AEG Presents has appointed prolific talent booker Jay Belin as VP, international touring.

Belin, who began his career at AEG subsidiary The Bowery Presents, brings more than 17 years of live music experience and will be tasked with executing major concerts across Europe with the company’s global touring division.

Directly reporting to SVPs of global touring Michael Harrison and Simon Jones, Belin will initially be based in AEG Presents’ New York office before relocating to AEG Europe’s London HQ. His roles and responsibilities will focus on European touring operations and projects for global touring clients.

“Jay has been a close friend for many years and I’m so excited for him to join our team as our focus on global growth continues,” says Rich Schaefer, AEG’s president of global touring. “His background in live music touches almost every single part of the ecosystem, which gives him invaluable insight into artist relations and where our business is headed. I expect Jay will quickly become an important asset to our touring artists and promoters around the globe.”

“Jay has been a close friend for many years and I’m so excited for him to join our team as our focus on global growth continues”

Belin cut his teeth booking shows at the Mercury Lounge in New York for The Bowery Presents before spending two years as senior talent buyer at Live Nation, booking venues across New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.

He then spent the next ten years at WME, where he booked domestic and international tours in the agency’s New York and London offices, respectively. He has worked with artists such as Vampire Weekend, Mac Miller, FKA twigs, Nines, Don Toliver, Pulp, Kali Uchis, Joey Bada$$, James Murphy and Zach Bryan.

“AEG Presents is an artist-first organisation and that is something you can’t fake,” adds Belin. “In a world where authenticity still counts for something, Rich’s vision and the team executing it embody that spirit. We all arrived at AEG through a shared love of live music and being a conduit to help artists bring that experience to their fans is an irreplaceable feeling.”

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Head in the Clouds festival will debut in New York this spring, following successful editions in Los Angeles, Jakarta and Manila.

NIKI, Rich Brian, ITZY, beabadoobee, DPR Live & DPR Ian, MILLI and XG will perform at the two-day event, led by Asian-American music powerhouse 88rising.

The East Coast festival will be produced alongside frequent 88rising collaborator and Southern California promoter Goldenvoice (Coachella, Stagecoach), as well as new partner The Bowery Presents.

The East Coast festival will be produced alongside Goldenvoice and The Bowery Presents

Head in the Clouds NY will take over Forest Hills Stadium in Queens between 20–21 May during, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

This marks the first time the festival has branched out to a new market in North America following a successful run in Los Angeles (2018-19, 2021-22) and 2022 festivals in Jakarta and Manila.

The inaugural NY event also represents a homecoming for 88rising, which was founded in New York City back in 2015.

Masiwei, Atarashii Gakko!, P-Lo, Raveena, Warren Hue and more will also perform at the event.

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AEG Live is reportedly close to completing a deal to acquire a majority stake in independent New York promoter and venue operator The Bowery Presents.

The news, reported by Billboard, comes shortly after the purchase by Live Nation Entertainment of rival concert and festival promoter Founders Entertainment, further turning the New York/east coast region into a battleground between the two promotion conglomerates and depriving the US of two more independent operations in the space of less than a month.

AEG Live and Live Nation have long dominated the festival and, especially, touring markets, both in most of America and around the world, but have until recently had limited influence in New York.

This summer will be the first time both companies have staged major music festivals in the city: Live Nation’s Founders is the longtime promoter of Governors Ball, which will take place for the sixth time this year on Randalls Island in Manhattan with a line-up featuring The Strokes, Kanye West, The Killers, Beck, M83 and Haim, while AEG Live will host its own new festival, Panorama, also on Randalls Island – a move Founders Entertainment’s Tom Russell called “short-sighted and disappointing”.

The Bowery Presents, founded in 1993, owns or operates venues in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Maine and promotes shows in both American’s north and south, with a dedicated division, The Bowery South, covering the latter. Its concerts range from small and mid-size affairs to stadium-level shows: it will organise dates by Brand New and Modest Mouse, Ellie Goulding (pictured) and Adele at Madison Square Garden later in the year.