Report: IRON MAIDEN Helps SANCTUARY Buck The Downbeat Trend

January 19, 2004

Richard Wray of The Guardian is reporting that live music's return to popularity helped Sanctuary Group, one of the world's largest independent music companies, buck the downbeat trend set by the industry last year.

The group, which counts IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER and JANE'S ADDICTION among its bankable live acts, saw sales for the year to end September leap to £152 million (approx. $271 million) from £118 million (approx. $211 million) in 2002 and profits rise 5% to £10.8 million (approx. $19 million).

The group's artist services unit, which covers everything from full-scale band and producer management to event booking and merchandising, saw sales almost double to £64 million (approx. $114 million) — about £5 million (approx. $9 million) more than analysts expected.

One of Sanctuary's biggest acts remains its first signing — IRON MAIDEN. The heavy metal band played to more than a million fans across Europe last year, its most successful ever tour. But Sanctuary also acted as agent and merchandise partner for ROBBIE WILLIAMS' concerts at Knebworth last summer. As well as managing JANE'S ADDICTION, it was also agent for acts as diverse as DIDO, THE DARKNESS, EMINEM and the SUGABABES. Read more.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).