For the international contemporary live music industry
Germany The new 4,350-capacity Verti Music Hall in Berlin will be a valuable artiste stepping-stone up to the Mercedes-Benz Arena (cap. 18,000), says the company behind both, AEG Operations. Opened on 12 October with a sell-out concert by former White Stripes frontman Jack White, management expects the venue…
Read moreFRANCE Olympia Production, a subsidiary of global media conglomerate Vivendi, has acquired the 45,000-capacity Gararock festival, one of the country’s largest music events. Launched in 1997, Gararock is located in Marmande, in the south-west, and is held over four days in June. Olympia Productions, which was established…
Read moreUNITED STATES The operators of Brooklyn’s 19,000-capacity Barclays Center and NYCB Live (cap. 15,000), BSE Global and AEG Facilities have appointed new general managers (GMs). Matthew Felker, who is currently GM of NYCB Live has been promoted to GM of the Barclays Center,…
Read moreSWITZERLAND Basel’s premier indoor live music venue has reopened after a 110 million franc ($110m) redevelopment. St Jakobshalle, which has hosted concerts by artistes such as Rihanna and Iron Maiden, now has a capacity of 12,400, up from its…
Read moreUNITED STATES Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) has acquired a 51 per cent stake in promoter Emporium Presents, which stages more than 400 shows annually across North America. Co-founded by Dan Steinberg and Jason Zink in 2015, when they merged Steinberg’s Square Peg Concerts and…
Read moreUNITED STATES Arch deal-maker and legendary artiste manager Irving Azoff appears to be constructing a new business empire. His Azoff Music Management company is acquiring the 50 per cent stake that Madison Square Garden Company (MSGC) held in their joint venture…
Read moreEUROPE The “spreading cancer” of what promoters association BDV calls the black market in concert tickets will be targeted in a new campaign against the resale sector. BDV has launched a public information campaign to alert concert-goers and sports fans to the risks of buying tickets on…
Read moreSOUTH KOREA Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) will book talent for a new entertainment resort after signing a multi-year partnership with Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment (MGE). The $5 billion development in Incheon, 27km west of the capital Seoul, is expected to open in 2021 and will include…
Read morePOLAND The operator of the country’s newest major venue, the 17,178-capacity Arena Gliwice, is looking to build on its early success with concerts by offering a co-promotion option for promoters. The venue, in Gliwice, a city in Upper Silesia in the south of…
Read moreISRAEL Two activists have been ordered to pay 45,000 shekels ($12,246) for their part in persuading New Zealand singer Lorde to pull out of a concert at the Convention Centre (cap. 9,000) in Tel Aviv last June. The pair, also New Zealanders, supported global…
Read moreNORTH AMERICA The furore over the close relationship Ticketmaster (TM) has with professional ticket touts and scalpers has not died down since undercover reporters in Canada revealed how its TradeDesk software helps resellers manage inventory on TM sites. The joint Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)…
Read moreITALY Ticketmaster Italy (TMI) has struck a deal to provide all ticketing services for multi-venue operator Zed Entertainment. Zed, founded 20 years ago, owns 10 venues, include Padua’s Stadio Euganeo (45,000), Grand Teatro Geox (4,000), Kioene Arena (cap. 7,000) and Arena Spettacoli Padova Fiere (9,000), PalaGeorge…
Read moreFinland Promoter Fullsteam Agency hopes its Ed Sheeran concerts next year will break U2’s attendance record, set eight years ago. To be held at Malmi Airport in the north-east of the capital Helsinki, the first of the two 60,000-capacity shows sold out within 20 minutes of…
Read moreTHAILAND Global venue operator AEG has announced more than 10 billion baht ($309m) of investment to build two new arenas in the country by 2022. The 16,000-capacity Bangkok Arena and EM Live (cap. 6,000) will both be part of new entertainment…
Read moreUNITED STATES William McFarland, the 26-year-old organiser of the ill-fated Fyre Music Festival, held on an island in the Bahamas last year was sentenced to six years in prison, a three-year supervised release and told to forfeit $26.2 million. The so-called luxury music…
Read moreREPUBLIC OF IRELAND Legislation banning the resale of tickets at above face value for large concerts and sporting events has been agreed by the Cabinet. The new regulations, which will have to be passed through the Dáil [parliament], will apply to events that take place…
Read morePORTUGAL When it opened earlier this year, the 12,000-capacity Forum Braga became the second largest auditorium in the country and the largest in the northern region. It has now changed name to Altice Forum, under a naming rights deal agreed between the arenas’ operator InvestBraga and…
Read moreUNITED STATES A difference of vision has caused Rock on the Range founder Danny Wimmer of Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) and co-producer AEG Presents to part company. The 47,000-capacity festival has ended its 12-year run at the MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and will be rebranded…
Read moreUNITED KINGDOM Reflecting a booming domestic live music scene, the 12TH annual LIVE UK Summit has conference sessions on topics ranging from artiste development and the grassroots sector to festivals, sponsorship, social media marketing, venue management and ticketing. The latest speakers…
Read moreUNITED STATES New York’s Madison Square Garden (cap. 19,000) has named former local government official Richard Constable as its new chief strategist to oversee the company’s public affairs. In the newly-created role, executive vice-president and global head of government relations and public affairs, Constable – who has served…
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