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The New Bosses 2023: Lotta Widmer, Winterthurer Musikfestwochen

The 16th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses was published in IQ 121 this month, revealing 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

To get to know this year’s cohort a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2023’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.

Catch up on the previous interview with Kerem Turgut, senior event programmer and live music booker at Dubai Opera (TU) here. The series continues with Lotta Widmer co-managing director of the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen (CH).

Even though music has always played an important role in Lotta Widmer’s life, she preferred to play and listen to it for herself – or to work behind the scenes. At the age of 16, she started helping out at the local club and concert hall, Salzhaus. After shifts at the bar, checkroom and cash desk, she did an internship at the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, a 12-day music festival in the old town of Winterthur with 60,000 visitors in total, 1,000 volunteers, 50% Swiss artists and nine days of free programming.

After the internship, Widmer secured a permanent position and was from then on responsible for sponsoring and sustainability, while finishing her bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering. Doing two festivals in this position, she is now the co-managing director of the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen. She is also on the national committee of PETZI (Swiss federation of music venues and festivals), Salzhaus and is part of Vert le Futur (association for sustainability in the cultural sector).


Do you play any instruments, or have you been in any bands?
I played the piano for over 10 years, sang in the choir for several years and took singing lessons. But I have never played in a band or been on stage, I really prefer working backstage.

Was anyone else in your family involved in music or entertainment, or are you the first Widmer to follow this path?
I am the first in our family to work in this field – although we all like music very much and it has always accompanied us. We all do very different stuff for work.

You have a degree in environmental engineering. How does this impact what you do and how you plan any of the events you are involved in?
Short answer: A lot!
Long answer: With this knowledge (also about the consequences of climate change) I almost have to. I am responsible for sustainability in our team and have calculated the footprint of the festival in 2021. Based on this, we have made an analysis of how we can avoid, reduce and mitigate emissions. But of course, there is much more to sustainability than ecological measures – it is important to me to also look at the social and economic dimensions of sustainability.

“Often, one door opens to another, as long as you keep working at it”

As a New Boss, what would you change to make the live music industry a better place?
Oh well. Of course, change often starts in small steps. But speaking from an organiser’s point of view, we have a resource problem. There is a lack of human and financial resources, which in turn leads to many other problems such as fair fees and salaries, overwork, (mental) health problems, etc. So what would I change? More paid time for more people who currently do a lot of voluntary work.

Lots of people are trying to find a job in the music industry. What advice would you give to anyone trying to get a foot in the door?
Just start somewhere (as a volunteer e.g.) to get a foot in, make contacts and be open. Often, one door opens to another, as long as you keep working at it.

Do you have a mentor, or someone you rely on to turn to for advice?
Mmh, not really one person. Depending on the issue, I have various people in the local community whom I can ask. That’s what I always come back to because it’s impossible to know and be able to do everything. I think that we should also set an example in teams, that asking for help is not a bad thing.

“The most important meeting place for the Swiss music scene is definitely the industry festival m4music”

As a young person working in the highly competitive Swiss market, are there particular events or forums you rely on to help you connect and network with agents and other industry professionals?
The most important meeting place for the Swiss music scene is definitely the industry festival m4music, which takes place annually in March in Zurich. It’s a great place to make contacts. Otherwise, depending on the topic, network meetings of Helvetia Rockt (Swiss coordination office and networking platform for female, inter, non-binary, trans and agender musicians), PETZI (Swiss federation of music venues and festivals) and of course all the festivals and concerts where contacts can be cultivated.

If money was no object, who would be your ideal headline acts for Winterthurer Musikfestwochen?
Billie Eilish, ROSALíA or Stromae.

What one thing would you like artists to learn about coming to perform in Switzerland?
Difficult question. I couldn’t really think of anything else than that the organisers and the audience really appreciate it when bands also come to little Switzerland to play.

 


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Indie venues fight back against coronavirus

The grassroots music sector has been hit hard by the spread of Covid-19, with iconic venues around the world shutting for the foreseeable future.

However, in the face of adversity, many venues are showing they have the creativity, following and sector support it takes to weather even the most turbulent of storms.

 

Venues get creative

Venues around the UK that have temporarily closed, including Glasgow’s Hug and Pint (100-cap.), the Leadmill in Sheffield (1,150-cap.) and the Boileroom in Guildford (275-cap.), are implementing crowdfunding or other fundraising methods to generate additional income.

The team at Hug and Pint, which is owned by 432 Presents, say they have been “overwhelmed” by the support of the community, and have raised almost a third of their £30,000 crowdfunding target in just three days. Donations can be made here.

The Glaswegian venue has also launched the Hug at Home, a food and drink delivery service serving up “freshly prepared classics from the Hug and Pint menu”.

The Leadmill in Sheffield is auctioning off memorabilia including a custom guitar signed by Arctic Monkeys, a signed Biffy Clyro setlist and signed posters for the likes of Miles Kane, Feeder, Blossoms, Belle & Sebastian, Circa Waves, Goldfrapp and many more.

The team at Hug and Pint say they have been “overwhelmed” by the support of the community

The venue is also encouraging fans to buy merchandise – and toilet rolls – from its online shop.

A number of music venues across the United States have also set up Go Fund Me pages and are selling merch in a bid to raise funds following the shuttering of venues in states including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and South Carolina. A list of fundraising efforts is available on the Independent Venue Week website.

Many venues are also live streaming shows for fans to watch at home. US punk band Code Orange recently performed at a near-empty Roxian Theatre in Pittsburgh, but streamed the show live on the video game-focused platform Twitch, attracting over 13,000 concurrent viewers during the performance.

In the Germany, home to Europe’s clubbing capital Berlin, venues are taking part in the United We Stream initiative, broadcasting live DJ sets and performances from empty clubs each night. Fans are encouraged to donate €10, €20 or €30 a month in exchange for a ‘virtual club ticket’ to support venues and event organisers during the closure.

Many venues are also live streaming shows for fans to watch at home

Associations rally

Italian association KeepOn Live has launched a similar initiative, #StayON, forming a programme of live streams from clubs across a number of different channels “to gather the world of music around a single large virtual stage”.

The association is also encouraging members to fill in a questionnaire to allow them to quantify the damage done by Covid-19.

The results of similar survey initiated by the Music Venue Trust (MVT) in the UK has estimated it would cost around £3.7 million to sustain the weekly costs of all 661 venues in its Music Venues Alliance.

The charity has surveyed members weekly since the start of March to gauge how venues have been affected by the outbreak. From 10 to 16 March, almost 92% of the 247 respondents, and 95% of those in London, said they had been “negatively impacted by public response to Covid-19″, jumping from just 40% the week before.

Although a large proportion – 86% and a staggering 98% in London – reported a decrease in gross income over the past week, a slightly lower number of venues (58% and 62% respectively), cancelled events last week due to the virus, although that figure jumped from just 19% the week before.

MVT is commencing a third survey on 23 March. “Following the government’s 16 March advice, we will add a first question of whether the venue is still trading,” states the MVT report.

“We expect this question to indicate that close to 100% of venues have now ceased all live music activity”

“We expect this question to indicate that close to 100% of venues have now ceased all live music activity, and will ask for details of staff layoffs and financial situations for respondents where this is the case.”

The MVT is using its data to lobby the government, asking for a legal enforcement of venue closures to allow venues to seek insurance payouts and for the creation of a £120 million relief fund.

Other European venue associations are taking a similar path. German venue association LiveKomm is lobbying the government to get measures such as the creation of an emergency fund for live events, the deferral of tax payments, grants to help cover rent and postponement of royalty payments for venues.

Petzi, which represents 113 small music venues in Switzerland, has put forward similar proposals, asking for temporary unemployed insurance for all self-employed workers in the cultural sector, easy access to short-time work for all small- and medium-sized enterprises, compensation for cancelled events , an emergency fund for cultural workers and businesses under threat and a continuation of public funding for culture.

What is your venue or association doing to fight back against Covid-19? Email [email protected] to keep us updated on your efforts.

 


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Int’l associations pay respects to bomb victims

Live industry associations across Europe have paid their respects to the victims of Monday’s suicide bombing at Manchester Arena, which left 22 people – many of them children – dead.

Amid news Ariana Grande is expected to call off the rest of her Dangerous Woman tour in the wake of the attack, associations of promoters, venues and festivals across the continent have issued statements expressing solidarity with all those affected by the tragedy.

Dutch promoters’ association VNPF says it “deplores this attack” and offers its thoughts to both “relatives and friends of the victims” and the organisers of the Grande concert.

“We stand in solidarity with the United Kingdom,” reads a VNPF statement. “It was an attack on freedom. Terror can not destroy freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

“An attack like this is always an act of cruelty, but even more so when it affects children”

Prodiss in France – itself no stranger to attacks on live music – says the industry is “deeply touched by the Manchester bombing, which once again struck at our youth and our freedom”.

Animadas Productions director Albert Salmerón, recently appointed president of Spain’s Association of Music Promoters (APM), says APM stands in “utter solidarity with the victims and their respective families”.

“An attack like this is always an act of cruelty, but even more so when it affects children,” comments Salmerón.

APM – which calls the bombing an “attack on on the freedom that allows us to enjoy music and decide what to do at all times” – adds that “there is nothing that should make our societies succumb to the fear terrorists seek to instil”.

“The industry is deeply touched by the Manchester bombing, which once again struck at our youth and our freedom”

In Denmark, meanwhile, Dansk Live boss Jakob Brixvold calls the bombing a “terrible tragedy” and a “cowardly attack on live music, the community and our values”.

He warns, however, that it can “be extremely difficult to curb” incidents where, as in Manchester, the perpetrator attacks from just outside the venue, echoing comments made yesterday by Reg Walker – but reassures Danish promoters that the “level of security at Danish events in generally high”.

Along with several other associations, including Norske Konsertarrangører in Norway, Livemusik Sverige in Sweden, Petzi in Switzerland and Music Venue Trust in the UK, Dansk Live is participating in a memorial for the victims this Friday (26 May).

Live DMA’s One Minute of Noise encourages venues across Europe to mark the attack by holding a minute’s silence at 9.59pm – followed by a minute of the exact opposite at 10 to show that live music “will not be silenced”.

 


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Petzi: Swiss clubs punching above their weight

Small music venues inject close to 100 million Fr. each year into the Swiss economy, despite being under-subsidised compared to other cultural sectors, venues association Petzi has said.

Quoted in the report from the first Conference for Contemporary Music, held in Locarno earlier this month to celebrate 20 years of the association, 24 Heures Stéphanie Arboit said Petzi’s 175 member venues play “an important social role, and bring real cultural, social and economic value” to Switzerland, in spite of receiving less funding than other, more “established” sectors.

According to Petzi, subsidies for Swiss nonprofits – which include many of Petzi’s member venues – are also lower than the European average: 29%, compared to 41%.

Nearly 2.27m people – nearly 30% of the population – attended a show at a Petzi venue in 2014

Nearly 2.27m people – nearly 30% of the population – attended a show at a Petzi venue in 2014 (the most recently available data), supporting 4,033 full-time employees, 17,321 volunteers and 21,875 performers (of which 56% were Swiss).

Hedy Graber, director of cultural and social affairs at Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, which organises the m4music conference/showcase festival, said that while Switzerland should “rejoice at the success” of its small-venue scene, that success brings new challenges: With most clubs located in urban areas, where space is frequently tight (Switzerland has the highest concentration of music venues and festivals in the world), “questions are increasingly being asked on [issues such as] regulation, noise restrictions, smoking areas, violence and drugs,” she said.

That, Graber continued, is why it’s “necessary to have a lobby that can mobilise with force and passion on behalf of venues and festivals”.

Switzerland is the focus country for The Great Escape in Brighton, UK, next month.

 


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