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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... 

The VIP-Booking European Live Entertainment Book 

1 

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professionals all over Europe. You will find no better place to expose your 

company to the whole European Live Entertainment Industry. 

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

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 

2 



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 

3 



Neil O’Brien Leaves Agency Group 


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. 

4 


›› ›› 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


PRS Foundation for New Music Funding Opportunity 

for UK Emerging Acts 


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 

5 



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. 

6 



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 

7 



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 

8 



SXSW 2007 


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 

9 



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....... 

10 



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) 


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 


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 


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: 


11 

POST YOUR ARTIST AVAILS ON: 



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. 

12 


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. 

13 



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. 

® 

vip-booking.com 

14 

VIP-BOOKING.COM 

VIP-BOOKING.COM | 26 York Street | UK - London W1U 6pZ | Phone +44 870 755 0092 | Fax +44 870 622 1953 | e-mail: vip@vip-booking.com

VIP newsletter April07.indd - VIP-Booking

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