At its peak, XOYO in Shoreditch was one of the best nightclubs in London, playing host to residencies from the likes of Benji B, Andy C, Artwork, Bradley Zero, Skream, Bicep and The Blessed Madonna. However the club struggled to maintain that level of cultural relevance post-pandemic and declined in popularity as it became a more commercial venue. At the end of last year, XOYO (along with other London venue The Camden Assembly) was acquired by the newly formed Propaganda Independent Venues group,
As chair of the Mercury music prize judging panel from 1992 to 2016 (while living in Scotland), I always thought that its geography problem (Artists outside London underrepresented on Mercury prize shortlist', 16 October) was that the judges primarily lived and worked in London, wherever they were from originally. (The year with the most Scots acts on the shortlist was also the year with the most Scotland-based judges.)