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| NEWS FROM THE CURRENT ISSUE |
ISSUE 160, MAY 2013
Power switched off at Hop Farm Festival
POOR TICKET sales have forced the cancellation of The Hop Farm Music Festival, according to promoter Vince Power.
The veteran festival organiser had announced a scaled-down version of the event on 5-6 July at the Paddock Wood site in Kent, despite the company behind the 2012 event collapsing with debts of over £4.86 million (see LIVE UK issue 156, Festival issue 15). Read more
New lease of life for Liverpool venue
THE MASQUE (cap. 1,500) in Liverpool has relaunched with a new name, the East Village Arts Club, following its takeover and £1.5 million renovation by MAMA & Company.
The venue, which had been closed since 2011, will host a wide range of arts and cultural programming, live shows and club nights. It reopened last month with a DJ set from Chase and Status and has already hosted gigs by acts including Kate Nash and Mystery Jets. Read more
End of an era for ATP
ALL TOMORROW’S Parties (ATP) has announced it is bringing an end to its UK holiday camp festivals after 14 years.
Founded in 1999, the event began at Pontins Holiday Camp (cap. 8,000) in Camber Sands and expanded across the world. Read more
Promotion for Ticketmaster MD
CHRIS EDMONDS has been promoted to chairman of Ticketmaster UK (TM) and executive vice-president of international strategic partnerships.
Edmonds was previously MD of the UK operation, which he has served for eight years and led through the US parent company’s merger with promoter Live Nation to form Live Nation Entertainment in 2010. Read more
Band manager dies after fall
THE MANAGER of a Swedush band died after suffering head injuries in a fall while watching a concert at Nottingham’s Rock City.
Michael Sunden from Stockholm was watching heavy metal act Saxon at the 1,900-capacity venue on 19 April, when the accident occurred. Police say there are no suspicious circumstances and believe the 45-year-old slipped and hit his head on a brick wall in the basement area. Read more
Extended curfew for Olympic venues
LIVE NATION Entertainment’s Hard Rock Calling festival has been granted an extended curfew to help avoid a repeat of the situation which saw the promoter pull the power on Bruce Springsteen’s encore jam with Paul McCartney at last year’s event.
Springsteen will return as one of the headliners of the 29-30 June festival, which is relocating to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP), after AEG Live won the rights to stage concerts in Hyde Park (see LIVE UK issue 154). Read more
UEA entertainments manager dies at 61
THE ENTERTAINMENTS manager at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Nick Rayns, who had made the venue a major touring destination for more than 30 years, has died aged 61.
Since taking on the role as Students Union social secretary in 1979, Rayns help to organise more than 2,000 concerts at the Norwich university, with artistes such as Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Emili Sandé. Read more
Union dispute over for See
A DISPUTE between See Tickets and a number of employees who protested against alleged short-staffing within the firm’s London sales team has been resolved.
The row, which began last November, escalated when See gave notice that it was terminating its voluntary recognition agreement with media and entertainment union BECTU (see LIVE UK issue 157), which had been in place for over five years. Read more
D2C selling tool hailed as ‘most advanced’
LONDON-BASED digital services company Music Glue is to launch a new direct to fan platform which enables an act, manager, label, venue, promoter or festival to sell products direct to the public.
After creating an account, says the company, users can begin sell products such as tickets and merchandise almost immediately. There are no subscription and membership fees and all orders processed through Music Glue’s systems. Read more
‘Edwin’s vision was outstanding’
TRIBUTES HAVE been paid to rock ‘n’ roll tour transportation pioneer Edwin Shirley, who died last month aged 64 following a long illness.
Shirley, an ex-actor, founded Edwin Shirley Trucking (EST) with partners Roy Lamb and Dell Roll in 1974 and coined the slogan, “You Rock, We Roll.” The trio went on to form Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS) in 1980.
Both companies grew to be world leaders in their respective fields, working with artistes such as Led Zeppelin, ABBA, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones and Queen. Read more
Ex-Big director for Glasgow arenas
THE FORMER chief operating officer of leading South African promoter Big Concerts has been appointed director of concerts, events and ticketing at Glasgow’s SECC (10,000) and new sister venue The Hydro (cap. 12,000).
John Langford will be responsible for overseeing and developing sales at the venues in the newly-created role. Read more
PRS reports live revenue down in 2012
FIGURES REPORTED by performance royalty collection body PRS for Music show a 14.2 per cent drop in live music-related revenue in 2012, compared with the previous 12 months.
A total of £19.3 million was collected from live music last year, down from £22.5m in 2011.
But the organisation, which represents the rights of 95,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, says the live market remains “buoyant” despite the latest figures. Read more
StubHub to open more pop-ups at venues
EBAY-OWNED ticket marketplace StubHub is to expand its Last Minute Service (LMS) feature by opening pop-up outlets near venues, when there is sufficient demand for 111th hour trading and ticket collections.
The move is part of a growth plan for StubHub, which includes eBay switching all concert ticket reselling from its UK operation to StubHub, from 10 May. Read more
Team expands as Troxy wins Kerrang! awards
EAST LONDON venue Troxy (cap. 3,050) is expanding its team as it prepares to celebrate the building’s 80th anniversary in September.
Will Fincher, whose previous roles have included visitor operations manager at London’s Roundhouse (3,300), and Joe Mangara, who is from a restaurant and banqueting background, have joined as duty manager and events manager respectively. Read more
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