Agency

#133 - Booking Global Icons in 48 Hours: How We Built Australia's #1 Festival | Mike Christidis

Agency

Show Notes

Here is how the co-founder of Australia's largest independent music and events company navigated a $3.6M loss while scaling a $150M live music empire.In this episode, we sit down with Mike Christidis of Untitled Group to deconstruct exactly how he navigated industry failures, managed massive egos, and ultimately Built Australia's #1 Festival.This is a masterclass in high-stakes negotiation, crisis management, and scaling a business in one of the toughest industries on earth. Mike pulls back the curtain on the economics of global music festivals, the reality from nightclubs to massive arenas, and the data-driven systems his team uses to spot massive artists before the rest of the world catches on.In this episode, we break down:The $3.6M Loss: How Untitled Group navigated a massive hit while actively scaling their operations.The "Uncle Test": The data-driven system Mike's team uses to spot "$100M artists" before the rest of the industry catches on.Promoter Mayo: The truth behind shows and the economics of global music festivals.Outsmarting Agents: How a strategic 10-minute silence became the ultimate code for negotiating with massive industry egos.Building Australia's #1 Festival: The unfiltered reality of how Mike went from local nightclubs into a $150M live music empire.Book Rivyl in for a free 30-minute call, here: http://l.rivyl.com/JUPbkj Level up your agency with Wix Studio today: https://www.wix.com/studio

(00:00) - Introduction (06:15) - From Local Nightclubs to Massive Arenas (12:40) - How to Spot a $100M Artist First (26:55) - The Economics of Global Music Festivals (34:10) - Outsmarting Music Industry Agents (42:30) - Managing Massive Egos & High-Stakes Negotiations (49:45) - The 48-Hour Strategy That Landed Nelly Furtado (57:15) - Risk Management When Millions Are on the Line (1:13:20) - What Happens When a Headline Act Pulls Out (1:21:05) - The Pitch That Secured Their First Major Arena Show (1:28:40) - You Can't Buy Culture: Building Australia's #1 Festival (1:36:15) - The Future of Live Events & Untitled Group's Next Move (1:43:50) - Mike’s Ultimate Advice for Operators

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