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14 MusicWeek 24.01.14 THE BIG INTERVIEW AMG’S GRAHAM WALTERS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT


AMG and Live Nation’s Graham Walters on the lasting appeal of the UK’s Academy venues, the company’s plans for the future and the wider issues affecting the live industry in 2014


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LIVE n BY TOM PAKINKIS


W


ith 14 venues in 11 cities, the Academy name has become a staple of the UK live circuit and even a tour type in its


own right. Over the course of Academy Music Group’s


rich history, iconic buildings across the country – each with their own unique charm - have played host to massive music names from every genre including Green Day, Basement Jaxx, Kasabian and Sir Paul McCartney. Coming out of a successful 2013, with


profitability “significantly up on 2012”, the year ahead looks similarly bright for AMG. The company - whose shareholders include Live Nation Entertainment, Metropolis Music and SJM Concerts - will hold more than 3,500 events across all of its venues, attracting up to 3 million gig-goers in 2014. Chief operating officer of UK venues for Live


Nation and AMG Graham Walters tells Music Week why great acts and their managers are continually drawn to the Academy name and why the famous sites are somewhat protected from the effects of festivals and non-music shows that impact the arena level. He also hints at the company’s plans for expansion and investment in technological innovation.


ABOVE Famous Academy: Graham Walters alongside one of AMG’s most iconic venues, the O2 Academy Brixton


“We’ve got some iconic venues, some beautiful buildings, and artists know they’re going to get the best light and sound equipment” GRAHAM WALTERS, ACADEMY MUSIC GROUP


Is there anything in particular that you attribute the success of 2013 to? In terms of live it all comes down to who’s touring. It’s very difficult to control the live product, but what we can control is capitalising on any opportunity that we have – making sure that the events deliver the maximum contribution through smart management at a venue level and being the best at what we do.


What is it about Academy that makes it such a strong and desirable name to managers, promoters, artists and others in the industry? I think it’s service. That’s the key to it: from the moment people arrive in the venue to the ticket buying experience, the technical staff, the security, the bar staff, the managers - it’s what it’s all about. It’s about making sure that the incoming


productions have the easiest time possible. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff to accommodate. I think that makes a difference, from the smallest venues to the largest ones that I cover – we always


drum into the staff that it’s all about the service. We’ve got some very iconic venues around the


country as well, some beautiful, beautiful buildings, and because they’re all of a similar size, you get the same feel and the same product from city to city. Again, it comes back to the idea of service -


[artists] know the type of service that they’re going to get. They’re going to get the best light and sound equipment when they come in and it’s going to be easy for them.


Recorded music is going through a tough transition at the moment and is being forced to change some of its core business models, but we keep hearing that the live industry is not only remaining robust but becoming increasingly significant. How have the changes in the wider industry affected your business over recent years? We’ve been a little bit isolated from it at Academy level. Certainly in the [Live Nation] arenas we’ve seen the number of dates on a tour drop off over the last three or four years. I think part of that is symptomatic of the increase in festivals around Europe. A lot of acts can spend six to nine months of the year jumping from one festival to the next with all of the lessening risks that come with that. That means that when they do come to do a UK tour, what was a 12 to 15 date tour five years ago is now a five or six date tour that will concentrate on the big cities like Glasgow and Manchester and go


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