Artist Cancellation Insurance: A Two Door Cinema Club Case Study

In November 2013 music fans across South East Asia were eagerly anticipating a number of shows by emergent Northern Ireland act, Two Door Cinema Club. Two Door Cinema Club, comprised of Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday, and Kevin Baird, had established themselves as a musical tour de force with their debut album, Tourist History, in 2010 and their follow up record, Beacon, in 2012.

Their upbeat, pop infused Indie-rock had seen the band received the 2010 award for Irish Album of the year, and inclusions in the FIFA 13, Forza Horizons, and Kinnect Adventures soundtracks helped the group to achieve recognition from a much wider audience.

After a number of successful tours in Europe and North America Two Door Cinema Club were set to make their entrance on the Asia stage with a set at Hong Kong’s premier music Festival, Clockenflap, to be followed by gigs at Kuala Lumpur’s Dreamscapes Festival and one off shows in Taipei, Manila, and Bangkok.

Then lead singer, Alex Trimble, became sick with an acute form of Laryngitis.

Cancellation Leads to Losses

Obviously, if the lead singer of your band is unable to sing due to the fact that he’s lost his voice because of a severe type of laryngitis, the likelihood that you are going to be able to honor your concert commitments is extremely low. In the case of Two Door Cinema Club the band chose to cancel their Asian gigs in order to give Alex time to recuperate and recover his lost voice.

Whilst concert goers in Hong Kong and Malaysia were severely disappointed about missing out on Two Door Cinema Club at Clockenflap and Dreamscapes, the impact of the band pulling out of their commitments at these two festivals was lessened because of the large number of acts involved at both these events.

However, for promoters in Manila, Bangkok and Taipei, with no band to watch there was no show to put on – which meant that tickets would need to be refunded, venue deposits would be forfeited, and all potential profits which would have been made from the show were lost.

Promoters and concert organizers in Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines were likely covered under an event insurance policy, such as the extensive line of coverage options provided by Circles Group Asia. However, despite the fact that the shows in those countries would have been insured for public liability coverage, entrusted property damage, 3rd party property damage, and even coverage for the equipment used to put on the concert, it is probable that none of these organizers would have included Artist Non-Appearance coverage in their event insurance policy.

This meant that, ultimately, when Two Door Cinema Club cancelled their tour due to Mr. Trimble’s sickness, that organizers without Artist Non-Appearance Insurance would be on the hook for a wide range of irrecoverable expenses – including the cost of refunding a large number of pre-purchased tickets.

Lowered Risk of Organizing Concerts

As Asia plays host to ever increasing numbers of headlining musical acts from all over the world the risk of any single artist or group not appearing to their scheduled concert increases.

Typically promoters, producers and concert organizers in Asia forego purchasing Artist Non-Appearance and Artist Cancellation insurance coverage when looking at the mandatory coverage requirements for hosting a concert – often due to the erroneous notion that such coverage is simply too expensive to include in their concert insurance plan.

However, opting to include Non-appearance coverage in an Event Insurance policy, both in Hong Kong and throughout the rest of Asia, is not only a cost effective solution to offset the increasing risk of an act cancelling, but can also lower the organizer’s exposure to massive losses in the form of ticket refunds and deposit forfeitures.

Coverage Under Non-Appearance Clauses

If a promoter, including any of the organizers putting on one of Two Door Cinema Club’s cancelled shows, had purchased a Concert Insurance policy which included Artist Non-Appearance coverage then they would have been covered against irrecoverable expenses made, or expenses due for the organization of the concert, and they would have also been insured against any profits which they would have lost due to the fact that the artist failed to appear in the event of illness or death.

This is important because, as more visible bands and more recognizable acts come to Asia, a cancellation event due to an artist’s non-appearance can be hugely expensive.

For example, in 2010 Hong Kong was meant to be the location of a concert by acclaimed international band, the Killers. However, The Killers cancelled their show (again due to sickness) leaving organizers scrambling to refund ticket purchases. When the band finally returned to Hong Kong in 2013 the average ticket cost HK$ 888, with an estimated 5,000 people turning out to watch the group perform at the Asia World Expo.

Using that as the basis for the refunds for the Killer’s Non-Appearance in 2010, organizers would have had to refund at total of HK$ 4,400,000 in ticket purchases; a staggering sum for a multinational business to cope with, never mind a concert organizer who is often running on an extremely tight budget.

In the event that organizers held a concert insurance policy which included Artist Non-Appearance coverage for the Killers cancelled shows in 2010, and Two Door Cinema Club’s cancelled shows in 2013 the cost of refunding ticket purchases to the audience, as well as any deposits which had been made for venues, equipment, or staff, would be covered under the policy – ensuring that the organizers and producers of the concert are protected against their financial exposure to the event.

Non-Appearance Protection; Available Throughout Asia

For concert producers and promoters around Asia who may not have been aware of the existence of comprehensive Artist Cancellation and Non-Appearance insurance coverage options in the region, CCW is working with leading international event insurance companies to help provide the highest quality concert and event insurance plans available.

Whilst incidents of Non-Appearance are extremely rare, as Asia plays host to ever increasing numbers of A-List international acts, the risk of a band or artists falling ill and failing to show up for your concert increases. If you’re putting on a multi-day festival you may survive the cancellation of a secondary act with relatively little fuss; simply find a replacement band for the day and the show will proceed as expected. However, if you’re putting on a single show, or if a festival’s headline act failed to appear, then the losses facing the producer/organizer could quickly become unbearable.

For more information about Event Insurance, or to learn more about the way in which CCW is able to provide event insurance quotes which include Non-Appearance coverage in Hong Kong and throughout the rest of Asia please click Hong Kong Event Insurance plans today!