Charleston (S.C.) Music Hall, which is booked exclusively by NS2.
Life is much easier when you take some major decisions off the table. That might explain why some buildings are much happier inking exclusive deals with promoters that guarantee a steady stream of business and less hand-holding rather than juggling a variety of personalities and working styles.
One of the more unique recent examples unfolded at the 4,562-capacity Santa Barbara Bowl, which in early January announced it would be exclusively booked by AEG Live’s Moss Jacobs. The city-owned venue managed by the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation surprised a number of observers when it switched from an exclusive promotion contract with Nederlander Concerts – which operated the Bowl for more than a decade – to AEG Live/Goldenvoice, where Moss jumped ship to join as a Senior Vice President and exclusive booker for SBB.
Exclusives are often a no-brainer for mega-promoters, but for independent shops it’s sometimes a 50-50 proposition. NS2 talent buyer Brian Penix has had an exclusive deal with the 966-seat Charleston (S.C.) Music Hall for nearly two years and so far the collaboration is working out just as he hoped.
Located in the center of a bustling downtown area known for its world-renowned restaurants and blessed with ample parking, Penix said the Music Hall is able to maintain a steady flow of shows despite some competition from the 2,000-seat, cross-town North Charleston Performing Arts Center.
“For middle-of-the-road shows it’s a great hall to play and capacity-wise it serves a great purpose for the market,” Penix said of the Music Hall. The deal was hatched in 2014 when a new GM took over the Hall and was interested in more activity at a time when NS2 was already booking more shows into the room than anyone else in town. “We had more quality shows and they were sold out and doing great business with people like Gillian Welch and Jason Isbell,” said Penix.
“So we discussed it and we took off and now we do around 45 shows a year there. We’re very happy with it and, on top of that, one of the biggest advantages of a buyer having exclusivity on a room is you talk to so many agents and you might pick up some new markets where you can do more shows.”
Penix would like to do a few more exclusive deals, but is constantly reminded that NS2 consider themselves to be promoters first and talent buyers second. “To me, talent buyers, even though I am one, are all about volume and how many shows you can book and I think you lose a bit of your credibility when you just try to fill up your calendar,” he said.
A potential downside of exclusivity is the lack of control over artist’s touring cycles, meaning that you might have the opportunity to do two shows at an exclusive venue in lean years, or 18 if there are a lot of acts on tour. “There are years when we have 300 shows and years when we have 220, but we have no control over that,” he said.
He’s also been turned off by the exclusive business after situations when a bigger promoter didn’t honor the history and relationship he had built with an artist when booking them into a larger venue in town. “It’s lame when venues cut out promoters who have done the groundwork just because they have exclusivity,” he said, declining to name names.
“They’re not willing to give me $1 a ticket if I want to co-promote with them? If I book a room and someone has a history with the artist and cultivated a relationship, I co-promote the show with them. I wish people who have exclusivity would do that more often.”
For some, exclusives just aren’t on the table. “We have never had an exclusive contract with a single promoter,” said Bob Belber, general manager of Albany, New York’s Times-Union Center. In its 26th year hosting shows, Belber said the venue continues to have “good relationships” with a variety of large and small promoters, from Live Nation and AEG Live to Outback Concerts.
“I’ve always looked at it as, if I don’t have an exclusive I’m providing the same fair and reasonable rent and co-promotional terms and being fair to everyone,” he said. The situation could be different, he said, if you are in one of those markets where LN books and manages an amphitheater. “If you’re managing an arena and LN is putting the majority of its shows outdoors, by doing an exclusive you might be doing yourself a disservice because then you can’t get AEG or Outback or other promoters that have rights to certain tours.” If those promoters are just coming in with shows on an irregular basis, Belber said he feels better off cutting nonexclusive deals.
Nashville is a tough town. With so many historic venues and as many options as towns 10 times its size, the competition can be brutal. That’s partly why Nashville Municipal Auditorium general manager Bob Skoney decided last year that he was ready to stop scrambling and settle down with one promoter for the 53-year-old live entertainment staple.
“I issued an RFP, just to gauge interest, for a preferred concert promoter of music and comedy shows for the auditorium, but not to manage the facility,” said Skoney. While Skoney’s team would continue to manage the building and book events such as the Harlem Globetrotters and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout to his RFP.
The November prebid conference included reps from Live Nation, AEG Live, AC Entertainment and SMG among others, and after a question and answer period Skoney recently issued an intent to award the contract to Live Nation. The initial contract calls for LN to book 6 concerts/comedy gigs a year, with no minimum or maximum baked into the deal for the venue that typically does around 8-12 concerts a year among its mix of 110 or so annual events.
“What I’m looking for is obviously to bring in shows that will make money and the building’s management wants someone to come in and be able to put top-notch entertainment in here because the building is 53 years old and we’re seeking improvements and we have to have a return on our investment,” he said. “It’s a good way for us to portray that to the city fathers… that we can get business in here, but we need improvements [to keep it coming].”
Secondly, the LN deal allows Skoney to get out of the promotion and co-promotion game because he didn’t feel in a position to continue doing that anymore, which might explain why the building was not booking as many concerts as in the past. “I don’t have the checkbook, or the same checkbook [as major promoters] and that just removes us from that business and makes us more or less the landlords of the building,” he said of the 6,800-capacity room that competes with Bridgestone Arena and LN’s Carl Black Chevy Woods Amphitheater, not to mention the legendary Ryman Auditorium a few blocks away.
“This will definitely put us on the map and could help us make some needed improvements,” Skoney said.
Contacted for this story: Brian Penix, (615) 777-8599; Bob Belber, (518) 487-2008; Bob Skoney, (615) 862-6393