"Private gigs is an underreported yet booming business that has had great breakdowns. The more I look at the trends though, the more I believe that these gigs say a lot about where music is heading" - Trapital's Dan Runcie points out in his latest memo. While he does approve of the idea, Runcie believes that "for musicians, there’s less correlation than ever between 'who pays me the most' and 'who loves me the most'".

A great read in Vice about the "shady, high-paying private gig industry", which has almost all the biggest pop and rock stars on one side, and just about anybody who has enough money to pay them, on the other side. As Vice puts it, it comes down to this: "With unimaginable amounts of money at the disposal of central governments and lucrative corporations, stars with relatively clean PR images are being tempted to get a slice of the action"

Beyoncé headlined the private concert in Dubai to mark the opening of the luxury hotel Atlantis The Royal last weekend, which was her first full concert in more than four years, BBC reports. Beyoncé reportedly received $24m for her performance. She performed 19 songs, but the show did not contain any material from Beyoncé’s 2022 album 'Renaissance', which is purported to be a love letter to Black and queer dance music pioneers and communities. Homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates and considered a crime punishable by death.