A BLOG OF SORTS FROM CHRIS COOKE
November 2025 Updates
Premier tour
I am continuing my tour of the Premier Inns of Great Britain. Tonight, Leeds, ready for the final FAC Artist Day of the year tomorrow. Looking forward to digging into the businesses of three more brilliant artists.
Cash v Coke
Last year Tennessee passed the ELVIS Act, a new law to specifically enable performers to protect their voice in the context of AI. Though the first big lawsuit filed under that act actually relates to Coke employing a good old fashioned sound-a-like singer. Here’s my CMU report.
Codes galore
Yesterday I popped into NTU in Whitechapel to deliver an extra guest lecture, this time on the all important topic of music metadata. I also discovered there’s another Chris Cooke lecturing at NTU, which neatly illustrated why we need IPNs and IPIs to identify performers and songwriters, given there are far too many people who have the same name.
Modest success
They may have cancelled my 19.23 Crewe to Euston train, but there was another one at 19.32, and – after a mere fourteen minutes on the phone to Avanti earlier today – I managed to reserve my favourite seat on this later service. And without actually revealing to the Avanti guy that I have a “favourite seat” on their trains. So, a modest success.
Pathways update
Thank you to everyone who joined us at our Music Industry + Music Education Conference in Manchester yesterday – lots of great insights, ideas and discussions. We also published an update on our Pathways Into Music projects, which you can access as a PDF here.
Manchester maps
When I was in Manchester this time last year I had all sorts of issues with my phone, resulting in Google Maps not working. On the off chance that happens again, I have a Plan B this time – I found this Manchester A-Z at my parents’ house which I’m sure will be good for navigating my way around the city, not that much has changed since decimalisation, right?
MIME this weekend
Really looking forward to our Music Industry + Music Education Conference at Band On The Wall in Manchester this Saturday. We’ve got loads of great speakers joining us across the day, discussing recent political developments in music education, plus music qualifications, career resources, and apprenticeships and internships. Check the full schedule here.
Tout ban
The government has finally announced the ticket touting ban everyone’s been talking about for two days. Here’s my CMU report on the ban, the industry’s response and what the pro-touting lobby is saying – if you’re a fan of quotes from music industry people welcoming big government announcements, blimey are you in luck!
Leicester thanks
We had a brilliant FAC Artist Day on Saturday in Leicester, with lots of great insights from SOFY, Queen Millz and Murray Matravers, who each talked through their music rights, their gigs, their fanbases and their business partners. Thanks to everyone who joined us. Next stop for the Artist Day is Leeds.
Thank you Katie
Last month the brilliant Katie Melua and her band staged an intimate lunch time show at Ronnie Scott’s and have very kindly donated all the ticket income to the Pathways Into Music Foundation, to support our work connecting music industry and music education. Many thanks to Katie and her team, including manager Sumit Bothra of SB3 Artist Management, who is also a member of our all important Pathways Advisory Board.
L city trilogy
Yesterday nearly Limerick, tomorrow centrally Leicester, later this month Leeds – it’s a bit of an L city trilogy (with a trip to Manchester in the middle slightly ruining the theme). Looking forward to the latest FAC Artist Day in Leicester tomorrow…
Sound. Waves.
Great day here at Sound. Waves. in Ireland, starting off in familiar territory discussing music business revenues and trends, and ending the day moderating a fascinating panel looking at AI from a podcasting perspective. I think we decided it was more ‘help’ than ‘hazard’.
Gate madness
Not sure how gates 30 and 88 can possibly be next to each other. And I walked down this corridor and only discovered a gate 88. Anywhere, here’s my reflection in a door at Stansted earlier today on my way to Shannon Airport. I’m now in the Irish countryside ready for the Sound. Waves. music and podcasting conference that kicks off shortly.
MIME in two weeks
We are just two weeks away from our Music Industry + Music Education Conference – happening on Saturday 22 Nov at Band On The Wall in Manchester. Check out the schedule for the day – including speakers – on the website or via our schedule PDF.
FAC Artist Days
Here are some more photos from the FAC Artist Day we presented in Bristol in September. This next time next week we’ll be in the middle of our Leicester edition, with the Leeds Artist Day then following on 29 Nov. If you know any music-makers in either of those cities, please do let them know!
Spotify class actions
That’s two class actions filed against Spotify in one week. One on behalf of artists, one on behalf of users, one about streaming fraud, the other Discovery Mode. Neither lawsuit seems very strong, but given all good things come in threes, surely we can think of another long-standing Spotify grievance that we could turn into a messy legal battle? Here’s my CMU report on the latest lawsuit.
EBacc axed
Positive developments in the world of music education today – which we will, of course, be dissecting + discussing at our Music Industry + Music Education Conference in Manchester on 22 Nov – hope to see you there! Meanwhile, here’s my CMU report on the developments, and responses from the creative industries and a certain Ed Sheeran.
Back to Manchester
I’ll be back in Manchester later this month to check out some panels at the always magnificent Un-Convention. If you’re also attending, don’t forget you can claim a free pass to our Music Industry + Music Education Conference that is happening on the Saturday – you should have got an Un-Convention email last month telling you how to claim your pass (if not, message me!)
Back to brighton
Heading to Brighton for a final round of MIME planning – don’t forget, this year’s Music Industry + Music Education Conference is in Manchester on 22 Nov. Thought I’d take a snap from the other side of Blackfriars Bridge for a change.
Artist Day Leicester
Somehow it’s November already! We have two more editions of the FAC Artist Day happening this month, the first one in Leicester on 15 Nov. Looking forward to joining Queen Millz and others on stage to discuss the business of being an artist in 2025. If you know any artists or musicians in the region, do let them know – info here.