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Leading Nordic live entertainment company All Things Live has appointed Gry Mølleskog as group CEO, effective from 1 August.
In addition, she will also take on the role of country CEO for the All Things Live companies in Norway.
The Waterland Private Equity-backed company represents artists and promotes events in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Belgium.
“All Things Live is one of the most exciting companies in live entertainment in Europe,” says Mølleskog. “The group is well-positioned for further growth, and I look forward to building on this strong foundation together with the ambitious owners.”
Mølleskog boasts more than 30 years of experience, which includes management and board positions in Nordic and international companies.
“All Things Live is one of the most exciting companies in live entertainment in Europe”
She currently serves as Lord Chamberlain (CEO) of the Royal Court of Norway where she previously worked in chief of staff positions for a total of seven years.
Other former positions include senior client partner with recruiter Korn/Ferry International and various management roles at SAS where she was senior vice president and part of the executive management team from 1998 to 2003.
Current group CEO Kim Worsøe will continue as a member of the All Things Live Group board of directors and will focus on the company’s expansion in Europe including acquisitions and artist relations across the group.
“All Things Live has seen tremendous growth over the last three years and is today in a great position to continue this positive development,” says Worsøe. “I am confident that Gry Mølleskog will be a strong addition to the organisation and able to support our future growth journey and I look very much forward to working together with her.”
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All Things Live is launching an intimate three-day music festival in Denmark’s capital city this summer.
Common Ground Festival will take place between 12–14 August at KPH Volume, an old tram depot in Copenhagen with 700 square metres of event space.
The private equity-backed live entertainment group says the aim of the festival is to “move away from genre limitations and bring a diverse pool of artists to the same stage”.
The festival will be headlined by English electronic music group Metronomy, American rock band Parquet Courts and Turkish psych-folk band Altın Gün.
“One thing that really excites me about this is that you’d usually expect to see these headliners playing much larger venues”
“One thing that really excites me about this project is that you’d usually expect to see these headliners playing much larger venues, or to much larger festival crowds,” says promoter Liam Carroll.
“Experiencing live music in this manner really allows you to feel like you’re a part of something special.”
Commenting on the festival’s intimate venue, promoter Kasper Boldt says: “From the first brainstorm, we knew we wanted a post-industrial space, something a little left from centre. When we committed to having this year’s festival in-venue, we knew that Volume was going to be hard to look past.”
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.
See the poster for Common Ground Festival below.
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The global live music industry has experienced a significant uptick in fortunes over the past decade. A switch in favour – from listening to recorded music at home, to physically attending the live event – has facilitated immense growth and profitability, driven by escalating ticket prices and the desirability to attend high-end live experiences.
This financial success has created a world of possibility for live music events, which are becoming more and more appealing to investors and fans alike. Thanks to consumer preference and industry adaptability, “the sector is growing more rapidly than the economy as a whole,” according to Lisa Boden, partner at Edition Capital, an investment company specialising in the entertainment and leisure industry.
“It is therefore an attractive space to invest into,” she adds.
Journalist and entertainment stock-market analyst Manfred Tari believes that while traditional industries are becoming saturated with investors, private-equity firms are speculating on different business sectors that have not previously been properly explored.
“The stock markets are not delivering the profit margins usually required by investors, so investors are looking into other industries to gain that 10% profit margin or more,” says Tari. “The live music industry is providing one of these different investment fields.”
Big money
Private-equity firms are pouring money into the live industry like never before, acquiring stakes in major talent- booking agencies, buying up popular festivals, and entering into partnerships with venue management companies.
“The live music sector is growing more rapidly than the economy as a whole”
“Whenever a deal takes place, it shows what kind of strategies are being used by investment companies,” explains Tari. “One particular deal that comes to mind is the merger between AEG facilities and SMG, backed by the huge private-equity company, Onex. This merger explains well what is going on in general – private-equity companies are looking for opportunities and just jumping in.”
The recently announced ASM Global merger could boast a portfolio of 310 arenas, stadia, convention centres and performing arts venues, if the deal is given the green light by monopoly watchdogs. The venue management colossus would span five continents and has been hailed by supporters as a “major step” for the live music industry.
Meanwhile, in the outdoor space, festivals are proving to be a highly lucrative aspect of the industry. Providence Equity Partners is the private-equity backer of Superstruct Entertainment, a festival owner and operator led by Creamfields founder James Barton. The company has acquired stakes in major European festivals, including Barcelona’s Sónar, Hungary’s Sziget, Norway’s Øya and Flow Festival in Finland.
Also tapping into the potential profitability of the festivals sector, Edition Capital serves as an example of one of the investment giants gambling on the continued popularity of the business. Investing in festival promoter Impresario Festivals was “one of the most prominent investments that we as a team made,” says Edition partner, Boden.
Through the Impresario Festivals investment, the company acquired a number of UK festival brands “with clearly unique audiences,” such as London’s Field Day, 80s-themed Rewind, and laidback surf festival, Boardmasters. “We sold that business in 2016, more than doubling the investors’ money,” Boden tells IQ.
Tari notes, “A main effect that we will see from these kinds of investments, like in the case of Superstruct and Waterland Private Equity, is that private-equity firms will now be looking to consolidate their place, investing in multiple similar companies and synchronising between them.”
“Private-equity firms will now be looking to consolidate their place, investing in multiple similar companies and synchronising between them”
In December 2018, Netherlands-based investment firm Waterland Private Equity acquired six leading Scandinavian promoters and agencies to create All Things Live, which it described as a “new independent market leader in Nordic live entertainment.” The company, comprising ICO Concerts and ICO Management; Friction and Atomic Soul Booking; Blixten & Co and Maloney Concerts, represents 140 Nordic artists and promotes almost 3,000 local and international events. All Things Live has a combined annual revenue of US$96 million, according to the company.
“Headliners coming to one event can now be supplied to many concerts across the private-equity firm’s portfolio. That is how these kinds of investments will change business structures,” observes Tari.
It’s all about the experience
Live shows and events have not always proved as financially fruitful. Indeed, recorded music dominated the industry as the chief generator of cash flow up until a decade ago, and according to collection society PRS for Music, the change in fortunes for live music in the UK occurred in 2008, with the United States following suit a few years later.
The origin of this movement of value from recorded content to live experience transcends the music business, extending to the wider entertainment industry and consumer habits in general. “People, particularly millennials and Generation Z, are spending increasing amounts of disposable income on doing things rather than owning things,” notes Boden.
This tendency to favour live experience over material possessions is commonly referred to as the experience economy, of which “the live entertainment sector is at the forefront,” says Boden.
That shift is proving enticing for large investment firms who can see that the live music industry is revelling in changing consumer preference, as leading festival and event promoters tap into the specific trends that accompany the era of the experience economy.
“People, particularly millennials and Generation Z, are spending increasing amounts of disposable income on doing things rather than owning things”
“The live experience – festivals and events – brings in a lot of other trends, such as personalisation, relevance and the availability of additional content to augment the experience,” says David Fisher, investment director at Edge Investments, a venture-capital company that specialises in creative industries finance.
Fisher explains that the businesses with most growth potential are those that “think about the experience economy and live events in a different way,” making a particular effort to target customers and personalise services.
“We are seeing this trend towards personalisation in every industry,” says Fisher. “Being able to understand the customer – what they’ve bought before, which kind of content they enjoy – is vital for offering the right solution to each customer’s requirements.”
In February 2019, Edge completed a $4.6 million investment in Festicket, a ticketing platform that packages together festival tickets, travel, accommodation and add-ons. “An attractive element of Festicket is that they get to know their customers,” Fisher tells IQ. “They identify a target, personalise their services and bring that target to specific customers, hence the ease of their tailored packaging, with festival tickets, accommodation and travel all in one place.”
Festicket sent 70 million emails last year, according to Fisher, “ensuring the development of a personal relationship with consumers.”
An individualised service and fresh outlook is a must for Boden, too. According to the Edition partner, the most attractive element for a potential investor is “an ability to attract and retain a loyal audience.” She adds, “Ultimately, the event needs to have a unique niche – it can’t just be another middle-of-the-road festival or event.”
“These investments mean that tickets will get a bit more expensive for fans and the entire industry set-up is going to change”
Indeed, the burgeoning international festival scene and the increasing willingness of festivalgoers to travel abroad is allowing further expansion of the festival market and offering ever more lucrative opportunities to investors.
Edition recently invested in Mainstage Festivals, a company that blurs the lines between music festivals and travel, offering festivalgoers a holiday as well as a live music experience. Last year, Mainstage launched Kala, the first international music festival to take place in Albania, receiving critical and public acclaim.
A bright future?
As long as the experience economy continues to thrive, the trend of external investors injecting funds into the live music industry shows no signs of slowing down.
The creativity and inventiveness of industry professionals, as well as swift technological advances, are enhancing the quality of live experiences, prolonging their impact and keeping both consumers and investors hooked.
Boden expects to see “increasing numbers of active firms and active funds” taking an interest in the sector in the short term. If larger players become involved in the future – a prospect that she deems likely – investors will gain more exit routes and the public will receive a greater size and diversity of offerings, she says.
Fisher is similarly optimistic: “Bringing investment into an industry is a good thing, as it means businesses can then invest themselves, leading to employment, growth and profit,” he says. “In the UK, the creative industries make up 10% of the GDP. It is important to get investment into such a large sector of our economy.”
These investments are providing attractive cash flows for many major festivals, agencies and venues, facilitating further expansion of the booming international live music industry and proving beneficial for all involved.
“Recipients of funding in the live events arena need to be able to provide that return, otherwise the money will dry up and go elsewhere”
However, the influx of investment may serve to change the live music industry in some less favourable ways, especially for concert attendees and festivalgoers.
“Firstly, these investments mean that tickets will get a bit more expensive for fans,” warns Tari. “Secondly, the entire industry set-up is going to change.”
In the past, the music industry received funding from impresarios or standalone investors who would work with artists and audiences on a more local, personal level. Nowadays, these kinds of investors are making way for huge corporate companies, dealing on a global level.
As a result, “agents now almost have the role of a product manager, so direct relations between the artists and the agent are less meaningful and the industry is becoming more corporatised in general,” says Tari.
Artists benefit from this, to a certain extent, due to the significant financial and professional advantages corporatisation brings. However, “fans are mostly not aware of these kinds of developments, and most have no idea that they are paying higher ticket prices for the benefit of investors,” Tari believes.
Furthermore, the sector cannot rely upon private-equity cash flows to boost the industry indefinitely. “Any sensible financial investor is investing for one reason: to make a return,” explains Fisher. “Recipients of funding in the live events arena need to be able to provide that return, otherwise the money will dry up and go elsewhere,” he says.
Tari echoes the sentiment. “These kinds of investors are looking for live events companies that already have a significant number of artists and a certain financial capacity – they aren’t concerned by the talent involved – it’s all about the financial potential.”
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Waterland Private Equity, a Netherlands-based multinational investment firm, has acquired six leading Scandinavian promoters and agencies, bringing them together under a new company described as “the new independent market leader in Nordic live entertainment”.
All Things Live – comprising ICO Concerts and ICO Management and Touring (Denmark), Friction and Atomic Soul Booking (Norway) and Blixten & Co and Maloney Concerts (Sweden) – has a combined annual revenue of €85 million and around 70 employees across the three countries, according to Waterland, which is the majority shareholder.
In total, All Things Live will represent 140 Nordic artists on exclusive contracts and promote almost 3,000 local and international events, selling more than a million tickets a year.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although the companies say in a joint statement the acquisition will “not entail changes for customers, partners, day-to-day management or employees”.
“Together with our great Norwegian and Swedish colleagues, we have created a series of memorable live experiences in recent years, and we are excited to join forces in All Things Live to strengthen our collaboration with a view to providing an even better offering to artists and fans across the Nordics,” says Pernille Møller Pedersen, co-owner of ICO Concerts/Management and Touring.
“We look forward to leveraging Waterland’s experience from other growth cases”
Fellow co-owner Kim Worsøe adds: “Waterland has played a key role in the formation of this collaboration, and we look forward to leveraging their experience from other growth cases and capturing the opportunities in our markets in the coming years.”
Waterland – which has offices in Bussum (Netherlands), Antwerp, Hamburg, Munich, Warsaw, Manchester, Zurich and Copenhagen – has a broad range of investments across the energy, healthcare, leisure and gambling sectors, among others.
It is the latest deep-pocked private-equity firm to buy into the live entertainment industry, joining investors including the Blackstone Group (NEC Group), Onex Corporation (SMG), Providence Equity Partners (Superstruct Entertainment), the Yucaipa Companies (Primavera Sound) and Investcorp (United Talent Agency).
“We look forward to intensifying the collaboration among these great companies and strengthening our financial capabilities as part of the new partnership, which will drive value for audiences and artists on the Nordic scene,” comments David Maloney, founder of Maloney Concerts.
“We see an exciting future ahead of us in this strong partnership, which will be key player on the Nordic live entertainment scene going forward,” adds Mark Vaughan, the co-owner of Friction.
“We see great prospects in these entrepreneurial companies”
“Our dedicated employees will maintain their attention to detail and continue to attract local acts and international shows as part of the new set-up.”
Peer Osmundsvaag, founder of Friction and Atomic Soul Booking, comments: “This is a natural next step for our businesses, as we have always had a shared vision of creating great events based on our independence and deep local expertise. In All Things Live, we will be able to build significant scale, reach more people and attract more great artists going forward.”
Kaspar Kristiansen, managing director of Waterland Nordic, says the creation of All Things Live marks an expansion of its business in the region. “This investment in these six companies is our second in the Nordic region after our office opening in Copenhagen in 2017, underlining our focus on expanding Waterland’s activities in the region,” he explains.
“We see great prospects in these entrepreneurial companies, their management teams and employees as well as in the attractive live entertainment market.
“We are entering into this partnership, and the formation of All Things Live, to drive organic growth and further consolidation of the industry, and we will contribute to the development of the business with our strategic toolbox and extensive practical experience.”
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