Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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Devastating Impact - One in three jobs in the British music industry were lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from trade body UK Music. The research said there were 69,000 fewer jobs in music in 2020 than in 2019 - a drop of 35% - due to the "devastating impact" of coronavirus. UK Music said the industry had been hit "especially hard" by the virus.
Musicians themselves as well as people working in venues and recording studios were particularly affected, it said. Live music revenues collapsed by around 90% in 2020, according to the UK Music report, titled This Is Music 2021, which is published today. "The music creators and live music sectors experienced the greatest decline - the majority of those working in the industry are self-employed, and they

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South Africa - Tiger’s Milk is a popular kitchen/bar that is part of the Life & Brand portfolio, a group that runs a variety of bars, bistros and restaurants across South Africa. For this project, a new establishment located in the Johannesburg suburb of Bedfordview required a zoned audio solution to handle BGM playback throughout the premises which blended with Tiger’s Milk’s characteristic black interior.
Timelines were tight as the work needed to be finished in time for the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and re-opening of the hospitality industry in South Africa. The job was originally procured by Output AV, who specified and purchased the Audac equipment, before sub-contracting K2 Innovate for the actual integration. All the hardware was supplied by Stage Audio Works (SAW), Audac’s South African distributor.
The Audac system covers a total of seven dis

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UK - Bluesound Professional has announced an installation of its B400S 4-zone network music player across online car retailer’s customer centres.
The challenge was to create an environment where sound would enhance the ambiance of every customer centre, with uniform controllability and compliance with the legal requirements of the PRS music licence.
London-based integrator Nucleus AV turned to Bluesound Professional for a scalable audio solution.
The installation team worked closely with Cazoo to create a bespoke system that was both practical (in some locations, Nucleus AV would be retrofitting existing loudspeakers and amplifiers) and future-proof.
Nucleus AV, working with Bluesound Professional sub-distributor OneAV, outfitted each Cazoo customer centre with a single Bluesound Professional B400S 4-zone network music player. This commercial grade netwo
LSi 40 - Banner - July-Nov 2025

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Denmark - One of Denmark’s longest standing suppliers of light and sound equipment, DLT in Glostrup, has installed the architectural façade lighting for Danish Bank Sparekassen Sjælland-Fyn’s office in Holbæk.
DLT’s vision was to create a luminous framework that compliments the building's architecture, whilst simultaneously creating a lively ambiance on the waterfront. To achieve this, DLT has utilised 40 units of Showtec’s Candela Pix 50, creating an ambiance near the waterline that is visible from both the city and much of the Holbæk Fjord.
Showtec’s Candela Pix 50 can create the full spectrum of light, enabling the building to be lit in any desired colour or even multiple colours. This enables Sparekassen Sjælland-Fyn to alter the appearance of their exterior as desired, for instance during national holidays or sports matches. The waterproof outdoor l

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UK - Cleanfeed reports that Birmingham City University has integrated Cleanfeed across its broadcast studio facilities.
As with the entire industry, BCU was required to find a way of adapting to remote working during the pandemic.
Cleanfeed was used by all students over the lockdown period on courses such as Media Production, Media and Communication, Journalism and Sound Engineering and Production. The tool allowed students to deliver professional recordings, broadcasts and media interviews which was crucial to their learning and development.
Peter Crowther, senior technician, Radio and Broadcast Journalism, comments: “I was recommended to Cleanfeed by industry contacts and former colleagues at the BBC and quickly realised the benefits for our students who weren’t able to be on campus. The students liked the service so much over the lockdown learning period t

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Portugal - Infinity Furion S401 Spots, iW-1915 RGBW wash moving heads, and Showtec Helix S5000 Q4 RGBW LED wash fixtures were successfully deployed at outside locations during a summer festival in the Algarve in the southern region of Portugal.
Geopalcos is a biannual event that aims to connect art, science and nature in the Geopark territory in the Algarve. Artists and scientists are challenged to combine their skills and expertise, and take nature lovers to discover art and science, lead art aficionados through nature and the paths of knowledge, and have the audience relate to their knowledge with the natural and artificially created beauties of their surroundings.
On 10 occasions between 29 May and 12 September, at different locations, the public is invited to participate in dialogues between tradition and creativity/innovation, to wander and (re)discover Portuguese

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UK - Surfhire deployed a full-service complex comms package to the boutique Henley Festival held on the Berkshire bank of the River Thames.
After an unprecedented delay due to the pandemic, the Henley Festival of Music and Arts, famed for its strict black tie dress code, finally returned for a 2021event. With performances from Madness, James Blunt, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, the five-day show had to deliver with perfect ambience.
In order to keep the event running as smoothly as possible – despite some of the site’s particular idiosyncrasies - production manager John Harris brought Surfhire, part of Britannia Row Productions, back once again to provide radios, internet backhaul, and site-wide network services for the festival.
“Surfhire have been involved for 12 years, but the role has expanded and contracted as time has gone on,” explains Surfhire’s Si

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UK - Organisers of the annual Leeds Castle Concert, worked tirelessly to reschedule this year’s event, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, following the easing of restrictions - staging it later than normal, on 4 September.
Leeds Castle is amongst the many long-standing clients that have relied upon RG Jones Sound Engineering for decades. In the case of this site, the company has been providing sound systems since the very first show way back in the early 80’s. It’s a tricky site to cover well, and for the highly popular concert fielded a classic system of its own - Martin Audio’s original MLA - to overcome the coverage challenges.
Although this historic Castle site in Kent is isolated, imposing no restrictions on sound levels, the contouring leaves much to be desired from an acoustician’s perspective, with a steep hill on which many of the crowds up
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USA - Wilmington, Delaware and Las Vegas, Nevada based lighting rental and dry hire specialist Main Light has invested in more Robe BMFL FollowSpot LT fixtures and motion cameras to boost its inventory of available RoboSpot remote follow spotting systems.
Larger quantities of all the RoboSpot elements are needed to keep pace with increasing demand, explained general manager Randy Mullican.
The company first invested in this technology shortly after the RoboSpot launch in 2017. Since then, Robe has developed and refined the system, most recently with the introduction of the BMFL FollowSpot LT, a powerful solution for larger venues and covering greater throw distances. It has also increased the number of its moving light ranges that can be controlled via the RoboSpot BaseStations.
RoboSpots have been a popular rental item for Main Light from the start, and everyt

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USA - To provide Grupera band Los Bukis with live sound for their 2021 reunion tour, AV integrator Sound Image deployed JBL Professional and Crown audio solutions.
Founded in 1975 by cousins Marco Antonio and Joel Solís, Mexico, Los Bukis are one of the most successful Latin American bands of the 20th century. With hits like Tu Cárcel and Como Fui A Enamorarme De Ti among many others, the band combined Mexican Grupera with American pop and new wave to create a highly influential sound still heard in Latin pop today
In August 2021, Los Bukis reunited and embarked on their first tour in over two decades, performing multi-night runs in stadiums across North America for a multi-generational fanbase. Such a high-profile tour required a powerful, reliable and immersive live audio system fitting for stadium-level venues. To meet these needs, Sound Image turne

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South Africa - Johannesburg’s Market Theatre has been on South Africa’s political, cultural, and social frontline since 1976 when it opened as an independent, anti-racist producing house at the height of the apartheid era.
Located downtown in the lively Newtown area, the Market Theatre has taken delivery of 50 Robe T1 series LED moving lights as part of an upgrade initiative emanating from SA’s Department of Arts & Culture which is looking to the future and boosting suitability across the arts.
These new Robe luminaires will be used across the venue’s three main performance spaces - the John Kani, Barney Simon, and Mannie Manim.
The T1s were a major part of a package delivered by Robe’s Southern Africa distributor DWR after winning a competitive tender to supply the venue’s new theatrical / stage lighting elements.
The tender was writte

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Japan - Netherlands-based Follow-Me has announced Tokyo based TSJ (Technical Supply Japan) as a new distributor. As specialists in the distribution and installation of entertainment lighting technology for touring companies, TV, theatre and discotheques the company has recently been involved in the technical requirements for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Follow-Me founder, Gary Yates comments: “TSJ has been established as one of the premier suppliers to the live entertainment market since 1986. They have a vast amount of experience in the lighting and entertainment industry in Japan and are very pro-active in the promotion of their products. We are proud to announce them as the perfect distribution partner for Follow-Me in Japan. This builds on our expanding network of distributors across all continents.”
TSJ now have Follow-Me demo kits available at their

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USA - Shure supported the 74th Annual Tony Awards, welcoming the theatre community home after a year without Broadway. Broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+, this year’s Tony Awards, hosted by Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr., achieved cutting-edge audio for the entire ceremony and subsequent Broadway’s Back! event.
The night included performances from the cast of Jagged Little Pill, American Utopia, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, John Legend and the cast of Ain’t Too Proud, and Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Freestyle Love Supreme. Each act relied on the digital radio offered by Shure’s Axient Digital Wireless System.
“I wouldn't want to do the Tony Awards with any other wireless system than Axient Digital,” said Cameron Stuckey, RF engineer. “The layers of complexi

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Italy - Founded in 2013, Battiti Live features a selection of leading Italian and international music artists. The annual event consists of a series of concerts held in various locations throughout the region of Puglia.
Since 2017, lighting designer Massimo Pascucci, accompanied by programmer Davide Fusco, has created engaging and high impact shows, using the Hog family of lighting desks. Hog 4-18 was the primary console of choice for the 2021 edition, together with a Road Hog console for additional special effects.
From a technical point of view, there has always been a desire for Battiti Live to maintain a strong live impact. This remained the case even after leading Italian television channel Italia 1 first started transmitting the event in 2017, and broadcast needs became an important consideration.
Since he began working on Battiti Live in 2017, Davide Fus

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UAE - Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo to take place in the Middle East region, officially opened its doors to visitors on 1 October showcasing architectural wonders and technology innovations from more than 192 countries.
The UK’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai is the cone-shaped UK Pavilion with a circular façade which was created by designer Es Devlin. The 25m-high LED façade which is integrated into the wooden sculpture is designed to celebrate global cultural diversity and collaboration.
The UK Pavilion uses an advanced AI learning algorithm developed in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture which allows visitors to add their word to a continuously changing ‘collective message from humanity to the universe’ displayed on the LED modules.
PRG was appointed by Pico to deliver the engineering of the 2,000 customised LED tiles through the PRG

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UK - Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is the UK’s only Conservatoire of music and contemporary dance. With two separate faculties for dance and music in southeast London, the establishment today is the result of a 2005 merger between Trinity College of Music and Laban. When the decision was made to upgrade the sound system at the Conservatoire’s Faculty of Dance in London SE8, Trinity Laban turned to Autograph Sound who designed, implemented and commissioned an innovative multi-role sound system from EM Acoustics.
Autograph’s Business Development Lead Euan Mackenzie handled all the project specification and system design for this very focused application with some unusual requirements: “Performers in contemporary dance need to feel that they are part of their audience and experiencing the same auditory stimulus, so the system had to be completely immer

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USA - ESTA’s Technical Standards Programme currently has five draft standards in active public review. The reviews are open to anyone having a material interest in the subject matter. The review opportunities are as follows.
The Event Safety Working Group has one draft standard in public review.
BSR ES1.18 - 202x, Event Safety – Rigging provides minimum requirements and general guidelines for the suspension of equipment and materials that are utilized in the technical production of organised special events. It addresses the general requirements for design, planning, installation, set-up, removal and operation of rigging activities. These activities may be conducted using permanent or temporary structures, either in or out of doors. It does not cover permanently installed rigging systems, and it is not a tutorial or a list of specifications. Submit comments b

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UAE - Genelec is joining forces with Business Finland to showcase its Smart IP networked loudspeaker technology at Expo 2020 Dubai, running now until 31 March 2022. A total of eighty-four 4430 Smart IP installation loudspeakers are incorporated into Finland’s Snow Cape Pavilion, including a 10-channel immersive loudspeaker array that will reproduce specially commissioned sound art by Finnish composer Emilia Takayama, entitled The Land of Snow.
With the theme of Connecting Minds and Creating the Future, Expo 2020 Dubai is the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, and creates an opportunity for attendees from all over the world to come together and connect with each other, share ideas, learn and innovate. Postponed to 2021 due to the global pandemic, the Expo features participants from 192 countries.
Within

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UK - Calendars lost much of their meaning over the past year, as the pandemic erased so many long-anticipated occasions from their pages. For a group of students at the University of Nottingham, one such date was Monday 12 July, when their already-delayed graduation ceremony was cancelled again due to lingering safety concerns.
However, these students made up for lost time when the university held a glittering black-tie ceremony with dinner, dancing and entertainment at Newark Show Ground. Setting an appropriately festive tone for the affair was its technical producer OneBigStar, which oversaw and managed the production of the event.
OneBigStar retained the services of lighting designer David Howard and supplied him with a versatile kit that featured over 80 Chauvet Professional fixtures.
“We wanted this evening to feel almost like a festival, to erase the disa

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USA - Nashville’s new Brooklyn Bowl venue hosted a late night ‘Phish after-party’ following their concert at the Ascend Amphitheatre. Kicking off at 10:30 pm right around the time Phish was finishing their encore with a cover of the Rolling Stones Loving Cup, the after-party featured improvised jam and funk sounds by six-piece band Big Something.
Adding to the festive atmosphere was an electrifying Daniel Thibault lightshow that reverberated visually throughout the intimate, 1,200-person venue, filling it with an whirlwind of movement and colours. “I wanted to make this room look its biggest,” said Thibault. “Everything about this band’s sound and stage presence is big.”
Thibault, a partner in Life Is Art Studios, added 20 Chauvet Professional Rogue fixtures from his company’s own inventory to the house rig, to create the desired immersive atmo

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UK - The Showman’s Show returns to Newbury Showground on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 October this week.
Event director, Jeremy Lance comments: “The Showman’s Show has always been an excellent opportunity to catch up with industry colleagues and share ideas and information as one season draws to a close and attention turns to the following year. Let’s be honest, there has never been a more important time for us to get together.
“Challenges around securing toilets, temporary structures and other event essentials have been well reported this summer. The show is renowned for being the best place to source industry staples, and 2021 definitely won’t disappoint. Whatever you need for your events next year, then a visit to Newbury Showground this week should take a lot of the headache away from the planning process.”
Fellow event director Johnny Lance add
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LSi 40th sponsors - Large MPU - July-Aug

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