Morrissey gets venue meat free (again)

The Times reports that having slagged off Italian venues as 'abysmal', the 'moany Mancunian minstrel'  Morrissey arrived at a show in Utrecht on Tuesday (Octiber 28th) and demanded that meat and fish be banned throughout the five venue cultural complex in Holland. In 2011 Morrissey's tour rider contained provisions demanding festivals and venues went meat free and one, Lokerse Feesten in Belgium, went meat free fr one of their ten days whe Morrissey appeared with organisers saying "one meatless day" out of 10 was "a healthy break for all". In 2009, the singer left the stage at California's Coachella festival saying he could "smell burning flesh". According to Coachella festival-goers, the singer then added: "And I hope to God it's human."

DJ reporting tool launched

PRS for Music are progressing talks with Pioneer to enable the collection society to receive the reporting of music played in clubs captured by their KUVO system. The new technology will capture club play data and potentially enhance the accuracy in the distribution of royalties for music played in clubs. KUVO is a mobile app that provides clubbers with details of the music played by DJs using Pioneer CD players (CDJs) in clubs where the KUVO hardware is installed. PRS say they have progressed talks with Pioneer with a view to evaluating and ultimately utilising the KUVO data to improve the accuracy of PRS distributions. Pioneer launched KUVO at Amsterdam Dance Event on 15 October 2014. PRS also say that a number of monitoring solutions to help improve reporting for DJ performances in clubs and at festivals are also being considered as part of the Amplify project.

Venues day in London announced

The Music Venues Trust has announced Venues Day, an event due to take place at the Southbank Centre in London on the 9th December. Aiming to give a stronger voice to the UK's smaller gig venues, the day will see discussions between representatives of those venues and the wider music industry. There will be three main panels, dealing with: best practice, noise vs nuisance, and the question 'what happens next?' Amongst the speakers on the day will be Horace Trubridge from the Musicians' Union, Attitude Is Everything's Suzanne Bull, Mike Weatherley MP, Lisa Lavia from the Noise Abatement Society and Dom Frazer from Guildford venue The Boilerroom. Venue managers, owners and promoters can apply for free delegate passes now by emailing musicvenuetrust@gmail.com. 

Registration will open fully on 10 Nov. More info here.

Live fast .... die young

Professor Diana Kenny from the University of Sydney has proved what most of suspected .... and The Who yearned for .... rock stars tend to die younger than the rest of us. Its not all bad news, Mick Jagger is 71 and Keith Richards 70, Tony Bennett has made it to 88 and Petula Clark is 81, with Dame Vera Lynn now 97. Even Ozzy has made it to 65 and a free bus pass. But Kenny's research shows that rock stars live anything up to 25 years less than their peers. There is of course the 'curse of 27' which has snapped up such talent as Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix - although death at the age of 27 has no statistical basis - but the study of nearly 13,000 rock and pop stars from the 1950s onwards in all genres shows that popsters and rockers are twice as likely as the general public to die in an accident, six times more likely to be murdered, and twice as likely to commit suicide. The average age of death for male rock stars is in the mid fifties -  and the Beatles are a good example - one (John Lennon) murdered aged just 40, another (George Harrison) dead of lung cancer at 58 - but Sir Paul and Ringo are still rocking on aged 72 and 74 years old respectively.

FESTIVAL NEWS

The UK's Global Gathering will take a year off in 2015, its promoter MAMA & Company has confirmed. The the 2014 weekender featured headliners Chase & Status, David Guetta and The Prodigy. The motivation for taking the break gives organisers time to "review all elements of the show, ensuring it remains at the heart of the UK dance market".  The festival began in 2001 and is held at Long Marston Airfield in Stratford-upon-Avon.

iTunes revenues slip 14% worldwide

Having seen US revenues peak last year, it seems  iTunes worldwide revenues are now sliding, and are down 14%, as the as the shift from downloading to streaming escalates. The Wall Street Journal cited insider knowledge that seemingly confirming the consensus that the US drop year on year is now being matched around the world.

And Deezer announced on Friday that it had acquired US-based podcast app Stitcher in a deal that will bring a big library of radio-style content into the streaming music platform.

Music hits the right notes for business success

A lot of us seem to pay twice when we listen to music in the workplace  - once because the broadcaster pays a blanket levy to the PPL and PRS for Music - and then again because the owner of a shop, factory, or garage also pays for music in the workplace - even if its just for their own staff and not customers. There have been a number of legal challenges to this over the years in the British Courts, including the leading 1943 judgement in Turner v PRS which seemingly supports PRS's view that “If your staff or customers are listening to music on your premises, played by any means from live performance through to radio, TV, CD or via the internet, you need our music licence". The battle has extended to a number of decisions in the European Court of Justice  which has managed to come to the conclusion that hotels do have to pay for providing music ti their guests - but dentists don't have to pay! Musicians and writers deserved to be paid. But paid twice?

Well, and no doubt with one eye on this argument and the need to support their tariffs for factories, offices and other workplaces, PRS and PPL have conveniently released some new research that shows "music hits the right notes for business success" with Christine Geissmar, Operations Director, PPL saying: “The results of this experiment are a clear indication of the value music can add to the workplace. Music is a key tool for business success.” 

The research, undertaken by Mindlab International, was commissioned by MusicWorks, a joint initiative of PRS for Music and PPL, the organisations that between them, represent the rights of thousands of composers, performers, publishers and record companies in the UK.  The experiment required 26 participants to undertake a series of on-line tasks 5 days in a row. Dr David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International commented: “The MusicWorks experiment revealed a positive correlation between music and productivity – overall it showed that when listening to music, 9 out of 10 people performed better. Music is an incredibly powerful management tool in increasing the efficiency of a workforce. It can exert a highly beneficial influence over employee morale and motivation, helping enhance output and even boosting a company’s bottom line."

The research show
·         81% of people worked fastest when listening to one of four music genres

·         88% of people worked most accurately when listening to one of four music genres

·         Pop music is best for working quickly and accurately

·         Classical music is most effective for solving mathematical problems

·         Ambient music improves data-entry accuracy

·         Dance music enhances proof-reading skills

When listening to a selection of different genres, classical music was found to be the most effective for improving the accuracy of tasks and resolving every-day mathematical problems with participants achieving a 73% pass rate. When listening to pop music, 58% of participants completed data entry tasks much faster. When proof-reading, dance music had the most positive impact, with participants increasing their speed by 20% compared to proof-reading tests undertaken with no music at all.  Dance music also had a positive effect on spell-checking with a 75% pass rate compared to 68% when no music was played at all.

The research also showed that when people did not listen to music, they made the most mistakes while solving equations and spell-checking. Ambient music worked best for accurate data entry tasks, with participants scoring a high pass rate of 92.%.                                                                                                   
Paul Clements, Director of Public Performance Sales, PRS for Music added: “The increase in levels of productivity when music is playing is striking. This project provides a refreshing reminder of the multiple benefits to be gained from listening to music at work.”   

Q Awards, MOBOS and Festival Supplier Awards all out!

Having only just got through the AIF Festival Congress Awards, The Greener Festival Awards and The Live Music Business Awards, its now time for the Q Awards, MOBOS and Festival Supplier Awards, with the Qs giving a nod to the now cancer free Wilko Johnson

Q Awards

Best Album: Elbow - The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
Best Track: Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky
Best Video: Jamie xx - Sleep Sound
Best Act In The World Today: Kasabian
Best New Act: Sam Smith
Best Solo Artist: Ed Sheeran
Best Live Act: Kasabian
Classic Album: Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Classic Songwriter: Andy Partridge
Gibson Les Paul Award: Johnny Marr
Inspiration: Simple Minds
Hero: The Charlatans
Innovation In Sound: Jean Michel Jarre
Icon: Wilko Johnson
Hero: The Charlatans
Outstanding Contribution To Music: Richard Russell

MOBOs

Best Male: Sam Smith
Best Female: Jessie J
Best International: Beyoncé
Best Newcomer: Ella Eyre
Best Song: Sam Smith 'Stay With Me'
Best Album: Sam Smith
Best Video: Skepta ft J.M.E 'That's Not Me'
Best Reggae Act: Stylo G
Best HipHop Act: Krept and Konan
Best RnB/Soul Act: Sam Smith
Best Gospel Act: Living Faith Connection Choir
Best Jazz Act: Zara McFarlane
Best Grime Act: Stormzy
Best African Act: Fuse ODG
Inspiration Award: Idris Elba

Festival Supplier Awards. 

The Winners were announced at an awards ceremony and gala dinner held at Newbury Showground, rounding off the first day of the Showman’s Show

Best Staging -NoNonsense (Group) Ltd
Best Admission Control - Intelligent Venue Solutions
Best Temporary Roadway / Walkway -LION Trackhire
Best Fencing / Hoarding -Eve
Best Crowd / Pit Barrier - Eve
Best Temporary Structure - Losberger UK Ltd
Best Crew / Artist Catering - Eat to the Beat
Best Crewing Company - Diamond Event Services
Best Concession / Bar - Creative
Best Event Branding - Newsubstance
Best Toilets - Qdos Event Hire
Best Temporary Water Supply - Watermills Events Ltd
Best Crowd Management - Showsec International Ltd
Best Festival Production Team - EnTEEtainment Ltd
Best Lighting -Hawthorn
Best Sound - SSE Audio Group
Best Power - Power Logistics
Best Festival Support Service - Event LED Signs
Rising Star - Frankie Tee
Green Festival Supplier Award - Midas UK

Tragic deaths at ADE

It has been confirmed that four people have died at the annual Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) over the weekend. Police announced a 41-year old woman died on her way to hospital after taking a ecstasy pill at an event that was part of ADE. In addition, a 21-year old Dutch man and a 33-year old Serbian man both passed away early on Sunday morning after attending events. Police have indicated that they believe  all three deaths are linked to a deadly batch of ecstasy and although this has not been confirmed, Police warned the public to dispose of the drug.

Richard Zijlma, ADE Director, said:

“The ADE organization is shocked by these tragic accidents. We are in close contact with all of the venues, municipalities and emergency services that are part of the ADE Festival and every precaution is taken to ensure the safety and security of the audience at all participating venues. Each venue is responsible for its own security and door policy and a comprehensive inspection is also completed at every venue entrance.

Drug use is not tolerated in any way and ADE and its partners make every effort to ensure that people are behaving responsibly at the event. Ultimately there is a limit to what we can do and individuals must take responsibility for their own actions. Our thoughts are with the families and friends at this time and we would like to express our deepest sympathy to them.”


A fourth death at ADE was also confirmed. Music executive Felix Hines, Head of Publishing at Phoenix Music International, passed away Saturday night.

Korean tragedy prompts promoter suicide

A man involved in the organisation of an open air pop concert in South Korea has committed suicide after the event ended in tragedy. A ventilation grate on which some audience members were standing collapsed on Friday (17 Oct) and sixteen people died after dropping 20 metres when the grate gave way during a performance by K-Pop group 4Minute in the city of Seongnam, just 12 miles from the South Korean capital Seoul.  Eleven others being seriously injured, eight of which are being treated for life-threatening injuries. The band were unaware of the incident until after their show ended.

New look Maverick gives Live Nation a management powerhouse

Guy Oseary has unveiled the new Maverick, giving Live Nation a major presence in band management  - by tying up with eight other top artist managers to partner with Live Nation and potentially reinvent the music industry with a stable that includes superstar acts like Madonna, U2 and Alicia Keys -- not to mention a tech fund with Ashton Kutcher and billionaire Ron Burkle. Joining Oseary are Laffitte Management's Ron Laffitte, I Am Other's Caron Veazey, Blueprint Group's Gee Roberson and Cortez Bryant, Reign Deer's Larry Rudolph and Adam Leber, Quest Management's Scott Rodger and Spalding Entertainment's Clarence Spalding. Collectively, they manage more than two dozen of the planet's biggest artists. 

FESTIVAL NEWS

Belgian festival Rock Werchter has announced that it is shifting its dates forward by one week next year, in order to accommodate the availability of one of its headliners. In a statement, the festival said: "This means we're moving the festival one week forward, to fit the schedule of one of the headliners. Negotiations are still ongoing, and we cannot reveal any names just yet".

The UK's Bloc Weekend festival has announced its return to Butlins in Minehead next year, three years on from the ill-fated London version of the event. Taking place in March, the first wave of artists have been announced - including Jeff Mills, Modeselektor and Hudson Mohawke - with the festival returning to the holiday camp format it previously ran successfully for a number of years. Bloc's 2012 event in London was shut down by police mid-way through its first night due to overcrowding at the London Pleasure Gardens.

The Glastonbury Festival has asked its traders not to sell anymore Native American-style headdresses. Speaking to NME,  co-organiser Emily Eavis emphasised that "it isn't a ban, it's just that we've asked the two traders selling them to hold off". The move follows the launch of an online petition on Change.org calling on Glastonburty to "lead the way this side of the pond and take a principled stand".  Canada's Bass Coast festival stopped traders on-site shops from selling items of feathered headgear, also asked ticketholders to refrain from bringing in and wearing the garments.

Glastonbury has also confirmed that the Festival was able to give £2 million to charities in 2013. Oxfam, Greenpeace, WaterAid were the primary beneficiaries but hundreds of other worthy causes, both local and international, received funds. Oxfam and Greenpeace recieved £500,000 and WaterAid £260,000. More on the Glastonbury website here.

Virtual Festivals reports that a young man has been found wandering through woods in Georgia, lost and confused, four days after attending a music festival in the US.
Hunter Casey Saunders reportedly stumbled upon the man in the woods on October 2nd, shortly after the TomorrowWorld Festival in Georgia, according to reports on Digital Spy. Saunders took a video of the incident (watch below) in which he is heard shouting before encountering the man in the woods, "holding a walking stick with not a stitch of clothing on him" who claimed he had been attacked and stripped. Saunders says he gave the man food and water.

The Bestival team pick up their award

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has  announced the winners of the first ever Festival Congress Awards at a sold-out ceremony in Cardiff’s Portland House. The ceremony recognised and celebrated the great variety of work that took place in the festival industry this year. Winners included Catfish & the Bottlemen for ‘Live Act of the Year’,  Showsec for ‘Friendliest Security Staff’,  Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip for ‘Artist for the Audience’ and The Arcadia Spider in the ‘Mind-Blowing Spectacle Award’ category. Dan Le Sac, said: “We are honoured to win this award. We’ve spent the last 8 years together planning shows because we love gigging, so to be recognised for that is truly wondrous! The cherry on the cake is that the award comes from the AIF - the independent festival scene is hugely vibrant in the UK and plays a massive part in keeping the music industry alive.”

AIF vice chair, John Rostron, said: "What a way to kick off the first ever Festival Congress Awards, with some terrific winners and plenty of good fun in the mix. The fact there are winners here who aren't even a part of the AIF, yet have been nominated and voted for by our membership, demonstrates the great spirit of support for the sector, which runs throughout the AIF. Our festivals LOVE festivals, and there's a lot of love for these worthy winners." The awards were hosted by Ben Challis and featured an introduction by Huw Stephens (BBC Radio One) and Bethan Elfyn (BBC Radio Wales). There were also showcase performances from talented emerging Welsh music acts Baby Queens and Gabrielle Murphy, in connection with the AIF’s exciting partnership with the BBC’s Horizons scheme.

And those winners were:

Dan le Sac

The Outstanding Contribution Award – Rob da Bank

Supporter of Emerging Talent Award – 2000 Trees

New Festival on the Block – Fire in the Mountain

Silver Service Award – Goan Seafood Company

Unique Festival Site – Festival No.6

Live Act of the Year – Catfish & the Bottlemen

Artist for the Audience – Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

Mind-Blowing Spectacle Award – The Arcadia Spider

Smart Marketing Campaign of the Year – Bestival Mirror Ball

Random Act of Kindness Award – End of the Road audience: Festival Wood

Culture & Tourism Award: Forward Thinking Local Authority – Dorset County Council

Friendliest Security Staff - Showsec

Festival Blogger of the Year – Shell Zenner

Emmet Brown Award – Shambala Festival: Fuel Efficient Technology

Festival Venue of the Year – End of the Road: The Garden Stage

Unsung Hero – James Goodall

A Greener Fesival also handed out its Greener Festival  awards to Shambala (Outstanding), Wood (Highly Commended) and Nozstock (Commended) with our very own Helen Innes in charge of proceedings at a drinks reception sponsored by our good friends at Robertson Taylor WP Longreach.


An after party at Cardiff’s Glee Club followed the ceremony and was soundtracked by icons of the DJ world including Huw Stephens, Madame Electrifie, DJ Chris Tofu and Count Skylarkin. The awards ceremony took place on the first night of the AIF Festival Congress, a two-day gathering of those behind the success of festivals around the world as they met to network, learn and celebrate. The congress featured keynote speaker Jude Kelly and speeches from high-profile figures of the industry such as Martin Elbourne, Stuart Galbraith and Alison Wenham. For further details go to http://aiforg.com/initiatives/festival-congress/

Live Music Business Awards Winners 2014

The Eitihad Stadium  Manchester

Best Venue Teamwork - Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Best Venue Teamwork - Arena The SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Best Venue Teamwork - Theatre/ Concert Troxy, London

Best Venue Teamwork - Art Centre Band on the Wall, Manchester

Best Venue Teamwork - Art Centre Norwich Arts Centre

Best Venue Teamwork - Campus The Forum Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Best Venue Teamwork - Major Club (cap 800+) Rock City, Nottingham

Best Venue Teamwork - Club (cap under 800) Thekla, Bristol

Agent of the Year - James Rubin, The Agency Group (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, ASAP Rocky)

Artiste Manager of the Year - Stuart Camp, Rocket Music (Ed Sheeran)

National Promoter of the Year -  SJM Concerts

Regional Promoter of the Year - Cuffe & Taylor, North West

Indie Promoter of the Year (Local impact)  - Kai Harris, Advance Promotions (South East)

Tour Manager of the Year - Tre Stead (Frank Turner)

Best Record Label Partner - Callum Caulfield, Atlantic (Ed Sheeran, Frightened Rabbit)

Spectacle of the Year (Best Production) - Kate Bush at Eventim Apollo

Best Festival (cap 40,000+) - Bestival

Best Festival (cap 15,000-39,999) - Secret Garden Party

Best Festival (cap under 15,000) - Festival No 6

Breakthrough Artiste - Royal Blood

Greatest Brand Impact Tuborg

Best Festival Performance - Royal Blood at Glastonbury

Unsung Hero - Prue Almond, ITB

Outstanding Contribution - Barry Dickins, ITB

 

Image http://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/club-news/concerts

Royalties get lost on the dance floor

The Association For Electronic Music has launched a campaign to highlight their view that £100 million in performance royalties are not paid to the righful creators of the music - because of incomplete or missing data. The Get Played Get Paid campaign was unveiled yesterday at the Amsterdam Dance Event. In the UK alone, AFEM estimates that PRS and PPL collect £15 million per year in royalties for public plays of dance music in clubs, on radio and elsewhere, but often this is not finding its way to the recording artists and songwriters who made it. AFEM CEO Mark Lawrence explained: "The problem is that the money collected does not necessarily go to the right people. Part of the problem is down to writers, artists and tracks not being registered at collection societies so the organisations don't know who to pay, but even more significantly, most societies do not have accurate granular data on what is actually played in clubs. AFEM is working with the electronic music community and the collection society network in an attempt to tackle these problems head-on". PRS For Music had previously recognised that many dance music creators were not registered with the collecting society system and launched the Amplify campaign to encourage them to sign up. 

Night & Day surviews noise complaints

The 200 capacity Night & Day Cafe in Manchester has survived as a venue following a review by the local authority. The venue had faced noise complainst from neighbours and Manchester City Council had issued a statutory noise abatement notice. The matter has been resolved with additional licence conditions which incliude a requirement to keep a noise complaint log, regular meetings with local residents and keeping noise to a level which 'does not cause problems to residents of local properties'. 

More on the background to this here.

RECORD BREAKING YEAR FOR GREENER FESTIVAL AWARD SCHEME

36 festivals from around the World have been awarded the Greener Festival Award by the environmental campaign and advice group A Greener Festival. The Award scheme, supported by Robertson Taylor WP Longreach Insurance Brokers, acknowledges that festivals do have an impact simply by taking place, but aims to encourage festival organisers to make the best decisions to minimise their event’s environmental impact, to monitor, identify and correct negative effects, and to share the message of caring for the environment with their audiences so that festivals can have a positive impact beyond the event itself. The Awards asks festival organisers to respond to the challenges that staging temporary events can have on the environment and local inhabitants including humans. This year A Greener Festival say they have witnessed incredible initiatives, designs, developments and commitment to reducing the impact of live events - demonstrating that festivals can be sustainable, save money, be responsible, and still have fun by becoming a ‘Greener Festival'

At the highly commended Bonnaroo (US), A Greener Festival’s independent environmental assessor commented that the festival’s “investment in long term energy from their solar panels is second to none”. At the commended DGTL festival in Amsterdam, organisers used significant efforts to raise environmental awareness and brought in a design-focussed environmental coordinator, undertaking a pre-festival study to understand their own, and their neighbours' priorities. This led to a key design feature of an on-site "recycling factory" which turned waste plastic bottles and containers into recycled plastic bins during the festival in front of the audience's eyes. At another commended festival, Planeta Madrid in Spain, the City Council has instigated a plan called Madrid Compensa which allows trees to be planted to offset the CO2 emissions from the festival - and PlanetaMadrid also has a free bicycle workshop not just to learn about cycling – festival goers can take their bikes to be fixed as well!  At the Shambala Festival in the UK, rated ‘outstanding by A Greener Festival,  organisers achieved 100% renewable power and a ‘zero to landfill’ unrecycled waste target - as waste streams were diverted from landfill to a MBT (mechanical biological treatment) plant whilst a plastic water bottle ban was a continued success – as were the  ever popular Thunderbox compost toilets.

At the commended Body and Soul Festival in Ireland, the environmental assessors were very impressed by imaginative use of the spaces, including woodland groves, saying that the site and stages were beautifully decorated with recycled materials. The highly commended Northside Festival in Denmark encourages people to travel to the event using low carbon methods of transport – Northside offers bike stands for more than 10 000 bikes and organises festival buses – as well as the “Camino” - a decorative pathway through a park from the town of Aarhus to the festival site, encouraging visitors to walk or cycle from the town centre to the festival. The highly commended Malmo Festivalen in Sweden was praised for its efforts to demonstrate social inclusion, well being, environmental consideration and wider sustainability, whilst the commended Calgary Folk Music festival has emerged as a leader and model for public events in Calgary in terms of its waste management and recycling, with a water bottle ban and the encouragement of reusable/recyclable materials in vending.

So far 15 festivals have received the ‘commended’ award, 12 have received ‘highly commended’ and 9 have been rated ‘outstanding’ by A Greener Festival. More winners of the awards will be announced in November with a total of nearly 50 awards expected, a new record for the Awards scheme, with the first ever recipients in Denmark, Austria and New Zealand.  Winners of the Awards can pick up their certificates  at the Green Events Europe conference in Bonn, Germany (3^rd November), at the UK FestivalAwards in London (1^st December 1), at the International Music Festival Conference in Austin, Texas (6-7 December) and at the European Festival Awards in Groningen (14^th January 14).

COMMENDED

Beloved (US)

Body and Soul (Ireland)

Bluesfest  (Australia)

Calgary Folk Music Festival (Canada)

Canmore Folk Festival (Canada)

DGTL Festival (Netherlands)

Extrema Outdoor (Netherlands)

Maifeld Derby (Germany)

Northern Nights Music Festival (USA)

Nozstock The Hidden Valley (UK)

Planeta Madrid  (Spain) 

Plissken (Greece)

Sled Island   (Canada)

SOS 4:8  (Spain) 

T in the Park  (SCO)

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Bonnaroo (USA)

Bona Nit  (Spain)

DAS FEST  (Germany)

The Falls Music and Arts Festival, Lorne (Australia)

Freifeld Festivalt(Germany)

Global 2000 Tomorrow Festival (Austria)

Malmo Festivalen (Sweden)

Mysteryland (Netherlands)

Northside  (Denmark)

Splendour in the Grass (Australia)

Splore  (New Zealand)

Wood (UK)

OUTSTANDING

Cambridge Folk  Festival (UK)

The Falls Music and Arts Festival, Marion Bay (Australia)

Ilosaarirock Festival  (Finland) 

Island Vibe 2013  (Australia)

Lightning In A Bottle (USA)

Oyafestivalen (Norway)

Shambala Festival (UK)

We Love Green (France)

Welcome to the Future (Netherlands)

Wood, Shambala and Nozstock collected their awards at the AIF Festival Congress in Cardiff and DGTL, Welcome to the Future,  Extrema Outdoors and Mysteryland collected their awards in Amsterdam at ADE Dance.

A Greener Festival co-founder Ben Challis said: “This year has been an encouraging year for environmentally aware events and a record year for our Awards scheme, with more festivals than ever before taking part. Rising fuel costs prove the good sense in reducing power use, and the ever increasing costs in disposing of waste prove the importance of managing waste and having sensible recycling policies. Problems remain of course – from England to Australia, one of the biggest problems is the appalling sight of acres of left behind tents and camping gear at festivals, and we will be prioritising this again in 2015. On a positive front, many of our participating events have raised the bar yet again –  and we are seeing some amazing initiatives, incredible commitment and  festivals reaching out to spread the green message in a friendly, practical and effective way”

RIP

Lynsey de Paul has died aged 64. De Paul, who represented the UK in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Rock Bottom, had five top 20 UK chart hits, including 1972's Sugar Me. She became the first woman to win an Ivor Novello award for songwriting for her 1973 hit Won't Somebody Dance and she won a second Ivor Novello Award followed a year later for No Honestly - the theme tune for the hit ITV show of the same name.

Rob Skipper, guitarist and founding member of North London indie rock group The Holloways, has died. He was 28. The Holloways' former agent Matt Bates of Primary Talent International confirmed the news to NME.

MC Stephen Gordon, aka The Spaceape, has died last week in news broken by the Hyperdub label who revealed that he had been suffering with a rare form of cancer for the past five years.

Andrew Kerr

Andrew Kerr, who was in his eighty-first year, has died, He had been ill for some time and died in Yeovil Hospital. Andrew co-promoted the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre, with Arabella Churchill, the second edition of the now legendary Glastonbury Festival. The free festival featured music from Hawkwind, Traffic and David Bowie, as well as dance, theatre and poetry. The first Pyramid Stage was built on a ley line running between Galstonbury Tor and Stonehenge. Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis said "He brought a new green conviction to Worthy Farm, raising environmental and ecological concerns to a national level of debate for the very first time. His charisma and charm dissolved any opposition to the Festival and the Glastonbury we know now owes so much to his vision." Andrew was still organising a stage at Worthy Farm in his late 70s, which featured everything from trance to punk to  rock to string quintets.


Pasquale 'Paky' Quadri, the founder of lighting company ClayPaky has died aged 67 at his home in Italy. He is survived by his wife Antonella, his two daughters and  his two grand children.

The drummer Lincoln Valentine "Style" Scott has died. He was first spotted as a youngster by Prince Far I and he was soon inducted into Far I's own rhythm section The Arabs, appearing on Volume 3 of his 'Cry Tuff Dub Encounter' series - also featuring Adrian Sherwood as The Dub Syndicate in one of his first outings as producer-in-charge. He provided drums and / or percussion for the likes of the New Age Steppers, Deadly Headley, Playgroup, African Head Charge, Bim Sherman and the Singers And Players and, between 1989-93, as part of the sprawling, Gary Clail fronted, On-U Sound System.


Mark Bell of 1990s house vanguardists LFO and Björk collaborator has died following "complications after an operation", his long-time label Warp has confirmed.

Paul Revere, frontman with the colourfully uniformed Paul Revere and the Raiders, has died. Heralded as the US's answer to the Beatles, the band had 15 top 40 hits in the USA in the sixties and Paul continued to tour and make music.

Jack White has cancelled a number of up coming concerts following the death of his band's keyboard player, Isaiah 'Ikey' Owens, best known as a member of The Mars Volta. Owens was found dead in his hotel room while touring with White in Mexico. 

The Revolving Door

In the wake of the 'Tinderbox' row in Denmark,  two co-founders of the new festival and staffers with Scandanavian booking agency have left the agency. Brian Nielsen and Flemming Myllerup, who are also involved in the Northside and Grim Feast festivals, have seemingly departed in a bid to relieve some of the tension in Scandanavian. Roskilde Festival, Smukfest, Nibe Festival and Jelling Musikfestival had all refused to work with Scandinavian because of its ties with Tinderbox. More here.

Neil Diamond has appointed talent agency William Morris Endeavor on a worldwide basis. It's the first time the singer, who is managed by his wife Katie McNeil Diamond, has used the services of a booking agency in some 30 years. Confirming the deal, WME's Head Of Music Marc Geiger told reporters: "Neil is truly a living legend and remains one of the most influential and prolific artists of all time. We are incredibly honoured to be working with him as he embarks on another step in his remarkable career". Diamond has also signed ti Universal Music Publishing.

Canadian Music Week has announced Justin Kwan as the event's new Festival Manager. Kwan will manage the festival's bookings department, oversee venue relations and production requirements and contribute to the festival's programming, expansion and creative direction.

Madison Square Gardens has appointed David Goodman as its president of productions and live entertainment. he joins from broadcaster CBS. And MSG, the joint venture between MSG and Irving Azoff has acquired a 50% stake in ATM Artists, the EDM specialist.

Music and entertainment law firm Collins Long has announced the appointment of Praveen Bhatia as a Partner at the business, joining the company from Sheridans.

The family of rock guitarist Malcolm Young have confirmed reports that the 61 year old AC/DC man has been diagnosed with dementia. AC/DC had announced that Young was retiring from the band and he's been replaced in all capacities by his nephew, Stevie Young.

Panos Ayassotelis of Paragon Artists and Eli Booker at ATM Artists, both booking agents who specialise in EDM,  have launched a new agency together called Connected Artists. Between them represent the likes of Avicii, Erick Morillo, Moby and Axwell /\ Ingrosso.

Roger Waters is NOT in Pink Floyd! he has issued a statement saying "David Gilmour and Nick Mason have an album coming out. It's called 'Endless River'. David and Nick constitute the group Pink Floyd. I on the other hand, am not part of Pink Floyd. I left Pink Floyd in 1985, that's 29 years ago. I had nothing to do with either of the Pink Floyd studio albums, 'Momentary Lapse Of Reason' and 'The Division Bell', nor the Pink Floyd tours of 1987 and 1994, and I have nothing to do with 'Endless River'. Phew! This is not rocket science, people. Get a grip".

The Mute Group has promoted David McGinnis, a Mute man since 1999, to the position of Head Of Mute Song, the firm's publishing company.

•Steph Segaer, formerly of Domino Records and most recently of Stellar PR, is returning to former employer Columbia Records, within Sony Music UK, as Senior Radio Promotions Manager.


•The Chief Executive of UK media regulator OfCom Ed Richards is to resign at the end of this year. Richards, who has held the position since 2006, has said he feels it is "the right time to move on". 

The head of Universal Music's distribution division in the US, Jim Urie, has announced he will depart the major at the end of the year.  And Scott Greer has been announced as the new Executive Vice President of Universal's Capitol Music Group in the US. "

Warner Bros Australia's MD Mark Poston had stepped down. He took the role in January, a year after leaving his previous record industry role as Chairman of EMI Australia.

Universal Music has announced new expansion plans for Abbey Road Studios and a new Managing Director Isabel Garvey, who replaces Jonathan Smith, Three new recording and mixing spaces are to be built. Two new studios are to be designed with a view to attracting more new artists, while a Dolby Atmos suite will be constructed to help boost Abbey Road's film score business.

Alice Glass of Canada's Crystal Castles is leaving the band to pursue a solo career.

Jockey Club Live, the  joint venture between Jockey Club Racecourses and Live At The Races, has announced a new partnership with AEG Live. Under the new deal, AEG Live will book artists for and promote events at Jockey Club-owned racecourses under the Jockey Club Live banner from next year onwards.

Secondary ticketing company StubHub has employed a new Editor-In-Chief, Jonah Freedman, to oversee music and sports content on it's website 

and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has signed a new management deal with Larry Rudolph's ReignDeer Entertainment.

FESTIVAL NEWS

Aiming to gather Spanish festivals and to provide a platform for reflection, BIME and the 'Asociación de Promotores Musicales' (APM) will organize the first 'Congreso de Festivales de Música' (Congress of Music Festivals). The event will take place in Bilbao on 29-31October 2014 with an estimated 50 festivals already confirmed to take part. Topics scheduled to be cvered incude  Ticketing and access systems, cashless and intelligent solutions,  Services for festival-goers, Apps, Crowd funding platforms, Tour operators, Social media integrations, Legal frameworks and  Public and private financing. More information from info@bime.net and APM members contact secretaria@apmusicales.com.

A decision in a dispute between eBay and German soccer team over the re-sale of personalised tickets which was favourable to the online retailer has prompted the organisers of Germany’s Wacken Open Air heavy metal festival to think again about personalising their tickets in 2015. Waken also have a trial pending with eBay over the re-sale of their own tickets, currently personalised, Lamenting a set back in the fight against ticket touts, Thomas Jensen from WOA promoters ICS explained that the same judge is hearing the WOA case - and the judge has previously decided  held that platforms such as eBay do not have to delete offers of the sale of personalised tickets from their sites.  Earlier this year secondary ticketing site Seatwave agreed with German promoters association BDV to remove personalised  tickets from six Robbie Williams concerts from it’s site. 

The Australian iHeartRadio Music Festival has been cancelled with organisers citing the unavailability of a key headliner. With Miley Cyrus, Redfoo and the Faders already confirmed, tickets had gone on sale. The iHeart Radio festival brand was started in the USA.

MTV's Push Festival in Helsinki, Finland, promoted by the channel to champion new talent will become an annual plan after the success of its first year. MTV's flagship event, the MTV Europe Awards will take place at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on November 9th, 

The sixth edition of the European Festival Awards will take place in Groningen on Wednesday 14th January 2014, hosted by Ben Challis promoted by Yourope, EuroSonic and Festival Awards Ltd.

Spotify has revealed details of the top ten festivals according to their global impact on music streams. Glastonbury Festival was named the most influential festival in the world by Spotify, after it spurred a 78% increase in streams for headliners Kasabian, Metallica and Arcade Fire. Glastonbury headliners experienced a 57% rise in streams in the UK, while achieving a 60% increase in the US. Australia's Future Music Festival placed second on the list, gaining an average 70% increase for its headliners Deadmau5, Phoenix and Pharrell Williams. 

Top 10 Festivals according to global impact on streams

1. Glastonbury, UK
2. Future Music Festival, Australia
3. Way Out West, Sweden
4. Les Vieilles Charrues, France
5. Coachella, US
6. Hove Festival, Norway
7. Laneway Festival, Australia
8. Rock Am Ring, Germany
9. Roskilde, Denmark
10. Bilbao BBK Live, Spain

Top 10 most globally streamed festival headliners

1. Pharrell Williams, Future Music Festival
2. Deadmau5, Future Music Festival
3. James Blake, Laneway Festival
4. The Offspring, Ruisrock
5. M.I.A., Hove Festival
6. Stevie Wonder, Roskilde
7. Phoenix, Ruisrock and Future Music Festival
8. Outkast, Coachella and Way Out West
9. Arctic Monkeys, Roskilde and Les Vieilles Charrues
10. Imagine Dragons, Hove Festival

And over on Festival Insights you can catch up with the UK's Surplus Supper Club: This is an ethical event catering business spearheaded by FareShare South West, the award-winning charity that redistributes in-life, surplus food in an attempt to aid vulnerable people and curb rampant food wastage. The UK food industry disposes of four tonnes of perfectly good food every year, and the Surplus Supper Club repurposes these ingredients into delicious meals whose proceeds go to charity. Moreover, its volunteering opportunities offer a route back into society for the marginalised and dispossessed. More here.
AND DON'T FORGET THIS WEEK - IT'S THE LIVE UK SUMMIT IN LONDON, THE AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT,  FESTIVAL CONGRESS IN CARDIFF AND MAMA EVENT IN PARIS!

SFX expand EDM reach

With it's shares at an all time low, SFX Entertainment has increased its reach into EDM by agreeing to acquire Netherlands based Monumental Productions which prodces events and a fetsival under the 'Awakening' banner and SFX will also acquire Brazil's Plus Talent - whose business includes production, promotion and a talent agency - Plus promotes Brasil's 60,000 capacity Tomorrowland.

Northern Irish events face problems after funding pulled

AAA reports that tourism chiefs have pulled funding for some of  Northern Ireland's most high-profile events. The Tourism Events Fund, which provides hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding for events such as the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and Culture Night Belfast, has been pulled for 2015/16. The announcement leaves dozens of festivals facing shortfalls running to tens of thousands of pounds. Organisers of Culture Night Belfast told Access All Areas that the annual event, which draws thousands of visitors to the city every September, would face serious difficulties if the funding does not go ahead.

Spotify UK in profit , Last.FM still in the red, SoundCloud losses grow

Spotify's UK business went into profit last year, Spotify Ltd's revenues rose 41.8% last year, from £92.6 million to £131.4 million, meaning that the company made £2.6 million in net profit, compared to a net loss of £11 million in 2012, according to figures filed with Companies House and seen by The Guardian. Over 70% of that revenue is paid out to music rights owners (labels and publishers).

Spotfiy also announced that British acts 'over achieved' on Spotify. the BPI confirmed that British acts were selling 1 in 8 of all CDs and downloads worldwide but British talent over-indexes to an even greater degree on Spotify, where British artists now make up an incredible one-fifth of all tracks currently streamed on Spotify worldwide.

Last.fm has filed its latest financial figures with Companies House, which show that the music data company continues to make losses, according to The Guardian. However, although revenues fell by more than 20% in 2013, the company has halved the losses made the previous year. In its last financial year, Last.fm reportedly made £4.92 million in revenues - a drop of 22.8%. Largely this came from advertising income, with a small amount from affiliate sales and £1 million in subscriptions. Only EU countries (not including the UK) saw a rise in revenues, which almost doubled from £740,659 to £1.12 million. The UK and US both saw significant drops (45.8% and 22.8% respectively), while the rest of the world saw a 60% decrease in revenues to £288,859.

And SoundCloud's bid to become a licensed music service is faltering, according to the Financial Times, as major record companies refuse to sign up to the terms (which apparently include equity) on offer. SoundCloud's revenues were up in 2013, but so were its losses, according to a annual filing by the digital firm. SoundCloud's revenues were up from 8 million euros in 2012 to 11.2 million in 2013. But in the same period losses more or less doubled, from 12.4 million euros in 2012 to 23.1 million in 2013.

Scorpio anounce new Swedish showcase event

A new European showcase Event, Where's The Music, has been confirmed for Norrköping, Sweden from 12-14 Feb, between Eurosonic and By:Larm showcase events. It's being presented by German promoter FKP Scorpio. FKP Scorpio continues to reinforce its activities in Scandinavia - having already nnounced a new open-air fesival in Denmark and the completion of a corporate and partnership Festival in Finland FKP. According to VIP Scorpio wants to expand the "Bravalla Festival" in Sweden for a conference and showcase titled "Where's The Music?" to be held annually in Norrköping.

Scorpio have recently exapaned their presence in Scandanavia, acquiring 100% of Finland's Fullsteam agency giving it control of Finland's 28,000 capacuty Provinssirick Festival. Alongside Bravalla (60,000) in Sweden which runs on the same weekend,  Scorpio are also part of the group of companies lanching the 25,000 capacity Tinderbox festival in Denmark. They already promote the 30,000 capacity Northside festival. FKP Scorpio's festivals in Germany include Southside (55,000) and Hurricane (75,000). Chiemsee Summer, Metal Hammer Paridise, Highfield, M'era Luna, Elbjazz Festival in Hamburg, the Rolling Stone Weekender and the Deichbrand Festival, a second festival in Sweden (Getaway), two festivals in the Netherlands (Indian Sumer and Best Kept Secret) and Greenfield in Switzerland.