Reeperbahn Unveils Fest Panel

Parmley, a former IQ editor and since March the owner of the International Live Music Conference, is usually quick to get to core business, which is whether festivals have just had a good season or a bad one.

Last year FKP Scorpio chief Folkert Koopmans and Dutch festival producer Eric van Eerdenburg were reporting a good season, while Baris Basaran from Pozitif Live in Turkey sounded as if he was reporting from a war zone.

What was euphemistically described as Istanbul’s “civil unrest” had pretty well wiped what had once been a very busy and star-studded program.

Basaran didn’t duck the issue and happily admitted that some acts helped the disastrous financial situation by returning deposit money as they recognised the riots as force majeure.

The insurers said the Turkish government would have had to declare a state of national emergency before paying out on that basis.

“How are things currently looking for the hunky-dory world of the European festival market?” Parmley will ask at this year’s panel. Given who he’s got up there alongside him on the panel, the answer will likely be “hunky-dory.” Van Eerdenburgh – who’s returning to the panel – has had all Mojo-Live Nation’s Dutch festivals sell out in advance, while Christof Huber’s Openair St. Gallen in Switzerland sold out in a day. They’ll be joined by Fruzsina Szep from Hungary’s Sziget Cultural Management, which has just announced record attendance for its Volt and Balaton Sound festivals.

Also announced is a panel on whether the money paid to royalty collection agency GEMA, among other levy-charging organizations, is strangling German club culture. Johannes Ulbricht, lawyer for the BDV promoters’ association, and Musikwoche editor-in-chief Manfred Gillig Degrave will be among those chewing it over. Most of the other speakers at Reeprbahn’s 100 or so conference sessions will be named in the coming weeks.

This year’s Reeperbahn conference and showcase festival is in Hamburg Sept. 17-20.