Empty shelves are a joy for Nico Ubenauf. When stocks at his company, Satis&Fy, are thinned out, it means that business is booming. The company rents out loudspeakers, spotlight cannons, stage equipment and high-tech lighting-effects gear. The company in Karben, near Frankfurt, was founded in 1993 and was among the first in Germany to specialise in providing the technical equipment for music festivals and band tours. Now, a second line of business, of providing equipment for corporate public relations events, is growing strongly. Randall Greenlee, of the Events Technology industry association, VPLT, says that Event technicians are profiting from new social and technical trends. “Online music is no longer valuable. Bands have to get out on the road in order to earn any money,” he says. The Association expects that revenues will at least be 3.5 billion euros (4.8 billion dollars) this year.
Each summer hundreds of open-air concerts and festivals compete for peoples’ attention - and attendance. The lure, according to Cordelia von Gymnich, of the technical fair Prolight & Sound, is that people enjoy experiences in large groups and increasingly expect technically sophisticated stage shows as part of the buzz.
”A new level of creativity has been reached in the use of the elements of water and fire to create events rich in special effects,” she says. She adds that the quality of the LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights makes those shows even more impressive. Greenlee speaks of a further trend: “The bands need technology to connect with their fans.”
The British rock band, Coldplay, recently handed out lighting bracelets to its fans, and controlled the colours of the bracelets via radio signals from a control desk. Even more technically demanding are the plans to transmit the high-resolution video pictures - seen on the huge screens at concerts - to the displays on the smartphones of fans. Sound would also be transmitted from the music-mixing console directly into the fans’ headphones.
Ubenauf at Satis&Fy has another prediction: “In the next few years we are going to see a lot of ‘building mapping’.” This is a new trend, using high-performance projectors to project amazing optical effects and images onto the outside surfaces of buildings.
These have to be tailored to the buildings of course, but the creative possibilities are manifold. The company has 400 employees, who either rent out the equipment only or provide the entire technical operation on the night. This year the firm is hoping to achieve revenues of 50 million euros, making it one of the major players in the industry in Germany. The main competition in Europe comes from Britain. Among Satis&Fy’s international clients are stars David Bowie and Carlos Santana.
From a business standpoint, even more important than rock music are the corporate clients, who account for 80 per cent of the company’s turnover. The slick presentation of brands and products in the fashion, automotive or mobile phone sectors, on first-release days, is a complex matter in which no room for error is allowed.
In recent years, whenever and wherever the US sporting goods giant Nike unveils a new product and invites VIP customers to its events, a Satis&Fy team has been involved. It has set up a branch in Portland, Oregon, where Nike has its headquarters, as well as in Brazil – well in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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