MAMA GROUP’S future as HMV’s live music division looks to be all but over, with the struggling retail chain making little attempt to suggest the division is not up for sale.

HMV Group has announced a loss of £50.1 million in the 26 weeks to 29 October as part of it interim results – in a year in which has seen the company sell its Waterstone’s bookshop chain for £53m and its 121 Canadian stores for £2m, enabling it to agree a £220m refinancing deal with the banks.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Venture capitalist buys and sells its Creamfields stakes

VENTURE CAPITAL firm Ingenious Media has agreed terms to exit its investment in Creamfields festival for £2.78 million.

The company’s Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) helped bankroll the dance festival in 2008, when it moved from being a one-day to a two-day festival, and, in just under five years, it has developed from a 20,000-capacity event to drawing 50,000 fans a day.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Live Music Bill marches on - with LGA support

THE PRIVATE Member’s Live Music Bill has passed another vital stage in its journey towards becoming law, winning the support of former critic the Local Government Association (LGA) along the way.

The LGA had previously said the Bill, which wants venues with a capacity of fewer than 200 people to be exempt from licensing legislature, could impact on local residents, who would not be offered the protection the 2003 Licensing Act currently provides.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

TV talent on tour

DESPITE ONLY finishing fourth in the 2010 edition of X Factor, Cher Lloyd’s star is currently shining brighter than many of the more successful contestants on the TV show.

The 18-year-old from Malvern in Worcestershire is supported by Simon Cowell’s Sony subsidiary Syco Music and has already claimed a No 1 chart position with her debut single Swagger Jagger.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Jackson concert promoter placed into administration

THE PROMOTER of a Michael Jackson tribute concert, which was beset with planning problems and eventually held at Cardiff Millennium Stadium (cap. 63,000) with a much-diluted line-up, has been placed into administration.

Bristol-based Global Live Events LLP, formed on 29 March by Michael Henry and Christopher Hunt according to accounts filed at Companies House, promoted the Michael Forever concert on 8 October, featuring acts such as Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Pixie Lott and JLS. Tickets were priced at £55-240 each.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Back to square one as Olympic bids are urged

FOLLOWING A series of legal challenges, counter-claims and independent investigations bids are being invited once again for someone to take on London’s £537 million centrepiece Olympic Stadium, once the 2012 Games run their course.

The potential for live music at the venue seemed to be in the hands of global promoter Live Nation Entertainment (LNE), when its joint bid with West Ham football club was picked ahead of a tender from Tottenham Hotspur and rival AEG.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

NIA to undergo £20 million refurbishment

BIRMINGHAM’S 13,000-capacity National Indoor Arena (NIA) will undergo a £20.6 million renovation to keep it in line with the country’s leading arenas.

The NEC Group venue, which hasn’t had any major improvement works since it was opened in 1991, will be given an extra 5,926m2 of space for retail units and pre and post-show entertainment as part of the revamp.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Legendary Kinema is reborn as The Ballroom

A DUNFERMLINE venue which hosted shows by The Who, David Bowie and The Clash in its heyday has been relaunched, after its previous incarnation as Velocity went into administration last May.

New leaseholders Darran Taylor and Douglas Inglis of D2 Leisure say live music is at the heart of their strategy for The Ballroom, which has a capacity of 1,139.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Irish launch for Camden’s Crawl

ORGANISERS OF London’s Camden Crawl are launching a sister event in Dublin, focusing solely on live music.

Camden Dublin Crawl will be held on 11-12 May, the week after the London event, at 13 venues across the city including Tripod (cap. 1,350), Whelans (400), Button Factory (300) and Twisted Pepper (350).

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Capital arena takes ticketing in-house

NOTTINGHAM’S CAPITAL FM Arena will carry out its ticketing in-house from July, after selecting AudienceView’s white-label software over current provider See Tickets, which is headquartered in the city.

The 10,000-capacity, Nottingham City Council-operated venue will complete its contract with See before commencing its deal with the Canadian ticketing platform.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

MAMA will help festival return to Vintage roots

FASHION, MUSIC and film festival Vintage will attempt to return to its roots for its third incarnation, with the help of HMV-owned promoter MAMA Group.

The celebration of 1920s-80s British culture was launched by Red or Dead fashion designer founders Wayne and Geraldine Hemingway as a 45,000-capacity event at Goodwood in 2010.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

Goebbels takes team back to his old firm

JUST WEEKS after being sold by former parent company Oxygen Holdings to Entertainment Insurance Partners (EIP, see LIVE UK issue 143), leading live music insurance specialist Robertson Taylor (RT) has made a significant power play.

RT has acquired the Apex Insurance Services team of Martin Goebbels, Pamela Choat and Holly Leary, as well as their full client list which includes Adele, Kasabian, Mumford & Sons and Tinie Tempah.

(see the full story in Issue 144)

ILMC 24 welcomes all who survived 2010

SURVIVAL OF the fittest will be the focus of the 24th International Live Music Conference (ILMC), to be held at London’s Royal Garden Hotel on 9-11 March.

Rebranded for its post-apocalyptic theme as the International League to Mend Civilisation, the conference will feature more sessions on the Friday, to relieve congestion in the Saturday programme, say organisers.

(For full story, see Issue 144)

Music magazine publisher records £19.3 million loss

FUTURE PUBLISHING (FP), the company behind music magazines Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, has announced a £19.3 million loss for the year ended 30 September 2011, compared to a £5.5m profit the previous year.

(For full story, see Issue 144)

Bristol to see live music in Motion

A BRISTOL nightclub used to hosting DJs such as Groove Armada and Pete Tong is entering the live music market by organising concerts on weekdays.

Motion, created out of a former skate park and several warehouses, hosted a Field Day night in November, featuring performances by Hudson Mohawke, Jon Hopkins and Washed Out. It was promoted by Eat Your Own Ears, the team behind London’s one-day festival Field Day (cap. 20,000).

(For full story, see Issue 144)

Promoters Shine a light on three Belfast venues

THREE BELFAST live music venues have been acquired in a joint project between promoter and venue operator Shine Productions and Ireland’s biggest promoter, Dublin-based MCD.

The Limelight (cap. 500), Spring and Airbrake (600) and Katy Dalys (175) were sold to management vehicle Limelight Belfast on 30 November, after their previous owner CDC Leisure went into administration in 2010.

(For full story, see Issue 144)

Sound City takes on theatre for live music

A LIVERPOOL theatre and former music hall which underwent a £1 million refurbishment last year will open as a contemporary live music venue, operated by the team behind conference and showcase event Liverpool Sound City (LSC).

The Epstein Theatre, named after The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein and renovated by the city council, will also be used as a space to host art shows and drama productions.

(For full story, see Issue 144)

Next Big Thing grows in artistes and venues

DESPITE WIDELY publicised problems at retail chain HMV (see page 4), its live music division MAMA Group is to increase the number of artistes performing at the third annual HMV Next Big Thing from 140 to 200.

HMV/MAMA venues staging the shows, set for 2-12 February, will also increase from eight to nine as Manchester’s HMV Ritz (cap. 1,300) – acquired last year – is used for the first time, alongside Birmingham’s HMV Institute (1.600), The Relentless Garage (600) in London and Edinburgh’s HMV Picture House (1,500).

(For full story, see Issue 144)

Southbank brings new structure to senior staff

LONDON’S SOUTHBANK Centre has restructured its senior music programming team, following former head of music Marshall Marcus’s decision to leave the role he has held since 2007.

Former senior programmer in contemporary music Jane Beese has been appointed head of contemporary music, while Gillian Moore is the new head of classical music, moving from her previous position as head of contemporary culture.

(For full story, see Issue 144)

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL founder Michael Eavis is being presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Festival Awards ceremony on 11 January. Eavis has seen the Somerset festival grow from humble beginnings to a 150,000-capacity event, which last year featured headliners Beyonce, Coldplay and U2. The Festival Awards take place during Eurosonic Noorderslag conference and festival showcase in Groningen, Netherlands.

TWO DOOR Cinema Club, Metronomy, Tribes and Azealia Banks
are among acts featured on the 18th NME Awards Tour, which runs from 8-25 February and plays venues such as Glasgow’s O2 Academy (cap. 2,500), UEA (1,470) in Norwich and London’s O2 Academy Brixton (4,921). The Shockwaves-sponsored tour is promoted by SJM Concerts, DF Concerts and Metropolis Music.