Primavera Award For ITB Chief

The citation says the prize has been given in recognition of Dickins’ professional career and his contribution to the live music industry in the last 50 years.

“Neil Young’s concert at the 2009 edition of Primavera Sound will go down in the history of the festival as the fulfillment of the organisation’s dream and as a turning point in the evolution of the Barcelona event,” it says. Dickins, who co-founded ITB with Rod MacSween in 1978, has long associations with Young, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tom Petty and Diana Ross, among others.

Last year he celebrated 50 years in the business, having left his first job as a trainee stockbroker to join entertainment agent Roy Tempest at the age of 17. The prize will be awarded within the framework of PrimaveraPro 2015, the meeting for professionals in the industry that takes place in parallel to the festival May 27-31.

Steadily rising attendances have caused the event to move to Barcelona’s Museum of Contemporary Art. The Primavera Sound Festival is May 28-30 and has Black Keys, The Strokes, Sleater-Kinney, Interpol, Alt-J, Damien Rice, and Ride.