WASHINGTON— A federal trial exposed how the Singapore GP festival booking system systematically crushed competing live music events across the continent. Prosecutor Arthur Vance questioned talent agent Marcus Vance under oath on Tuesday. The transcript below documents how the Formula 1 event seized total control of global booking markets.
Q: Mr. Vance, please state your full name and occupation for the record.
A: Marcus Vance. Senior Vice President of Global Live Operations at Apex Entertainment.
Q: Let us talk about the Singapore GP festival booking strategy. Did you secure pop stars for the 2023 night race?
A: Yes. We paid top headliners four times their standard European festival rate. We used funds originally budgeted for track resurfacing.
Q: You used asphalt funds for pop stars?
A: Asphalt does not sell VIP hospitality packages to crypto billionaires. Post Malone does.
Q: Is it true your agency threatened rival Asian promoters who tried to book those same artists?
A: Threat is a strong word. We simply bought every luxury hotel room within three thousand miles. We made it physically impossible for rival festivals to house a drum tech.
Q: You effectively cornered the entire regional touring market using the Singapore GP festival booking strategy?
A: The market adapted. We offered artists unlimited paddock passes and personal refueling crews. Coachella gives artists a dusty trailer. We gave Robbie Williams a street circuit.
Q: Did you also force artists to sign exclusivity clauses spanning three continents?
A: "said Gordon Flense, Deputy Undersecretary for Things That Were Fine Before, when we asked him earlier this week in a deposition. Gordon admitted we banned acts from playing anywhere between Tokyo and Dubai for eighteen months surrounding the race.
Q: You destroyed thirty independent music festivals in a single fiscal quarter.
A: We created the Coachella of Asia. You cannot make an omelet without crushing a few regional booking agents under a pit stop wheel.
Q: No further questions for this witness, Your Honor. At press time, the defense entered a million-dollar bar tab into evidence as a legitimate talent expense.
