According to Breck Create, the challenges identified in a 2019 assessment have only intensified and the pop music market is more competitive than ever, resulting in financial losses.

At a meeting on Tuesday, August 13, Breckenridge authorities were asked for assistance.

City Manager Shannon Haynes explained to the Breckenridge City Council that the model used for Breck Create’s popular music and entertainment does not generate the revenue needed to sustain these specialized programs.

One assessment outlined challenges that are “disrupting” Summit County’s music landscape, including the renovation of Dillon Amphitheater and the expansion of 10 Mile Music Hall in Frisco. Recently, the two venues and competitors in neighboring areas like Eagle County have been able to sign increasingly bigger names.

Unlike Breckenridge, many of the competition’s venues are located directly off Interstate 70, which Breck Create says is important.

According to Breck Create, industry “heavyweights” like Live Nation are focusing on driving artist traffic through venues along the Interstate 70 corridor, booking double or even triple bills of acts who previously played solo shows at smaller venues like the Riverwalk Center.

Another factor that could hurt Breck Create’s competitive advantage is its main venue, the Riverwalk Center. The venue is shared with other local organizations, such as the National Repertory Orchestra, so it can be difficult for the center’s scheduling department to give popular artists the dates they want.

Breck Create described the difficulty of booking well-known artists in a meeting memo, noting that the company is “making more offers (over 100 annually) and bringing back less sought-after touring acts on the right dates.”

These and other factors have resulted in Breck Create expecting to incur a loss of $75,000 on its 2024 series of ticketed popular music shows.

Breck Create operates the program using a regional block booking network with Boulder Theater, Fox Theater, Strings Music Pavilion (Steamboat) and Chautauqua Auditorium. It does so through a talent buyer that has relationships with all the venues. Over the past five years, it has increased the number of pop concerts from five in the summer to more than 18 year-round. It says financial risk mitigation strategies and a $50,000 annual grant from the city enabled the program to break even by 2024.

“The actions we need to make this a success are not being taken,” Haynes said before outlining various options for Breck Create to the council.

Haynes recommended “putting pop music on hold” until the city’s arts and culture master plan is completed in fall 2025. She said the plan will take into account the community’s attitude toward pop music and paint a better picture of which direction is best.

In addition to stopping pop music, the city council had three other options, two of which required additional funding from the city.

She said she believes it is important to wait for the results of the master plan without providing further subsidies because “there are other entities that provide their valuable assets to the community and that are also facing financing problems.”

Council member Dick Carleton wondered if this meant that if the decision was delayed until 2025, there would no longer be popular music entertainment at the Riverwalk Center.

Tamara Nuzzaci Park, CEO of Breck Create, said there will not be a “complete exit” and that shows are already booked for the first quarter of 2025 and even some for the summer.

Board member Dave Ratner, an entertainment industry attorney who joined Nuzzaci Park to represent the organization at the Aug. 13 meeting, said booking performances could take six months to a year and that the pause would likely affect the amount of pop music offerings from Breck Create over the next few years.

According to Nuzzaci Park, Option 1 would put the organization on hold. It would regularly share venue availability with event organizers while attempting to minimize disruption to other users of the facility. To minimize disruption, a grandfathering strategy would likely be used that aligns with the venue’s current scheduling criteria. The staff memo for the meeting stated, “There is no guarantee that this model will be successful in booking shows,” and it would be an experiment to contain costs and buy time.

Option 2 requires a $50,000 to $100,000 grant from the city. Breck Create said it would mimic the strategy of the Vail Valley Foundation/Vilar Center, which influences touring and performance scheduling in the area due to significant private funding. It would hire an independent talent buyer to make “aggressive” initial offers to musicians in order to secure contracts. Nuzzaci Park said the organization already has a relationship with a reputable talent buyer that it would leverage.

This model, says Breck Create, would include five ticketed shows and three to five free shows.

Option 3 proposes that Breck Create enter into a new use agreement for the Riverwalk Center, this time with a commercial operator. This would require a $30,000 to $50,000 grant from the city.

Haynes said the agreement would be “more extensive” than those other organizations that use the Riverwalk Center have with the facility, and there are concerns about what it could mean for existing relationships. Key aspects of this option include cash subsidies per ticket or new terms for concession revenue, providing staff and services to the venue free of charge, and control over ticket prices and service fees.

Mayor Kelly Owens asked what impact it would have on the other organizations that also use the Riverwalk Center if they switched to a different marketing and booking model. Nuzzaci Park said the biggest concern would be dates, since part of the incentives for popular artists is to keep ideal dates open, which could impact other organizations’ scheduling.

Nuzzaci Park said a hybrid option could be to pause and do part of Option 1. Breck Create would not contact commercial organizers with additional dates, but would only offer what is currently available.

“We want to continue to stay in the business, out there, in front of agents and promoters, and continue those relationships, but we could do it in a way that doesn’t affect the dates at all,” Nuzzaci Park said.

When it came time for the council to voice its opinion, Councilwoman Carol Saade led the way, saying she fully supported Haynes’ recommendation to take a break. Owens also voiced support for the recommendation.

Council member Todd Rankin said he was “more inclined to act” and wondered what else could be done to optimize planning at the Riverwalk Center.

He said that given the progress made in other areas of pop music, he feared “that we might wait and see and somehow fall even further behind.”

He said he was in favour of Option 2 or Option 3, but did not want to see any impact on the National Repertory Orchestra and its scheduling priorities.

Council member Steve Gerard supported Option 1, noting, “I think it’s better to leave the door open than to leave it open.”

Council members Dick Carleton and Marika Page said they would like to see a mix of Option 1 and a small break in pop music.

Haynes ended the conversation by saying it seemed like the city council ultimately wanted a mix of her recommendation and Option 1, where “there is no impact on partners and events and they announce the available dates and if someone wants them, they want them.”