La Seine Musicale sits on an island and houses a main performance space and a concert hall. (Nicolas Grosmond)
Philippe Ventadour
General manager, Paris La Défense Arena
Almost exactly one year ago, a new 40,000-capacity domed stadium opened its doors to the public in the West End of Paris: U Arena, which soon after secured a naming-rights partnership with the district in which it was built: Paris La Défense.
VenuesNow talked to the venue’s director, Philippe Ventadour, who looks back on a 30-plus-year career in the business — which wasn’t a business back when he started. We asked him about the unique naming-rights deal with Paris La Défense, his résumé after the first year of operation and more.
One year in. How does it feel?
Strange. From the start of construction to the official launch with the Rolling Stones a year ago, it all happened so fast. Only now, after one year, we’re starting to get a bit more comfortable. We didn’t have a moment’s break until now.
Why did the name change from U Arena to Paris La Défense Arena?
U Arena was alluding to the arena’s “U” shape, but we were always looking for a naming-rights partner, and Paris La Défense is the district where we’re built. It’s just outside Paris and a very important business district with many people working and living there.
For us, it was interesting, because it’s not a brand. So there are no conflicts with any other brands that could come in with any show or event. It positions us very well in the Paris area, so it’s a very good deal.
I didn’t realize a business district could become a naming-rights sponsor. Who did you make the deal with? Individual businesses?
With the man who is in charge of Hauts-de-Seine, the Paris department where La Défense is located in (Patrick Devedjian, president of the department’s General Council). Paris La Défense is also the name of the company that organizes all business activities in the district.
Can you tell us how many tickets you have sold since opening last year?
Between opening in October and the end of July, so in 10 months, we’ve sold around 450,000 tickets. As you know, we’re principally the home arena of [the Racing 92] rugby team, so we sold around 150,000 tickets across seven games. For the concerts with the Stones, Roger Waters and the French artists that played here, we sold around 200,000, and the rest was sold for sports events like Supercross, soccer and basketball.
Paris La Defense Arena is home to the Racing 92 rugby team and hosts major concerts. (Courtesy Paris La Defense Arena)
We also had a very important commemoration of the 20th birthday of the World Cup victory in 1998. We won again this year. All the big players of the past 20 years were there. In total, we had 22 shows and events in those first 10 months.
What’s the venue situation like in Paris? Are there enough spaces of all capacities for young bands to work their way up?
The city of Paris is working on developing new venues from 300 to 1,000 seats. The cultural budget in France is quite strong, so even if the smaller spaces aren’t profitable, they’re supported by public funds. That’s how small venues are able to work with up and coming artists, of which there are many in France.
What is the most significant development in the live business over the past 10 years that has changed the way you work?
The big companies, of course. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster revolution. I’m an old man now, I’ve worked in this business for 40 years. I’m about to retire, and it’s really different from when we started. We developed a new business 40 years ago, when I started at Bercy Arena. Now there are many people in the market, big companies, which are (dictating the terms).
Ticketing is the base of the business, so everybody is focusing on getting revenues from ticketing. It’s really more difficult to work in the business now. But I’m old. The young people are working differently, so maybe they’ll develop a new way of doing things.
But, from my point of view, the entire business is held by a few big companies. In France we had 10 big promoters, now we have only five. Everything is consolidating and going to AEG, Live Nation and, in France, Fimalac and Lagardère. Some of them grew so fast, they’re difficult to manage now. They’re doing all right, but they aren’t profitable in all areas they’re operating in. Whether you’re working for Beyoncé or for a small artist, it’s considered the same business, but it’s not. Small venues produce small shows and live on small money. I’ve always worked for big arenas, I have no idea how small venues of 300 capacity hosting 300 to 400 shows per year and earning (about $3,500) per night make it work. ($3,500) is the price it costs to open one door at Paris La Défense Arena. Of course, we’re doing the same job, but not in the same way. So it’s difficult to coexist in the same business.
What do you do to create an experience for visitors of Paris La Défense Arena?
The arena is very well positioned in the center of town, a new district. It’s very easy to access; it’s in the middle of a transportation hub. The experience starts there.
Entertainment is in the center of everything we do. We built the arena with a huge 1,500-square-meter projection wall. We can’t use it for touring concerts, but for rugby matches and everything else it’s having a wow effect on the audience. We’re still working on perfecting the way we utilize it, it was a more difficult project than we expected.
We placed a lot of importance on the food and beverage areas, which are run by us. We wanted to make sure that people want to eat here and not somewhere outside before the event. We aren’t looking into cashless at the moment, because people aren’t picking it up very well in France. We’re trying to create an experience, but we also don’t want to be too early for the market.
What’s next on your agenda?
Improving everything. Working in confidence with all organizers, increasing our rugby audience, because our rugby team is responsible for half of our activity. We’re not managing the sporting aspect, but every economic aspect of the team, such as their ticketing, advertising and hospitality revenues. The plan is to become profitable in the next year. Music is a big part of it, but not all.
Olivier Haber
General manager, La Seine Musicale
La Seine Musicale opened in April 2017 on a little island in the middle of the river Seine near Paris. The venue is the first puzzle piece of what is going to be an entire island dedicated to entertainment.
VenuesNow spoke with La Seine Musicale’s general manager, Olivier Haber, who joined the company at the end of 2016 from AccorHotels Arena, where he spent two years as chief operating officer. Before that he was general manager of the city’s legendary Crazy Horse Saloon, one of France’s most famous cabaret shows, for seven years.
Why did you agree to manage La Seine Musicale?
Because of the huge challenge La Seine Musicale posed. When … the two shareholders of the venue presented me with the opportunity, I immediately knew that it was something unique: a huge space containing two different venues on an island just outside Paris.
Since it was a new opening, there was an entirely new image and program to create. What is more, La Seine Musicale is producing its own shows, as well as hosting shows by external promoters. In Paris, venues are either doing one or the other, but mixing the two is something really new.
Does La Seine Musicale focus on a certain genre of music, or do you try to keep it balanced?
The aim of it is really to program a balance of all genres with a high-quality standard. Depending on the time of year, we’re focusing on different genres — from classical music to jazz to big international tours. We have musicals, such as “West Side Story” last year, and we’re going to have very big shows in 2019.
We’re also focusing on dancing. We had the Alvin Ailey troupe from New York last year. This year, we’re hosting the Chinese National Ballet performing “The Nutcracker” for two weeks. The aim is to attract an audience across all genres, and to touch young people as well, with events such as “Holiday on Ice” and other family shows.
La Seine Musicale played host to a variety of acts, including Bartabas horse shows. (Courtesy La Seine Musicale)
Does that mean you can reconfigure the main space quite easily?
The main space is called La Grande Seine. It can go from 2,000 people seated to 6,500 half seated, half standing. … What is more, we have a very big stage. It’s one of the largest in Europe: 35 meters wide, 40 meters deep and 17 meters high. It allows us to have any kind of show. Last week, for instance, we hosted the horse show of Bartabas: 17 horses on stage and the entire orchestra of Radio France as well as the chorus in the pit. Including the dancers and riders on stage, that’s around 200 people.
The smallest show we received so far was a circus show called “Les 7 doigts de la main” (The 7 Fingers, based in Montreal). We configured the room in such a way that it only held 1,900 people.
How about the smaller space?
It’s a true concert hall, a 360-degree auditorium with a maximum capacity of 1,100 people, designed by Yasuhisa Toyota. It is made entirely of wood, the acoustics are incredible. The space is dedicated to nonamplified music. We have classical music for about 60 to 70 dates per year, but we also host jazz music in it.
The next step is to open up the space for tours of big artists, who don’t usually play acoustic concerts in these kind of places. It’s a complementary offering to what you can see at a stadium. The idea going forward is to have a special intimate night with a big superstar the day before or after they play the stadiums.
Any more spaces in the building we should know about?
We also have rehearsal and recording studios. (Trumpeter) Ibrahim Maalouf, for instance, recorded his latest album here last year, as did (pianist) Lang Lang.
We also have a small 120-capacity jazz club called Nubia, which is directed by Richard Bona, a famous bassist, who plays with Quincy Jones and owns a club in New York.
And we have three rooms ranging from 150 square meters up to 1,300 square meters to host exhibitions. You have a view of the Seine river from everywhere.
Who owns the venue?
It’s one of the many things that are unique about this place, because it’s a partnership between the public — the Département des Hauts-de-Seine, which is the west of Paris — and a private owner, whom I work for.
The private side is a joint venture between French TV channel TF1 and service company Sodexo, who also own the food and drinks concession of the Eiffel Tower and the Lido of Paris, among others.
You’ve been operating for one and a half years now. How would you sum it up?
It’s been an amazing time, totally exceeding our expectations. We had very different and great shows to present, from opening with Bob Dylan, to hosting “West Side Story,” to Michel Sardou, a French singer, who ended his career at La Seine Musicale last year — a very special moment.
In total, we hosted 450,000 people at more than 300 events in the first year. We conducted a study about the public’s awareness of the city’s venues, and we came in sixth among all the historical venues Paris has to offer, which is a big success.
We also hosted a couple of corporate events, including the Victoires de la Musique, which is more or less the same as the Grammys in the U.S. or the Brits in the U.K. We’ve secured them for three years, which is, of course, very important for a new venue like us.
Last year in December, we hosted Emmanuel Macron’s One Planet Summit with more than 50 heads of states at La Seine Musicale.
How many tickets did you sell in the first year?
I can give you some numbers. For “West Side Story” we sold some 85,000 tickets, which beat the previous time the musical resided in Paris. We also beat some historical figures of Herbie Hancock, who usually sells just under 2,000 tickets when visiting Paris. We sold 3,300. We did the same with Gilberto Gil, and beat his historical record in Paris.
It shows that people are coming to La Seine Musicale, people are buying tickets to La Seine Musicale, and it’s not a problem for them to come to this new venue.
For Bartabas, we sold 10,000 tickets in the first year with “Le Requiem de Mozart.” This year, we increased that to 12,000. We also had many different dancing shows, which sold more than 25,000 tickets combined. For “Swan Lake,” which took place on weekends only, we sold 10,000 tickets. Michel Sardou’s farewell concerts alone sold 55,000 tickets. As you can see, it the figures were split between all genres.
What’s next?
We still have a lot to do. We’re working on two new genres. Next year, we’ll have an electronic music festival. We’re also going to bring urban music into the venue, to complete the genre mix.
Do you have plans to sell the naming rights to the venue?
Not at the moment. We have some sponsorship partners, including major partner Crédit Mutuel, or Renault and Bouygues Bâtiment. I’m not saying it’s never going to happen, it’s just not a plan for the moment.