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ASM Global holds second international job search

ASM Global’s second international virtual “collaborative job fair” generated more than double the applicants of last year’s maiden event.

Held over two days in late July, ASM’s The Next Great Opportunity job search encompassed five continents attracted 3,000 applicants as part of the venue giant’s big to unearth diverse talent and expand its reach within its local communities.

The event enabled venues to fill a wide range of roles from hourly to salaried levels with highly skilled and diverse candidates. The jobs include the areas of operations, business development, finance, food and beverage, human resources, sales, marketing, booking, security, guest services, audio visual tech and catering, among others.

“It validates our belief that the remarkable electricity, joy and sense of community in our industry transcends so many work paths for so many people”

“This international turnout is amazing,” says ASM Global CEO and president Ron Bension. “It validates our belief that the remarkable electricity, joy and sense of community in our industry transcends so many work paths for so many people.”

An added focus of this year’s outreach was to university students, with the company’s internal GROW programme aimed at providing impactful and meaningful career experiences to ethnically diverse university students globally who are interested in the venue management space.

“It’s tremendously gratifying to see ASM Global’s message of fostering diversity and the career development of talent and motivated individuals resonant internationally,” adds ASM chief human resources officer Shauna Elvin.

A worldwide roster of cities joined in the job fair, with participating ASM venues from North America, Europe and APAC.

The inaugural event, held in February 2022, was billed as the largest job fair in live entertainment history as it bid to help address the global staffing shortage that has hampered the recovery of the live music business, along with other industries, since the onset of the pandemic.

ASM has also partnered with the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) on the Alia Dann Swift Bursary Scheme for the past two years.

 


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ARTmania spearheads launch of job site for Ukrainians

European festivals ARTmania (Romania) and Pohoda (Slovakia) have teamed up with Music Export Ukraine to launch a pan-European job site that aims to help displaced Ukrainians from the live music industry find work in other countries.

The companies say that ARTery was launched as a reaction to the war in Ukraine but that the platform will also counter the effects of the staff shortage in Europe caused by Covid.

“We want to help [Ukrainians] resume their lives with dignity in other countries and give them a sense of normality by helping them to do what they’re trained to do,” Codruța Vulcu, festival director at ARTMania in Romania, previously told IQ.

“We want to help [Ukrainians] resume their lives with dignity in other countries”

“The aim is that these people don’t end up washing dishes in Berlin, for example, but that they can continue the work they’ve studied and prepared for – and all that added value will not get lost,” she says.

The platform officially launched on Saturday (7 May) and is already advertising jobs for ARTmania festival, Music Export Ukraine and European Music Exporters Exchange in Belgium.

Companies can post a job, while Ukrainian music representatives can register and create a profile in order to browse job offers and apply directly. Visit the ARTery website here.

 


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ASM Global to host mammoth global job fair

ASM Global has announced plans to host what is billed as the largest job fair in live entertainment history across four continents next week.

The three-day international “collaborative job fair” – ASM Global Presents: The Next Great Opportunity – will be held from 15–17 February 2022, and is aimed at helping address the global staffing shortage that has hampered the recovery of the live music business, along with other industries, since the onset of the pandemic.

The “unprecedented” event will enable venues to fill a wide range of roles from hourly to salaried levels with highly skilled and diverse candidates. Jobs include the areas of operations, business development finance, F&B, HR, sales, marketing, booking, security, guest services, audio visual tech and catering.

ASM has set out its intention to hire 1,000 employees in 100 of the world’s leading venues amid the return of live performances.

“The return to live is just what the world needs”

“The return to live is just what the world needs,” says ASM Global CEO and president Ron Bension. “There’s a thrill, an excitement, that makes this business feel communal for everyone involved. Our hope is that ASM Global Presents: The Next Great Opportunity helps ignite that excitement.”

The US, Canada and Latin America job fair is scheduled for 15-16 February, with the United Kingdom and APAC both running from 16-17 February. Interested applicants can access the service through the following links: US, UK, APAC

The list of participating stadiums, convention centres, theatres and arenas include AO Arena, Manchester, Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre, Barclays Center, New York, Buenos Aries Arena, First Direct Arena, Leeds, KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, OVO Arena, Wembley, P&J Live, Aberdeen, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Te Pae Christchurch Convention and Exhibition Centre, New Zealand, T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Utilita Arena, Newcastle and Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids.

 


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UK: 90,000 cultural jobs lost due to pandemic

Around 86,000 jobs in the UK’s cultural nighttime economy sector have been lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), which commissioned the report, says it has found that the sector has been “ravaged” by the pandemic.

The report shows for the first time the value of the UK’s nighttime cultural economy, which was 1.6% of GDP – or £36.4 billion – in 2019. This contribution accounted for 425,000 jobs across the UK.

The NTIA says there are fears that many of the jobs lost to the pandemic in the nighttime economy sector will be lost for good, with businesses closing and persistently lower demand for services.

The association has warned that it is “the worst possible time to introduce vaccine passports, which will further damage a sector essential to the economic recovery”.

“We are calling for [the chancellor] to extend the 12.5% rate of VAT on hospitality until 2024, including door sales”

“[This report is] timely because at this moment, governments in Scotland and Wales are pressing ahead with chaotic vaccine passport plans, and the UK government refuses to rule out their use in England,” says Michael Kill, CEO at NTIA.

“It is crucial the chancellor uses the upcoming Budget to support this beleaguered sector. We are calling for him to extend the 12.5% rate of VAT on hospitality until 2024, include door sales in that reduced rate of VAT, because the present system punishes nightclubs that rely on door sales rather than selling tickets, and for him to ensure there are no increases in alcohol duties – our sector really cannot afford any additional burdens.”

The last Budget took place on 3 March 2021 and included an extra £300 million for the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), ‘restart grants’ for hospitality/leisure businesses, the extension of the coronavirus job retention scheme (furlough) and self-employed income support (SEISS) schemes, and business rate relief.

The budget also confirmed an extension of the 5% rate of VAT on ticket sales for a further six months, with an interim rate of 12.5% until April 2022.

 


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170,000 UK live music jobs lost by end of 2020

More than 26,000 permanent jobs will be lost in the live music industry before the end of the year if government support is withdrawn, new research published today (21 October) reveals.

In addition, 144,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles, including self-employed and freelance workers, will have effectively ceased to exist by the end of 2020, the new report, UK live music: At a cliff edge, shows.

Revenue into the industry has been almost zero since March, with a fall of 81% in 2020 compared to 2019 – four times the national UK average, where reductions across industries run at around 20%.

At a cliff edge – conducted by Chris Carey and Tim Chambers for Media Insight Consulting on behalf of LIVE (Live music Industry Venues and Entertainment), an umbrella group representing the UK live music industry – also reveals the positive contribution made by the Culture Recovery Fund, which has offered a lifeline to a range of businesses, but whose impact is tempered by 80% of employees still being reliant on the furlough scheme, which ends this month.

The report’s findings include:

“This research shows clearly that the entire ecosystem is being decimated”

Following the lockdown in March, and the ongoing government restrictions on venues and events, many of those working within the live music sector have received no income at all. The new tier-two and three restrictions put further limitations on the sector reopening, while the sector is currently excluded from the government’s extended Job Support Scheme.

With recent indications from the prime minister that severe restrictions could be in place for a further six months, meaning a full year with next-to-no live music or revenues, the associations represented by Live – including the Entertainment Agents’ Association, Association for Electronic Music (AFEM), Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), Concert Promoters Association (CPA), Music Managers Forum (MMF), National Arenas Association (NAA), Production Services Association (PSA) and Music Venue Trust (MVT) – are calling on the government to ensure the live business can benefit from new support measures.

Phil Bowdery, CPA chair, comments: “We were one of the first sectors to close and we will be one of the last to reopen. We are currently caught in a catch 22, where we are unable to operate due to government restrictions but are excluded from the extended Job Support Scheme as the furlough comes to an end. If businesses can’t access that support soon, then the majority of our specialist, highly trained workforce will be gone.”

“Those who have often found themselves overlooked and left behind throughout the last six months are the freelancers and self-employed – the people up and do the country that we rely on to bring us the live experiences we love,” adds PSA general manager Andy Lenthall. “Things are becoming increasingly desperate for a great many people in the industry and government needs to recognise that these crucial individuals need support.”

““Things are becoming increasingly desperate for a great many people in the industry”

Economist Chris Carey, who co-authored the report, says: “From the artists on stage, to the venues and the many specialist roles and occupations that make live music happen, this research shows clearly that the entire ecosystem is being decimated.”

The report includes sector-specific data on artists, managers, promoters, booking agents, venues, festivals, ticketing companies and technical suppliers, as well as case studies from some of those affected and comment from industry leaders.

“The Culture Recovery Fund is a help, especially to grassroots music venues,” continues Carey. “However, larger companies are going to be hit harder, and without ongoing government investment in protecting this industry, the UK will lose its place as a cultural leader in live entertainment.

“Moreover, the skills we lose in this time will significantly hinder the sector’s ability to recover and return to driving economic growth and supplying UK jobs.”

Download the report here.

 


This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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UK’s new job scheme: Live still faces ‘grim future’

The UK’s live industry has reacted to the government’s new Jobs Support Scheme and Winter Economy Plan, unveiled earlier today by chancellor Rishi Sunak.

The emergency scheme will see the government and firms top up workers’ wages, covering up to two-thirds of their hours for the next six months, after the furlough scheme ends on 31 October. This means employers will have to pay 55% of an employee’s pay and the government will cover 22%.

As part of the Winter Economy Plan, the temporary reduction of VAT rates from 20% to 5% for the hospitality sector will remain in place until 31 March 2021, rather than 13 January.

The announcements have garnered lukewarm reactions from some of the industry’s key figures – many of which have emphasised that the new scheme will only go part way to sustaining the sector.

“We welcome this economy-wide intervention from the chancellor. However, it still leaves many hundreds of thousands of workers in events, arts and cultural parts of the economy with a grim future,” says Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee chair Julian Knight.

“The truth is, three times as many people in these sectors are currently on furlough than the national average, which suggests that the Job Support Scheme may not be able to stop unprecedented redundancies and many organisations from facing extinction.”

“It still leaves many hundreds of thousands of workers in cultural parts of the economy with a grim future”

Earlier today, the chair of the DCMS Committee today made recommendations to Oliver Dowden, secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, calling for immediate and robust action by the government to prevent culture sector from collapse.

Elsewhere, Michael Kill, CEO at Night Time Industries Association, says he’s grateful and relieved that the News Jobs Support Scheme is throwing a “much-needed lifeline to hundreds of thousands of workers in the night-time economy,” but stresses that more support will be needed.

“We are seeking more clarity about what this announcement means for the majority of businesses in the night-time economy who do not know when, or if, they will be able to reopen their doors. These businesses cannot be allowed to collapse as the diversity and creativity of the UK’s night-time economy will die with them.

“We are also very concerned that the extension of business support loans will result in more painful debt for those already overburdened financially, many of whom are languishing in up to three-quarters of commercial rent debt with no certainty on when this will be due.

“More support will be needed. The majority of our sector is still unable to even open and trade. Night-time economy businesses have been unfairly targeted by the new 10 pm curfew, which we believe has no scientific basis and will prevent businesses from rebuilding the necessary revenue to stay afloat. The government must rethink this curfew and consider further sector-specific support for our industry if it wants to save Britain’s most loved cultural institutions.”

“No part of the live music industry is in a position to pay 55% of its employees’ salaries”

Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, says: “The measures announced today do not address the need for the UK government to support different sectors of our society which are subject to different restrictions because of its own actions to control the virus. This is a very specific challenge to the live music industry, which is not permitted to trade by government restrictions but has not seen any sector support directly offered in this financial intervention.”

“No part of the live music industry is in a position to pay 55% of its employees’ salaries in order to access the government support which is entirely conditional on doing that,” he adds.

Paul Reed, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), has also weighed in, saying: “While the extension to the VAT cut is welcome, these measures are not even a band-aid for a sector that remains severely wounded.

“Festivals support 85,000 jobs in the UK and our most recent member surveys suggest redundancies of at least 50.5% across the sector, some of which have unfortunately already taken place.

“With the sector still not generating any income at all this year, many employers will simply not be in a position to pay 55% of their employees’ salaries to access the support offered by the government’s new job support scheme.

“This remains a broad-brush approach, and we urgently need targeted support.

“We are awaiting the outcome of Cultural Recovery Fund applications on 5th October and this will determine if the independent festival sector will in fact receive the support that it urgently requires.”

News of the Jobs Support Scheme follows the government’s previous announcement of a new 10 pm curfew, as part of a slate of new restrictions intended to combat a second wave of Covid-19.

Concert venues and theatres will be allowed to stay open past a new 10 pm curfew, though only if the performance has already started.

 


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Amazon names Lawrence Peryer director, tickets

Amazon has tapped former Warner Music Group exec Lawrence Peryer to lead its tickets operation in Seattle.

Peryer joins the tech giant as director, tickets, where he’ll help expand ticketing operations in the United States. The business is described as a “start-up with a vision of becoming Earth’s most customer-centric ticketing company. A place where event-goers can come to find and discover any ticket they might want to buy online.” It first launched in the UK in 2015. 

There are currently 19 jobs listed on Amazon’s job site for its tickets division, covering software development, strategy and business planning, based in Seattle and London.

Peryer joins after over 20 years in the content, commerce and community and technology sectors. His most recent role was at Warner Music, where he joined as CEO of the major label’s artist-to-fan division Artist Arena in 2012. Over the course of four years he was promoted to EVP of WEA’s Global Consumer Sales & Marketing Group, before leaving in May 2016.

Prior to Warner, Peryer spent over seven years at online fan club management and marketing services firm UltraStar Entertainment, where he was named president in 2005 prior to its acquisition by Live Nation.

 


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Creative-sector jobs grow by 3x UK average

The number of jobs in Britain’s creative industries has increased three times faster than the UK average since 2011, new government figures reveal, as the sector continues to outperform the British job market as a whole.

Employment in the ‘creative industries’ – defined by the British government as music, arts and culture, publishing, tech, TV and film, games, fashion, craft, design, advertising and architecture – has in the past five years grown by close to 20%, and now accounts for 1.9 million jobs.

John Whittingdale, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, says: “The creative industries are one of the UK’s greatest success stories. That success is built upon the extraordinary talent which exists in this country, an amazing cultural heritage, the English language and a tax system designed to support and encourage growth in the creative sector.

“I am confident that our creative industries will continue to thrive and take advantage of the new opportunities which are opening up to do business across the world”

“None of this is changed by the UK’s decision to leave the EU and I am confident that our creative industries will continue to thrive and take advantage of the new opportunities which are opening up to do business across the world.”

The number of black, Asian and minority-ethnic (BAME) workers in the creative industries has also grown by 44% since 2011, reports Whittingdale – more than double the rate of the rest of the UK, where it has risen by an average of 18%.

 


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