Soundwave Festival’s former operating company is entering voluntary administration following a preliminary directions hearing held at NSW Supreme Court this morning.

The hearing follows an application filed by World Stages Pty Ltd on 28th August to wind up the company’s operations over an unpaid debt. World Stages were forced into liquidation back in July this year.

Meanwhile, Music Feeds is reporting that Soundwave owes a substantial amount of money to a number of other creditors in addition to a $2.5 million sum owed to the Australian Taxation Office.

It’s not clear just how much money is owed or to how many creditors, though a number of court cases relating to unpaid debts have been pursued against Soundwave Pty Ltd in the last few months, including $44,56 owed to Megadeck Australia Pty Ltd.

According to documents filed with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, festival promoter AJ Maddah changed the name of Soundwave Festival Pty Ltd twice last week.

The company name was changed briefly to Penny Denny Pty Ltd on 24th September, before being switched to ACN 127 870 866 Pty Ltd the following day.

Soundwave Festival Pty Ltd had been the title of the event’s operating company since 2007, of which Maddah is the sole shareholder. Maddah told Music Feeds that Soundwave Festival Pty Ltd has not been Soundwave Festival’s operating company since April.

Tone Deaf has learned that Maddah is now the director and sole shareholder of both The Hounds of Hell Pty Ltd and HOH Holdings Pty Ltd, companies that were set up just weeks before Soundwave Festival Pty Ltd underwent a name change.

According to documents acquired by Tone Deaf, HOH Holdings Pty Ltd was established on 24th August while The Hounds of Hell Pty Ltd was set up earlier this month on 10th September, with Maddah sitting as director and secretary of both companies.

While it’s not clear what the festival’s current operating company is, the timing of the new companies’ establishment does suggest it could be more than a coincidence, though it contradicts Maddah’s assertion that Soundwave Pty Ltd ceased being Soundwave Festival’s operating company in April.

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Maddah told Music Feeds Soundwave 2016 will “definitely” be going ahead. The company under administration is the festival’s former operating company, he reiterated, and proceedings will not affect the event.

Creditors will no doubt be eager to discover the scope of the former operating company’s debts once administration proceedings are underway and whether any will ever see their money.

Soundwave 2016 is set to kick off in Brisbane in January, before completing a run of the East Coast, winding up in Melbourne on 26th January. The lineup for next year’s event is expected to drop in the coming weeks.