Wednesday newspaper round-up: Councils, Apple, offshore wind farms

Spending on the UK live music sector and associated businesses has hit a record £6.1bn as a wave of huge acts from Elton John to Beyoncé cashed in on the pent-up demand to attend shows in person. Live, the federation representing Britain’s live music industry, revealed that the sector’s contribution to the UK economy topped £6bn for the first time last year, as fans denied live experiences in the Covid pandemic rushed to snap up tickets. – Guardian

Local authority leaders say they are having to drain their financial reserves to keep services afloat and avoid effective bankruptcy. A survey of the mid-tier group of English city councils, which includes Southampton, Hull, Sunderland and Norwich, found that many that had previously avoided financial difficulties during periods of austerity were close to running out of funds. – Guardian

Rachel Reeves’s top pick for investment minister has turned down the role just weeks before a key summit designed to woo international financiers. The Government has been left scrambling to find an alternative investment tsar after Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, chief executive of political advisory firm Global Counsel, declined the position for financial reasons. – Telegraph

Apple has warned Britain’s competition watchdog that its “flawed and insufficient” analysis of the iPhone maker’s dominance in the mobile browser market risks harming consumers and developers. The Silicon Valley tech group claimed the Competition and Markets Authority was using outdated information and “unsubstantiated assertions” from a developers “rather than objective evidence” in its investigation. – The Times

Nine new offshore wind farms were among the record number of projects agreed in the Labour government’s first renewable energy auction. The sixth annual auction round for state subsidies yielded 131 new green infrastructure projects. This was the highest yet, and up from 92 in the previous auction, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. – The Times