Entertainment news

Departure from the Palais des Congrès after the leak: festival officials leave under heavy security in Paris on Monday evening.

€42m ‘Pay-to-Play’ Ledger Exposes France’s Biggest Music-Industry Fix — Stars, Ministers Named

An anonymous 8,000‑page leak has revealed a vast system of secret payments, shell companies and gagging clauses used to rig headline slots and award outcomes at France’s most lucrative cultural events. The files allege €42 million moved through Luxembourg and Monaco vehicles to artists, managers and a ministerial adviser; sponsors have already begun pulling tens of millions in support.

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Fans and performers at a regional match in Seabury, the type of in-stadium spectacle analysed in the study.

Entertainment

Study links rise in stadium spectacle to falling local civic participation

A wide-ranging new study finds an association between increased in-stadium entertainment and a measurable decline in community-group membership and volunteer activity in small towns. Authors say the shift of social capital into paid spectacle has consequences for local governance and recommend policy changes to protect community spaces.

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Crowd at the Return Flight festival in the former Ashfield Textile Mill, Saturday 19 September — a night of art and debate ahead of a council vote on a proposed server farm.

Entertainment

Former Mill Hosts ‘Return Flight’ Festival as Town Divides Over Proposed Server Farm

On Saturday night, Ashfield’s century-old mill was flooded with music, circuit-board sculptures and heated debate as the town staged a festival to celebrate newcomers and protest a looming tech project. Organisers say the arts event was meant to bind a fractured community; opponents say it has hardened positions ahead of next month’s council vote.

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