Agenda item

            The Committee considered the under noted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members are being asked to support a bid in principle to host the 2011 MTV EMAs.  The event would take place on the first or second Sunday in November (Sunday evening is the peak viewing time across the MTV European network) and would be broadcast live across Europe and also be seen by global audiences.  The event if staged in Belfast, would involve a series of activities in the week leading up to the awards culminating with the main event, which would be staged in the Odyssey Arena.

      In March this year Members agreed to fund and deliver an MTV Music Week in conjunction with MTV Europe.  This event will run from 13-20 September and will culminate with a headline concert at the Belfast Waterfront (final concert date to be confirmed).  The week long series of events and smaller concerts will showcase the city and also provide a substantial platform to profile the Belfast music industry.  The staging of this event is inline with the Council’s Integrated Strategic Framework for Belfast Tourism (2010-2015) as the document identifies high profile events as a development opportunity that will allow the city to continue to build a strong reputation as a vibrant location with unique and exciting experiences that encourage new and repeat tourism visits.  In addition music tourism has also been identified as a new product that should be developed, packaged and promoted. 

      In addition, at the Development Committee in December 2008, Members noted that Visit Britain’s research showed that 21% of potential visitors were inspired to choose a destination because of the music or bands of that country, and approved a Music Tourism Action Plan in order to celebrate Belfast’s rich musical heritage.  Due to the work of the Council and partners over the last number of years Belfast’s music has received international praise and the latest generation of Belfast musicians are playing a crucial role in revitalising the city. 

      Through the work of the Council’s Tourism, Culture and Arts and Economic Development Units (along with the Belfast music industry, NITB, ACNI, BBC and Tourism Ireland) a number of music related products have been brought on stream.  These include the Belfast Music Coach Tour, the Belfast Music Exhibition at the Oh Yeah Centre, a new music listings website Belfastmusic.org, the first ever i-phone application for music, and international showcasing and marketing of Belfast’s musicians in Nashville and South by South West.

      Creative Industries – Music Development

      The Committee is also reminded that Council’s current Local Economic Development Plan includes the following key themes: Business Competitiveness, Talent and Community Economic Regeneration.  The new local economic development plan states that in order for Belfast to stay competitive it must nurture those sectors which can create high value-added products and bring new wealth to the city.  The Music sector in Belfast has grown significantly over the past three years and now plays a key role in the overall economic development of the city.  With a rise in musicians and bands making headlines in the international marketplace and new and innovative music businesses based in Belfast, BCC is playing a significant role for this industry e.g. participation at the prestigious South by Southwest Media Conference and showcase, which has shown returns of over $500,000 leverage each year for participating artists from the city. 

Therefore, taking the integral role that BCC now plays in the development and support of music, Members are now being asked to consider staging the most prestigious music event in Europe – the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs).

Key Issues

      MTV is the world’s largest television network, the leading multimedia brand for youth and are experts at staging international events.  It reaches over 213 million households in Europe through 28 different MTV channels and they receive 8 million unique visitors each month to MTV Music websites.  65% of MTV’s adult viewers in Europe are aged 15-34. 

      The MTV EMAs alone attracts a live television audience of up to 22 million viewers across Europe on the night of the awards and up to 500 million viewers via recorded and edited showings.  It has been hosted in cities from Berlin to Stockholm, Barcelona to Rome, Dublin to Munich and Copenhagen to Liverpool.  The following table highlights some of the outputs for previous host cities:

      If BCC were to agree to host this event it would seek support from NITB as part of its major events funding; ACNI as part of its support for creative industries and DETI.

      The aims of the initiative would be:

-     To host the world-class music EMAs event in November 2011 in partnership with MTV Europe.

-     To attract 7,500 Audience to EMAs with 50% out-of-state visitors

-     To gain the equivalent of £9million media coverage for Belfast aimed at actively travelling young adults.

-     To showcase and strengthen Belfast’s position on the world stage as a primary destination for music, entertainment and culture.

-     To increase the profile of Belfast as an exciting weekend break destination to actively travelling young adults across UK, ROI and Europe.

-     To establish Belfast on all new media platforms via MTV.

-     To increase visitor satisfaction levels of Belfast’s cultural offer from 39% to 45%

-     To promote and enhance a confident, positive, exciting image of Belfast through delivering world-class events

-     To host an additional MTV Music week event 2012

-     To bring together all sectors of the community from Belfast and across the region whilst improving community cohesion.  This would be achieved via the development of music related initiatives to draw in all aspects of Belfast’s citizens.

      Satellite gigs would take place in music venues across Belfast leading up to a free ticketed EMAs event in the Odyssey Arena.  The key objective is to put Belfast on everyone’s destination wish list, ahead of our competitors and provide a significant level of profile for Belfast.  The nature of the MTV EMAs will see the best global pop acts descend on the city creating a vibrancy and media coverage that will surpass any previous large-scale music events staged in Belfast or Northern Ireland.  

      The EMAs event would profile Belfast as a world-class music destination, a place which has a new, modern and exciting future.  The week of activities prior to the awards will give a concentrated focus on the promotion of indigenous musicians to show Belfast’s rich musical heritage, thriving contemporary musical scene and promote and highlight the city’s distinctiveness.  These lead events would also involve international music stars which local audiences could attend at no cost. 

      The prestige associated with the MTV and its EMAs brand would mean that Belfast could reach demographics both internationally and locally that will be tapped into by the 2010 Music Week but, further enhanced and developed.  As previously highlighted to Members, in March 2010, the MTV brand would allow Belfast to target the developing global youth market and reach a world market with an event brand of an international standard.  Members are asked to note that competition from other European cities is significant with Stockholm, Paris and London bidding for this event.

Resource Implications

      Finance

      The overall estimated budget required to deliver this project would be £750,000.  This figure is based on knowledge gained from previous host city bids that Council has been able to access costs on.  It would be recommended that BCC should invest £300,000 into this event, with the proposal that the remaining budget comes from: NITB - £300,000; Tourism Ireland - £50,000; DCAL - £50,000 and £50,000 private sector.

      BCC’s proposed contribution would not be new money or additional to the current budgets.  It would be made up of the City Events Unit’s £100,000 events bidding finances 2011-2012 and £200,000 which would be re-profiled from existing Departmental finances.  Members should note that usage of these finances would mean that there would be no additional monies available to bid or host other major events in this financial period 2011/12.

Recommendations

      It is recommended that the Committee agrees the following:

-     Approval in principle to bid for the 2011 MTV EMAs

-     BCC to contribute £300,000 to any successful bid

-     Officers approaching further partners, including DETI, DCAL, NITB, Tourism Ireland, NI Screen and commercial sponsors, in order to leverage further funding for MTV EMAs bid.

Decision Tracking

      Further to any possible BCC ratification, an update will be brought to Committee regarding partner funding and on the outcome of the bid itself.

      Time line:  October 2010     Reporting Officer:  Tim Husbands

Key to Abbreviations

      NITB – Northern Ireland Tourist Board

      ACNI – Arts Council of Northern Ireland

      DETI – Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment

      DCAL – Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure”

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.