The AvA Connection

The Weekly Buzz:

• US House Passes TICKET (Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing) Act - Read more

  • Requires “all-in” pricing.

  • Guarantees refunds for event cancellations or postponements.

  • The bill now awaits a senate vote, which seems like an easy one…

• The NFL released their schedule. The winners? NFL Social media teams and Netflix.

  • Netflix continued their expansion into live sports, locking in a three-season deal to air 2 Christmas Day games in 2024, with at least 1 Holiday game each year through 2026.

  • They reportedly paid in the ballpark of ~$150 million per game. a year after CEO Ted Sarandos “wasn't interested in getting into live sports.” (Does Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson count?)

• Spotify is in a legal dispute with music publishers over lyrics, podcasts and music videos. Read more

• Lainey Wilson & Chris Stapleton were big winners at the AMA Awards

  • Major country acts Post Malone, Dua Lipa and Avril Lavigne performed 🙂 

• The Inaugural Sudden Little Thrills is cancelled less than a month after announce

  • The Pittsburgh festival was to be headlined by SZA and The Killers.

  • Supply chain issues, skyrocketing costs and inflation have hurt the festival market in a major way.

• Dead & Co. kicked off their Sphere residency with some Dead & Co. level visuals

  

  Credit: Alive Coverage

The Call Log: Sophie Lobl, Global Festival Talent Buyer at C3 Presents

AvA: How did you get involved in the business side of music? 

Lobl: I wanted to be a radio presenter and produced and hosted radio shows at University. From there I got an internship at Radio 1, and then a full time job as an assistant producer on some of their specialist music shows. That’s where I discovered the business side of music and what it meant to be an agent or a promoter and I was hooked.

AvA: You've been involved with large-scale & multi-genre festivals like the global Lollapaloozas, Bonnaroo and Music Midtown, as well as smaller more eclectic ones like Format and FairWell. How does your approach to booking a lineup change for each project? 

Lobl: It’s case by case. At Bonnaroo we book over 150 bands, not including the campground stages, so you have a lot of times and slots to play with. I think it is one of the most magical festivals in the world – Bryan and Steve do such a great job with the line up. Where as at FairWell we only have 40 slots that are strictly Americana and Country, so its curating for a totally different audience in a totally different setting. The process is both the most rewarding and anxiety-driven part of this job in my opinion.

AvA: There are more concerts and festivals than ever, and with the added supply comes more competition to sell tickets. How can events and artists continue to be successful in this crowded landscape? 

Lobl: On the artist side, with the addition of multiple festivals and more ways to make money through ticket scaling at their own shows, it is an exciting time and more opportunity than ever for different avenues of growth. On the event side it drives innovation and deeper thinking in order to set yourself apart.   

AvA: Latin and Country were two of the fastest growing genres last year. Do you find yourself adapting your booking strategy based on genre-consumption, or do you try to stay true to the roots of each event?

Lobl: In order to be successful as a business you have to cater to demand, that includes adapting to what is selling tickets at the time. However, we rarely change an entire festivals personality solely based on what’s selling. We create and adapt new projects for what works just like any other business. Part of why I love this job is discovering and educating myself on new talent and genres. 

AvA: What is one piece of advice you have for someone just getting started in their career? 

Lobl: Take time to build relationships. I have friends and colleagues that I still work with as promoters, agents and managers who were interns with me 12 years ago. I believe that’s one of the great things about this industry is how small it can feel sometimes. Take time to be nice to be people. There’s too many assholes in this biz and its unnecessary. We get to go to shows for a living.

The Job Board

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