The Billboard Touring Conference will once again host the popular “10 Questions With…” sessions with influential touring industry executives for it’s 12th annual run, Nov. 18-19 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.
The compelling Q&As, which debuted in 2014, are focused on talent buyers and promoters this year, with a lineup of Kevin Lyman, founder of the Warped Tour and 4fini Productions; promoter Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P. and partner in the 9:30 Club; David Zedeck, executive VP/president, global talent and artist development, Live Nation; and Jay Marciano, chief operating officer, Anschutz Entertainment Group and chairman of AEG Live.
“We’re thrilled with our four ‘10Q’ subjects this year, producers and promoters whose tours represent millions of tickets sold every year,” says Ray Waddell, executive director of content and program, touring and live entertainment, for Billboard, who has programmed the Billboard Touring Conference since its inception. “Beyond their box office success, these four executives have not only had a profound impact on shaping the concert industry as we know it today, but are also on the leading edge of where live music is headed in the next decade.”
Over the last 35 years, Hurwitz has presented more than 17,000 events throughout the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area, hosting millions of music fans. In addition to launching the Virgin Festival in the U.S. and Sweetlife Festival, Hurwitz operates and programs Merriweather Post Pavilion and Washington, D.C.’s historic Lincoln Theatre. He is also a co-owner and proprietor of D.C.’s famed 9:30 Club, a multiple winner of Billboard’s Top Club award and a favorite tour stop for fans and artists alike.
Lyman is best known as the producer and creator of the hugely successful Vans Warped Tour, which is both the longest running traveling music festival in the world at more than 20 years and the longest-lived tour sponsorship partnership with Vans. The Warped tour reaches entertains some 600,000 kids each summer and is one of the most celebrated brands in live music, introducing audiences to such acts as No Doubt, Sublime, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Eminem, 3OH!3, Kid Rock and Fall Out Boy among hundreds of others. Lyman also co-founded the Mayhem and Taste Of Chaos tours (among many others), and this year launched two new one-day festivals in Taste Of Chaos with Jimmy Eat World, The Used, Dashboard Confessional, and Thrice, and It’s Not Dead with punk legends the Descendents, Bad Religion, NOFX, and Pennywise), both in San Bernardino, Calif. Lyman’s efforts in sustainability and green touring led to his receiving the Humanitarian Award at the 2009 Billboard Touring Awards, and the fact that Warped has moved more vehicles more miles than any other artist or tour over the past two decades led to a Billboard Road Warrior award three years later.
As COO of global sports and entertainment giant Anschutz Entertainment Group and chairman of AEG Live, Jay Marciano oversees a festival portfolio that now includes 27 events, including Coachella, New Orleans JazzFest, Stagecoach, Electric Forest, Firefly, and Country Superfests in Baton Rouge, La., Jacksonville, Fla., and Columbus, Ohio. Beyond the festivals, AEG Live is one of the most active tour producers in the world, with a thriving one-off business and 2015 tours by Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. AEG also owns and/or operates some of the busiest venues in the world, including Staples Center in Los Angeles, the O2 Arena in London, New York’s Best Buy Theatre, and many others. Marciano previously ran AEG’s European operations, and also has served stints as president of Madison Square Garden Entertainment and president/CEO, Universal Concerts.
As an executive VP and president of global talent and artist development at Live Nation, a post he’s held since 2012, Zedeck oversees the global touring initiatives for the world’s largest promoter, focusing on acquiring talent on behalf of Live Nation’s global business units and working with the company’s officers on global development. Before joining Live Nation, Zedeck worked at CAA for eight years, where he represented artists such as Justin Timberlake, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Ciara, Il Divo and others. He has more than 25 years of experience as an agent.
To register for the 2015 Billboard Touring Conference, taking place Nov. 18-19 at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel, visit www.BillboardTouringConference.com. Use promo code BIZ15 for a discounted rate.
