Promoting Concerts in Fiji

All the people of Fiji are music lovers thus doing Live concerts here usually pull a huge crowd.

The biggest crowd ever aside from Benny Hinn's Crusade in Suva was UB40's live performance at Lautoka's Churchill Park. Aside from the 15,000 plus crowd inside the grounds, about an additional 7,000 people were content to stay outside the concert perimetre and just listen.

Live Concerts in Fiji has the capability to boost all sorts of business.

Tourism, transport providers, print companies, marketing companies, TV, Radio, newspapers & even telecommunications companies can make money from one major act alone. This was evident when I worked for Pacific Groove who was Concert Promoter for UB40's Who You Fighting For Fiji Tour 2006.

However, it's not all smooth sailing in Fiji for Concert Promoters.

We pay an Artist Tax of around 32% of the Artist Fee. So if an Artist like Beyonce costs US$250K to get on stage for a 3 hour show, than the Concert Promoter (in Fiji) will need to pay government in advance US$80K. The Artist cannot get on stage in Fiji without that 32% Artist Tax being paid upfront to FIRCA. This does not waiver the tax of VAT on all ticket sales which equates to another 12.5% of income earned for the concert.

Then, we have the expenses of venue for the concerts to worry about. The Fiji Sports Council has a standard fee of FJ$10K for an international standard gig like UB40, Soweto Gospel Choir or an artist of a similar standing on the world stage. The venue fee of FJ$10K does not include the stage, sound & lights. This is a separate responsibility of the Concert Promoter.

Other expenses are: ground handling by a DMC in Fiji. In my experience we have mostly used Rosie Holidays for their vast experience, excellent communication skills with senior & middle management staff. They also do not charge as much. In 2 previous cases, they have provided this service FREE OF CHARGE in exchange for marketing mileage. Hotel Accomodation for the visiting Artist & his/her troupe, in some cases all meals and drinks etc. Technical Riders can be tricky as well, since we first have to know whether the requirements are available in Fiji or needs to be sourced from offshore.

An important factor to take into account as well is the sponsorship powers and capabilities of local business's. The fact is - it's not much when we compare it to the New Caledonia concerts market.

All in all, for an artist like UB40, a Concert Promoter in Fiji would need an upfront cashflow of around FJ$500K to work with before any returns can be received.

Just imagine, if a Fiji Concert Promoter tried to bring in someone like Beyonce.

However, it is not all bad news, the good news is that worldwide a trend is growing that people are moving towards watching artists live rather than purchasing CD's. It is also proving a bit more lucrative for artists themselves.

This leaves Fiji with an open window of opportunity. We have the sun, sand & sea with good enough accomodation. Throw in a free ticket to watch Beyonce in an open space in Nadi, and you have your perfect holiday!

At Unique Events, we are keeping our fingers crossed and working hard to try and make things happen.

Happy New Year & A Blessed 2009 to you all!