Chatting with a representative of Emma, the foremost China-based promoter, last month at Fuji Rock, we learned that the company’s Director of Live Events – Marketing, A. Robb Spitzer, was leaving the company. Less than a month later, Emma’s Director of Live Events – Operations, Adam Wilkes, tells us that he is also leaving the company.
Wilkes and Spitzer have lasted less than a year at Emma, after being poached from rivals China West Entertainment in October of 2007 to bolster Emma’s live arm. This looked to be a direct reaction to Ticketmaster’s buyout of Emma Entertainment. In the tiny world that is the China live music industry, the defections were highly controversial, not least because Wilkes and Spitzer were both large equity partners in Steve Sybesma’s China West. They took with them significant relationships, including the impending Linkin Park stadium show in Shanghai as well as Superfly, organisers of the Bonnaroo festival in the USA, who were due to partner up with China West for a Chinese festival. However, Emma’s fateful Bjork show in Shanghai this past March changed the landscape significantly.
Emma Ticketmaster (as it is now known) came under significant pressure after the Bjork debacle and rumours of the company being shut down abounded. Our best guess is that in order to continue operations, the company had to take on some significant Chinese partners. Within the company, this may have had repercussions, with clashes between the company’s Western and Chinese board members. Spitzer did not return requests for comment.
With all live shows cancelled from April until after the Olympics, Emma have a huge re-coming out party planned in October, with 11 large shows slated around the country in the span of less than a month. But the injection of fresh blood into the company, and the departure of industry veterans may spell trouble for the upcoming shows. A quick conversation with one of the tech people responsible for the 5 Linkin Park shows, 5 Avril Lavigne shows and 1 Diana Krall show revealed a lack of awareness from those booking the shows. “Not show people” were the exact words, and we at the Radar must agree.
Emma have constantly tried to push the proverbial envelope, but we believe they continually try to run when we should all be learning to crawl. This country will be a mass consumer of popular music, but to go from 2007’s one-off Linkin Park show in Shanghai to 4 Linkin Park shows including a show in Wuhan or an Avril Lavigne show in Lijiang is a massive step. Time will tell whether these shows will be possible without two of Emma’s former major players. Watch this space.
Date for the Emma’s major upcoming shows are as follows:
Avril:
September 26, Cotai Arena, Macau
September 28, Indoor Stadium, Guangzhou
September 30, Chengdu Stadium, Chongqing
October 2, Lijiang Snow Mountain Festival, Lijiang
October 4, Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
October 6, Wukesong Arena, Beijing
Diana Krall:
October 9, Luwan Gymnasium, Shanghai (additional dates TBA)
Linkin Park (Music For Relief Asian Benefit Tour):
October 12, Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai
October 15, Xinhua Lu Stadium, Wuhan
October 17, Zhongshan Soccer Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan
October 19, Beijing Workers’ Stadium, Beijing
October 21, Cotai Arena, Macau