Going Dutch: What to expect from ESNS 2020
Much of the European music industry is preparing for its yearly pilgrimage to the Netherlands, as conference and showcase festival Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) is set to commence tomorrow, 15 January, in the Dutch city of Groningen.
Combining a daytime conference programme with a packed evening showcase schedule, ESNS 2020 welcomes Switzerland as its focus nation this year, with over 20 emerging Swiss acts performing throughout the event and aiming to impress in the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP), which saw success for ATC Live-repped punk rockers Fontaines DC last year.
The 2019 European Festival Awards kick off proceedings on Wednesday evening, hosted by IQ Magazine’s Gordon Masson and A Greener Festival’s Claire O’Neill, and featuring performances from artists including Swiss singer-songwriter Marius Bear.
Wacken Open Air founders Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen are set to receive the lifetime achievement accolade at the ceremony, which will see winners crowned across 15 categories.
Over 150 panels, along with keynote interviews, workshops and networking opportunities, will take place at ESNS 2020
Over 150 panels, along with keynote interviews and workshops, will take place at ESNS 2020 from 16 to 19 January at conference centre De Oosterpoort, with a new city-centre location, Forum Groningen, hosting sessions over the weekend.
Highlights of the conference programme include ‘the Dickins Dynasty’, which sees ITB co-founder Barry Dickins and his daughter Lucy, head of WME’s UK music division, and son Jonathan, founder and CEO of September Management, in conversation with ILMC MD Greg Parmley, as well as a keynote interview with Isle of Wight Festival and Solo Agency’s John Giddings.
Other notable sessions include a keynote from Ticketmaster’s Don Pawley, ‘the Agents Panel’ with Paradigm’s Paul Buck, ATC Live’s Alex Bruford, X-ray Touring’s Beckie Sugden and CAA’s Maria May, and a panel on boutique festivals featuring representatives from Openair St.Gallen, Bluedot/Kendal Calling, Westway Lab and Release Athens.
ESNS 2019 attracted over 42,000 guests from 44 countries, including 4,100 conference delegates and representatives from 423 festivals, and showcased 342 acts across more than 40 stages.
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eOne moves into live entertainment with Round Room buy
Multinational entertainment company Entertainment One (eOne), whose portfolio includes TV, film production and distribution, artist management and recorded music/publishing divisions, has added live entertainment production to its product offering with the acquisition of New York-based Round Room Entertainment.
Round Room, which focuses on live entertainment for family content and special events, has worked on tours by the Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey, as well as Broadway productions including Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and Rock of Ages.
The acquisition follows the two companies’ successful collaboration on the PJ Masks Live tour, based on eOne’s animated children’s programme PJ Masks and produced by Round Room, which completed its initial run of US dates in late 2017, selling more than 150,000 tickets. The tour continues in 2018 with dates in Australia and the US.
The company will continue to be led by co-presidents Stephen Shaw and Jonathan Linden, who formerly worked under Michael Cohl at Concert Productions International, Live Nation and S2BN Entertainment. Both will report to Chris Taylor, eOne’s head of music.
“We look forward to working closely with Chris and his team to connect his extensive roster of artists with countless fans around the world”
“Across all areas of music, we work with so many spokes on the wheel, and live entertainment is such an important one,” says Taylor. Adding Round Room to our team, with Stephen and Jonathan at the helm, is going to provide the capacity to expand the reach of our brands, touch more fans on a global scale and further elevate our management roster.”
“We are very excited to join eOne and become a part of their global family while continuing to grow our core roster,” adds Shaw. “This is a very strategic move for both sides, and we look forward to working closely with Chris and his team to connect his extensive roster of artists with countless fans around the world.”
Entertainment One’s music roster, which comprises its record labels, a management operation and a distribution arm, includes CKY, BadBadNotGood, Death from Above 1979, the Game, Ghostface Killah, Snoop Dogg, Black Label Society, the Lumineers and Waka Flocka Flame. Across all divisions, the company turned over nearly US$1.1bn in 2017.
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