A BLOG OF SORTS FROM CHRIS COOKE
April 2026
I’m in Liverpool
I’m in sunny Liverpool where Music Month kicks off tomorrow with the Sound City+ Conference, where CMU is presenting a brilliant strand of interviews and conversations. Today, a BPI Insight Session on ‘rock in the age of streaming’ and a boat trip on the Snowdrop Mersey Ferry, then Sound City+ tomorrow.
Sound City+
My CMU colleague Sam has curated a great programme of interviews and conversations as part of the Liverpool Sound City+ conference that is happening this Friday – I’ll be popping up on stage at various points too. Looking forward to returning to Liverpool and I hope to see some of you there!
Chuffed about this…
So in a very interesting development, nobody is “THRILLED” in today’s CMU Daily, but two people are “chuffed”. Or maybe that should be “CHUFFED”? It used to be that ‘delighted’ was the main mockery-free alternative to “THRILLED”, but could this be the year that “chuffed” takes over that role? I’ll keep an eye of things and let you know how they develop.
TGE 20th year
I’ve not worked on The Great Escape since 2023, but I’m really looking forward to heading to Brighton next month for the big 20th anniversary year. And while I’m no longer part of Team TGE – I did work on twelve editions – so if anyone’s planning on bringing cake, I’ll have a slice. In return, you can browse through my TGE programmes collection.
Touting law latest
You might think that – when your government is so amazingly unpopular – you’d want to fast-track getting an incredibly popular ticket touting ban into law, given you’ve already announced you’re doing it, and you’d get a little bump in popularity when that law is actually passed. But apparently not! Here’s my CMU report on the latest developments in the world of ticket touting.
Review for ThreeWeeks
Caro is already busy interviewing performers who have Edinburgh Fringe shows this summer – you can read her Q&As on the ThreeWeeks website. Meanwhile, if you or anyone you know will be in Edinburgh during August and are interested in reviewing for ThreeWeeks, info on how to apply is here.
Seventeen years ago…
Yesterday Facebook was keen to remind me that – seventeen years ago – I was mainly moaning about last-fm. Which made me wonder if I still had a last-fm account, which it turns out I do. But, alas, it stopped ‘scrobbling’ my music listening in 2014. Which is a shame. But remind me, we all agreed that ‘scrobbling’ was a stupid word, right?
Educator Pathways
Our next Educator Pathways Weekend is happening in Great Yarmouth on 16 and 17 May – it’s our Pathways Into Music professional development programme for music educators and it’s free to attend. If you know anyone involved in music education and/or supporting young music talent in the East Anglia region, please do let them know, they can sign up here.
Ivors Summit 2026
I’ll be back on stage at The Ivors Academy Summit again next month, on 19 May at BFI IMAX in London. Part of Ivors Week, it’s a day of conversations and interviews that empower songwriters with essential knowledge, as well as bringing the music industry together. Hope to see you there – get your tickets here.
FreshAir nostalgia
I realise all my nostalgia this year is meant to be ThreeWeeks-related (it being our 30th year), but I saw some current FreshAir Radio people in my feeds this week reporting on the latest Student Radio Association Conference, where they’d come across some promo material from the 1997 SRA Conference we staged in Edinburgh. Which made me wonder if this might be sitting in with all my ThreeWeeks print stuff from the 1990s, which it was, because I never throw anything away!
Musically Unorthodox
I’m heading to Northampton later today for this great event that is happening tomorrow, putting the spotlight on music careers, and how educators and industry can better connect with and support all creative young people, and especially those who are not currently in education, employment and training. All the info about the event is here.
Chips for tea
Do you think the fact I never have to order at my local chip shop – the right food is just ready and waiting when I get to the front of the queue – is because: [a] I’m their favourite customer; [b] my weird ‘always eats the same’ diet is common knowledge in Leyton; or [c] I buy dinner from this chip shop far too frequently? Maybe all three?
Industry Quiz
I’m here at our Educator Pathways Weekend in Reading and our Pathways Into Music Industry Quiz is now available as a set of postcards! Now we just need to figure out how to turn it into a board game.
I’m in Reading
I’m in Reading ahead of our Educator Pathways Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. I was initially thinking this was my first ever trip to Reading, but now I think I might have come here back in 1998 when interviewing corporate communication directors about best practice reputation strategies. Which is the sort of thing I did back then. Or maybe that was Bracknell? Anyway, this time definitely Reading.
Edinburgh coverage is go
So our 30th year covering the Edinburgh Festival has begun! Caro has done her first Edinburgh Fringe Q&A of 2026 with the rather marvellous David Hoare. Read the interview here and do sign up to our TW:Weekly email bulletin to get all our edfringe coverage this year in your inbox.
Wireless cancelled
Busy day for music business news. With my colleague Sam delving into Bill Ackman’s grand plan to buy Universal Music, list it on the NYSE and appoint Michael Ovitz as Chair of the board, I instead focused on the Wireless festival soap opera, which has been quite eventful: first announcement to cancellation in eight days, all thanks to Mr West. Read that story here.
Shall I switch?
Because I have a YouTube Premium account, I get YouTube Music for free – so I’ve long wondered if I should cancel my Spotify subscription and use that for my music instead. I just realised, because the YouTube music app pulls in user-uploaded content from the main platform, if I did, I could add the full four minute version of the ‘Channel Four Theme’ to my ‘Walking Around Leyton’ playlist. And I think that might just swing it.
Edinburgh 2026
If all goes to plan, I’ll be at the Edinburgh Festival from the previews through to the end of Week One this year – and our review team will be there for the whole Festival, of course. If you’re performing or producing at the Fringe this August, make sure your show is on our radar by filling in this form here.