The Week in Light & Sound
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The festival, held in Pilton, Somerset, since 1970, is having a fallow year in 2018 to allow the ground to recover. It is due to return in 2019. At the NME music awards in London on Tuesday, Ms Eavis told BBC 6 Music: "There's lots going on at the moment. We're working on banning plastic bottles... which is an enormous project and it's taking a lot of time to tackle it with all the different people we work with.”
When asked how the line-up was shaping up for the next festival, she said: "Everyone wants to play the 50th anniversary in two years’ time."
Live Music Census - Research from a UK live music census has found that small venues are under threat from business rates and property development. One third of nearly 200 venues surveyed claimed that business rate rises were having a negative impact. The census also found that one in three small live music venues are experiencing problems with property development and noise complaints.
The research, by the Universities of Edinburgh, Newcastle and Turku in Finland, was carried out in Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle-Gateshead, Oxford and Southampton. The lead researcher, Dr Matt Brennan from the University of Edinburgh's Reid School of Music, said he hoped the census would help "protect the heritage, reputation and also economic significance of music in the UK and its history."
White Rose Day - Every star attending this week's Brit Awards will be given a white rose pin in support of the #TimesUp campaign. The show's organisers wrote to the head of every UK record label to inform them of the plan. The letter says performers, presenters and guests will be given a pin "as a symbol of solidarity, which we invite them to wear, if they so choose".
The Time's Up movement was launched to combat sexual assault and harassment in the entertainment industry. Performers first adopted the white rose as a symbol of solidarity with victims of abuse at this month's Grammy Awards. The demonstration was organised by record company executives Meg Harkins and Karen Rait, after they realised the US ceremony had no plans to show support for the movement. They assembled a group of 12 other women in music, calling themselves Voices in Entertainment, and chose the white rose because of its association with the suffragette movement.
First Ladies - A female-led line-up has been announced for the Cornbury Music Festival. Alanis Morissette will headline the Saturday at the event which takes place from 13 to 15 July at Great Tew, Oxfordshire. The day also features Mavis Staples, Amy Macdonald, Nina Nesbitt, Pixie Lott, and PP Arnold. Organiser Hugh Phillimore said: "There's no excuse, none whatsoever, to not have line-ups like this across the board."
Festivals have been coming under increasing criticism in recent years for being too male-dominated. Wireless Festival was criticised by Lily Allen, who posted a doctored version of the event's poster, with all the male names erased.
Curtains Up - A new £300,000 scheme for improving theatre buildings has been announced by the Theatres Trust. The fund is being launched in partnership with the Wolfson Foundation and is called the Theatre Improvement Scheme. It will distribute £100,000 each year over the next three years with awards of up to 20,000 per project, encouraging theatres to implement “innovative and pioneering improvements”, whether that is front of house or behind the scenes.
It will have a different theme each year, with the focus for 2018 to be improving accessibility, with funding to be awarded to projects that will make theatres more accessible through changes to their buildings or systems.
Director of the Theatres Trust, Jon Morgan, said: “Many theatres, particularly those built some time ago, face challenges ensuring all audience members, companies and crew can have an equally brilliant experience. Level changes, signage and seating are some of the areas that need addressing. We look forward to seeing theatres challenge the status quo and embark on valuable projects to make theatregoing accessible for all.”
Local Heroes - Councils in Plymouth, Bolton, London’s Waltham Forest and north Wales have been celebrated for their commitment to championing the arts in their areas. The accolades have been given by the National Campaign for the Arts as part of its Heart for the Arts Awards scheme, which recognises individual councillors as well as whole local authorities that have overcome financial challenges to ensure that the arts stay at the centre of their communities.
(Jim Evans)
20 February 2018
