TEG Europe hires promoter Alex Simmonds
TEG Europe has continued to grow its UK business with the hiring of experienced promoter Alex Simmonds as head of UK touring and special projects.
Simmonds joins TEG after eight years at SJM Concerts where he booked the Country to Country (C2C) festival and worked with brands such as Disney, Studio Ghibli, BBC, Sony and Amazon on live shows. He was also the lead live programmer of the Podcast show London.
At TEG, he will be tasked with leading the promoting team helping them grow in the UK across all formats of entertainment.
“Having worked with him booking C2C festival, I know he is going to make a huge contribution to TEG Europe”
“We are very excited to have Alex join the team,” says TEG Europe managing director Toby Leighton-Pope. “I’ve been a big fan of his for a long time and having worked with him booking C2C festival I know he is going to make a huge contribution to TEG Europe.”
Australasian live entertainment powerhouse TEG announced the formation of TEG Europe back in July, consolidating the company’s UK-based operations into a single entity. Former AEG UK co-CEO Leighton-Pope was brought in as MD, with former TEG MJR CEO Richard Buck becoming head of European touring and middle east partnerships.
“I’m thrilled to be joining TEG Europe,” adds Simmonds. “Toby and I have been friends for a while and I’m looking forward to working with him and the whole team at TEG.”
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.
UK promoters discuss impact of currency fluctuation
A number of UK promoters have spoken to IQ about the impact of currency fluctuation on international touring, as the pound sterling continues on a tumultuous trajectory.
The currency slumped to a two-week low against the dollar of $1.0954 on Tuesday morning (11 October), before rebounding less than 24 hours later. However, Goldman Sachs told Pound Sterling Live it expects the pound to continue to weaken due to “flawed fundamentals”.
Richard Buck, head of European touring and Middle East partnerships at TEG Europe, tells IQ that the declining rate is having “a significant impact on international touring”.
“Offers made in USD, if the currency is not pre-booked, may need to be adjusted or even pushed back,” he says. “Also for artists who are paid in pound sterling, it becomes less attractive to visit the market as their potential return can diminish by around 20% versus the original forecast.
“Anyone that is incurring costs in dollars and getting paid in sterling, in particular, is going to struggle”
“Any multi-territory deal that has been made in USD is now harder to sell into territories as the return is harder to achieve. However, those already sold into markets such as the Middle East where the primary artist currency is USD may benefit from the improved conversion.”
The pound fell to an all-time low of $1.03 last month in the wake of the government’s mini-budget, prompting AEG Presents UK chief Steve Homer to list the exchange rate as one of the promoter’s biggest concerns, while US artists including Animal Collective cancelled tours, in part, due to currency devaluation.
But as Kilimanjaro Live CEO Stuart Galbraith points out, dwindling currency is not an issue unique to the UK.
“The dollar is strong against most currencies in the world at the moment so it’s probably an issue in Europe generally,” he notes. “But anyone that is incurring costs in dollars and getting paid in sterling, in particular, is going to struggle.”
Galbraith says that even though a large proportion of Kilimanjaro’s business is domestic, the promoter is still seeing the effects of the pound-to-dollar slump.
“Acts from America are telling us that they cannot afford to tour in Europe. We’ve certainly lost a couple of isolated shows in the last three or four months and we had a couple of tours that we were about to go on sale with but we’ve now been told the artist isn’t coming to the continent.
“Some acts will have put together budgets earlier on in the year when they were expecting they’d get a $1.30/40 for every pound. If they’re now redoing those budgets on an almost parity basis then you can absolutely understand why they’re not able to balance the books and go through with the tour.”
“It comes down to whether a US artist is able to use crew and suppliers that are UK and Europe based”
Galbraith says there are two possible short-term solutions for American artists. The first is to incur as many costs as possible in local currency and minimise the exposure to dollar expenditure, and the second is to reduce the scale of the show and do it on a more cost-effective basis, he says.
“It comes down to whether a US artist is able to use crew and suppliers that are UK and Europe based, instead of bringing staff and equipment from the US – which is all going to be paid for in dollars – and incurring transatlantic flights which are now extremely expensive in comparison to pre-covid times,” he says.
While Galbraith believes cost-cutting measures could be the solution to bringing US artists to the UK, Homer is concerned it’ll come down to UK promoters to offer bigger fees.
“We were almost on parity, which has not been something we’ve been familiar with for a long, long time. And it’s really biting in terms of artists touring over here – it becomes far more expensive for them to do it and it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts going forward. It’s creating a few anxious thoughts as to whether we can afford to offer American artists what they need to come over, so it might mean we’re missing a few that we would normally see.”
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.
Toby Leighton-Pope named MD of TEG Europe
Live music veteran Toby Leighton-Pope has been appointed managing director of the newly formed TEG Europe.
Leighton-Pope will oversee the operation, strategic direction and rapid expansion of the UK-based arm of Australia’s live entertainment powerhouse.
He was previously co-CEO of AEG Presents UK from 2016 to December 2021 and spent the prior 16 years at Live Nation, latterly as senior vice president music.
Leighton-Pope has worked with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, Michael Buble and Katy Perry.
He is also responsible for launching the Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park, for which he booked artists including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and The Who.
“Toby’s outstanding record in the live entertainment industry speaks for itself”
TEG CEO Geoff Jones welcomed Leighton-Pope to the global TEG Family, saying: “Toby’s outstanding record in the live entertainment industry speaks for itself. His ideas, connections, and infectious enthusiasm make him the perfect choice to lead the further expansion of TEG’s successful integrated model into the vibrant UK and European markets.”
Leighton-Pope adds: “I am thrilled to join TEG as managing director of TEG Europe. In the past decade, Geoff and his team have built TEG from Australia’s leading ticketing company, Ticketek, into an increasingly global and leading player in live entertainment, ticketing, venue, digital and data.
“I am thrilled to be working with the talented and passionate TEG Europe Team including Richard Buck [the former CEO of TEG MJR] who is taking on a vital role for us as head of European touring and middle east partnerships.
“We have a huge opportunity to grow our business and build on TEG’s enduring track record of touring success in concerts, sport, festivals, theatre, musicals, exhibitions, family entertainment, comedy, and e-sports, and Ticketek’s 40+ years’ experience ticketing major international events and partnering with the world’s premier venues.”
Formed last month, TEG Europe consolidates TEG’s UK-based operations into a single entity, comprising TEG Live Europe, TEG Venues, Propaganda, Ticketek and Ovation.
TEG Live Europe includes the former TEG MJR touring business, which has worked with artists including Snoop Dogg, Sia, Hans Zimmer, 50 Cent, Tom Jones, and Culture Club.
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.
TEG announces formation of TEG Europe
Australasian live entertainment powerhouse TEG has announced the formation of TEG Europe, consolidating the company’s UK-based operations into a single entity.
Based out of London and Bristol, TEG Europe comprises five different divisions: TEG Live Europe, TEG Venues, Propaganda, Ticketek and Ovation.
TEG Live Europe includes the former TEG MJR touring business, which has worked with artists including Snoop Dogg, Sia, Hans Zimmer, 50 Cent, Tom Jones, and Culture Club.
TEG Venues includes 10 owned, operated, co-promoted, and programmed venues throughout the UK, including Tramshed (cap. 1,000) in Cardiff, XOYO (800) in London and The Mill (1,000) in Birmingham.
Propaganda, the UK’s leading indie rock & roll nightclub brand, includes fifteen weekly events across the country, as well as promoted events in the US, Australia, Brazil and Ibiza.
Ticketek, which has 40+ years’ experience ticketing major international events and partnering with some of the world’s best venues, was introduced into the UK in 2020 and already works with some of the country’s premier venues.
“Today’s news represents a crucial milestone in the expansion of TEG and positions us for further growth across Europe”
And Ovation, TEG’s data science and analytics business, provides sports organisations, venues, promoters, content creators, media and tech partners with analytics, data science, research, personalisation, and advanced digital marketing.
TEG already has a significant presence in the UK and Europe, having acquired Bristol-based promoter and venue operator MJR Group in 2019. According to TEG, the company already promotes more than 2,000 shows annually in the country and on the continent.
TEG CEO Geoff Jones says: “Today’s news represents a crucial milestone in the expansion of TEG’s successful integrated live entertainment model into the vibrant UK market and positions us for further growth across Europe.
“By combining these businesses into a single customer-focused operation, we are well positioned to work with new and existing industry partners in the UK and Europe to help grow their businesses while continuing our own growth in the region.”
Concert promotion, ticketing and technology firm TEG operates out of seven countries worldwide with offices in Australia, New Zealand, south-east Asia and the UK.
The group includes TEG Live, TEG Sport, TEG Experiences, TEG Dainty, SXSW Sydney, TEG MJR, TEG Van Egmond, Laneway Festival, TEG Rockefeller, Handsome Tours, Qudos Bank Arena, Ticketek, Softix, TicketCharge, TicketWorld, Ticketek Singapore and Ovation.
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.