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More than 800 delegates from 50 countries gathered in London for the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in March, making it the biggest yet.
Celebrating its 17th year, the conference touched on numerous issues affecting live music, while, behind the scenes, promoters, agents and artiste managers discussed deals to take acts to the four corners of the planet.
The dilemma of how to deal with ticket touts was a major topic of conversation.
Pete Wilson of the UK's 3A Entertainment revealed that his company had refunded 12,000 Kylie Minogue tickets to people identified as trying to resell them on internet auction website eBay. Similarly, he said, tickets for Cream's reunion gigs at the Royal Albert Hall were being exchanged for "up to 30 times their face value. We refunded the original purchasers and made those tickets void too," said Wilson. "You're never going to beat it, but we can fight it."
Elsewhere, the ILMC's emerging markets session saw a packed meeting room and calls for a more coherent approach to new territories. Michael Hosking, the Thailand-based MD of Midas Promotions, noted that acts tended to visit Asia at the end of a tour, "once the tour accountant realises there is going to be a shortfall," rather than investing time in the region.
In a session on the impact of legislation on the industry, issues such as the European Union's Control of Noise At Work legislation were discussed. The law is being introduced to protect factory workers, but also relates to noise levels at concerts.
Leon Ramakers of Netherlands-based Mojo Concerts warned that the court action taken against German promoter Marek Lieberberg, in which a woman claimed her hearing was damaged at a Bon Jovi concert, "could happen to any of us".
Ramakers said it was vital promoters united in an organisation that could fight such issues with government bodies, but he was quickly reminded by fellow panelist and Network board member Marc Lambelet, of the recently formed European Live Music Forum (ELMF), that the association had been formed for that purpose.
But Ramakers stressed that only a tightly organised group (such as promoters) focusing on one issue at a time, had any hope of achieving results. He said, "The circle of those involved should be as small as possible to start with, and getting that together will be hard enough. It's promoters that are liable if things go wrong and so it's promoters who should fund and lead such an organisation."
In the closing session, ILMC organiser Martin Hopewell revealed that although delegate registrations were the highest ever, the numbers attending sessions did not exceed 450 on the Friday and that must mean a lot of networking and deal-making had gone on over the weekend.
Website: www.audience.uk.com
