SEPTEMBER | FEATURE
Nick Cave at Alexandra Palace / Photography: Joel Ryan
Brian Message
“The shows had worked so well we felt
it was appropriate to launch a company,
not least because we were getting so
much demand,” says Message.
The business has already streamed
shows to dedicated markets oversees
but is now expanding its offering outside
the UK, with shows being set up in
North America. A natural step, with both
Beggars and ATC having US bases.
Message’s partner at ATC, Ric Salmon
co-founded the venture and while the
management company has a vast array
of its own artist clients to work with,
Driift is not restricting itself to in-house
acts.
Driift oversees ticketing, production,
licensing, rights management and digital
marketing for the shows, working
alongside partners including production
company Pulse Films, online streaming
specialist Jackshoot, streaming
platforms YouTube and Vimeo, and
Ticketmaster and Dice for ticketing.
When it comes to ticket sales, an
interesting pattern emerged that is
helping the planning and budgeting of
events.
“The turnaround is pretty quick, you
know you are going to sell 30% to 40%
of your tickets within 48 to 72 hours of
making the on-sale announcement, and
you know you will do the same numbers
in the last couple of days before the show.
That means that as little as 48 hours
after the on-sale you know where to pitch
the production budget costs, depending
on what you want the creative to be and
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