Following on from Tone Deaf’s report on the company formerly known as Future Entertainment Pty Ltd entering into liquidation, more information has surfaced in regards to the creditors that are still owed as the one of Australia’s biggest promoters transferred its assets into a new company and forged a partnership with Mushroom to present their flagship event, Future Music Festival, for next year’s edition.
It was revealed during a hearing in the Federal court earlier this month that Future Entertainment had transferred all assets, including trademarks, out of an ailing company, potentially limiting the assets available to the liquidator for distribution to unpaid creditors.
While Future Music Festival is going ahead unaffected, it seems that one of Future’s other major music festivals, Summadayze, has collapsed as a result of the companies formerly tied to Future Entertainment Pty Ltd entering liquidation.
Three of the companies that were tied to Future Entertainment Pty Ltd – Music Events Holdings Pty Ltd, Music Events Tours Pty Ltd, and Music Events Operations Pty Ltd – were placed into liquidation through a court order earlier this month in Victoria’s Supreme Court, casting doubt over the continuation of Summadayze, the traditional New Year’s Day festival that was held in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and the Gold Coast earlier this year.
As part of the new deal with Future Entertainment, The Mushroom Group’s Michael Gudinski tells The Age that it is unlikely that Summadayze would proceed for 2014. In the print edition of the Melbourne paper, Gudinski says: “I’d heard there were difficulties after this year’s Summadayze but I didn’t really get a sense of the scale of it until we started due diligence, a couple of months ago.”
The Frontier Touring and Mushroom mogul noted that he acquired the intellectual property for Future Entertainment through a third party, with the deal equating to a joint venture as opposed to an acquisition of the company, which was how it was framed upon the announcement of the dates for Future Music Festival 2014 and the underage Good Life Festival.
“We’ve got a massive job ahead with the Future Music Festival. We want to make it a much better experience for the people who are going. We’re looking long term,” says Gudinski of the future of the festivals.
Gudinski says that the new joint music promotion company would be headed by electronic dance pioneer Brett Robinson and Mr Gudinski’s son, Matt, while the team would retain the services of Jason Ayoubi as a constant.
Ayoubi, along with his business partner Mark Condron (aka Mark James), as the Sydney Morning Herald reports, are wrapped up in the financial woes of the company formerly known as Future Entertainment Pty Ltd, where court documents obtained by Tone Deaf showed that Future Entertainment had been thinking about its financial position since at least October 2012.
It is believed Future Entertainment had known they were in financial trouble for nearly a year, but decided to press ahead with Future Music Festival 2013 and Summadaye 2013 regardless, but as SMH points out, a number of creditors are still owed financial debts which would be repaid after Mr Ayoubi, the company’s chief executive, returned from overseas.
Creditors and suppliers of the 2013 editions of Future and Summadayze that are reportedly still owed money include production companies, equipment hire businesses, fencing companies, and alcohol suppliers such as Carlton United Breweries and Moet Hennessy.
The Court records to show the action to wind up the three former Future listed companies was brought over debts of around $22,215, by accountants who specialise in insolvencies and who had not been paid for services when representatives travelled to Sydney in November 2012 to discuss the appointment of an administrator, although it is not known what the outcome of that meeting was or what was discussed.
Disgrunteld creditors – some of whom have contacted Tone Deaf anonymously – have put the debt figure at around $50,000 or more, a figure likely to grow as the official investigation into the liquidation begins.
Future Entertainment had also recently been in court over a trademark dispute with ice-cream makers Cold Rock, who were awarded court costs after Justice Murphy dismissed Future Entertainment’s suit against Cold Rock on the basis that they failed to turn up to three hearings on the matter, and that they no longer owned the trademarks they were disputing.
Justice Murphy ruled that Future Entertainment had treated the defendant “shabbily” and the court “with contempt,” awarding court costs to the defendant and suggesting that the transfer of the trademarks could be to avoid any legal dramas associated with the wind up action, an action reflecting the “obvious financial trouble the company is in.”
Future Music Festival 2014 Dates
Australian Tour Dates 2014
Sat 1 Mar Brisbane
Sun 2 Mar Perth
Sat 8 Mar Sydney
Sun 9 Mar Melbourne
Mon 10 Mar Adelaide
Future Music Festival Asia 2014 Dates
Kuala Lumpur Tour Dates 2014
*NEW 3 DAY FORMAT*
Thu 13 Mar Day 1
Fri 14 Mar Day 2
Sat 15 Mar Day 3
Good Life Music Festival 2014 Dates
Australian Tour Dates 2014
Fri 28 Feb Brisbane
Mon 3 Mar Perth
Fri 7 Mar Melbourne
Sun 9 Mar Sydney
