For the international contemporary live music industry
IN 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…
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 moreCTS EVENTIM founder and CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg (pictured) has sold 4.2 million shares in the company, worth around €220 million ($243m)and represents more than four per cent of voting rights in the company. Following the sale to “international investors”, the share value initially fell by around eight per cent. The…
Read moreTHE WINNER of the bid to build Bristol’s first arena has finally applied for planning permission to build a 17,000-capacity venue, with completion scheduled for 2023. Malaysian developer YTL beat an 11th-hour attempt by a consortium comprising promoter Harvey Goldsmith, US arena investor Oak View Group and local businessman Stephen…
Read moreCOLDPLAY’S CHRIS Martin says the band’s two concerts in Jordan’s capital Amman will be the band’s last international performances until they can work out how to offset the environmental impact from touring. The 22 November shows, to promote the new album Everyday Life, took place on a rooftop at sunrise…
Read moreLICAMPA 1617, an enterprise founded by Spanish businessman Juan Roig, is building an 18,600-capacity arena in Valencia. The multipurpose venue, which is scheduled to open in 2023, will host a range of events including music, arts, culture and sports, and act as a headquarters for the women’s and men’s basketball…
Read moreGLOBAL PROMOTING giants Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) and AEG Presents together control almost 30 per cent of the UK’s festival market, according to the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF). The organisation’s festival ownership map for 2019 reveals that LNE, which owns festivals including Download (cap. 110,000), Creamfields (60,000) and Wireless…
Read moreAN INITIATIVE by arenas across Europe to help develop unsigned and emerging artistes is to be trialed by member venues of the European Arenas Association (EAA). Europact, initially launched as a pilot scheme, will see arenas showcase undiscovered artists in areas such as the venue’s foyer and then help them…
Read moreVETERAN PROMOTER and ticketing pioneer Serge Grimaux has become co-owner and CEO of the 4,000-capacity Forum Karlin in the capital Prague. He owns the concert venue jointly with developer and philanthropist Serge Bornestein, and Jan Ludvík of Karlín Group not previously linked to the venue). Grimaux formed pan-eastern Europe operator…
Read moreTICKET AGENCY Book My Show (BMS) has moved into promoting major international artistes, with the final concert of U2’s The Joshua Tree Tour. Co-promoted with Live Nation Global Touring president Arthur Fogel, the show will be at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium (cap. 55,000) on 15 December. “The band has been…
Read moreCOUNTRY-HOPPING world music conference and showcase event WOMEX is hailing the success of it 25th edition, which drew more than 2,500 music business professionals from 83 countries, say organisers. Held in Tampere between 23 and 27 October and it featured 25 conference sessions with 110 speakers, 20 network meetings and…
Read moreA NUMBER of concerts taking place in Chile have been cancelled or rescheduled due to protests over living costs and inequality. More than a million people joined a rally on 18 October in the capital, with the scale of the protests resulting in the government calling for the cancellation of…
Read moreLIVE NATION Entertainment (LNE) delivered its highest operating income and adjusted operating income (AOI) quarter ever, according to the company’s accounts for the three months ending 30 September (Q3). Revenue was up six per cent to $8.7 billion, operating income grew 11 per cent to $408 million, compared to Q3…
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