Published
Tue, Dec 6, 2016, 00:17
- Two of Australia's biggest festivals have been acquired by the American events company.
Live Nation has purchased a majority share in Australia's Secret Sounds Group, the company responsible for Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival.
The American events business—which promotes tens of thousands of events each year including festivals like Lollapalooza, Lovebox and EDC—has picked up a 51% stake in Secret Sounds, Billboard reports. In a statement from Live Nation, CEO Michael Rapino said that SSG managing directors Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco "have created events that attract the biggest artists in the world but still feel uniquely Australian," calling Splendour and Falls "the two most iconic festivals in Australia." Ducrou and Piticco responded with their own joint statement, saying "we started Secret Sounds with the sole mission of introducing Australians to the best artists, events and music possible, and Live Nation is the perfect partner to help us take this goal to the next level."
Splendour and Falls have been operating since 2001 and 1993 respectively. The former now attracts more than 30,000 people to Byron Bay each July, making it the country's largest winter music festival, while the latter now takes place in four locations around Australia over the New Year's period.