CIC: Day One

If the first day of the Concert Industry Consortium is any indication, it will be one heck of an eventful convention. The day began with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne announcing a one-of-a-kind 25-date tour and ended with Ticketmaster announcing a strategic alliance with iTunes.

The Osbournes held a press conference at the CIC, alongside Osbourne’s longtime agent Marsha Vlasic and Live Nation’s Bruce Eskowitz. Most in the room thought it would be an announcement about Ozzy retiring, which he quickly dispelled. Ozzfest will be completely free, with the help of Live Nation and two major sponsors, Jagermeister and Monster energy drink.

"It will be free to get in, but you’ll have to pay to get out," Ozzy joked.

It’s still unclear how a 25-date tour, with 50 trucks and staging will be free. Sharon said Ozzy has had plenty of success over the years and wanted to give something back to the fans, but the minute details are still forthcoming. How Live Nation will contribute to a free tour, supplying the venues and the promotion, will need to be addressed.

Ticketmaster President/CEO Sean Moriarty held a keynote address that wrapped with an announcement that TM will operate with iTunes to provide music and tickets at the same time. TM has worked with iTunes in the past where, for instance, if a fan went to the iTunes Website to download the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Bob Dylan, they also got the opportunity to get in on the Stadium Arcadium or Dylan tours pre-sale.

The tours were some of the biggest of the year, Moriarty said, and now "synergy" between the two companies will be increased dramatically. In fact, keynote attendees were provided $25 gift cards that can be used for iTunes OR for Ticketmaster events.

Also, it was learned that Goldenvoice has introduced a touring department and will be launching a tour by My Chemical Romance, according to Goldenvoice prexy Paul Tollett.

Goldenvoice recently announced an addendum to Coachella – "Stagecoach," a country music festival that will piggyback on the indie music event. Likewise, it was learned at the CIC that Charles Attal of C3 will also be holding a country festival.

First-day panels included one paneled called "Straight Talk From The Straight Press," completely by music journalists like Steve Knopper and Mark Brown. At the "International Business of Outdoor Festivals" panel, Attal said that he believes instead of playing top 10 sheds in America, bands would choose to play the top 10 festivals. Tollett said there are three or four genres that have been undervalued in the festival market. Attal joked that the American festival market is already overcrowded (a kind dig at the international promoters).

The urban touring panel brought up three salient points: why do hip-hop artists have "best friend managers," non-exclusive agents and violence at their events. Basically, the panelists mostly agreed that best friend managers are one of the reasons why promoters cannot ultimately book hip-hop, and non-exclusive booking causes problems for promoters, too. As for violence, it increases insurance issues but that can be allayed when promoters prove to the provider that the event will be solid and professional.

Bill Siddons and Steve Bassett – two riders who went on the CIC motorcycle event – reported to us that the ride was totally awesome.