Heartfelt thanks for bringing forth another ILMC!

for whatever they're worth - my observations:

• Emerging Marketplace: shame this was up against the Dance Club - I really wanted to go to both sessions! session was full and overran which is a good sign.

• Safety in Numbers - missed most of this because the E Markets overran and it needs 15 mins between sessions to chat and pee or whatever but what I heard was very pertinent; a laudable achievement!

• Five Year Plan: sure it didnt really get into a 5 year plan but it was a great & informative session; lots of questions begged!

• Dinner at the Savoy: Carl at his most inspired and special menshes for Juri, Claudio and Chuggy; Savoy was kinda swell

• In Bed with Ed: the highpoint of the weekend; should have been 90 mins with Ed with no interuptions and then 30 mins open floor; lots of meaty stuff and a a both entertaining and fascinating insight into the working of CCE - and of course lots of questions begged; doing it in the smaller room worked very well - same logic as a gig really - (shame meeting rooms dont have elastic walls like venues sometimes do)

• The Autopsy: a particularly good autopsy session; especially fascinating was the student's intervention (a lady to watch!)

• General: I missed that we didnt really talk about cancellations (both by artists and by promoters) but that may be just my current obsession

• Next Year:

  I thought Jeff's idea of having Ed with Nana Mouskouri was excellent.
  I thought the idea of better connections with unis/music colleges/audience members/fanclubs/hacks/popstars/record cos all good and worth doing.
  I though the idea of a new delegates meeting at the very beginning interesting.

Cheers and Many Thanks

 

Thanks to the whole ILMC team, I enjoyed every seconds to be here!
with best regards

ps: "jail" could be nice theme to use some year.

Hi Martin,

Firstly, well done -- I enjoyed the 14th ILMC a lot. Congratulation to you and your massive team... I will definitely send you my input for the next ILMC, but now I have to do some family business (I promised my 8 year old son to take a few days off for skiing... We still have great snow here).

Dear Martin

Thank«s for everything at ILMC this weekend.
It«s just getting better every year......

Dear Martin,

Thank you so much for all your job about the ILMC.
I have been taking in charge many congress to the University of Fribourg during 5 years and I can realized how much works you had for this meeting.

Thank you so much also to all your staff. The welcoming was perfect and it was really interesting for me to join this important meeting. I learned a lot more about music business.
Hope to have the same opportunity for the next year.

Wish you all the best for the future of the ILMC.

Kindest regards,

Dear Martin,

many thanks for a great ILMC - Bicknell & Becker definitely a high point but very good throughout - best yet - congratulations.

Martin Hopewell

You did it again (for the 14th time).
Congratulations.

Dear Martin

I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for Sunday and for asking me to conduct that interview which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Congratulations on another brilliant ILMC!
See you same place, next time.....
Love

 

Thanks for another excellent weekend - hope you're recovering well.
We've had some good feedback on our NAA session, and once again we were packed to the gils.

 

First of all: CONGRATULATIONS and thank you for doing it and not giving it up!
Christof and I didn't expect to like doing a session.... but we did!

 

it has been a great experience, even we could not discuss every topic in detail.
Kind Regards

 

It was a pleasure working with you, the ILMC was a great weekend for me and I had a chance to put a lot of faces to people I have been dealing with in Europe in the last year. You should be proud of pulling off a great conference for the industry.

 

Congratulations on another very successful ILMC. I had a tremendous time at the same time I did good business and met some interesting people.

 

Congrats on another great event. I know the post post- mortem period is probably a time when you start to agonise over what could have been better. Reality is they keep coming back in droves. Remember you can't please all of the people all of the time - you seem to please as many as you possibly can.
Come and see us in Singapore some time.
Best Regards

 

The way this conference has been going for me is that it is an excellent place to get things done in an informal and friendly environment.
When I started I needed to get to know people and the business - now I concentrate on the business and getting acquinted with the makers and shakers in exotic territories such as Latin America and Eastern Europe.

 

First of all I would like to thank you for the profesional way the conference was organised. I have noticed that since the first time I attended it, about 6 years ago, and it goes better and better every year. I am already looking forward to the next one in 2003.

You asked us to suggest things which we consider necessary, and this is why I would like to propose the following: If there is a way to bring in some competent representants of one or two major record companies to have their say in the debates, I think it would be helpful. Their role in supporting tours, shows, etc, was mentioned many times, but never ever came out clearly if the lack of support they show is human mistake, or wrong policy, or whatever.
Best wishes

Dear Martin,

First let me say thank you for a wonderful ILMC 14, looking forward to the next one. I was a bit surprised to hear your voice on the Danish radio the other morning.

 

I always enjoy ILMC, mainly for the camaraderie and intelligence involved.

 

This years ILMC was the first I have attended. I enjoyed it and found it a real education. It gave an insight to the politics and the interest groups of the industry and gave me a chance to catch up with a bunch of promoters and agents.

I felt the workshops were in some cases a little short. Giving Pete Elliot an hour or so to discuss Dance Music was not really enough. I think there's huge potential in this for a really good discussion next year.

I liked the main panel on the 5 year plan. It was not hugely successful in what it set out to do but really helped me understand the CCE threat/phenomena and the resistance they are meeting Europe wide and why there is that resistance.

i think my biggest concern with ILMC is that it's not a formal decision making body. Most of the stuff that is discussed does not need decisions making on it BUT the safety talk (woefully unattended for such an important issue) really struggled because while it generated a lot of things that needed to be done there was nothing it could actually do to make them happen. Realistically though I don't see what you can do about this.

In terms of stuff I'd like to see - really any good workshop is going to be about swapping ideas/experiences UK and Europe wide so any decent session could do with that as a guideing principle in it's subject matter. ILMC is mostly about networking but using it to swap information could be really useful too.

Good job though. I learnt a lot. I guess if I learn as much next year then the whole thing is a good plan.

 

Just wanted to thank you all for a great weekend, very well organized. The panels / debates were very interesting and as for the Go carting, well I'm going to start practicing this weekend. We hope you can muster up the energy for another one next year.

 

Congratulations to you and everyone else on the team for a very enjoyable ILMC 14. It remains a highlight of my year. But then I'm a sad git that lives on the other side of the world and doesn't get out much!
Best

 

I thank you again for a great ILMC!
All the best

 

Many thanks for the event, great fun again as usual and very useful for me to meet up with everyone at the same time.

One suggestion, education vital for future of course and important to have students/trainees at the ILMC, but.....who on earth is teaching these people? What qualifications do they have, where to they gather their information from for a course?. What are the titles of the courses? Might be good to invite one of them for a grilling

Looking forward to next year

Best

 

First of all, thanks to everyone for making it such an interesting and enjoyable conference. I was really glad to hear Martin say at the Autopsy 'See you at ILMC 15'.

At the Autopsy meeting there were various points mentioned:

• The need to bring in some young people, possibly media and entertainment students.
• The possibility of offering sponsored places.
• The need to get input from 'the audience', not the conference audience but the ticket buyers.

Some suggestions on how these objectives could all be achieved:

• On the registration form for ILMC 15, give people the opportunity to make a sponsorship donation of say £20.00 towards the cost of a number of free places at the conference for interested young people.

• Contact colleges in and around London, including the Brits School, offering free places at the conference to people who would be prepared to participate, not just listen.

• Once the advance registrations are in at the end of January, you will know how much money has been donated, and therefore how many free places you are able to offer to those people that have applied.

• At least a couple of these participants should be invited to sit on a panel and give the view of 'the audience' on whatever topic is being discussed. These would obviously need to be topics where audience input is relevant. They may or may not want to attend the whole of the conference.

• A 20 year old student may feel rather lost at an invitation only conference where everyone seems to know everyone else. Some thought would need to be given to overcoming this.

Topics for next year:

• Tax updates (of course). I think that the slot that you gave it this year is an ideal way to do it. A short slot in the main room gives us maximum exposure without the opportunity to bore people to death.

• Festivals and outdoor touring concepts (Ozzfest, Warped etc). As I said in the Friday session, I think that these are the modern equivalent of the stadium band. The discussion would include licensing, logistics, putting together a bill, and the audience experience.

• What is Live music? What does the L in ILMC mean? Is it 'Live' performance, or is it 'Live' audience? Personally, I think it's the latter, which is why I keep banging on about the need to involve The Audience in ILMC. This panel could incorporate the dance discussions from this year, and the current state of club and rave culture. Again, the views of some of the young invited students would be essential. This panel would also give us the opportunity to talk about drugs.

• Venues. Large multi-use stadiums and arenas, mid-range music-only venues, purpose- built clubs, and the back room of the pub. Making an enjoyable experience for the audience, how to give value for money rather than exploit a captive crowd. Venues for hire or venues as presenters.

• Marketing and ticket distribution. Different forms of marketing (specialist press, national press, TV, radio, Internet, venue mail outs). Is there an opportunity to link marketing and ticket distribution? Should tickets be sold at face value, with the cost of distribution being part of the show costs?

• Celebrity interview or 'In bed with Ed' feature. Fritz Rau was wonderful last year.

There, that's the whole weekend sorted out

unless you would like me to start on the menu..?

Best wishes,

Dear Martin,

Thank you again for an enjoyable, informative weekend. As I mentioned to you on Sunday night, it was my first, but I think its safe to say I kept up with everyone, although admittedly not on the drinking front (which seems to have an agenda of its own over the conference!)

You asked me to articulate my reactions and ideas on the weekend. I hope my comments are constructive, please feel free to use/ignore them as you see fit.

I guess I shouldn't really have been surprised that a lot of delegates used the weekend to complain about the situation with CCE, or just complained in general. I totally agree with Harvey's statement that most sessions seem to end on a down note - a sad situation considering the amount of knowledge and talent in one room.

• Emerging Markets:
  As you may or may not know, I work closely with Andrew on booking in the emerging markets. Last year alone we worked on gigs in Russia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East with Artists such as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Sting and Depeche Mode. I was disappointed with the forum on emerging markets, when it seemed a perfect opportunity to discuss relevant issues, instead of bemoaning September 11th, pc deals etc.

  A lot of artists and agents seem to have a certain fear or uncertainty in these markets, and rightly so as we seem to hear stories every few months of border crossings between Finland and Russia taking up to 7 hours, missed gigs, bribery to local police, terrible roads and shitty gear etc. As our recent tours have shown, it does not have to be like that. I would like to have seen constructive discussion between the Eastern European promoters on how they can improve these crossing and routings. It is a fighting battle (although it is getting better) trying to get promoters to discuss custom clearance agents and how to process large truck tours at difficult borders. I would like to have seen discussion on standard routings throughout the area and how promoters can approach agents with a tried and tested routing, to encourage artists to tour the area. It does not necessarily have to become business links, just a greater communication between promoters and how they can eliminate regular problems.

  I would like to have seen discussion on relevant sponsors throughout territories, sponsorship that could be shared. Marek Szpendowski is a genius with sponsorship - why did he not share his knowledge on how he goes about doing this? We get some of our highest guarantees in Poland, not because of ticket price but because of sponsorship. Our Asian promoters discuss sponsorship across territories with tours, why can't the Europeans?

  There was talk throughout the weekend on how we can make the live music industry more enjoyable for the Artist. Eastern Europe is an exciting market, and the Middle East is a totally different touring experience. The audiences are fresh and eager and the responses from Artists who have toured there are always positive. I wanted to see discussion on marketing the areas as a whole to agents. There is a mass of culture, untapped interest and promoter talent - why are they not trying to make their regions as attractive as possible? I would like to see discussion on gear, even today I have received an email from a promoter in the region saying that he does not have the specific gear I need for our upcoming Roger Waters show. They should be building a database of equipment that can be used and shared - maybe they have this already, and are just keeping quiet! The Middle East is now coming together to provide routings and co-operations to agents - why did they not share their experience/ideas?

• Festival Forum:
  I can only reiterate your comments at this session - why are they not discussing routing/dates, to make it a damn sight easier for agents.

• Suggestions for Next Year
  Michael Rapino touched on a very relevant issue on Saturday afternoon - that of marketing. Sadly this industry thinks it is still sufficient to market their products in the back of a newspaper, with the hope that a hapless concert goer will chance across the advert and decide to pay up and go to the concert. Sadly this is no longer the case.
  My generation (X, Y - or whatever people want to call us) - which form the basis of concert goers, aged 18-30, are lazy! Over our life span we have seen a revolution in marketing, we no longer have to go search for our products, our products come to us.

  Take Michael's example, that of Nike trainers - they don't advertise their product on the second to last page of Metro! These industries use lifestyle marketing: identifying age groups and trends and connecting their product to these.
  I don't think I have ever seen an ad for upcoming concerts on cinema trailers, or in retail outlets over their in-house radios?
  However, the music industry will not accept that they need to work on their strategies to encourage people to come to concerts, the ticket buyer still has to do the work to go find out about what is available to see.
  Not everyone who is a Coldplay fan reads NME, how do they find out about gigs and touring plans?

  So what, I hear you say? My lowly suggestion for next year would perhaps be to invite someone from a related industry who knows marketing strategy inside out.
  OK, so you would have to pay them, but surely promoters could learn something about how other industries have had to develop to take their marketing strategies into the next century and how we can look beyond the lowly paper ad. It would have to be looked into, but surely there are management/marketing consultants that lecture on this the whole time - probably even in universities these days.
  We barely heard the words webcasting throughout the weekend as well - technology and the music industry alone would make a fascinating forum.

• Bicknell Breakfast:
  I would love to see this become a regular - it was hilarious and absolutely riveting. Seeing as another recurring subject of the weekend was record companies and their increasing involvement/intrusion into the live music industry, why not invite the head of Sony or similar to be interviewed by Ed. It would be interesting to see how look they upon the future of music, selling etc - after all they are the foundation of what we do and there was much talk of the slowing of sales, and control over Artists. I used to work at Creation and I can say first hand that often the live music industry and the record labels seem to be pulling in opposite directions.

  I would also like to see a Forum with those promoters/agents who are now under the banner of CCE, and whether or not this change has made a real difference to the way they promote/book. The whole idea of CCE being a spectre hanging over us perhaps needs to be expelled further (am I starting to sound like a convertie? not at all) This whole 'us and them' thing did remind me of Star Wars, and there is an endless list of hideous characters that could be compared to music industry individuals.

  My only other suggestion is that you ask the Royal Garden Hotel to increase the number of puddings with a high cholesterol, calorie level. Perhaps if some agents eat enough one might keel over and I can steal their Artist Roster - just an idea.

Thanks again. By the way, Andy (Fletcher - Depeche Mode) thanks you and your staff for a great Saturday night, we both had a fantastic time and I am Fedexing the gorgeous trophy/award/statue/plastic person to Jonathan today, who I am sure will be mortified to be thought of as strokeable.

Best regards