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PREMIUM ›› VOL. 91 ›› APRIL 2007

McGowan’s Musings:

As you’ll read if you venture further than

my initial ramblings, it’s a hectic business

the live music industry, no sooner are you

shaking the dust off your SXSW cowboy

hat, whilst contemplating the company

acquisitions and venue purchases that

are completely shaking up the UK touring

circuit, than you find yourself in the

other worldly surroundings of Iceland in

the company of fellow scribblers and industry

figures! Still as I always say, or will

from now on –‘Live keeps you alive!’

The changes in the UK were highlighted

with the announcement on Friday 30th

March that the long expected acquisition

of a significant interest in Academy

Music Holdings Group (AMG) by Live

Nation, Inc. (Live Nation) and Gaiety Investments

(Gaiety) had been confirmed

and completed. John Northcote, Chief

Executive Officer, Academy Music Group

says: “I have no doubt that this deal will

be mutually beneficial for not only concert

goers and music fans, but also the

live music industry as a whole, allowing

us to pursue our strategic growth for the

Academy brand in locations that currently

do not have an outlet for live music.

AMG’s commitment to new and emerging

talent will continue and its in-house

Academy Events promoting team, who

are dedicated in giving opportunities to

future new talent, which is the life blood

Allan McGowan

of the music industry.” So can we argue

with that It would seem not, as it promises

much for both under provided audiences

and aspiring bands, surely these

are principles essential to our industry.

Even the fears of those protesting monopolies,

and warning of the advances

of ‘The Evil Empire’ have been somewhat

allayed as Live Nation were forced to sell

venues following this acquisition, allowing

Channelfly parent company Mama to

purchase London’s Forum and to enter

into agreement to purchase Hammersmith

Apollo. What with the Barfly sector

of the Company again presenting the

three day Great Escape Festival in my

home town Brighton on May 17-19 there

are going to be some very busy and high

spending times coming up. So, the Texas

dust seems almost insignificant with this

flurry of activity – we live in interesting

times!

If you are reading this on Monday April

16, then you may also glued to your

phone attempting to get your hands on

tickets for the Live Earth concerts to be

held July 7 in cities around the world,

aimed at raising climate change awareness.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna,

the Beastie Boys and Black Eyed Peas,

Keane, Foo Fighters and others will headline

the concert at Wembley stadium in

London. In the US Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews

Band, Kanye West, Rihanna, John

Mayer, Smashing Pumpkins and Fall Out

Boy will play at Giants Stadium in East

Rutherford, N.J. Other shows are planned

to take place in Shanghai, China; Johannesburg,

South Africa;Sydney, Australia;

Tokyo; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Organizers

have also promised an event in Antarctica

(surely this will involve an amount

of environmental disturbance Oh well,

I’m sure this has been taken into account)

Anyway – it will be interesting to see how

quickly these tickets, at whatever price

they are, will sell out – and how many will

land up on ebay, and how the income will

be used - however it’s obviously a good

cause and let’s wish it well!

For now –Ladies and Gentlemen – the

News...

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Iceland and The Faroes

Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

COLOPHON ››

At the invitation of Anna Hildur, known to

many through her work with the Iceland

Airwaves Festival (more on this in the next

News) and recently appointed to head the

Icelandic Music Export Office I recently paid

my first trip to Reykjavik to attend events

highlighting new Icelandic and established

Faroese talent and to be informed of upcoming

music events.

»The Faroes Teitur and Iceland’s

Petur Ben Benediktsson perform

impressive acoustic sets«

Steinar Berg is a legendary industry man in

Iceland, now semi retired he runs a restaurant

on a farm at Fossatun in Borgarfjordur,

85km away from Reykjavik overlooking dramatic

river scenery. In fact as anybody who

has been there knows, Iceland is a place of

breathtaking and unique scenery, and yes I

did get to bathe in the Blue Lagoon! Steinar

retains his interest in music and is working

on a project called Acoustic Iclend. On our

first night we drove to the restaurant for

dinner and to see The Faroes Teitur and

Iceland’s Petur Ben Benediktsson perform

impressive acoustic sets. Amongst the invited

guests, I was surprised to run into Vince

power (see Neil O’Brien article in this issue),

artists and events in this part of the world

are obviously attracting attention!

It appears that Reykjavik City Council has

been more forward thinking than many

similar organizations in the UK and elsewhere.

Many Cities and Countries have now

recognized the trade and cultural value of

popular music, but the Icelandic capital has

been supporting and sponsoring a national

Battle of the Bands called Musiktilraunir

or Music Experiments open to age groups

from 13 to 25, for the past 26 years. Band

members from Sigur Ros have taken part in

different projects and Bellatrix, Minus and

Jakobinarina have all participated as. Many

established artists stay connected, turning

up to present the various awards to the winning

bands. We attended the event, along

with a few hundred others of all ages on the

Saturday afternoon. Both bands and audience

take their music very seriously and the

standards are high, this year’s winning act

was hardcore band Shogun.

Nasa is one of Reyjkjavik’s leading venues

and the Atlantic Music Event (AME) used the

club to stage a night of Faroese talent, featuring

Teitur (with added string quartet!), Brandur

I Enni, Eivor and an impressive set from

Gestir, a young band who would do well at

events like Eurosonic and The Great Escape.

VIP-News is published by:

VIP-Booking

26 York Street

London W1U 6pZ

Managing Director:

Ronni Didriksen

rd@vip-booking.com

General Manager:

Peter Briggs

pb@vip-booking.com

Writer and editorial:

Allan McGowan

am@vip-booking.com

Writer:

Manfred Tari

mt@vip-booking.com

For advertising enquiries pls. contact

Peter Briggs pb@vip-booking.com

or +44 870 755 0092

Lay-out:

Pekaye Graphics, Phuket – Thailand

info@pekayegraphics.com

Teitur

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The G! Festival

Many people in the UK at least have very

little idea where The Faroe Islands are,

most would guess that they were located

near Portugal, and some that there was a

connection with Egypt. In fact the archipelago

is composed of 18 islands, located

as many of you will know, in the heart of

the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic at

62°00.N, northwest of Scotland and halfway

between Iceland and Norway. (Here

endeth the geography lesson!).

Denmark in 2002 and the idea came to me

that we should start a festival on the beach

at Göta, (A City 40 minutes from the capital

Tórshavn). I called my brother and told him to

design a ‘G’, pick a date and put up posters,

somehow it all took off!” Around 1000 people

bought tickets to the first festival which

was the first real outdoor music festival ever

held in the Faroe Islands. Ticket sales have

grown steadily ever since. The 2005 and

2006 G! Festivals sold out all 6000 tickets

and somewhere between 2000 and 4000

more people watched the music festival

from outside the festival area in boats on

the sea or in the hills and roads surrounding

the area. It is believed that one-fifth of

the entire population of the Faroe Islands

joined in.

contributions from The Nordic Council Cultural

in the beginning, and Atlantic Airways

is a key player, contributing free and cheap

tickets to bring in artists etc. The event is

now part of the tourist industry, and receives

some tourism funds, we are working

on building up this aspect of the festival.”

This year’s edition will take place on July

19-21, in all there will be approx 40 artists

- 20 international and 20 Faroese. Between

8 and 9 thousand are expected to attend

and so far the line up includes:

Guillemots (UK): Nephew (DK): Serena

Maneesh (NO): Loney Dear (SE): The Dixie

Hummingbirds (US): Boys in a Band (FO):

Young Dubliners (US): Polkaholix (DE)

G! Festival 2006

The G! Festival is the brainchild of Jón Tyril

who told me how the event started, “I was

producer and guitarist with the band Clickhaze,

which featured Eivör on vocals and

Högni Lisberg on drums. We were touring in

»The event is now part of the

tourist industry, and receives

some tourism funds, we are

working on building up this

aspect of the festival«

- Jón Tyril

Jón Tyril continues,”‘G!’ was funded by

Jón Tyril founder of G! Festival

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Neil O’Brien Leaves Agency Group

Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

Neil O’Brien has left Neil Warnock’s The

Agency Group where he worked as a live

booking agent since 2004. Vip asked him

about his career so far and his plans for

his new company Neil O’Brien Entertainment:

VIP-News: How did you get started in the

business, and where did you work previous

to The Agency Was there anyone

that you particularly learned from

Neil O’Brien: I began my career in live music

working at Mean Fiddler, Harlesden, London

in 1987. I programmed the Acoustic Room,

Main Room Mean Fiddler, Subterania, The

Grand, and The Forum. I was also part of

the team that programmed and produced

the Reading, Phoenix and Fleadh festivals. I

was involved in reforming Madness in 1992

to play Madstock. During this time working

for Vince Power (Founder of The Mean Fiddler

Group of Companies, now Chairman of

the Vince Power Music Group, and recently

honoured by the UK Government by being

made a Honorary Commander of the British

Empire) taught me the value of quality

music programming and to always retain a

dry sense of humour!

VIP-News: Have you preferred to work

with particular ‘types’ of artists

Neil O’Brien: Blues, Folk, and Jazz - all these

musicians have a deep sense of musicality

and the structure of song.

VIP-News: Do you specialise in certain

territories or are you happy to work your

artists anywhere

Neil O’Brien: European - I have spent the

past three and half years making many new

contacts in the European market and enjoy

the challenges of presenting artists in a

number of territories.

VIP-News: Will you work on your own, or

do you intend to bring anyone else into

your new company

»My company is all

about different forms of

entertainment and that is what

will keep me excited«

- Neil O’Brien

Neil O’Brien: Initially I will be working on my

own, but intend to employ support staff in

the near future and who knows - maybe take

a floor in Canada Square (Upmarket office

area of The City of London) before too long

!!!!!! (Watch out Rob Hallet ! (Director of AEG

Live, ex Executive Mean Fiddler Group))

VIP-News: What is your overview of the

live industry today

Neil O’Brien: Very exciting and benefiting

from an increasingly well trained influx of

people. The great thing is the morning after

the night before you never know what to expect.

VIP-News: Do you have any particular

plans for the future, and what would you

like to achieve with the new company

Neil O’Brien: I am looking forward to working

with musicians, authors, comedians and

performers of all types. My company is all

about different forms of entertainment and

that is what will keep me excited.

Neil O’Brien Entertainment will now exclusively

represent the following artists and

events in Europe:

Neil O’Brien

Brian Houston: Goldrush: Hugh Cornwell:

Joe Bonamassa: John Power: Henry

Blofeld: Kate Walsh: Keren Ann: Kitsch

Lounge Riot: Martyn Joseph: Moya Brennan:

Newton Faulkner: Nigel Clark: The

Only Ones: The Shaolin Monks: The Storys:

Tina Dico: Tony Christie: Truck Festival.

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PRS Foundation for New Music Funding Opportunity

for UK Emerging Acts

Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

The PRS Foundation for New Music will

award up to £120k this year to support

emerging UK acts at showcasing events

under the British Music Abroad scheme. A

large part of the costs of showcasing are

travel and accommodation costs, which for

an emerging act can be prohibitive. British

Music Abroad provides financial support

towards these costs for acts that have

been specifically selected by the overseas

showcases. Supported by Arts Council England

and UK Trade & Industry, British Music

Abroad is aimed at those who are making

waves in the UK and who are ready to make

a broader international impact. Showcasing

events raise the profile of new British

music on an international stage. It increases

the potential for international live

bookings and increased record sales for the

acts involved. Recent acts which have been

supported to go to international showcases

include: The Pipettes, Bone-Box, Pete &

the Pirate, iLikeTrains, Soweto Kinch Band,

Lou Rhodes, KavaKava, The Killerheels

and Karima Francis. The next application

deadline for British Music Abroad for acts

is 7 May 2007. This is the final deadline to

acts primarily selected to attend Montreal

Jazz Festival and Popkomm. Full details

about this financial support (British Music

Abroad) can be found on:

www.prsfoundation.co.uk

The Pipettes has been supported by PRS Foundation

Having the right tools for the job is often the key to success. Through our ongoing communication with key Live

Entertainment Industry Professionals, we have developed a range of services to meet the demands of agents, promoters,

talent buyers, venue bookers etc. It’s no coincidence that we are now considered to be the No. 1 information

provider for this thriving industry.

VIP-Booking.com

Launched nearly 5 years ago, VIP-Booking.com is now the most

widely used online information service for the European Live

Entertainment Industry with subscribers in over 25 countries.

Using the latest technology and state of the art tools, the service

provides in-depth information streamlining the day-to-day operations

of industry professionals, saving both time and money.

The VIP-Book

The ultimate print directory for the European

Entertainment Industry, packed

with contacts and easy to use. An essential

reference book for every office

providing basic contact information

and a solid overview.

VIP-News

Written by our highly merited journalists, Allan

McGowan and Manfred Tari, with over 50

years of experience between them in the Entertainment

Industry, VIP-News brings the latest

news and views directly to your computer

keeping you up to date at all times.

VIP-BOOKING.COM THE VIP-BOOK VIP-NEWS

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Business News

Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com

It appears that there weren’t too many bookkeepers at ILMC 2007. Straight after the Conference there was a rush for ad hoc

releases by the corporate concert companies. All five stock market listed companies had to report something, sometimes big,

sometimes small news, but something!

So please see for yourself how these Live Music companies performs-ed on the stock markets:

The Lion Tamer as Impresario

With the 2006 business report released

on March 27 CTS Eventim has once again

topped itself. The company achieved the

best results since CTS undertook the IPO

on February 1, 2000.

With only 108 pages, this report is 28pages

less than the Live Nation report. But

CTS Eventim returns a higher profit than

Live Nation. The company reported group

earnings of 23.5 million Euro (2005/ 15.9)

generated out of a turnover of 342.9 million

Euro (2005/ 256.2). In the long term

retrospective CTS Eventim has doubled its

revenue when you consider that for 2000

the reported turnover was 156.5 million

euro. The earnings per share rose from

0.66 in 2005 to 0.98 Euro.

The management will propose payment

of a dividend of 0.49 Euro per share to its

share holders at the annual general meeting

to be held on June 8, which is a total

amount of 11.8 million Euro. About 20 million

should be invested for the expansion

of the Company.

The Ticketing unit gained a revenue of

about 99.3 million Euro (2005/ 64.3) and

Earnings before Interests & Taxes (EBIT) of

31.1 million Euro (2005/ 19.3). The Live Entertainment

unit raised the revenue from

194.6 in 2005 to 247.2 million Euro.

CTS Eventim meanwhile employs a staff of

720. The top earner was Klaus Peter Schulenberg

with income declared at 911,536

Euro. In Germany it is still quite unusual

that the stock market listed companies

report on the income of top managers.

While in the US the Sarbanes Oxley Act

is compulsory for Public companies, the

German stock market listed companies

only have to follow recommendations

that are given within the German Corporate

Governance Codex.

In the outlook for 2007 CTS Eventim announced

maintaining an expansion policy

that mainly focuses on the “systematic

acquisition of European ticketing providers

outside of Germany”. In terms of content

fields to drive the ticketing business

forward CTS Eventim would also like to

expand into sports areas such as Formula

One, Winter Sports, Handball and of

course Football.

Something often underestimated is the

fact that Schulenberg managed to assemble

most of the leading German promoters

such as Koopmanns, Lieberberg,

Rieger and Semmelmann under one roof

and still keeps them there.

Currently the share price is 30.12 Euro,

twelve months ago it was 27.93 Euro.

Efforts and the Wish for More

The DEAG share is rising. So far the company

has only released a preliminary

report for the business year 2006. With

revenue of 83 million Euro DEAG is doing

better than the year before whenit was

66 million Euro. The turnover of DEAG is

adjusted and does not include sales figures

of Marshall Arts and the venue Berlin

Wintergarten in the last quarter 2006. The

prognosticated EBIT is expected to be 3.0

million Euro. DEAG furthermore informed

that in 2006 the company had been able

to reduce debts and loans of about 29

million Euro. For 2007 DEAG predicted a

revenue target of about 100 million Euro

and EBIT of about 6 million Euro.

Currently the figures for 2005 are under

a routine scrutiny by the German Office

of Auditing (Deutschen Prüfstelle für das

Rechnungswesen). The audited business

report is expected to be released around

April 20.

First Berlin currently recommends a ‘Buy’

for DEAG shares and predict a share price

target of 3.05 Euro. SES Research expects

a share price target of about 2,70 and

maintains its recommendation to ‘Buy’.

Currently the share price is 2.03 Euro.

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Shopping and a Speculative Element

Mama Group PLC is progressing. The company

issued three press releases that indicate

that something is happening. The first

was released earlier in March, announcing

that Mama had bought a 75 percent stake

of the music publishing company Pollination

Music Limited at the purchase price

of £140,000. The Pollination catalogue

includes worldwide publishing rights for,

amongst others, producers such as Tore

Johansson (Franz Ferdinand and The Cardigans

) and Valgeir Sigurdsson(Bjork) and

the composer Carsten Kroeyer. The company

also administrate repertoire for Paul

Oakenfold and Perfecto Music.

On March 30 Mama announced their intention

to acquire the Hammersmith Apollo

from Live Nation for £13 million. To finance

the deal Mama intends to issue 240,000,000

ordinary new shares for 5 Pence each,

worth around £12 million. According to

the company these shares will supposedly

be bought mainly by institutional investors.

Mama furthermore declared that the

number of new shares to be issued could

be reduced depending on negotiations

with the banks. Whatever the minimum

number of shares to be placed on the market

would be around 160,000,000 worth

about £8 million.

»The Hammersmith Apollo

is a landmark venue in

London and an important

location for live music and live

entertainment«

- Adam Driscoll/Dean James

To obtain the backing for this deal Mama

have called a shareholders extraordinary

general meeting to be held on April 25.

In a joint statement Adam Driscoll and

Dean James, Co-Chief Executives of Mama

said: “The Hammersmith Apollo is a landmark

venue in London and an important

location for live music and live entertainment

ranging from gigs by multi-platinum

award-winning recording artistes such as

the Pet Shop Boys, Bruce Springsteen and

Travis through to plays and comedy tours

such as Little Britain and Ricky Gervais. The

Apollo represents an excellent addition to

our expanding live music division”.

The capacity of the Hammersmith Apollo

is 5035 persons. In the annual business report

2006 by Live Nation the venue is listed

under assets with a 125 years lease due to

expire on March 24, 2089. Sometimes these

sorts of deals have something in common

with science fiction, haven’t they

On March 23, between these two news

releases, Mama released a statement referring

to the raised share price. While for

the last seven months it had constantly remained

at a level just a little above 3 Pence,

the share price jumped from March 23 and

the following days up to 7 Pence. Within

this ad hoc release Mama confirmed that

negotiations for a possible take over were

going on. Meanwhile the share price came

down again to 6.59 Pence.

A Call for Patience

On March 29 Sanctuary the shareholders

of Sanctuary undertook their Annual

General Meeting. One of the outcomes

was the company report that the former

360 degree strategy is definitely now history.

The Recorded Product, Merchandising

and Artist Services Company sectors

will operate autonomously from as stand

alone units. Besides this Sanctuary declared

that it would restructure its division

Recorded Product in the US to better

serve the market demands there.

Nevertheless the main message of Sanctuary

was: “We confirm that we are making

good progress with our programme of

strategic disposals. As we have previously

stated, it will be 2008 or later before there

is a return to overall profitability.” Currently

the share price for SGP is 12.75 Pence.

Sanctuary

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When the Rate of Return is not in Line with

the Revenue

On March 23 Live Nation (LYV) revealed

their business report for 2006. The ultimate

concert company produced a mega

turnover and reported a loss.

The report is probably very entertaining

for those who love to read endless columns

of figures and those who are familiar with

the Sarbarnes Oxley Act. This law was ratified

in 2002 and is the regulative response

to several awkward financial scandals in

the years before.

In terms of the live music industry it is a 136

pages masterpiece that very well documents

almost every risk and unforeseeable

difficulty that could affect this business.

Besides this the report furthermore explains

the recent share price development.

In short, while the revenue jumped

in 2005 from $2.936.845 up to $3.691.559

billion, Live Nation had to report a net loss

of $31.442 million, which is a loss per share

of $0.48. Nevertheless the loss in 2006 is

significantly smaller than the year before

where the net loss was $130.619 million.

Live Nation reported debts of $679.1 of

which 607.425 million are long term debts.

As net book value for property and equipment

the company reported $876.2 million,

while the total assets are indicated

with $2.225.002 billion.

As part of a share repurchase program Live

Nation bought 3.4 million shares back for

$42,7 million. Investors could expect no

payment of dividends in the near future as

the Company declared that it would prefer

to invest in the expansion of the company.

Within the sectors the situation is that in

2006 Event Live Nation gained revenue

of $2.932.720 billion (2005/2.226.176) and

an operating loss of $77.355 million USD

(2005/114.954).

The number of events was up to 16299

compared with 14448 in 2005, of which

923 events was held in amphitheatres

owned or operated by Live Nation.

As highlights Live Nation stated the acquisition

of majority stake holdings in CPI in

May 2006, (tours of Rolling Stones, Barbara

Streisand and The Who), the purchase of

51 percent in Trunk Merchandising in June

2006 and the acquisition of Gamerco SA in

Spain.

The results for Venues and Sponsorship

were $635,753 million (2005/535.870) and

an operating income of $47.310 million

(2005/84.498).

As a highlight for this division Live Nation

referred to the acquisition of House

of Blues in November for 354 million (360

million including financing fees)

The Digital Distribution unit seems to be a

gold mine. The revenue was £99.000 million

(2005/72.576) and operating income

was $74.586 million (2005/66.086). As

revenue gains Ticketmaster alone contributed

81.9 million for ticket service charge

rebates. The unit launched the web site

livenation.com in June 2006 and reported

that all intended features will be implemented

and completed in 2007.

To underline what sort of an entertainment

monster Live Nation really is it makes

sense to take a look at the visitor figures:

for music events the company attracted

36.565.000 attendances, divided between

North American Music: 24.730.000

: International Music 8.921.000 and Global

Touring with 2.914.000 attendances.

The Total number was 59.947.000 visitors

(2005/58.694.000) including Theatrical,

Motor Sports, Exhibitions & Sport events.

For the files Live Nation also mentioned

the purchase of 51 percent of Jackie Lombard

Productions and the sale of the Donington

Park in England in January 2007.

But how does this business report affect

the share price The answer is a backlash:

the share of Live Nation did pretty well in

March 2007, where it went easily over the

$25 border (52 week peak $25.63). After

the release of the report the share melted

down to just $21.29 and a market capitalisation

of $1.4 billion.

However, early bird investors may still be

pleased with the development. At the end

of December 21, 2005 when the Live Nation

share went on sale after the company

separated from Clear Channel the closing

price was $10.85

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SXSW 2007

Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com

This was I think my sixteenth SXSW,

and there is no getting away from the

fact that things have changed radically

over the years since the first in 1987.

The event has become huge, figures

so far seem to indicate a delegation of

around 11,000 for this year’s 21 st edition,

and this number of course does

not include the vast number of ‘punters’

who descend upon Austin to buy

the wristbands that provide admission

to the shows – space permitting.

It is not just the Conference/Festival

that has grown; each year there are

new buildings in the City, the traffic

has magnified beyond belief, and

there are now many more Hotels to

be fully booked out way in advance of

SXSW’s March occupation of the Texas

State Capital.

There is no way that you can take in all

of the goodies on offer at SXSW; you

have to learn to be selective, and to plan

up front. Even then you can be tempted

away from your schedule by that unexpected

party invitation, or that seductive

whisper of something ‘not to be

missed’ from someone in the know,

or perhaps not, or simply because you

turned up too late and the badge queue

winds around the block, or the capacity

has already been reached. (Luckily the

Iggy & The Stooges show at Stubbs became

badge only and I managed to get

in to see a man even older than myself

fling himself into the audience during

the very first number!).

I’m thinking of setting up an event

within an event called WDWM, which

will allow people to gather and discuss

Rosie Flores played at SXSW 2007

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the trauma of ‘What Did We Miss!’some

of us obviously need help –so what if I

missed Booker T & The MG’s, I’ve only

been a fan since the late 60’s! There’ll be

another chance – or will there! You’ll get

over it!

The SXSW organisers are presented with

a dilemma; on the one hand the ever-increasing

numbers are testimony to one of

the greatest success stories in the history

of music trade events, whilst on the other

hand they are totally aware of the problems

that numbers of this magnitude bring

for delegates in terms of accessibility and

comfort. What can they do –tell people not

to come Build more venues Move to a bigger

City None of these really apply, there is

a huge appetite for SXSW and it’s now almost

mythical position as the true gateway

to the fabled riches of the US market, they

will continue to come, there are already

many more venues in Austin than many

bigger Cities, and it’s a genuine Music City

for God’s sake, there’s an inherent atmosphere

that you couldn’t create anywhere

else – people like Austin, as the inhabitants

are keen on saying, ‘Keep Austin weird!

»Apart from opening up two

new venues, this is the first time

we’ve had Direct TV, recording

three days of live broadcast from

within the Conference Centre«

- Roland Swenson

I spoke to SXSW founder Roland Swenson

who said, “We haven’t gathered all the numbers

yet (we were talking whilst SXSW was

still in full flight), I’m sure they are again up

this year, but not by that much, 500 or so. It’s

the increasing international presence that’s

driving the event, the US attendance is pretty

much covered and constant, but there are

far more people coming from the rest of the

world than there used to be.” The Australians

and New Zealanders were out in force

and the UK attendance was way up again,

Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse went down

a storm by the way.

I asked if there were any new innovations

for 2007, Roland told me, “Well, apart from

opening up two new venues, this is the first

time we’ve had Direct TV, recording three

days of live broadcast from within the Conference

Centre, they’ve built two fully dressed

set ups in the Exhibition Halls.” These shows

really did add another dimension to SXSW,

they offered an opportunity to see acts

that you’d missed at their other shows either

live, like in my case, Rachel Fuller with

Pete Townsend and Welsh band The Automatic,

or as many people did, back in their

Hotel rooms on TV after the main shows.

The main thing is that what SXSW do,

they do well, the never ending list of acts

are well chosen, and the other presentations

like the keynote interview with Pete

Townsend was as relaxed, informative and

entertaining as you’re ever likely to get (I

did miss him playing the Steve Marriott

parts on Small Faces tunes like ‘What Ya

Gonna Do ‘Bout it’ with Ian McLagan’s

Bump Band – back to WDWM!). I attended

interviews with Emmy Lou Harris and Ricky

Lee Jones, which were also great. Making

the effort to get up early in the morning to

sit with breakfast in the lounge of The Four

Seasons Hotel was well worth it to see my

favourite singer songwriter Chris Smither,

Roland Swenson Founder of SXSW

followed by the excellent Ozomatli who

had the whole place dancing at an hour

when nobody is stirring at most music

conferences!

SXSW is great for these moments, and

there are many of them, and mainly it’s

great for the people you meet, both in and

out of the conference rooms, you can learn

a lot here. It’s an affirmation that no matter

how much new communication technologies

make it easy for us to sit in one place,

and no matter how many downloads compress

our methods of accessing music, live

music shared with people with a passion

is irreplaceable – so although the threat

of this unique event imploding under its

own weight has to be addressed, the fact

is SXSW is there to be enjoyed, people love

it and even if some decide to take a year

off, there will be no shortage of intrigued

newcomers to take their place.

Now, if I can only work out how to be in

two places at once next year.......

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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 0 7

ARTIST AVAILS ››

Alabama 3

Territory: Worldwide

Period: March 2007 Onwards

Agency: Value Added Talent

Agent: Dan Silver

Phone: +44 207 704 9720

E-mail: dan@vathq.co.uk

Homepage: www.vathq.co.uk

Baby Woodrose

Territory: Europe

Period: May/June 2007

Agency: Paperclip Agency

Agent: Hilde Spille

Phone: +31 24 323 9322

E-mail: hilde@paperclip-agency.com

Homepage: www.paperclip-agency.com

Ce’Cile (JA)

Territory: Europe

Period: August 2007

Agency: Kingstone Ent.

Agent: Rolf Radny

Phone: +49 221 941 1204

E-mail: info@kingstone.de

Homepage: www.kingstone.de

Chick Corea & Gary Burton

Territory: Europe

Period: July 2007

Agency: Ted Kurland Associates

Agent: Sean Greene

Phone: +1 617 254 0007

E-mail: sean@tedkurland.com

Homepage: www.tedkurland.com

Happy Mondays

Territory: Europe

Period: June - September 2007

Agency: Surrounded by the Enemy

Agent: Peter Nash

E-mail: gnasher@helterskelter.co.uk

Keith Emerson

Territory: Europe & S. America

Period: July - September

Agency: World Concert Artists Ltd.

Agent: Corrado Canonici

Phone: +44 208 906 6587

E-mail: info@worldconcertartists.org

Homepage: www.worldconcertartists.org

MORE ARTIST AVAILS ON:

WWW.VIP-BOOKING.COM

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VIP- News - A u- gAu spt 2r 0i 0l 52 0 0 7

READERS PAGE ››

Speak out - participate in the debate. The VIP-News Reader’s-page is open for letters and contributions from readers.

Consider the VIP-News Reader’s-page, as your “speaker’s corner” towards professionals in the entertainment industry all

over Europe. The purpose of the Reader’s-page is to encourage more interaction and to allow our readers to voice their

opinions about the many aspects of our industry. Contributions should be emailed to readerspage@vip-booking.com.

Robbie Wilson Announces Re-Location of R&R

Logistics Ltd

Robbie Wilson is one of the select few,

Scottish of course, celebrated live music

production professionals. He began his

distinguished career in 1970, working

with legendary manager Chas Chandler

and with seminal artists such as Slade, Be

Bop Deluxe and Van Morrison as a Production

and Stage Manager. Later, Wilson

branched out to providing staging and

barriers, as well as event management, for

various companies including Coca Cola

Enterprises, Adidas, and the Harvey Goldsmith

companies

35 years into his career in the Live Entertainment

business, professional Robbie

announces the expansion and re-location

of his business R&R Logistics Ltd to

Pinewood Studios. The Company provides

Robbie Wilson

bespoke services in the management of

every aspect of event production, from

initial site survey, to full budgetary preparation,

Health and Safety analysis through

to on-the-day event management.

Recently, R&R Logistics served as Safety

Consultants and Production Managers

for various live events around the UK including

BBC’s Children In Need, the Radio

1 Roadshows, Edinburgh City Council’s

Hogmanay, Formula 1’s ‘Comes To Regent

Street’ and Dock Rock (attended by 78,000

people). Internationally the Company

handled the Global Health and Safety requirements

for Nokia’s 2006 New Year’s

Eve concert broadcasts in Mumbai, Berlin,

Hong Kong and Rio for Ignition Management.

Personally Robbie Wilson was production

co-ordinator for the Rio event,

which attracted 1m people, and has also

recently worked as production manager

for such artists as Bruce Springsteen and

Dave Gilmore.

Wilson achieved his Health & Safety certification

three years ago. All R&R’s health

and safety staff hold the NEBOSH general

certificate and have a minimum of 10

years field experience. R&R Logistics Ltd

also offers the state of the art Atlas Crowd

Control Barrier System for rental and sales,

a large quantity of which have been sold

to a multitude of venues in the UK and

overseas. Another recent appointment

places R&R as exclusive event consultant

to Fastline Events, a specialist provider of

outdoor Tower Lighting solutions as well

as customised Messing and Welfare Vehicles

to live events.

Contact Information:

Robbie Wilson:

R & R Logistics Ltd, Double Lodge, Pinewood

Film Studios’ Iver Heath’ Buckinghamshire

SL0 OLH UK

(T) +44 (0)1753 654844

(F) +44 (0)1753 655520

(M) +44 (0)7778 158099

(E) info@randrlogistics.co.uk

Letters to VIP-News, with the writer’s name and email address together

with a photo (if available), should be emailed to readerspage@vipbooking.com.

Anonymous letters will only be published if the sender is

known to VIP-Booking.

VIP-Booking ApS reserves the right to a) edit contributions for reasons

of space or clarity b) deny publication c) add comments where appropriate.

Please aim to limit your letters to 250 words.

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VIP- News - A u- gAu spt 2r 0i 0l 52 0 0 7

NOTICE BOARD ››

Speak Another out new - participate service in in the the improved debate. and The redesigned VIP-News Reader’s-page VIP-News is the is open Notice-board, for letters which and contributions is available for from all readers.

Consider Reader’s messages the VIP-News will Reader’s-page, be posted on the as your Notice-board “speaker’s as corner” a free service, towards passing professionals on announcements, in the entertainment job postings, industry buying

and Europe. selling The notices, purpose inquiries of the Reader’s-page or alike. Announcements is to encourage should more be interaction emailed to noticeboard@vip-booking.com

and to allow our readers to voice their

all

over

opinions about the many aspects of our industry. Contributions should be emailed to readerspage@vip-booking.com.

The second edition of the South-East European Music

Еvent (SeeMe) will be held from 17 th – 19 th May 2007

in Sofia

“SeeMe showed the seeds that when planted

will bear tremendous fruit. Bulgaria is ripe

for the harvest and now we have to nurture

them and help them to grow into a lush, verdant

musical garden.”

Peter Harris / Kickin’ Music Group

One year has almost passed since SeeMe

(South-East European Music Event) presented

Sofia as the centre of electronic

music culture in South-Eastern Europe

and earning the Bulgarian capital a well

deserved place on the world dance music

map.

This year’s event will be held from 17 th to

19 th May and for 3 days and nights Sofia

will open its doors for DJs, producers, club

promoters, label managers, industry professionals

and the numerous fans of the

electronic music. SeeMe was conceived to

create a connection between the industry

professionals in the region, but it’s mostly

about a crossover between different styles

and cultures. SeeMe is a great platform for

industry professionals and dance music

fans alike to join together, exchange ideas

and keep up-to-date with the latest trends

and developments.

With three basic components – conference,

exhibition and festival, SeeMe promises

to satisfy all needs and that everyone will

find something of interest. The conference

and exhibition will supply an extremely diverse

environment during the day, which

will be followed by in credible parties that

will rock right through the night.

The event completely meets the main objective

of the organizers: to demonstrate

the creative potential of the region and to

connect it with the best international artists/DJ’s

that Europe and the world has on

offer. SeeMe rises to these two challenges

and with the local and the global creativity,

the professionals and the dedicated

fans – hopes to meet the expectations of

everyone.

Conference – seminars, discussions

and workshops, commenting on the newest

themes in the music industry. It will offer

to the participants to get acquainted

with the ways of producing, administrating,

management, media relations and

music law.

Exhibition and networking area – the

companies and representatives of the music

industry will focus your attention on

new products and services. This area will

give perfect opportunities for ideas and

information exchange, as well as to create

new contacts. In the evening hours young

upcoming DJ’s will perform.

Festival – SeeMe is dedicated to bringing

the public into contact with the very

best artists/DJ’s from the electronic music

scene that the world has to offer.

The Conference Package costs only 75

EUR if you register before 20th April (and

85 EUR after) and provides access to the

conference, contact zone, database, exhibition

and networking area, as well as

entrance to all the official SeeMe parties.

There is also a 3-day party package for

fans, which provides access to the official

SeeMe parties only. The price is 25 EUR before

20th April (30 EUR after). To register

and for more information go to:

www.seeme-sofia.com

VIP-Booking ApS cannot be held responsible for loss or damages

incurred as a result of transactions with individuals or companies

through the notice board. We recommend all to make the necessary

enquiries before entering into any agreements.

VIP-Booking ApS may not, for reason of space, be able to post all

announcements received. Announcements should be emailed to

noticeboard@vip-booking.com, including name and email address.

Please shorten your message to the extent possible, to make room for

as many notices as possible.

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VIP- News - A p r i l 2 0 0 7

MEMBER PRESENTATION ››

In this section we offer members of VIP-Booking.com some space to present their company to VIP-News readers.

If you would also like to present your company please contact Peter Briggs at pb@vip-booking.com

Sziget Festival

Sziget festival is the biggest musical and cultural festival in Central

Europe–a seven-day multicultural expo offering more than

800 programs on more than 30 venues. Sziget means island in

Hungarian and the festival, in addition to being on an island in

the heart of Budapest, is an island in the metaphorical sense.

Sziget has a unique atmosphere: it is a meeting place, a musical

and cultural show, a life-style, an enormous cafe and party place,

a place of learning about the world and each other. No matter

what style of music you like listening or dancing to, you will find

the place of your taste. You can enjoy performances, shows, you

can party and dance or just walk around and gaze at the ever-increasing

flow of interesting and different people passing by.

David Bowie, Apollo 440, Motörhead, Toy Dollz, Rollins Band,

Chumbawamba, Faith No More, Foo Fighters, New Model Army,

Cardigans, DEUS, Boney M, Shane McGowan, Coolio, Trans-global

Underground, Rammstein, Mory Kante, Goldie, Patti Smith,

Green Day, Brand New Heavies, Kool and the Gang, Suede, Faithless,

Guano Apes, Jovanotti, Baaba Maal, Apocalyptica, The Klezmatics,

Liquido, Rachid Taha, Paradise Lost, Asian Dub Foundation,

Suzanne Vega, Mambo Kurt, The Bloodhound Gang, Lou

Reed, HIM, Bad Religion, Oasis, The King, H Blockx, K”s Choice,

Bomfunk MC’s, Noir Desir, Run DMC, Fun-Da-Mental, Morcheeba,

Leningrad Cowboys, Frestylers, Incognito, Eagle-Eye Cherry,

Ash, Placebo

From the beginning in 1993 until 2001 Sziget’s capacity has

grown from 43,000 to over 360,000 over the seven days of the

event presenting stars such as Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, Jefferson

Starship, Byrds, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Eric Burdon, Stranglers,

Jeff Healey, Clawfinger, Slash, The Bates, Stone Roses, Iggy

Pop, The Prodigy, The Levellers, Sonic Youth, Therapy,Galliano,

About Our Company

VIP-Booking’s core product is the Internet’s oldest and largest database

for the European Live Entertainment Industry www.vip-booking.com

developed as a tool for industry professionals. Since it’s

launch in the year 2000, we have consistently offered our subscribers

the very best in database services and now boast subscribers in

over 30 countries.

Today VIP-Booking offers a range of tools for the industry – including

VIP-News, VIP-Booking, VIP-Book and VIP-Contract.

Please visit vip-booking.com for further information.

Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated.

®

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