For the international contemporary live music industry
CANADA Applications are being taken for emerging artistes to perform at Canadian Music Week (CMW). The festival showcase and conference, held in Toronto, gives upcoming acts the opportunity to play in front of booking agents, A&R reps and festival programmers from across the world. “This is…
Read moreNETHERLANDS The 15,000-capacity Rotterdam Ahoy is to build a new convention centre, featuring a live music venue, within its grounds. Work on the building was started in July, with the event and concert venue expected to open in 2020. The four-storey Rotterdam Ahoy Convention…
Read moreUNITED STATES After a 25-year management partnership, brothers Doc and Scott McGhee of McGhee Entertainment are going their separate ways. Doc McGhee will continue to focus on his artistes, which include KISS, Ted Nugent, Caleb Johnson and Jesse Jane McPartland, along with film and TV ventures, while Scott…
Read moreGERMANY More than 600 shows will take place across 70 venues in Hamburg during the festival side of showcase event and conference Reeperbahn. Topics covered during the conference, held from 19-22 September, will range from challenges faced during the festival season, what makes a successful agent…
Read moreUNITED KINGDOM Promoter AEG Presents has partnered with the organisers of Birmingham’s MADE festival (cap. 12,000) to launch a new two-day indoor event. MADE For The Weekend will be held at the city’s Genting Arena (15,594) on 12-13 October. “The MADE team have built a great event…
Read moreUNITED STATES A naming rights sponsor has been secured for Milwaukee’s new $524 million arena, which is due to open with a concert by the Killers. The 18,000-capacity venue will now be called the Fiserv Forum following a 25-year deal between basketball team Milwaukee Bucks, which owns the…
Read moreUNITED STATES United Talent Agency (UTA) has announced it has received investment from Investcorp and PSP Investments, with each taking minority equity stakes in the company. The agency, which also has interests in electronic music, live speaking and gaming, will use the investment to improve its services and…
Read moreGERMANY In an effort to enhance customer experience and improve understanding of audience needs, Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena (cap. 17,000) has launched an app created by mobile platform LiveStyled. The app allows concert-goers to order food and drinks, upgrade seating and provide fast-track access to collection at concession outlets….
Read moreUNITED KINGDOM The president and chief operating officer of Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) UK Paul Latham is retiring after more than three decades in the live music business. Latham began his career at venue owner Apollo Leisure Group (ALG) in 1984, working as assistant manager at…
Read moreSOUTH AMERICA One of the region’s largest independent promoters, Move Concerts, has joined with Argentinean management agency 70MIL to launch Move Management. The deal will see Move take over the touring and promotion of singer Abel Pintos, who was previously with 70MIL. The company has already worked on…
Read moreUNITED STATES Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) reported another strong second quarter (Q2) ending 30 June 2018, with revenue up seven per cent to $2.9 billion, operating income up 19 per cent to $135 million and adjusted operating income (AOI) rising 18 per cent to $260m. The Concerts…
Read moreUNITED STATES Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) reported another strong second quarter (Q2) ending 30 June 2018, with revenue up seven per cent to $2.9 billion, operating income up 19 per cent to $135 million and adjusted operating income (AOI) rising 18 per cent to $260m. The Concerts…
Read moreCANADA Returning to perform in Toronto for the first time since drum technician Scott Johnson was fatally injured in a stage collapse, Radiohead have called for those responsible for the tragic accident to be “held accountable”. Johnson died when overhead production equipment collapsed, ahead of…
Read moreGERMANY European ticketing and promoting giant CTS Eventim is once again on course to top revenue of €1 billion ($1.15bn) annually, after posting revenue of €600m ($694m) for the first half (H1) of this year. A culmination of strong performances in ticketing helped by increased ticket prices and…
Read moreIRELAND/UNITED KINGDOM Ireland’s dominant promoter Denis Desmond has sold his MCD Productions company to a 50/50 UK partnership between Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) and his Gaiety Investments business, which owns venues in Dublin. The deal effectively means Desmond and wife Caroline Downey, who owned MCD, will…
Read moreEUROPE Concert and festival promoter FKP Scorpio says its 13 dates on the latest leg of Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) European tour sold 750,000 tickets. Among the shows was an 80,000-capacity open-air concert at Germany’s Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld in Hamburg, with others including Berlin’s Olympiastadion (cap. 75,000), two nights…
Read moreEUROPE In a move that has surprised many, Ticketmaster (TM) is to shut down its secondary ticketing sites Seatwave and GetMeIn across the continent, in what it says is an effort to prevent touts reselling for vast profits. However, the company says there are no plans…
Read moreWithin weeks of parent company Live Nation Entertainment reporting a 29 per cent leap in revenue from worldwide secondary ticketing activities, Ticketmaster (TM) UK has announcement it is closing its Seatwave and GetMeIn (GMI) resale sites. In a move that has taken many in the industry by surprise, the company…
Read moreWhile out on bail and awaiting sentencing on fraud charges, William McFarland, the promoter of the ill-fated Frye Music Festival in the Bahamas last year, was arrested again in New York on 12 June. The new charges of wire fraud and money-laundering relate to selling fake tickets to exclusive events, such as…
Read moreGerman live entertainment conglomerate Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) and majority-owned UK partner Kilimanjaro Live have purchased Scotland’s 16,500-capacity Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival. It is the second major UK acquisition by the two companies in the last 10 months. Last September the pair announced that Kilimanjaro had acquired 60 per share…
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