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CMU’s One Liners: James Arthur, Elektra Records, NME, more

By Andy Malt and Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 16 September 2015

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Remember James Arthur? Go on, ‘X-Factor’ winner, ‘X-Factor’ disser, homophobic rhymer, Twitter spatterer, regret declarer. They don’t make em like they used to, hey? Well, he’s just signed a worldwide deal with Sony’s Columbia Germany. Viel Glück.

• Jeff Castelaz is stepping down as President of US-based Warner label Elektra Records to focus on his own company Cast Management. General Manager Greg Nadell will now oversee the running of the Warner unit which Castelaz had presidented for three years.

• Former Kobalt sync exec Corinne Eady is now current sync exec at Downtown Music Publishing. Head Of Sync for the UK in fact. “Unanimous”, says her new boss Roberto Neri.

• Dubai International airport is getting its very own pop music stage that will host gigs under the brand musicDXB. Obviously. Clips from the gigs will be posted online, just in case incredible misfortune means you’re not flying to Dubai on the day Jack Pack off of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ are playing.

• The full list of 500 UK locations where you’ll be able to pick up a free copy of the NME has been announced. Have a look at where to head when the first free edition hits the streets/selected retail outlets on Friday.

• Angel Haze has released a new mixtape (what you old folks might call an ‘album’) called ‘Back To The Woods’. Listen to it here.

• The Disclosure brothers – Eric and Simon Disclosure, I think they’re called – have released a new video for their new single ‘Jaded’. Their new album, ‘Caracal’, is out on 25 Sep. Anyway, this is the video here.

• Approved just last week, Lionface have released a video for ‘Vampire’. Watch it here.

• Holy Roar Records is having a pretty spectacular sale. Get yourself a mystery bundle of records for almost no money here.

• Film composer and former Pop Will Eat Itself frontman Clint Mansell will play four shows, in Birmingham, London, Gateshead and Glasgow, next March. Dates.