Splendour In The Grass 2016 / Photo: Maria Boyadgis

Splendour In The Grass & Falls Festival Have A New Owner

There’s going to be some new butts in the boardroom at Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival HQ, with their parent company Secret Sounds inking a new ownership deal with touring giant Live Nation.

Live Nation has snagged a 51 per cent stake in the local Aussie company, which was founded by Powderfinger manager Paul Piticco and partners Jessica Durcou and Kristy Rosser.

The new deal will see Splendour and Falls become the first Aussie fests added to Live Nation’s massive global lineup, which currently includes Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Electric Daisy Carnival, Reading, Leeds and loads more.

“Splendour in the Grass and Falls are the two most iconic festivals in Australia,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino says.

“Jess and Paul have created events that attract the biggest artists in the world but still feel uniquely Australian.  We look forward to partnering with them to find new ways to grow our live event footprint across Australia.”

While Secret Sounds’ co-CEOs Jess & Paul add: “We started Secret Sounds with the sole mission of introducing Australians to the best artists, events and music possible, and Live Nation is the perfect partner to help us take this goal to the next level.

“With their support we can continue to curate the lineups that fans love, while also experimenting with new exciting ways for fans to experience live music.”

It’s unclear at this point what else the new ownership could mean for the future of both festivals, but it seems likely that they’ll continue to grow.

Live Nation’s shiny new acquisition also includes Secret Sounds’ touring, sponsorship, PR, artist management and domestic agency businesses, but excludes the Dew Process & Create Control Record Labels, Dew Process Publishing and its interests in the North Byron Parklands festival site and The Triffid venue in Brisbane.

The company’s aggressive bid for global domination has already seen them add more than 80 international festivals to their monster portfolio. Music Feeds recently reported that the entertainment giant had bought the Aussie domain name for Download Festival, which is believed to be hitting Australia for the first time in late 2017 or early 2018.

RELATED: Will Splendour & Falls Be More “Mainstream”? How Live Nation’s New Deal Might Change Things

Gallery: Best Of Splendour In The Grass 2016 – Day 2 / Photos: Maria Boyadgis

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