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• The first step to artist-centric streaming? Start listening to artists… (see Opinion)

• Grace Carter - Omeara SE1

• AEG Europe has appointed Lynsey Wollaston as Vice President and General Manager for European Festivals. (RotD)
• U2 guitarist Adam Clayton and the band's ex-manager Paul McGuinness have invested in music streaming service Roxi. (MoS) Roxi will use the funds to expand into the US this year.
  Separately, Hipgnosis has "raced to a £1 billion valuation since its 2018 listing".

• Halsey and Capitol Records are parting ways. Last year, Halsey took to social media to complain that the label was declining to put a fresh song out unless the artist would concoct a TikTok campaign around it. (Variety) Capitol said “We are incredibly proud of all we accomplished together, and wish Halsey the very best in all their future endeavors.”
• Charts: Higher Than Heaven by Ellie Goulding debuted at the top of the Album charts with a figure of 11,800. Miracle by Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding remained at the top of the Singles chart. (OCC) 
• US charts: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time remained top of the Billboard 200 for a sixth consecutive week with a figure of 167,000 equivalent album units. (Billboard)
• @chartdata tweets
  @Harry_Styles' 'Harry's House' has now surpassed 5 billion streams on Spotify. It's his fastest album to reach this milestone.
  @pinkfloyd's 'Wish You Were Here (Remastered)' has now surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
  @onedirection’s “Night Changes” has now surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify. It’s their 1st song to achieve this.

• Spotify is closing down Heardle, the Wordle-inspired music guessing game it acquired last July for an undisclosed sum. (TechCrunch) According to analytics, the game peaked at 69m monthly desktop and mobile web visits in March 2022. Just ahead of the Spotify deal, those visits had dropped to 41m.
• Spotify has introduced a iPhone Lock Screen widget to all users running iOS 16 or later that allows users to tap on its icon to launch the app directly before unlocking your phone. (TechCrunch)

• The first step to artist-centric streaming? Start listening to artists… (MusicAlly - David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition)
• The business behind Coachella. (Trapital)
• James Masterton's chart watch (JM)

• Louise (Redknapp) has signed with BMG and will release a new Greatest Hits album on 2 June. (MoS, Star p3)
• Warner Chappell Music has signed Oliver Tree to a global publishing deal. (Variety)
• Sarah Kinsley has joined Verve Forecast as part of a joint venture with Decca Records UK. (Variety)

• Alison Bonny has joined TikTok as Global Music Comms Lead. She was previously at WhatsApp and Spotify. (LinkedIn) 
• Ten to the Top on Radio 2 and Ken Bruce on Greatest Hits. (Observer - Jude Rogers)

• 23.25 BBC1 Project Icon: The UK's Next Music Star

• 09.30 Radio 2 Gary Davies - Jake Shears chooses his Tracks of My Years
  10.30 6 Music Mary Anne Hobbs - with Patrick Wolf in session
  19.00 6 Music Marc Riley - with Spencer Cullum
  20.00 Radio 1 Jack Saunders - with Jessica Winter 
  

• What does AI mean for the music industry? Experts have their say. (Standard - Jonathan Kanengoni)
• Music lovers being warned over latest issue with regard to ticket rip-offs and scams. (MoS) Computer glitches have resulted in thousands of Beyoncé fans being unable to get officially priced tickets for her UK tour.
• Britain is a dying nation in need of new curators - reference to 6 Music. (Observer - Stewart Lee)
• Mika on the real reason his UK pop career 'staggered to a halt' and why Eurovision is 'not just an entertainment show'. (Telegraph - Neil McCormick)
• The Bangles star Susanna Hoffs talks about publishing her first novel, being mentored by Prince — and how she was tricked into singing the band’s biggest hit naked. (Times - Ed Potton)
• Lewis Capaldi: ‘I sound like a Paolo Nutini knockoff – or if Adele was a guy and not as good’ (Independent - Helen Brown) 
• Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson: ‘It’s extremely unlikely I’ll visit Russia again’. (Times - John Bungey)
• Everything but the Girl talk honestly about rocky moments, rivalries and reuniting. (SundayTimes - Dan Cairns)
• James Blunt has a secret sideline in restoring historic buildings — and he thinks his latest project is beautiful. (SundayTimes - Cathy Hawker)
• S Club 7's Hannah Spearritt breaks silence after devastating death of bandmate and 'first true love' Paul Cattermole. (MoS)
• S Club 7 star Hannah Spearitt on agony over ex-boyfriend Paul Cattermole's death. (Sun p14/15 - Susan Hill) 
• Paul Cattermole’s death shines a light on the problems manufactured pop sensations face once the music stops. (SundayTimes - Lisa Verrico)
• Kathleen Hanna’s feminist party band Le Tigre reunite: ‘It’s depressing our lyrics are still relevant 20 years later’. (Guardian - Hannah Ewens)
• Inside Beyoncé’s business flops from perfume stink to Ivy Park as critics accuse her of neglecting her new star signing, Chloe Bailey. (Sun - Kevin Adjei-Darko) 
• How a culture of silence helped J-Pop music mogul Johnny Kitagawa get away with decades of child abuse. (Telegraph p13  - Julian Ryall) 
• Inspired by Fleetwood Mac's feuds, the chemistry between a rock princess and a 'shower singer' from Norfolk has made Daisy Jones & The Six a TV hit. (Mail p29/30 - Chrissy Iley)
• From Neil Hannon to Bertie Ahern, musicians, politicians and PR gurus recall the crucial part that a 1998 gig played in Northern Ireland’s peace process. (Guardian - Lee Campbell)
• Inside Cher’s $75m Malibu mansion. (SundayTimes - Katrina Burroughs)
• This much I know: Tony Hadley (Observer)
• Sunday with: Moby (Observer)
• Breaking act: néomí (SundayTimes - Dan Cairns)
• One to watch: Frost Children (Observer - Ammar Kalia)

• Name PR seek a Press Assistant (Name)

• The Script guitarist Mark Sheehan has died after a short illness, aged 46. (BBC)
• Vince Power, who bought the PowerHaus venue in Camden three years ago, has struck a deal to use the original name Dingwalls just in time for its 50th anniversary, having resolved a copyright issue. (Standard)
• Take That, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Freya Ridings, Alexis Ffrench, Andrea Bocelli and Sir Bryn Terfel will be among the artists performing at King Charles’s coronation concert on 7 May. (Guardian, BBC)
• BBC bosses tell Eurovision hopeful Mae Muller to stick to singing and keep quiet on politics. (MoS, Express p11)
• IMPF celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, with a series of occasions planned throughout 2023 to mark the milestone. (RotD)
• Festival Republic has submitted an application to hold a two-day 38,000-capacity music festival in Leicester this September. (AAA) 
• Halsey is selling a sprawling Los Angeles compound for $11.9m. (Dirt)
• Lana Del Rey has the best-selling vinyl album of the year so far. (iNews p3)
• Katy Perry pictured with Kim Kardashian backstage at her Las Vegas residency. (Star p8, Mirror p21, Sun p13)
• Rod Stewart pictured leaving private members club Annabel's. (Mail p9, Star p11, Sun p11)
• Ozzy Osbourne pictured on a stroll in LA with his assistant. (Star p14)
• Janet Jackson pictured on stage in Florida for the first show of her new tour. (Mirror p3, Sun p25) 
• Sun Bizarre: Ed Sheeran threw a 30th birthday bash for his wife Cherry at Bertie Blossoms restaurant. Lewis Capaldi pictured posing next to a balloon wall to promote his new single Wish You The Best. Raye is teaming up with Coi Leray on Flip A Switch. N-Dubz are making a documentary of their 2022 comeback tour. Jake Shears has a phobia of cinemas after working in a haunted one. Mae Muller only just made her headline gig at London's Eurovision Party after a delay to her flight from Amsterdam. Liam Gallagher branded Coachella a "nonsense" festival and "wouldn't play it no matter how much they paid me". Charli XCX pictured performing at Coachella. 
• Star Wired: Yungblud has revealed he was originally supposed to appear in three seasons of teen show The Lodge but then his music career took off. French pianist Riopy has vowed never to get rid of the piano Chris Martin gifted him at the start of his career. Charlie Simpson felt like Braveheart when he was bottled on stage at Reading festival with Fightstar. Katy Perry has hinted at a world tour. At Coachella: Blackpink made history when they became the first Korean group to headline the festival. Boygenius spoke about an American law change restricting transgender youths from health care. The original Blink-182 line-up performed together for the first time in 10 years. Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello was spotted together. Billie Eilish joined Labrinth onstage for their new collaboration Never Felt So Alone. Post Malone attended the Tao Desert Nights party.  
• Metro Guilty Pleasures: Camila Cabello was spotted kissing old flame Shawn Mendes at Coachella. Justin Bieber pictured at the Coachella.  

• Feist (Telegraph - 4* Kate French-Morris, Standard - 4* David Smyth, SundayTimes - 4* Dan Cairns, Observer - 4* Ammar Kalia, FT - 4* Ludovic Hunter-Tilney)
• Metallica (Telegraph Features p10 - 4* Neil McCormick, Standard - 4* David Smyth, SundayTimes - 3* Dan Cairns, FT - 4* Arwa Haider)
• Natalie Merchant (Telegraph - 4* Cat Woods, SundayTimes - 3* Dan Cairns)
• Avelino (Observer - 5* Damien Morris)
• GoGo Penguin (Telegraph - 4* James Hall)
• Angel Olsen (Telegraph - 4* Kate French-Morris)
• Dinner Party (Observer - 4* Kate Hutchinson)
• Thomas Bangalter (Telegraph - 3* Charlotte Krol)
• ENNY (Telegraph - 3* Thomas Hobbs)
• Dave Okumu & the 7 Generations (Observer - Kitty Empire)

• The Zombies - Islington Academy, London (Times2 p8 - 4* Will Hodgkinson, Telegraph - 4* Andrew Perry) 
• Gary Numan - Electric Ballroom, London (Telegraph Features p11 - 4* Neil McCormick) 
• A Turkey and Syria Fundraiser feat. Marcus Mumford, Dermot Kennedy & more - Royal Albert Hall, London (Times2 p8 - 3* Stephen Dalton)

• We must slow down the race to God-like AI. (FT - Ian Hogarth, formerly of Songkick)
• Apple’s next AirPods case could come with touchscreen. (MusicTech)