Live music industry news

BOTS Act definitely applies to Ticketmaster in FTC case, insists senator who wrote the BOTS Act

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Ticketmaster • 2 min read

BOTS Act definitely applies to Ticketmaster in FTC case, insists senator who wrote the BOTS Act

Last year the FTC accused Ticketmaster US of breaching the BOTS Act, the law that regulates how American touts access tickets to resell. The ticketing company insists that the BOTS Act does not apply to its operations, but one of the senators who wrote the act has told the court it definitely does…

Chris Cooke • 03 Feb 2026

Pulp will play Adelaide Festival despite threatening to join creator boycott following change in leadership

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Pulp • 2 min read

Pulp will play Adelaide Festival despite threatening to join creator boycott following change in leadership

Pulp are set to play the Adelaide Festival, which has been embroiled in controversy since it axed Palestinian Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fatta from its programme. Jarvis Cocker has revealed Pulp planned to pull out in protest, but will now perform after the Abdel-Fatta decision was reversed…

Chris Cooke • 16 Jan 2026

Primal Scream festival performance cancelled following criticism of “antisemitic” imagery shown at Roundhouse gig

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Primal Scream • 2 min read

Primal Scream festival performance cancelled following criticism of “antisemitic” imagery shown at Roundhouse gig

A Roundhouse show by Primal Scream last week was criticised over controversial images shown during a performance of their song ‘Swastika Eyes’, which critics say were antisemitic. On the back of that criticism, organisers of the Trentham Live festival have now axed the band from their 2026 line-up…

Chris Cooke • 16 Dec 2025

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

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Massachusetts Institute Of Technology • 2 min read

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

MIT has published the results of its study into the carbon emissions of live music in the US and UK, part of an initiative backed by Coldplay. The academics behind the study say their stats and report should be used to inform “a new era of sustainability practices across all of live music”…

Chris Cooke • 12 Dec 2025

Recording studios and music venues face closure if government doesn’t revise business rates, industry tells ministers

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Business Rates • 2 min read

Recording studios and music venues face closure if government doesn’t revise business rates, industry tells ministers

The UK music industry wants reforms to business rates to protect studios and venues. In two letters to the government, the industry says studios should be eligible for rates relief, while ministers need to mitigate the negative impact of recent changes made to business rates on venues big and small…

Chris Cooke • 11 Dec 2025

Bending Spoons to buy “stagnating” ticketing platform Eventbrite

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Eventbrite • 2 min read

Bending Spoons to buy “stagnating” ticketing platform Eventbrite

Eventbrite is set to be acquired by Bending Spoons, which has been buying up a plethora of digital platforms, instigating lots of cost cutting once each deal is done. It will pay $500 million for Eventbrite, considerably less than the ticketing platform’s $1.76 billion valuation at its 2018 IPO…

Chris Cooke • 04 Dec 2025

Olivia Dean says artists have “duty” to “encourage fair resale” after Ticketmaster refunds fans for touted tickets

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Olivia Dean • 3 min read

Olivia Dean says artists have “duty” to “encourage fair resale” after Ticketmaster refunds fans for touted tickets

Ticketmaster is refunding fans who bought touted tickets at hiked up prices for Olivia Dean’s shows on its US platform, after she protested last week. Dean has urged other artists to challenge their business partners on ticketing policies, stating “we have a duty to encourage a fair resale market”…

Chris Cooke • 01 Dec 2025

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

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Live Nation • 4 min read

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

Olivia Dean was not happy at all last week when tickets for her US shows were being resold at hiked up prices within the Ticketmaster and AXS ticketing platforms. Her criticism of the price hikes illustrates how the primary ticketing companies have different rules around resale in the US and the UK…

Chris Cooke • 24 Nov 2025

Live Nation says DoJ antitrust case is based on “gerrymandered” stats and no real evidence

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Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation says DoJ antitrust case is based on “gerrymandered” stats and no real evidence

Live Nation has told the judge overseeing its antitrust legal battle with the US government that he should issue a summary judgment in its favour. The government has failed to provide any evidence of anticompetitive conduct, it claims, and is instead relying on “gerrymandered” market share stats…

Chris Cooke • 20 Nov 2025

Ticket touting platforms start frantic lobbying campaign claiming new anti-tout laws will increase ticket fraud

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Secondary Ticketing • 5 min read

Ticket touting platforms start frantic lobbying campaign claiming new anti-tout laws will increase ticket fraud

The UK government has confirmed it plans to ban for-profit ticket touting, a move that has been widely welcomed by the music industry. The pro-tout lobby claims the ban will ultimately result in more ticket fraud, though FanFair says there is no “demonstrable independent evidence” to back that claim…

Chris Cooke • 19 Nov 2025

Responses to the UK government’s planned ticket touting ban

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Secondary Ticketing • 6 min read

Responses to the UK government’s planned ticket touting ban

The UK government has announced plans to introduce new laws banning for-profit ticket touting and capping the commissions that can be charged on face value resale. Numerous politicians, artists, managers and music industry groups have responded to that announcement…

CMU Editorial • 19 Nov 2025

Plans for former Leadmill venue revealed with “£2 million transformation” revamp to Electric Studios Sheffield

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Electric Group • 2 min read

Plans for former Leadmill venue revealed with “£2 million transformation” revamp to Electric Studios Sheffield

The Sheffield venue formerly known as The Leadmill will re-open next spring as Electric Studios after a “£2 million transformation”. The Electric Group, which owns the building, will now operate the venue after a year’s long legal battle with its previous operator Phil Mills…

Chris Cooke • 18 Nov 2025

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