From stagehand to CEO of one of Europe's largest organizers of festivals, tours and local concerts with various foreign subsidiaries.
Stephan Thanscheidt runs the business of FKP Scorpio together with company founder Folkert Koopmans, with an annual turnover of 200 million euros in the company group. And in a relatively low-margin business, as Thanscheidt emphasizes.
In the Redfield Podcast he talks about his beginnings as a local organizer of punk rock shows in Mönchengladbach and how he was drawn to the music magazine VISIONS in Dortmund as event manager and finally to FKP Scorpio in Hamburg. He was initially employed there as Head of Festival Booking, but suddenly had a significantly increased level of responsibility and was promoted to CEO in 2013.
Since then, he has played a key role in shaping the live industry together with Koopmans and a workforce of almost 200 employees. FKP Scorpio is one of the largest festival organizers in Europe, including names like the Hurricane and Southside Festival, Highfield, M'era Luna or Deichbrand, but also various foreign festivals. And these are all canceled in the year of the corona pandemic.
In an interview with Alexander Schröder, he explains how the company, which is part of CTS Eventim, deals with this and how Thanscheidt assesses the future of the event industry. He also explains what importance the company has in the global search for headliners and what challenges need to be overcome here.
www.fkpscorpio.com