Fix the Tix Day of Action

NIVA’s Fix the Tix Coalition led a "Fix the Tix Day of Action" last week, resulting in over 65,000 letters to Congress advocating for comprehensive ticketing reform and the passage of the Fans First Act. “This week’s actions send a clear message to Congress that the time for comprehensive reform is now,” said NIVA Executive Director Stephen Parker.

On the Market

Bloomberg is reporting that Dice is in talks with at least three private equity firms to acquire a “significant stake” in the ticketing company. This potential deal “will value its business at hundreds of millions of dollars.” 

StubHub has delayed its intended IPO until at least September due to the volatile market. The IPO is potentially valued at about $16.5 billion.

Scalpers and hackers unite! (not in a good way)

Scalpers have collaborated with hackers to reverse-engineer Ticketmaster's non-transferable tickets by mimicking the barcode system, enabling the resale of these tickets. This undermines anti-scalping measures put in place by the ticketing companies to prevent resale of illegitimate tickets. This issue came to light through a recent lawsuit filed by AXS, revealing how scalpers bypass rotating barcode security features designed to prevent fraud.

Cirque goes country

Cirque du Soleil premiered its first-ever country music show in Nashville on July 10, in collaboration with Universal Music Group. “Songblazers” features 35 songs spanning from 1867 to 2024 and includes hits like “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Friends In Low Places.” It will be in Nashville through July 28, then make stops in 12 other US cities.

AEG heads to Portland too

Last month we mentioned that Live Nation was attempting to enter the Portland, OR market (the Last Live Nation-less city) and now AEG wants in too. AEG Presents has aligned itself with local, independent promoter Monqui Presents to develop and operate a new venue in the Lloyd District of the city. If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em.

A fundless fund for live event relief 🤔

The city of Pittsburgh, PA has approved the creation of a fund to support live events affected by the pandemic, however, there is no actual money to fund the fund. Originally, the City Council earmarked $2 million from its $335 million allotment of federal pandemic relief for the new fund, however, it has all been allocated to other initiatives leaving the newly created pot empty. Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith says she is still working on “identifying the dollars that should be used.”

Speculative Tix in Washington, DC

In the past six months, five major venues in the Washington, DC area have seen 73,000 speculative tickets, worth $49 million, listed for sale by brokers on platforms like StubHub, according to Fix the Tix. StubHub claims that it doesn’t allow the sale of speculative tickets. All five of the venues, 9:30 Club, The Anthem, Lincoln Theatre, The Atlantis, and the Merriweather Post Pavilion, are owned or controlled by IMP.

Desire for young Americans to attend events down, but still strong

According to Allianz Partners USA’s Annual Vacation Confidence Index, there has been a 7% decline in the number of young Americans planning to attend ticketed events this year from last year. While there is a drop, 71% of Americans between 18-34 still plan to attend an event and 40% plan to do it outside of their hometown. The survey also revealed that 18% of Americans will attend three or more ticketed events this year (down from 20% in 2020).

¡Muy Fenomenal!

The live entertainment business in Spain is experiencing highly favorable conditions, characterized as "muy fenomenal" according to Pollstar. Welcome positive news amidst so much decline throughout other parts of the world. The resurgence in live events across the country is fueled by strong ticket sales and enthusiastic audience turnout to a diverse lineup of events. Favorable economic conditions, and effective management of health protocols are also contributors.

#peoplenews

Goldenvoice: Melissa Ormond named Chief Operating Officer of Goldenvoice. Ormond will continue her role as COO of Festivals for AEG Presents in addition to the new role, a position she’s held since October 2017.

Festivals Edinburgh: Lori Anderson will take over as Director starting in the fall when current director Julia Armour steps down.

• The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is hiring a Director, Production and Technical Director, both in Miami, FL.  

• Beat the Bomb is looking for an Assistant General Manager for the Philadelphia, PA location scheduled to open in the fall. Salary: $65,000 - $70,000.

• Amazon is hiring a Senior Program Manager, Live Events on the Prime Video Live Events team in Culver City or San Francisco, CA, or Seattle, WA. Salary: $114,500 - $245,000.

Last Week's Results:
48% of BOH readers stayed home and relaxed for the 4th of July holiday.

Headliners, Lineups, and Festival Announcements 

• Tiësto will open SILO Dallas, a new venue by Disco Donnie Estopinal and Dallas entrepreneur Patrick Tetrick, with back-to-back performances September 19 - 20.

• Dua Lipa And Halsey have been added to the iHeartRadio Music Festival lineup, September 20 - 21 at T-mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

• The Eagles have extended their run of shows at the Las Vegas Sphere through January 2025 due to demand. The run starts September 20 and now extends over 10 weekends.

• The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority has pledged $1 million towards the free inaugural Neon City Festival scheduled to take place at the Fremont Street Experience during F1 Grand Prix weekend, November 22 - 24. The festival “will feature a large sprawling footprint, headliner talent, diverse food and beverage offerings, and more.”

• Lights All Night announced Excision, Tape B, ISOxo, Kaskade, and Ganja White Night, December 28 - 29 at Market Hall in Dallas, TX.

• Dance act Anyma will headline the Sphere in Las Vegas, NV on New Year’s Eve (December 31). This will be the first NYE performance ever at the Sphere as well as the venue’s first electronic music performance.

• Ed Sheeran added extra dates to the European leg of his “Mathematics” tour in May - September of 2025 after he sold out 600,000 tickets for the original dates in 60 minutes.

Cancelations

• Queens of the Stone Age have canceled their remaining European tour dates due to lead singer Josh Homme needing emergency surgery in the US.

• Jelly Roll performed an impromptu club show at Tampa, FL’s Dallas Bull on Friday, after the Morgan Wallen show he was supposed to open for at Raymond James Stadium was canceled due to illness. Admission was first-come-first-served and free for ticket holders of the original concert.

A brief pause…

• The Killers paused their show at The O2 Arena last Wednesday so they could broadcast the final minutes of the England-Netherlands soccer game in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on the screen behind them. Once England won, they resumed the concert with “Mr. Brightside”.

• Amazon Music, Spotify, and Apple Music are jointly suing Canada over a new 5% streaming tax, arguing that it unfairly targets them.

• Are fan-co-created visuals the future of live music?

• WATCH: An expert explains the hidden crowd engineering behind event venues.

• Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, and Erykah Badu will be featured in a CBC documentary on the 1997 - 1999 Lilith Fair tour.  

• Live events from a disability perspective.

• Billy McFarland has teamed up with Donald Trump to connect Trump to rappers in an effort to help Trump appeal to black voters.

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