The VIP-Booking european live entertainment Book

1 

McGowan’s Musings: 

The never-ending pursuit of music indus- 

try knowledge and news for your infor- 

mation and, hopefully, entertainment has 

taken me to Estonia, Scotland and France 

since the last issue of VIP-News. The first 

of these trips, to Tallinn Music Week, also 

attended by VIPs Ronni and Peter, cer- 

tainly had its thrills and spills; Eurosonic/ 

Noorderslag’s Peter Smidt and Ruud Ber- 

ends and myself found ourselves staring at 

the still iced over sea from the roof of what 

looked like a Soviet era concert hall with 

some very ominous cracking noises com- 

ing from under our feet. I joined several 

others slipping on treacherously icy pave- 

ments – I’d show you the bruises but we’d 

have to know each other very well! – but 

the worst casualty was Martin Elbourne 

of the Great Escape and Glastonbury who 

unfortunately broke three ribs in a fall – we 

wish him a speedy recovery! However, as 

you will see from our extensive report the 

event itself was certainly worth visiting. 

The visit to the ‘Athens of the North’, Scot- 

land’s second biggest City and it’s capital, 

Edinburgh was completely opposite in 

terms of weather, unseasonably warm and 

sunny, but ‘Wide Days’ was also a confer- 

VIP- News 

PreMIuM ›› VOl. 135 ›› APrIl 2011 

ence and showcase event worth attend- 

ing. I’ve always been impressed – and I 

don’t say this purely because of my family 

connections, honest! – by the concentra- 

tion of the panel audiences at events like 

this and GoNorth, and by their willingness 

to ask questions. I was quite surprised in 

Tallinn by the numbers of lap-tops and 

smart phones in use during the panels 

– some were taking notes of course but 

certainly many were doing other things. 

Much has been written about a generation 

of ‘multi-taskers’, so maybe this is what 

we’re seeing and maybe we’ll just have to 

get used to it – or make panels so dynamic 

and interesting that everyone will be to- 

tally absorbed! 

VIP-BOOKING.COM 

Allan McGowan 

www.VIP-BOOKING.COM 

Paris by the way was to discuss plans for 

the second edition of the MaMA Event, 

which will again be based in the venues 

along Pigalle and in the cafes and bars of 

Montmartre and will take place on Octo- 

ber 21-22 – watch this space! 

With the festival season not far off and 

with the US business in particular hoping 

to avoid the slow sales, cancellations and 

postponements of last year the 2011 buzz 

phrase appears to be ‘value for money’. 

Following the news that U2’s 360° tour has 

overtaken the Rolling Stones’ Bigger Bang, 

making £341m with 20 gigs to go, Manag- 

er Paul McGuinness said he and the band 

were proud of the tour. “That dollar figure 

for the gross looks enormous,” he said. “Of 

course I can’t tell you what the net is, but 

I can tell you that the band spend enor- 

mous sums on production for their audi- 

ence. Fans all over the world agree that a 

ticket to U2 360° is good value for money.” 

Talking about the 2011 US Festival season 

John D’Esposito, founder of US festival 

Bamboozle planned for April 29-May 1 in 

East Rutherford, N.J, remarked, “It’s like a 

Walmart/Costco kind of scenario,we are 

providing so much entertainment. If you 

The VIP-Booking european live entertainment Book 

Advertising in the VIP Book will make you visible to 10.000 business 

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

company to the whole european live entertainment Industry. 

›› reserVe YOur Ad NOw ON www.VIP-BOOKING.COM

2 

VIP- News - April 2011 

Colophon ›› 

VIP-News is published by: 

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Managing director: 

Ronni Didriksen 

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General Manager: 

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writer and editorial: 

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added up the eight bands on every- 

body’s main stage and put their average 

ticket prices together, then match that 

to the (entry cost), it’s a value.” 

Certainly Festivals internationally gener- 

ally held up well last year so maybe the 

fan is looking for a measurably higher 

return for his or her money, this year’s 

Coachella, for example will present more 

than 150 bands (does anybody actually 

get around to seeing them all?) includ- 

ing Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye 

West and The Strokes. 

On the touring circuits there is a return 

to ‘packaging’, New Kids on the Block 

and the Backstreet Boys for instance are 

presenting a double bill (I can’t wait!). 

So, as long as it’s not just a case of ‘Never 

mind the quality – feel the width’ I sup- 

pose you can’t deny that these types 

of bills are value for money, but it’s not 

always the ‘All You Can Eat’ restaurants 

that send you home feeling good about 

what you’ve consumed. 

On that note Ladies and Gentlemen, 

here’s an absolutely huge edition of the 

News to get your teeth into! 


Initiative 

Musik to 

support eTeP 

Manfred Tari mt@vip-booking.com 

The German organisation Initiative 

Musik has announced that it will pro- 

vide funding for the European Talent 

Exchange Programme. ETEP recently 

received EU Culture Fund support of 

about 2.1 million Euro receive and will 

now receive 50.000 Euro per annum 

from Initiative Musik for a buy on that 

will ensure that for the next five years 4 

German bands will play at the Euroson- 

ic festival in Groningen. 

1st Top Ten Booking Chart by ETEP 

The organizers of the ETEP have re- 

vealed the first official booking chart 

for the festival season 2011. So far The 

Great Escape has confirmed the most 

bookings confirming 9 acts, followed 

by Europavox and Printemps De Bourg- 

es with 7 bookings each and the only 

US-festival Coachella with 6 bookings. 

Anna Calvi GB 8 

White Lies GB 5 

Crystal Fighters ES 4 

James Vincent 

Mc Morrow IE 3 

Kvelertak NO 3 

Selah Sue BE 3 

Moss NL 3 

James Blake GB 2 

Mount Kimbie GB 2 

SBTRKT (Live) GB 2 

Anna Calvi part of the ETEP

3 


Personality Clash surrounds leA-Award 


The German Live Entertainment Awards (LEA) this year held in 

Frankfurt for the first time as part of the Musikmesse Frankfurt, 

attracted some unexpected additional media awareness. 

The 6th edition of the LEA definitely didn’t turn out as the organ- 

izers and its jury expected. The prominent German promoter 

Marek Lieberberg refused all awards that he was supposed to be 

honoured with. Instead Lieberberg delivered an attack on almost 

everything to do with the Awards and in particular Jens Michow 

and the LEA Jury. The trade magazine Pollstar quoted him as say- 

ing, “We want our achievements to be taken seriously and not ridi- 

culed by this dubious conglomerate.” 

This statement was only one of many. Launched by Michow, 

president of the trade organisation bdv (Bundesverband Veran- 

staltungswirtschaft) in recent years the LEA has been generally 

accepted as an annual platform to recognise the various players 

of the German live music industry. But this year’s edition mainly 

turned out to be perfect platform for Lieberberg to undertake a 

thorough media bashing blaming Michow, the LEA Jury, the cer- 

emony itself and the rest of the German live music industry, tell- 

ing Pollstar that the LEA is a: “so-called award show with obscure 

categories and c-grade prominence.” 

In an interview in the daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt 

Lieberberg said that the organizers of the LEA were not able even 

to evaluate Lieberberg’s lifetime of work. In 2007 the promoter 

was very upset when he attended the award show and didn’t win 

a best festival LEA for Rock Am Ring in that year. 

Michow, who could be said to have a Lieberberg sized ego, re- 

sponded to his many media interview statements with a press re- 

lease in responding to what he considered insulting accusations 

made by Lieberberg. 

One of the 1.100 visitors that had been in Frankfurt commented 

afterwards that Lieberberg probably wrongly thought this year’s 

LEA edition stood for Lieberberg Entertainment Award. 


However, leA 2010 winners at a Glance 

• Best Arena-Tour - Helene Fischer 

- „So wie ich bin“ - Tournee 2010 

By Dieter Semmelmann for Semmel Concerts 

• Best Festival 2010 - M´era Luna 

By Folkert Koopmans for FKP Scorpio 

Konzertproduktionen 

• Club-Tour 2010 - Ben L´Oncle Soul Tour 

By Hamed Shahi-Moghanni for SSC Group 

• Concert of the Year - Jamie Cullum at Stadtpark 

Hamburg 

By Ossy Hoppe for Wizard Promotions Konzertagentur 

• Best Tour promoter of the year - Wizard Promotions 

Konzertagentur 

Ossy Hoppe 

• Best local promoter of the year - Hannover Concerts 

GmbH 

Michael Lohmann 

• Best agent/manager - Sundance Communications 

Oliver Wirtz 

• Best Newcomer Support - Reeperbahn Festival GbR 

Alexander Schulz 

• Concert Club of the Year - Jazz-Club A-Trane 

Sedal Sardan 

• Concert hall of the year - Kuppelsaal 

by Joachim König for Hannover Congress 

• Jury Award – Saftey concept for Rock Am Ring 

Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur 

• Lifetime Archivement Award - Marek Lieberberg 

Show of the Year - Bülent Ceylan 

by Silke Marthen and Stefan Schornstein for 

KULTURBUREAU & S-Promotion 

• New Style Event of the Year - 30 Seconds to Mars 

sponsored by the fashion brand New Yorker 

Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur 

Helene Fischer and Michael Bolton performed at LEA 2011 Ossy Hoppe wins concert of the year at LEA 2011

4 


Pop up 

Cancels 

exhibition 


Pop Up, the music convention based 

in Leipzig has announced the can- 

cellation of the exhibition part of 

the music fair. While the festival and 

conference program will go on as 

scheduled, the exhibition, until now 

considered one of the key assets 

for this business event, has suffered 

from a lack of demand by potential 

exhibitors. 

The tenth edition of the event will 

take place on May 20/21. For further 

information please check: 

www.leipzig-popup.de 

Leipzig Pop Up 2010 

No Change to Prs FOr Music 

Fees for Festivals this Year 

Allan McGowan am@vip-booking.com 

VIP-News attended the City Session 

organized by Festival Awards at the Is- 

lington O2 Academy on April 15, which 

dealt with two areas of financial con- 

cern for Festivals, PRS and Policing. 

In June last year PRS announced a re- 

view of the tariff for live music events. 

Although the existing tariff is at 3% one 

of the lowest in the world, the Collec- 

tion Society’s timing for this announce- 

ment was not good, coming at a time 

when ticket sales were dropping off 

and a VAT rise was due to make these 

tickets even more expensive. 

PRS set in place a consultation system, 

calling for comment and opinion from 

the business concerning the Live Music 

Tariff. 

As yet no decision on the rate has been 

taken, but following approaches from 

a worried festival industry about the 

effects that any rises would have on al- 

ready high budgets concessions have 

been announced for Festivals for the 

element of the ticket price covering 


non-music content, such as comedy 

and theatre, and accommodation and 

camping. 

At the Session Director of Public Per- 

formance Sales Keith Gilbert said he 

could not predict the outcome of the 

PRS For Music Board’s decision – ex- 

pected later this year, but he told del- 

egates it was quite likely there would 

be no change to the tariff in the near 

future. He stressed that PRS wishes 

to continue a dialogue with the busi- 

ness, and even though the formal 

consultation period is closed urged 

festival organisers to get in touch with 

thoughts and concerns so that PRS 

could institute the best solution for all 

concerned. 

Continuing dialogue was also the mes- 

sage from Derek Smith, Director of Fi- 

nance, West Midlands Police, the officer 

with overall responsibility for Charging 

for Police Services. 

The City Sessions is a series of regional 

mini-conferences produced by Festival 

Awards Ltd, organiser of the UK Festi- 

val Awards and Conference in Novem- 

ber. It is supported by Academy Music 

Group, Doodson Entertainment and 

Music Tank. 

Keith Gilbert - PRS

5 


recreating the live experience 


For many years, and particularly during 

the ‘golden’ period when live music was 

riding high as the ‘cash cow’ of the music 

industry, it was often said, and accepted 

pretty much as fact that “You cannot rep- 

licate the live experience.” However many 

fans that attend concerts in major venues 

or festivals have become more and more 

used to watching the artists on giant 

screens, rather than straining to see those 

tiny figures off in the distance. 

So perhaps it’s not surprising that there 

seem to be more and more instances of 

live shows being made available on a vari- 

ety of remote screens: Prodigy have been 

screening a concert film, entitled ‘World’s 

On Fire’ and recorded at the Milton Key- 

nes Bowl last July, in cinemas from 31 Mar. 

Also a new AC/DC concert film will be pre- 

miered on the UK’s largest cinema screen, 

apparently. The movie, called ‘AC/DC Live 

At River Plate’, will be screened at London’s 

Hammersmith Apollo on 6 May. The film is 

of a 2009 concert in Buenos Aires, Argen- 

tina, and features performances of no less 

than 19 songs. The screening is really to 

promote the DVD and Blu-Ray release of 

the live show, which will follow on 9 May. 

Also Spotify has streamed performances 

by Delphic, The Naked And Famous and 

Pony Pony Run Run, plus a DJ set by La 

Roux’s Elly Jackson, from London’s Koko 

venue on 5 Apr. The event is a co-promo- 

tion with Nissan, as part of its Nissan Juke 

‘Behind The Hit’ campaign. Spotify’s Gen- 

eral Manager, Jonathan Foster said of the 

event: “Giving our users access to great 

live music in their own home is the next 

step in the Spotify experience. We hope to 

see many more in the near future!” 


AC/DC Movie screened at cinemas 

So, what with improvements in sound in 

cinemas and on smaller screens plus all 

sorts of other effects including 3-D and 

holograms, maybe we can no longer take it 

for granted that “You can’t recreate the live 

experience.” Let’s see what happens next...

6 


‘wide days’ in edinburgh 


“Wide Days is the type of event I would 

like to attend myself. Like our regular Born 

To Be Wide nights, the aim is to provide 

a focal point for all elements of the Scot- 

tish music business/scene, and provide 

a bridge to the rest of the UK and Conti- 

nental Europe. This is how Olaf Furniss, 

journalist and founder of Born To Be Wide, 

sums up the aspirations of his organisation 

and this event. 

This was the second edition of an intimate 

but highly effective one day event, mainly 

attracting the Scottish music industry but 

with a few, like myself, making the trip 

across the border – from down south. 

The 2010 edition produced results for the 

small number of showcasing acts, with 

Meursault playing Glastonbury, and Car- 

rie Mac, supporting Alexandra Burke on a 

nationwide arena tour. Found went on to 

sign to Chemikal Underground and Hope- 

less Heroic landed a management deal 

with Scott Cohen. This year’s gigs attract- 

ed capacity audiences at Cabaret Voltaire 

for Withered Hand and Rachel Sermanni 

– who also played a couple of numbers in 

the crowded front room of the flat which 

hosted a welcoming party for delegates 

on the night before the main day of the 

event - and Sneaky Pete’s for Letters and 

Paws, while the Electric Circus was 80% full 

for Capitals and Gogobot. 

Panels took place in the wood panelled 

splendour of Teviot Row House included 

Rachel Sermanni 

and were all well attended and lively – it 

appeared to me that those who wished to 

be informed were and took away good in- 

formation from sessions such as ‘Not Just 

SXSW’, which yours truly took part in, Mu- 

sic Making Money (there’s a novel idea!), 

with The Orchard’s Scott Cohen and Music 

in Films – some really good tips on getting 

music on to film and TV soundtracks. The 

keynote interview featured Regular Mu- 

sic co-founder Barry Wright – some great 

stories of the early days of promoting Pink 

Floyd in 1968 and finding Edinburgh floors 

for The Ramones, Iggy Pop and others to 

sleep on, before progressing to putting on 

shows with the likes of U2, Oasis and Frank 

Sinatra. 

Furniss, who like Helen Sildna of Tallin Mu- 

sic Week is a well known figure at many of 

the international conference and show- 

case events told VIP-News, “The panels 

are intended to be entertaining, as well 

as informative, while the workshops are 

geared to providing information which 

will be useful to young bands and veter- 

ans alike. Our events are designed to act as 

a leveller and give senior industry figures 

an insight into new ideas and approaches 

happening at grassroots level. This year 

we set up a facility whereby delegates 

could book appointments with many of 

the speakers and the idea is to get people 

to socialise during the day and later in the 

evening. With the showcases we prefer 

to have a small number of acts and work 

closely with them to make the best use of 

the opportunities. It is important that the 

industry guests should be able to enjoy 

the music, rather than feeling that they are 

being initiated in some kind of brainwash- 

ing cult.” 

This was a very enjoyable event and its 

compactness allows you to relax whilst ac- 

tually seeing and hearing a lot. As I said in 

the panel, SXSW started off as a localised 

and reasonably compact event and look at 

it now, so lets hope that Wide Days doesn’t 

get enormously wider, but it has some 

way to go before that happens, and in the 

meantime definitely merits support. 

More Information: www.widedays.com 

VIP-BOOKING.COM

7 


Manchester Tops Prs survey 

of local Gig scene 


A PRS survey has revealed that over three 

quarters of people interviewed in Man- 

chester were happy that the local music 

scene offered a good variety of gigs to 

choose from. Newcastle was close behind 

on the percentage of satisfied live music 

fans, but Manchester can now claim offi- 

cial recognition of having the best music 

scene in the country, beating all other UK 

cities and regions. 

However it may really depend on how 

easily the interviewees are satisfied as op- 

posed to the actual share of available live 

music. It would seem that London must 

have more gigs – albeit over a larger area 

– but only came fifth in the live music sat- 

isfaction survey. 

Londoners are notoriously hard to please! 

The full listing is: 

1. Manchester - 77% 

2. Newcastle - 77% 

3. Nottingham - 73% 

4. Lancashire - 70% 

5. London - 68% 

Meanwhile, those surveyed in the follow- 

ing areas felt there weren’t enough local 

gigs: 

1. Derbyshire - 71% 

2. Somerset - 65% 

3. Yorkshire - 59% 

4. Kent - 56% 

5. Essex - 54% 

PRS spokesman Barney Hooper told CMU: 

“Local live music gigs are a great way to 

bring communities together and for peo- 

ple to discover local talent. Manchester 


has always been a hot contender as music 

capital of the UK, but we also thoroughly 

encourage venues in the surrounding ar- 

eas, such as Derbyshire, to seek local talent 

and host more live gigs”. 

Manchester tops UK Local Gig Scene

8 


FesTIVAls 

The Green evolution 


Julie’s Bicycle Announce New Industry 

Green Awards: 

London, 18th April 2011 – Julie’s Bicycle, 

the not-for-profit organisation working 

with the creative industries to support en- 

vironmental sustainability, has announced 

the award of their prestigious Industry 

Green (IG) certificates to fourteen UK mu- 

sic festivals. 

These pioneering festivals are: 

Big Chill 

Glastonbury 

Grass Roots 

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 

Isle of Wight 

Latitude 

Leeds 

Lovebox 

Reading 

Shambala 

Sonisphere 

T in the Park 

Truck 

Wood 

The IG certification scheme recognises 

evidenced commitment to understand- 

ing, measuring, improving and communi- 

cating environmental initiatives with an 

emphasis on lowering carbon emissions 

year on year. IG certifications are awarded 

on a 1 to 3 star basis, with 3 stars being the 

highest award. 

Shambala is the first festival to receive 

3 star IG certification. The festival, run 

on almost 100% renewable energy, has 

proven reductions of 63% in its primary 

emissions from 2009 - 2010, and is com- 

mended for its innovative approach to 

sustainability including locally sourced 

and ethical food, 100% FSC certified con- 

struction timber used on site, research 

into audience attitude towards sustain- 

ability, an offsetting scheme offered to 

those driving by car to the festival; and a 

sustainability checklist for suppliers ap- 

plying for festival tenders. 

Of the fourteen festivals, four have been 

awarded 2 star IG: Lovebox Weekender, 

Isle of Wight Festival, TRUCK and Wood. 

Lovebox achieved CO2e emissions reduc- 

tions of 38% between 2009 – 2010, despite 

Shambala festival received a Green Award 


almost doubling ticket sales in the same 

year. The Isle of Wight Festival made re- 

ductions of 22% due to improvements to 

audience travel emissions and have suc- 

cessfully restored bee populations to the 

island with their Let it Bee campaign. 

TRUCK decreased its emissions by 10% 

and has been encouraging audiences to 

travel green through subsidised bus travel 

and rewards for cyclists. Its smaller sibling, 

Wood is the first UK festival to go fossil fuel 

free, and is aiming to be 100% renewably 

powered within the next three years. Wood 

managed to decrease bio diesel demand 

by 30% from 2009 – 2010 despite audience 

numbers almost doubling, and promoted 

sustainable living with composting toilets, 

showers heated by wood-burning stove 

and a solar-powered stage. 

Nine festivals have been developing ‘base- 

lines’ for 2010 and are implementing strat- 

egies for 2011 festivals. Together they are 

committing to a range of sustainability 

initiatives, many of which are new. These 

festivals all achieved 1 star in 2010 

Examples of initiatives range across staff 

and audiences campaigns, recycling, pub- 

lic transport, locally sourced merchandise 

and food, renewable and low carbon ener- 

gy, and reduced water and landfill waste. 

IG provides the festivals with a common 

framework that means Julie’s Bicycle can 

develop the first industry average bench- 

marks working with this pioneering group 

of festivals. They also join a host of other 

creative companies across music and per- 

forming arts which are leading the cultural 

response to climate change by becoming 

IG certified. 

These initiatives and achievements send 

clear messages from a community of in- 

fluential organisations to the rest of the 

creative industries (and wider audience of 

artists and fans) about the importance of 

building a sustainable, low-carbon future 

for the creative industries.

9 


Alison Tickell, Director of Julies Bicycle 

said: The challenge of reducing impacts 

while growing the business is being tack- 

led head on by this brave group of festi- 

vals, It’s not always comfortable to put the 

green brand to the test. This group of fes- 

tivals are doing it for real. 

Chris Johnson, Director, Kambe Events 

said: ‘Finally there is a credible approach to 

benchmarking and assessing sustainable 

practice in the events sector. We think the 

Ig is worthwhile - its robust, but easy to use 

for promoters, and importantly, it places an 

emphasis on continual improvement.’ 

GO-Group launch new think tank project 

for the live music industry. 

Of course these days all festivals, tours and 

concerts worldwide are already optimised 

for consideration as being totally environ- 

mentally friendly. But there a few that are 

doing just bit better than the others. 

For many years conferences such as ILMC, 

Eurosonic Noorderslag and even Midem 

have put green issues related to live music 

on their agenda. Often these panels only 

attract a very small numbers of attendees. 

But lets face facts. Folkert Koopmans told 

VIP-News recently, “Heavy weather condi- 

tions are meanwhile one of the biggest 

risks festival promoters have to deal with.” 

It is not only the weather that changes; it is 

a fact that the climate is also doing so. 

Time for a proper workshop that deals 

with these issues perfectly timed just 

before the new festival season takes off. 

In February some of those activists con- 

cerned with green issues met in Berlin and 

agreed on the subjects that will be on the 

agenda for this workshop that also acts as 

think tank. 

The workshop is an outcome from the 

GO Group founded in Bonn in November 


Alison Tickell - Julies Bicycle 

last year at the GreenEvents Conference. 

GO stands for “Green Operation” and the 

founders are Bucks University, Green- 

Events Conference, Green Music Initiative 

(GMI), Julie’s Bicycle (tbc) and Yourope.

10 


The first GO Group Workshop for Sustain- 

able Festivals & Events will take place in 

Amsterdam on May 23/24, and will work 

to the following agenda received from the 

organisers. 

On Day 1 (23 May) we will discuss best prac- 

tise cases on how to overcome dirty and 

expensive generators, how to apply renew- 

able energy sources practically and how to 

run operations more efficiently and thereby 

reduce costs and CO2 emissions. Day 1 will 

be hosted and moderated by Teresa Moore 

(Bucks University, UK) and Jacob Bilabel 

(Green Music Initiative, Germany). 

On Day 2 (24 May) we will share effective 

communication tools on how to involve 

the audience in your green efforts, how to 

communicate sustainability to your visitors 

before, during and after the event. We will 

share information how the audience can be 

informed, guided, encouraged and stimu- 

lated. Let´s discuss what worked and what 

did not. Day 2 will be hosted and moder- 

ated by Linnea Svensson (Öya Festival, Nor- 


way) and Holger Jan Schmidt (RhEINKUL- 

TUR Festival & GreenEvents Conference, 

Germany). 

In addition the founders of this new or- 

ganisation also set up a working agenda 

which contains the following topics: 

1) Identify international best practices 

in sustainable innovations for the music 

festival and event industry. 

2) Build a Sustainability Training Curricu- 

lum for festival and event promoters in 

collaboration with Bucks University. 

3) Aggregate, communicate and share 

the collective knowledge with interested 

stakeholders from all over Europe. 

4) Establish working relationships be- 

tween different industry groups to ena- 

ble practical and spontaneous exchange 

of personal experiences.

11 


VIP-BOOKING.COM

12 12 


eastern europe 

– Active emerging Markets 


Live music is by no means a new thing for 

the countries of Eastern Europe, and major 

acts have been including shows in the re- 

gion since the 70’s. In many territories there 

are established promoters and good ven- 

ues, however problems varying from overly 

zealous state controls and low incomes have 

held back realisation of the potential that 

these markets hold in terms of lucrative ad- 

ditions to international tour schedules and 

local talent, apart from classical, jazz, and 

traditional folk music, most are still consid- 

ered ‘emerging markets’, however over the 

last few years ‘emergence’ has been very 

noticeable. The festival market with events 

like Sziget in Hungary and Exit in Budapest 

has grown year on year, attracting more 

and more fans from the West. Venues too 

have developed, offering attractive rates 

for both corporate and music events. 

This year’s Emerging Markets panel at 

ILMC was co-chaired by veteran Hungar- 

ian promoter Laszlo Hegedus, who along 

with Estonia’s Juri Makarov and others 

have been long term regulars at this lead- 

ing live music conference event. Laszlo 

highlighted the presence of many new, 

young, promoters from the region includ- 

ing them in the discussion. In fact there 

were 110 delegates from 16 Eastern Eu- 

ropean countries at ILMC 23, around 10% 

of the entire international attendance. It 

would appear that things are on the move 

in the region. 

In this and future issues VIP-News will take 

a look at what is happening in these mar- 

kets. Just to be contrary we will start in 

the Baltic region in Northern Europe with 

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia. 


It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of 

Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to 

the south by Latvia,and to the east by Lake 

Peipsi and the Russian Federation. Sweden 

lies to the west and Finland to the north. 

The sole official language, Estonian, is 

closely related to Finnish. With a popula- 

tion of 1.34 million, Estonia is one of the 

least-populous members of the European 

Union, Eurozone and NATO. Today, Esto- 

nia has the highest GDP per person of any 

country that used to be part of the Soviet 

Union. 

VIP-News joined invited international del- 

egates at the 3rd edition of Tallinn Music 

Week, at the time when Tallinn received 

confirmation of becoming European Capi- 

tal of Culture, to see what the country’s 

music industry has to offer.

13 13 


Tallinn Music week 


Tallinn Music Week started out in 2009 in 

partnership with the Foundation of “Tal- 

linn 2011” and in all 3 years has remained 

one of the key events of the Capital of 

Culture’s programme. “Back in 2009 the 

Capital of Culture’s partnership was in 

fact the first piece of support that gave us 

the courage to put the crazy idea of a mu- 

sic industry conference and a showcase- 

festival into action and make it happen,” 

comments Helen Sildna, the organizer of 

Tallinn Music Week. “A lot has happened 

ever since and we now have a newly formed 

organization Estonian Music Development 

Centre in place and together with the Acad- 

emy of Music and Theatre we are working 

on a music manager’s training programme 

to enhance and develop the growth of our 

industry and talent. The Estonian music sec- 

tor has joined forces and we are determined 

to make it work for ourselves and the artists’ 

scene.” 

The third edition of Tallinn Music Week 

took place on 24. - 26. March – the event 

brought 194 international delegates to Tal- 

linn and was close to being sold out with 

423 delegates in total. The festival show- 

cased 147 artists, including 123 from Esto- 

nia and the others from 9 different coun- 

tries to 7600 enthusiastic music lovers over 

3 nights in 11 music venues. 

Tallinn Music Week 2011 in number: 

- 3 nights 

- 16 stages / 11 clubs 

- 147 artists from 10 countries 

- 123 artists from Estonia 

- 7600 festival visitors 

- 423 delegates (229 Estonian) 

- 194 international delegates 

- 52,483 unique homepage visits from 88 

countries 

Tallinn Music Week 2010 in numbers: 

- 3 nights 

- 100 artists 

- 6000 visitors 

- 352 delegates 

- 107 international delegates from 17 coun- 

tries 

- 29 608 unique homepage visits from 74 

countries 

Organiser Helen Sildna has become a well- 

known face at many of the major music 

trade events and has been instrumental in 

convincing international professionals to 

attend TMW. She told VIP-News: 

Helen Sildna - organiser at Tallinn Muisc Week 

“As for my own comments or thoughts – I 

think I can really say it was in a way a break- 

through year for us, first of all locally – for 

the first time I really had the feeling that 

the local music scene was actively taking 

part of the event and the bands and art- 

ists in the line-up were much more active in 

promoting themselves. In terms of interna- 

tional communication, I am glad we were 

lucky to have the Capital of Culture news 

together with our 3rd edition – exactly the 

kind of a build-up we really needed also in 

our own development cycle. What I am ex- 

tremely happy about is that there seems to 

be suddenly quite a lot of interest interna- 

tionally in the Estonian music and this has 

really escalated within these 3 years. Today 

I can say, we just got the promising singer- 

songwriter IIRIS confirmed for the Great Es- 

cape this year, and we are looking forward 

to having our bands play MaMA, Musiikki 

& Media, Iceland Airwaves, Popkomm and 

EuroSonic. And I just saw the news the Esto- 

nian indie-pop band Ewert & the Two Drag- 

ons have made a deal with the Icelandic 

online store Gogoyoko. What it all means is 

that Estonian music is suddenly spreading 

out there into the world, bit by bit. There is 

definitely excitement in the air.” 

The importance of the music industry to 

Estonia was made clear by the presence 

of the country’s President, Toomas Hen- 

drik Ilves. It was obvious from his opening 

speech that he had an active interest in 

various styles of music. 


VIP-News spoke to President Ilves: 

VIP-News: Music, particularly live music, 

appears to have been an essential ele- 

ment for the bringing about of change 

and the securing of independence in Esto- 

nia - I am involved with the International 

Live Music Conference (ILMC) in Lon- 

don and have got to know Juri Makarov 

quite well, I also met Rein Lang briefly in 

Tampere last year, so know a little about 

Rocksummer Festival and the ‘singing 

revolution’. Do you think that music re- 

mains as important to Estonians and do 

you think that both the export and import 

of artists and commercial music is a desir- 

able thing in both cultural and economic 

terms for the country? 

»I do not believe that music 

or artists are exportable 

or importable. People and 

especially artists are not 

commodities« 

- Toomas Hendrik Ilves 

President Ilves: Music remains important 

as ever in Estonia even as its social/politi- 

cal function (if we want to speak of music 

so crudely) has changed over time. Our 

song-festivals began in the middle of the 

19th Century as form of social cohesion 

building: peasants came to understand 

they had and were a culture. Under Soviet 

occupation, song-festivals, concerts, etc. 

similarly allowed Estonians to feel Estonian 

and not just a part of an atomised mass of 

Soviet People. This kind of negative pres- 

sure is missing today yet concert-going 

from avant-garde rock to classical remains 

popular. Especially in the latter case, visi- 

tors to Estonia frequently remark on how 

many young people attend serious music 

concerts. A visiting conductor recently la- 

mented to me that if one looks at classical 

music audiences in Europe today, in anoth- 

er twenty years the only place to perform 

classical music will be Tallinn. While this is 

an exaggeration, of course, but the remark 

does capture a bit of the distinctiveness of 

the Estonian music scene.

14 


I do not believe that music or artists are 

exportable or importable. People and es- 

pecially artists are not commodities. The 

art they produce, however, either finds 

acceptance and popularity elsewhere or 

it doesn’t. I do believe, moreover, that we 

need to recognize that music and creative 

endeavours more broadly are an impor- 

tant sector of the economy. Arvo Pärt’s 

(renowned Estonian classical composer) 

music probably does not generate much 

money for the Estonian economy but it 

does make Estonia a recognizable place 

on the world map, which in turn does con- 

tribute to the economy. 

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves 

Until IceSave, (The diplomatic dispute that 

began in 2008 between Iceland on one 

hand and the and the UK and the Nether- 

lands centred on the creditors of the pri- 

vately owned (since 2003) Icelandic bank 

Landsbanki, which offered online savings 

accounts under the “Icesave” brand.) tiny 

Iceland (1/3 of ‘tiny Estonia’ ) was known 

above all for Björk and Sigur Ros; there’s no 

doubt as to which is the preferred brand. 

VIP-News: You obviously take an interest 

in music yourself, you mentioned Arcade 

Fire in your speech, what other artists have 

stimulated your interest, both Estonian 

and international? Do you play yourself? 

You have I think, some background in ra- 

dio, was music a part of this? 

President Ilves: Ever since I can remem- 

ber anything at all music has been a core 

interest. Melomane is the French; I am 

not sure, though, if melomaniac would 

be the appropriate translation, but since 

childhood my friends have remarked that 

I have an inordinate if not obsessional 

interest in music. For me it’s just part of 

life. Which means also that I have rather 

catholic (small ‘c’ there) tastes and always 

have, with little regard for genre. “Help me 

Rhonda” clicks just as much as the Gold- 

berg Variations. I discovered Arvo Pärt lis- 

tening to a new music programme on CBC 

in my car in the early 1980. I was mesmer- 

ized, pulled over to the side of the road to 

listen to the end and was dumbstruck to 

hear that the piece (“Cantus in memory of 

Benjamin Britten”) had been written by an 

Estonian composer. In other words, I listen 

without regard to categories. Eubie Blake 

and Steve Reich, Georgian choirmusic and 

Gregorian chants, Indian ragas, Pearl Jam, 

the Band, I really like them all. 

I am alas completely talentless as far as 

playing anything, however. I have played 

piano, saxophone and guitar, all with abys- 

mal results. My experience in radio was 

strictly journalistic. 

VIP-News: What are your opinions of the 

relevance and importance of Tallinn Mu- 

sic Week. Did you get the opportunity to 

attend any other parts of the event this 

year? 


Tallinn Music Week 

President Ilves: TMW is for me a fantas- 

tic showcase for new music and musi- 

cians in the Nordic/Baltic region, which 

I hope also leads to new synergies - yes 

that sounds like ad copy but I do believe 

that regional interplay and influences 

can make for something more than by 

just listening to records. In Vienna in the 

18th-19th century there was no recorded 

music so it’s not a surprise that proximity 

played a large role in musical develop- 

ment but San Francisco in the 1960s and 

Seattle in the 1990s became creative caul- 

drons from people just playing together, 

even though by then recorded music 

was the rule. I hope TMW does the same. 

I attended one concert at the Von Krahl 

theatre the night before the opening and 

managed to listen to four bands - Finnish, 

Lithuanian and Estonian. I was especially 

taken by Alan McKim. So much power in 

just a voice and a single acoustic guitar: 

simply amazing and precisely the kind of 

experience TMW is for. 

Nokia Concert Hall - Tallinn 

Aivar Sirelpuu is General Manager of the 

Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn’s state of the 

art venue, and a man with long experi- 

ence in the concert business. VIP-News 

spoke to him in Tallinn: 

VIP-News: Did you find Tallinn Music 

Week useful for networking purposes? 

How did it compare to other events that 

you attend? 

Aivar Sirelpuu: This year definitely was 

the most interesting year of Tallinn Music 

Week – in the music & networking sense. 

Of course it’s different from huge events 

like the ILMC, but a very necessary and de- 

veloping event, which is a much needed in 

our region too. 

Nokia Concert Hall, Tallinn

15 


VIP-News: I hear that you were involved 

with Juri Makarov, who I know quite well 

from ILMC, and Rein Lang in the early days 

of using music and I think a music festival 

to bring about political change in your 

country. Is this what got you into the music 

and events business? What have you done 

between then and now in your career? 

Sirelpuu: Indeed I had the pleasure of 

working with both Jüri & Rein during the 

early days of the Estonian Republic and 

even before that. With Rein I had the plea- 

sure to organise a music festival in the 

town of Tartu, in South-Estonia, which dur- 

ing the late 80s was one of the main ‘rebel’ 

events against the Soviet occupation here. 

We just celebrated the event’s 30th birth- 

day a few years back, so we did another 

festival with Rein & the crew from back 

then. I’m glad Rein has also continued on 

the culture path now, becoming the cul- 

tural minister of Estonia. 

With Jüri we organized a huge rock festi- 

val called Rock Summer at the legendary 

Song Festival Ground in 1988, one of the 

first major international festivals in the So- 

viet Union. Probably being apart of those 

festivals and meeting the artists we man- 

aged to get there is one of the fondest 

memories I will ever have. 

During the 90’s, I ventured to different 

paths but still worked as a production 

manager and promoter with some huge 

concerts in Estonia like Michael Jackson, 

Tina Turner & Rolling Stones. From 2004 

to 2008, I worked at Saku Arena as the GM 

there. In late 2008 Peeter Rebane from the 

BDG group asked me to come and work 

with a new venue at the Solaris centre. The 

ambition and investments really made it 

appealing, so here I am today... 

Aivar Sirelpuu GM of Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn 

VIP-News: Are the Solaris venue and the 

Nokia Concert Hall one and the same, or is 

the Concert Hall just a part of the overall 

facility? 

Sirelpuu: Nokia Concert Hall is one of the 

entertainment establishments situated in 

the Solaris Center. Solaris also features two 

hi-tech cinemas, shops, restaurants etc.; A 

true centre of Tallinn. 

VIP-News: When did Nokia come in as 

a sponsor? The Solaris brochure mainly 

seems to refer to Conferences and Cor- 

porate events, what concert events have 

taken place in the last few years. 

»I’m very optimistic. 

I can see new enthusiastic 

faces coming up in recent 

years, who have a fresh 

approach & who could really 

make big things happen« 

- Aivar Sirelpuu 

Sirelpuu: We approached Nokia as we 

were trying to name the hall. As I had 

previously worked closely with Nokia dur- 

ing the 90’s, I sat down with them and we 

worked out a deal that made both sides 

happy. We’ve had hundreds of events al- 

ready, most of them actually are concerts 

and shows – most known performers in- 

clude Macy Gray, Procol Harum, Joe Bona- 

massa, Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N’Dour, 

Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Marillion, 

Rufus Wainwright etc. 

VIP-News: Do you think that more interna- 

tional acts will come to play in Tallinn and 

is there an audience that wants to see and 

can afford to buy tickets for these acts? 


Sirelpuu: Of course, with a small market 

doing shows and budgeting is of great 

importance. If you have a known good act 

in a good venue with a reasonable ticket 

price – people will come. 

VIP-News: Do you see the music industry 

growing in Estonia, and are you optimistic 

about the future? 

Sirelpuu: I’m very optimistic. I can see new 

enthusiastic faces coming up in recent 

years, who have a fresh approach & who 

could really make big things happen. The 

music scene is the most vibrant in decades, 

there are more venues (club and concert) 

being built, more bands breaking out of 

Estonia & a fresh approach to promoting 

and organizing events. 

Comments from TMw delegates 

VIP-News asked various delegates for their 

opinions of the event and its impact on the 

Estonian music business. Starting with an 

Estonian artist manager. Rein Kutsar man- 

ages the Nikns Suns: 

Tallinn Music Week 

I have attended TMW every year since it 

started and I can see that due to the Tal- 

linn Music Week Estonian artists are more 

into experimenting and the festival itself 

actually helps artists to grow their wings. In 

my opinion those wings are getting bigger 

and bigger every year. However, this festi- 

val is still quite young and it needs some 

upgrading. But I think that this is only ques- 

tion of few years and it will adapt itself as a 

full-grown plant reaching towards the sun, 

because of Estonian music and musician’s 

needs to be discovered by other coun- 

tries, promoters and fans. As our President 

Toomas-Hendrik Ilves said at the opening,

16 


there’s no reason to look away and try to 

find “this” from abroad because “it” is hap- 

pening right here at this very moment. 

Most of the international delegates ap- 

peared impressed by TMW: 

Rob Berends, Network Europe and Paper- 

clip Agency, Netherlands: 

My last visit to Estonia was exactly 20 years 

ago, when one of my Dutch bands (Poppi 

Uk, also favoured by John Peel who record- 

ed them for the BBC in his famous ‘Peel 

Sessions’) was asked to play Jüri Makarov’s 

Rock Summer Festival, about a month be- 

fore formal independence of Estonia from 

the Soviet Union. 

Tallinn Music Week 2011 gave me the op- 

portunity to recognize many spots in Tal- 

linn, and at the same be amazed at the 

pace of change in Estonia. Despite all the 

IT-modernity (Skype is from there, and cell 

phones were abundant there a long time 

ago), Estonia has still retained its tradition- 

al love for singing and music. Singing and 

music have been instrumental in keeping 

Estonian culture alive despite centuries 

of oppression and slavery by the Teutonic 

Knights from Germany, the Swedes, the 

Russian czars, the Nazi’s and Stalin. In the 

decade before independence (which came 

in 1991), singing Estonian songs in public 

became a form of mass-protest against the 

Soviet occupation. The Rock Summer Fes- 

tivals fitted into that protest. 

With 1.3 million inhabitants, Estonia is a 

small country. Nevertheless, the impor- 

tance of the musical history promises a 

wealth of good music. Tallinn Music Week 

is a much-needed initiative to present Es- 

tonian music to the world. Hats off to the 


organization for starting this in 2009, and 

hats off for the 2011-edition that presented 

a very useful list of international delegates, 

very interesting panels (although the one 

I thought was the most interesting, was 

the only one in Estonian…), and the right 

amount of showcase events. 

Most Estonian musicians and industry peo- 

ple are still a bit shy when it comes to sell- 

ing themselves and their music. The TMW 

organization is focusing on trying to help 

change this, and that’s excellent. Shake off 

the shyness, shake off the modesty next 

to assumed Big Brother Finland, and show 

the world that Estonian culture shines! 

Ilya Bortnuk, Light Music, St.Petersburg – 

Russia: 

This year Ilya’s Company is promoting 

concerts with Mogwai, Cut Copy, Oi-Va-

17 17 


Voi, Gogol Bordello, Gotan Project, Mati- 

syahu, Morcheeba and Richard Galliano in 

St.Petersburg, as well as 2 festivals: Stereo- 

leto - June, 25, July, 2 with APPARAT BAND, 

Chinawoman, Architecture in Helsinki, 

Uusi Fantasia, Casiokids, etc, and Muzatsi- 

ya - July, 23 - Asian Dub Foundation, Los 

Del Abajo and others. 

As Tallinn is very close to St.Petersburg I 

see a lot of way for communications - to 

plan a join routing for the artists, Helsinki - 

St.Petersburg - Tallinn for example. 

As for the local bands - I’ve seen some good 

artists, and we’ll consider the ways that 

we can do their shows in St.Petersburg. 

Of course the event is not yet as effective 

as Music and Media for example, but it’s 

good chance to meet the new partners - 

especially from Estonia. 

Paulina Ahokas, Executive Director Music 

Export Finland: 

It is hard to remember that this was only 

the third Tallinn Music Week: it is already 

such an important date in the calendar 

for Baltic-Nordic networking and a really 

wholesome update on the most important 

and timely Estonian music on a broad base. 

I thought adding even more genre spread 

to the showcase programme worked pret- 

ty well, as it seemed all of the programme 

was presented by the right sub-promoters: 

all of the key Estonian festivals and promot- 

ers had collected their strength and this is 

incredibly wise of them. Thus, each of the 

showcases seemed to collect the right 

crowd both locally and internationally. My 

personal highlights were President Ilves´s 

opening speech (what an inspirational and 

passionate person!), Ismo Alanko & Teho 

gig at VonKrahl Rabarock showcase, James 

Reipas showcase at Rock Café (great venue 

as well), our Music & Media VIP reception 

at Sfäär Restaurant, the energy of Mimicry 

at Rock Café, wonderful Iiris: thanks to 

Helen Sildna and all the Estonian team and 

partners Tallinn Music Week is really full of 

fruitful encounters. 

Alex Knight, Fat Cat Records: Brighton (UK): 

As far as the music was concerned I must 

admit to having had my preconceptions 

blown out of the water, I had been tipped 

off about Mari Kalkun and band but the 

live performance surpassed my expec- 

tations, beautiful instrumentation, gor- 

geous 3 part vocal harmonies and an 

exceptionally talented pool of musicians, 

I’ve bought her CD and look forward to 

settling down and giving her a good lis- 

ten. Pastacas also created a phenomenal 

live experience, exceptional musicianship 

linked with a creative mind and a taste for 

the avant-garde made for a very enjoyable 

experience. On a whole the artists I saw 

were far more than a pastiche of western 

bands and scenes, I was excited to hear 

people foraging in new found- sounds 

and exploring their Estonian roots to 

create complex, original and sometimes 

beautiful new music, they seemed to be 

blessed with a strong support network 

and a whole array of original venues in 

which to ply their craft! 

Paulina Ahokas at Tallinn Music Week 


Paul Cheetham, Popkomm - Berlin: 

“What I see in Tallinn Music Week is a pure 

realisation of Helen’s original vision; the 

event is cultured, passionate, dynamic, 

intriguing, inclusive, and soulful - every- 

thing she would insist on. The seamless 

mixture of classical, jazz, rock and pop is 

surely unique amongst the myriad music 

events already in the calendar. Despite its 

rapid growth, Tallinn Music Week remains 

a truly bespoke occasion. There is a feeling 

of specialness about being a delegate. I al- 

ways return from Tallinn feeling satisfied, 

with new contacts, fresh perspective, and 

having discovered 1 or 2 fascinating new 

acts to explore further”. 

Paul Cheetham at Tallinn Music Week 

»The seamless mixture of 

classical, jazz, rock and pop 

is surely unique amongst the 

myriad music events already 

in the calendar. Despite 

its rapid growth, Tallinn 

Music Week remains a truly 

bespoke occasion« 

- Paul Cheetham 

Jesper Borup, Spot Festival - Denmark: 

I´ve attended TMW since the first issue 

in 2009, and it has been very interesting 

to monitor the explosive development 

the festival has gone through. 2011 has

18 18 


definitely been the best so far, with many 

good bands and a production-team that 

takes good care of the delegates. The Es- 

tonian music scene is indeed very interest- 

ing with many original artists, and it seems 

that with TMW it has grown to trust its own 

cultural musical origins. That has resulted 

in a high amount of Estonian bands now 

doing their own thing, and not trying to 

copycat what has become mainstream. 

Artists like Abrahams Cafe, Mari Kalkun, 

Pastacas and Ewert and the Two Dragons 

was some of the highlights of the festival. 

Joe Porn, Music Glue: (UK) 

I was extremely impressed with my first 

visit to Tallinn, I found the people warm 

and friendly, the city wonderful to explore 

and the local music scene to be of a very 

high standard. The Tallinn Music Week 

program was very interesting and diverse, 

the selection of venues to be great too. 

Delegates were treated very well and I 

found it very helpful to meet music in- 

dustry professionals from around Europe. 

I certainly hope to be coming again next 

year and would have no problems seeing 

Estonia artists perform to a UK audience 

Jan Sneum, Danish Radio: 

After having the great pleasure of being 

present at three editions of Tallinn Music 

Week my interest in Estonian music is still 

growing. I simply want to know, learn, see 

and hear more. About the music scene and 

about Estonian art and culture at a much 

larger scale. During Tallinn Music Week 

2011 I heard more music, made more inter- 

views and bought more records and book 

than ever before. I do hope to be back in 

2012! 

John Rogers, Brainlove Records: 

As a debutante at Tallinn Music Week, I 

was struck first by the beauty of the city of 

Tallinn and the depth and richness of the 

music on show - from stunning contempo- 

rary classical performances in spectacular 

vaulted spaces to experimental industrial 

music in dark basements: there was a very 

impressive range of music to engage with. 

I think several of the acts I came across 

could appeal to existing audiences in Eu- 

rope, the UK and the USA, where inter- 

national variants on avant-garde musical 

practice are an interest already. The Odes- 

sa Pop night started with a trilogy of ex- 

cellent acts in Multiphonic Rodent, Pasta- 

cas and Kreatiivmootor: three thrillingly 

inventive projects. Cleaning WOmen was 

a very interesting avant-garde band. The 

performance of “North Wind, South Wind” 

by Helena Tulve was also a highlight. 

Peter Smidt, Buma Cultur: Eurosonic, Am- 

sterdam Dance Event: 

I think Tallinn Music Week offers a great 

opportunity to meet the music sector of 

the fast developing region of Estonia and 

surrounding territories. You also can wit- 

Jan Sneum at Tallinn Music Week 


ness a high number of acts this region has 

to offer in a nice and very well organized 

setting. 

Grimur Atlasson, Iceland Airwaves: 

Regarding the Estonian music scene I have 

to say it has some years yet to develop on 

the popside of matters - but in the tradi- 

tional and classical/jazz front you are really 

on top level. I liked most the bands that had 

the unique sound and did what was their 

stuff: Kreatiivmootor and Mari Kalkun. I will 

probably try to book Kreatiivmootor. I’m 

going to have one more look at Iiris before I 

book her - she’s has a huge talent. 

Shain Shapiro, Canadian Blast: 

I really enjoyed TMW. The hospitality 

shown by everyone and the ardour on dis- 

play from the bands displayed Estonia as 

one of the most exciting hubs for new mu- 

sic in Europe. I hope they invite me again’ 

Martin Elbourne, Great Escape: 

I thought the level of organization and 

hospitality Tallinn Music Week provided 

was superb. Tallinn’s concert venues were 

great. It was one of the most enjoyable 

conference showcase events I have been 

to (and I have been to a few!). 

www.tallinnmusicweek.ee 

Peter Smidt at Tallinn Music Week 

Artist applications for Tallinn Music Week 

2012 together with delegates’ registration 

will open up in September 2011.

19 


deAG Prolong 

its deal with 

david Garrett 

New contract last until 2016 and 

covers 100 concerts with the pop- 

ular violinist 

DEAG has announced that it has 

signed another exclusive agree- 

ment with its top artist David Gar- 

rett. The deal is said to guarantee 

the artist the highest payment ever 

had paid to a classical music artist. 

Nevertheless the company has not 

released definite information about 

the payment. DEAG declared that 

180.000 tickets have already been 

sold for Garrett’s current Rock- 

Symphonies tour starting in May. In 

2012 the artist will play a tour with 

8 concerts where he will only play 

classical pieces. 

David Garrett 

Business News 


Festival republic Acquires 

Majority in Berlin Festival 

Becoming one of the very few invest- 

ments by a foreign company in the 

German live music market, UK compa- 

ny Festival Republic Ltd has purchased 

a 51 percent stake in the Berlin Festival 

GmbH & Co KG. Following the acquisi- 

tion Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn 

has been appointed joint managing 

director for the company alongside 

Matthias Hörstmann, both have a 50 

percent voting rights. 

In 2009 Hörstmann invested in the 

event and involved Stefan Lehmkuhl as 

the artistic director. Lehmkuhl who is 

also in charge of the Melt! Festival and 

Melt Booking managed with his team 

to establish a successful music festival 

in the German capital for the first time. 

The event itself was launched in 2005 

by Hilary Kavanagh and Cornelius Op- 

per, and is meanwhile located in the 

inoperative airport Tempelhof. 

Last years festival edition suffered 

from a questionable decision by local 

authorities to interrupt the event as 

they assumed that one of the hangars 

where concerts took place was over- 

crowded. The decision had been made 

in the light of the fatal incident at the 

Loveparade in Duisburg and meant 

that almost half of the program of the 

festival had to been rescheduled dur- 

ing the event. But it also revealed the 

very limited experience of the Berlin 

authorities with music festivals and 

their audience. 


However, the upcoming edition of the 

festival will be expanded significantly. 

Lehmkuhl will continue as the artistic 

director for the event and also oversee 

as well the nighttime extension to in- 

clude various concert clubs and ven- 

ues in the Kreuzberg district. The basic 

idea is to continue the festival after 

its curfew on the Tempelhof site. The 

name of this part of the festival is “Club 

Xberg” clubs such as Arena, Arena Club, 

Glashaus, Lido, Magnet, Comet and As- 

tra Kulturhaus are already confirmed 

for the event.Another possible exten- 

sion is cooperation with the “Club- 

nacht” by the Berlin Club Commission 

that will go on in 30 venues. 

The taking on board of Festival Repub- 

lic by the Berlin Festival could have a 

significant impact on the German festi- 

val landscape. The team around Hörst- 

mann and Lehmkuhl have already 

proved with the success of the Melt! 

festival that they are able to establish 

in short time an event that managed 

to attract international visitors and 

be successful. Taking into considera- 

tion that Berlin has become a tourist 

hotspot especially for young visitors is 

another element that could contribute 

to the success of this festival. 

Melvin Benn appointed MD for Berlin Festival

20 


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Territory: Europe 

Period: November - December 2011 

Agency: Paperclip Agency 

Agent: Rob Berends 

Phone: +31 24 323 9322 

E-mail: rob@paperclip-agency.com 

Homepage: www.paperclip-agency.com 

rahzel (The roots) 

Territory: Europe, Afrika 

Period: May 7th - 28th and July 

Agency: Frero Music Entertainment 

Agent: JF Ehrhart 

Phone: +33 611 503 615 

E-mail: freromxt@gmail.com 

booking@freromusic.com 

Homepage: www.freromusic.com 

Anthony B 


Period: 24th of June to 23rd of July 2011 

Agency: Magicbox 

Agent: Pedro Pontes 

Phone: +31 5 915 378 951 

E-mail: pedropontes@magicbox.pt 

Homepage: www.magicbox.pt 

Barclay Jame Harvest feat. les Holroyd 


Period: Summer 2011, October 201 

Agency: Kultopolis GmbH 

Agent: Markus Sollner 

Phone: +49 6 861 939 980 

E-mail: booking@kultopolis.com 

Homepage: www.kultopolis.com 

lA Guns (feat. Phil lewis & steve riley) 


Period: 01.09 - 31.10.2011 

Agency: ARM Entertainment 

Agent: Dana Strutz 

Phone: +1 651 483 8754 

E-mail: ds@armentertainment.com 

Homepage: www.laguns.net 

Groove Armada 

Territory: Europe / Worldwide 

Period: Worldwide 2011 

Agency: WME - William Morris Endeavor 

Entertainment 

Agent: Steve Hogan 

E-mail: SHogan@wmeentertainment.com 

Homepage: www.groovearmada.com 

MORE ARTIST AvAILS ON: 

WWW.vIP-BOOKING.COM 

POST YOUR ARTIST AvAILS ON: 

WWW.vIP-BOOKING.COM

21 21 

VIP- News - August - April 20052011 

Monthly featured artist ›› 

THe seleCTer 

Origin: UK 

Style: Ska - Worldmusic 

Tour period: May 2011 - December 2011 

Territory: Europe - Asia 

selector’s Pauline Black and 

Arthur “Gaps” Hendrickson reunite 

THE SELECTER is fronted by the original singing duo of Arthur 

‘Gaps’ Hendrickson and the female icon of the two-tone era 

Pauline Black. Classic hits like ‘Three Minute Hero’, ‘Missing 

Words’, ‘Too Much Pressure’’ ,“ On My Radio” and of course ‘Too 

Much Pressure’ will herald the return of one of the most vital, vis- 

ceral and important Ska acts ever, who will deliver what prom- 

ises to be a stunning performance and a must see for any Two- 

Tone fan. 


Agency: Artistagency 

Name: Bart Quintens 

Email: bart@artistagency.be 

Phone: +32 16 777 670 

The Selecter 

The VIP-Booking european live entertainment Book 

Advertising in the VIP Book will make you visible to 10.000 business 

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

company to the whole european live entertainment Industry. 

›› reserVe YOur Ad NOw ON www.VIP-BOOKING.COM

22 


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 

Cult Concerts Agency GmbH 

Since 1993, we have booked more than 3000 shows for national 

and mainly international artists in Switzerland and Europe. Cult 

Concerts Agency and Black Lamb Productions have now become 

one of the main Swiss booking agencies for festivals and tours. 

Our clients include The Metropop Festival, Sound Arena, Baregg 

Festival, AVO Session, Open Air Gampel, Outside Zürich Festival, 

Bex Rock Festival, Balélec, Out-in-the-Green festival, Open Air St. 

Gallen, Paléo Festival, Gurtenfestival, X-Tra Limmathaus, Kaserne 

Basel, Fri-Son, Bierhübeli, AlpenRock House and many others. 

The Tours and off-dates: 

We act as local promoters for international acts performing in 

Switzerland, either on the promoters requests or on agent¹s re- 

quest. Our job is to look for artists for the clubs/venues/promot- 

ers/special events/festivals or to look for places to play for the 

Artists on tour. 

We also are exclusive booking agents for several Swiss and In- 

ternational acts. 

The Festivals, corporate and special events: 

We have exclusive deals with some of the most important fes- 

tivals in Switzerland as well as with a growing number of cor- 

porate events. What we do for them varies from case to case: 

it goes from the making of the programme to the coordination 

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. 

vip-booking.com 


VIP-BOOKING.COM | 145-157 St John Street | UK - London Ec1V 4PW | Phone +44 870 755 0092 | Fax +44 870 622 1953 | e-mail: vip@vip-booking.com 


of the overall organisation, Production Management, Artist Rela- 

tions, Backstage management (dressing rooms & catering), Art- 

ist Transports, Press Office, Security, etc. 

Management & publishing: 

We are managing and taking care of the publishing of some art- 

ists 

Future developments: 

We intend to consolidate our position on the Swiss market in 

terms of festivals and corporate bookings as well as developping 

our booking activities for Swiss and International acts in Europe. 

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. 

®

The VIP-Booking european live entertainment Book

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