Technical Glitch Blights Virtual Glastonbury Festival

Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival
Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival
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Technical Glitch Blights Virtual Glastonbury Festival

Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival
Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival

A technical fault on Saturday left frustrated fans unable to access Glastonbury Festival's livestream concert at the famous farm site in southwest England, after the coronavirus pandemic led to the blockbuster event's cancellation.

The five-hour virtual show kicked off with a performance by British rockers Wolf Alice, but many ticket-holders, who had paid £20 ($28, 23 euros) to access a stream of the event, complained on Twitter that they missed it as their access codes were invalid.

"You've got thousands and thousands of us tweeting you saying we can't get in due to invalid codes. Almost 10 minutes in and we've all missed the start," wrote Twitter user Aimee Young.

Event producers Driift Live tweeted: "Hello! We're looking into the issues of invalid codes urgently."

Organizers later sent out a free link in time for an atmospheric sunset performance by US pop rock trio Haim in Worthy Farm's stone circle.

They were followed by Glastonbury veterans Coldplay, who performed in front of the skeleton of the Pyramid stage, where the headline acts usually perform.

Frontman Chris Martin joked that he had "never played in front of thousands of cows before" as he and his band braved the rain to perform classic hits such as "The Scientist", "Clocks" and "Fix You".

Other performers include Blur's Damon Albarn and Michael Kiwanuka.

Organizer Emily Eavis, who announced in January that the annual event was cancelled for a second year, said had hoped the event would be "like the festival but without people".

"We're very excited to be able to show the farm in a way that people have never really seen it, with these incredible artists," she told BBC radio.

The event will also be played on delay across four international time zones, with Eavis adding there will be "a number of unannounced surprise performances".

Paul Dugdale, the event's director, said he hoped to recreate the event's sense of adventure.

"The overarching vision of it was to... just try and take people on a bit of a journey.

"Glastonbury is an adventure, and you never quite know what's around the corner and often the best parts of the festival are the parts you weren't expecting, and that's really fun," he said.



Brazilian Judge Orders Adele Song Removed over Plagiarism Claim

British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)
British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)
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Brazilian Judge Orders Adele Song Removed over Plagiarism Claim

British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)
British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)

A judge in Rio de Janeiro has ordered the global removal of a 2015 song by British singer Adele due to a plagiarism claim by a Brazilian musician, which Universal Music is fighting on appeal. The ruling, made public on Monday, came in a case filed this year by Toninho Geraes, whose compositions were made famous by some of Brazil's most acclaimed samba singers.

Geraes accused Adele of copying his song "Mulheres", a national hit since the 1990s. His lawyers uploaded to YouTube a comparison of that song and Adele's "Million Years Ago".

"The ruling shows that the Brazilian justice system is strong and that injuries to Brazilian artists won't be ignored," said Fredimio Biasotto Trotta, a lawyer for Geraes.

The decision orders Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music to immediately cease "using, reproducing, editing, distributing, or commercializing" the song by any means on streaming or sharing platforms, without Geraes' consent. It set a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,080.94) if the companies fail to comply with the order.

The Berne Convention, an international treaty, orders other signatory countries, including the US, to comply with legal decisions regarding copyright, Trotta said.

Geraes' lawyers are now notifying streaming services, such as Spotify and Deezer, to withdraw the song in Brazil and globally. On Wednesday morning, the song was still widely available.

Universal appealed the decision on Tuesday, arguing there was no plagiarism, only an "accidental melodic similarity" due to the use of "musical clichés."

Both Adele and Geraes have contracts with Universal, but the Brazilian musician has been trying to terminate his contract with the company due to his plagiarism claim, his lawyer said.

"I felt very disrespected," Geraes told Reuters. He is asking the courts for compensation of more than $150,000. Lawyers representing Universal Music declined to comment, and Sony Music did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Geraes learned of the similarities between the two songs after a friend, who is also a composer, heard Adele's "Million Years Ago" at a party in 2021.