The music industry and social media at large are taking aim at easyJet in light of what might be one of the most ridiculous stories we’ve ever heard, as the airline is reportedly suing alternative indie-pop band, Easy Life, because their names are apparently too similar.
Like the majority of people who first saw this online, we thought it was a joke at first too. Apparently not…
Despite having been formed in 2017 and having seemingly caused no disruption to the company’s business in the past six years, Easy Life shared a statement on Monday evening claiming that popular UK airline easyJet is set to sue them simply because they share the word ‘easy’ in their name.
Much to our and everyone else’s shock, the lawsuit appears to be real after a spokesperson for the budget flight operator told NME: “Stelios and easyGroup founded and (now) own the right to the easy brand name… We cannot allow unauthorised third parties to simply use it free, gratis and for nothing. That would be very unfair.”
They basically believe they have a copyright on the word ‘easy’. Simply flabbergasting and, as you can expect, it has led to some very low-hanging fruit and amusing reactions:
The full statement by the Leceister-based band reads: “Okay… never imagined having to do this but we’ve no choice but to address the situation we find ourselves in. As some of you have already discovered, we are being sued, easyjet are suing us for being called easy life.
“They’re forcing us to change our name or take up a costly legal battle which we could never afford. we’ve worked hard to establish our brand I’m certain in no way have we ever affected their business.
“Although we find this whole situation hilarious, we are virtually powerless against such a massive corporation. I don’t really know what else to say, will keep you lot updated.”
The five-piece signed off by joking, “for those of you who bought gig tickets and ended up on a budget flight to Tenerife, I apologise, for the rest of you, thank you so much for your support”. Naturally, they aren’t the only ones laughing at the absurdity of it all.
While a large proportion of the comments are versions of “surely they are joking?” and “this has to be a p*** take?”, for those that have clocked on to the fact this is somehow real, easyJet are currently being called every name under the sun.
As for the company’s stance on the matter, they went on to insist to the NME that not only do “Stelios and easyGroup own the right to the easy brand name” but stated that “other companies (including easyLife) [already] pay annual royalties for its use as part of their business strategy”.
So yes, although it might sound silly that they are basically trying to copyright a common word in the English language which has been used in various different phrases since the start of the Middle Ages, easyJet have indeed been trademarking a number of different names including easyVan, easyProperty, easyCurrency and more — the suggestion being that they could be angling for easyLife insurance next.
It goes without saying that we find this whole thing stupid we’re still in disbelief that it’s actually genuine. Then again, we shouldn’t be too surprised as the company’s owner Stelios Haji-Ioannou has tried to sue everyone from the creators of Come Fly With Me, who parodied him back in 2010, to a small taxi company that also had easy in their name.
What they’ve actually done is just lost even more faith amongst Brits who travel from time to time and might have been considering using the airline and given easy life one of the best bits of inadvertent publicity and nationwide exposure we’ve ever seen.
Here’s hoping the boys’ nightmares turn into daydreams soon and in case it wasn’t already hammered home just how daft this whole thing is, just check the comments underneath this statement of solidarity from music label Blood Records.
Featured Image — easy life (via Instagram)/Bene Riobo (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Rising pop favourite CMAT announces huge headline show in Manchester
Danny Jones
Fast-rising alt-pop favourite CMAT has announced a new show here in Manchester, and as she’s pretty much an honorary Manc at this point, you can expect the tickets to be snapped up in no time.
The Irish singer – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (erm, duh?) – relocated to 0161 as a 17-year-old back in 2013 to pursue her career in music, and it’s fair to say the move turned out to be a positive one.
First arriving with her old duo Bad Sea, it didn’t take the teenager too long to find a following among her Manchester cousins, and soon, CMAT was considered among the best and up-and-coming artists our city had to offer.
In fact, little else has changed in that respect besides the fact that more and more of the country and, indeed, the world knows about her now, so you can guarantee there’ll be plenty of demand for this new headline concert.
Announcing the big gig at O2 Victoria Warehouse on social media this Friday, 22 August, the Dublin-born ‘Dunboyne Diana’ from County Meath by way of Manchester, CMAT is set for multiple Northern shows over the next six or seven months alone.
The show over in Trafford is one of just half a dozen new shows confirmed in support of her upcoming new LP, Euro-Country, which debuts at the end of the month.
Dropping on Friday, 29 August, her third album follows undoubtedly the biggest year of her career yet, having supported the likes of Sam Fender and having played massive festival slots like Glastonbury this summer.
Other gigs include nights at ‘Ally Pally’ in London, Cork, Edinburgh and more. Commenting on social media amid the new additions, CMAT simply wrote: “Come and see me, CMAT, and The Very Sexy CMAT Band, play our BIGGEST SHOWS EVER next year!”
She actually has a healthy run of live performances coming up this autumn, including one at Manchester Academy One on 4 October – though, as we’ve already warned with this latest date, tickets disappeared faster than you could say, ‘I wanna be a cowboy, baby’.
Admittedly, more than half of those shows have already sold out, but that’s why we’re getting an extra show for our trouble.
If you pre-order my new album from my official store between now and 10pm next Wednesday, you’ll get a code for the artist pre-sale, which opens at 10am on Tuesday August 26.
With new singles ‘Running/Planning’, ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ and even the title track, ‘Euro-Country’, all having already been released since this past March, we’ve already got a decent taste of what’s to come next from Ireland’s finest.
Speaking as long-time listeners ourselves, we can assure you that these songs have gone down as instant hits among the fan base.
Arriving on Thursday, 12 March 2026, you can enjoy the pre-sale window via O2 Priority Access or by pre-ordering her new record, and general admission goes live at 10am next Thursday, 28 August.
Featured Images — Raph_PH (via Flickr)/Press shots (supplied)
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Olivia Dean announces HUGE Manchester gig at Co-op Live as part of UK tour
Emily Sergeant
Olivia Dean has announced she’s set to head out on the biggest UK and Europe headline tour of her career next year.
Fresh off-the-back of supporting the North East’s finest, Sam Fender, on his run of big outdoor gigs this summer – including a massive one at Wythenshawe Park this past weekend – Olivia Dean has now announced her very-own headline tour.
And of course she’ll be making a stop off here in Manchester as she heads around the UK.
The tour announcement comes ahead of the release of her sophmore album, The Art of Loving, which is out next month on 26 September, and follows the release of a collection of singles, including the already high-charting ‘Nice To Each Other’.
The 26-year-old singer-songwriter will first head out on a tour of some of the UK’s major cities, before taking on the rest of the continent and visiting cities like Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam along the way.
From her earliest show in 2017 with a crowd of just 70 people, on to three triumphant sold-out nights at the Hammersmith Apollo, Olivia has been firmly building herself powerful live legacy and is already on her way to carving out a legendary path.
On release, the multi BRIT Award nominee’s debut album Messy received widespread critical acclaim and cemented her status as one of the most compelling voices across neo-soul and pop.
Olivia Dean announces HUGE Manchester gig at Co-op Live as part of UK tour / Credit: Jack Davison (Publicity Picture) | The Manc Group
While still relatively early on in her career, Olivia has already earned comparisons to the greats, and 2025 sees her ready to ‘scale up’ and ‘conquer’.
Olivia will kick off her tour next year in April, and will be taking to the stage of Manchester’s newest live entertainment arena, Co-op Live, on Saturday 25 April 2026, following a trip to Glasgow and before two huge gigs at London’s OVO Hydro Arena.
Tickets go on pre-sale at 10am next Wednesday 27 August for Co-op Members, and the general sale will follow on Friday 29 August, again at 10am – with tickets available here.
You can also re-order the album for early access to tickets here.
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Feeling a little fancier? You can treat yourself to VIP tickets to Olivia’s Co-op Live show via SeatUnique, with a range of different packages available here.
Featured Image – Gwen Trannoy (Publicity Pictures)
Danny Jones -
3rd October 2023 
