5 Open Mic Spots in Guildford. 🍻 #Guildford #LiveMusic #SupportLocal

Take That get a plague + some campaign highlights. Just recently watched Mark, Gary & Howard on The Romesh Ranganathan Podcast as well. 🙂

Lauren Laverne If You Phone (Netmix) (internet-only bonus track) Her only solo single 'Take These Flowers Away E.P.' (2000) is still sought after. 26 yrs on! Tracklist: 1. I Fell Out of a Tree 2. Good Morning Sunshine 3. Monkey Dance 4. To Have a Home 5. Some Kind of Other Presence 6. If You Phone

First-ever FIFA World Cup Final halftime show. 🤣 Featuring: Madonna, Gustavo Dudamel & The Muppets, BTS, Ed Helm as Ted Lasso & Justin Bieber, Shakira & Burna Boy with Triplets Ghetto Kids, PS22 Chorus & Coldplay with Sesame Street. Creatively directed by Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Ludwig Göransson The Odyssey OST Released: 17 July Label: Backlot In an interview with Simon Mayo, Christopher Nolan said that he regards rappers as storytellers, which explains why Travis Scott has a minor role in the film as a bard. 'When I'm Home' is the end credits song by Travis Scott.

Josaleigh Pollett & Jordan (Crowd Shy) Bed of Quiet This gorgeous indie-pop track dropped earlier in the week. It follows on from their previous singles 'Radio Player', 'The Witness' & 'Like a River'. 🎶 All are included on their latest album 'If I Let It Quiet', which will be released on 24 July.

Aitch: Don’t Be Afraid premieres exclusively on Netflix on 26th July. The award-winning rapper embarks on the challenge of a lifetime: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro alongside his closest friends, family members & team to raise awareness + funds for the Down’s Syndrome Association.

'Ta-Dah!' Jake Shears (Scissors Sisters) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) are on #CelebrityGogglebox This handsome duo will be watching tv, hopefully with 'Rated R' moments a-plenty, for our own amusement tonight. Another reason to stay in. If you're not off to see The Odyssey that is..

The theme song for 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' wasn't written for the show but will live forever because of it.

George Michael: The Faith Tour Teaser trailer for upcoming film release in 2026.

Global recorded-music sales to surpass $56 billion (around £42 billion) by 2030 with China ranking second worldwide. China entered the top five in 2022, overtaking France, and is set to overtake the UK in 2028 & Japan in 2029.

IFPI Global Music Growth Report 2026 Each region around the world saw recorded music revenue growth in 2025, with four posting double-digit gains. USA & Canada +3.5% Europe +5.6% Asia +10.9% Latin America +17.1% Australasia +1.5% Middle East & North Africa (MENA) +15.2% Sub-Saharan Africa +15.2%

Queens of the Stone Age Easy Street - 14 July 2026 It's been nearly a year, since it was first performed live. Easy Street plays perfectly as a summer release. Very wholesome and feel-good. ☀️ #QueensOfTheStoneAge #QOTSA #EasyStreet

Released on my birthday! 🎁 BBC's Top of the Pops remembers the music of the 2000s. 🎶 It's a glorious retrospective of #TOTP performances in the 2000s, and has the decade put into a Millennium (Dome) context. Artists interviewed: - Craig David - Eels - Sonique - Spiller - Darude - S Club 7 - Five

According to Stewart Lee's monthly newsletter, Pete Frame passed away this year. As I don't have a specific date, I can't be 100% sure. Nevertheless, Pete Frame was an amazing figure in English music journalism, and should be remembered. He is best known for his work as a "music mapper".

No joke. My boyfriend had to warn me about checking the news today because my favourite actor Sam Neill passed away, and he didn't know how I would take it. With so many tributes flooding in, we can see for SO many, devastated doesn't cover it. 😭

SINGLE REVIEW NOMI's latest single 'What U Want' was just released. Literally, a couple of hours ago! 💕 #NewMusic #RNB #Soul

Iron Maiden - EDDFEST (10-11 July) This upcoming weekend, Knebworth is going to be heaving with Maiden fans coming together to celebrate the band's 50th Anniversary. Classic Rock and Metal Hammer have teamed up with Iron Maiden to create the official programme as well! ⬇️ STAGE TIMES + SITE MAP ⬇️

'I'm Never Gonna R.I.P.' by Green Day, from their upcoming film Nimrods (2026). Loosely based on an actual band called "Waterdog" who opened for Green Day before they hit it big. Green Day gave their demo tape to a music exec friend which resulted in a label bidding war for the band in the mid 90s.

Nomi is dropping 'What U Want' this Friday (10 July) #NewMusic

Q. Are we overusing the term "needle drop"? 🤔 A. Yep 🤣

BBC & Creative Industries Growth economic impact report has been released today (8 July). With mass redundancies happening at the same time, as part of their £500m savings plan. You can have two conflicting thoughts (growth + cost-cutting) in your head at the same time, #BBC. Probably.

Gen Z in USA are spending money on festivals + gigs, according to a new Luminate Intelligence report. BUT surely the industry must know rising ticket prices aren't reflective of earning power; they're DICTATED. We all have NO CHOICE but to give in + pay insane #TicketPrices.

🎟️ Can't Knock the Hustle, JAŸ-Z JAŸ-Z30 tour includes one UK stop at Tottenham Stadium on 4 September 2026 - Beyonce's birthday. SO.. Presale is on 9 July (1pm) but it's PURE madness. Never seen so many presales in my ticket buying life! Doubtful there'll even be a general sale on 10 July (10am).

MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS UK Music has launched its annual Music Creators' Survey. It's vital for the music industry to see the current landscape as it truly is. If you know any UK-based artists, musicians, DJs, vocalists, songwriters, composers, producers, and engineers, please let them know. #UKMusic

Echobelly played #Guilfest this year and I didn't want to miss them. #Britpop #90sMusic

Listening to Shania Twain speak so openly about dealing with Lyme's Disease and her open throat surgery. In her words: They "pull your larynx to the side and insert little Gore-Tex crutches" to stabilise were your nerve atrophy is. My brain: Yikes! 😵

Taylor Swift getting married + donating £19.5 million to charity made me think back to Anant Ambani & Radhika Merchant's wedding in 2024, which was estimated to cost between $600 million & $1 billion. 😱 Artists paid to perform: Diljit Dosanjh Rihanna Justin Bieber Backstreet Boys Katy Perry Pitbull

Article about the sheer amount of recorded music we'll never hear. Overall, a piece about Rob Johnson who has been single-handedly advocating for buried music to be released on streaming platforms through Pop Music Activism. Raising profiles & royalties for artists: instagram.com/popmusicactivism

Riz Ahmed on Track Star makes me feel so good. 💕 And, the silent legacy of Jai Paul on the entire lofi music landscape can't be denied either.

SLY LIVES: A.K.A. The Burden of Black Genius (2025) Questlove documents the incredible origins of Sly and the Family Stone. Throughout the film, you can't help but be in awe of Sylvester Stewart. He truly was music personified.

MUSIC THOUGHTS 🤔 If 85% of the global population is in the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Asia + Oceania), doesn't it make sense to market your music there? Sharing music in another territory doesn't have to be hostile, or about profit margins. Music (like education) is a hot global export.

Good Vibrations (2013) Based on the life of Terri Hooley. The soundtrack is another level amazing.

Spotify removed 500,000 fake streams of "Earrings” by Malcolm Todd & helping it reach #1. How? "Botting" is the practice of using bots to inflate streaming numbers. Only flagged because a trader called fraud. Not sure I like the idea of predictive markets dictating outcomes. #Spotify #Automation

Anthony Fantano from The Needle Drop on Subway Takes. His take on algorithms is actually way worse. As with radio playlisting, Spotify has a "pay-for-play" for artists to be "discovered" so it's not organic at all. (Kareem plugging his own band Tiny Gun was expected.)

#2Tone Watching another BBC documentary to stop my intrusive thoughts, what better than to settle with socio-cultural context of the Specials? 😎 Managed to catch them live at The Troxy before Terry Hall passed. 💕

Can Cantilever work, where other indie streaming platforms haven't? The fact it's London-based and raised £250k pre-seed funding from indie labels suggests it has support. Combining full album streaming + music journalism sounds like it was made for industry types but what about the rest of us? 🤔

Farooq Got Audio Masala Bop Stuck in my head. 🎶

When UK MUSIC released 'This Is Music 2025', I thought I'd give it a read. It was a combination of both bleak (impact of leaving the EU / obtaining USA visas, issues with AI, loss of grassroots spaces) and quite interesting (economic growth, increase in jobs, debut album decline).

Devo (2024) Incredibly insightful just like them.

Just a few musicians sharing their Criterion Closet Picks. ENJOY!

What do Sienna Rose, Eddie Dalton, Xania Monet all have in common? Apart from the fact no-one's heard of them, they are all AI-generated. Diversity is hard enough in music so manufacturing it seems like the epitome of laziness. They're not bringing anything unique to the landscape. #AIMusic

Looks like TIDAL's AI Policy has been removed, since it was released to the public. Still, the issue is real & isn't simple to fix. There are several types and levels of AI content within the fabric of music. You can't just switch it off. Saying that, tagging AI-generated content is a good start.

Need new music in your life? openmicfinder.com #OpenMic #NewMusic #Gigs #KeepItLocal

Soca Music is on my mind.

Someone from work recommended I listened to Brooke Combe & watch her doc making her debut album 'Dancing at the Edge of the World' (2025). The moment James Skelly (from The Coral + producer in his own right) popped on the screen & started talking so candidly, I was 100% sold on her & the album.

The Sparks Brothers (2021) Directed by Edgar Wright Life's too short to pretend you don't like Sparks.

Reading the Skills England report for the Creative Industries dated June 2026. Started my music industry journey in 2003 & it's still: ▪️Move to London ▪️Network ▪️Work for free ▪️Get lucky ▪️Learn new technology (by using it) ▪️Try not to get left behind ▪️Give up multiple times ▪️DIY your own career 🤣

Most-Followed Music Artists on Spotify 🥇 Arijit Singh is the most-followed artist with 186,440,854 followers, as of 24 June 2026. He was the first Indian artist to ever headline a UK stadium as well! Source: chartmasters.org/spotify-most... www.tottenhamhotspurstadium.com/.../arijit-s...

Would be very interesting to see how many music zines there are across the UK and a music zine map at the end of it. 📝🎶 There's a form at the bottom of the article itself. #UKMusic #MusicZine #UKOnly