Electric Picnic in tune

Accounts just filed for the company behind the Electric Picnic music festival show it remained financially in tune in 2014, the first year following the departure of its founder, John Reynolds.

EP Republic, which is now ultimately controlled by the big beast of the live music industry, Live Nation, appears to have made profits last year of about €650,000, according to recently filed accounts.

Denis Desmond, the MCD promoter who works with Live Nation, is now heavily involved in the Electric Picnic festival. His son, Zachary Desmond, is a director of EP Republic alongside Melvin Benn, a high-profile British promoter who runs Festival Republic.

Desmond and Benn fell out spectacularly with Reynolds a couple of years ago in a row over control of Electric Picnic, which led to few High Court trips before things were settled. Reynolds would have been viewed by the music fraternity as the guardian of the Electric Picnic’s original offbeat identity, while Benn and Desmond are considered more commercial in their approach to live music.

The accounts refer to the settlement agreed between the sides in May, which involved EP Festivals buying out Reynolds’ 29 per cent stake.

The consideration isn’t revealed, but there is a reference to a €304,000 liability to Reynolds at the end of 2013 that was dispensed with during the year. Since they went their separate ways, Reynolds has continued to focus on his hospitality empire while Desmond is reported to have been recently appointed Live Nation’s boss for UK and Ireland. They’ll both be around for a long time yet. Don’t hold your breath for another duet, however.