Apple ran a free London festival for ten years — then just stopped

In 2007 Apple started giving away concerts. The iTunes Festival opened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts with Amy Winehouse and Kasabian on the bill, moved to KOKO in 2008 and settled at Camden's Roundhouse from 2009: month-long runs of intimate, free shows — tickets won in prize draws for UK iTunes and later Apple Music users, every performance streamed worldwide. A five-night spin-off played Austin during SXSW in 2014, and in 2015 the series took the name of the new subscription product it served: Apple Music Festival.

For a decade the bill was a marketing argument about ecosystem generosity: Adele, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Elton John, the 1975. The final edition ran 18–30 September 2016 at the Roundhouse, headlined by names from Elton John and Alicia Keys to Britney Spears and Chance the Rapper.

Then Apple simply stopped. On 4 September 2017 the company confirmed to Music Business Worldwide that there would be no eleventh festival. The stated direction was original content and smaller one-off events instead of an annual festival; the Roundhouse dates vanished from the calendar. Ten years of free gigs, ended not with a farewell show but with a trade-press confirmation.