Boiler Room set to undergo “substantial” layoffs amid global boycotts & protests

A year into growing controversy, boycotts and protests over its ownership, international promoter and streaming platform Boiler Room is set to announce "substantial" layoffs.

An email circulated among staff members yesterday and reported by Resident Advisor (RA) shared that "changes to the structure of the business" mean that "a number of roles" are at risk of being made redundant.

"Anyone whose role is at risk will have already received an invite to a meeting today," the email read. "For those who haven't, your role isn't impacted, but we'd ask you to support those who are." RA shared that a source close to Boiler Room was unable to verify the exact total of roles; however, it is thought to be in the double figures.

2025 has seen a substantial global push against the promoter, which, in January of this year, was acquired by Superstruct Entertainment, which, in turn, is owned by investment firm KKR.

In August, Australian artists launched an 'open letter' protesting Boiler Room's upcoming shows on Gadigal Land/Sydney and Naarm/Melbourne, as well as those of local Superstruct-owned promoter Fuzzy, resulting in over 850 artists signing, the majority of locals pulling out of both Boiler Room shows and protest events organised in both cities.

Read: Over 450 artists sign ‘open letter’ directed at upcoming Boiler Room Australia tour

In August, Australian artists launched an 'open letter' protesting Boiler Room's upcoming shows on Gadigal Land/Sydney and Naarm/Melbourne, as well as those of local Superstruct-owned promoter Fuzzy, resulting in over 850 artists signing, the majority of locals pulling out of both Boiler Room shows and protest events organised in both cities.

Earlier this month, Naarm’s Sugar Mountain Festival announced its 2026 edition, with no mention of Boiler Room. The festival first partnered with the platform in 2015 and became a regular host for its streams, with both being worked on & coordinated in part by Mushroom Group locally.

This push has not only been directed at Boiler Room - artists, activists, and punters alike have pushed back against many of Superstruct's festivals. Most consistently, this has seen promoters encouraged to leave the company rather than be complicit in its actions.

In May, Spain's Sónar festival claimed that "at no time have we ever sent - nor will we ever send - a single euro to KKR," a claim which has been heavily scrutinised and debunked. The festival's founders were reported to have stepped away just last month.

Read: Sónar founders cut ties with festival amid Superstruct/KKR ownership controversy

Earlier this month, Hungarian festival Sziget officially left Superstruct's portfolio, with ownership returning to its original owner and founder, Károly Gerendai.

In March of this year, Boiler Room released a statement addressing its then-new ownership, stating that it is "unable to divest because we have no say in our ownership."

Read: Boiler Room releases statement addressing its Israel-linked ownership following growing boycott

Last month, an unnamed senior executive for Superstruct’s Spanish operation spoke with conservative publication El Mundo, breaking the company’s period of relative silence on the matter by sharing that “what’s happened with the boycott of the festivals [is] pure harassment and digital bullying,” and something that created “an unnecessary tension to comply with the agenda of certain movements.”

This interview, at odds with many promoters within Superstruct’s portfolio’s own acknowledgements of and distancing from KKR’s actions, sought to deny these links outright in saying that “we understand that someone might feel pressured by their fans and feel the need to listen to them, even without arguments or real information. But deep down, we regret that they're cancelling themselves because the reality is that there's no basis for what's happened.”

Spanish writer Shawn Reynaldo argued in his First Floor Substack on the interview that “it seems that Superstruct is either feeling confident about its future prospects, or simply sees now as a good time to start engaging in some serious reputational rehabilitation.”

Mixmag ANZ has reached out to Boiler Room for comment on these layoffs and their context.

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor. Find him on Instagram.