Radiohead has been forced to postpone a pair of shows on their comeback tour of Europe due to illness.

In a statement posted to their social channels on Monday morning (Dec. 1), the band announced that frontman Thom Yorke was suffering from an “extreme throat infection” and two upcoming shows in Copenhagen, Denmark were postponed. 

The affected dates were due to take place this evening and tomorrow (Dec. 1, Dec. 2) at the Royal Arena; the shows will now take place on Dec. 15 and Dec. 16. Two dates at the same venue for this coming Thursday and Friday (Dec. 4, Dec. 5) are set to go ahead as planned.

They wrote, “Radiohead are gutted to have to announce the postponement of the first two Copenhagen dates this week – tonight, Dec 1st and tomorrow, Dec 2nd. The shows have been rescheduled for Dec 15th and 16th respectively.  Tickets for the shows will be automatically transferred to the new corresponding date. If you require a refund, please contact your point of purchase.”

The statement continued: “We are devastated to have to postpone these two shows at such short notice but Thom has been diagnosed with an extreme throat infection which has made it impossible for him to sing. Treatment is underway and we’re hopeful Thom will recover in time to play the final two Copenhagen shows on Dec 4th and 5th, and all four Berlin shows, starting on Dec 8th. We have been so blown away by the audience reactions on these dates and are loving being back on stage again; needless to say, we feel terrible that we have been forced to postpone these shows.”

The group is currently embarking on their first run of shows since 2018. Radiohead returned on Nov. 4 in Madrid to kick off a series of four-night residencies in major European cities, later heading to Bologna, Italy and, most recently, London’s O2 Arena. At the latter, the group set a new attendance record of 22,355 due to their in-the-round staging, beating previous record holders Metallica. The tour will head to Berlin next week, and will now conclude in Copenhagen on Dec. 16.

Check out the band’s statement below.

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WME has promoted Rob Markus to head of international for the agency’s contemporary music team, the company announced Monday (Dec. 1). In his new role, Los Angeles-based Markus will oversee all aspects of WME’s international touring and strategy for contemporary music.

Markus, a senior partner at WME, has worked at the agency for more than 20 years. He helped build the company’s Latin music group, which boasts such stars as Danny Ocean, Gustavo Mioto, Humbe, J Balvin, Juanes, Maluma, Nathy Peluso, Paulo Londra and Pedro Sampaio. His client list also includes A Perfect Circle, Avenged Sevenfold, Depeche Mode, Kygo, Måneskin, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Anka, The Flaming Lips, The Hives, Toto and Will Smith. On the festival front, he’s been key to expanding the Lollapalooza brand into Argentina, Brazil and Chile, which are hosting Lollapalooza festivals in March.

Prior to WME, Markus ran EMI and Virgin Records in Hungary and also set up EMI Music Publishing in Eastern Europe.

“Rob understands the international touring business and its increasing complexities and importance to an artist’s career better than anyone,” said Lucy Dickins, WME’s global head of contemporary music and touring, and Kirk Sommer, global co-head of contemporary music and touring, in a joint statement. “Having lived and worked around the world, Rob possesses a deep knowledge of the nuances of the live music space in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and South America, as well as emerging tour markets like the Middle East, Africa, and India. This expansion of his role fortifies our global music presence and elevates the best-in-class services we offer our clients and partners.”

Added Markus, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead WME’s international music team and look forward to growing and guiding our global roster with the same team approach that has served me well throughout my career.”

The hard hats came off for the first official concert at TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario last Friday night (Nov. 21) — and it started with a bang.

The first show at the former Copps Coliseum and FirstOntario Centre arena since its nearly $300-million transformation by American sports and live entertainment company Oak View Group was one of the most prominent music legends still playing today: Sir Paul McCartney. That’s a big flex for a venue aiming to prove itself as both a relief valve for the red-hot Toronto live music touring market and a destination in its own right, as well as Oak View Group’s new flagship venue in Canada.

McCartney has a discography packed full of some of the most immortal songs of all time from the Beatles to Wings to his solo career, and the multigenerational crowd that packed the sold-out 18,000-capacity venue showed their appreciation by shouting and singing along with every song. 

Partway through the set, the 83-year-old artist took an informal poll: “How many of you here are actually from Hamilton?” he asked, before repeating the question asking how many are not. Judging by the cheers, it sounded like 60-40 out-of-towners to Hamiltonians. It’s been nearly 10 years since McCartney last played the city, and he made it count with a marathon 36-song setlist that lasted close to three hours.

The arrival of TD Coliseum may be described as an upgrade of an existing arena, but that tag seriously underplays the significance of what is a genuinely dramatic $300 million transformation of the 18,000-capacity venue. 

The ribbon cutting on Nov. 20 was attended by Ontario Premier Doug Ford (taking time out on his birthday), several of his provincial cabinet members, the mayor of Hamilton, Andrea Horwath, and high-level representatives from Oak View Group, the Denver-based international venues giant in charge of the project, and its partners, including TD Bank and Live Nation Canada.

Nick DeLuco, senior vice president and general manager of TD Coliseum, launched the event by recalling that “749 days ago, we were here, talking about a vision, a dream of what this venue was going to become, and now it’s real.”

Read more on the opening McCartney concert here and the opening of TD Coliseum here. — Richard Trapunski and Kerry Doole

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Macklam Feldman Management Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Macklam Feldman Management (MFM) is celebrating 30 years.

As the Canadian-born international talent agency embarks on its third decade, the company is welcoming new team members and a bevy of emerging talent.

Founded in Vancouver in 1995 by industry titans Stephen Macklam and Sam Feldman, the partnership initially emerged to manage Irish folk band The Chieftains. The success of the group proved their joint prowess — and Macklam Feldman Management was born.

Since then, the management company — a subsidiary of Feldman’s A&F Music Ltd. — has overseen and guided the careers of some of the biggest artists in the world including Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Leonard Cohen, Bette Midler, Tracy Chapman and James Taylor alongside a roster that today includes legends Sarah McLachlan, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Colin James and more.

“We’ve been fortunate to work with some of the most iconic artists in the world, and this recent momentum marks the most concentrated period of investment in artist development since the company was founded,” Feldman tells Billboard Canada.

While working with icons like McLachlan and Costello, Macklam and Feldman are music industry legends in their own right. (The latter also founded The Feldman Agency, one of Canada’s biggest booking agencies, before selling the namesake company to his executive team in 2019.) Recently, however, MFM has increasingly invested in artist development.

Over the last two years, MFM has expanded its team with four new staff members — Samuel Chadwick, Sam Hughes, Connor Macklam and Wesley Attew — who are dedicated to artist development and digital marketing. They will work with artist managers Scott Oerlemans and Kyle Kubicek to strengthen MFM’s artist development and digital marketing operations for their growing roster.

Over the past year, they have welcomed a new wave of artists, including American singer-songwriter aron!, rock band Tommy Lefroy, U.K. post-punk band YAANG and country singer Dawson Gray. They join 2022 signees, emerging folk-pop trio Tiny Habits, who recently opened for McLachlan on her 30th anniversary Fumbling Towards Ecstasy tour. Each brings a fresh musical perspective and global prospects to the agency.

Read more here. — Heather Taylor-Singh

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New National Report Calls for Boost to Indigenous Music ‘Discoverability’ in Canada’s Streaming Era

As Canada updates its rules for how streaming platforms support local culture, a key opportunity is emerging to strengthen the visibility of Indigenous music at home and abroad.

The Indigenous Music Office (IMO) has released a new study that sheds light on the challenges affecting Indigenous artists and music companies accessing international markets.

Pathways to International Markets: A Strategy to Increase Export Capacity for Indigenous Music is the music organization’s first major research project. The study establishes four key strategic directions that identify the roles that funders, music industry organizations and partners play in increasing financing, professional development and discoverability for Indigenous artists and industry professionals.

In the study, the IMO highlights that export activities generate significant career development opportunities for Indigenous music artists. However, most funds available to the Canadian music industry lack a strategic focus on assisting the development and export of Indigenous music.

“A strategy to increase the export capacity of the Indigenous music sector is timely as demand for Indigenous music is growing in Canada and around the world,” the report reads.

This includes financing the growth of a domestic Indigenous-owned and led music ecosystem, strengthening export readiness of Indigenous artists, prioritizing international showcasing, touring and networking and promoting discoverability of Indigenous music on streaming and broadcasting platforms.

The study calls for promoting “discoverability of Indigenous music on streaming and broadcasting platforms” as the most specific pathway for Indigenous artists and organizations to reach larger audiences.

In addition to working closely with the CRTC on the implementation of Online Streaming Act, the IMO has assisted in the development of the commission’s new Indigenous Broadcasting Policy, in partnership with First Nations, Métis and Inuit broadcasters, along with Indigenous content creators and audiences.

The study was developed amidst the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, a once-in-a-generation update to CanCon regulations, and ongoing Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hearings. In September, various Canadian music orgs voiced their opinions on the changes, one of which highlights the importance of artist discoverability for Indigenous musicians.

An important part of the hearings was last year’s CRTC decision to enforce major foreign-owned streaming services with Canadian revenues over $25 million to pay a now-paused 5% of revenues into Canadian content funds, like the Indigenous Music Office and FACTOR.

Read more here. — HTS

Xposure Music, a Canadian catalog firm focused on mostly independent artists, said on Monday it secured $42.5 million in debt financing from billionaire hedge funder David Tepper‘s Andalusian Credit Partners and private investors.

Xposure co-founders and co-CEOs Ryan Garber and Gregory Walfish said they have signed over 100 deals with independent and some major label artists worth between $10,000 and $4 million since starting Xposure in 2021. Their firm’s total funding now tops $50 million and includes support from equity investors including Garber’s father, former Cirque du Soleil chairman and a minority owner of the Seattle Kraken Mitch Garber.

In recent years, the billions invested by global asset managers and private equity firms to acquire the rights to music’s most popular songs has prompted smaller investors to exploit their specialized genre knowledge and industry connections to acquire music IP in a niche category.

Major funds doing this include Beyond Music, which acquires K-pop and evergreen Asian music catalogs, Cutting Edge Media, which owns media music rights used by the film, TV and wellness industries, and Duetti, which also buys master recordings and publishing rights from independent artists.

“Our goal is to continue to serve as the gateway for emerging artists to access meaningful funding and take their careers to the next level, and this investment gives us the resources to make that possible,” Garber said.

Xposure’s Walfish tells Billboard the initial idea was to create a platform for artists to submit music, pay a fee and be guaranteed that their music would be heard by a record label. While they had early success — signing up nearly 25,000 artists and 200 record label executives — Walfish said it led them to discover that what artists really needed was financing for future projects. Xposure pivoted to catalog acquisitions and other financing options in November 2023. Walfish says Xposure’s acquisition deals with artists are flexible, with Xposure buying entire catalogs of master recordings, publishing rights and writer’s share in perpetuity, or fractions of the artists’ rights to albums or individual songs. Xposure also offers term advances.

“More options for artists are better because they are not forced to take a crazy record deal, and in our underwriting and due diligence, we see some crazy deals,” Walfish says. “Music has become a great asset class recognized by a lot of people, but … this is peoples’ life work that they’re entrusting you with. We want to build relationships with the artists we work with.”

With this new financing, Xposure aims to selectively expand their portfolio holdings and catalogs in new genres like Latin and K-Pop, to further develop their in-house valuation tools, and explore more strategic partnerships, like the one they have with indie distributor Too Lost. That partnership, announced in October, will help accelerate distribution of the catalogs Xposure has rights to and help it acquire new ones, the company has said.