China - Audient has announced that the first ASP8024 Heritage Edition console to arrive in China has been installed at Shanghai’s Music King Studio. Sitting at the heart of the upgraded studio complex, the 24-channel British analogue console completes the studio’s upgrade, which has seen a number of prestigious clients pass through its doors.
Associated with Sing! China and The Voice of China, Music King Studio boasts a healthy list of engineers and clients. “Others who use our studio - or are affiliated with our engineers - are Luca Bignardi, Anthony Kilhoffer, Kanye West, Jay Chou, James Li, Vicki Zhao, Jeno Liu, Della, Darren Wang and lots more,” clarifies marketing manager, Mr Lin. One of the champions of the flagship desk with was mix engineer Weiwei Jin, who used Music King Studio for recording and mastering the sound effects for the opening cerem

Germany - Czech lighting manufacturer Robe has acquired the rights and IP (intellectual property) from well-known US lighting designer / programmer Seth Robinson of Sightline Design Group for RoboSpot, a remote controlled follow spot system.
Seth originally developed the RoboSpot concept a few years ago working with automated luminaires. Initially he used scanners due to the fast response time of the mirror and as the technology of moving heads improved, he then turned his attention to utilizing them with his system.
His system comprised a moving head pan/tilt camera mounted on the truss adjacent to the moving light which gave a first-person-view to an operator standing at FOH or at side / back-stage looking at a monitor and operating a user-interface that communicated with the moving light. Multiple moving lights could be controlled using one system with the offset ca

UK - To mark the launch of their highly anticipated new album Humanz, Gorillaz performed a secret one-off show at Printworks, London, and Mojo Barriers showed it’s not all about big tours and festivals by supplying its world-class stage barriers to this prestigious event, 24 March 2017.
The world’s most successful virtual band celebrated the release of their new studio album with a very special performance which saw Gorillaz play Humanz live for the first time in a ‘’triumphant comeback gig’’ (NME) supported by Telekom Electronic Beats.
As the Gorillaz live band took to the stage, Mojo Barriers ensured artist and audience safety, highlighting that a big artist launch in a small venue still needs detailed attention. Held at new London venue, Printworks, the show saw Gorillaz joined on stage by a stellar rollcall of talent including Del La Sou

Ukraine - Elation Professional has announced that over 800 of the company’s lighting products will feature in the lighting rig at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest to take place in Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine from 9-13 May. As an official technical event supplier to the 2017 show, Elation lighting will be utilized by lighting designer Jerry Appelt and Eurovision Song Contest head of production Ola Melzig in what is certain to be a spectacular lighting design.
“Being a part of the Eurovision Song Contest is a tremendous opportunity for Elation, not only for us in Europe but around the world,” stated Elation director of sales & mrketing Eric Loader. “Our team is very excited to be involved in this year’s production and honored to be selected by the world-class design team which is certain to dazzle audiences around the globe and help us show how well Elation product

UAE - Martin Audio has appointed Dubai-based audio-visual integration company, Delta AV Solutions, as its new distributor for the GCC countries. The new arrangement came into effect from 1 April.
Set up three years ago as a division of Delta Sound, who have bases in the UAE, Qatar and Hong Kong, Delta AV Solutions specializes in the sale and distribution of pro audio and control to the local rental and integration markets.
Contracts manager Gareth Armstrong, a veteran of running special projects in the region, says that Martin Audio plugs an important gap in their portfolio of Tier 1 brands. “Nothing compares to products like the BlacklineX and CDD ranges; as Martin Audio is now being specified a lot on BOQ’s [Bill of Quantities] we are optimistic that these will slot in quickly.”
Another factor that impresses him is the manufacturer’s support. “Their b

Europe - Following the recent expansion, Prolyte can now welcome AED Nederland as Prolyte distributor in the Netherlands, AED Distribution as ProLyft Service Point in Belgium and Controllux BE as both Prolyte distributor and ProLyft Service Point in Belgium.
With the appointment of two new Service Points in Belgium and extra Prolyte distributors in the Netherlands as well as in Belgium, Prolyte Group has guarantueed full distribution coverage in both countries.
Following AED Group’s acquisition of the Luxibel activities of former Prolyte distributor and Service Point in Belgium, Velleman BV, Prolyte needed to re-think its distribution options for Belgium and the Netherlands. With these recent appointments, customers in both countries have all the options at hand.
“It’s really important for us that customers are served to our best ability” states Ralph Sto

Germany - Robe lighting has announced a new wholly-owned subsidiary - Robe Deutschland GmbH - which will be based in Munich and have a regional sales force covering the entire country.
The new company hits the ground running in this key European market with an exceptionally strong, experienced and well connected ‘dream-team’ on-board.
It will be headed by Dieter Gross, MD for Sales & Marketing and Martin Lönner, MD for Operations & Finances, a dual management framework that has worked so well in other Robe subsidiaries including Robe France and Robe North America.
Stephanie Walloner is Deputy Sales & Marketing Director and Sales Managers include Olaf Nehrenheim who will be on the road in north Germany and Martin Opitz who will be covering east Germany and Berlin.
Robe s.r.o.’s Sales Director Harry von den Stemmen explains that Robe Deuts

South Africa - Cape Town-based event technical solution company, C&S, has invested in an additional 12 Robe BMFL Blade fixtures to complement its existing stock purchased from DWR Distribution. The BMFLs have been out on rental and have never been back at the office since.
Donald Clark, owner of C&S now has a total of 24 BMFLs, and the demand is so great that he sometimes has to rent in units from other companies. On one occasion, he had 66 units on a show.
“I love the Robe BMFL,” Donald commented. “With the Blade, it makes it useful to do a variety of things. The lighting designers are loving them too because of the power of the fixture.”
Said Duncan Riley of DWR, “We are very happy that these units are working so hard for C&S. The BMFLs are more popular than ever and I think once the creatives have worked with them, they want nothing else

Italy - The mainstay of the Showlight quadrennial is its Speaker Programme where illustrious professionals are gleaned from lighting disciplines across the world to educate and entertain, and generally have a very good time networking with other lighting enthusiasts from across the industry. The Speaker Programme has now been finalised and a full list of speakers can be viewed on line at www.showlight.org/speaker-schedule. This will also be useful to those delegates/Day Ticket holders who can only spare a day or two when choosing which days to attend.
A special feature amongst the regular programme of events at Showlight 2017 will be the Neal Preston photographic exhibition, In the Eye of the Rock ’n’ Roll Hurricane from the Lightpower Collection.
Neal Preston is one of the most outstanding photographers of the Rock ‘n’ Roll live and documentary genre with a ca

India - Nexo has announced the appointment of Yamaha Music India (YMIN) as its official distributor in India.
Established in 2008 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha Music India Professional Audio department provides the Indian market with the full line of Yamaha integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production.
By adding the Nexo line of high-end loudspeakers and amplifiers to its portfolio, Yamaha Music India aims to offer the Indian professional audio market a superior solution-based approach to sound reinforcement, supplemented by a high degree of support, education and training to the professional audio market of India.
According to Harisha GN, business head of the PA department, Yamaha Music India: “Becaus

USA - ETC and High End Systems have confirmed they are joining forces as ETC completes the acquisition of the Austin, TX based company from Barco Inc.
ETC CEO Fred Foster says, “We welcome the High End team to the ETC family. ETC will provide a supportive environment enabling High End to continue to innovate and make great products for the industry.”
Under the ETC umbrella, High End gains the oversight of an experienced lighting industry team to grow its capabilities in service, support, and product development. “Bringing High End to the family furthers our goal of growing and diversifying ETC. We plan to help High End become a market leader for live event industry products,” says David Lincecum, VP of marketing at ETC.
ETC will operate High End as a separate company located in its current Austin, Texas, USA facility. High End customers should continue

UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) has announced the addition of the Philips Vari-Lite VL6000 Beam to its hire stock, the first rental house in the UK to do so.
The VL6000 Beam has been designed as a mid-air effects fixture, setting a new standard in its class. With a large 14” front aperture, which uses an exclusive Philips ellipsoid reflector array system, the unit products a retro style searchlight effect with a tight collimated beam of light at 6.4°, which exceeds 55,000 lumens.
Its lightweight robust construction and stylish compact design allows the fixture to be transported and installed easily, while its visual effects and weather guarded design - for limited protection from rain - offer something versatile and truly spectacular for arena applications.
Created to be lightweight but robust, with an elegant compact design, the unit is easy to transport

Germany - ADB, the Osram group company specialized in theatre and TV studio lighting, has appointed NLT Professionelle Beleuchtungstechnik as sole distributor of its products in Germany.
NLT was founded on the commitment of two experts in the professional lighting field: Berthold Jäger, who has worked in the industry since 1986 and who was head of the ADB office in Germany for a few years, and Mario Sprengel, who has had several experiences in professional lighting system design since 1992. Both have also worked for years as lecturers at the graduate schools in Hamburg and Munich.
“The choice of NLT as ADB's partner for the German market seemed natural to us all," said Simone Capeleto, ADB CEO. "Berthold and Mario have dealt with promoting ADB for many years, and continuity is important to our customers. NLT has an excellent reputation and ensures the best technical

Germany - In response to the growing interest in its fixtures and video panels in Germany, Chauvet Professional has announced the completion of a distribution agreement with Fischer Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH. An entertainment technology specialist with bases in Bremen, Berlin and Munderkingen, Fischer will supply Chauvet Professional products to rental and install houses in the German domestic market and beyond.
The deal marks a significant milestone for Chauvet, as it is the first time that Chauvet Professional fixtures will be available through official channels in the German market. “We are extremely excited to be teaming up with Fischer,” said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “In Fischer, we have found an experienced industry partner with the knowledge, infrastructure and distribution network necessary to cover and serve Europe’s largest domestic market. We look f

The Netherlands / Germany - Huss Licht & Ton have become distribution partner for Prolyte in Germany. Starting to sell trussing and stage decks, they aim to become a full-fledged Prolyte distributor, offering their customers the complete Prolyte product range.
Recognising Prolyte Group as a leading truss brand Huss contacted Prolyte to discuss partnership, based on their wish to offer its customer base a complete bandwidth of products. As Thilo Huss comments: “In our complete range of high-end event technology brands, we could not miss a brand like Prolyte as leading truss manufacturer”.
(LSiOnline)

UK - Pearce Hire had good cause to celebrate earlier this month with a winning week at two prestigious industry awards ceremonies. For the third year running, Pearce Hire was shortlisted at the Total Production Awards 2017 for Favourite Power Supply Company and whilst they were unsuccessful in being announced the winner, Pearce Hire was proud to have been nominated, shortlisted, and recognised for their work.
Later the same week, Pearce Hire was once more in the spotlight having been shortlisted at the 2017 Event Production Awards for Green Supplier of the Year and Best Temporary Supplier of the Year. These important awards for the live and outdoor events industry saw Pearce Hire crowned winners of the Best Temporary Supplier Award, with a Highly Commended in the Green Supplier of the Year category.
“We are extremely proud of our award,” comments Shaun Pearce, MD

Spain - Community Professional Loudspeakers is pleased to announce the appointment of SeeSound as its distributor for Spain and Portugal. Based in Barcelona, SeeSound was founded in 2004 with the aim of delivering the best service and technical support, accompanied by a portfolio of premium brands that would provide consultants and installers with a complete range of solutions for projects. SeeSound represents over 25 leading pro audio brands, including AVID, DPA, Powersoft, Optocore, Symetrix and XTA.
Community’s EMEA sales manager, Jamie Ward, commented, “Lead by Nacho Alberdi, SeeSound is a leading distributor with an experienced sales department, an innovative and highly skilled project and engineering department, and a solid administration and logistics department. They are an ideal choice for Community and we look forward to working closely with the team in Spain a

UK - Creative Technology Ltd (CT) is pleased to announce that following the acquisition of the company by NEP in January 2017, the UK division of sister company Mediatec will be merged with and rebranded CT from 1 April 2017.
Mediatec UK has been providing LED screens and associated production services to a small portfolio of prestige clients across the sporting and corporate event sectors since 2003. The merger with CT will allow the team access to a significantly larger pool of technical and operational resources.
The business will continue to operate from its current premises in Sunbury on Thames during the busy summer period, however it is expected to relocate to CT’s Crawley headquarters during the second half of 2017, allowing the combined business to fully realise the opportunities arising from collective resources.
Dave Crump, CEO of CT Group commented:

UK - Founded in 2006 by Central School of Speech & Drama graduates Kris Box and Marc Callaghan, Liteup Events is a company specialising in both live music and corporate events. The team at Liteup pride themselves on the quality of their customer service and being able to provide a comprehensive range of services including event production, technical support, equipment hire and concept design.
So, when Box and Callaghan discovered that they urgently needed a new lighting console for a client’s upcoming tour, they took the opportunity to visit the Ambersphere Solutions stand at PLASA where they discussed their requirements with Thor André of technical sales.
“When we went to PLASA, we knew that we wanted to invest in MA control, explains Box. “Whilst there we received a call that really gave us the green light to go ahead with an order. Having the opportunity

USA - VDC Trading, the company behind Van Damme cable, has announced a distribution agreement with Fingerprint Audio, a USA-based distributor of pro audio equipment for North and South America since 2009. The agreement sees Fingerprint Audio take on VDC’s entire range of Van Damme audio, fibre, data and video cables, including bulk, manufactured and packaged cables and act as distributor covering the entire USA market with immediate effect.
Commenting on the agreement, Niall Holden, CEO of VDC Trading, said, “Fingerprint are an excellent distribution partner for our Van Damme cable range in the USA. With their expertise in audio and MI, they are well positioned to extend our reach and penetration across the US national market. We are delighted to be working with the team.”
Josh Thomas, general manager of Fingerprint Audio, added, “Van Damme cable is known the

China - With an already successful presence in Asia thanks to a joint venture and historic distributors, French loudspeaker manufacturer APG took advantage of the recent Prolight+Sound Guangzhou trade show to announce new partnerships around APG North East Asia, the company’s joint venture in Hong Kong.
The first expansion is evidenced in China where APG welcomed TRAudio, who will share responsibilities with APG’s historical Chinese partner BVCam. “This partnership with TRAudio will focus on the entertainment sector, while BVCAM will keep doing the amazing job they have done for years in every other markets,” explains Raymond Wong, managing director of APG North East Asia. “Being based in Guangzhou since 2011, TRAudio is ideally positioned to help us grow the brand in the entertainment market and in particular in the club scene, while giving the APG brand a more co

South Africa - Green Hippo, manufacturers of the Hippotizer Media Server range, have appointed DWR Distribution as South African distributor.
Hippotizer Media Servers have been on some of the most highly recognized events worldwide, including Eurovision, The Academy Awards and the Super Bowl half-time shows. Theatre spectaculars such as Love Never Dies in the West End and American Idiot on Broadway utilise the system due to its flexibility during production periods and concert tours for artists such as Beyoncé, Jay Z, and Madonna have proven its reliability out on the road.
This May, in conjunction with Green Hippo, DWR Distribution will be heading out for the South African Hippotizer roadshow, visiting Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. This roadshow will showcase the latest developments from Hippotizer V4, including SHAPE 3D Mapping and their creativ


Sgt. Pepper Promotion - The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 50 years ago this week – and it remains widely regarded as the best rock and roll album concept of all time. To mark the anniversary, the city of Liverpool is to host a huge cultural celebration, called Sgt. Pepper at 50: Heading for Home from Thursday 25 May to Friday 16 June. The council has invested £750,000 of National Lottery funding through its Ambition for Excellence scheme to fund the celebration. The events include:
When I’m 64 - A mass sing-along - broadcast live on radio - of 64 choirs from across the city and of all ages. With an inter-generational theme, the event will focus on what age really means to anyone who is between 14 and 64.
Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds - A light festival on an Olympic scale, with music and fireworks, in

Colombia - Czech moving light manufacturer Robe has announced AV Com as its new Colombian distributor.
Based in Bogota the vibrant capital of Colombia, AV Com is well known in the world of professional broadcasting, video and installations, and “ideally placed to move Robe forward in this key LATAM country,” says Guillermo Traverso, Robe’s regional sales manager for Latin America.
AV Com was founded in 1999 and is headed by Camilo Aranguren who has been in the show and entertainment industry all his working life since the age of 19. AV Com has a reputation as a top-level supplier to leading rental companies and installation projects. They already have several premium audio and video brands in their portfolio, including L-Acoustics, Avid, Sennheiser, Focal and Grass Valley and had been looking for some time for the right moving light brand to add.
“I have

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