Midnight Mango adds Rich Quarterman to agency team
International booking agency Midnight Mango has welcomed Rich Quarterman to its team of booking agents.
Quarterman, who also brings considerable experience as an artist, has quickly built a talent roster including The Great Malarkey, Josienne Clarke, Year of the Dog, Marcus Bonfanti, and Luke Jackson.
“For as long as I remember I have loved live music with a passion. I’ve played at venues all over the UK and have met some amazing people, and had some amazing experiences along the way. So for Midnight Mango to give me the opportunity to work in the field is a dream come true,” he says.
Midnight Mango continues to grow its agent freelancer platform, launched in 2020 to bring new agents to the company on a freelance basis
“I’m looking forward to working with the incredible team at MM, and to be representing artists that I truly love and care about is a pleasure and a privilege.”
Midnight Mango continues to grow its agent freelancer platform, launched in 2020 to bring new agents to the company on a freelance basis, supporting them financially through the pandemic period while allowing them to retain control over their rosters and income.
Quarterman follows in the footsteps of Barry Stewart, who represents acts including The Undertones, Skipinnish, Shooglenifty and Sharon Shannon, and Duncan Chappell, agent for the likes of Ranagri, Fred’s House, Annae Renae, Calum Gilligan and The Dunwells, in joining the UK-based firm’s growing team this year.
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Midnight Mango further grows agency team
Booking agency Midnight Mango has continued to expand its ranks by adding Duncan Chappell to its team of agents.
Chappell started out booking gigs as a hobby and has gone on to build a roster including the likes of Ranagri, Fred’s House, Annae Renae, Calum Gilligan and The Dunwells, among others.
“Frankly I’m both delighted and amazed to have been asked to join the Midnight Mango family as an agent as I haven’t been in the music business that long,” says Chappell. “I’m looking forward to providing some great opportunities for my wonderful roster of artists and to introduce the rest of the MM team to some of the venues and promoters that I’ve worked with.
“It will be a bit of a step change for me, going from a retiree with a hobby to being back in full time employment again”
“It will be a bit of a step change for me, going from a retiree with a hobby to being back in full time employment again, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Chappell brings Midnight Mango’s number of agents to 13 as it continues to grow its agent freelancer platform, launched in 2020 to bring new agents to the company on a freelance basis, supporting them financially through the pandemic period while allowing them to retain control over their rosters and income..
He becomes the second agent to join the UK-based agency this month, following the hiring of Barry Stewart, who represents acts including The Undertones, Skipinnish, Shooglenifty and Sharon Shannon.
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Midnight Mango hires agent Barry Stewart
International booking agency Midnight Mango has added Barry Stewart to its team of booking agents.
Stewart brings a roster of acts including The Undertones, Skipinnish, Shooglenifty and Sharon Shannon to the UK-based firm.
“I’m delighted to be a member of the MM team; it’s been a breath of fresh air to join such a supportive and dynamic group of very talented people,” says Stewart. “I have spent many years working as a freelance agent, artist manager and tour manager so I’ve had the opportunity to see the business from many sides.
“My roster has benefited from our synergy, and it gives me the opportunity to take on more acts and develop new relationships within the industry.”
“We’re very excited to be working with Barry and see our roster of both agents and artist continue to grow”
Led by MD Matt Bartlett, Midnight Mango launched an agent freelancer platform in 2020, which aimed to bring new agents to the company on a freelance basis, supporting them financially through the pandemic period while allowing them to retain control over their rosters and income.
“We’re very excited to be working with Barry and see our roster of both agents and artist continue to grow,” says a company statement. “Midnight Mango continues to expand its agent freelancer platform and is continually looking for new agents to join its roster. We are committed to delivering the highest level of support to both our agents and artists.”
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Friday round-up: world news in brief
Welcome to IQ‘s brand-new weekly round-up of news from around the world. Here, in bite-sized chunks, we present a selection of international stories you may have missed from the last seven days…
UNITED KINGDOM:
Vince Power Music Group (VPMG) has announced AXS as its official ticketing partner for all its London venues after inking a new five-year deal. VPMG venues include: the former Dingwalls, PowerHaus (cap. 500), The Fiddler (cap. 120), Nells (cap. 350) and Subterania (cap. 600). AXS is the official ticketing partner for several UK venues including The O2, The SSE Arena, Wembley, Dreamland Margate, British Summertime Hyde Park, All Points East and AEG Presents’ touring business.
NETHERLANDS:
European showcase festival and conference Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) in Groningen has moved entirely online from 19–22 January 2022 in response to the government’s the latest Covid-19 measures. The digital edition will include a conference programme as well as the festival programmes of Noorderslag, Eurosonic and the Music Moves Europe Awards award ceremony.
UNITED STATES:
Foo Fighters say they have axed a 2022 tour date due to the venue’s “refusal to agree to the band’s Covid safety measures”. The band were due to play Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on 3 August, but are now looking for a replacement venue. A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota, which operates the venue, said its current measures relating to vaccines and mask-wearing were in line with state and federal guidelines, and declined to change its existing protocols for large events.
GERMANY:
CTS Eventim is acquiring regional ticketing providers in the Rhineland region, Kölnticket and Bonnticket. The companies previously belonged to media houses Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Medien in Cologne and Rheinische Post Mediengruppe in Düsseldorf, and had previously partnered with CTS on ticketing software and platform technology. The deal will give CTS Eventim a significant presence in the region as well as numerous contacts in the local entertainment scene.
UK/US:
The British Music Embassy has announced its live return to South By Southwest (SXSW) with its biggest presence yet. The intimate 250-person UK music showcase will return in 2022 with a capacity of 700 at Cedar Street Courtyard, an open-air SXSW venue, from 14-20 March. It will be the first in-person British Music Embassy since 2019 as the 2020 edition of SXSW was one of the first major festivals to be cancelled due to Covid-19.
GERMANY:
The ASM Global-managed, Arena Oberhausen in Germany is to be renamed after 20 years as the Konig Pilsener Arena. From next year, the 12,650-capacity venue will be known as Rudolf Weber Arena, in the largest naming rights deal in the Oberhausen-based venue’s 25-year history.
BELGIUM:
Five more names have been confirmed for Rock Werchter 2022. The War On Drugs will play the Festivalpark on Thursday 30 June. Lewis Capaldi and Greta Van Fleet join the line-up for Friday 1 July, Yungblud is scheduled for Saturday July 2 and Royal Blood will put in an appearance on Sunday 3 July. Headlined by Pearl Jam, Metallica, Imagine Dragons and Red Hot Chili Pepper, the festival runs from 30 June to 2 July.
UNITED KINGDOM:
Two internet ticket touts sentenced to a combined six-and-a-half years in prison following a landmark court case have failed in their appeals against their conviction for fraudulent trading. Peter Hunter and David Smith, who operated as the company BZZ Limited, were jailed for four years and 30 months, respectively, in February 2020 following an investigation by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team, and trail at Leeds Crown Court. The pair committed offences between May 2010 and December 2017, making a net profit of £3.5 million in the last two years of fraud alone, buying and reselling tickets to concerts by artists including Ed Sheeran, McBusted, Taylor Swift and Coldplay. On the appeal Smith and Hunter raised a large number of legal and procedural grounds. They appealed the verdict, alleging the judge wrongly directed the jury on the law and “acted unfairly and prejudicially in his conduct of the trial”, arguing the restrictions attaching to the sale of the tickets were “void and invalid”. However, the Court of Appeal rejects their appeals, upholding the conclusion of the judge at trial that the restrictions imposed by event organisers were valid, adding the judge “acted properly in all relevant respects and that the convictions are safe and lawful”.
IRELAND:
Irish-headquartered Tixserve has partnered with UK ticket agency Gigantic to provide a “secure and interactive digital ticket fulfilment service” for its live entertainment ticketing. The partnership will see Irish-Headquartered Tixserve provide Gigantic with a white label digital ticketing app – delivering via a full API technical integration, a sophisticated and seamless fulfilment service for Gigantic clients and customers.
UNITED KINGDOM:
International booking agency Midnight Mango has announced four new agents – Nigel Morton, Addison Paterson, Sam Bryant and Hanna Bright – after initiating an Agent Freelancer Platform in the early days of the pandemic. After delivering training and guidance to four agents back in the spring, the firm took on a further four new agents in September. The new appointments work with acts such as Gretchen Peters, Bicurious, Dom Martin and The Kakatsitsi Master Drummers, expanding the agency’s roster to more than 150 artists, represented by a 15-strong workforce.
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Four agents join UK’s Midnight Mango
UK booking agency Midnight Mango has announced the hiring of four booking agents as part of its agent freelancer platform.
Launched last year, the agent freelancer platform aims to bring new agents to the company on a freelance basis, supporting them financially through the volatile coronavirus period while allowing them to retain control over their rosters and income. Midnight Mango raised money through crowdfunding, Arts Council England grants and new company investment to create a ‘lockdown fund’ it is using to fund new entrants to the platform.
Rich Potter from the Mojo Hobo Agency, Al Hardwicke of ACMA Bookings, Louise McGovern, formerly of DHP Family, and Holy Moly and the Crackers singer Conrad Bird are the latest additions to the Midnight Mango team, bringing acts including the Maytals Band, Izzy Walsh, Hang Massive and Riot Jazz Brand.
“It has been a real pleasure to work with our new agents as we train them up and integrate them into the way we work”
The agency, which has offices in London and Glastonbury, now represents more than 100 artists across its staff of ten, which are based in London, Somerset, Leicester, Newcastle, Ireland and the Czech Republic.
“The last three months has been really exciting at Midnight Mango. It has been a real pleasure to work with our new agents as we train them up and integrate them into the way we work,” says managing director Matt Bartlett.
“We are renowned for being an approachable agency that really cares about all the people we work with, so it’s been really great to introduce our new agents as we continue to raise the profile of Midnight Mango.”
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Midnight Mango aims to raise 10k for booking agents
International live booking agency Midnight Mango is aiming to fund work opportunities for booking agents through the sales of a new crowdfunded compilation album.
The agency is aiming to raise up to £10,000 for agents who are not receiving any income due to the current lack of shows via donations from a 10-track vinyl which includes UK acts such as The Dead South and Amy Montgomery.
The company’s managing director, Matt Bartlett says that the booking agents who help to make the live music scene happen are bearing the brunt of the shutdown.
“There’s still a lot of work for booking agents at the moment, what with booking shows for the future and rescheduling events but at the same time there’s zero money coming in to pay the bills,” says Bartlett.
“There’s still a lot of work for booking agents at the moment but at the same time there’s zero money coming in”
The statement on the fundraising page notes that: “All the government schemes to date require workers to stop working to claim. This doesn’t work for agents – the work they do now creates revenue 6–12 months in the future. They need to keep working.”
Bartlett says the agency will seek to address the “acute cashflow crisis” by employing booking agents on a freelance basis (funded by album sales) that will allow them to keep working until the situation improves.
The crowdfunder has already raised over £3,000 in donations from the sale of the compilation album – titled Lockdown Songs – as well as other ‘rewards’. Midnight Mango has pledged to match every pound up to the £5,000 target, bringing the total target to £10,000.
The agency’s other charitable pursuits include raising lottery grant funding through Arts Council England to present socially distanced shows at grassroots venue, Bath Komedia – providing paid work for artists, crew, promoters, venues and other professionals.
You can donate to the Midnight Mango Lockdown Fund for live music booking agents here.
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