Under 18s

Crowd

October 2008

TARGETING TEENS: UNDER 18’S DEMAND SOPHISTICATED MUSIC EVENTS

UPFRONT, OTW, August 2008, COMMENTS

If you think alcohol is a key ingredient to a successful club night, think again. The largest operator of late night venues in the UK is proving that under 18’s nights can exude the same levels of credibility and fun as club nights for adults. Although under 18’s events are not a new phenomenon, they are of a different caliber than previous years, and Luminar Leisure is cashing in on the more music savvy generation. Rather than an after-thought to pull in money on quiet nights, these events are regular, sophisticated parties held in cutting-edge venues that feature modern technology and top DJs.

Under 18’s product manager for Luminar, Karen Dolan, stated that the number of teen sessions held in their venues had risen by over 50% since last year. Although UK Club Culture (UKCC) started in 2001, Karen said the concept had grown in popularity, and more and more venues wanted to incorporate it into their events programming. Sales revenue for the events is up by over 30% on last year and total admissions have increased by 28%. Karen commented: “The disco days in village halls have disappeared. Under 18’s are a lot more advanced than we were and more up to date with music due to the internet. They need to be treated like adults.”

UKCC events have been known to feature internationally acclaimed DJs and PAs, and expose under 18’s to modern technology they’ve never experienced before, such as Liquid’s 360 degree video projection ring. Even the artwork for UKCC has evolved over time to mirror that of over 18 club nights. “This is a result of focus groups we did,” explained Karen, “whereby we asked youngsters to tick which flyers they liked from a selection. Even the teenagers themselves have said it’s becoming more credible.”

Andrew Russell is MD of Capital VIP, which runs exclusive under 17’s events at clubs like Ministry of Sound, Café De Paris and Pacha for London’s “it crowd of the future”, such as Prince Harry and Peaches Geldoff. He agrees that youngsters demand to be treated the same as adult socialites. Although Capital VIP has been running events for seven years, Andrew notes that three companies running 16-18 events have launched in the last year – Let’s Go Party, Abstract Events and Studio 4. Andrew said: “It’s important for teenagers to have these balls or parties, whether in a nightclub, hotel or marquee, because it’s great fun, but also it provides an adult clubbing experience for people who are otherwise not old enough to do it. It opens their eyes up to what’s out there and it teaches them how it’s done for when they do reach the right age.”

One under 18 that would agree with Andrew is Sam Kilcoyne, who founded The Underage Club in London at the age of 14, out of his frustration at not being able to see his favourite bands. On one youtube video he says: “We started it so the under 18’s could enjoy their own night and get to see bands they wouldn’t normally see.” A female performer from Theoretical Girl goes on to say: “It’s really important to play to kids who are 14-16 because I remember at that age I was really passionate about music and I bought more records in that period of my life than I have any other period.”

Sam’s event was so popular that it was snapped up by organiser Marcus Weedon and Eat Your Own Ears’ Tom Baker who were looking to develop a unique festival to share the weekend with their over 18’s Field Day festival at Victoria Park. Underage Festival (pictured) was born, selling all 5,000 tickets in its first year, and all 7,500 tickets in 2008. Tom says it will no doubt grow again next year. He said: “Because of the internet and myspace, under 18’s are more able to share different music and tell each other about young, up and coming bands; that’s why they’re so much more music savvy than we were at that age.” The festival featured credible bands Pigeon Detectives and Jamie T in its first year.
Luminar are now looking at doing 16th birthday parties, and have been contacted by Radio One who are interested in using their resources to put on under 18’s events.

From: October 2008 Issue

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