Vivendi ‘exploring See Tickets sale’
French-headquartered media giant Vivendi is reportedly exploring the sale of See Tickets along with its festival division.
According to Sky News, the conglomerate is working with advisers on potentially offloading parts of its Vivendi Village subsidiary, which also includes 11 festivals such as the UK’s Love Supreme and Kite, as well as Garorock in France.
Sources indicate that Vivendi, which announced the partial spin-off of its stake in Universal Music Group in 2021, has concluded its ticketing and festival businesses were not of sufficient scale to compete with the likes of Live Nation and AEG.
The remainder of Vivendi Village’s operations, including Paris’ L’Olympia venue and a cinema chain in Africa, are not believed to be part of the strategic review process, which is expected to begin imminently. However, insiders caution that the sales of the two businesses were not inevitable, with no final decision yet made.
A Vivendi spokesperson has declined to comment on the report.
“The business is mainly driven by ticketing, which represents 70% of overall revenues and is experiencing strong growth”
See Tickets, which was acquired by Vivendi in 2011, opened its first US base in Los Angeles in 2014 and operates more than 15 offices worldwide including in London, New York, Nashville, Paris, Amsterdam and Zurich. Its executive committee comprises five members: Rob Wilmshurst (Group CEO), Boris Patronoff (Group COO), Leanne Lipscombe (Group CFO), Marijke van den Bosch (CEO Benelux and Germany) and Laurent de Cerner (CEO France).
In 2022, the firm sold more than 39 million tickets for 8,000 clients including the UK’s Glastonbury festival, Tomorrowland in Belgium and AmericanaFest in Nashville, US.
Vivendi Village posted revenues of €238 million last year – up from €102m the previous year – and reported sales of €81m for the first six months of the 2023 financial year.
“The business is mainly driven by ticketing, which represents 70% of overall revenues and is experiencing strong growth, due in particular to the expansion of its customer base to new market segments beyond its traditional activities in the field of music,” said Vivendi in response to the financial results.
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2023 lineups take shape: Superbloom, Sziget and more
Superbloom, Standon Calling, Sziget, Shaky Knees and Kite’s 2023 lineups are taking shape, with rafts of new additions announced.
After its successful debut this year, Goodlive’s Superbloom returns to Munich’s Olympiapark on 2 and 3 September, 2023.
Imagine Dragons, Martin Garrix, Ellie Goulding, Marteria, Badmómzjay, Zara Larsson, Ofenbach, Aurora, LostFrequencies, Giant Rooks, Years & Years and Cat Burns are among the first wave of confirmations for the second instalment.
The inaugural edition sold out, welcoming 50,000 fans each day. Goodlive director Fruzsina Szép reflected on the successful launch in an IQ inteview.
Standon Calling has announced Years & Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party and The Human League
Elsewhere, the UK’s Standon Calling has announced that Years & Years, Self Esteem, Bloc Party and The Human League will headline the 2023 offering.
Anastacia, Confidence Man, Dylan, Squid, Katy B, KT Tunstall and Melanie C will also perform at the 17th edition of the boutique music and arts festival.
Festival founder and director Alex Trenchard says “We’re so proud of this year’s progress in booking a gender-balanced headline bill.”
The Broadwick Live-owned festival will return to the Hertfordshire countryside between 20 and 23 July 2023.
Across the Atlantic, Shaky Knees has confirmed headliners The Killers, Muse and The Lumineers for the 10th-anniversary edition.
Shaky Knees has confirmed headliners The Killers, Muse and The Lumineers for the 10th-anniversary edition
More than 60 bands will perform across four stages during the 2023 festival, slated for 5–7 May at Central Park, downtown Atlanta.
Greta Van Fleet, Tenacious D, Hozier, The Mars Volta, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Flaming Lips performing “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” Cypress Hill performing “Black Sunday” have also been announced.
The festival is promoted by Live Nation subsidiary C3 Presents, who today announced new festival Palm Tree in Aspen.
Elsewhere, Hungary’s Sziget festival has unveiled the first wave of artists for next year, including headliners Billie Eilish, Florence & The Machine, David Guetta and Imagine Dragons.
Other confirmations include Sam Fender, Foals, Niall Horan, Yungblud, Jamie xx and Nothing But Thieves.
Tinderbox has lined up Maroon 5, George Ezra, Jada, bbno$ and Oliver Malcolm
Europe’s biggest festival will return to Óbuda Island in Budapest between 10 and 15 August 2023.
In Denmark, Tinderbox has lined up Maroon 5, George Ezra, Jada, bbno$ and Oliver Malcolm for the 2023 event, between 22–24 June in Odense, Funen.
Last year, the festival broke records when a daily number of 48,000 people visited the festival again after two years of cancellations.
The UK’s Kite festival today announced it will return for a second year, with musical artists including Hot Chip, Suede, Candi Staton, Lynks and Sarathy Korwar.
Hailed as a “festival of ideas and music,” the Oxfordshire event will also feature authors, actors, comedians, journalists, motivational speakers and more. The festival is set for 9–11 June at Kirtlington Park.
See more festival lineup announcements from the likes of Roskilde, Primavera and Nova Rock here.
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Love Supreme team details new UK festival
The team behind Love Supreme, the biggest outdoor jazz festival in Europe, has detailed the inaugural edition of its festival, Kite.
The three-day live music and ideas event is scheduled to take place on the grounds of a stately home near Oxford, UK, this summer.
Grace Jones, Tom Misch, TLC, Mavis Staples, Self Esteem, and Black Country, New Road are slated to headline the music programme.
The idea programme features the likes of Ai Weiwei, Russell Tovey, Jon Ronson, David Miliband, Bimini, Armando Iannucci, David Olusoga, Delia Smith and Jarvis Cocker.
The festival will host a combination of live music, comedy and educational talks and workshops, with a main stage featuring headline artists and a second stage showcasing more experimental acts. The Big Top Tent and the Bookshop stages will see pop-up performances, with emerging artists performing on the Bandstand. The ThinkIn Village area will provide a space for discussion.
Grace Jones, Tom Misch, TLC, Mavis Staples, Self Esteem and Black Country, New Road are slated to headline
Kite is a joint venture between U-Live – in which Chinese entertainment giant recently acquired a stake – and Neapolitan Music, who together promote Love Supreme, as well as Tortoise Media, the brainchild of former BBC new director James Jarding and ex-Wall Street Journal and Down Jones president Katie Vanneck-Smith.
The festival is launching off the back of a 2020 Kickstarter campaign, which saw 238 backers pledge a total of £38,386 to bring the event to life.
The backers (aka ‘festival founders’) will gain access to the best ticket prices for all future Kite festivals, as well as special experiences and exclusive goodies.
The inaugural festival was due to launch last year but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Kite Festival is taking place from 10 to 12 June in Kirtlington Park, Oxford, in the south east of the UK. More information can be found on the festival website.
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Kite: new festival from Love Supreme team to debut in UK
The inaugural Kite Festival, a three-day live music and ideas event, is taking place in the grounds of a stately home near Oxford, UK, this summer.
Announced today, the new festival is a joint venture between Universal Music Group’s live music arm U-Live – in which Chinese entertainment giant recently acquired a stake – and Neapolitan Music, who together promote Love Supreme Jazz Festival, as well as Tortoise Media, the brainchild of former BBC new director James Jarding and ex-Wall Street Journal and Down Jones president Katie Vanneck-Smith.
The festival will host a combination of live music, comedy and educational talks, with a main stage featuring headline artists and a second stage showcasing more experimental acts. The Big Top Tent and the Bookshop stages will see pop-up performances, with emerging artists performing on the Bandstand. The ThinkIn Village area will provide a space for discussion.
The launch of the festival comes with a call-to-action for ‘festival founders’ to become involved in the project and give financial backing via creative projects fundraising platform Kickstarter. Founders will gain access to the best ticket prices for all future Kite festivals.
“We are very excited to develop a new festival that puts equal emphasis on both music and ideas”
“We are very excited to develop a new festival that puts equal emphasis on both music and ideas,” comments festival director Ciro Romano. “Alongside our founding community and the teams at U-Live and Tortoise we can deliver a festival that is perfect for the new decade.
“Across the board we see festivals dedicated to literature, politics, science but we couldn’t see anywhere that was programming music and debate on an equal footing. We will deliver a pioneering line-up with legendary and contemporary artists alongside world class public figures, thinkers and cultural icons.”
“All the team at Tortoise are thrilled to be part of creating Kite,” adds Harding. “Building on everything we’ve learned during Tortoise’s first year, the ThinkIn Village at Kite will bring together global politicians, comedians, business leaders, authors and others who are interested in how we understand our world – and do something about it.”
Kite Festival is taking place from 12 to 14 June in Kirtlington Park, Oxford, in the south east of the UK. More information can be found on the festival website.
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