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Rock in Rio evolves for the future

As one of the world’s most recognisable festival names, Rock in Rio established itself as iconic from day one. IQ presents the second and final part of our deep dive into the landmark Brazilian festival, where we uncover what the future holds for the expanding event.

Catch up on the landmark event’s 40-year history here.

Good Deeds
As a platform to extol the virtues of Rio de Janeiro, Rock in Rio has been tremendously successful in helping put the city – and much of Latin America – on tour routings, meaning that in 2024, it’s unthinkable for any global act to omit the continent from tour plans.

But the remit of Rock in Rio stretches way beyond entertainment and brands, as the Medinas and their colleagues run multiple endeavours off the back of their events to improve the lives of the poor and underrepresented while also addressing environmental causes.

“This thing about music bringing people together, connected to an effective social project, is real,” states Roberto. “It’s not just about saying that we want to protect the environment or enhance education. It’s not just an idea; it’s about making it happen.”

Indeed, Rock World’s social programmes have had a real impact and continue to do so.

To date, Rock in Rio has planted 4.5m trees in the Amazon, “and we will continue planting,” says Roberto. “Rock in Rio has opened schools in the ghettos; Rock in Rio has social topics in its agenda and addresses these items because the importance of Rock in Rio in Brazil is fundamental. We use [our platform] to teach young people the fundamental things we need to do to transform as a society.”

“When we sell the Rock in Rio brand, we are also promoting Brazil and the ability of Brazilians to organise themselves and hold events”

In terms of employment and the impact on the economy, Rock in Rio’s biennial appearance in the calendar impacts the city’s economy by R$2.8bn and creates 28,000 direct jobs. “It is a good monster because it doesn’t cause any harm to society but promotes tourism and cultural activities,” opines Roberto, adding, “When we sell the Rock in Rio brand, we are also promoting Brazil and the ability of Brazilians to organise themselves and hold events. We are the biggest music event in the world: I’m proud of that. But I continue to want to do better – I’m never satisfied: I want to give more.”

And giving an insight into his psyche, he adds, “Doing good leads to profit… I don’t want to do philanthropy – I can achieve results through business, because if you do good and are transparent for your brand, you will sell more and add quality to your product. If half the world is starving, by taking a person out of poverty and bringing them to the market, you are gaining a consumer. So doing good leads to profit. We have to speak the language of capital so that it invests in social projects. This was the path I took to make gigantic projects possible here in Brazil.”

As for its unique selling point, when it comes to brands clamouring to become sponsors, Roberto’s experience in marketing shines through. “We care for the artist in a different way than we care for the brands,” he notes. “We launch a year-long campaign – it’s not something you do in a snap of the finger. It’s a chance for the brand to make itself felt over a very long period of time.”

Growth Prospects
Having cemented its place into the hearts and minds of the international live music business, Rock in Rio inevitably attracted the attention of the corporate world, and five years ago, Live Nation completed a transaction that gave it a controlling stake in the Rock World organisation.

But rather than a simple acquisition, the conglomerate’s hierarchy recognised the skills of the Brazilian workforce, with CEO Michael Rapino noting, “Roberto and his team have grown Rock in Rio to become a truly global event and the preeminent festival in the emerging live events market in South America. We look forward to integrating their industry experience into the Live Nation business.”

“I want to focus more on these markets where there is lots of opportunity to grow”

That integration is now in full swing, with Rock World this year becoming production partner for Lollapalooza Brasil, in collaboration with C3 Presents. That 22-24 March event featured the likes of Blink-182, SZA, Paramore, Sam Smith, Arcade Fire, Limp Bizkit, and local rock legends, Titãs.

Taking on the yearly Lolla expands the Rock World portfolio to four megafestivals: Rock in Rio and Rock in Rio Lisboa, which take place in the even years, and The Town – held on the same site as Lolla in São Paolo in the odd years.

As for future expansion, Roberto tells IQ, “I think expansion in Latin America is possible, but it is not in my plans because I am now focused on Lollapalooza and The Town in São Paolo, and Rock in Rio, which makes us one of the biggest festival companies in Latin America. This year, with the three events all put together, we made R$1.1bn, while we sold 2m tickets over the past two years. So I want to focus more on these [existing] markets where there is lots of opportunity to grow.”

Roberta concurs. “We’re not planning international expansion at this point, but we decided to expand to the closest market to Rio – that is São Paulo. They are both big cities, but São Paulo is very different to Rio. It’s been a conversation for a number of years to take Rock in Rio to São Paulo, but what we realised is that Rock in Rio sees 50% of our revenues coming from sponsorship and 50% from ticket sales – it’s a very different model, and we understand it’s not similar in other territories. But we can definitely grow in our own markets and become bigger in Brazil, while the new site in Lisbon allows us to concentrate on making that bigger, too.”

“Nothing will replace live music. Nothing”

Hi-tech Future
But while growth for Rock World is being driven down a more organic path, when it comes to the development of Rock in Rio, Roberto Medina’s ambition knows no bounds.

Roberta tells IQ, “He’s dreaming about the City of Rock of the future. So he’s talking about major construction plans around the City of Rock – a hotel, a theme park – it’s another level. He’s even talking about having people arrive by flying car!”

She’s not joking.

“I’m really working on having a permanent City of Rock,” confirms Roberto. “At festival time, you will have everything that happens today. However, at other times of the year, there will be stages with holograms,” he teases.

And embracing how technology can make the experience for Rock in Rio guests even more special, Roberto says, “I am taking a close look at future technology, and I’m already discussing the use of flying cars for the VIP area. And that’s just a first move!”

He concludes, “Nothing will replace live music. Nothing. Because human beings are gregarious. For instance, I have an apartment in New York with great Internet speed and a coffee machine. But I go outside to Starbucks, sit down to experience worse Internet and worse coffee. And I spend money. What kind of business is that?

The thing is, human beings are gregarious, and no technology, no matter how engaging it is, will make people not want to be together – that’s what we do at our events.”

 


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Rock in Rio through the ages

As one of the world’s most recognisable festival names, Rock in Rio established itself as iconic from day one – with global stars voicing ambitions to play the event after acts like Queen, Iron Maiden, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, and Yes put it on the map with a historic debut that saw more than 1.3m fans pouring into the City of Rock over the inaugural ten-day gathering in 1985.

But it did not follow the normal blueprint of a hopeful promoter taking a gamble in an effort to turn a profit. In fact, the man whose concept rewrote the festival rule book had zero background in music and little understanding of the way in which the live music business worked. But he had a groundbreaking idea and doggedly refused to take no for an answer.

“I wasn’t an expert in music, but I was an expert in communication, and there was something clear in my words, in my beliefs,” Roberto Medina recalls of his initial vision for Rock in Rio. “Communication, in my head, was more than those four tools that we had, namely, television, radio, billboards, and newspapers. It was more than that. You had to involve the consumer in a different way, perhaps adding emotion to create a different relationship with the brand, and I reckoned that a music event could achieve this. If I could bring an important investment from the communications market to music, I might be able to do something extraordinary.”

With hindsight, of course, that vision was indeed extraordinary. But Roberto and his colleagues had to convince talent agents that they were trustworthy and capable of organising a festival that could benefit the careers of their artist clients.

“There were doubts. Then Queen confirmed and there was a stampede to become part of this new and compelling venture”

“In 1984, a team of advertising executives came to London to woo us agents, managers and production personnel, encouraging us to bring our artists to what was regarded at the time as a totally untapped market,” ITB’s Rod MacSween reports on those early introductions to the Rock in Rio hierarchy. “We were all apprehensive, despite being shown footage of this beautiful land with its stunning beaches and intoxicating appeal. Could the organisers really pull off such a feat of logistics and expertise for the first time in South America? Letters of credit, really?!

“There were doubts. Then Queen confirmed, and there was a stampede to become part of this new and compelling venture.”

One of team who was in those early meetings with agents was Luiz Oscar Niemeyer, now of Rio-based promoter Bonus Track, who recalls accompanying Medina to the United States to pitch the event to artist reps.

“I was the general coordinator for the whole festival,” Niemeyer says of the 1985 event. “The first meeting we had was with Jim Beach from Queen in New York, and then we went to LA where we met several agents. I remember meeting Ian Copeland, Richard Rosenberg, Ian Flooks, John Jackson, and all those guys.

“Until Rock in Rio, Brazil was completely out of the route of the big artists. And it was very difficult, in the beginning, to convince the artists to come down. But we succeeded, and Rock in Rio mades the whole difference. It presented Brazil as a market to the whole live music industry. Before Rock in Rio, there was a lack of credibility from promoters and from production – we did not have enough equipment in Brazil. But Rock in Rio completely put Brazil on the map. And it allowed me to start doing my own projects, so it was amazing to be involved.”

Another early team member was Phil Rodriguez, now of Move Concerts. He recalls, “I came on board in late 1984. When a dear friend, Oscar Ornstein suggested to Roberto Medina I could help out with the talent booking. Oscar handled publicity for the Hotel Nacional where many artists stayed back in the day.”

“The door to touring South America was already ajar as other artists had toured before 1985, but Rock in Rio blew the door wide open”

That recommendation saw Rodriguez spearheading Rock in Rio’s main stage talent through the various editions until 2015, including “the first six editions in Brazil, the first six editions in Lisbon, plus the three editions in Madrid. Essentially, I was there at the birth of four Rock in Rios – Rio, Lisbon, Madrid & Las Vegas,” notes Rodriguez. The acts he helped secure include AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Taylor Swift, Guns N’ Roses, Ed Sheeran, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, N’SYNC, Neil Young, Sting, Rammstein, R.E.M, Britney Spears, Bob Dylan, INXS, Wham, and George Michael.

And Rodriguez agrees with Niemeyer that Rock in Rio helped to firmly establish Latin America as a viable touring destination.

“The first event brought down a multitude of music business professionals – managers, agents, production managers, – who in many cases were there for the first time. And they looked around and saw that the market was doable and had potential. The door to touring South America was already ajar as other artists had toured before 1985 – Queen, The Police, Peter Frampton, Genesis, etc. – but Rock in Rio blew the door wide open.”

RiR’s Debut
Having the imagination and skills to pull together such an ambitious festival, against the backdrop of Brazil’s fraught transition from military dictatorship to democracy, was an audacious feat – and one that required some hefty financial backing.

But Roberto reveals that for that historic first event he contacted just one sponsor. “It was the biggest brewery in Brazil,” he tells IQ. “The brand wanted, and needed, a refresh, and it was obvious to me that with a strong change in label and actions, the market would be very favourable.”

Having convinced that sponsor to invest $20m in the inaugural Rock in Rio, he recollects the brand did not even ask who was going to perform. “They made that investment because they bought a communication campaign, but then I began looking for the best acts I could find. I still do this today: I put together an extremely sophisticated communication campaign, thinking about how I can support the brands. I convince them to sponsor me throughout an experience, over multiple months, in the biggest music project in the world.”

“I lost money, but I didn’t lose faith”

Looking back fondly on that first Rock in Rio, Medina says, “What happened in ‘85 was absolutely extraordinary. I mobilised 1.5m people; I contacted the biggest bands and artists in the world; and we made the music industry in Brazil bigger and bigger. Brazilian bands had a major impact, but we also had the pleasure of launching some international bands, because the festival became a platform not only for Latin America but for the world of big acts.”

However, despite generating positive headlines around the world and becoming instantly iconic in the eyes of artists, the inaugural event – and the follow-up Rock in Rio in 1991 – were financially disastrous, even with that second festival including a lineup of Prince, INXS, Guns N’ Roses, New Kids on the Block, George Michael, and A-ha.

“I lost money, but I didn’t lose faith,” states Roberto. “It was factors external to the project that made me lose money. In the first event, there was enormous political persecution because I became well-known in the media and had nothing to do with politics. And in the second event, a big sponsor we began working with left us hanging in the middle. It wasn’t a cool corporate experience, but it was a platform. I mean, I had a brand.”

Daughter Roberta was not convinced. “I hated it,” she admits, noting that while Rock in Rio’s first two events were spectacularly successful from a fan and artist perspective, the fact that her father’s popularity worried politicians created all kinds of hazards for him personally and professionally.

Indeed, she reveals that paying back the losses on the inaugural event took Roberto close to a decade. “I was 16 when I remember seeing the last cheque for the payments that he had to make,” she tells IQ. “We’d already had Rock in Rio II, and he was still paying off the first festival. And the second one also was not financially positive either.”

She continues, “I saw a lot of things that I didn’t like as a daughter. So I didn’t actually like Rock in Rio until I turned 20. But even then, I could not understand why he wanted to do the festival again.”

“It gave a voice to those young people and causes that were looking for freedom of speech after the military regime”

While Medina himself was economically worse off, the Brazilian music industry grew by 180% in 1985 because of Rock in Rio. “It was [local] bands’ first encounter with the technology used in the United States – they didn’t yet know how to use those sophisticated light and sound desks. So that was an impressive experience for all of us here in Brazil. But we hosted 1,380,000 people in ten days, and everyone left happy,” Roberto recalls.

“That began a culture of show business and entertainment in Brazil, which, today, is more advanced than in any other country in the world. It is a small industry when compared to the US market, which is 12 times bigger than the Brazilian market in size when it comes to sponsorship investment. But Rock in Rio is four times bigger than the biggest US event.”

With knowledge of the festival’s phenomenal impact on Brazil, as a young woman, Roberta could see that her father’s ‘for a better world’ concept was important. “It gave a voice to those young people and causes that were looking for freedom of speech after the military regime, so it was hugely significant for Brazil – as was the economic impact it had on Rio, even though that had not benefitted our family.”

Describing herself as “the older sister of Rock in Rio,” Roberta was just seven years old at 1985’s first edition and recalls sleeping in the VIP area and playing with the festival’s merchandise. “By the second edition, I was 12, and the only thing I was interested in was New Kids on the Block,” she states.

Despite her misgivings about the impact of the festival on the family’s personal lives, her father’s commitment to the numerous social causes invested in by Rock in Rio helped convince her to change her mind about the event. “All this motivation made me accept the invitation to work at the festival. So, by the third one, in 2001, I was already working with my father,” she explains.

The acts that graced the bill of that 2001 edition included Sting, R.E.M., Guns N’ Roses, *NSYNC, Iron Maiden, Neil Young, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. And it was a smash success.

“Rio is the most beautiful city in the world – I love it, and I feel I must tell the whole world about the city”

Cross-Atlantic Expansion
Having turned a corner, economically, the Medinas looked to expand their organisation – which has an operating name of Rock World – overseas, identifying Brazil’s closest European neighbour, Portugal, as the ideal location. As a result, Rock in Rio Lisboa made its debut in 2004 with a star-studded bill that included Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Britney Spears, and Sting.

Explaining the decision to maintain the Rio de Janeiro branding, Roberto says, “Portugal and its governors wanted me to change the ‘Rio’ name, but I wouldn’t because it has everything to do with the energy of the city I came from. Rio is the most beautiful city in the world – I love it, and I feel I must tell the whole world about the city, thereby increasing the number of tourists, increasing revenue, and doing justice to a place that is much better than people overseas think.”

Tasked with overseeing the Portuguese offshoot, Roberta runs that side of things with her husband, Rock in Rio Lisboa COO Ricardo Acto, and bases herself between Rio and her main family home in Lisbon, where her children, Lua and Theo, attend school.

And the European-based Rock in Rio execs are doing a splendid job, because although it launched 20 years after its Brazilian namesake, Rock in Rio Lisboa clocked up its tenth edition in June this year – three months before the Brazilian event clocks up its identical anniversary.

Indeed, not only did it celebrate a landmark anniversary, but this year, Rock in Rio Lisboa moved to a new site at Parque Tejo, a greenfield location that caters for the 80,000-capacity audience but also has enough room to allow future expansion.

“The site is so beautiful and has all these different levels where we can build stages so that each has its own natural amphitheatre, overlooking the beautiful Tagus river and the Vasco da Gama Bridge,” says Roberta, noting that feedback from fans, artists, and festival staff since the June gathering has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We now have this new identity in Lisbon, and we have space to grow”

“It was so beautiful that Macklemore, in his concert at Rock in Rio Lisboa this year, said exactly what we believe: that a festival is a place where you can be yourself; where it doesn’t matter if you are black, if you are white, if you are yellow, if your religion is this or that. Everybody accepts others as they are. It’s proof that a better world is possible,” she says.

And she is palpably excited about the future prospects in the Portuguese park. “We had a lot of space that we didn’t use this year,” she reports. “And we have the whole of Europe to invite. For example, this year we had people buying tickets from 106 countries, and I don’t even know how Coldplay perform in 2022 these people found us. So we now have this new identity in Lisbon, and we have space to grow. We are going to invest a lot in inviting Europe to come to Rock in Rio Lisboa.”

For his part, Roberto comments, “Rock in Rio Lisboa has everything it takes to be more and more of an event that includes the European market as a whole, and we are already discussing this internally.”

Family Business
Such internal debates are very much a family conversation, as Roberto highlights the work of his children, Roberta and Rodolfo, in helping the development of the Rock World organisation. “This whole thing involves three people together – Roberta, Rodolfo, and me. Everyone contributes in their own way to make things work – and that goes for the entire team, which is a constellation of extremely capable people,” he says.

“Roberta grew up in the dressing rooms of Rock in Rio, so at least she won’t make the same mistakes as I did,” laughs Roberto. “Rodolfo works hard and is a high achiever. He can show all of this potential to partner brands, thus providing support for the project.”

“Millions of people had their lives touched by Rock in Rio, and that’s what we will be celebrating this year”

He continues, “It’s difficult to work with your children – it’s extremely delicate – but we get along well, we respect each other, and we contribute in different ways. I think we complement each other, so I am very well-represented by the kids, and it’s a blessing to be able to work with them: this is every father’s dream come true.”

Having worked with her father for more than 20 years, and with a daughter who is now 11, Roberta notes the difference in the generations is enormous. Noting her own obsession with New Kids on the Block back at the 1991 festival, she says her daughter “knows all the bands we book for the festival – every single one – because of the way she and her friends access social networks and how young people just access music in a totally different way.

We don’t have to introduce anything to them because they already got to know everything.”

And as Rock in Rio gears up for its 40th anniversary, Roberta addresses her extended family – the festival’s fans – with genuine affection. “Millions of people had their lives touched by Rock in Rio – they met their husbands and wives, they made their kids, and that’s what we will be celebrating this year,” she says. “At the event in Rio, we’re going to have a musical dedicated to the first 40 years, telling the story of the festival – it’s like a Broadway show: a 40-minute show that will be presented a number of times during the festival.”

 


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Rock in Rio’s 40th anniversary draws 730k fans

Rock in Rio bosses have given an update on the brand’s expansion plans after its 40th anniversary edition in Brazil pulled in 730,000 fans across two weekends.

Held at the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, from 13-15 & 19-22 September, the festival’s headliners included Travis Scott, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Avenged Sevenfold and Mariah Carey, as well as the likes of Evanescence, Ne-Yo, Deep Purple, Charlie Puth and Hollywood star Will Smith.

Roberta Medina, EVP of Rock World, the company behind the biennial event, trumpets the 2024 flagship as a “tribute to the ability that music and culture have to unite people in peace and harmony and to show new possibilities”.

“It was a peaceful event, where thousands of people came together, vibrating with happiness and sharing unforgettable moments,” she says.

The Brazilian festival, which will return in 2026, also upped its sustainability push – initiating a reusable cup drive for the first time in partnership with Heineken, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Schweppes and Braskem, which encouraged conscious consumption and correct disposal.

More than 150,000 cups were collected, washed and returned for use, while 1.5 tons of cups were collected for reuse in the VIP area. Consequently, the festival avoided generating more than 14 tons of waste.

At last count, Rio-based company Comlurb had collected 288.5 tons of waste from inside Rock in Rio, of which 129.8 tons were potentially recyclable materials.

“We’re not planning international expansion at this point, but we decided to expand to the closest market to Rio – that is São Paulo”

Earlier this month, Rock in Rio founder Roberto Medina unveiled a “visionary project” to turn the area around the Rock in Rio site into the largest entertainment complex in Latin America. In partnership with financial group Genial Investimentos, the Imagine scheme will transform the Olympic Park, home to Rock in Rio Brazil since 2017, into a leisure, sports and entertainment centre.

The Rock World portfolio also includes Portugal’s Rock in Rio Lisboa, which takes place in the even years, and The Town in São Paolo, held in the odd years. It also took over the running of Lollapalooza Brazil in 2023. Rock in Rio Lisboa staged its 20th anniversary edition in June at the 80,000-cap Parque Tejo, attracting 300,000 attendees and selling out three of the four dates. Acts included Scorpions, Jonas Brothers, Doja Cat, Macklemore and Ed Sheeran.

Meanwhile, The Town (cap. 105,000-cap) launched at the Interlagos race track in September last year, headlined by Post Malone, Foo Fighters, Maroon 5 and two nights with Bruno Mars. It welcomed more than 500,000 fans over five days.

Roberto Medina discusses potential future expansion of Rock in Rio as part of a feature celebrating 40 years of the festival in the new issue of IQ.

“I think expansion in Latin America is possible, but it is not in my plans because I am now focused on Lollapalooza and The Town in São Paolo, and Rock in Rio, which makes us one of the biggest festival companies in Latin America,” he says. “This year, with the three events all put together, we made R$1.1bn, while we sold 2m tickets over the past two years. So I want to focus more on these [existing] markets where there is lots of opportunity to grow.”

Roberta Medina adds: “We’re not planning international expansion at this point, but we decided to expand to the closest market to Rio – that is São Paulo. They are both big cities, but São Paulo is very different to Rio. It’s been a conversation for a number of years to take Rock in Rio to São Paulo, but what we realised is that Rock in Rio sees 50% of our revenues coming from sponsorship and 50% from ticket sales – it’s a very different model, and we understand it’s not similar in other territories. But we can definitely grow in our own markets and become bigger in Brazil, while the new site in Lisbon allows us to concentrate on making that bigger, too.”

The full feature on 40 years of Rock in Rio appears in the issue 130 of IQ, out now.

 


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Rock in Rio spin-off The Town sells out three days

Brazil’s new 105,000-cap festival The Town has sold out three days of its inaugural edition, with more than four months still to go until it debuts in São Paulo.

Organised by Rock in Rio founder Roberto Medina, the event will launch at the Interlagos race track later this year and is expected to attract around half a million people across five days.

Dates headlined by Bruno Mars (3&10 September) and Foo Fighters (9 September) have already sold out in this week’s general sale, with tickets still available for nights topped by Post Malone (2 September) and Maroon 5 (7 September). Full-price day tickets cost 815 reals (€147) and were snapped up in 72 minutes for Mars’ two shows .

“The success of the pre-sale reflects the public’s desire to live life live, for São Paulo to host an event of this magnitude and as people from São Paulo have said ‘a Rock in Rio to call your own,'” says Luis Justo, CEO of Rock World, the company behind The Town.

Other artists set to perform at the festival, which will feature six stages at the Cidade da Música venue, include Queens of the Stone Age, Garbage, Demi Lovato, Wet Leg, The Chainsmokers, Liam Payne, Iggy Azalea, Bebe Rexha, HER and Kim Petras.

The festival has also confirmed a partnership with transportation company the CCR Group, which guarantees that the trains that provide access to the Interlagos Circuit will run 24 hours a day on festival days.

“We announce this unprecedented partnership that will allow fans to arrive and leave the festival with greater peace of mind”

“The public’s experience goes far beyond what they experience in [Rock in Rio site] Cidade do Rock and, now, in Cidade da Música,” says Roberta Medina, EVP of The Town and Rock in Rio. “We care about this experience all the time and this includes, among many other details to be taken care of, when, on the day of the festival, the fan leaves the house towards the venue.

“We already addressed this concern from the beginning, when we scheduled The Town to take place on the weekend or holiday, in order to less impact the city’s traffic.

“We announce this unprecedented partnership that will allow fans to arrive and leave the festival with greater peace of mind, knowing that they will be able to rely on public transport by train for 24 hours.”

The flagship 100,000-cap Rock in Rio Brazil, meanwhile, was most recently held at the Cidade do Rock (City of Rock) from 2-4 and 8-11 September 2022, headlined by Iron Maiden, Post Malone, Justin Bieber, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, Coldplay and Dua Lipa.

From 2024, Rock World will also take over the running of Lollapalooza Brazil in partnership with C3 Presents. Both are majority owned by Live Nation.

 


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Rock in Rio mulls further international editions

Rock in Rio organisers are considering launching further international editions of the legendary festival, which returns to Brazil next weekend.

The 100,000-cap event, which runs at the Cidade do Rock (City of Rock) from 2-4 and 8-11 September, sold out in record time earlier this year after around one million people registered to buy tickets.

Iron Maiden, Post Malone, Justin Bieber, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, Coldplay and Dua Lipa will headline Rock in Rio’s first flagship Brazilian leg since 2019.

Its Lisbon edition took place in Portugal in June, while festivals have also been held under the Rock in Rio banner in Madrid, Spain and Las Vegas, US. And according to EVP Roberta Medina, additional spin-offs could be in the pipeline.

“Chile and another possible edition in the United States are on the radar”

“In Portugal, promoters from Dubai came to see and talk to us,” reveals Medina in an interview with Veja. “Chile and another possible edition in the United States are on the radar.”

Medina, daughter of Rock in Rio founder Roberto, also references new 105,000-cap event The Town, which is scheduled to debut at the Interlagos race track in Brazil in just over a year.

“The expansion is now within the country itself, with The Town, which will take place in São Paulo, in September 2023,” she says. “Investing in Brazil is worth it.”

Rock in Rio Lisboa, which launched in 2004, returned for the first time in four years in 2022, featuring acts such as The National, Black Eyed Peas, Duran Duran, Post Malone, Liam Gallagher, Ellie Goulding and A-ha. This year will mark the first time in the brand’s history that the Brazil and Portugal editions have taken place in the same year.

“Many suppliers have closed their doors, prices have skyrocketed and we are still experiencing chaos in maritime and air logistics”

“The Lisbon edition, in June, showed that the party was back to what it always was, with an extra dose of euphoria,” says Medina, who notes the event was not without its pandemic-related challenges.

“The difficulties are behind the scenes,” she explains. “Everything requires more advance. Many suppliers have closed their doors, prices have skyrocketed and we are still experiencing chaos in maritime and air logistics.

“All the sound equipment on the main stage got lost on the ship from Brazil to Lisbon and we had to get another one in a hurry.”

Rock in Rio is also debuting in the Metaverse in partnership with Coca-Cola. The Rock in Verse project, created by the agency A-LAB, will take place inside an island of video game Fortnite and feature 12 new spaces inspired by the City of Rock.

“We know that the physical experience is irreplaceable, but we believe that the face-to-face and the virtual can go hand in hand”

The game’s “Running Tracks” experience lets players interact with an original and exclusive song composed by DJs Cat Dealers, who will perform on Rock in Rio’s New Dance Order stage on 4 September, while “RiRstory Trivia” tests players’ knowledge of the festival’s history.

“We know that physical experience is irreplaceable, but we believe that the face-to-face and the virtual can go hand in hand,” says Rock in Rio CEO Luis Justo. “As we have more people who want to come to the event than the City of Rock actually holds, we are always thinking of activations that expand the experience for this audience, who, in this way, can also relate and have fun in some way with the festival.

“This is what we put all our energies into, so that people can experience a great warming up of the Rock in Rio experience right from their own homes. Rock in Verse will be a totally innovative way of relating and having fun with Rock in Rio.”

 


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