Apple has confirmed to MBW that it will no longer be hosting the annual Apple Music Festival at London’s Roundhouse.
The UK event officially became the Apple Music Festival in 2015 as part of a rebranding away from its original name of the iTunes Festival.
The annual show was first held in 2007 – typically running for a month at a time with concerts every night, and tickets going to competition winners.
Artists who played the event over its decade-long run included Adele, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, Paul Simon, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Arctic Monkeys, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams (pictured), The Weeknd, One Direction and Beck.
Over the last two years, the Apple Music Festival has become 10 night-long event at the Roundhouse in Camden, London during September.
The 2016 line-up included Elton John, The 1975, Chance The Rapper and Alicia Keys.
However, the cancellation of the festival doesn’t signal a move away from live events by Apple Music completely.
The brand was recently a partner of shows by Haim and Skepta in London and Arcade Fire in Brooklyn and it had a heavy presence at SXSW in Texas earlier this year – where it backed shows from Lana Del Rey, Vince Staples and DJ Khaled.
In addition, Apple Music also sponsored Drake’s 32-date Summer Sixteen Tour in 2016 and it supports regular live sessions from its ‘Up Next’ artists.
The closure of the Apple Music Festival is likely because Apple is concentrating its resources on one-off events like these, in addition to its original content efforts in video – which have recently included a Carpool Karaoke spin-off series and a behind-the-scenes documentary on Harry Styles.
The iTunes Festival started off life at London’s ICA then spent two years at Koko before moving to The Roundhouse in 2009.
Broadcast and event partners of the Apple Music / iTunes Festival over the past decade have included ITV2, Live Nation and DICE.Music Business Worldwide
