Josef Muff sopper

Josef “Muff” Sopper (born January 10, 1958 in Vienna ) is an Austrian musician , operator of event centers , organizer of festival programs and promoter in Vienna.

Josef Sopper (Hainburg 2018)

Career

Josef Muff Sopper completed his high school diploma , HAK high school diploma course, studied music (classical guitar at the Vienna Conservatory ) as well as partial studies (law), worked as a banker and sales manager. Since the age of 16 he has also been active as a musician in music groups (Demian, Lamu, Gonzo Rockband, Milli Vanilli, Schüttelfrost Bluesband) of various genres.

He was also repeatedly active as a guest musician, u. a. as bassist for Blind Petition , Hallucination Company and Rock Generation. His band Lamu made a short comeback on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Planet Music in SiMM City in March 2019. He is married to Eva Gotschke, father of four children and lives in Hainburg . The two sons from their first marriage have worked in the Planet Music & Media GesmbH since 2014.

VÖM - United Austrian Music Funders

As a music sponsor, Josef Muff Sopper was also responsible for Austrian sound carrier productions ( Harri Stojka , Jazz Gitti , Drahdiwaberl , Hansi Lang and others) from the 1980s onwards. With the aim of giving Austrian popular music artists the opportunity to perform, he founded the Tonau Association of Austrian Rock Groups in 1982 in the autonomous cultural center Gassergasse "GaGa" Managing Director presides. Sopper has been involved in the Austrian music scene with the VÖM association since 1986, in particular in the form of domestic event series, currently with the Austria-wide event series Planet Festival Tour, in which around 200 acts from Austria take part every year and prizes worth 100,000 euros are awarded. In the 2018/19 season, the Project Cup of Choirs was held for the first time as a new competition format for the Viennese choir scene.

Danube Island Festival

As early as 1985 Josef Muff Sopper was involved in the design of the Vienna Danube Island Festival and is still the program and stage organizer (Radio FM4 Planet.tt stage, with acts such as Mando Diao , Portugal The Man , Fettes Brot , Pendulum , Bilderbuch , Wanda ) was involved in this project. In 1985 Sopper organized a 10-day festival “for a Viennese rock house” on the Danube Island with the “Tonau” association , in which around 100 Viennese bands ( Drahdiwaberl , Ostbahn-Kurti & the chief part ) took part. In 1986 Sopper organized the 4-day festival "Rock on the Island" u. a. with Iron Maiden , a forerunner of the currently popular major festivals.

Print media

From 1985 Sopper was the publisher (founded with Georg Biron ) of the free handpocket magazine JUKE BOX / ROCK BOX, from which the PLANET.tt magazine emerged in 2000. Sopper invented and established the AUSTRIAN MUSIC ATLAS in 1989, which is used as an industry reference work.

Event centers

Rock house

On March 31, 1989, Sopper and the VÖM association took over the “Fritz” youth event center in Vienna 20th, Adalbert Stifter Strasse 73, and on September 15 of the same year converted it into the “ Rockhaus ” event center, which until its relaunch in 1999 was Vienna Wrote popular music history. Performing artists included Pearl Jam , Sepultura , Georg Danzer , Eminem , Rammstein , Joe Zawinul .

Planet Music

The relaunch of the event center was also accompanied by the founding of Rockhaus Veranstaltungs GesmbH, which at the turn of the year 2000 was transferred to Planet Music & Media Veranstaltungs- und VerlagsgesmbH, of which Sopper has been the main managing partner to date. In order to illustrate the stylistic range of the concert activities, the event center was renamed Planet Music .

Other locations

After the location in Vienna-Brigittenau was surrounded by new residential buildings in 2008, Josef Muff Sopper resp. his company, which he manages, on behalf of the City of Vienna, operates the now Planet.tt Bank Austria Halle / Gasometer as well as the Vienna Scene (both in Vienna 11th, Simmering ), since 2015 also the fallow location "Festsaal Zentrum Simmering" from Sopper and his company converted into SiMM City through their own investments .

Act

By 2020, Josef Muff Sopper and Planet Music & Media / VÖM had made possible and organized performances by around 35,000 artist groups at around 10,000 events, 75% of which were Austrian acts. This makes him one of the country's music sponsors. In 2015, he was awarded the golden Rathausmann for his services to the City of Vienna .

Awards

• 2015: Golden City Hall Man of the City of Vienna

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Press Service: Archive report: Goldener Rathausmann for Viennese music manager Muff Sopper. June 24, 2015, accessed June 5, 2020 .