The SuperSwell Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Part 3 of this short series of podcasts brought to you by TicketSwap, the safest and fairest way to buy and sell tickets online.
In this episode, we speak with Phil Simpson, a passionate concert-goer and sports fan whose calendar is packed with gigs, festivals and football matches across Europe. From intimate club shows and forest festivals to major arena tours and international sporting events, Phil represents the modern event consumer: informed, enthusiastic and increasingly conscious of the challenges facing live entertainment.

Our conversation begins with the emotional side of live events and why music and sport continue to play such an important role in people's lives. Phil reflects on the unique connection that comes from experiencing artists live, the growth of concert tourism, and the sense of community that can emerge when thousands of strangers come together around a shared passion. Whether travelling to Madrid for a concert or attending matches closer to home, he explains why live experiences remain a central part of his lifestyle.

We also explore how rising ticket prices are changing consumer behaviour. Phil discusses becoming more selective about the events he attends, the growing cost of following favourite artists, and the difficult balance between affordability and the desire to experience live music. From arena tours and football matches to smaller independent shows, he shares how price increasingly shapes decisions about where, when and how often fans can attend events.

A major focus of the discussion is ticket resale. Having used TicketSwap for more than a decade, Phil explains why safety and trust matter so much to buyers, particularly when purchasing tickets for sold-out events. We discuss the risks of fraud, the value of verified resale platforms, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing a ticket is genuine before arriving at the venue.

The conversation also tackles the ethics of the resale market. Phil argues that tickets should not be treated as investment assets and shares his frustration with excessive mark-ups that put events out of reach for genuine fans. We discuss why capped resale models appeal to many consumers, whether tickets should be governed purely by supply and demand, and how organisers, artists and platforms can help keep events accessible.

Along the way, we examine some of the biggest frustrations facing ticket buyers today, from online queues and overwhelming demand to hidden fees and a lack of transparency around where ticket revenue ultimately ends up. Phil also reflects on what he would like to see change in the future, including fairer pricing, greater transparency, more opportunities for genuine fans to access tickets, and stronger support for community-driven events and independent artists.

For anyone who has ever sat in a virtual queue, searched desperately for a sold-out ticket, questioned why attending live events has become so expensive, or wondered what fair ticketing should look like, this episode offers an honest and relatable look at the ticketing ecosystem from the perspective that matters most: the fan. 

Get the "Inside The Future Of Live Events - Backstage With Gen Z"  report: https://www.ticketswap.com/magazine/article/ade-report

TicketSwap Germany Partner Page: https://partners.ticketswap.com/de

TicketSwap Global Homepage: https://www.ticketswap.com

About TicketSwap: https://www.ticketswap.com/content/about-us

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ticketswap

On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ticketswap

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ticketswap

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TicketSwap

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Welcome to Part 2 of this short series of podcasts brought to you by TicketSwap, the safest and fairest way to buy and sell tickets online.

In this episode, we speak with Jannik Badnowitz, a co-creater of Shifted Festival, the independent techno festival that has grown from a group of friends organising Berlin club nights and free raves into one of Germany's emerging community-focused electronic music events.

While the conversation explores the story behind Shifted Festival and its rapid growth, it also offers a fascinating organiser's perspective on ticketing, pricing and the role that resale plays in today's live events ecosystem.

We discuss how Shifted approaches ticket pricing, why early-bird tickets are so important for independent festivals, and the challenge of balancing rising costs with a commitment to keeping events accessible. Jannik explains how the festival's community-first philosophy influences everything from pricing structures and travel incentives to reduced-price tickets for those who might otherwise struggle to attend.

Trust is one of the most valuable currencies in live events so the conversation examines the growing importance of safe and transparent ticket resale as part of the responsibility an organiser has towards its customers. As a TicketSwap partner, Shifted adopted an official resale solution from the beginning to protect fans from scams, prevent excessive mark-ups and ensure tickets remain available to genuine attendees. We look at how organisers benefit from having visibility into resale activity, what resale data can reveal about audience behaviour, and why fair resale options are becoming an increasingly important part of the ticket-buying journey.

Along the way, we discuss ticket affordability, platform fees, the risks of excessive market concentration within ticketing, and whether primary ticketing companies operating their own resale platforms ultimately benefits fans. Jannik shares his thoughts on the importance of transparency, competition and maintaining fan choice within the wider ticketing ecosystem.

For anyone interested in the realities of running an independent festival, building a community around live events, or understanding how organisers think about ticketing and resale, this episode provides valuable insight from the front line of today's live music industry.

Shifted Festival takes place 06-09 August, 2026

Shifted Festival Homepage: https://www.shifted-festival.com

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shifted_festival

On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shifted-festival

Get the "Inside The Future Of Live Events - Backstage With Gen Z"  report: https://www.ticketswap.com/magazine/article/ade-report

TicketSwap Germany Partner Page: https://partners.ticketswap.com/de

TicketSwap Global Homepage: https://www.ticketswap.com

About TicketSwap: https://www.ticketswap.com/content/about-us

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ticketswap

On TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ticketswap

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ticketswap

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TicketSwap

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The SuperSwell

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Contact: podcast@thesuperswell.com

This is the fifth edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a couple of delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

This time, I was very happy to speak to friends from the festival family who over the years I’ve seen more than I’ve seen my own family at times.

I’m joined by Steffi Von Kannemann from Better Things agency, Joe Sparrow of Music Ally, Tamizdat's Matthew Covey, Andrea DaSilva from Keychange USA, and Adam Lewis of the Planetary Group to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending.

We talked about our experiences at this year's Reeperbahn Festival as well as all the projects we are working on.

We recorded this conversation during Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd September, 2022.

A huge thank you to Lena Ingwerson of Music Cities Network for letting us use her office at the Karostar Musikhaus to record these conversations.

For further information about some of the things & people mentioned in this episode:

Reeperbahn Festival: https://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/en
Keychange USA: https://www.keychangeus.com
Better Things: https://better-things.berlin
Music Ally: https://musically.com/music-ally-podcast/
Planetary Group: https://www.planetarygroup.com
Tamizdat: http://www.tamizdat.org

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list here

Contact us directly with feedback, questions, ideas, and requests at podcast@thesuperswell.com

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Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by Press & PR legend, Jane Savidge.

Jane is one of the UK's most influential media personalities, co-founder of Savage & Best PR, and instigator of the famous and infamous Britpop scene.

I talked with Jane about the brilliant book she wrote about her time at the epicentre of Britpop and some of the exploits and adventures that were undertaken to get acts like Suede and Elastica on the front pages of the NME and Melody Maker.

We talked about her involvement with Brit artists, especially Damien Hirst, and branching out into projects such as Dave Stewart's art & business extravaganza, Hospital, and London super club, Home.

We also had to mention her involvement in helping make Tony Blair hip enough to be voted in as Prime Minister in 1997, where the Labour leader used Britpop figures such as Noel Gallagher and Alan MacGee as a way to be part of the Cool Britannia moniker.

Jane is really a fascinating, funny, and engaging guest and it's a thrill to have had the chance to talk to her for the SuperSwell.

"Lunch With The Wild Frontiers" is a brilliant book that you really need to read. Buy a copy from the link below. And prepare yourself for the exciting follow-up that is due out in Spring 2022.

We recorded this episode on Tuesday 7th September, 2021.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode.
We made it just.....for......you!

Links:
Jane Savidge PR: https://www.phillsavidge.com
Jane on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Savidge
Jane on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jane_savidge/

Buy "Lunch With The Wild Frontiers":
http://jawbonepress.com/lunch-with-the-wild-frontiers/
https://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Wild-Frontiers-History-Chapters/dp/1911036491

Pre-order Jane's upcoming book, "Here They Come With Their Make Up On: Suede, Coming Up...And More Adventures Beyond The Wild Frontiers" (released April 2022)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Here-They-Come-Their-Make-Up/dp/1911036890
https://www.waterstones.com/book/here-they-come-with-their-make-up-on/jane-savidge/9781911036890

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This is the fourth edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a few delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

I was joined during Tallinn Music Week by Dan Koplowitz from Friendly Fire Licensing and Sandra Perens from Tier Music Publishing to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending. I also talked with Ragnar Berthling from Musikcentrum Öst & Keychange and Lena Ingwersen from Music Cities Network to find out more about their work and to summarise a panel we shared at TMW called "Equality As A Business Advantage". Well worth a listen.

Once again, this episode was recorded live, face to face and it felt wonderful to be in a room talking with people once more.

We recorded these conversations during Tallinn Music Week in Estonia on Saturday 2nd October, 2021. A BIG thank you to Toomas Olljum for letting us use his conference room at the Made In Baltics office in Telliskivi!

For further information about some of the things mentioned in this episode:

Tallinn Music Week: https://tmw.ee

Friendly Fire Licensing: https://www.friendlyfirelicensing.com
Tier Music Publishing: https://www.tiermusic.com/publishing
Keychange: https://www.keychange.eu
Music Cities Network: https://www.musiccitiesnetwork.com
European Music Business Taskforce: https://www.musiccitiesnetwork.com/projects-details/european-music-business-task-force
Musikcentrum Öst: https://www.musikcentrumost.se/en/
Heather Gibson @ National Arts Centre, Canada: https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/heather-gibson
Global Network For Female-Identifying Music Producers:  https://nac-cna.ca/en/international-producers-program
Clara Bodin @ Telia: https://tmw.ee/speakers/clara-bodin
Diversity @ Telia: https://www.teliacompany.com/en/sustainability/diversity/

Made In Baltics: https://www.madeinbaltics.eu
Telliskivi Creative City: https://telliskivi.cc/en/

Themes For Great Cities: Tallinn: https://youtu.be/gjr6EEdPNzA
(Live performance from the official Opening of Tallinn Music Week 2021.
Featuring Alex Maiolo, Jonas Bjerre, Jonas Kaarnamets, Erki Pärnoja)

Death By Audio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_By_Audio

Dan’s Ferry Ride: https://brokeassstuart.com/2016/04/04/man-captures-worst-ferry-ride-ever-through-hilarious-updates/

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list here

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The SuperSwell

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This is the third edition of The Delicates' Lounge - a podcast for all us music event tourists who love to be where the action is and occasionally like to grumble about having to queue for our passes or a beer or to get into a venue. You know, all things that we missed for so long during the pandemic.

Now and again we’ll get together with a couple of delicate delegates at one of the many events we love to go to.

This time, I was very happy to speak to two friends from the festival family who over the years I’ve seen more than I’ve seen my own family at times.

I’m joined by Francine Gorman from the Ja Ja Ja and Keychange platforms and Rasmus Damsholt from ATC Management to find out how they are managing themselves, their projects, and the events they are now attending.

The main point about this episode is that, for the first time, IT WAS RECORDED LIVE, FACE TO FACE, ALL IN THE SAME ROOM instead of over Zoom. It was a complete joy to see my friends' faces across the table and hear their beautiful voices in my headphones!

We talked about our experiences of SPOT Festival in Aarhus, and Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg as well as all the projects we are working on, the artists we are in to, and how Denmark has done away with Covid-19.

We recorded this conversation during Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg on Friday 24th September, 2021.

For further information about some of the things mentioned in this episode:

ATC Management: https://www.atcmanagement.com
Ja Ja Ja: https://jajajamusic.com
Keychange: https://www.keychange.eu

SPOT Festival: https://spotfestival.dk/en/
Reeperbahn Festival: https://www.reeperbahnfestival.com/en

For more info and news about our podcasts and events please sign up to our mailing list here

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Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by one of his favourite film & documentary makers, Jonny Owen.

Jonny is well-known as a musician, actor, writer, producer, radio talk show host, and an award-winning film maker.

He splits his time between Nottingham, London, and - his hometown - Merthyr Tydfil in the valleys of south Wales.

We spoke about Jonny's upbringing in the hard, working-class community of Merthyr, how his obsession with music helped shape his view of the world, and how he made the move into writing and telling stories about what he loved most - music and football.

We took the liberty of choosing our own personal highlights from Jonny's career so far and asked him how films such as "Svengali", "I Believe In Miracles", "Don't Take Me Home' and "The Three kings" came to be. As always, Jonny had some fascinating insight to offer that kept us captivated throughout the conversation.

There was still time to talk about his relationship with some of the amazing actors who he has worked with, including his fiancée - actress and national treasure, Vicky McLure -  as well as his daughter, Katie Owen who is forging her own successful career as a festival DJ and TV & radio presenter.

We recorded this episode on Wednesday 4th August, 2021.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode.
We made it just.....for......you!

Links:
Jonny Owen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Owen
Katie Owen: https://www.facebook.com/KatieODJ
Dylan John Thomas: https://www.facebook.com/DylanJohnThomas17
Brian Clough vs Don Revie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTiIdbDBmZc

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Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by one of his absolute musical and music business heroes, Simon Raymonde.

Simon found fame as bass player with the Cocteau Twins, one of the most innovative and inspirational bands of the 80's & 90's.  After the split of the band, Simon was left "holding the baby" in the form of the Bella Union label that was originally set up by the band as a way to manage their new material. Material that sadly never came.

Simon set about building the record label into one of the leading and most respected  independent brands in the business, releasing an endless stream of immaculate and beautiful albums and winning several Label of the Year awards along the way.

We spoke to Simon about his life as a musician, his own new material, his time with the Cocteau Twins and all the difficulties and joys that brought, as well as his decade-long transition from bass god to label boss.

Along the way we hear the startling revelation that Simon has been functioning relatively happily with a benign brain tumour for the last 20 years and that he is now - against his usual beliefs about musicians writing memoirs - preparing to write a book about how he has coped with this condition while continuing to run his label and work as a producer and artist himself.

This is just a wonderful, captivating conversation with one of the industry's loveliest people who has brought so much pleasure to music fans everywhere.

We recorded this episode on Tuesday 6th July, 2021.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode.
We made it just.....for......you!

Links:
https://bellaunion.com
https://cocteautwins.com
https://bellaunion.com/artists/lost-horizons

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Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by one of the world's most respected Music Supervisors, LA-based head  of SuperMusicVision, Thomas Golubić.

Thomas is a 3-time Emmy and 2-time Grammy nominated supervisor. His work is considered cutting edge and ground-breaking. He is perhaps best known for his musical direction on shows such as "Breaking Bad", "Better Call Saul", "Six Feet Under", and "The Walking Dead". 

We managed to catch Thomas at the start of one of his typically busy days and managed to spend almost an hour listening to him tell us about some of the trials and tribulations of being a supervisor, as well as some of the sweet successes he has enjoyed working on several astonishing hit shows.

We find out what makes him tick, what he finds most frustrating, and if he has a little dance he does whenever he finds a perfect musical fit for a particular scene.

Links:
www.supermusicvision.com

We recorded this episode on Tuesday 22nd June, 2021.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode. 
We made it just.....for......you!

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Your host, Paul Cheetham, is joined by New York-based President and CEO of New Music USA, Vanessa Reed.

Vanessa's organization nurtures the creation, performance and the appreciation of new music in the United States. Before that she had a decade of astonishing success as boss of PRS Foundation in London, where she created initiatives, such as the “Momentum Music Fund”, “Women Make Music”, and the internationally acclaimed “Keychange” project - a pioneering, cross-border campaign to provide gender balance and equality in the music business.

Vanessa's contribution as a passionate advocate and industry leader has been widely recognized and she has received a vast array of awards and accolades as well as invitations to serve as a board member or ambassador to several leading cultural institutions.

Luckily, I managed to catch Vanessa between meetings, and we had a very pleasant chat about the weather, about lockdown in New York, about the work she's doing for new artists, about the legacy of “Keychange”, and about her latest film and music recommendations. 

Links:
New Music USA : https://www.newmusicusa.org
PRS Foundation: https://prsfoundation.com
Keychange: https://www.keychange.eu

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic: https://www.liverpoolphil.com
Yoko Ono Lennon Centre: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/yoko/campaign-ambassadors/vanessa-reed

Tamar-kali: https://www.tamar-kali.com
Angelica Negrón: https://www.angelicanegron.com
Shelley Washington: https://www.shelleywashington.com
Tyshawn Sorey: https://www.tyshawnsorey.com
Angel Bat Dawid: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/live

We Talk: Live Music (episode 1 with Jon Ollier & Natasha Gregory: https://www.spreaker.com/user/vip-booking/wetalk-episode-1

We recorded this episode on Monday 8th February, 2021.

Thank you for listening. Here is the episode. 
We made it just.....for......you!

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