Touring company Ticketek Entertainment Group (TEG) have reportedly axed its nascent country division, barely six months after it was first launched.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the decision has been linked to CEO Cameron Hoy’s – who took on the top role in May after Brad Banducci stepped down – goal in cutting costs after the loss of several notable contracts.
The publication had also previously reported that TEG had earlier this month received “a $100 million war chest” from the likes of its “lenders to target rivals” in an attempt “to turn around the business”.
According to the AFR, those leaving the business include Vanessa Picken, the former Chair and CEO of Sony Music Australia and New Zealand, who joined TEG Live in early February as Global Director, Music Strategy.
The news also comes days after Jessie Parker – Laneway Festival’s General Manager and Festival Director of the past six years – announced she was stepping down from the long-running travelling event. It’s unclear, however, if Parker’s exit is related to the dissolution of the country division.
TEG’s country division was first launched back in February alongside the appointment of Brad Turcotte as TEG Live’s Senior Vice President of Country. Based out of the company’s Nashville office, the launch marked the beginning of a major chapter for TEG as they doubled down on country music worldwide.
Indeed, the country music boom was so widely felt – especially here in Australia – that last month also saw the announcement of the LONGHAUL Festival, a national country festival presented by TEG’s LONGHAUL Touring.
Headlined by the likes of international musicians Kacey Musgraves and Kane Brown, tickets to the festival – which is currently scheduled to visit Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane in January – are still on-sale at the time of publication.
The Music reached out to TEG for comment on both the dissolution of the country division and the future of LONGHAUL, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
