7th November 2013: Sony Entertainment Africa announced their partnership with City of Tshwane for the Tribe One Festival which they would organize as a joint venture with Rockstar4000, a company owned by former SA Music Awards CEO, Jandre Louw.
Around February 2013, Sony MD Sean Watson was invited to the Tshwane Open Golf and he apparently approached one of the City of Tshwane marketing directors, about a Festival which he said was to take place in Cullinan and that they were at advanced stages of preparations. [ We wonder what preparations of those, can we get an answer please?]
.
Apparently they had been in discussions with Gauteng Tourism at the time. The City of Tshwane then set up a meeting for Sony Entertainement to present the concept. At this meeting, the MD of Sony, Sean Watson, introduced a man called Jandre Louw, as a Sony Partner and the person who had been working on this concept. [ TribeOne was being pushed by Sony, but Rockstar4000 has been in existence since 2009, what is it that they were did in between those periods? Would Rockstar4000 convince anyone on their own?]
Based on the concept presented, the City of Tshwane events department were convinced that the said concept was indeed in line with the “City’s broader strategy of reposition Tshwane as a preferred destination and also in reviving of decaying towns and contribute to the integration of Regions 5 & (erstwhile municipalities) into Tshwane.”
Furthermore, the proposal was considered since it came from what “appeared” to be a credible potential partner (That is Sony, not Rockstar4000). Anyone would assume that Sony had the necessary skill, expertise, capacity and financial backing to deliver on an event of Tribe One Festival magnitude. Sony also mentioned that the concept had been in development for about 5 years.
However, the concept still needed to go to the Mayoral Committee for approval. The City administration then invited Sony to make a presentation to the Mayoral Committee meeting. At the said meeting the concept was in principle endorsed by Mayoral Committee which lead to the process of developing a report for approval at the Mayco meeting of 28 March 2013. The concept was also tabled at a Council Meeting, before the contract was signed.
Fast forward to August 2014
As much as there was some attempted marketing efforts regarding Tribe One Festival , anyone would agree with us that the marketing was lackluster. A stroll around Tshwane CBD in June, July and August, you would not see even a single.
As we all know Sony Music Entertainment, we would assume they had the financial muscle to host an event of Tribe One’s magnitude. One would also assume they had resources already and could easily attract reputable brands to be part of this “Seemingly amazing concept” but that was not the case. SAB Miller in totality and well as Brandhouse, all snubbed Sony/Rockstar4000. There was no single alcohol brand associated with TribeOneFestival. Not even one! It is a known fact that in South Africa, most successeful vents, including the South African Music Awards, always have an alcohol brand as a partner. They have the budgets and the muscle.
Tickets:
The mayor of Tshwane was quoted in the media mentioning that the real reason Sony and Rockstar4000 cancelled the festival was a struggle with ticket sales. Well one may want to question that and have numbers provided, we understand that they managed to sell 4000 tickets ( if not less)
VIP tickets were going for R15 000/person
People who want the VIP treatment but cannot afford the platinum prices can settle for gold and silver weekend tickets costing R13 000 and R11 000, respectively.
Day Pass: Child 13 – 18 Years and Students: Friday: R360.00 Saturday & Sunday: R760.00
The organisers also made a payment plan so people could and pay them off by by tickets in two instalments and if one failed to raise the money by the closing date, they will be refunded the deposit less a 45 percent administration fee. ( Wait, 45% gone just like that?)
The concert was supposed to have 62 stages including three main stages over three days, that was according to Jandre Louw, the CEO of Rockstar4000.
The City vs Sony Music
Now the City has said, since the event did not happen, they expect Sony Music and Rockstar4000 to return the R25Million advanced to them.
Lets see how that unfolds. Catch Part 2 tomorrow…
By Guest Writer