2MusicWeek 13.07.12 NEWS EDITORIAL


Pleading the Smith amendment


“I HATE HOW THEY USE THEIR CLOUT in an arrogant way and expect everything. Well done: you just work for a big shop, not a small shop, I’mafraid. And the small shop’s a nicer place to be.” Steve Lamacq was having a rant. A couple of cold, tart pints of Strongbow sunk last September,


this was what I’d been so tantalisingly promised when signing on themusic industry’s dotted line: a boozy Friday afternoon peep behind the “we’re all just fans deep down” pantomime – and a slice of old-fashioned passionate intra-trade fury. Then something odd happened. A wound-up Lamacq suddenly


offered a brief, sobering footnote. As he painted the uncharitable portent of Lucian Grainge and


Simon Cowell ruthlessly squabbling over the lastmorsels of major label power, Lamacq qualified thatMike Smith was different; that he was “there in the A&R trenches at the end of the Eighties”.Mikemight have sullied his indie nobility by working amongst themurky pop-churning world of themajors, but he would not face this particular firing squad. Mike, Lamacq seemed to note, would always be one of us.


“Itwill be fascinating towatchwhich artists - personally loyal toMike Smith - followhimover the Universal threshold.”


One of us: an emotive, intangible sentiment that Kasabian’s


Serge Pizzorno – usually self-admittedly indifferent aboutmusic business personnel – also proudly adopted when discussing Smith in these pages just last week. “Deep down,Mike just fucking lovesmusic – and there’s not


many of themaround in the higher jobs,” he said. “I have total respect for himon that level.” Both lovely commendations, but canMike – whose astonishing


A&R track record speaks, screams and wails for itself – remain quite so soulfully untarnished amongst the indie andmuso community now he’s joined the all-powerful echelons of Universal? (Interesting to note that his arrival coincides with news that the


iTunes Festival will once again favour Sony acts in its 2012 line-up, not Universal’s; an intriguing backdrop toMr. Grainge’s argument that it is digital and tech giants, not an EMI-owning Universal, who hold themost power in deciding industry winners and losers.) Label pissing competitions aside, I for one can’t wait to watch


Mike get to work with the likes of Jake Bugg and Karima Francis, whose eyes will surely widen into strung-out saucers when he modestly reels off some of the artists whose careers he’s assisted in years gone by. Yet, with Devil’s Advocate hat on, it will evenmore fascinating to


see which artists, still personally loyal toMike, follow himover the Universal threshold when albumdeals expire in the comingmonths. Jason Iley - whose iron-will and serrated bargaining aggression


Smith clearly lauds – used telling,meticulous language when I asked himabout the lure of his new signing’s little black book. “Mike’s formed some incredibly strong relationships during his


time inmusic,” he said. “Acts are loyal to those relationships.” That’s a powerful, unwritten attribute in any executive that


can’t be demonstrated by a printed CV: one Iley – and those Mercury-signed superstars U2 – know about all too well. TimIngham, Editor


Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing tim.ingham@intentmedia.co.uk TICKETMASTER SAYS ATTENDANCE TO RISE THIS YEAR


Are festivals headed for bumper sales?


www.musicweek.com


LIVE  BY RHIAN JONES


N


ewTicketmaster research suggests that more festival tickets will


be sold in 2012 than 2011. Unsurprisingly, the firm’s


report excludes Glastonbury and the spate of smaller festivals that have been postponed or cancelled – instead taking into account data for 16 major festivals in the UK this year. Ticketmaster’s new report,


State of Play: Festivals UK, investigates the future of the marketplace based on a representative sample of over 1,000 festival goers, plus Live Analytics ticketing information and an online focus group. It found that 17% of


respondents expect to increase their festival attendance in 2013 – but 42% are still undecided. 24% of festival goers cited price as a primary barrier to entry to some events, as did 12% of people who haven’t been to a festival in the past three years. Weather risks were not


considered a primary issue,with 86% of festival-goers saying warnings would not stop them buying a ticket – although it was their second biggest concern when planning a purchase. Ticketmaster also found that


facilities are a major priority for punters,with 82% of fussy festival goers citing clean toilets as more important than not having to queue at the bar and running out of phone battery. Glastonbury tops the polls as


the most popular festival, ahead of a top five containing Reading/ Leeds, Isle OfWight,T InThe Park and V. TheTicketmaster


document marks the first in a series of State of Play reports on concert tours, clubs, arenas and stadiums,with the next due to focus on London’sWest End theatre industry. Cancelled festivals this year


alone include Sonisphere UK in Hertfordshire,The Big Chill in Herefordshire,LadyRock in Manchester and GoGo Festival in London. Last weekend’s Bloc 2012


event was scrapped after less than a day in operation,with attendees blaming over-crowding – although theMet police cited poor weather conditions.


BPI’s Julian Wall joins One Media


OutgoingBPI director of IndependentMember Services&International events, JulianWall, is joining digitalmusic supplierOneMedia Publishing asmanaging director. Reporting to chairman


Michael Infante,Wallwill be responsible in his newposition - starting September 1 - for running the firm’s day-to-day


music and video business, licensing and acquisitions strategy. TheOneMedia


catalogue currently contains around 140,000 tracks and 4,000 hours of video


content, distributed across 300 storesworldwide. Speaking of his newroleWall


said: “As digital revenue streams in theUKstart to build a 50%+


share,OneMedia is brilliantly positioned to benefit and exploit that trend and I’mthrilled to be joiningMichael and his team.” OneMedia chairman Infante


saidWallwould “bring awealth ofmusic business experience, insight and knowledgewhich is something thatwill undoubtedly help us to expand and further developOneMedia into amuch stronger company”.


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