Who's who in the Irish live music business.

MCD

Denis Desmond's company has been promoting shows since the 1970s and is best-known for the Oxegen festival and large-scale open-air shows at Slane Castle, Marlay Park and Croke Park.

Through various companies, Desmond owns or controls the Olympia and Gaiety theatres and the Spirit nightclub. His UK business interests include the V Festival, T in the Park and, through a joint venture with Live Nation, the Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds festivals.

Desmond's other business interests include investments in Abrakebabra, the Bagel Factory, Phantom FM, Solid Records, Rubyworks Records, Setanta TV and Bubble Hits TV. He was also involved in the €3.5 million purchase of the Dublin pub, GF Handels, in 2005.

Aiken Promotions

Established by the late Jim Aiken, the company is now run by his son, Peter. It established itself with big outdoor shows featuring Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen at Slane Castle during the 1980s.

Since then, it has continued to promote major outdoor events, including, this summer, shows by Arctic Monkeys, Justin Timberlake and Bell X1, as well as the successful Live at the Marquee series in Cork. It also promotes arena events and books the Vicar Street venue in Dublin. Owner Harry Crosbie has confirmed that Aiken Promotions will continue to book Vicar Street after Live Nation takes over management of the venue.

POD Concerts

John Reynolds cut his teeth in the family's nightclub business in Co Longford before opening the POD club in Dublin in 1993.

He now operates a number of live and club venues on the Harcourt Street site. His company, POD Concerts, co-promotes the Electric Picnic festival (which included Björk, left, at this year's festival) with Aiken Promotions and the Midlands country music festival with Rag Lane's Darryl Downey (Denis Desmond's brother-in-law), as well as promoting the Garden Party and Lovebox festivals. It recently ran the Some Days Never End festival at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.