Sytelabs Update (And Some Brief News)

To begin, I want to thank all of you who’ve tolerated the radio silence on this site the last several weeks. Between projects, the holidays, and many other obligations I haven’t had much opportunity to update the site as frequently as I would have liked. Now that we’ve crossed over into the new year, the slate’s been wiped clean, the batteries recharged, and we’ll be getting back to a regular posting schedule beginning next week. I promise.

Something that bears mention...This past week saw the release of both Pollstar’s and Billboard’s ranking of the top-grossing tours of 2011. Although the results aren’t particularly surprising (U2 basically owned everyone), one fact regarding Pollstar’s numbers caught my eye. By their calculations , half of the artists who’s tour ranked in the top-ten began their careers in the 1990’s or later. For me, I find this both surprising and reassuring, given the industry’s recent over-reliance upon music’s lumbering dinosaurs to prop up the bottom line (although there’s a fair amount of that, as well). I won’t go so far as to say this entirely disproves my belief that the large promoters care little about artist development - aside from Kenny Chesney, none of the young guns spent much time slugging it out in the industry’s farm leagues before being welcomed to the big stages. But it is a welcome sign that there is life after the Rolling Stones.

Who incidently may be heading out on the road next year...again.

Who's The Star Of Your Show?

Is it the artist, who you've paid handsomely to entertain your guests (or have invested in with hopes of achieving a respectable rate of return)?

Is it your sponsors, who've paid you for the privilege of connecting with an audience only you can provide them?

Or is it your guests, who have invested their time and money with the expectation that you'll deliver a small slice of magic for an evening?

There is no "wrong" answer to this question. But if you can't answer immediately, you're already dangerously close to failing. Because every single decision regarding your event should rest on it.