German promoter Undercover has announced a restructure after record label BMG sold its controlling stake in the company.

BMG acquired a majority stake in the Brunswick-based firm in October 2020 but announced earlier this month it had agreed a deal for Undercover – along with its other live business Karo – to be transferred back to the minority shareholders

Undercover managing partner Michael Schacke reacquired 51% of the shares from the Berlin-based music giant to once again become the sole shareholder, and has now appointed long-time employee Rilana Sandelmann to the management board as MD.

Sandelmann, who previously headed up the marketing & communications department, has been with Undercover since 2014 and will also take over its ticketing division and drive forward the expansion of its brand partnership arm. Tobias Laufer will now report to Sandelmann as human relations manager.

Schacke will continue to be responsible for the overall strategy, developing the operational core and new business, while Tobias Huwe will become an authorised signatory alongside Tobias Menskes, who will now head up the local business department.

“Undercover is 100% independent again. We are full of energy and creativity and are now more agile and even faster”

“Undercover is 100% independent again,” says Schacke. “We are full of energy and creativity and are now more agile and even faster. As the new managing director, Rilana will not only help shape this new course. I believe she will even set it. She is a great leader, an expert in her field, emphatic and very smart. The new management team, which consists of three Tobis in addition to Rilana and myself, has big plans.”

Huwe, who has been with the company for 13 years and previously worked as head of production, will also be responsible for the events, shows and festivals, and technology departments. Sandelmann, Huwe and Menskes are also responsible for additional departments at Undercover.

“I see Undercover as a start-up with more than 30 years of experience in the live and creative industries, and I’m very keen, together with Micha and our team, to pick up some pace from here,” says Sandelmann. “We will rejuvenate ourselves, tap into new and exciting target groups and expand our regional, national and international networks.

“We will retain what makes us who we are. Undercover works in partnership, fairly and transparently. Female artists have always played a significant role in our roster – that’s great. The genres are diverse. But there’s more to come.”

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BMG is stepping away from the live music business after agreeing a deal which will see its two live companies, Undercover and Karo, transferred back to the minority shareholders.

The German-headquartered music giant acquired a majority stake in Brunswick-based promoter/event production firm Undercover in October 2020, enabling it to “offer artists an integrated tour promotion and ticketing service” on an opt-in basis, in addition to “releasing recordings and publishing songs”.

BMG and Undercover subsequently formed a strategic alliance with Karo, the company behind the Taubertal Festival, in 2021, and booked out Berlin’s 1,600-seat Theater des Westens every night until the end of 2024 to showcase domestic and international recording artists.

However, in late 2023, BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld announced the company would be focusing on its “core service areas” of music publishing and recordings moving forward.

“We wish BMG and its team all the best and every success in focusing on its core business”

“Michael Schacke [Undercover founder/owner] and Volker Hirsch [Karo founder/owner] are seasoned entrepreneurs who have built enviable reputations in the live music business,” says BMG chief content officer Dominique Casimir. “We are pleased to have agreed terms which allow them to pursue an independent future and we wish them and their teams the best for the future.”

The new deals will see the two companies return to their previous ownership structure.

“I have looked for and found the best solution for Undercover and our artists,” says Schacke, who launched the company in 1991. “Undercover will remain strong and independent in the future. We wish BMG and its team all the best and every success in focusing on its core business.”

Founded in Tauber Valley in 1996, Taubertal has featured acts including Biffy Clyro, Placebo, Rise Against, Pink, Die Toten Hosen, The National and Skunk Anansie.

“It has been a pleasure working with Michael Schacke and Dominique Casimir and we are pleased yet again to be pursuing an independent course as we near the 30th year of existence of Taubertal in 2026,” adds Hirsch.

The record business has had a complex relationship with its live counterpart down the year

The record business has had a complex relationship with its live counterpart down the years, arguably reaching its zenith with the controversial proliferation of so-called ‘360’ deals with artists in the late 2000s/early 2010s.

More recently, major label Warner Music Group (WMG) crossed the divide to acquire India-based live events and artist management company E-Positive. WMG said that the deal would strengthen its position in the market while allowing its artists “to tap into new expertise in brand partnerships and live events”.

Also in 2023, Warner Music France’s live entertainment and concert production company Décibels Productions secured a majority stake in French talent agency Les Visiteurs du Soir, while Warner Music Poland bought a minority stake in Polish concert and festival promoter Big Idea in 2022.

Meanwhile, Sony Music Masterworks, a division of Sony Music Entertainment (SME), acquired a majority stake in Barcelona-based Proactiv Entertainment last year. Other investments by Sony Music Masterworks include Backyard Cinema; Holland-based GEA Live; Dubai-based concert promotion, talent management, events and production company MAC Global; Raymond Gubbay Ltd and UK concert promotion and production company Senbla.

Elsewhere, Universal Music Group (UMG) launched live music arm U-Live in 2012. French-headquartered media giant Vivendi, which announced the partial spin-off of its UMG stake in 2021, is reportedly working with advisers on potentially offloading parts of its Vivendi Village subsidiary, including See Tickets and 11 festivals such as the UK’s Love Supreme and Kite, as well as Garorock in France.

Sources indicate that Vivendi has concluded its ticketing and festival businesses were not of sufficient scale to compete with the likes of Live Nation and AEG. The Financial Times reported the firm is seeking up to £300 million (€348m) for See Tickets, which it bought for €96m in 2011, with AEG and CTS Eventim said to be among the interested parties.

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BMG and its live partner Undercover have formed a strategic alliance with Volker Hirsch, founder of Germany’s Taubertal Festival.

The deal, which will see BMG acquire a majority stake in Taubertal organiser KARO Konzert-Agentur Rothenburg, marks the latest phase of the label and publisher’s live expansion, adding festivals to its existing touring, booking and concerts offering.

Founded in Tauber Valley in 1996, Taubertal has featured acts including Placebo, Rise Against, Pink, Die Toten Hosen, The National and Skunk Anansie. Its 25th-anniversary edition, scheduled for 12-14 August 2022, will welcome the likes of Biffy Clyro, Kontra K, AnnenMayKantereit and Kraftklub.

KARO, Undercover and BMG will work together to create “compelling, tailor-made music marketing and sponsorship solutions for the festival”, with the goal of further strengthening the brand internationally.

“After 25 very successful years, I am looking forward to a new chapter,” says KARO Konzert-Agentur Rothenburg CEO Hirsch, who will retain full creative freedom and continue to head the festival.

I am excited to be able to build up the festival headliners of the future together with BMG

Hirsch adds: “I see the partnership with BMG as a valuable support in underpinning the position of Taubertal-Festival as a top national festival brand and in bringing the media activation of the festival to a top international level.

“I am excited to be able to build up the festival headliners of the future together with BMG and to be part of BMG‘s live entertainment offering started together with Undercover.”

Berlin-based BMG partnered with German promoter Undercover in 2020. 

Michael Schacke, CEO of Undercover and head of BMG’s live activities in GSA, says: “One year after Undercover joined BMG, we can now close the festival gap in our live portfolio and thus further expand our joint vision of live entertainment and artist partnership.

“In Volker’s and my first conversation about moving closer together it immediately became clear: The values of KARO, BMG and Undercover including fairness and transparency fit together incredibly well. My team and I are really looking forward to working together.”

Dominique Casimir, BMG EVP global repertoire & marketing EU, APAC & LATAM, adds: “Moving into live music demonstrates BMG’s commitment to offer artists the entire creative value chain, giving us the opportunity to serve them in every area of their careers depending on their individual setup. Expanding these services to all relevant stakeholders in the live music and entertainment market is the next big step.”

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BMG Rights Management, the Berlin-based record label and music publisher, is entering the live business for the first time with the acquisition of a majority stake in promoter/event production firm Undercover.

Brunswick-based Undercover, which usually promotes in excess of 200 concerts and shows annually, will form the basis for a new live music and events business unit within BMG in Germany. The company also serves a tour agent, brokering tours and festivals for national and international artists across Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GSA), and develops and produces its own touring formats.

Undercover CEO Michael Shacke and his team of 30 will remain in place following the acquisition, the terms of which were not disclosed and which is expected to close by the end of this month.

The deal, says BMG, means that, in addition to “releasing recordings and publishing songs, BMG can now offer artists an integrated tour promotion and ticketing service” on an opt-in basis.

“An important part of our job will be to form a centre of excellence for events”

Dominique Casimir, BMG’s EVP of repertoire and marketing for continental Europe, says: “Moving into live is the logical extension of BMG’s plan to integrate all the services an artist could need under one roof, with the artist brand at the centre of it all. Crucially, we have found in Michael Schacke and his team a partner who shares our values.”

“I founded this company in 1991 to be able to perform with my band, and that’s how I became a promoter. This idea has since grown into a nationwide concert agency with over 30 employees,” adds Schacke. “Discussions about a partnership with BMG commenced long before the coronavirus pandemic, but we are now perfectly set up for when the market returns.

“There is a significant opportunity for us working together to offer a genuine alternative for artists in Germany and beyond, building on Undercover’s established recipe of ‘live entertainment and artist partnership’.”

The acquisition comes during a time of upheaval in the Covid-hit German live music market, and follows the launch of new promoter DreamHaus – also based in Berlin, and staffed with a number of former Live Nation Germany employees – last week.

Maximillian Kolb, managing director of BMG GSA, says: “Artists want partners who build their business around them, rather than the other way around. Above all, this means offering the best possible service.

“Moving into live is the logical extension of BMG’s plan to integrate all the services an artist could need”

“The German music market has proven to be extremely adaptable and is one of the strongest in the world, especially in the live segment. I am very happy that we have become the first territory within BMG to be able to offer a complete service portfolio to artists, including live.”

Launched in 2008 as the successor to Sony BMG, BMG Rights Management – owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann – represents artists including Iron Maiden, John Legend, Bring Me the Horizon, Bloc Party, Alt-J, Tame Impala, Morrissey, MIA, Frank Ocean, Jess Glynne, David Crosby and Kylie Minogue for label services and/or publishing.

Undercover will form part of a network of Bertelsmann brands, the Bertelsmann Content Alliance, which also includes broadcaster RTL, book publisher Penguin Random House and magazine publishing Gruner and Jahr (Stern, Capital, Geo).

Casimir, who is also a board member of the Bertelsmann Content Alliance, explains: “An important part of our job will be, together with the Undercover team, to form a centre of excellence for events within the Content Alliance. We look forward to working with the other divisions and together adding even more value to our artists and media brands by creating bespoke live experiences.”

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