The Mean Fiddler Music Group is to concentrate on promoting big music festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading and Fleadh under the new name Festival Republic following the sale of several of its intimate live music venues to the media organisation that manages Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand.
In a deal that ends Irish connections with the name Mean Fiddler, the group has sold London's Mean Fiddler, Borderline, Jazz Cafe and Garage music venues, 75 per cent of its stake in two G-A-Y bars and the Mean Fiddler name to the MAMA group for £6 million (€8.87 million).
Music promoter Denis Desmond, whose company MCD is part of a joint investment vehicle with US firm Live Nation that controls the Mean Fiddler group, said it had dispensed with venues with a capacity of less than 1,000 in order to focus on the promotion of large-scale weekend festivals.
The group's ownership of the Astoria and Astoria 2 venues in Charing Cross Road in London is not part of the sale and will transfer to the Academy Music Group (AMG), the venue owner in which the Live Nation/MCD investment vehicle, LN-Gaiety Holdings, has a shareholding.
Festival Republic will promote the Carling Weekend festivals in Reading and Leeds, Latitude in Suffolk, the anti-racism music event Rise, St Patrick's Day festivities and the traditional music festival Fleadh. It is also the commercial operator of Glastonbury, the iconic festival run by Somerset farmer Michael Eavis.
Festival Republic is 51 per cent owned by Live Nation through the LN-Gaiety investment vehicle.
Originally known as Hamsard, LN-Gaiety was set up as a joint vehicle between MCD and US media giant Clear Channel in 2005 in order to buy the 35 per cent stake in Mean Fiddler then owned by its Irish founder, Vince Power.
Clear Channel's live music arm was later spun off into Live Nation.
Mr Power, who was born in Waterford, founded the Mean Fiddler club in London in 1982 and it became one of the UK's best known music venues, making its name as a breeding ground for emerging talent during the 1980s and 1990s. The group grew rapidly, buying up a string of other live venues before moving into festivals. When Mr Power was bought out, Mr Desmond also held an additional 24 per cent stake in the Mean Fiddler group.
Mr Desmond is the biggest concert promoter in Ireland through MCD.
As part of yesterday's deal, Jeremy Joseph, the founder of G-A-Y, will keep his 25 per cent stake in the club, which since 1976 has seen regular performances from some of the biggest pop stars and gay icons.
MAMA, which already owns the Forum, Barfly and Hammersmith Apollo venues in London, has now spent £20 million buying up live music venues in the UK.
Its chief executive Adam Driscoll said linking the running of live venues with artist management was key for music groups, as live performances was where the real revenue lies for musicians. - (Additional reporting Reuters)
