This week I thought we’d run a quick update on a few of the most popular, fast-moving lead culture stories featured here in Camdenist over recent months.

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I was please to see that last week’s toe-dip into the toxic, sludgy waters of the culture wars didn’t immediately submerse us in the mire. In fact, the feedback was 100% positive for Eid, truth and the relentless search for engagement.

“Well done for this article, said Debbie. “Let's stand together against endemic poor, biased, racist reporting.”

“So grateful for your hopeful comments about Eid and our mayor,” wrote Liz. “Expecting lots of people from all over the country this Sat 28th for the Together Alliance March to amplify your words.”

“Good wide-ranging editorial about phoney wedge issues, local press and clickbait,” said Tom. “Like it or not, the UK is not officially non-religious. We haven't put religion in a box like the French have.” And on the wider topics covered, he continued. “The local press still matters colossally. It brings people together via informed discussion of the all important shared environment and the changes it is subject to. As for micro-attention and all its ills, what a disaster. It comes with the general loss of that flow state which was old-fashioned absorption in a book. But I think boredom will yet save us. The toxic social media stuff you touch on is so boring. And nothing can hide that in the end.”

After February’s piece about the sad decline of gym chains willing to pay for licenced (i.e known and loved) music to be played in their studios, opting in favour of cheap stock tracks instead, So is this how the music dies? received more moans about the bland tracks now on endless repeat in some studios.

So I reached out to both Better/GLL (who run all the Council’s gyms) and Common Bond (who now own Triyoga), both of whom were mentioned in the story having recently adopted the policy in Camden.

A spokesperson for Better said, “As a social enterprise, GLL operates on a not-for-profit basis, meaning any surplus we generate is reinvested directly into our services and community programmes rather than distributed to shareholders. Our priority is always to deliver the greatest possible benefit to the communities we serve.

Like many organisations, we are currently facing rising operational costs. One area that has seen a significant increase, well beyond the rate of inflation, is music licensing.

While music plays an important role in creating an engaging and enjoyable class environment, these rising costs inevitably impact the resources available for our wider community programmes, including GP referral schemes, senior activities, junior programmes and school swimming lessons. As such, we must carefully balance how we allocate funding to ensure we continue to deliver maximum social value.

Following a detailed assessment of these increased licensing costs, we asked our instructors to transition to PPL pre-cleared, royalty-free music. To support this, we have provided free access to platforms such as Power Music, one of the most widely used fitness music services.

Power Music offers a library of more than 10,000 professionally recorded studio tracks (not AI generated) and enables instructors to create customised playlists, ensuring both flexibility and full compliance with licensing requirements.”

Sadly, nobody from Common Bond has responded about my questions yet, including the fact that the popular 4Beat style of yoga has by default been banned from their studios, and that instructors dislike the royalty-free alternatives to the extent they’d rather teach in silence. Instead, an automated reply pointed me towards a ‘helpbot’, which I really hope doesn’t foretell the human-free yoga class dystopia that was mentioned as a bit of a joke in the article.

Meanwhile, Better pushed ahead with the move to royalty-free only, claiming they spoke to more than 500 instructors since Xmas to gather feedback which has “directly informed improvements to our offer, including expanding platform options, broadening music genres and retaining familiar tracks for certain classes. One outcome is that we have introduced Afrobeats and Bhangra, with Soca tracks due to be added shortly. We will continue to listen to feedback and explore ways to further enhance our music offering.”

This was in response to concerns that specialist classes offering routines based around a truly diverse range of styles were being marginalised in the process. Not quite sure how this works in practice though. With the promise of continuing to listen to feedback, perhaps all is not lost to the anti-culture cost-cutting yet…

Another potentially controversial story, which our progressive local readership seem to generally support, Taking drugs like grown-ups showed the frustration with current drugs policy and the willingness to try new things, faster, than before. Meanwhile, charity The Loop have announced the dates they will be running their groundbreaking Camden-based drugs-checking services for the rest of 2026, with the next one being Sat 4th April. The full list and address info can be found here.

Our next leader might be a raver was a provocative yet potentially 100% true headline, as the opposition parties and Labour’s own potential Starmer challengers cosy up to the nighttime industries who have had such a rough ride in recent years.

I’m all for pro-nightlife politicians, as they genuinely are representing the silent majority who think living in a city should involve a bustling scene after hours. With that in mind, today Fri 27th Mar is the last day to have your say on the Mayor’s proposals for how we improve what’s on offer after dark, create a more consistent approach to licencing and support London’s grassroots music venues, clubs, bars, restaurants and more. The GLA is particularly keen to hear from younger people for whom the resulting policy will shape their nights out for years to come, so do take a few minutes to navigate the rather clumsy form and tell them what you want.

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MUSIC: 🎸 Chicago alt-rockers Brigitte Calls Me Baby touch down at King’s Cross Scala on Thurs 2nd Apr channelling the likes of The Smiths and The Strokes with their new wave post-punk style.

FESTIVAL: 🎤 The Roundhouse Three Sixty Festival is about to tkae over the iconic railway turning shed for a month of vital and vibrant music, spoken word, literature, theatre, visual arts, podcasts, and club nights, kicking off on Thurs 9th Apr with the mighty Poetry Slam Final.

ART: 🎮 ARCADE is the new month-long exhibition of interactive artworks and experimental film at Hypha Studios Euston Tower. With work from 12 UK and European artists across sculptural simulations, speculative video games, browser-based open worlds and surreal tabletop role-play, everything in the show is playable. This Sat 28th Mar sees the special screening Iranian Post-post-post-post revolutionary cinema, featuring short films from Iranian artists and their peers working under the pressures of circulation, censorship, translation, and networked visibility.

MARKET: 🎪 Camden Town Brewery and Go East Vintage are bringing their popular Flea Market over from the East to the mews under Kentish Town West Overground with a focus on sustainability and an array of small businesses offering one-of-a-kind, vintage pieces that are stylish and eco-friendly. Expec vintage clothing, bags, accessories, art, jewellery, midcentury furniture, ceramics, stoneware, glassware, rugs and home decor alongside pints of Hells, of course.

MUSIC: 💀 Sat 27th Mar sees ‘a veritable who’s who of the extreme metal scene to satisfy the most depraved of tastes’, as Snuff Fest 2026 brings likes of Brutal Sphincter, Basement Torture Killings and UK Slam legends Amputated to cause the requisite carnage, if you are so inclined.

ART: 🎨 London-based ceramic artist Bisila Noha’s Ile Ọkàn (House of the Soul) showcases her work rooted in ritual, memory, and a deep engagement with women-led pottery communities across Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Senegal. It opens tonight up at OmVed Gardens with a special immersive sound-led gathering to mark the Spring equinox. Free but booking essential. Exhibition runs to Sun 29th Mar.

FREE: 🛥️All day Sat 28th Mar the London Canal Museum is eschewing their usual entrance fee for their annual Community Open Day, inviting everyone in to discover the truly fascinating stories behind our local waterway.

SUPPORT: 🫱🏽‍🫲🏽 Women + Health have moved from Camden Town to a new home in Queen’s Crescent, secured with the support of local councillors. The relocation ensures that the radical vision of accessible, high-quality holistic care, originally championed by the late, formidable campaigner Boo Armstrong, will continue to land right where it's needed most.
Trustees, Judith and Daya, tell Camdenist “Women + Health is a proper grassroots charity. For over forty years on Carol Street, it has been a sanctuary for women fleeing domestic violence and abuse. And since the mid-1980s, it has been offering a lifeline of affordable therapy and holistic care to those often priced out of the private wellness industry, offering everything from talking therapies to bodywork on a sliding scale for low-income residents.”
The team is currently busy unpacking and prepping the new treatment rooms, ready to welcome back familiar faces and introduce themselves to new neighbours, but the mission to protect vulnerable women, combat isolation and manage chronic pain remains the same in NW5.