ndustry eavesdrop of the day: [on discussing why a band hadn’t attracted a crowd] “…well it’s ‘cos it’s in Manchester isn’t it; people are just going to go and see bands who they’ve finally got the chance to see.”

Cor my legs are stiff coming into day three of my In The City excursions. Thankfully, owing to booking issues, things rolls into the week this year, meaning activities for two of the three main days are restricted only to the evening, today shouldn’t be another ten hour slog. It’s another indication, though, that the buzz of ITC is dying after seventeen long years of attempting to make bands dreams come true. Certainly venues appear markedly emptier than even 2007, when I made my conference debut. The subdued aura of the smattering of A&R guys that have turned up, meanwhile, is indicative of the wider state of music as a whole. Rumour has it that Swedish Pirate Party leader Rick Falkvinge was threatened with being “burnt at the stake” by furious label bosses after his keynote speech yesterday; another example of the impasse still prominent between the two sides of the piracy argument.
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