The Police Report: Reunion Tour Is A Go

(Via Entertainment Tonight) As rumored by many, 80's super pop group The Police will indeed be touring this summer. Fresh from a reunion performance at last night's Grammy Awards ceremony, the threesome announced a worldwide which will run from late May to early August.

"We started 30 years ago, so it would be nice to do something to celebrate," Sting said recently at a press conference in Pasadena, CA...."It seems an organic time to discuss the past and say, 'Hey, what did we achieve?'"

The tour is co-produced by Live Nation and sponsored by Best Buy and while all the dates have yet to be booked the tickets will--of course--be in the high range of $50-225 for all you scalpers and MUCH MUCH more for us normal folk.

The Word's In - Concert Industry Is Up!

(Via CNN Money) The rumors (or possibly just positive thinking) proved true. According to a recent report, revenues on the touring side are up!

A recent Pollstar report states that North American tour revenue topped up at $3.1 billion last year, and increase of 16 percent from 2005. The top 100 tours of last year garnered a whopping $2.3 billion.

"There is no reason not to expect 2007 to be bigger than last year. We have had record revenues nearly every year thanks in part to rising ticket prices. Having superstar acts like The Police certainly helps," said Gary Bongiovanni, publisher and editor of Pollstar, in an e-mail from the Concert Industry Consortium, held this week in Los Angeles.

Of course, since much of this is due to monstrously high ticket prices for withering up old dinosaurs (no disrespect to Sting and co.) and the occasional country couple, what still remains to be seen is whether the industry can offer a reasonably priced ticket, bring more people out to more shows, AND develop smaller artists into big arena draws to create a true trend instead of just riding on a nostalgia and dumb luck .

(Yet Another) Free Prize Inside: ITunes Partners With Ticketmaster

(Via Filter)

In yet another announcement from the Concert Industry Consortium, Ticketmaster has announced that they have sorted out a deal with ITunes wherein ticket buyers will get free downloads with ticket purchase. Though this is not the first Ticketmaster "freebie" deal (I linked to news about other giveaway deals here, oh and and they did offer free downloads during the Bob Dylan ticket promotion), linking together with another strong brand like Apple's I-Tunes appears to be a step by company bigwigs to give TM a more favorable sheen. While all the terms of the deal have yet to be grinded out, it has been reported that in addition to the free downloads, the couple will also be selling joint $50 gift cards.

Without even seeing the final terms, I can wager to say that Ticketmaster can "hang with the cool kids" all it wants, but until it proves otherwise it will continue to be just a necessary evil rather than a choice brand. Anyone savvy enough to know how to download music will NOT be anymore compelled to spend upwards of $50 plus service fee for one measly free (DRM encoded!) I-Tunes track. While Ticketmaster has the monopoly on most shows in most markets, they are wise to the fact of the impending (potentially costly) split with Live Nation. Unless they sort out a merger (which may not even be legal), Ticketmaster will have to branch out, connect with the best of the other large promoters, lower service fees, and make the ticket purchasing process faster and more pleasant in order to stay afloat. Get your thinking caps on, guys.

BRIEF: Pollstar Award Results

(Via Pollstar)

Major Tour Of the Year:
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill

Most Creative Tour Package:
Def Leppard/Journey

Most Creative Stage Production:
Madonna

Best New Touring Artist:
Panic! At the Disco

Music Festival Of the Year:
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Int'l Music Festival Of the Year:
Reading/Leeds Festival

Nightclub Of the Year:
House Of Blues Chicago

Theatre Of the Year:
Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk

Best New Major Concert Venue:
John Paul Jones Arena

Red Rocks Award Best Small Outdoor Venue:
Greek Theatre, Los Angeles

Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue:
Hollywood Bowl

Arena Of the Year:
Madison Square Garden

International Theatre Of the Year:
Royal Albert Hall

International Arena Of the Year:
Wembley Arena

Nightclub Talent Buyer Of the Year:
Greg Siegel / The Wiltern, Avalon

Independent Promoter Of the Year:
Arny Granat & Jerry Mickelson
Jam Productions

Talent Buyer Of the Year:
Susan Rosenbluth / AEG Live/Concerts West

Facility Exective Of the Year:
Marilyn Hauser / Palace Of Auburn Hills

Bill Graham Award Promoter Of the Year:
Brian O'Connell / Live Nation

International Promoter Of the Year:
Phil Bowdery / Live Nation UK

Booking Agency Of the Year:
Creative Artists Agency

Boutique Booking Agency Of the Year:
Little Big Man Booking/Paradigm

UK Booking Agent Of the Year:
Neil Warnock / The Agency Group

Third Coast Agent Of the Year:
Brian Hill
Monterey Peninsula Artists/Paradigm

Bobby Brooks Award Agent Of the Year:
Marc Geiger / William Morris Agency

Personal Manager Of the Year:
Bob McLynn

Artist Development Executive Of the Year:
Harlan Frey / Roadrunner Records

Road Warrior Of the Year:
Dale "Opie" Skjerseth

Lighting Company Of the Year:
Upstaging

Sound Company Of the Year:
Clair Brothers/Showco

Staging/Equipment Company Of the Year:
All Access Staging & Productions

Transportation Company Of the Year:
Rock-It Cargo

Video Company Of the Year:
Screenworks

Ozzfest Costs Less! - Osbourne Affair To Be A FREE One This Year

= +

According to Roadrunner Records' heavy metal newsite Blabbermout, Sharon Osbourne and Live Nation are now feverishly working on plans to make 2007 Ozzfest shows absolutely cost-free. You heard me right, it won't cost a dime The announcement was made today at the Concert Industry Consortium conference in Los Angeles

"For the last few years," says Sharon, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."

In the 12th year of this large and influential rock extravaganza, The Osbournes and Live Nation still intend for the festival to hit 25 major cities with the festival's namesake dark prince himself finally reclaiming the headlining slot (after a recent hiatus). In order to foot the cost of this hefty production, the concert promoters will be pushing even harder for sponsorship. However it appears that Sharon is looking at the event in a newer, more groundbreaking way:

"we have bands committed, but we're hoping that after today's announcement we'll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking. We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they've got. They're also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of Ozzfest. I'm not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives."

So while hell hasn't exactly frozen over, the fact that ANYONE is giving ANYTHING away for free in this industry is incredible. I am excited to hear this news and with prices like this, I guess I'll see you in the pit.

Coachella Prioritizes Fans Who Go Whole Hog

(Via Desertsun.com) In order to ensure that fans looking to buy 3-day pass are prioritized, organizers of Coachella have discontinued sale of one-day tickets but won't say the event is officially sold out. With Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining Saturday Night and a Rage Against The Machine reunion planned for Sunday, tickets for individual nights were flying, so event planners claim they had to stop the flow.

Tickets for the full three-days are $249 and single-day tickets are going for $85 or $90 at the door. According to organizers, in past years even when the event was announced as sold-out tickets were still released at the door on the day-of.

What Else? More Changes at LN.

(Via PRNewswire) Everyone's fave concert promoters is delivering on their promise to focus more and more on the music. To this end they have reorganized North American Operations. Here are the main changes:

* Bruce Eskowitz (former President of Global Venues and Alliances) has been promoted to the newly created position of Chief Executive Officer - North American Music

* Live Nation's North American concert promotion, venue operation and sponsorship and alliances businesses are now all under a single division: North American Music

* Jason Garner (former COO, Amphitheatre Programming) has been promoted to the position of President of North American Concerts, replacing Charlie Walker, who left to take the helm of C3 Productions (which I reported about earlier today)

* Russell Wallach (former President of National Alliances) has been named President of Alliances, overseeing all national and local sponsorship activities.

* Don Watson (former VP of Operations at House of Blues) has been named Executive Vice President of House of Blues, overseeing the HOB-branded clubs and expansion.

* David Shuman has been named Executive Vice President of North American
finance.

* The Live Nation music business is now comprised of four major divisions:
(1) North American Music, led by Mr. Eskowitz
(2) International Music, led by Carl Pernow (International) and Paul Latham (UK)
(3) Global Touring, led by Arthur Fogel, who is also Chairman of Global Music
(4) Global Digital, led by Bryan Perez

As always, I am keeping an eye on the next steps...

BRIEF: Charles Attal Heats Up With Merger

While this week brought the unfortunate news of the closing of V2, the merger of Capitol and Virgin, and the uncertain news of changes at Live Nation, we also have the very exciting (but not all that surprising if you know the history of CAP) announcement that Charles Attal (producer of Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza) have joined forces with sports management company Capital Sports and Entertainment's music division to form C3 Presents. In addition to the two aforementioned (and top-grossing) festivals, they will also be producing a large country music festival.

While Charles Attal may not be my favorite promoter, I am excited about anything that gives Rapino and the gang some healthy competition.

Full article here.

BRIEF: Live Nation Partners with Live FM

In their further march towards world domination, Live Nation has now linked up with music social networking site, Last.fm (a website I still haven't figured out/don't understand the point of), to distribute concert information and links to ticket purchasing. The site will be using users' music preferences to deliver information about upcoming concerts by their favorite artists.

"Our objective is to make LiveNation.com the world's definitive online live music destination where fans can search for concerts, buy tickets and connect with other fans. Partnering with Last.fm is an important step in pursuing this goal," (says) Bryan Perez, Live Nation President of Digital Distribution.

Not much to say just yet except I hope that with the new partnership, Last.fm might be able to---at least--spiff up their site.

Full article here.

BRIEF: Franz Ferdinand's Kaparanos Tasting and Touring

Click here to listen to an NPR interview with Franz Ferdinand lead singer, Alex Kapranos, who recently released, Sound Bites, a compilation of his food reviews. The artist was commissioned last year by the Guardian newspaper to blog about the interesting and sometimes wacky meals (deadly Japanese blowfish, anyone?) he had whilst on the road. The book has received accolades for the thoughtful reviews and Kapranos' dry wit.

In his NY Times review, Dave Itzkoff even went so far as to jokingly query:

Why Kapranos continues to waste his time performing for crowds of ecstatic, devoted, nubile fans when he’s already found his true calling is anyone’s guess.

Festival Renaissance

(Via Monsters and Critics)

Following the trend enjoyed by--well, everyone else in the world- the US concert industry has decided to expand its focus on festivals. With the recent success of Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and many others, this sector has proven too profitable to ignore. According to the article, the big four festivals grossed a combined $40 million, and the Virgin Festival (which was held for the very first time only last year) grossed $3.5 million.

"There is a real market for an event built around a number of solid artists," (Peter) Luukko (of Philadelphia's Global Comcast) says. "I think we could put together events and have many artists, price it properly and go all day. I really feel there`s a market out there for that."

In addition to the aforementioned festivals, many other big events are planned for this year such as an AEG produced country-music festival on the Coachella grounds (AEG's Goldenvoice group produces Coachella), the second annual (Live Nation produced) Bamboozle festival, and possibly a festival on the grounds of Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky. The Churchill Downs space would come equipped with many of the facilities festial producers normally have to order in, such as toilets, food stands, and running water. These facilities are always a costly overhead and it is for this reason, and for reasons of stability that Boonnarroo producers , Superfly Productions, moved ahead this week with plans to purchase their own fairgrounds. According to a January 10th press release,

"We are really excited about making this investment," Superfly's Jonathan Mayers said. "It's an incredible property that can lend itself to many different kinds of events and gatherings. Our hope is that this will become one of the premier event sites in the world. We plan to work closely with all local officials as we determine what types of events will be a good match for this site. We are very open-minded about working with anyone interested in using the property," Mayers continued.

While no acts have been announced for this summer's Bonnarroo, the festival's first allotment of tickets sold out lightening fast in December. As Bonnarroo seems to be leading the festive pack, we can expect to see many other promoters following suit. More producers and promoters working hard to create truly great fan experiences can only be a good and FUN thing.

BRIEF: Preg Stefani Keeps Tourbus Rollin'

While countless rock and pop stars have woken up the morning after a show woozy and sick, it is usually due to a wild night of partying. In the case of pop-diva Gwen Stefani, her sickness in the morning was actual morning sickness as she discovered she was pregnant in the midst of a big tour. She decided to carry on undeterred and soon discovered the limits of jumping and gyrating with a (secret) bun in the oven.

"I would be seriously crying before I went onstage," she recalls. "I didn't know how I was going to get through the tour, putting on nine costume changes on a stage in front of 12,000 people every night. And I didn't want people to know (I was pregnant). I didn't want to become the Gwen Freak Circus Show -- 'Watch it grow onstage.'"



Full article here.

The Police Alert: Another Oldy but goody eyes touring

(Via ITV) According to a myriad of sources, it appears that 80's hitmakers, The Police, may be looking to reunite. 2007, will mark the 30th anniversary of their chart-topper, Roxanne, and according to their label and singer, Sting's, website, some sort of reunion will take place. However Sting is still uncertain as to the ""depth of the band's involvement". While the other players have been keen on a reunion, Sting (the most successful ofthe former members) has reportedly been reluctant. Will stay tuned....

BRIEF: Petty Words Recanted

After a stellar year touring (despite ticketing complications) in 2006, Tom Petty has decided to keep his options open for touring.

The singer was quite as saying:

"You never know how things are going to turn out, and I didn't see this year coming. Maybe next year will be even better."




Full article here.

U2's Beautiful Days On The Road

The GAME should have a chat with U2. While The GAME is "in prison" on the road. U2 is having the time of their lives, even after 20 years of the grind. According to a recent tour diary post:

Touring is hell...

‘Touring is hell, or it used to be. These days it's an amazing
privilege, and it gets better each time we go out.

We fly around the world getting applause from our fans for just showing up, and we get to do the thing we most love: playing our music. On days off we get to see some of the most beautiful areas of the country we’re in.


Maybe The GAME should consider making watered down feelgood music instead???

Full blissful tour diary post here.

BRIEF: The Game Is Not Having Fun

According to a recent MTV report, rapper, The Game, is having a horrible time on the road. He was quoted as saying:

"Being on (the) bus is like being in a prison on wheels, man....you start getting claustrophobic and when I start getting mad I just start pulling people out of their bunk and kicking them in the face and s***."

Sounds like they need to add a request for post-show tranquilizers to the rider. In the meantime, someone please at least get the tour manager a whistle and some pepper spray.

Yikes!

Full article here.

Live Nation Makes New Friends

This just in! In a further move away from their murky Clear Channel roots, Live Nation has added two big names to their Board of Directors, Harvey Weinstein and Robert "Ted" Enloe. As many of you know, Weinstein was a founder of groundbreaking movie house Miramax Films. Enloe has made a big name for himself in securities and real estate, and sits on a number of corporate boards.
More info here.

Live Nation's Big Idea

Here are my notes from last week's Live Nation Credit Suisse presentation.

What They Said:

• The goal this year was to narrow down and focus on music and trim away the fat. To that end they've developed a vertical integration strategy.
• Though this industry has existed for a long time it was the last to get professionalized (and is still dragging behind if you ask me). Live Nation is working to develop a "clarity of mission."
• Part of this strategy included seeling off non-strategic assets like the sports division and acquiring Trunk Ltd. and House of Blues
• Artists are now (and for the last few years) making more money on the road than selling records.
• Live Nation spends over a billion dollars a year in talent costs and don't expect that to change.
• They would however like to stretch that dollar to includes such things are more performance s and more rights to broadcast said performances since they are "providing the strategic capital" (read: yo dude! we have speakers installed!)
• Next year there will also be an increased focus on getting out of non-optimum venus in wrong markets.
• They have too many ampitheatres that they can't sell out. One thousand to five thousand seaters
• The number of European properties surpassed United States this year.
• They have developed a new top market strategy in N. America as they currently do in Europe whereby they will have the best venues (at the large and mid-sized level) in the first tier markets (major cities) and pull out of less profitable second tier markets.
• Internation expansion is a high priority. They have their lasers set on Spain, Germany, Australia, and Japan among others.
• House of Blues has immeasurable brand value and name recognition for Live Nation, however I didn't get a sense that they were particularly clear on how the rest of their properties could capitalise from it.
• This year was about investing in the company more than anything else.
• They will be rolling out an online store powered by MusicToday very soon.
• They are aggressively looking to expand in the music festival market, as they already have the rights to the largest festivals in Europe and have found them to be immensely profitable (Boonnarroo, Coachella this means you. Name your price).
• They need to sort out a better food and beverage deal.
• They may sort a deal out with Ticketmaster to work together on a Live Nation ticketing system but they will no longer farm their ticketing out to Ticketmaster.

What They Didn't Say/ What sounded fishy:

• They didn't say anything about artist development. They seem to be content with the idea that the artists that fill the arenas and clubs might not be the same from year to year, rather than trying to work on developing staying power and using that to form the basis of their (sorely needed) customer relationship/ audience development strategy.
• They want to figure out how to sell fans more "artist stuff". But there was not much talk about the quality of said "stuff".
• They talked about having an email list of 25 million "avid concertgoers", but didn't explain what that meant. We all know most people rarely/never go to concerts, so what does it mean to have an email list of which a sizable chunk are people who just want to see Barbara Streisand?

Off The Road Again: No One Coming Out To Play

With the weather getting colder and the roads getting slicker it seems the end of year show cancellations are starting to pile up, I just got word that the Coup and Mr. Lif got into a car crash that put a screeching halt to their current tour and David Berman and The Silver Jews cancelled their last two shows of their year. According to the website, they are going through "winterization" according to popular opinion, Berman is going through a major case of stage fright. More on that (via Tinymixtapes) here.

Taking their cancellations and raising them, Robert Pollard has announced he will no longer be touring.

"This is not to say I'll never play another show again, but this touring thing is too much," the ex-Guided By Voices frontman tells Billboard.com. "It's too hard to psychologically re-energize yourself each night."

Rest of the article (via Billboard) here.

Listen Up: Phil Collins Is More Committed Than You

While you may neglect your girlfriend, your dishes, and your mounting bills to devote more time to the band, dude, Phil Collins has probably got you beat by quite a lot. In reuniting his band Genesis, Collins risks permanent deafness (dude!).

Six years ago, Collins suddenly loss hearing in his right ear and has been steering clear of that noisy scene ever since.

He says, "I find it very difficult to hear in loud environments. I was advised not to do any more shows. But it hasn't got any worse. You just run the risk of b**gering the other ear up."

The Genesis reunion tour is slated to run from June to July 2007.