Features
Australia: Melbourne, Bots, Spark Arena
Melbourne Wins Bid To Host Music Cities Convention
Melbourne, Australia, has won the bid to host the Music Cities Convention in April 2018. It is the first time the global conference of academics, town planners, economists, politicians and live music executives will be held outside the United States and Europe.
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Founded by the UK’s Sound Diplomacy, the conventions discuss the use of music to improve city life across education, employment, community building, licensing and regulation.
The Melbourne event will be presented by the state of Victoria’s government, which has committed A$250,000 ($184,728), and peak music association Music Victoria. “Being selected to host the 2018 Music Cities Convention reflects Melbourne’s position as Australia’s music capital, and a globally recognised music city – and is a win for our passionate music community,” said the state’s Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley in a statement.
According to Patrick Donovan, CEO of Music Victoria, a music census conducted by the association in 2012 showed there were 485 music venues in Melbourne. “That’s the largest per capita of any city in the world,” Donovan told Pollstar.
Another music census will be held later in the year to update figures before the convention. Donovan, who spoke at the Brighton, UK, convention in 2015, cited a strong global interest in how the strong relationship between the Melbourne live music industry and the state government had built up the sector from crisis when changed liquor license and planning laws closed major venues.
A February 2010 rally organised by Save Live Australian Music (SLAM) and Fair Go 4 Live Music saw 20,000 march to state parliament demanding government action. The government convened a live music roundtable including police and councilors to discuss issues. The results, says Donovan, included the world-first, statewide introduction of the “agent of change” principle to protect venues from noise complaints, and initiatives as protecting road crews from parking tickets when loading and unloading equipment.
The government also initiated the A$22.2 million ($16.4 million) Music Works package for strategic investment in music venues and businesses, market development, music tourism, regional touring, career pathways and professional opportunities for musicians and industry workers. With the Music Cities Convention declaring Melbourne as the gateway to the Asia Pacific, plans are to involve speakers from around Australia and New Zealand.
A number of events will be held around the convention to showcase the city’s music culture. A key feature will be the Music Vault, a permanent hall of fame exhibition for Aussie music memorabilia at Arts Centre Melbourne to open November 2017.
Australian Industry Calls For Action On Bots
Live Performance Australia (LPA), which represents Australia’s A$1.41 billion ($1.04 billion) live performance sector, says that the country’s government is “missing in action” in the battle against bots.
Following the UK becoming the latest to criminalise bots, LPA chief executive Evelyn Richardson repeated its three year call for similar legislation.
“For some popular shows, bots can make up the majority of visits to online ticketing sites,” she said in a statement. “Ticketing companies are making significant investments to combat bot activity, but governments also need to get behind the campaign with effective legislation and enforcement. “Bots are a problem for all e-commerce businesses not just our industry. They are a global problem, and Australia should be part of the global response.
“The UK and US have taken action, but the (Australian) government is missing in action.”
A motion in March by independent senator Nick Xenophon to introduce legislation received support from the Opposition, the Greens party and two independent senators. But it was opposed by the government.
Harley Evans, founder and managing director of Moshtix, is concerned that aside from preventing genuine fans from accessing tickets, “It erodes consumer confidence, and more importantly, take a tonne of money out of the live entertainment ecosystem that may otherwise have been spent within it.”
He cites how the spend on Adele’s visit in February – it sold more than 600,000 tickets, and maximum tickets of A$308.77 ($228.30) advertised on Viagogo for A$5,645.18 ($4174.40) – would have affected patronage at local gigs and restaurants in the following weeks.
“People can only afford to go out so often, and if the unauthorised re-seller market strips a large portion of this discretionary spend from the market, many businesses suffer,” Evans pointed out.
In the face of government inaction over bots, more promoters and venues are canceling tickets sourced from unauthorised sources.
Ticketing agencies monitor payment frequencies, block international credit card purchases and utilise global blacklists of suspect operators.
Moshtix built a resale service for the Splendour In The Grass festival, whose 30,000 tickets are snapped up the first day of sale.
Evans points out, “It’s been incredibly successful in combatting scalping for what is Australia’s highest demand festival. I’m genuinely surprised other ticket companies haven’t made the effort to develop something similar given the success Splendour and Moshtix have had with the product.”
Auckland’s Vector Arena Becomes Spark Arena
sparkarena.co.nz – Spark Arena Interior
formerly Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand telecommunications company Spark was far from subtle with its announcement it has taken over naming rights of the Live Nation co-owned
The new Spark Arena name was installed May 4 above the entrance of the 12,000-seat venue in the shape of a giant location pin, using 9,500 high intensity, full colour LED lights.
The name is lit up night and day, and also allows colour change depending on the entertainment act or sporting team.
Spark’s CEO of home, mobile and business, Jason Paris, said the immediate introduction of free Wi-Fi through the arena will be followed by more technology to enhance consumers’ experience.
“I’m really passionate about this opportunity to bring some of the world’s best technology to one of the world’s best entertainment venues,” he said. Vector Arena was built in 2006, with NZ$68 million ($47 million) of its NZ$94 million ($64.9 million) cost borne by the city of Auckland. The deal was it would be run by New Zealand company QPAM (initially Quay Park Arena Management Ltd.) for 40 years before the city took over ownership. In 2012, QPAM was bought out by EVENZ Ltd.
Last year EVENZ shares were purchased by Live Nation and Australian company MHC Investments, which is owned by Live Nation Australasia’s Melbourne-based president Michael Coppel and his wife Michelle.
As Vector Arena, the venue staged shows including Madonna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lorde, Metallica, Justin Timberlake, and Iron Maiden. Coming up on Spark Arena’s slate are Bruno Mars, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Harry Styles, Little Mix, Ariana Grande, and J Cole.