Wizard: Cast for a spellbinding future
Launched by Ossy Hoppe in 2004, Wizard Promotions marked its 20th anniversary earlier this year with a rebrand to Wizard Live and a star-studded party to celebrate its milestone.
Here, managing director Oliver Hoppe gives an insight into company operations as he plots Wizard’s future…
Wizard was traditionally known for its hard rock shows but now you’re doing classical gigs with Max Richter and stand-up with Senna Gammour. Is that part of a new strategy?
Obviously, we’ve done a lot of rock and metal over the years, and that’s where our strong suit is. But in general, I get my motivation from thinking that I can sell an artist better than anybody else, so we’ve been diversifying into other genres for a while now.
I don’t think I necessarily need to be a fan of our acts, but I want to feel some passion [in order] to tell a great story for marketing and sell tickets for that artist.
For example, I love working with Böhse Onkelz – I love the momentum, the number of tickets we sell, and the standing of the band in Germany. It’s amazing. But do I come home and ask my wife to open a bottle of red wine while I put on a 40-year-old punk rock CD? Not so much.
Senna Gammour is a good example of a new project for us. She has three books under her belt, and she has a very funny TV programme that is predominantly orientated at women with a migrant, Muslim background. That’s obviously not what we have done historically, but I love working with her, and we have an extended deal for ten dates in 2,000-cap venues in Germany next May.
“Everybody wants the Live Nation money but the independent promoter attention”
You say the role of the promoter is changing. What do you mean by that?
We have so many artists that we’re trying to find summer dates for next year, and everybody wants detailed attention – they want a passionate promoter to be at every show and working like they’re the only artist they have.
But people are working like they’re in a slaughterhouse, getting paid by how many cows they chop in an hour, and we’re finding that every act is pitched to multiple promoters so that management can find the best deal.
So, the demand on the promoter has increased manifold, but in my opinion, that system just doesn’t work anymore. You need to take the time to come up with a clever strategy so that you are best-serving the needs of the artist and their fans.
But that’s difficult when you know that five other people are also being asked to come up with a plan, and even if you present your plan, all that seems to matter for some people is a list of dates and fees.
Everybody wants the Live Nation money but the independent promoter attention. It’s not that the guys at Live Nation or AEG aren’t great promoters – they are. But they can afford to make a loss on a tour, knowing that ancillary incomes (beer sales, etc.) make up for that shortfall.
So what the artists want and what the promoters can deliver are very separate at the moment. It’s not a schism, but it’s two fundamental opposites, and the challenge is to get both right.
Wizard has become one of the most established promoters in Germany, but you’ve achieved it with a pretty small team – do you think that will change in the future?
Come January 1st, we’re going to be 16 people, and I think when I started, in 2012, we were less than eight people. You certainly can’t sustain a promoter with less personnel on the level that we’re working at because everything has become significantly more complex.
So, we rely on freelance help for our bigger projects, especially on the production and touring side of things. But on the smaller-scale stuff, we tend to solve as much as possible in-house because costs have gone up significantly, club and grassroots touring is becoming more and more [difficult] for artists, and the bottom line is getting smaller and smaller.
“I don’t like to blow my own horn, but clients tell me that they like my clear-cut approach”
We tend to work most of the club stuff in-house to save costings on the artist’s side, and that’s also a good training ground for staff. I think for young people to get to know the business and understand the daily problems, to understand artists and tour managers, and find solutions to problems, then being out on tour is the best thing you can do.
What are some of the skills you brought in from your previous career that give you a different approach to business from others?
I don’t like to blow my own horn, but clients tell me that they like my clear-cut approach. I’m good at cutting an issue or a plan or whatever down to digestible bits to make it understandable for everybody.
My former boss forced us to narrow down 80-page presentations to one single page with a graphic and explain a five-year marketing plan with just one page at hand. So that taught me very quickly to strip down the narrative to the important parts.
What is the thing that we need to concentrate on? Why are we doing this in the first place? What is the benefit? At Wizard, it works for decisions on how to approach a tour – what size venues do we want to play; what is the next step after that?
For example, recently we had a discussion where an act was offered €500,000 to play in a certain city. And I sent them a very clear-cut email with three good reasons not to do it. And all band members came to an agreement very quickly. That’s what I learned from my previous career, and it’s been a huge help.
What about the biggest lesson you learned from your dad, Ossy?
Ossy is a fucking genius when it comes to giving an artist the feeling of being understood. I honestly have no clue how he does it – I would really, really love to copy the formula. But I see it every single time he’s at a show when the artist comes off stage.
“We look for talent that cannot be bullied into playing one of the big festivals”
It doesn’t matter if there were 500 people in the room or 50,000 people screaming the artist’s name, you can see their eyes light up when Ossy tells them it was an amazing show; probably the best he’s ever seen them do.
A million people say that to every artist every single day, but somehow, Ossy makes it work. And I don’t know how he does it – I don’t have that magic – and that’s why Ossy still works for us on the artist side: it’s good for him, it’s good for the artist, and it’s good for the company.
You’re diversifying the Wizard roster. What do you look for when it comes to new projects?
To be honest, we look for talent that cannot be bullied into playing one of the big festivals. When it comes to the global deals, we lost Sting, Black Sabbath, U2, and those were big hits for our company. But we managed to have a very healthy middle ground, the 3,000-to-8,000-capacity acts that have helped to keep paying the bills.
Luckily, the big acts we still work with are probably too big for festivals, while at the other end, diversifying to work with acts like Max Richter or Senna Gammour means we hopefully won’t lose them to festival package offers either.
For talent, if you don’t want to play at any of the five biggest German festivals, then there’s a lot that Wizard Live can deliver, and that’s what we’ve been looking at more and more over the last couple of years.
Can you see a time where Wizard launches its own festival?
Our parent company, DEAG, has some amazing events, but they tend to be very electronic- and techno-based, which doesn’t relate to Wizard’s touring world.
Do I have an idea for a festival that would be sustainable and fit into an oversaturated market that is very much dying at this point in time? I don’t. Not yet, anyway.
What’s the biggest challenge facing Wizard as it goes into its next 20 years?
The question that I’m really asking myself in my role as a promoter is: if my competition is able to offer guarantees that are 100% or 120% of the bottom line, because they can rely on ancillary income, then what is my role and the role of a company like Wizard?
“There’s a gold rush on one side of the business, but on the other side, it’s a bit bleaker”
I think we as promoters have to reinvent ourselves in a world where nobody wants us to make money anymore. I’m not saying everything’s gone to shit, but I think it’s the reality that we have to face that our role is changing.
There’s a dynamic at the moment of things changing, people moving company, a lot of independent people leaving the business. There’s a gold rush on one side of the business, but on the other side, it’s a bit bleaker. At the core of things, I’m not unconcerned. But what Wizard Live stands for is that we find good solutions for people that want to have our opinion and our expertise. We’re very passionate about the things that we do, and I don’t think that the world can do without that.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Wizard Live hails million-selling anniversary year
German promoter Wizard Live topped one million ticket sales in its 20th anniversary year – and is already off to a flyer for 2025.
The Frankfurt-based company, which celebrated two decades in business with an industry party in Frankfurt in early October, doubled its previous year’s figures thanks to arena and stadium concerts by the likes of AC/DC, Judas Priest, Toto and Zucchero.
Other highlights included a sold out open-air tour by German rock band Böhse Onkelz, while 150,000 fans attended pop icon Nena’s 45-show We Belong Together Tour, which visited Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands before concluding in France at the Le Trianon Theater in Paris.
“Three years after what were probably the most challenging times for our industry, we can proudly say today: Wizard Live is back and stronger than ever,” says Wizard MD Oliver Hoppe. “The pandemic has taught us to think adaptively and innovatively. With over a million visitors expected in 2024, an expanded portfolio and advance ticket sales for top acts, we are looking to the future with confidence.”
The firm has already sold 500,000 tickets for upcoming tours with Iron Maiden, Alison Moyet, Jamie Cullum, Judas Priest and Saxon, among others. In addition, Scorpions are celebrating their 60th anniversary with a special show at the HDI-Arena in their hometown of Hannover on 5 July, while Böhse Onkelz will mark their 45th anniversary with a sold-out indoor tour.
“2025 will not only be a year of major anniversaries for Wizard Live, but above all a year of new adventures”
“2025 will not only be a year of major anniversaries for Wizard Live, but above all a year of new adventures,” adds Hoppe.
The firm, which was founded by Oliver’s father Ossy Hoppe and reported a record year in 2023, recently strengthened its management team with the appointment of head of operations Can Büyükcinar as an authorised signatory. With his new responsibilities, Büyükcinar will play an even more active role in shaping its strategic development.
In addition to rebranding earlier this year, Wizard divided its operations into four business areas: show & touring, which remains its core business, alongside marketing, brand & music connector and artist development, as part of its evolution from concert organiser to “all-round, worry-free service provider”.
It has also expanded beyond its traditional rock and heavy metal roots and diversified its roster to include artists such as neo-classical composer Max Richter, actor and singer Ben Barnes, and jazz-pop ensemble Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, as well as up-and-coming bands from a range of musical genres. It has also added new formats to its portfolio such as all-round artist Senna Gammour and mentalist Dannero’s show.
“Our greatest joy and our greatest successes come from working closely and trustingly with our artists,” adds Oliver Hoppe. “We at Wizard Live see ourselves not only as event organisers, but also as strategic, creative partners who work together with the artists to create unique live performances. Our goal is to make every performance an unforgettable moment – through intensive support, conceptual inspiration and a partnership that goes far beyond classic touring.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Germany’s Wizard rebrands, reconfigures business
Germany’s Wizard Promotions has announced it is rebranding as Wizard Live and is dividing its operations into four business areas.
The Frankfurt-based company’s four divisions include show & touring, which remains its core business, alongside marketing, brand & music connector and artist development, marking its evolution from concert organiser to “all-round, worry-free service provider”.
“By dividing it into four powerful business areas, we can respond even more precisely to the different needs of artists, offer better customised solutions and open up new formats,” explains Wizard Live MD Oliver Hoppe. “Wizard Live combines the best of all worlds: passion meets industry knowledge. Experience complements reliable figures. And tradition meets revolution. As Wizard Live, we tackle the challenges of our industry, whether divided into four targeted specialist areas or together as a strong full service team.”
The firm will provide mentoring both on and off the stage as part of its comprehensive artist development services.
“For us, the artists always come first and our primary goal is a long-lasting, successful and fulfilling partnership”
“All artists and bands have their own idea of where we want to go with them,” says Hoppe. “We know our musicians personally and they know us. The relationship with our artists is based on personal connection, reliability and trust. For us, the artists always come first and our primary goal is a long-lasting, successful and fulfilling partnership.”
Wizard is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with shows by the likes of AC/DC, TOTO, Bruce Dickinson, Scorpions, Zucchero, NENA, Extreme, Five Finger Death Punch, Gene Simmons Band, Jane’s Addiction, Cradle of Filth, Judas Priest, Kiefer Sutherland, Jamie Cullum, Feeder and Jack Savoretti.
The company reported a record year in 2023, buoyed by big-name concerts by the likes of Iron Maiden, Scorpions and KISS. It sold more than 250,000 tickets for heavy rock shows last summer alone.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Germany’s Wizard Promotions reports record year
German tour promoter Wizard Promotions has reported a record year, with half a million visitors in 2023.
The company’s historic year is buoyed by a summer of big-name concerts for the likes of Iron Maiden, Scorpions and KISS.
KISS bid farewell to Germany for good with a sold-out show in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena, marking the end of a chapter for Wizard founder Ossy Hoppe who has been working with the band since the ’80s.
During the summer season alone, the Frankfurt-based promoter sold more than 250,000 tickets for heavy rock shows.
In addition to the established rock and metal segment, Wizard’s portfolio also includes singer-songwriters and country artists.
“We can look back on two years at full throttle”
Highlights across those genres include sold-out concerts by US star Luke Combs and the sister duo Larkin Poe, as well as announced appearances by Tyler Childers, Charles Esten, Darius Rucker, Ferris & Sylvester and many others.
“We can look back on two years at full throttle and a successful Christmas season, which is not something to be taken for granted,” says Wizard MD Oliver Hoppe, son of Ossy. “People want to go ‘live’ again. That’s a great feeling and fills our work with a lot of joy.”
In 2024, Wizard’s 20th anniversary year, TOTO will play seven open-air shows in Germany and Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson will present his first solo album since 2005 with The Mandrake Project.
Plus, Scorpions will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their successful album Love At First Sting and Zucchero will go on another world tour and NENA recently confirmed well over 30 shows in Germany and Europe.
Looking to the future, Hoppe says: “Despite rising ticket sales, the industry is facing major challenges: The financial pressure on culture has become immense and young people, in particular, need subcultural freedom that is affordable. Otherwise, there is a risk of monoculture and thus a loss of diversity. And this is precisely what we want to protect and promote in the coming years.”
Hoppe adds that seven new employees under the age of 30 have joined the workforce in the last two years, “making the team not only younger but also more diverse”.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Wizard sells 250k tickets for summer rock shows
Germany’s Wizard Promotions has revealed it has sold more than 250,000 tickets for heavy rock shows this summer.
The Frankfurt-based promoter’s run of dates kicks off this weekend with rock veterans Scorpions, who bring their Rock Believer tour to Dortmund’s Westfalenhalle on Sunday 14 May, followed by arena gigs in Mannheim, Hannover, Stuttgart and Berlin.
Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe will follow at the end of May, with concerts by Iron Maiden and Papa Roach coming up in June alongside Kiss, who will mark their German swansong with five farewell shows, concluding at Cologne’s Lanxess Arena on 2 July.
“It will certainly be an emotional moment to see the band leave the big stages in Germany for the last time after so many decades of working together, but we are all the more looking forward to working on new topics and artists that we are already familiar with will employ in the future,” says Wizard MD Oliver Hoppe.
“Concerts and spectacular stage programs are irreplaceable”
Wizard Promotions has announced 300 shows across all genres for 2023, also including the likes of Ingrid Andress, Larkin Poe and Ane Brun, while debut tours are currently being planned with Awfultune and SKAAR,
In addition, Wizard is expanding its country music division to showcase artists such as Luke Combs, Kane Brown, Jon Pardi, Sean McConnell and Morgan Wade.
“Every artist and every band that belongs to us has their own idea of where we want to go with them,” adds Hoppe. “Above all, we know everyone personally and they know us. I’m at at least one show with every group that we have on the street, especially with young bands.”
Hoppe concludes: “Concerts and spectacular stage programs are irreplaceable. Live experiences are a cultural asset that we love – and which was sorely missed, not least by the fans, during the pandemic. Loud guitars, choirs from the crowd of spectators , but also the quiet, intimate show moments are finally back and the longing for them is great.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Stuart Galbraith, Oliver Hoppe join DEAG board
Germany’s Deutsche Entertainment (DEAG) has appointed Kilimanjaro Live’s Stuart Galbraith and Wizard Promotions’ Oliver Hoppe as divisional board members.
Galbraith becomes executive vice president of international touring, and is tasked with the development of the rock/pop/contemporary business within the DEAG Group and in DEAG’s national markets (Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark).
Hoppe, meanwhile, is named executive vice president of product and innovation, and is responsible for the further development of the overarching product acquisition and utilisation.
DEAG says the pair’s tasks will also include the further expansion of the live entertainment business and a stronger interlinking of the DEAG Group companies.
This includes the development of new channels for the evaluation of content as well as the further harmonisation of various distribution channels.
Hoppe and Galbraith will assist DEAG’s executive board with the implementation of M&A projects
In addition, Hoppe and Galbraith will assist DEAG’s executive board with the implementation of M&A projects and create further synergy effects in ticketing and artist acquisition.
Hoppe is managing director of the DEAG subsidiary Wizard Promotions, the main tour and concert promoter within the DEAG Group in Germany. In recent years, the company has organised concerts by Iron Maiden, Bryan Ferry, Zucchero, Papa Roach, KISS, Böhse Onkelz and den Scorpions, among other artists.
Wizard’s portfolio also includes artists like 50 Cent, Limp Bizkit and Jamie Cullum.
Galbraith is CEO of the British promoter Kilimanjaro Live. The DEAG subsidiary has significantly expanded its event portfolio in recent years to include areas such as the spoken word, comedy and sports, and is now one of the largest live entertainment promoters in the UK. Both Galbraith and Hoppe will remain active in these roles.
The executive board is completed by Jacqueline Zich (executive vice president classics & jazz and COO DEAG Classics AG) and Benedikt Alder (executive vice president legal affairs & business development).
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
The wonderful wizard of Oss: 70 years of Hoppe
Trying to keep a secret from one of the best-connected people in the business has not been easy. However, with the help of some of Ossy’s family, friends and confidantes – and some historical information taken from an anniversary feature that appeared in IQ in 2015 – we hope that when this issue of the magazine landed on Ossy’s doorstep, this feature came as something of a surprise.
When IQ spoke to Ossy Hoppe, on the pretext of a coronavirus story back in March, the enigmatic promoter was at home in rural France, near the village of Cotignac in Provence. “I’m in the middle of nowhere, four kilometres from the nearest supermarket, where there are never more than four or five people in the shop, so I’m used to being in isolation,” he reported. “I’m with my donkeys, dogs, cats, and the wife. In that order,” he laughed. “This is a novelty to all of us – it’s like we’re in a science-fiction movie – and nobody ever expected we’d be in this kind of situation. But I think this will change people’s attention toward appreciating some of the things we’re used to taking for granted. We’re delighted when a bird sings, at the moment.”
While millions of people around the world struggled to come to terms with the enforced – and long-lasting – house arrest situation, Ossy had unwittingly been in training for the past few years, since stepping back from being the boss at Wizard Promotions to taking on the role of consultant for the company. “Normally, these days, I’m in France for three weeks and then Germany for one week of the month,” he said. “A lot of the business can be done by phone anyway, so it doesn’t really matter where I am. The nitty-gritty is taken care of by the team in the Wizard offices, while I’m tasked with getting the clients, alongside [son and Wizard MD] Oliver, and making the offers.”
At that point, Ossy dropped off the line to pick up another call. “That was my boss, Oliver,” he said on his return, before addressing what has happened to the live music business in the wake of the spread of coronavirus.
“I’ve never seen anything like it – and I’ve been doing this a long, long time,” he stated. “We’re in a very fortunate position because our insurance covers this, so our costs are covered.” Even at this early stage in the crisis, Hoppe foresaw that a lot of smaller promoters, as well as some of the bigger ones, would run into problems, with suppliers and smaller acts in particular likely “to suffer”.
“It’s crucial that everyone keeps talking so that when things do start to return to normal, we’re all ready to go”
Hoppe also predicted that the business might not get going again until next year. “It’s crucial that everyone keeps talking so that when things do start to return to normal, we’re all ready to go,” he said. “Nobody knows when that might be – if you talk to three people, you get four opinions. So, I’m trying to remain optimistic and look forward to better times.”
A Born Entertainer
Life on the road for Ossy is literally in his blood, as he was born into a circus family that was touring their native Germany at the time little Oskar Hoppe junior made his first appearance, on 28 April 1950. “I was born in Munich because that’s where the circus was performing at the time,” recalled Ossy in IQ issue 59. “After the war, the allies were very careful about who they trusted, but because my father, Oskar, had hidden Jewish friends from the Nazis, the Americans gave him the authority to grant entertainment licences. He married into a circus family, but then he met my mother who became his fourth wife.”
Ossy was immersed in circus life and by the age of five, he was already a star attraction, billed as the youngest elephant trainer in the world alongside his pachyderm co-stars, Bounty and Chandra. Despite that fame, Ossy’s mother, Apollonia, was determined he should receive a proper education, so initially he attended the first permanent circus school, established by his father, before enrolling at boarding school.
Sadly, Ossy’s mother died when he was just 15, and by the time he was 19, he was an orphan, as his father passed away in 1969. Those circumstances saw him move in with his grandparents in Frankfurt, where he studied law at university for a time, before deciding it was time to get a job – taking on roles including nightclub doorman, building site labourer, delivery driver, and a printing plant worker.
Fate, combined with Ossy’s love of football and outgoing persona, intervened. As a team member of Makkabi Frankfurt, Ossy had already befriended team-mates Marcel Avram and Marek Lieberberg, who were the founders of new promoter business, Mama Concerts. So when Ossy picked up an injury and was looking for work, Avram employed him as his driver before trusting him to take on the role of tour manager. “Ossy was the best player in the team,” states Avram. “He was twice as fast as me and made us all look good, so we liked him.”
Always ready to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in, Ossy’s can-do attitude quickly earned him a lot of friends in the live music business
Always ready to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in, Ossy’s can-do attitude quickly earned him a lot of friends in the live music business, so when he volunteered his services to help out with Deep Purple’s impending 1973 American tour, one week later he found himself on the other side of the Atlantic. But not before meeting the love of his life, Barbara, on the eve of his departure to the United States.
Given that the couple now have a menagerie of animals, including their donkey sanctuary, at home in Provence, it won’t come as a surprise to many that Barbara worked for a veterinary surgeon when she first met Ossy. But they had one significant question to answer before they could start dating. “Barbara’s name was also Hoppe,” states Ossy. “It’s not a common name in Frankfurt, so I had to check on her background because my father was married five times in total…” The outcome of those investigations obviously worked out, as Ossy and Barbara have been together now for 37 years and celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary this year.
Back in 1973, Ossy found himself in the role of Ian Gillan’s assistant on that tour with Purple, but having impressed all who were on the road that year, he soon climbed the ladder to become the band’s tour manager, kick-starting a relationship rivalled in length only by the one with his wife.
Indeed, Purple were so impressed by Ossy that when the band split, they persuaded Ossy and Barbara to move to England, and even arranged a mortgage for them so that Ossy could look after various solo projects and acts. “The house, in Amersham, near London, became the headquarters for all of the Deep Purple spin-offs,” says Ossy. “So I looked after Whitesnake, Rainbow, Paice Ashton Lord, and the Ian Gillan Band as they took off.”
Continue reading this feature in the digital edition of IQ 89, or subscribe to the magazine here
Venues in the spotlight for next IQ Focus panel
Following on from last week’s popular Festival Forum session, this week’s IQ Focus virtual panel will turn the attention to venues, discussing how the world’s many shuttered music venues can weather the Covid-19 storm, and emerge from life under lockdown.
Chaired by John Langford (AEG Europe), The Venue’s Venue: Building Back, will feature speakers Lucy Noble (Royal Albert Hall/NAA), Olivier Toth (Rockhal/EAA), Oliver Hoppe (Wizard Promotions), Tom Lynch (ASM Global) and Lotta Nibell (GOT Event).
The touring world has changed dramatically since venue professionals came together for the Venue Summit at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in March, as doors have been shuttered, countless concerts cancelled and many venues repurposed to help in the fight against the disease.
Panellists will share their strategies on getting through the current crisis, as well as discussing the main lessons they have learned so far
Panellists will share their strategies on getting through the current crisis, as well as discussing the main lessons they have learned so far.
Looking to the future, the venue experts will also reflect on what the recovery process may look like and what will need to be done to keeps fans, staff and artists safe and get business back up and running in the crucial months ahead.
The session is taking place on Thursday 21 May at 3.30 (BST)/4.30 (CET). Get an automatic reminder when the live stream starts via Facebook Live or YouTube Live.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Big country: How country music conquered the world
It’s official: country music is cool.
Long stigmatised as restrictively America-centric, country, shed of many of its unfashionable ‘country and western’ trappings, is finding a new generation of loyal fans in the UK, Europe and Australasia, playlisted on commercial radio and championed by tastemakers at Vice, i-D and the NME.
Riding on the rise of festivals like AEG’s UK-born Country to Country phenomenon (now in five countries and counting), crossover success for artists such as Florida Georgia Line, Midland, and Kacey Musgraves, European radio support and the backing of the Country Music Association, country is increasingly big business outside its US heartland – with visiting Nashville A-listers, as well as a mounting number of homegrown acts, helping to build a major new touring market.
(A slice of the) American pie
According to WME Entertainment agent Akiko Rogers, global bookings for WME’s country and Americana artists have increased 14-fold in the past decade alone. “In 2009, 27 international dates were booked out of Nashville, all comprising country artists,” says Rogers, whose roster includes both country (Thomas Rhett, Frankie Davies) and non-country artists (Greta Van Fleet, Alanis Morissette), as well as those sitting somewhere in between (rising southern rockers the Marcus King Band).
“In 2018, that number went to 400 booked international dates comprising country and Americana artists, and sometimes a hybrid of both.”
Global bookings for WME’s country and Americana artists have increased 14-fold in the past decade
“The market interest in country music only continues to grow with the demand for US acts to tour internationally,” adds US-born, London-based UTA senior agent Sean Goulding, whose country and Americana roster includes Jimmie Allen, Ashley Campbell, Logan Mize, the Wood Brothers and High Valley. “C2C [Country to Country] London, the landmark international country music festival, has been growing steadily since its inception in 2013, which is a good indicator of the genre’s impact. Having expanded to Scotland and Ireland previously, it’s now visiting Amsterdam and Berlin this year. A number of our clients have performed at it over the past few years, using it as a springboard for the international market.”
The majority of promoters, agents and managers interviewed by IQ highlighted the C2C phenomenon, as well its various international spin-offs (in addition to Britain, the Irish republic, the Netherlands and Germany, there are also two Country to Country festivals in Australia) as being key to country music’s explosive growth in new markets over the past five years.
Chris York of SJM Concerts, which created C2C in partnership with AEG, says the festival’s genesis formed part of a “conscious decision” to build and grow the market for country music in the UK. “I’d always perceived country as being promoted in a very old-fashioned way,” York explains. It was all about, ‘We’ll pay them some money, put on a show at Wembley, maybe get a tour out of it…’ They weren’t interested in building a community.”
In contrast, York continues, C2C – bolstered by support from radio DJs such as Radio 2’s Bob Harris and Chris Country’s Chris Stevens – helped to establish a tight-knit community of fans, to the point where there is also now a sizeable country touring market in the UK. “We did 45,000 tickets in London [for C2C 2018]. Four or five years ago that would have been beyond comprehension.”
“We did 45,000 tickets in London. Four or five years ago that would have been beyond comprehension”
Live Nation’s Anna-Sophie Mertens started promoting in her own right three years ago, and is now the “go-to person” for country shows in the company’s UK office, she explains. She says the number of country acts who want to play in the UK has more than doubled since then, including both big names worthy of headlining C2C and smaller emerging acts keen to stake a claim in the increasingly crowded country touring market.
Spurred on
Add hit drama series Nashville into that mix, too, suggests Milly Olykan, vice-president of international relations and development at the influential Nashville-based Country Music Association (CMA). “The contributing factors in those first five years [since the launch of C2C] were the internet, the TV show Nashville and Taylor Swift, but now we can add to that with the growth of C2C and, as a result, the volume of live touring and the radio support of the BBC,” says Olykan, who, as VP of live music at AEG Europe, set up C2C UK alongside York. “Radio 2 and Bob Harris have been long-time supporters, and this year we saw BBC Radio 1 play-listing country for the first time.
“We’ve got a momentum going now, and more and more fans are discovering they like country music.”
Anna-Sophie Mertens says the number of country acts who want to play in the UK has more than doubled in the past three years
In Germany, promoter Oliver Hoppe of Wizard Promotions also identifies Nashville as being a key driver of interest in country music – and ticket sales. “Our most successful tour so far is Charles Esten from the Nashville TV show,” he says. “1,500 tickets, five dates, all sold out.”
Hoppe, who describes himself as the main “country guy” in Germany, says the popularity of country music accelerated “six or seven years ago” after the CMA set its sights on conquering Europe. “A year or two before C2C in London started, we started to pick up shows here in Germany,” he explains. “Ossy [Hoppe, Wizard Promotions founder] used to bring Garth Brooks here in the ’90s, [but] that was a completely different animal – it was a worldwide phenomenon, and he played arenas over here that sold out instantly.
“It really picked up when the CMA put Europe on the agenda and we started doing grassroots work bringing over country and Americana acts.”
Hoppe says while the market is still “some years behind” Britain, “country is on the rise in Germany.
“It was a trickle at the beginning, but for every show we put on, more people come the second time around. We started with one country tour – the Band Perry, in 2012 – and now we’re at 25. We’ve been growing the market very organically but the interest is definitely there.”
“Country is one of the few genres of music where radio airplay can definitely move the needle”
The growth of country festivals such as C2C and CMC Rocks in Australia has been “instrumental in swinging the pendulum” towards country music outside the US, maintains Rogers. “Artists who historically did not want to travel outside of the US are standing in a queue to bring their music across the pond, to share experiences and life stories… I always love it when they return to the US with their stories of fans in Germany, Sweden, Belgium or Denmark singing all their songs back to them.
“It is so gratifying when a country artist plays a support slot on a festival, goes back in six to eight months and plays a headline club tour, goes back in another six to eight months after that and headlines a theatre tour, and then ends up headlining that same original festival.”
Like York, Rogers sees radio, as well as record label promo, as being a “huge factor” in country’s rise in Europe. “Country is one of the few genres of music where radio airplay can definitely move the needle,” she says.
Continue reading this feature in the digital edition of IQ 82, or subscribe to the magazine here
Oliver Hoppe becomes sole Wizard Promotions MD
Oliver Hoppe has become sole managing director of Germany’s Wizard Promotions.
His father, Ossy Hoppe, stays on as chief advisor, A&R, following Oliver’s accession to the top job at the beginning of 2017.
Hoppe Snr founded Wizard in 2004 and was bought out by Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) in June 2013. He is one of Germany’s most senior promoters and managers, most famous for his work with hard rock acts such as Deep Purple, Kiss, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses and for founding the Monsters of Rock festival in 1981.
On his 60th birthday, he was the subject of a feature in IQ 59 which charted his story from child circus performer to giant of concert promotion.
Oliver had been co-managing director of Wizard since 2012.
“I am extremely pleased … to be able to fully hand over management to my son. It was always my great wish that Oliver would continue my work”
Ossy Hoppe comments: “I am extremely pleased and, at the same time, also reassured to be able to fully hand over the management to my son. It was always my great wish that Oliver would continue my work, and with his many years’ experience, as well as considerable professional expertise, he unites all the elements which will guide the company into a successful future.
“Oliver has already been managing the business for some time now, and the transfer was a smooth process. I will, of course, continue to advise the company and support artists with whom I have a long-standing relationship.
Oliver Hoppe adds: “I thank my father and DEAG for the trust, and feel honoured to continue the history of the Wizard Promotions concert agency into the future as one of the leading concert organisers in Germany.
“With a strong and homogenous team, we have successfully managed to respond to the new challenges of the event market in recent years with the values and core competencies of a traditional tour event organiser as the foundation. I really enjoy the interesting work of combining innovation culture with the classic values of a family business.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.