CIC: Day Two

Protection clauses are two-way streets, venues can have their own ticketing systems and the end could be near for the after-concert live CD: These are just some of the provocative topics and assertions presented at the CIC February 7th. Also, ticket resellers are not getting invited to too many of the after-hour parties.

The second day of the Concert Industry Consortium is now the traditional day for roundtable discussions and mentoring sessions, but it also was the day for a packed and particularly lively panel discussion between Michael Rapino, Rob Light, Jeff Kwatinetz, Tim Leiweke, Don Passman and Gary Borman, with Terry McBride moderating. But even that panel was likely topped by a no-holds barred conversation about the secondary ticketing market that included StubHub’s Jeff Fluhr and Ticketmaster’s David Goldberg sitting at the same table.

The queen of ticketing, Shelley Lazar, moderated "There’s Nothing Secondary About Ticket Sales," which also included agent Marty Diamond, tour consultant Stuart Ross, RazorGator’s David Lord, TicketsNow’s Bernie Driscoll and Greg Betinelli of eBay, which now owns Fluhr’s company. Goldberg and Fluhr behaved — but the audience members who addressed the panel took Fluhr to the woodshed.

Promoter Glenn Smith said Fluhr had ruined the business and come hell or high water, the people in the room would figure out a way to get ticketing back into the bottle. Jam Productions’ Jerry Mickelson told Fluhr that he got into the concert business because he couldn’t get a good seat, and StubHub goes against the basic principles he founded his business on.

Mickelson suggested that some day there could be a system where concertgoers will have their hands scanned to ensure the same person who bought the ticket will appear at the venue.

Diamond agreed it was a good idea but promised there will never be utopia. Tickets will always be resold.

"Jerry, I promise you, the day will come when when they’ll be showing up with somebody’s chopped off hand," Diamond said, and scored the biggest laugh of the conference.

McBride moderated the "New Face of Music Companies in 2012," and panelists got the opportunity to predict the future. Light predicted that the iPhone will make after-concert live CDs obsolete. Instead, the day will come when the phone will be used for entry into the event and then, while exiting, a text message will ask the fan if he or she wants to buy a live recording — or even a live video — of the event, which would be downloaded immediately. Live Nation and AEG — represented on the panel by Rapino and Leiweke — have the current model that could be come antiquated, at least in Light’s crystal ball. He also envisioned "American Idol" to become a model for artists of the future, where fans will participate in creating the next music stars.

Kwatinetz said management client Kelly Clarkson is not the star she is today because of "American Idol"; it was because of the content of her music, which has reached a level of quality beyond the usual "Idol" fare. He added that being an "American" idol is probably not a good thing right now — any idol for any other country would be an easier sell worldwide.

Also, Kwatinetz believed record companies would be dust by the time 2012 rolled around. He was pushed by Clarkson’s record company, RCA, for a hit single. Of course it was pushing for a single and not for artist development because RCA would not be around to see the end result, he said.

Rapino had a great example of tomorrow today. In fact, it was a model that was only one day old: free concert tours. With Ozzy Osbourne going out to play to 20,000 fans who don’t pay a dime to see him this summer, a model for the future is already here — and it involves a lot of sponsorship money.

Borman offered up a new dynamic for spreading artist news — basically, posting a video on a Web site and let it become national news without any need to alert the press. One of Borman’s clients who recently "returned" from "an absence" (cough, Keith Urban) posted a video about his return, and it got 3 million hits without any fanfare.

By the way, guess what: nobody on this panel was a fan of StubHub. Leiweke had a great example: the O2 in London will be a $400 million venue and AEG will have to create a profit from that deficit. Meanwhile, ticketsellers like StubHub will be profiting off of the venue without any investment.

Passman, known as the man who schooled half of the room through his book "All You Need To Know About The Music Business," said the CD will not be around by 2012.

"Kids are buying the CDs, downloading them to their iPods and throwing the CDs into the corner of the room," he said. "They never look at the CDs again."

Passman could also have added that the same goes for 40-year-old writers at Pollstar.

The roundtable discussions included the always popular Rod Essig discussion, plus ones on how to make your tours green and how to produce corporate events. One of the most popular was "How To Market Without Radio," with Maria Brunner of Insight Management teaching a packed table on how to send killer e-cards and other tricks of the trade, and still keep it in the budget. In one corner was Daren Libonati of the Thomas & Mack Center, who runs his own ticketing.

Of course, half of the CIC is about getting acquainted, and delegates had several opportunities, with shows at the Key Club and Whisky, along with several high-end dinners and exclusive parties.