Live Nation takes over Openair Frauenfeld - and is said to have its sights set on the ticket market
The U.S. company Live Nation has acquired a majority stake in Openair Frauenfeld. This is putting pressure on independent festivals—and may soon do the same to Swiss ticket vendors.
As the SonntagsZeitung reports in its latest edition, Live Nation has acquired a majority shareholding from Openair Frauenfeld President Wolfgang Sahli. He expects major changes in the Swiss concert landscape in the coming years and is delighted to have a new, strong partner. Security and environmental protection costs are constantly increasing, he says. He also hopes that Live Nation's large network will give him easier access to the coveted superstars.
With Openair Frauenfeld, Live Nation is taking over an extremely attractive and well-positioned brand. Since the former "Out in the Green" festival began specializing in black music in the mid-noughties, the event has grown to become the largest and most important hip-hop and urban open-air festival in Europe. This specialization has long since paid off: for years, everyone who is anyone in the genre has been performing in Frauenfeld.
Swiss festivals under pressure
However, the entry of the US group is putting further pressure on independent Swiss festivals. The international organizers have driven up ticket prices and fees, says Christof Huber, Managing Director of the Open Air St. Gallen, to the SonntagsZeitung.
Live Nation is active in 40 countries and organizes tours for stars with whom it has exclusive contracts. Most recently, the concert giant appeared in Switzerland as the organizer of Guns N' Roses' "Not in this Lifetime" tour.
However, the ambitions in Switzerland are to continue even after the takeover of Openair Frauenfeld. The Group is said to be interested in further events.
New US competition for Ringier and Tamedia?
According to industry insiders, Live Nation is planning to enter the Swiss market with its own subsidiary Ticketmaster and thus enter into direct competition with the two almost-merged top dogs Ticketcorner and Starticket. This market entry would deprive the ticketing companies of Ringier and Tamedia of all the events organized by Live Nation and would therefore represent a significant cut. Whether the entry of a strong new player into the market would mean that the recent Weko prohibited merger of Starticket and Ticketcorner would become an issue again remains to be seen.
The fact that Ticketmaster is flirting with Switzerland is as yet unconfirmed speculation. Andre Lieberberg, Managing Director DACH of Live Nation, told SonntagsZeitung that he had "no information whatsoever" about such plans in Switzerland. (hae)
