt (director, Senbla)
Raye Cosbert (managing director, Metropolis Music)
Rebecca Prochnik (creative strategy and growth, UTA)
Ruth Barlow (director of live licensing, Beggars Group)
Summer Marshall (agent, CAA)

View the full provisional schedule here, read more about all speakers confirmed for Futures Forum 2023 by clicking here or buy tickets here.

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