Reading and Leeds Festival has ended its near-20-year partnership with BBC Introducing, replacing its unsigned-artists stage with the new Canopy stage. The change matters because BBC Introducing has long offered grassroots musicians a relatively accessible route to major festival audiences, helping early careers including those of Ed Sheeran, Charli xcx, The 1975 and Sam Fender.

Festival Republic says Canopy will widen access by allowing it to book emerging acts regardless of how they entered the industry or whether they are signed. However, its first line-up includes performers with famous family connections, including Violet Grohl, Cruz Beckham and Gene Gallagher, as well as a Simon Cowell-created boyband, prompting criticism that opportunities for DIY artists are shrinking; Festival Republic did not explain why it ended the BBC arrangement.