Oak View Group expands into the Middle East
Oak View Group (OVG) is expanding into the Middle East through a joint venture with newly established event management and venue operator, Ethara.
Ethara launched earlier this year following the merger of state-owned promoter Flash Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM).
The new company promotes events such as the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Yasalam After-Race Concerts, and operates venues in the United Arab Emirates, such as Etihad Arena, Etihad Park, Yas Marina Circuit and Yas Conference Centre.
With offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh, Ethara will “provide detailed knowledge of the local markets, enabling OVG and Ethara to explore significant growth opportunities together across the Middle East”.
The launch of the partnership follows OVG’s recent acquisition of leading British venue caterer Rhubarb Hospitality Collection (RHC).
The new JV will see both the RHC and Ethara working closely together to improve the fan experience by delivering exceptional food, beverage, and hospitality services at live entertainment venues across the Middle East, including in the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
“The pace of change in the region makes [the Middle East] one of the most exciting places in the world to operate in right now”
“The Middle East is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and live entertainment markets, so our new offering in the region is a natural step for OVG to take,” says Tim Leiweke, CEO, OVG.
“The pace of change in the region, with major global events like the Dubai Expo and Qatar World Cup, makes it one of the most exciting places in the world to operate in right now. We are confident that working with our partner Ethara, OVG will emulate our success across North America and Europe in the Middle East.”
Saif Rashid Al Noaimi, CEO, Ethara, adds: “It is a proud moment to announce this joint venture with our new partner, OVG as we continue to expand our capabilities and impact across the region as the leading event management and venue operator in the Middle East. The significant growth in our region now includes regularly hosting the world’s biggest events. There is increasing demand for world-class venues with first-class hospitality to serve these events and provide unforgettable experiences for fans. This partnership with OVG will allow us to continue to innovate in this space and continue to bring exciting new events and opportunities to the market.”
Last week, OVG announced a partnership with Madison Square Garden Entertainment and its sister company Sphere Entertainment on a new entity, called Crown Properties Collection, which will manage their sports and entertainment brand partnerships.
OVG owns 11 major new arenas either open or under development including Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York, and Moody Center in Austin, Texas, and Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California, as well as the Co-op Live development in Manchester, UK.
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All Things Live buys Dutch festival promoter
Nordic live entertainment giant All Things Live is expanding in the Netherlands with a majority stake in festival promoter Loveland Events.
Established in 1995, the Amsterdam-based organiser has launched several renowned dance festivals that draw over 150,000 visitors annually.
The company’s stable of events includes Loveland Festival, 909 Festival, Music On Festival and Loveland Orange Festival, as well as several ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) events.
The addition of Loveland expands All Thing Live’s existing festival portfolio throughout Europe as well as its footprint in the Netherlands which already includes Concert at Sea, HIER Festival, In Het Volkspark and Agents After All.
Kim Worsøe, member of the executive board of All Things Live Group, says: “Marnix and his team have built fantastic festivals over the years, and we are excited to welcome Loveland to the All Things Live family and our growing festival business fueled by passion for great live events and love for music.”
“By combining powers, we get the chance to learn from a variety of festival entrepreneurs in [ATL’s] extensive portfolio”
Marnix Bal, founder and CEO of Loveland, adds: “We believe that Loveland Events and All Things Live is a perfect fit that comes at the right time. After producing events for over 25 years, the partnership offers the unique opportunity to do better events for the city of Amsterdam and its residents. By combining powers, we get the chance to learn from a variety of festival entrepreneurs that make up the extensive portfolio of All Things Live and incorporate best practices in our own events.”
All Things Live was established in December 2018 following Waterland Private Equity’s acquisition of leading Nordic live entertainment companies in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The partnership has since expanded into Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and the Middle East.
The company represents 522 local artists on exclusive contracts, arranges 17 festivals, promotes 8,200 local and international events with more than 2,100,000 tickets sold per year and continues to grow its current portfolio of 35 corporate partnerships.
All Things Live has promoted artists including Justin Bieber, The Rolling Stones, Rammstein, Green Day and Eminem.
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Tomorrowland announces partnership with TikTok
Tomorrowland has announced TikTok as the official content partner for its 2023 edition, taking place later this month.
As part of the partnership, 24 performances from DJs such as Steve Aoki, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Amber Broos, Lost Frequencies, Timmy Trumpet, Afrojack and Armin Van Buuren will be broadcast in real-time on TikTok Live, alongside behind-the-scenes content.
There will also be in-app playlists, a search hub and activations including a #Tomorrowland global hub which will act as a one-stop shop for fans to enjoy all the content from the Belgian electronic music festival. The #Tomorrowland hashtag is already hugely popular with fans, having garnered 2.8 billion views.
“Tomorrowland is the perfect festival partner for our flourishing community of #ElectronicMusic lovers”
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Tomorrowland, one of the biggest and most iconic festivals in the world,” says Michael Kümmerle, business development lead, global music content & partnerships at TikTok. “With its legendary line-up and truly global audience, Tomorrowland is the perfect festival partner for our flourishing community of #ElectronicMusic lovers who congregate on TikTok. As our relationship with the genre deepens, we’re incredibly excited to help grow the festival even further by giving our community 24 livestreams and a truly 360-degree experience of Tomorrowland on TikTok.”
Tomorrowland is due to take place 21–23 July and 28–30 July in De Schorre park, Boom.
TikTok has previously partnered with festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Rock am Ring/im Park (Germany) and Glastonbury (UK).
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WME announces Gold House partnership
Leading talent agency WME has announced an extensive partnership with Gold House, an LA-based “cultural ecosystem” that unites, invests in and champions Asian Pacific creators and companies.
According to Variety, the link-up sees WME become a founding partner of the Gold House Creative Equity Fund, which is bidding to identify, develop, produce and promote AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) content.
“Gold House and WME share a superpower commitment to talent and community,” says Gold House’s Christine Yi. “Through new programs and platforms, Asian Pacific talent will gain super network access to world class cultural expertise and exposure while WME’s mentors will be the voices they may have wished for when they were just starting their careers.”
WME will offer financing, masterclasses and business opportunities across its client roster, as well as offering individually-matched mentors for rising talent, community events and activations around AAPI Heritage Month.
“This partnership will democratise access for emerging AAPI creatives across industries and amplify the stories of Asian Pacific talent”
“This partnership will democratise access for emerging AAPI creatives across industries and amplify the stories of Asian Pacific talent,” adds Romola Ratnam, Endeavor SVP and head of impact and inclusion. “By integrating our network with the Gold House community, we are looking to drive innovative social change and create systemic impact.”
WME’s music roster includes acts such as Adele, Foo Fighters, The Killers, Stormzy, Olivia Rodrigo and Bruno Mars. The company’s parent company Endeavor named Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead as WME co-chairmen in 2022.
Last month, Endeavor announced that, subject to approval, it is launching a new publicly listed company consisting of two world-renowned sports and entertainment brands: UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). The new company will be led by Ari Emanuel, who will also continue in his role as CEO of Endeavor.
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ASM Global plants flag in Finland
ASM Global has been appointed to run operations at Helsinki venue Kulttuuritalo (The House of Culture), marking the company’s first foray into Finland.
Founded nearly 70 years ago, the 1,400-capacity venue in the Alppila district hosts events ranging from concerts, festive events, gala nights and trade shows.
The 1950s venue has a rich cultural history, designed by world-famous architect and modernist visionary Alvar Aalto. To this day, Kulttuuritalo continues its strong and important relationship with the Alvar Aalto Foundation.
The companies say the partnership will aim to “relaunch and future-proof the venue for generations to come, cementing it as a ‘must-visit’ cultural destination and capturing an even wider audience”.
ASM Global will also lead the renovation of Kulttuuritalo’s basement space, Klubi, including the building of a new 300-capacity live music space.
“We are extremely excited to partner with ASM Global in re-creating it as the landmark cultural venue in Helsinki”
The ‘state-of-the-art’ new club space will play host to live music, club nights, DJs, and streaming events, further broadening and diversifying the events and audiences at the Helsinki venue, according to a press release.
“On behalf of all at ASM Global, I’d like to welcome Kultturitalo to the team,” says Chris Bray, executive vice president, Europe at ASM Global. “This is a wonderful venue with a rich cultural significance in Helsinki, so we’re incredibly excited to be on board to manage operations and relaunch Kultturitalo through significant investment in infrastructure, food and beverage and developing a new club venue in the basement of the venue. This is our first step into Finland, so it’s a huge opportunity for ASM Global, which is already established and seeing huge success in Europe and the Nordics, to expand further into what’s a growing market brimming with opportunity.”
Patrik Sarajuuri, CEO, Helsingin Kulttuurihub Oy adds: “Since acquiring the property in 2022, Helsingin Kulttuurihub Oy has been keen to develop the content and offering of the House of Culture and we are extremely excited to partner with ASM Global in re-creating it as the landmark cultural venue in Helsinki. This partnership with the leading global venue operator and creator of live experience enables us to further liven up the content and bring to life this unique building, bringing it closer to all people for live events. House of Culture has exceptional facilities for multiple different uses and experiences with a great location. We are very pleased with the new agreement, which enables significant investment in this iconic venue.”
ASM Global has a portfolio of 350 venues the world over which host 20,000 events, and welcome 165 million guests every year.
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Superstruct UK forges deal with resale platform Tixel
Superstruct UK festivals has enlisted Tixel as the exclusive resale platform for a number of its domestic events including Bluedot, Boardmasters, Christmas at Bute Park, Kendal Calling, NASS, Tramlines Festival, Truck Festival and Y Not Festival.
The partnership includes direct technology integrations that will facilitate functions like real-time, accurate ticket validation on all tickets listed (eliminating fakes and/or speculative listings) and the ability for a buyer to list and sell a ticket before ticket barcodes have been distributed.
“We are delighted to announce our partnership with Tixel, which demonstrates the strength and scale of our UK portfolio of festivals and their commitment to enhancing the customer experience,” says Chris McCormick, UK festival’s band partnerships director.
“[This deal] demonstrates the strength and scale of our UK portfolio of festivals and their commitment to enhancing the customer experience”
“Today’s ticket buyer is different to who they were three years ago,” says Tixel CEO Zac Leigh. “We’re much more used to digital and in-app purchasing and around 80% of us say that we’re more likely to buy a ticket if we know that we can easily resell it later. We love that our festival partners are embracing the new behaviours of today’s festival-goers in an effort to super-serve their attendees, and we’re excited to help them do that.”
Founded in Australia in 2018, Tixel’s partners include leading festivals and promoters such as Beyond the Valley, Strawberry Fields, and Corner Hotel, artists such as Tame Impala, and primary ticketing platforms Eventbrite, Eventix, and Oztix. The company officially launched UK operations in late 2021.
Superstruct Entertainment has amassed over 85 festivals in Europe and Australia, making it the second-largest festival promoter in the world after Live Nation. Outside of the UK, the Providence Equity Partners-backed company owns festivals such as Elrow (ES), Sziget (HU), Wacken Open Air (DE), Mysteryland (NL), Hideout (HR), Sonar (ES) and Flow (FI).
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All Things Live acquires Agents After All
Nordic live entertainment giant All Things Live is continuing its expansion in Benelux with the acquisition of Agents After All.
Amsterdam-based Agents After All is one of the largest independent companies in the Dutch live entertainment market.
Founded in 2004 by Coen ter Wolbeek, Henkjan Onnink and Lesley Grieten, the 30-strong team is involved in 1,500 concerts annually in the Netherlands.
This includes shows at AFAS Live, Ziggo Dome, Rotterdam Ahoy and Olympic Stadium as well as festivals such as Royal Park Live, HIER Festival and Concert at SEA with 135,000 visitors annually.
Following the purchase, the current owners of Agents After All become partners and co-owners of All Things Live.
“We are excited about joining forces with All Things Live to accelerate our business development and growth as part of a respected partnership with an increasingly strong presence in Europe,” says Norbert Plantinga, managing director of Agents After All. “We look forward to the cooperation and delivering stellar experiences to the artists we have the honour to represent and their audiences.
“We are impressed with the entrepreneurial mindset and business acumen of the Agents After All team”
Kim Worsøe, member of the executive board of All Things Live Group, says: “We are impressed with the entrepreneurial mindset and business acumen of the Agents After All team and look forward to welcoming everyone as part of the All Things Live partnership as we continue to build a stronger platform in Benelux and the European live entertainment market. This expansion of our footprint establishes All Things Live as a leading European player, and we will continue to build our business together.”
All Things Live has been on an acquisition spree in 2022, buying up Antwerp-based management company Musickness and Italian promoter and agency Radar Concerti.
Also in 2022, the group announced the signing of international management firm Then We Take The World and launched an intimate three-day music festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, called Common Ground Festival.
Founded by Waterland Private Equity in 2018, All Things Live’s stable of festivals includes Big Slap in Malmö, Sweden and Weekend Festival in Hämeenlinna, Finland.
The All Things Live group, which mainly consists of promoters, also includes ICO Concerts and ICO Management & Touring (Denmark), Friction, Atomic Soul Booking and Stand Up Norge (Norway), Maloney Concerts, Monkfish and ROA (Sweden) and Busker Agency in Belgium.
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Ticketmaster renews with Electric Group
Ticketmaster has renewed its partnership with UK-based independent music venue operator Electric Group.
Formed in 2013, the Group runs Electric Brixton (cap. 1,700) in London, SWX (1,800) in Bristol, and NX (2,100) in Newcastle.
The collaboration with Ticketmaster comes as NX (the former O2 Academy Newcastle) hosts its first concert since undergoing a £2.7 million redevelopment.
SWX has also been given a redo, costing £3.2m, after an arson attack damaged the building. The restored venue reopened in early September, just over a year after the incident.
“I’m delighted to renew our long-term ticketing partnership with our friends at Ticketmaster,” says Dominic Madden, Electric Group CEO.
“It’s a great and easy fit and I know that we will receive the focus that is required to support our existing venue estate and the mighty new NX Newcastle.”
“Spaces like these are the heartbeat of the live industry, a breeding ground for talent”
Today’s announcement coincides with the appointment of Sam Isles as senior vice president of Ticketmaster Clubs International, heading up the division across Europe.
Already a veteran of club venue ticketing with a stint at Brixton Academy, Sam joined Ticketmaster to lead TicketWeb UK, and then launched the international arm of Ticketmaster’s Artist Services division, leading its market expansion.
In her new role, Isles will drive Ticketmaster’s ongoing investments in creating industry-leading technology and DIY solutions to serve the unique ticketing needs of clubs and independent venues with innovative tools and solutions to grow their business.
“Having worked with the team at Electric Brixton for more than ten years and now SWX Bristol, we know they’re going to bring a one-of-a-kind vision to NX Newcastle,” says Sam Isles, SVP Clubs International.
“Spaces like these are the heartbeat of the live industry, a breeding ground for talent and where fans discover the artists they’ll love for decades to come. They are vital, and our mission at Ticketmaster is to provide the world-class tools and support that can empower these iconic rooms.”
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AEG Presents France teams up with Salomon Hazot
AEG Presents France is partnering with renowned promoter Salomon Hazot on exclusively representing, producing and distributing his artist roster.
Hazot is a stalwart of the European live music business, having previously created and managed Garance Productions, Nous Productions and Paris-based festival Rock en Seine.
Previously, he was vice-president at Live Nation France and more recently teamed up with Olympia Production.
He is said to have been instrumental in the success of many international artists in France, establishing the likes of Björk, Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd and Robbie Williams in his home market.
Meersseman says he’s “so happy to reconnect and accompany Salomon and his outstanding artist roster”
The new partnership sees Hazot reunited with AEG Presents France MD Arnaud Meersseman, who previously served as a booker, promoter and A&R at Nous Productions.
Speaking on the new collaboration, Meersseman says he’s “so happy to reconnect and accompany Salomon and his outstanding artist roster”.
Hazot adds: “We have such a special relationship with Arnaud and not only because we share the same anniversary date! I’m really excited.”
Newly announced Robbie Williams (Accor Arena) and Pixies (Olympia) shows in 2023, as well as forthcoming gigs of Alt-J, Massive Attack, Queens of the Stone Age, Sigur Ros and The Offspring are among the first artists to be named as part of the deal with AEG Presents France.
Hazot’s current roster also includes Björk, Black Eyed Peas, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Chance the Rapper, Cypress Hill, Dead Can Dance, Deftones, Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Erykah Badu, Iron Maiden, Janelle Monae, M.I.A, Moby, Nine Inch Nails, Pet Shop Boys, Pixies, Portugal the Man, Raphael Saadiq, Rita Ora, Sum 41, The Roots, Wiz Khalifa and more.
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Firefly Festival teams with Web3 brand Autograph
AEG Presents’ Firefly Music Festival has partnered with Autograph – the Web3 brand co-founded by NFL great Tom Brady – on its first ever NFT collection.
As part of the deal, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, all wristband-holders will have the opportunity to redeem one of five NFTs, granting them a range of perks, including a dedicated entry lane and on-site experiences. Additionally, all festival-goers will have the opportunity to experience Autograph’s on-site activation.
“After very successful activations at Hangout and Electric Forest, we are thrilled to welcome Firefly Festival-goers into the Autograph community,” says Dillon Rosenblatt, CEO and co-founder of Autograph.
“In addition to providing many music fans with their first ever NFTs, we’re offering real-world benefits with each Firefly Lumina. We’re glad Autograph can play a role in deepening Firefly attendees’ festival experiences and provide fans with a digital souvenir to commemorate their weekend.”
“Offering fans new and exclusive ways to enjoy their favourite performances, while also giving them an Autograph NFT to take home, is a no-brainer”
The East Coast’s largest camping festival, the 50,000-cap Firefly Music Festival takes place from 22-25 September in Dover, Delaware with headliners Halsey, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Dua Lipa.
“We are always looking for ways to give our Firefly attendees and avid music lovers the best experience while they are with us for four days at The Woodlands,” says Stephanie Mezzano, VP and festival director of Firefly Music Festival. “Offering fans new and exclusive ways to enjoy their favourite performances, while also giving them an Autograph NFT to take home, is a no-brainer.”
AEG announced a multi-year partnership with Autograph back in March, launching at that month’s BUKU Music + Art Project in New Orleans. Autograph will also work on similar activations for AEG Presents brands such as Electric Forest and Hangout Music Festival.
Earlier this year, AEG’s Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival auctioned 10 lifetime passes to the event as part of a series of NFTs, which saw 10 Coachella lifetime passes sold for a combined $1.5 million (€1.3m).
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