The Co-op Live arena in Manchester has had to cancel or postpone a string of concerts since it was due to open on 23 April, owing to technical problems, say Dipesh Gadher and Hugo Daniel in The Times. The Co-op retail group, which paid £100m for the naming rights, has pressured Oak View Group, the venue’s operator, to reimburse fans for travel and hotel expenses. Oak View had previously only offered refunds on cancelled concerts or new tickets if a gig was rescheduled. Boy band Take That has already switched from the £365m venue – Britain’s biggest indoor arena – to local rival the AO Arena, while a concert that has sold out by US singer Olivia Rodrigo (pictured) has been rescheduled. A gig by US rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie had to be cancelled at the last minute after a nozzle from an air conditioning unit fell off the ceiling.
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Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest record company, has ended its dispute with TikTok, allowing music from mega-star musicians, including Ariana Grande (pictured), to return to the Chinese social-media platform, says the Financial Times. TikTok, with its one billion, mostly younger followers, agreed to “improved remuneration” for Universal’s artists and songwriters, and protections against the use of generative artificial intelligence.
Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker is no longer bankrupt after a High Court judge ruled he had done “all that he reasonably
