Eventim hits out at German regulator's ruling on exclusivity clauses
German ticketing giant CTS Eventim has said it will seek to overturn a ruling by Germany's competition regulator in relation to exclusivity clauses in its contracts with promoters.

Germany's Federal Cartel Office reckons that contract terms providing Eventim with something nearing 100% of tickets for its clients' shows are anti-competitive, ruling that long-term clients should have the option to sell at least 20% of their tickets via other agencies.

Andreas Mundt, boss of the Federal Cartel Office, told reporters: "As the operator of the largest ticketing system in Germany, CTS Eventim holds a dominant position in the market. Under competition law, a company with such a market position has special obligations".

He went on: "Where CTS Eventim commits its contract partners to sell tickets exclusively via its own ticketing system, the company is abusing its market power to the detriment of competition. With our decision, substantial ticket quotas will be freed up for sale via competing ticketing systems".

The ruling on exclusivity clauses is Eventim's second run-in with the German regulator in just the last week. Previously the Federal Cartel Office blocked Eventim's bid to acquire Berlin-based booking agency Four Artists, part of the firm's ongoing bid to diversify its interests in the live entertainment sector beyond ticketing.

As the company considers its options regarding its Four Artists acquisition, yesterday it confirmed it would fight the ruling on exclusivity deals. Eventim said in a statement: "The decision of the Federal Cartel Office ignores the fierce competition in the market for ticket services, which is constantly increasing as a result of frequent market entries by digital providers from Germany and abroad".

It went on: "Against this background, we have to assume that the Cartel Office has gone into this procedure with a preconceived notion that does not adequately reflect this development. All the investigations in the three-year proceedings were apparently aimed at confirming this belief".

And, vowing to fight, it concluded: "We regret that the agency has not adequately considered our strong counter-arguments, especially as they are supported by current studies and economic expert reports. ... For these reasons, we will not accept the decision of the Federal Cartel Office and will engage the competent courts to correct it".

Exclusivity deals in the live sector - while nothing new - have been a topic of conversation again of late, partly as a result of Songkick's legal action in the US against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster business, in which the live giant is also accused of anti-competitive behaviour.

And then - away from ticketing - we've had the row between Live Nation and its rivals AEG and MSG Entertainment over the locking of venue bookings across any one company's portfolio, which may or may not have become routine of late, depending on who you talk to.

The allegation was that MSG had been pressuring artists to play its venue The Forum when in LA whenever they were seeking to book its flagship New York arena Madison Square Garden. And, in response, AEG was likewise pressuring artists to book its LA venue the Staples Center in order to access its London base the O2 Arena.

Caught in the middle, but arguably more closely allied to MSG, Live Nation reportedly submitted a complaint about AEG's policy to the UK's Competition & Markets Authority. But, according to Billboard, the CMA recently declined to investigate, apparently deciding that it's mainly an LA-based squabble that therefore falls outside its remit.

Responding to that decision, AEG has said: "Following their consideration of Live Nation's complaint regarding our joint booking policy, we can confirm that the UK competition authority has decided not to open an investigation. We are pleased with the CMA's decision - it is the conclusion we always expected them to reach".

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Katy Perry and co get $10 million in punitive damages in convent case
Katy Perry and her best buds over at the Archdiocese Of Los Angeles have been handed $10 million in punitive damages in the long-running legal dispute over the pop star's attempt to buy a former convent in LA.

As previously reported, Perry agreed a deal with the Archdiocese Of Los Angeles to purchase the property back in 2015. However, shortly afterwards, restaurateur Dana Hollister agreed a deal with two of the nuns who previously lived in the property to buy it for a slightly higher amount.

There was then a legal battle over which deal should stand. The case went through various court tussles, before a ruling was made in Perry's favour. Though the Vatican still needs to sign off on the purchase, and Hollister reckons that she might still have a chance of getting her hands on the property by lobbying the Pope.

Meanwhile, Perry, Hollister and God's Californian representatives were back in court last month. Perry and the Archdiocese wanted Hollister to reimburse them the millions of dollars in legal fees they had spent in fighting the case, on the basis that, as the restaurateur already owns a former convent, she would have been well aware that she would need approval from the Archdiocese, not the nuns, to buy the building. And therefore, it was alleged, she had gone the nuns route in a bid to scupper Perry's deal.

Perry and the Archdiocese won that legal battle too, and yesterday the matter was back in court yet again so that a jury could consider punitive damages, in addition to the $5 million in legal fees Hollister had already been ordered to hand over.

And, according to Courthouse News, those punitive damages are considerable. The $10 million will be split so that two thirds goes to the archdiocese and the sisters who previously occupied the convent, while a third will go to the company Perry set up in order to buy the property.

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Talent booking platform launches premium 'concierge' service
Live entertainment booking platform Headliner has today officially put live what it is calling a "concierge service" that "connects event planners, agencies and brands directly to global talent". Which basically means that it will help people who put on occasional events that require big name acts to source said big name acts.

The main Headliner platform, which has also just had some refinements put live, is an automated service that links event organisers with over 4000 musicians, bands and DJs. The new H concierge service is more bespoke, and will see the firm liaise with key booking agencies like WME, ATC Live, CAA, Coda and ITB to access and negotiate with talent.

Headliner says that it's new premium service, which has already been operating in beta, also "offers logistics support, including technical and artist riders, production and stage management and artist liaison, making the process as easy and effortless as possible".

Commenting on all this, the firm's CEO Stan McLeod says: "We're proud to present our 'H' fully-managed service, which offers brands, agencies and event organisers access to the cream of live performers for their events. Having now also put the final finishing touches to our main platform, we are seeing the platform go from strength to strength, and look forward to helping more event planners secure the perfect act for their event".

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VIP-Booking.com acquires Musicverb
VIP-Booking.com, the online data and information service for the live music sector, has acquired Musicverb, which operates a marketing platform also aimed at those working in live music.

The founder of Denmark-based VIP-booking.com, Ronni Didriksen, confirmed the deal last week, adding that the acquisition made sense as the live sector became "more and more sophisticated" in the way it uses data, adding that, as a result of the deal, "we can now offer Musicverb clients even more powerful services to help them make their everyday work better, faster and more accurate".

Meanwhile, the founder of Portugal-based Musicverb, Rui Santos Couto, added: "VIP-Booking has worked in this industry for many years, they have great products and they know what they are doing. The clients at Musicverb.com will now have access to an even better service and I'm sure they will benefit from this deal".

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Eventbrite integrates with Festicket
Following its tie up with Twickets last week, Eventbrite has another new partnership to share, and just in time for Christmas! This time the DIY ticketing platform is allying with Festicket, the festival-focused set-up that tries to make it easier to buy festival tickets with any required travel and accommodation all bundled in.

Festicket says that its new partnership will "establish a seamless process for Eventbrite clients to select from thousands of Festicket's accommodation and travel options, enabling them to create the best festival experiences for their fans". Meanwhile, they say, "the relationship will also boost the choice available for Festicket customers". And who doesn't like seamless processes and boosted choice? No one, that's who.

Says Festicket boss Zack Sabban: "One of Festicket's core missions has always been to take the hassle out of organising a music festival trip, including ticket, accommodation, and travel. We are THRILLED to announce this collaboration with Eventbrite, which will ensure a wider choice of festivals and experiences available through Festicket than ever before. As both organisations share similar company values, we believe this partnership will prove incredibly successful in the years to come".

Confirming the deal from Eventbrite's side, Joel Crouch added: "This integration partnership with Festicket hits two birds with one stone for our event creators. Eventbrite's live music and festival clients now have the opportunity to easily bundle their tickets with additional products in and around their events, to curate an even more attractive offering. On top of that, they can now reach and tap into a new audience of international fans on Festicket".

So good news for everyone. Except those two birds. Who'd throw a stone at a bird, let alone two?

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WMA launches US-focused PR team
London-based music marketing and creative agency WMA has announced it is expanding its North American operations by launching a US-focused PR team there. And the first recruit at the new publicity unit is Chrissy Borsellino, who joins the firm from New York-based Right Angle PR.

Confirming the hire, WMA said: "Chrissy has ten years of experience in many facets of the music industry, including PR, management, publishing, and concert promotion. She is forward thinking in her approach to publicity and constantly looking for cutting edge or innovative ways to raise client's profiles".

She will work with WMA's Global Publicity Director, Heather Swaine, on the development of the company's new American PR set-up.

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Reggie Yates stands down from 'TOTP' after podcast comments
Reggie Yates will not co-host this year's Christmas editions of 'Top Of The Pops'. Which reminds me, they still do Christmas editions of 'Top Of The Pops'. What fun!

Apparently Reggie Yates has co-presented the BBC's festive 'TOTP' outings in recent years, presumably as a special treat for all those people who have particularly fond memories of the latter years of the old pop music telly show. Which, at last count, was no one. So, I assume not too many people will be too disappointed by Yates standing down this time.

He has decided not to participate in the festive 'TOTP' specials following his recent appearance on a podcast in which he bigged up the current generation of new artists for being "managed by their brethren" rather than some "fat Jewish guy". That latter remark was not especially well received.

Discussing the fallout that followed said podcast, Yates - again apologising for his choice of words - said on Twitter: "This has been, and continues to be, a huge learning experience for me, and on reflection I have taken the decision to step down from hosting 'Top Of The Pops' this year".

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Queen biopic delayed again after director axed
The long delayed Queen biopic, now called 'Bohemian Rhapsody', has been - well - delayed again, after the film's director was axed from the project.

As previously reported, the Queen movie has been long mooted, with an assortment of people being linked to the project over the years. It finally went into production earlier this year with Bryan Singer of 'The Usual Suspects' and 'X-Men' fame directing and Rami Malek, star of US TV series 'Mr Robot', playing Freddie Mercury.

But production on the project was officially halted on Friday, reportedly because of the "unexpected unavailability" of Singer. Then yesterday, producers Fox stated - simply - that "Bryan Singer is no longer the director of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'".

There has been much chatter of late about tensions on set between Singer and his actors, in particular Malek. Indeed, rising tensions resulted in a recent confrontation between Singer and Malek, an incident some linked to the former's dismissal.

But in a statement, the director denied that was so. He said yesterday: "Rumours that my unexpected departure from the film was sparked by a dispute I had with Rami Malek are not true. While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving".

Singer's departure, he said, was because producers wouldn't allow him to take time off on health grounds, and also to care for "a gravely ill parent". He added: "I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honour the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen, but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first".

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