Stereosonic Founders Claim SFX Still Owes $10M

A May 27 report from Australia-based The Music Network says the five have tapped Australian entertainment lawyer David Vodicka, principal of Media Arts Lawyers, to represent them in New York. Stereosonic was set up by Totem OneLove Group in 2008. It was made up of club promoters Richie McNeill, Frank Cotela, Dror Erez, Simon Coyle and Peter Raff. Stereosonic became a major festival draw, staged in five cities in late November and early December. With headliners such as Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Armin van Buuren, it could pull between 45,000 and 60,000 in some cities.

When the festival was sold to SFX, its Australian ownership went to a new entity, SFX Totem Pty Ltd. When SFX filed for Chapter 11 In late January SFX Totem released a statement that the issue was related to the United States only and that it would not affect Australian operations. But in April, Stereosonic was pulled from the schedule (to return in 2017) and SFX Totem went into administration a month later. The original principals of Totem OneLove Group moved on to other projects after the 2013 sale.

Richie McNeill’s Hardware Corporation is in the process of setting up two festivals, one in December and the other in early 2017. As reported in Pollstar, Frank Cotela’s One Love record label announced in May it was expanding operations to include publishing, A&R, management, live touring, and in-house public relations.