Brit Awards - Lewis Capaldi and Dave lead the Brit Awards shortlists for 2020, with four nominations each. Stormzy, Mabel, Michael Kiwanuka, Charli XCX, Harry Styles and Coldplay are also among the acts to receive a nod for this year's awards, which will be the 40th major Brits show.
Both Scottish singer-songwriter Capaldi and London rapper Dave are up for new artist of the year, and despite their relative infancy in the industry are also up for the big awards of best male solo artist, best album and song of the year, thanks to chart-topping debuts in the past 12 months.
The past 12 months have been very successful for both artists, with Dave's album Psychodrama winning the Mercury Prize, Capaldi topping the singles chart for seven weeks with Someone You Loved, and both playing bit sets at Glastonbury.
Male solo artists dominate this year's Awards, with the line-up for best album mirroring that for best male artist, with Capaldi and Dave up against Harry Styles, Michael Kiwanuka and Stormzy in both categories.
Charli XCX, FKA Twigs, Freya Ridings, Mabel and Mahalia are all nominated for best female artist, while Bastille, Bring Me The Horizon, Coldplay D Block Europe and Foals are up for best group.
Festival Report - Glastonbury Festival bosses must ensure toilets are cleaned more often and plan for hot weather better, licensees say. There is also concern that camping areas might be overcrowded, says Mendip District Council, which oversees the licensing of the world-famous event.
The issues are raised in a repo

Fire Damage - North London music venue Koko has been damaged by fire. The London fire brigade said it was called to the scene in Camden, in north London, shortly before 9pm on Monday night (6 January). About a third of the roof of the venue, which in previous incarnations was known as The Music Machine and Camden Palace, was alight as firefighters tried to save the rest of the building. The former theatre is covered in scaffolding as part of a renovation. The venue was due to reopen in spring 2020 after a “major state-of-the-art” refurbishment, after the purchase of two adjacent buildings.
Royalty Cheque - Bohemian Rhapsody's success at the box office in 2018 was replicated in the living room last year. The Freddie Mercury biopic was the biggest home video of 2019, selling 1.7m copies in the UK. Two-thirds of those copies were on DVD or Blu-Ray, with the rest coming from downloads.
Overall, UK consumer spending on video grew by 9.5%, making it the fastest-growing entertainment sector, fuelled by the popularity of streaming. Data compiled by the ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association) shows that physical video sales - which include DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K UHD - decreased from £616.9m in 2018 to £477.2m last year, a drop of 22.6%. “There is no doubt retailers of physical product had a tough time in 2019,” said the Entertainment Retailers Association's CEO Kim Bayley.
United Queendom - Kensington Palace will host an immersive theatrical experience for the first time next month. The building will showcase Les Enfants Terri

Big Issues - Industry bodies have highlighted the biggest issues for the arts following the general election result – with Equity stating it is “extremely concerned” about the impact of Brexit.
Following the Conservative win in last week’s general election, organisations, also including the Creative Industries Federation, UK Theatre, Incorporated Society of Musicians and the Back for the Future Campaign, have outlined their priorities for the creative industries.
Equity general secretary Christine Payne said: “As the largest union in the creative sector, representing more than 48,000 professionals, we strongly encourage the government to take up the offer we make today of expert guidance on matters that are crucial for the future health of the UK’s creative industries.
“Equity remains extremely concerned about the impact Brexit will have on our members, in particular the need for the government to prioritise continuing freedom of movement, which is also essential for employers and engagers in the entertainment industries.
“To date, we have not been satisfied that our voice has been heard and we would urgently invite ministers to meet with us to address the key issues of mobility, tax and social security arrangements, safeguards for employment rights, copyright, settled status and funding for the arts.”
Ed’s Decade - Ed Sheeran has been named the UK's artist of the decade by the Official Charts Company. Sheeran achieved the milestone after a combined run of 12 number one singles and albums between 2010 and 2019

Festive Spirit - Theatre Royal Stratford East will make its pantomime available for streaming to local hospitals and care homes. Its production of Dick Whittington will be captured live at the venue and made available for streaming to hospitals, hospices and care homes in east London and Essex. The initiative expands on a 2017 scheme in which Rapunzel was made available to three organisations in and around the area.
TRSE head of learning and participation Flo Paul said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this streaming service to people in our local community who are not able to make it to Theatre Royal Stratford East to see our much-loved annual panto. This year we are expanding the offer to adults in care homes, as well as children in hospices and hospitals. At Stratford East, we believe it’s vital to offer a range of opportunities for people of all ages in Newham and the surrounding boroughs to engage with our theatre.”
Dick Whittington is directed by John Haidar and stars Sèverine Howell-Meri, Harry Jardine, Vedi Roy, Bree Smith, Lizzie Winkler, Francesca Zoutewelle and Tom Giles. It runs until January 11, 2020.
Chart Watch - Robbie Williams has become the joint most successful solo act in UK album chart history after scoring his 13th number one, level with Elvis Presley. Robbie's The Christmas Present moved to the top spot after entering at number two behind Coldplay last week. The Beatles hold the overall record with 15 UK number one albums.
Beyond The Fringe - A Morecambe arts venue i

Call to Arms - Industry leaders including National Theatre bosses Rufus Norris and Lisa Burger and Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director Tom Morris are calling on the sector to band together to fight for increased arts investment from a new government. They have issued the call to arms in an attempt to undo the effects of austerity-era cuts.
Their demands for increased arts funding from central government come alongside warnings that the regional theatre sector could “fall over” if support does not increase, and that the crisis facing organisations nationwide is “sharper and more acute” than has so far been publicly acknowledged.
As the UK prepares to head to the polls and with both Labour and the Conservatives promising a boost to public spending, theatre bosses have claimed now is the moment for a major policy shift around arts funding.
Morris said: “It is fantastic that militant austerity is now under review, and it is fantastic that there is more investment being talked about in health, social care, education and policing. But let’s not at the same time miss the opportunity of assessing what the impact of investment could be in the creative sector, the only sector of the economy that has grown year on year over the past 10 years.”
Theatre Collapse - Claims totalling more than £378,000 have been made against the collapsed Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre. The pop-up venue ran in York and Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire this summer under the company Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre Ltd. However, the company began liquidation pro

Record Breaker - At the American Music Awards, Taylor Swift was presented with the Artist of the Decade award by singer-songwriter Carole King who commended Swift for the strength of her lyrics, and the relatability of her music, predicting: "The best is yet to come." In turn, Swift acknowledged the impact King's music had had on her parents and her family, saying it was every musician's goal "to create something that will last".
The career-spanning honour wasn't Swift's only award at the ceremony - she picked up another five competitive awards, including artist of the year. That brings her total tally of AMA trophies to 29 - breaking a record held by Michael Jackson, who received 24 American Music Awards.
Secondary Ticketing - Andrew Lloyd Webber is joining forces with ticket resellers Twickets in a bid to beat touts. The theatrical grandee, whose LW playhouses include The London Palladium and the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, hopes the move will bring consumer-friendly ticket resale to the West End.
The new system means unwanted tickets bought at the box office can be resold for no more than the original price. Twickets will also add a fee of 10% to 13% of the face value. Rebecca Kane Burton, CEO at LW Theatres said: "We continue to strive to not only offer our customers an incredible experience, but also help them when things don't go to plan. Providing a safe, secure and easy way to resell tickets is best practice and yet another step LW Theatres is taking to innovate and improve theatre-going."
Twickets launched in 2015 as a more ethi

Get Back - One of the live industry’s worst-kept secrets has been confirmed: Sir Paul McCartney will headline Glastonbury in 2020. The former Beatle will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 27 June, a week after his 78th birthday. He last played the Somerset event in 2004, and organisers have long been keen to get him back for an encore. Next year will be Glastonbury's golden jubilee and co-organiser Emily Eavis says: “There really was no one that we wanted more for the 50th anniversary.”
Together Again - Mötley Crüe are to reform for a stadium tour of the US - less than five years after they played what they said would be their final ever show. Def Leppard and Poison will join them, but dates and venues are yet to be announced. Before their supposed farewell tour in 2014-2015, the band had signed what they said was a "cessation of touring agreement" at a press conference. But on Monday, they posted a video of that contract being blown up. The band said in a statement: "The contract is off the table because a whole new generation of Crüeheads are relentlessly demanding for the band to come back together."
Street Music - A screening of 42nd Street The Musical took £1.1m in its first week. Distributor More2Screen has confirmed the film achieved the best ever first week box office sales for an event cinema screening. It was screened at more than 600 venues.
CEO and founder of More2Screen Christine Costello said: “This tremendous box office result demonstrates the huge enthusiasm for watching West End musicals

USA - Behind the Scenes reports that its recent Survey to Assist in the Development of a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative in the Entertainment Industry received “an incredible response from the industry” with over 3,300 people completing the survey.
An initial look at the survey results confirmed that the long hours, pressures of deadlines, lack of resources, and uncertainty of employment have taken a very hard toll on our industry. These affect not only mental health, but physical health as well, and impact relationships with family and friends. Unsurprisingly, over 90% of respondents have experienced anxiety while over 80% have suffered from depression.
What is also apparent from the responses, and very encouraging, is that many individuals want to step up and help colleagues they feel are struggling but simply don’t know how and are very concerned about making things worse. BTS’ goal is to provide information and resources that will give industry members the confidence to act.
If you did not participate in the survey but would like to be kept informed of the initiative’s progress or participate in future surveys, please email mh@btshelp.org.
(Jim Evans)

On The Campaign Trail - Actors and theatre staff are being urged to make sure they have made arrangements to vote in next month’s election amid warnings that those working away from home on Christmas shows could be disenfranchised.
Matt Hood, Equity’s assistant general secretary, described the election date as “inconvenient for many”, adding: “For our members, many of whom will be working away from home on tour, in panto or filming, it runs the real risk of them losing their right to vote.”
Thomas Hescott, chief executive of Stage Directors UK, comments: “November and December is an extremely busy time of the year for our members, many of whom are working away from home on Christmas shows. The short notice means many of our members are already away working and so have little opportunity to organise postal ballots. We are concerned that our members will struggle to be able to vote in such an important election.”
Safety First - Theatre staff working at the Piccadilly Theatre on the night its ceiling collapsed have been praised for their “quick and professional actions”. Industry body the Society of London Theatre said front-of-house staff and emergency services handled the situation quickly and safely. “We were immensely impressed with the quick and professional actions of staff and emergency services at the Piccadilly Theatre. More than 1,000 theatregoers were safely and calmly evacuated from the theatre by well-trained staff, who have been commended by many people attending the performance,” it said in a statement.

Major Revamp - The Brit Awards have announced a major revamp for 2020, with fewer awards and an end to fan votes. Organisers promise "more music" as a result, with artists being given full creative control of their performances. Prizes like Best British Video and Best International Group have been cut, while the outstanding contribution award has been retired for 2020. Despite press reports earlier this year, gendered awards will remain part of the ceremony.
The changes come after several years of falling ratings. This year's ceremony, which saw performances from Pink, Dua Lipa and George Ezra, was watched by 4.1m people, down 400,000 from 2018.
This year, all awards will be decided by a 1,200-strong "official voting academy", made up of “experts” from all areas of the music industry. Brits chairman David Joseph explained the changes, saying: "We will be putting creativity, British culture and exceptional performances at the heart of the show to make Brits night a world class celebration.”
MTV EMAs - BTS won three categories at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards held on 3 November in Seville. The K-pop seven-piece won in the best group, best live and biggest fans categories. Flying the flag for the UK were Little Mix (Best UK & Ireland Act), Liam Gallagher (Rock Icon) and FKA Twigs (Best Alternative). Ariana Grande and Lil Nas X came away empty-handed, despite starting the night with seven and six nominations respectively. Niall Horan, Halsey and Mabel were among the performers, while US singer Becky G hosted. Liam Gallagher closed

Property Moves - An immersive Monopoly experience is the first show to be announced under a new partnership between Selladoor Worldwide and games company Hasbro Inc. The collaboration will see the theatre company and Hasbro adapt more boardgames into live experiences in the future. While further productions have not yet been confirmed, other boardgames in Hasbro’s portfolio include Cluedo, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Twister and Operation.
Monopoly will run at a location in London which is yet to be announced in 2020. The experience will include a 75-minute segment where teams will compete to win tasks in order to move along the board, buy properties, and attempt to win the game. Features from the game including famous London landmarks, chance, community chest and jail will all be “brought to life” in a space that will also feature cafes, bars and shops.
David Hutchinson, chief executive of Selladoor Worldwide, said: “We’ve been working for over a year with Hasbro on this exciting partnership, developing our concept and vision to bring one of the world’s biggest board game brands to life in this thrilling experiential theatre landscape. Trends in our sector are moving in a very exciting direction with demand from a new generation of theatregoers looking to experience live theatre differently, and to be immersed in the world of the narrative in a different way.”
Vice-president of location-based entertainment at Hasbro, Matt Proulx, added: “Launching the Monopoly experience in London n

Lead Guitar - Some of the biggest names in rock and roll including Sir Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood, Mark Knopfler, Pete Townshend, Albert Lee, David Gilmour, Joe Brown, Richard Thompson and Dave Pegg have signed a guitar to be auctioned in honour of stroke victim Jerry Donahue.
In 2016, American guitarist Jerry Donahue suffered a catastrophic stroke, almost certainly ending his career as one of the world’s finest folk-rock guitarists. The former Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and Hellecasters guitarist, was regarded by the music media as an extremely talented musician with an extraordinary technical approach to string bending.
“To have so many famous signatures on this guitar is a fantastic achievement,” says close friend Dave Pegg, bassist in Fairport convention. “We know that the guitar will raise many thousands of pounds and all the money raised from the auction will go towards Jerry's rehabilitation in the USA.”
The guitar itself, donated by John Hornby Skewes, is Jerry Donahue’s own Vintage Signature V58, built to his own specifications as a collaboration with specialist guitar and hardware designer Trevor Wilkinson and JHS managing director Dennis Drumm.
The auction, to be held at Gardiner Houlgate’s Bath Auction rooms, on 11 December 2019, is expected to attract attention from collectors and music fans from all over the world.
Sound Move - The Dolby Institute has partnered with the AES Educational Foundation to offer the Dolby Institute Scholarship, award