Although almost two years have passed since the outbreak of the pandemic, the music industry is stagnant in many countries around the world, waiting for the authorities to present solutions and decisions regarding organising events. The consequences of this situation are the topic of the panel “Music Industry vs COVID-19: What to Expect in 2022?”.
The panel features Maria May, an agent employed at one of the largest booking agencies in the world, CAA, the director of the Lowlands festival, Eric van Eerdenburg, tour manager Suzi Green and the founder and director of the EXIT festival Dušan Kovačević.
It was moderated by Gideon Gottfried, the editor of a leading global magazine covering the concert industry, Pollstar.
Maria May's roots in dance and electronic music run deep, with 22 years under her belt representing DJs and producers including David Guetta, Frankie Knuckles, Paul Oakenfold, David Morales and Soulwax / 2manydjs. As well as less flashy, more quirky artists like Hercules & Love Affair and Róisín Murphy. It's little surprise, then, that May was tapped by CAA in 2012 to lead the high- powered Hollywood talent titan's expansion into dance music. Under CAA head of music Rob Light, May and her expanding global team have developed her division into a crucial player with a roster including Guetta, Black Eyed Peas, The Chainsmokers, Nicky Romero, Robin Schulz, Oliver Heldens, Pretty Lights, Griz, Lee Burridge, Mashrou'Leila, Jonas Blue, Alle Farben, Paul Kalkbrenner, Meduza, Haydn James etc.
Eric van Eerdenburg is the director of the Lowlands Festival and a member of the management team of Mojo Concerts. The Lowlands is the largest Dutch music festival with a history of almost three decades. Lowlands has been focusing on sustainable practices for years, and in May this year, it will present one of the largest solar parks in the world. Mojo Concerts organises 12 major festivals a year. Apart from Lowlands, these include the North Sea Jazz Festival, Pinkpop, Down the Rabbit Hole, WOO HAH, and more than 200 concerts and over 2,000 club events. Eric van Eerdenburg took part in last year's "Unmute Us" protests, held in cities across the Netherlands, protesting the ban on music festivals.
Suzi Green has a career in the music industry spanning 25 years and has tour-managed artists including Placebo, Katie Melua, PJ Harvey, and The Chemical Brothers. After experiencing burnout, she left the industry and retrained as a Naturopathic Nutritionist. Having returned to the business, she uses her skills on tour to the benefit of artists and crew. Passionate about wellbeing, Suzi aims to help bring awareness to our beloved music industry around physical and mental health. During the COVID shutdown, she founded a peer Zoom group called "The Back Lounge" as a way for live music professionals to connect and support each other during difficult times. She also chairs the Mental Welfare sessions as part of a larger group of tour and production managers – Tour Production Group. In 2021 she made Pollstar's Inaugural Impact International List for UK/Europe and won the Women in Live Music "Tour Manager of the Year" award.
Founder of world-famous EXIT festival (SRB) as well as Sea Dance festival (MNE), Sea Star festival (CRO), Revolution festival (RO), No Sleep festival (SRB) and Ada Divine Awakening festival (MNE). EXIT festival, founded by Kovačević, is one of the best-known festivals in the world. It has been awarded on several occasions as Best European Festival (2007, 2013 and 2017), and has graced the pages of almost every influential worldwide media such as CNN, BBC, Time, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Sun, Forbes, Daily Mail, Independent, Euronews, Lonely Planet, Huffington Post and many more. EXIT has thus far attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists to Novi Sad, bringing more than 200 million euros in profit to local economy while expecting to at least double those numbers in the next decade. Along with the contribution to Serbian tourism, EXIT has significantly contributed to Serbia’s and Balkan’s image promotion all around the globe. In 2015 Kovačević became the youngest person ever to receive a February award, given by the city of Novi Sad as the most significant recognition to extraordinary individuals who have contributed positively to the city. He is also the initiator of numerous social activism and humanitarian projects which led to the shift in attitudes of the decision makers and general public, instigating positive social changes in Serbia and in the whole region.
Gideon Gottfried is a journalist born in Germany. He's the European and UK editor of the LA-based live entertainment bible Pollstar. Gideon worked at Pollstar's London office for five years before relocating to Germany for personal reasons in 2020. His work has also appeared in Billboard, IQ Magazine, Vice Germany, and others. He's a co-founder of Munich-based independent record label Crispy Crust Records, where he served as editor for three years. He is passionate about music of all genres and is a rapper himself. Above all, he is an activist and a voluntaryist.
