Inside the content creators’ industry, not everything is as glossy as it seems February 7, 2022 Say “influencer economy” to most people and there remains a temptation to shrug it off as a handful of Youtube stars making a few grand here and there for make-up videos. In truth, the influencer economy has become mainstream – almost 50m people around the world consider themselves “content creators”. That spans from impossibly youthful [...]
Frozen the Musical review: A crowd-pleaser that plays the hits February 4, 2022 When Disney’s Frozen hit screens back in 2013, only those hiding under rocks escaped round-the-clock renditions of Let It Go by children across the land. The announcement of an adaptation for theatre, initially on Broadway and then the West End, was hardly a surprise. With an extravagant set featuring icicle-laden bridges, mountain cabins and luxurious [...]
The Glow at the Royal Court review: A messy time-travel conundrum February 4, 2022 Were playwright Alistair McDowall and I to go for a pint, I think we’d get on pretty well. Having seen three of his plays to date – Pomona, X and now The Glow – we seem to share a love of lo-fi sci-fi, dystopian fiction and Lovecraftian horror. Each of his plays have tickled that part of [...]
Creative industries get £50m boost as Tories drive ‘level up’ opportunities February 1, 2022 The government injects £50m into creative industries as the Tories hammer home their level up programme and invest in "world class" arts.
Spotify faces the music amid Rogan row January 31, 2022 How the streaming giant may have taken its podcast push too far
Bacon: Man and Beast at the Royal Academy review January 29, 2022 The galleries of the Royal Academy are shrouded in an appropriate gloom for this Francis Bacon retrospective, the atmosphere part cathedral, part occult gathering. Rather than simply present the works chronologically, which would have been easy given the number of paintings brought together, the RA explores Bacon’s work through a single recurring theme – his [...]
London’s Saatchi Gallery named one of the most ‘Instagrammable’ art galleries in the world January 29, 2022 A new study has revealed that London’s Saatchi Gallery is the third most Instagrammable gallery in the world, with Paris' The Louvre taking the top spot.
Spotify removes Neil Young tunes following Rogan vaccine row January 27, 2022 In a growing sign that the biggest digital tech platforms are becoming effective publishers, Spotify vows to remove Neil Young following a feud over podcaster Joe Rogan’s false Covid claims. In an open letter to his manager and record label this week, Young demanded that his songs be removed from the streaming platform, after he [...]
CMA launches probe into music streaming market January 27, 2022 UK competition watchdog launched a study this morning asking whether the music streaming market is working well for music lovers. In the UK, more than 80 per cent of recorded music is now listened to via a streaming service rather than using traditional physical media like CDs and vinyl. Linking the creators making the music [...]
Disney defends Snow White remake after Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage branded it ‘backward’ January 26, 2022 Disney has responded to criticism from Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage about its upcoming Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs remake.