R&B singer Usher has canceled the entire Australian leg of his Past Present Future Tour, which would have marked his first visit to the region in nearly a decade.

Usher was scheduled to perform a total of 12 shows—six at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena and six at Sydney’s SuperDome—in November and December. As of now, all dates have been officially canceled. No reason for the cancellation was provided. The tour promoter issued a statement, shared by Ticketek, which said that the shows would “no longer be proceeding.”

What do do – if anything – about Live Nation and Ticketmaster? That’s a big question this year in the US for the White House and regulators alike, amid ongoing litigation and a recently-launched inquiry into ticketing practices.

As you’d expect, Live Nation is lobbying energetically. Variety reported on its latest submission aimed at the US administration, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

According to the report, the company is suggesting reforms including a 20% cap on ticket-resale prices; more control for artists over secondary ticket sales; and – a running theme – stronger enforcement of the existing BOTS Act to combat scalpers and the technology they use.

One thing is for sure – you can never be too safe when it comes to where you’re buying tickets from. We’ve put together a few tips on how to protect yourself from ticketing scams. 

Only buy tickets from official sources. With any event, official ticketing agent/s or the venue is the best place to buy tickets from. Check out the artist’s own website, as the official ticket source/s will always be listed there.

Avoid buying tickets from individuals on social media or other unofficial platforms. 

Organizers of Denmark’s Roskilde Festival announced another successful year, with eight days of music from more than 185 artists performed to standing-room-only crowds. According to event organizers, the festival sold over 100,000 tickets for 2025, including 80,000 full passes and a successful debut of the festival’s new one- and two-day ticket options.

Attendance this year was boosted by a diverse and comprehensive lineup featuring artists from nearly 45 countries around the world, including Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Stormzy, Tyla, Doechii, Jamie xx, FKA Twigs, Fontaines D.C., and Nine Inch Nails.

"Dancefloor Pro, a purpose-built platform designed to “empower promoters and venue operators,” has launched to the public.

The service acts as a dedicated ticketing hub for dance music promoters, and will provide marketing support, community building tools and “everything required to foster strong bonds and develop loyal, long-term superfans,” for promoters, Dancefloor Pro tells Festival Insights.

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has called for an investigation into Live Nation from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The trade body recently provided evidence for a Business and Trade Committee inquiry into pricing, competition and consumer protection.

On June 24, Phil Bowdery (executive president, touring international music, Live Nation) and Andrew Parsons (managing director, Ticketmaster, part of Live Nation) gave evidence to the session (pictured).

Fans love them, even local councils try to attract them, but immense park and stadium shows don’t always break even – and many bands don’t want to risk images of empty seats

It takes a concerted effort to stay hopeful during these times. Live music is still your best entertainment value, when it comes to soul-feeding and body-rumbling. Here, in no particular ranked order, are 30 of the tours or individual concerts that stirred and rattled us most in the year’s first half… from the stadium shows by Beyoncé, the Weeknd and the double-teaming of Kendrick Lamar and SZA to Hollywood Bowl gigs by Rhiannon Giddens, Halsey, Tyler Childers and the dynamic duo of WIllie Nelson and Bob Dylan… and from a club gig by Sir Paul McCartney to a museum gig by jazz great Kamasi Washington to a freakily special festival one-off by Lady Gaga. If the concert bug hasn’t yet bitten you this year, our accounts of these musical highlights should stir you to get out and experience the thrills you’ve been missing as we move into Act II of 2025.

Three generations of music’s legendary Wilson family joined together with dozens of other friends and musicians in Agoura Hills, Calif., Thursday night for a charity concert saluting the Beach Boys, marking the first time since Brian Wilson‘s death just over three weeks ago that there had been a public celebration of his music involving members of this particular tribe.

The team behind Sheffield’s The Leadmill are in the process of vacating the building after being evicted by The Electric Group, which plans to take over running the venue. The current team pledged to strip the building bare if forced to leave and it looks like that’s exactly what they’re doing

 Ottawa Bluesfest and the children’s medical charity CHEO Foundation have announced a new partnership to raise funds in support of CHEO’s ongoing redevelopment project.

The collaboration, titled CHEO Night at Ottawa Bluesfest, will take place on July 11 and feature a variety of fundraising efforts, culminating in a headlining performance by Irish singer-songwriter Hozier.

During the event, fans will have multiple opportunities to participate, including a 50/50 lottery, tap-to-donate options, and the chance to learn about CHEO’s transformation plans at a dedicated booth on-site throughout the festival.

In addition to Hozier, the full lineup for the July 11 CHEO Night will include performances by The Dead South, Charlotte Day Wilson, Sarah Harmer, Amigo the Devil, The Claudettes, Claude Munson, Emilie Steele & The Deal, Kristine St-Pierre, Sophie d’Orléans, Vikki Gilmore, and DJ Karyen.

Live Nation is addressing concerns about the company’s practices and industry more broadly with a new packet of material meant for President Donald Trump’s administration and other government agencies, principally the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The submission, reviewed by Variety, is intended to address issues across the secondary ticket market and outlines suggested reforms to create fairness for fans and artists. Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, suggests that there should be 20 percent caps placed on ticket resale prices; that artists be given greater control over secondary ticket sales; and that the government should do more to combat bad actors, including going after deceptive websites and more effective enforcement of the 2016 BOTS Act.

Streaming platform ROKK implements a measure to subject all flagged tracks to a human review process to eliminate AI-generated music.

ROKK, the streaming platform dedicated to rock and metal, announced a new measure to subject potentially AI-generated music to a human review process. Starting today, users can report music per track which they believe to be AI generated. Once flagged, the content is reviewed by a real human at ROKK to determine its fate on the platform.

BANG FACE is one of the festival industry’s greatest, but most unlikely success stories.

The yearly event welcomes roughly 5000 ravers who are given a simple mission – have fun, and don’t take yourself too seriously. Pool parties, inflatables and thousands of gallons of UV paint are all par for the course. So, too, are electronic beats played at great speed to crowds of ravers at 7am in the morning. It might not be for everyone, but it’s not designed to be.

Essence Festival organizers have come to Lauryn Hill‘s defense after the singer appeared late — starting roughly around 2:30 a.m. — to perform for a nearly empty stadium on July 5. The festival assumed responsibility for the late start, which, according to a report from Nola, was experiencing delays throughout the entirety of Friday.

The festival issued a statement on their social media that praised Hill as a “legend,” and explicitly stated the delay was not her fault. Hill had been added to the lineup just a few days before the festival started on Friday. The first concert date of the four-day event featured late starts from GloRilla, the Isley Brothers, Babyface and Maxwell, among others.

Manchester’s Radar Festival is seeing a growing wave of artist withdrawals in the wake of Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury performance and subsequent removal from the Manchester event’s lineup.

The latest act to announce their exit is Dublin metalcore band Hero In Error, who announced on Instagram that they would no longer perform at the independent event, set to run through July 6 at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse. “We will not be performing at Radar Festival this weekend,” they began in a statement.

India may be the most talked about emerging live entertainment market in the world right now, driven by artists like Ed Sheeran and Coldplay, who’ve put in the time and effort to go deep into territories, and string together fully-fledged Indian tour legs.

What cannot be forgotten, is that a minority of the country’s population is responsible for the vast majority of its consumption. There’s a huge emerging middle class, about 400 million Indians, whose average monthly household income is increasing, and with it their consumption.

Songwriters are missing out on millions of pounds a year in royalties because the agency responsible for collecting and distributing payments cannot identify when their songs have been performed at more than 100,000 gigs and performances across the UK.

PRS for Music is responsible for collecting royalties for writers when music is played, including on the radio, streaming services, in shops and at live events from pubs to stadiums and festivals.

In the case of live music, PRS takes a small percentage cut of gross ticket sales from every performance, and after taking a cut for administration redistributes the royalties after successfully matching the setlist performed with the relevant songwriters.

The original lineup of Black Sabbath reunited for the first time in 20 years on Saturday in the U.K. — and for the last time ever, since the performance was also billed as the final concert ever for singer Ozzy Osbourne. The Birmingham stadium show climaxed with a four-song Sabbath set, preceded by Osbourne doing a five-song set of his solo material … preceded in turn by a full day’s worth of metal and hard-rock all-stars doing mini-sets that included Sabbath covers as well as original material.

“Oasis vibes in the area!”

It wasn’t quite as epic an introduction as Noel Gallagher’s bold assertion at Knebworth ’96 —  “This is history!” — but those words from his younger brother Liam, spoken after the two of them walked arm-in-arm together onto a stage for the first time in 16 years, confirmed that Oasis is no longer consigned to history but is miraculously, thrillingly back as a going concern.

Tickets for Good, a platform that provides free and heavily discounted tickets for the likes of healthcare staff, teachers and charity workers, has announced its launch into the Belgian market.

The UK-headquartered platform has also launched a new funding round of £3m (€3.5m/$4.1m).

Last month, Tickets for Good partnered with its first event for Belgian members, providing local healthcare workers with the opportunity to attend a Robbie Williams gig in Amsterdam.