C3 Presents
C3 Presents is an Austin-based concert promoter and live-events producer known for large-scale music festivals, venue operations, and artist-related services.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
C3 Presents is an American live-entertainment company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Its activities span music-festival production, concert promotion, venue booking and operation, artist management, radio promotion, film and television, digital media, and creative services. The company is particularly associated with major, multi-day festivals that combine nationally and internationally known performers with food, art, sponsorship, and destination-event programming. The business was established in Austin in 2007 by Charles Attal, Charlie Jones, and Charlie Walker. Attal and Jones had previously worked at Capital Sports & Entertainment, the company connected with the Austin City Limits Music Festival and the revival of Lollapalooza as a permanent Chicago event. Walker joined the founders after leaving Live Nation. C3 was formed as a separate company, while the earlier Capital Sports & Entertainment business subsequently took over production of Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza. These events became foundational properties in C3’s later portfolio. C3’s best-known festival interests and production relationships include Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Governors Ball, Two Step Inn, Innings Festival, Sea.Hear.Now, Shaky Knees Festival, Oceans Calling, and Railbird. The company’s festival model generally involves producing recurring events in partnership with artists, venues, municipalities, sponsors, nonprofit organizations, and other entertainment businesses. Some festivals operate as major urban or regional cultural events, while others are built around genre communities, destination travel, or combinations of music and lifestyle programming. In addition to festivals, C3 promotes a large national calendar of club, theater, amphitheater, and arena performances. In Austin, its venue activities have included Emo’s and the Historic Scoot Inn, which C3 owns and operates, as well as Stubb’s, where it became the sole promoter after acquiring the historic blues venue in 2022. C3 also books performances at the Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park through a partnership with the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy. The company was involved with Live Nation and Oak View Group in developing the Moody Center, a 15,000-seat arena on the University of Texas at Austin campus that opened in 2022. Live Nation began discussions in 2014 to acquire a controlling interest in C3’s events-production and promotion businesses. The transaction was completed in December 2014, with Live Nation acquiring a 51 percent stake. Before the transaction, C3 had been described as the world’s largest independent concert promoter. Under Live Nation ownership, C3 continued operating under its own name while becoming part of a larger global live-entertainment network. The company also maintains an artist-management division with personnel in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Austin. Its broader operating structure reflects an integrated approach to live entertainment: festival creation, venue programming, tour promotion, artist representation, media development, and event-related creative work. C3’s community activity includes support for mental-health and addiction-recovery services in Austin, food redistribution from events, arts-education funding in Chicago, university music-business education, and contributions connected with Austin City Limits to the Austin Parks Foundation. C3 Presents remains an active Live Nation subsidiary and a significant producer of festivals and concerts in the United States, with selected events and brands operating internationally.
History
C3 Presents was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2007 by Charles Attal, Charlie Jones, and Charlie Walker. Attal and Jones had previously been associated with Capital Sports & Entertainment, the Austin company involved in producing the Austin City Limits Music Festival and in reviving Lollapalooza as a permanent festival in Chicago’s Grant Park in 2005. Walker joined the venture after leaving Live Nation. The founders established C3 as a distinct business focused on event production and promotion. The company’s early identity was closely connected with large, recurring music festivals. Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza became two of its most visible properties, helping C3 develop expertise in booking major artists, coordinating complex urban events, managing sponsors, and producing multi-day festival experiences. Over time, the company expanded its portfolio with festivals in different cities and regions, including Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Governors Ball, Shaky Knees, Sea.Hear.Now, Railbird, Oceans Calling, Innings Festival, and Two Step Inn. The portfolio covers multiple genres and event formats, allowing C3 to serve both broad commercial audiences and more specialized music communities. C3 also built a national concert-promotion operation. The company books and promotes more than 1,000 shows in venues across the United States, while maintaining a particularly strong presence in Austin. Its venue activities have included ownership and operation of Emo’s and the Historic Scoot Inn, sole promotion at Stubb’s, and programming at the Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park. The Moody Amphitheater relationship was developed with the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, linking C3’s concert business with Austin’s public-space and park infrastructure. In autumn 2014, Live Nation began negotiations to purchase a controlling interest in C3’s events-production and promotion businesses. At the time, C3 was characterized as the largest independent concert promoter in the world. The transaction closed in December 2014, giving Live Nation a 51 percent stake. C3 continued to operate as a named brand, but gained the resources and distribution advantages of belonging to one of the world’s largest live-entertainment companies. C3 later broadened its role in Austin venue development. In 2018, C3 and Live Nation entered a partnership with Oak View Group to develop a 15,000-seat arena on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The Moody Center opened in May 2022 and serves as a home venue for University of Texas basketball as well as concerts and other entertainment events. That same year, C3 purchased the historic Stubb’s venue, strengthening its control over a prominent Austin music location and its associated concert calendar. Beyond promotion and production, C3 operates an artist-management division with offices or staff presence in New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and Austin. It also maintains radio-promotion, film-and-television, digital, and creative capabilities. These activities give the company a broader position than a conventional concert promoter, allowing it to participate in artist representation, media development, and the creative packaging of live events. C3’s community initiatives have included financial support for the SIMS Foundation, which provides mental-health and addiction-recovery services to the Austin music community. The company has also directed surplus food from events to organizations addressing hunger. A portion of proceeds from the Austin City Limits Music Festival supports the Austin Parks Foundation; the company reported that this contribution totaled $8.1 million in 2023. In Chicago, C3 created the Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund in 2021, establishing $2.2 million in support for arts education in Chicago Public Schools to be distributed during the 2021–2026 period. In 2023, it became an official partner of Huston–Tillotson University’s music-business program and provided scholarship funding. C3 Presents is therefore best understood as an integrated live-entertainment company: its core business is festival and concert promotion, supported by venue management, arena development, artist management, media, creative services, and community partnerships. It remains active under the ownership of Live Nation Entertainment.
- 2023
Huston–Tillotson University partnership begins
[1]C3 becomes an official partner of the university’s music-business program and provides scholarship support.
- 2022
Moody Center opens
[1]The Austin arena opens for collegiate basketball, concerts, and other entertainment events.
- 2022
Stubb's is acquired
[1]C3 purchases the historic Austin blues venue Stubb’s and assumes sole-promoter responsibilities.
- 2021
Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund is created
[1]C3 establishes a $2.2 million fund for arts education in Chicago Public Schools, planned for distribution from 2021 through 2026.
- 2018
Moody Center partnership is announced
[1]C3 Presents, Live Nation, and Oak View Group partner to develop a 15,000-seat arena at the University of Texas at Austin.
- 2014
Live Nation acquires a 51 percent stake
[1]Live Nation completes its acquisition of a controlling interest in C3’s events-production and promotion businesses.
- 2007
C3 Presents is founded in Austin
[1]Charles Attal, Charlie Jones, and Charlie Walker establish C3 Presents as a new events-production and concert-promotion company.
Products and positioning
A large-scale live-entertainment producer combining nationally significant music festivals, concert promotion, venue operations, and complementary artist and media services.
Music festival
Lollapalooza
A major multi-day music festival associated with Chicago and expanded through international editions. C3’s connection to Lollapalooza is rooted in the festival’s permanent revival in Chicago in the mid-2000s and its subsequent development as a globally recognized live-music brand.
Music festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
A large recurring Austin festival presenting multiple stages of music and related cultural programming. The event is one of C3’s foundational properties and also supports local parks through contributions to the Austin Parks Foundation.
Music and arts festival
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
A destination-style multi-day festival combining music and arts programming. It is part of C3’s portfolio of large recurring events serving audiences beyond its Austin base.
Music festival
Governors Ball
A major festival in the New York market. Its inclusion in C3’s portfolio demonstrates the company’s operation of large urban events outside Texas.
Arena and concert venue · 2022
Moody Center
A 15,000-seat arena developed through a partnership among C3 Presents, Live Nation, and Oak View Group on the University of Texas at Austin campus. It hosts collegiate basketball, concerts, and other entertainment events.
Music venue · 2022
Stubb's
A historic Austin blues and live-music venue acquired by C3 Presents in 2022. C3 serves as the venue’s sole promoter, adding a notable local venue to its Austin operating base.
Artist services
Artist management
C3’s artist-management division represents an extension of its promotion business. The division operates across New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and Austin, although the available reference material does not identify its roster or individual managers.
Brand decisions
2022
Acquire Stubb'sM&ABackground
Stubb’s is a historically significant Austin live-music venue, and ownership would strengthen C3’s local venue platform.
Action taken
C3 Presents purchased Stubb’s and became its sole promoter.
Aftermath
The acquisition expanded C3’s direct control over an established Austin venue and its concert programming.
2021
Create the Lollapalooza Arts Education FundOtherBackground
C3 linked one of its flagship festival brands with longer-term arts-education support in Chicago.
Action taken
The company created a $2.2 million fund intended to support arts education in Chicago Public Schools between 2021 and 2026.
Aftermath
The fund was established as a multi-year community investment associated with Lollapalooza.
Fund commitment. $2.2 million (2021–2026)
2018
Participate in Moody Center arena developmentStrategyBackground
C3 sought to deepen its venue and arena presence in Austin beyond festival production and concert promotion.
Action taken
C3 partnered with Live Nation and Oak View Group to develop a 15,000-seat arena on the University of Texas at Austin campus.
Aftermath
The Moody Center opened in May 2022 and became a venue for university basketball, concerts, and other entertainment events.
2014
Accept controlling investment from Live NationM&ABackground
C3 was a major independent concert promoter seeking to operate at larger scale while Live Nation was expanding its position in live-event promotion.
Action taken
C3 completed a transaction in which Live Nation acquired a 51 percent stake in its events-production and promotion businesses.
Aftermath
C3 continued to operate under its own brand as part of Live Nation Entertainment, gaining access to the parent company’s broader live-entertainment network.
Recent events
- 2023
C3 Presents expands university music-business support[1]
Other
C3 became an official partner of the music-business program at Huston–Tillotson University and provided scholarship funding as the program launched.
- 2022
Moody Center opens in Austin[1]
Product launch
The Moody Center opened as a major arena for University of Texas basketball, concerts, and other entertainment events booked in part by C3 Presents.
- 2022
C3 Presents acquires Stubb's[1]
M&A
C3 Presents purchased the historic Austin blues venue Stubb's and became its sole promoter.
- 2021
C3 Presents establishes the Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund[1]
Other
The company created a $2.2 million fund intended to support arts education in Chicago Public Schools between 2021 and 2026.
- 2018
C3 Presents partners on development of the Moody Center[1]
Other
C3 Presents, Live Nation, and Oak View Group entered a partnership to develop a 15,000-seat arena at the University of Texas at Austin.
- 2014
Live Nation acquires a controlling stake in C3 Presents[1]
M&A
Live Nation completed a transaction giving it a 51 percent stake in C3’s events-production and promotion businesses.
Sources1 sources
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