Chris Dobney
Multinational festival promoter Live Nation has bought a 51 per cent interest in Secret Sounds Group, the Australian company led by Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco that produces Splendour and Falls festivals.
Live Nation made the announcement in a media statement released jointly in Australia and the US on Friday, which could signal further demand for additional festivals at Splendour’s North Byron Parklands site.
First Oz festivals
Splendour in the Grass and Falls are the first Australian festivals to join Live Nation, which claims to have the ‘largest and most diverse festival portfolio in the world’, encompassing more than 80 global festivals, including Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, Reading, Leeds and Rock Werchter.
Ducrou and Pittco have moved to ‘reassure our festival audience, nothing will change with Splendour In The Grass and Falls, it’s business as usual.’
‘Our ethos and concepts will remain as they always have, bringing the best artists and experiences from around Australia and overseas to our events. We’ve had multiple investors over the years and we are thrilled to welcome Live Nation on board who understand the music business completely, we’re really excited about the future,’ they said.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said Ducrou and Pittco had ‘created events that attract the biggest artists in the world but still feel uniquely Australian.’
‘We look forward to partnering with them to find new ways to grow our live event footprint across Australia,’ Mr Rapino said.
Parklands excluded
The purchase includes Secret Sounds’ touring, sponsorship, PR, artist management and domestic agency businesses.
But the group says that the acquisition does not include purchase of the North Byron Parklands (NBP) festival site at Yelgun.
‘This Live Nation partnership does not include Parklands nor our record labels and venues, they are excluded from the investment,’ Ducrou and Pittco told Echonetdaily.
NBP is currently applying to the state government for permanent approval to hold 12 events a year with up to 50,000 punters and a further eight events with up to 25,000.
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