Apple releases lineup for festival

The ever popular Apple Music Festival, formerly named the iTunes Music Festival, returns in it’s ninth year to London for ten nights of incredible shows on September 19th.

The festival has been renamed to match the summer release of iTunes’ music streaming service, Apple Music. Each show can be streamed live on Apple Music, as well as for some time after each show and watched later through the On Demand feature. Special behind the scenes content will also be available through Apple Music’s social platform, Connect, where artists and fans come together to share music.

The lineup this year includes seasoned performers, such as Florence + The Machine, Disclosure, and The Chemical Brothers to headline each night. The lineup also showcases lesser-known artists who have received acclaim this past year, including James Bay, Leon Bridges, and Little Mix.

Even though each show is broadcasted live online, both the artists and the audience members describe the vibe as intimate and breathtakingly beautiful. Florence + The Machine describes, “a feeling of oneness”, while Take That feels, “That we’re closer to our audience on gigs like this”. While it might seem counter-intuitive to group the dissimilar terms “intimate” with “world-wide exposure,” the Apple Music Festival is able to do just that.

For the live audience, the historic venue, The Roundhouse, definitely contributes to the intimate vibe. The Roundhouse is one of England’s most spectacular music venues, known for its underground aesthetics and punk rock roots. Originally used as a train storage and maintenance facility, this “round house” opened in 1847 and was a civil engineering marvel of the time. In the 1960’s the space was converted into an auditorium to be used for music performance and theatrical presentations.

For those of us in the United States, actually attending the Apple Music Festival in person may be just a dream; however, this festival is important for overseas music fans. Given the prestige of performers and the social media exposure attributed to the event, this event may be the first festival many of us are able to attend, even if it is a virtual attendance. The digital accessibility of this event provides an ideal location for music fans living across the world.