For the international contemporary live music industry
CONTROVERSIAL RESALE site Viagogo is buying eBay-owned StubHub for $4.05 billion. It brings Viagogo founder and CEO Eric Baker back to where he started in the sector, as he co-founded StubHub with Jeff Fluhr when they were still at business school. Baker left StubHub and moved to the UK to…
Read moreGERMAN PAN-Europe ticketing and promoting giant CTS Eventim has acquired a 71 per cent stake in leading concert and festival promoter Barracuda Music. Barracuda, whose festivals include Nova Rock (cap. 55,000), Electric Love (100,000) and Frequency (120,000), will become part of the Eventim Live promoter network, which encompasses 29 promoters…
Read moreThe Madison Square Garden Company (MSGC) board has approved a plan to fully spin-off its entertainment business from its sports business, because of higher than expected losses in the the quarter. The entertainment company would include New York’s Madison Square Garden (cap. 20,789), Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden (5,600),…
Read moreMichael Gudinski’s Mushroom Group has launched a live Marketing and Communications division, headed by Reegan Stark, in response to “unprecedented growth” across its live and record label business. The move is part of a major restructuring of the business and following Gudinski and Chugg Entertainment’s Michael Chugg reuniting in March…
Read moreREGIONAL PROMOTER All Things Live (ATL) has acquired comedy promoter Stand Up Norge. ATL was established last year through the amalgamation of Denmark’s ICO Concerts, Norway’s Atomic Soul and Sweden’s Maloney Concerts – backed by Belgium-based Waterland Private Equity. “We’re incredibly excited about this transaction,” ATL co-owner Kim Worsøe tells…
Read moreCTS EVENTIM-owned platform TicketOne has written to the Public Prosecutor’s office calling for action to be taken against the secondary ticketing sector, for failing to comply with consumer law. The letter to the criminal court judge requests that the law be applied to breaches of consumer protection legislation, including criminal…
Read moreEUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG’S Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP) has released its figures for the year, with 391 international festival placements for 164 artistes. Created by the team behind the Netherlands’ conference and music festival Eurosonic Noorderslag and funded by Creative Europe, the ETEP was introduced in 2003 to help emerging artistes reach…
Read moreHE ADMITTED he knew nothing about the concert business, but Robert FX Sillerman, who died on 26 November aged 71, knew about finance, acquisition and amalgamation. He saw a fragmented music industry and, as he had done with US radio stations, an opportunity to build an empire, mould it together…
Read moreOAK VIEW Group (OVG), the US company formed in 2015 by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and former Live Nation Entertainment chairman and artiste manager Irving Azoff, has added Ascot Racecourse to its International Venue Alliance. The deal will focus on finding international sponsors for the venue, which is the…
Read moreA consortium including Oak View Group, Live Nation Entertainment and C3 Presents has started construction on the 15,000 capacity Moody Center,a privately-financed multi-purpose entertainment and sports arena in Austin, Texas. Other partners include The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Athletics and Texas-born actor Matthew McConaughey, The $338 million venue…
Read moreCONFERENCE AND music festival Eurosonic Noorderslag has revealed another wave of panelists for the 15-18 January event, which takes place in Groningen. Isle of Wight Festival (cap. 50,000) founder and Solo Agency boss John Giddings, whose clients include the Rolling Stones, Madonna and U2, will do a keynote interview. IN…
Read moreKELLY STELBASKY has joined AEG Presents in Los Angeles as senior vice-president global touring and talent. She was previously at Live Nation Entertainment for 10 years, where she booked stadium, arena, and amphitheatre tours, working with artistes such as Kings of Leon, John Mayer, Twenty One Pilots and Lizzo. She…
Read moreIN A move that took the industry by surprise, controversial resale website Viagogo has bought eBay owned StubHub for $4.05 billion. As Audience went to print, it emerged that Viagogo founder and CEO Eric Baker had bought the company he co-founded with Jeff Fluhr when they were still at business…
Read moreANOTHER congressional investigation of the live event ticketing industry was launched on 21 November by leading members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over consumer protection issues. In letters to Live Nation Entertainment, AEG, ticketing and technology company Tickets.com and resale websites StubHub, Vivid Seats and…
Read moreTHE PLAN by the New York-based Madison Square Garden Company (MSGC) to build high-tech concert venues in Las Vegas and London has been delayed, with a completion date for the UK venue now open-ended. MSGC, which owns New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden (cap. 20,783) arena, had planned to open…
Read moreHONG KONG’S largest outdoor festival has been cancelled due to anti-government protests continuing in the city, which have resulted in the deaths of two people with many more injured. The 50,000-capacity Clockenflap, promoted by Magnetic Asia, was scheduled to take place on 22-24 November at Central Harbourfront Event Space, but…
Read moreFOLLOWING ITS sister company in Sweden, Luger Denmark is moving into concert promotion with international artistes, with Xenia Grigat appointed head of international artistes. Grigat joins the Live Nation Entertainment-owned company after 12 years as a promoter at Down the Drain Concerts (formerly Beatbox Entertainment) which partnered with multi-national festival…
Read moreSEE TICKETS is to open its 15th office, in Nashville, just five years after opening its first office in Los Angeles, in 2014. The UK-based ticketing company, owned by French media conglomerate Vivendi, which also owns Universal Music Group – is the second largest in its domestic market and has…
Read moreTELECOMS COMPANY Movistar has become the naming rights partner for the new 15,000-capacity arena in Buenos Aires, its third such deal across the region. The ASM Global-operated venue opened on 1 November with a performance by Tini Stoessel and free admission for Movistar customers that registered for tickets via Club…
Read moreTHE MADISON Square Garden Company (MSGC) has approved a plan to fully spin-off its entertainment business from its sports interests, because of higher than expected losses in its third fiscal quarter. MSGC initially intended to partially spin-off its entertainment business while keeping a third of the shares in the sports…
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