Dr. Robert Murphy, an infectious disease researcher and the executive director of Northwestern University’s Institute for Global Health, shared some advice with the Vulture about going to concerts:

1. Stay away from crowds, stay a couple of feet from other people, don't shake hands, stay away from people who are coughing
2. Choose small venues - less than 50 people
3. Seated shows are safer
4. Wash your hands and try not to touch your face
5. Use hand sanitizers frequently
6. Avoid buying drinks, merchandise is fine

Lewis Capaldi this week starts a tour that will see him play some of the UK’s biggest venues, Sam Fender and Dermot Kennedy will soon play two shows each at Alexandra Palace, Billie Eilish plays four O2 Arena dates in July, Scottish troubadour Gerry Cinnamon is set to play arenas, castles, parks and even Glasgow’s Hampden Park stadium. How did it come to that? - some artists have huge followings thanks to social media, without having to play small shows. This often means they haven’t had the time to work on their live show and develop as artists used to. Guardian wonders whether it's damaging to young artists to be playing such big venues so early in their careers.

Rammstein have posted an intense timelapse video of their tour crew outfitting a stadium in Dresden, Germany. The entire process is highly coordinated, taking place over the span of seven days and with the help of multiple 18-wheelers and over 400 crew members carting in flooring, lights, decorative stage elements, and sound equipment. It takes 60 hours to set up the stage, and the Rammstein concert lasts 90 minutes or so.

Concert promoter and ticketing company Live Nation shares fell 8% on Monday, over fears the coronavirus is not contained, Billboard reports. Ryman Hospitality - the owner of Grand Ole Opry and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium - was down 5.8%. The Madison Square Garden Company fell by 2.4%.

Two Madonna fans, Andrew Panos and Antonio Velotta filed a lawsuit against the singer and concert promoters Live Nation, claiming the pop superstar kept them waiting up to three hours before taking the stage in New York last autumn. Both men allege they missed their drives home and this messed up their plans for the day after the gigs. The new lawsuit comes two months after a similar one was filed in Florida by more angry Madonna fans.

Presented with ever-higher ticket prices, music fans have become more demanding; hence a rise in immersive, Secret Cinema-style gigs. We have already stepped into that future - Skepta’s Dystopia987 in Manchester was part gig, part theatre, at Travis Scott’s second annual Astroworld festival guests could ride ferris wheels and carousels, US rock band Starset used augmented reality to place a huge virtual spaceship to land on the stage...

Cardi B carried on for only 50 minutes last summer at Target Center. The over-the-top hip-hop hitmaker might have spent more time doing her hair and makeup. ZZ Top exited the Minnesota State Fair grandstand after just 63 minutes. Does their Rock Hall of Fame career still have legs after 50 years of touring? Minneapolis music hero Alexander O’Neal performed for a mere 45 minutes at the Dakota last month. How long should a concert headline set last?

Secondary ticketing firm Viagogo has struck a deal to buy its rival StubHub for $4bn, a deal that would create a global ticketing giant in the booming live-events business. Geneva-based company Viagogo is buying its rival from eBay, which bought StubHub in 2007 for $310m. Viagogo's boss Eric Baker will be reunited with StubHub, which […]

Tape conversation between Live Nation president of U.S. concerts, Bob Roux, and longtime Metallica associate Tony DiCioccio revealed that they conspired to place up to 88,000 concert tickets directly on the resale market. Billboard reports the recording was made in February 2017, shortly before Metallica launched their WorldWired tour in North America. Metallica wasn't the only […]

Measuring by the number of performances Melbourne is the most musical city in the world with well over 73,000 performances a year, according to the World Cities Culture Forum. It is followed by New York, with 36,192 performances, Paris with 31,375 and London with 22,828. Then again, Guardian says, maybe it doesn’t come down to […]

Detroit techno pioneers Cybotron held their first ever concert last weekend in London's Barbican producing a show that was "as much about the eternal verities of the dancefloor as about high conceptualism or museum-piece reverence". Next to band's original member from the 1980s Juan Atkins, there were Laurens von Oswald, nephew of long-time collaborator the […]

"The crowd are in the palm of her hands, as each song bleeds into the next like an immaculately crafted DJ set aimed at puncturing and then suturing the heart" - The Guardian is in ecstasy over Swedish pop-singer's last night concert in London - "a perfectly pitched set ranging from club anthems to her […]

Campaigners and promoters have affirmed that sexual harassment remains a persistent problem at live music events, after the duo Sleaford Mods said a female fan had been assaulted during one of their shows. Campaigners and promoters are calling for venues to do more to train staff on how to deal with such incidents. Guardian...

Houston rapper Travis Scott made 1,7 million dollars from February 8 concert at Los Angeles’ The Forum, which makes him only one of a few artists to have repeat sellouts at The Forum in a 12-month period. He also sold out shows on December 19 and 20. Travis now joins Garth Brooks, Juan Gabriel, The […]

UK start-up Peex is trying to make concerts sound better for attendees with a wireless wearable device that allows concertgoers to adjust the sound to their likings. Peex has partnered up with Elton John to have select people demo the Peex system at select shows on his farewell tour, which runs through 2021. System is […]

Why are promoters hiking their ticket prices up so much, and how much do the artists have a say in setting ticket prices? - NME asks after The Who announced they will charge 200 pounds for better tickets for their Wembley concert. Gideon Gottfried from Pollstar points out that artists rarely make money from albums […]

Composer Ramin Djawadi will use local orchestras alongside his own soloists from the United States as he travels across Europe, in a Game of Thrones themed tour. They cover Europe with 23 shows, and USA with 25. The 2018 dates for the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience Featuring Ramin Djawadi will include new music […]