ICS, Quality through competence

The music business is through it’s multitudinousness and complexity is difficult to understand and it makes no difference whether for a music customer or for the creative artist.
The firm International Festival Service GmbH has for this reason taken on the job of bringing these characteristics together and through competence in all relevant areas, creating a clear and structured concept.
With years of experience in the areas of concert organisation, tour booking, artist support, label, publishing, and ticket dispatch on the books, ICS perfectly fits all these pieces together to create a clearly arranged unit.
This all started in 1990 when Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen decided to organise an extra special festival:
WACKEN-OPEN-AIR. What started as a small affair, has over the years evolved into a mega-event to which 40 000 people make the pilgrimage every year to honour their heavy metal heroes. There is surely not another event like this in the world.
Through the experience they collected, they soon realised that it was necessary to further their many ideas into other areas of the music business.

They then founded the label ARMAGEDDON-MUSIC, which now has such top bands such as the Michael Schenker Group, Rose Tattoo, or Holy Moses on it’s books, but also gives the newcomers a starting point in the music world through it’s intensive support and expertise.
This not being enough, they give the artists the chance to come together with a music publisher (ENORM Music publication) to act in their interests and take over some of the administrative tasks.
Also as concert and tour organiser, ICS has an excellent reputation.
Tours from bands such as SAXON, MSG, the W:O:A Roadshow, or Metal Church are just a few that can be mentioned.
The artist roster of the firm is substantial and is interesting for every local event organiser. Big names honour the roster such as: SAXON, MSG, ROSE TATTOO, UFO, HOLY MOSES, FEAR FACTORY, METAL CHURCH, VICTORY and OVERKILL.

Promotion and support of up and coming bands is done in the form of the W:O:A Metal Battle contest. In this contest the newcomers receive the possibility to perform their repertoire to a larger audience and if they succeed in winning they receive entry to the music business in the form of a deal with the in house-label.

Naturally it’s not enough to take care of the music mad fans on the day of the event but also in the organisation and post event situations they must be provided for.
And this is where the ticket and mail order service METALTIX comes into the limelight.
If the guitar mad fan is searching for a certain concert with his / her favourite band or special merchandise products then this can all be found here.
Exclusivity and variety are the hallmark of this shop. It doesn’t matter whether rare items or actual up to date stock is wanted. The array of products ranges from exclusive W:O:A Merchandising incl. toaster and Christmas tree ornaments, through to Children of Bodom T-Shirts in XXL, through to concert tickets for the BLOODSTOCK festival in England.
If the customer is searching for a certain concert or event in the region of Schleswig Holstein / Northern Germany, no matter which musical genre (with the exception of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal), then they will be successful in finding what they need by SH-TICKETS, a ticket agency which is run by Sheree Hesse (also partner/organiser of the W:O:A), which has taken the task of covering the most northern region of Germany offering a diverse range of tickets for all types of events.

That the interest of the enthusiastic music listener is turning more and more to the internet has not gone unnoticed by the ICS Festival Service GmbH. They have now answered this by providing a new service in the form of an internet radio station, appropriately named Wacken Radio. Everything to gratify the listener is offered here. Alongside stylised programs and playlists there are charts, streams, news and votes form the the world of the harder music form to please the listener.

Who has not heard of download portals, that make it possible for anyone to receive their wanted title on their hard-drive in seconds without even stepping out of the door. ICS Festival Service GmbH has not only heard of this but has now transformed this principle for the Heavy Metal consumer in the form of HARDY TV, a service that consists of an immense number of titles which after a short visit could land on your computer.
Other activities are no less interesting, METAL TRAVEL offers the opportunity for interested parties to take trips or holidays alongside others with the same musical interests without having to miss out on music, concerts or parties.

This short introduction to the world of the ICS Festival Service GmbH shows, that there really are no hurdles in the music circus that this firm has not bravely mastered.

In short: ICS promises a comprehensive and competent service straight down the line.