IAMA Members Meeting 16 Nov, 2007
The next IAMA Members Meeting will be held on Friday 16th November, in the Finnish Institute, at 16.45. All members are invited to attend this meeting. The Agenda for the meeting is as follows:
Notice is hereby given that an Extraordinary General Meeting of the International Artist Managers' Association will be held on 16 November 2007 at 16:45, Finnish Institute in London, 35-36 Eagle Street, LondonWC1R 4AQ. Drinks will follow the meeting.
1. Welcome
2. Register
3. Matters Arising
4. Minutes of the meeting 24 July 2007as presented in Annexure A. For approval
5. Welcome from the Finnish Institute Director, Mr Seppo Kimanen
6. Welcome to new members
7. Young International Artists Programme: Updated information and announcement of the Outstanding Young Artist winner
8. Herbert Barrett
Monica Felkel will pay tribute to Herbert Barrett, founder of Herbert Barrett Management in New York.
9. Membership issues:
9.1 New membership benefit announcement
9.2. Board report
10. Report on recent regional meetings
10.1 .Report on the Italian meeting held on 29 September 2007 in Milan.
10.2. Report on the DOT meeting held 4-5 November 2007 in Berlin
11. Lobby issues:
1. Immigration in the UK
2. BBC contract update
3. ENO update
12. Classical Music Artists
Operabase update and CMA deadlines for 2008.
13. Report: Opus Arte
Hans Petri of Opus Arte reports on the acquisition of Opus Arte by the Royal Opera House.
14. Any other business
15. Closure. The meeting will be followed by drinks
Annexure A
Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of the International Artist Managers' Association held on 24 September 2007 at 16:45, Southbank Centre, London.
1. Welcome
The Chairman welcomed all present and opened the meeting.
2. Register John Willan, Hazard Chase: Chairman
Catherine Le Bris, CLB Management
David Sigall, Ingen & Williams
Scott Cooper, Athole Still International Management
Libby Abrahams, IMG Artists Europe
Roderick Thomson, Van Walsum Management
John Bickley, Britten Sinfonia
Caroline Phillips, Caroline Phillips Management
Caroline Oakes, Clarion/Seven Music
Mark Kendall, Connaught Artists Management Ltd.
Steve Long, Floating Earth Ltd.
Georgina Ivor, Georgina Ivor Associates
Melanie Crompton, Hazard Chase Ltd.
Libby Percival, Hazard Chase
Pia Sikorkski, Konzertdirektion Schmid UK Ltd
Anna Louisa Bindler, Konzertdirektion Schmid UK Ltd
Rob Berry, Music International
Aminah Domloge, Pro Artist
Ben Rayfield, Rayfield Artists
Robert Gilder, Robert Gilder & Company
Emma Sweetland, Sulivan Sweetland Ltd.
Francois Bou, Van Walsum Management
Charlotte House, Victoria Rowsell Artist Management Ltd.
Susan Hudson, Young Concert Artists Trust
Mario Ingrassia, Mamusic
IAMA Staff:
Atholl Swainston-Harrison, Chief Executive (CE)
Ashley Morris, Manager: Administration & Operations
Andreas Flohr, Manager: Membership & Projects
Apologies:
Gunther Obwexer, Aliopera
Bea Levine-Humm, BLH Artists Management
Boris Orlob, Boris Orlob Management
Jane Colwell, Colwell Arts Management
Alan Coates, Harrison Parrott
Lisa Peacock, Lisa Peacock Concert Management Ltd
Patrick Garvey, Patrick Garvey Management
Monica Felkel, YCA New York
3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
4. Minutes of the Meeting 3 July 2007
The minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting held on 3 July 2007 were approved. Proposer: Caroline Phillips; Seconder: Ben Rayfield
5. Welcome to new members
The Chief Executive welcomed the following approved members:
Full members:
Laurent Delage Artists Management, Vienna
Encompass Arts LLC, New York
Colbert Artists Management, New York
Blue Orchid Artists Management, Bad Dizenbach
International Music Talents, Paris
Lundstrom Arts Management, Dublin
AOR Management, Inc., Seattle, WA
Affiliate:
Göteborgs Symfoniker AB, Gothenburg
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London
Lucerne Festival Strings, Luzern
Music Productions Ltd. London
6. Classical Music Artists Directory: development proposals
The CE discussed the proposals for the addition of a photo and biography entry for each artist’s page on the CMA website, and asked for feedback from members. The members expressed concerns that this would mean more work and possibly money. They felt the proposal was a duplication of material on their own websites. The CE reported that the matter would be taken to the Editorial Advisory Board who would consider membership reaction. The CE also reported that he has been in discussion with OperaBase.com to share information from the CMA website with them. The members were in agreement that sharing information was a good thing as OperaBase.com information is often out-of-date.
7. IAMA introduction of new staff and positions.
The Chairman welcomed the two new members of staff now working in the IAMA office; Ashley Morris Manager: Administration & Operations and Andreas Flohr Manager: Membership & Projects.
8. Young International Artists Programme
The CE reported the number of entries received for this years MIDEM awards: Young Concert Artists Trust - four, International Franz Liszt Piano Competition – one, Honens International Piano Competition – two, Queen Elizabeth Competition of Belgium – six, Young Concert Artists – three. Applications are currently with the IAMA Jury, with representatives from Artists Management Klinkhamer van der Vliet, Halle Orchestra, Internationales Kulturmanagement, Stockholm Concert Hall Foundation and Van Walsum Management. Their list of finalists will then be presented to the MIDEM jury.
9. Focus on Italy
The CE passed on apologies from Gunther Obwexer who was unable to attend, but thanked Mario Ingrassia (MI) for agreeing to discuss the Italian music business in conversation with Robert Gilder (RG). MI reported that Italy is still suffering from a 33% funding cut that happened in 2003, and the difficulty with budgeting and planning ahead. There have also been changes in many Opera Houses which often resulted in only one person controlling all aspects of the business. Often it was the Sovrintendente who was also artistic director. He also noted that Italian organisations often leave contracts until the day of a performance. RG expressed concerns over changes to agreed contracts. MI agreed that often four agreed performances become three and an open rehearsal. RG noted that halls in Italy are often poorly sold. MI agreed that there is a change in Italian culture which has seen audiences decrease in some areas, but reported that Opera and Symphony concerts still sell well. MI also reminded members that there are many smaller houses in Italy which put on a variety of different presentations and should not be overlooked in favour of the large well known venues. Those small houses tend to programme at short notice so there might still be opportunities for 2008! RG asked how IAMA could help? MI replied that it is difficult to get Italian members to attend anything. He encouraged members to invite Italians to events and concerts here in the UK to establish contacts. Caroline Phillips raised an issue regarding when a third party agent had become involved with her dealings in Italy. MI was not surprised by this, but warned of the expectations of commission to be paid for their participation. MI also warned that increasingly Italian houses are only paying a gross fee, and will not pay separately for flights and hotels. The CE reminded members that it was not too late to attend the Milan meeting on 29th September at the Palazzo delle Stelline and a full morning of discussion was planned with Italian managers.
10. Broadcasting and Right Issues
The CE invited Emma Sweetland (ES), and Steve Long (SL) to discuss matters surrounding this issue. The CE also noted that ES is leaving the BBC rights committee to be replaced by Roderick Thomson, he thanked her, on behalf of the members, for her work and presented her with a gift.
ES briefly covered what she had reported at the last meeting and referred members to the IAMA website for the minutes of previous meetings. The question of why the BPI and the BBC don’t meet was brought up. SL replied that the BPI is comprised of over 20 different labels, all who have different objectives, therefore making it difficult for them to present a united opinion. The BPI sees the BBC downloads as a good thing as this often leads to a CD sale. SL also noted that BBC broadcasts have a greater influence on CD sales than an equivalent airing on Classicfm. He reported that classical music fans generally still like having a CD with a booklet, classical music download make up less than 1% of the overall download market, despite that figure, Floating Earth’s download revenue has increase by 400% in the past year. SL noted that near CD quality downloads are now available. He also reported that classical music sales are not as bad as widely perceived. Big names (eg. 3 Tenors) will create fluctuation in sales and distort the overall picture. SL’s advice was to be confident in negotiating with public broadcasters.
11. Any other business
Scott Cooper (SC) reported that UK members had recently expressed concern about the way in which the ENO had handled a recent broadcasting offer from the BBC. Artists had been offered broadcasting payments for Carmen and Poppea for a fee buyout offer (limited to £400 per artist) apparently from the BBC. ENO did not inform all artist management companies of the rates and effectively gave only 24 hours in which to reply to the suggested fees. SC advised members of the Board’s intention to contact the BBC to establish if they set the levels and to then contact ENO, particularly with reference to the lack of notice given for objections.
The CE announced that there will be two Opera Breakfasts scheduled for October and December, and that Berlin conference registration will be open from January 2008. He also reminded members of the reception at the British Embassy in Berlin, following the Deutscher Orchestatag on the 5th November.
12. Next meeting
The next meeting will be held on the 16th November at 17:00 at the Finnish Institute in London
13. Closure
The meeting closed at 17:55
For directions to the Finnish Institute please click here.