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Monday 31 January 2011, 15:57 | By Eddy Temple-Morris
Eddy says: Sometimes awareness is the last thing you need
Eddy Says
Next week, in my role as ambassador for the British Tinnitus Association, I will, for the second time, be launching Tinnitus Awareness Week.
Tinnitus awareness is a double-edged sword. Like ‘fighting for peace’, it’s almost in as much conflict as ‘fucking for virginity’. On the one hand, there is a desperate need for awareness out there. Venues with soundsystems need to make their customers aware that they can permanently damage their hearing just by entering the premises. People need to know about the clear and present danger of iPods, nightclubs, and gigs, a danger that leaves over 10% of the population unable to ever hear silence again.
Though conversely, if you are, like me and many of my friends and colleagues, unfortunate enough to be in that 10% demographic, then you will probably curse Tinnitus Awareness Week with every pore in your body, because the absolute worst thing, aside from painfully loud music, is to be reminded of the condition.
The human brain is very good at selectively ignoring something like tinnitus, this comes with practice and with time. There are some interesting new treatments, like the one involving hypnotherapy, that can train your mind to ignore it. There is another, promising method that involves the stimulation of a particular gland, which can magically alleviate the symptoms of tinnitus (though possibly only temporarily). They’ve done this successfully with some furry creatures and are now testing it out on humans.
But these new fangled and largely untested treatments aside, there is a much simpler, cheaper, tried and tested method of dealing with this often insufferable condition once you have got it. It’s like there is a switch in your brain, but the switch is in a dark room. At first you have to fumble around to find it, but once you’ve entered the room enough times, your hand goes to the switch, even in pitch darkness.
To imagine how this works, think of the couple who live under the flight path of a major airport. You are invited for Sunday lunch there, and the first thing you notice is the horrendous noise of jet engines roaring over the rooftops every forty seconds. You politely compliment your hosts on their decor and the wonderful smell of roast beef, then you ask how they cope with this awful racket?
“What racket?” they say, honestly, before their brain allows them to engage with that sound. Then they realise. “Oh THAT sound? We just got used to it. After a while you just forget about it”.
Now, therein lies the key to living with tinnitus, and the best bit of advice I ever got, from anyone, over the decade or so that I’ve had it. The advice came from Peter Wheeler, of the BTA, an eminent man in the world of audio. His advice sounds flippant on the surface, but if you really think about it, in light of what you’ve read here, it’s the simplest, most effective, psychologically and physically, watertight bit of advice you could give to any of that 10%: “Just forget about it”, he said.
JUST FORGET ABOUT IT.
When Peter first said that to me, he had a little Mona Lisa smile, the corner of his mouth upturned slightly, and his eye glinted because he knew how it sounded, but as a fellow sufferer for many years, he’d had more than enough practice at finding that internal switch, and I realised soon afterwards, how profound those four words actually are for me.
I’ve learned to live with it because I’ve taught myself to become ‘tinnitus unaware’, and ironically, or even oxymoronically, that’s what I’m trying to impart to people in Tinnitus Awareness Week.
When I’ve come back from a loud gig, and I’m sitting at home, it’s 4am and all is quiet around me, inside and out, it’s then that the full horror of tinnitus is revealed. The cacophony in my head is unbearable, enough to make a grown man cry, or go insane.
Remember Omid Djalili in ‘The Mummy’? An evil scarab beetle had burrowed under his skin and was working its way up to his brain. He let out a blood curdling scream then ran down a corridor at full pelt and head first into a stone wall. That’s precisely how I feel in that situation. Tiredness and stress both make it worse.
There was a time, many years ago, that I may have joined Omid in that sprint through the bowels of that pyramid, but now I’ve learned how to deal with it. I don’t let the despair take over. I just flick the switch, and think of something else. Of course, the noise is still there, it’s always there, but like those people under the airport flight path, I’ve learned how to become unaware of it, and if you’re a fellow ten percenter, then you must do the same, and then you will get to the equivalent of Nirvana, a state of Zen, of ultimate peace: Just forget about it.
Meanwhile, please support the BTA this week and next by downloading Cage Against The Machine again, or by persuading a mate to get earplugs, or getting them for yourself, or just by helping spread the word. Maybe forward this to someone you know who has tinnitus. If you know any drummers, send this to them, chances are they’ll have it, as sure as a catholic priest likes a kiddy-fiddle.
Because of the lovely people at Musician’s Hearing Services, I’m able to offer a 20% discount to anyone who wants proper fitted earplugs, the kind that don’t interfere with the fidelity of the music, which normally cost £170. These are the same plugs worn by everyone from me to Plan B, and from Chris Martin to Erol Alkan. Email geraldine.daly@harleysthearing.co.uk – tell her I sent you and you’ll get a 20% discount off your plugs, plus you’ll have the peace of mind that comes with being in safe hands.
Or, if you’re within easy reach of Soho on 7 Feb, I’ve organised a little something special. I’m launching Tinnitus Awareness Week at Quo Vadis in Dean Street, who have kindly supported us on this project. Geraldine from Musician’s Hearing Services will be there fitting people for plugs, and she is kindly, for that one day only, going to bring the price down even further to £130. We’ll be there on the first floor, between 11am and 2.30pm, so you could come in your lunch break, it only takes a few minutes.
If you have any ear-related questions or problems, then Geraldine and Dr Paul Checkley from Musician’s Hearing Services will be there to talk to you, so you can get free advice from some of the finest professionals in their field. I’ll be there too and available to chat to anyone, as will a few other interesting tinnitus suffering DJs.
Hope to see you there on Monday.
Eddy x
READ MORE ABOUT: British Tinnitus Association | Eddy Temple Morris | Tinnitus Awareness Week
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:29 | By Andy Malt
Five Day Forecast – w/c 31 Jan 2011
CMU Planner
Blimey, another week. These things seem to come around quicker and quicker. During my weekly two day holiday, I saw a terrible opera and some brilliant stand-up, which balanced things nicely. Then I got up this morning and pretty much straight away I heard that John Barry had died, which is sad. He was responsible for so many iconic pieces of music during his career – not least several Bond themes – but my favourite will always remain the theme tune to ‘The Persuaders’, which is just fantastic. Meanwhile, back to business, here’s this week’s Five Day Forecast.
01: The Great Escape first convention announcement. Well, after last week’s festival announcements, with the likes of Friendly Fires, Warpaint, Katy B, Becoming Real, worriedaboutsatan and Visions Of Trees all lined up to play, this week it’s time to get on to the convention side of things. As you should know by now, this year’s Great Escape convention is being programmed by us at CMU. We’re pretty excited about the people we’ve booked to speak, the first of which we will reveal here in the CMU Daily this week. So, look out for that.
02: The Daily to launch. Yeah, that’s right, The Daily. The Daily is going to launch this week. The. Daily. Where have I heard of an electronically delivered daily news bulletin called The Daily before? God damn you Rupert Murdoch, as if you haven’t done enough already, you go and steal our name for your stupid iPad newspaper. I bet you heard Steve Coogan talking about the CMU Daily on Sienna Miller’s voicemail didn’t you? Already delayed by several weeks, News Corp’s Daily will go live this Wednesday. It’ll be rubbish, don’t buy it.
03: HMV’s Next Big Thing. Expanding out of Soho this year, HMV’s Next Big Thing festival will this year showcase brand new acts like Chilly Gonzales, Funeral For A Friend, The Young Knives and some other bands who have recorded fewer than four albums. It all kicks off on Friday and goes on until 13 Feb, and will genuinely be showcasing some great new artists.
04: New releases. This week’s big release is the new Chase & Status album, ‘No More Idols’, though the three albums I’m most excited about are Seefeel‘s brilliant eponymous new album and ‘Grains’ by Jim Perkins, which blends solo piano with experimental electronica. Also on sale this week are Esben & The Witch‘s debut ‘Violet Cries’, a compilation of love songs byRoberta Flack, the delayed re-issue of ‘Faith’ by George Michael, and Dave ID‘s ‘Gangs EP’.
05: Gigs. Lots of gigs this week. Lots and lots. Two one-offs I’d like to highlight are Jim Perkin‘s album launch at The Vortex in Dalston tonight, which will be brilliant, and The Agitator at The Barfly in Camden on Thursday. Also kicking off this week are this year’s NME Awards shows and Canadian Blast‘s Cape Breton Sound showcases, and on tour in the UK are Hurts,White Lies, Joan As Police Woman, I Like Trains, and Stealing Sheep.
Don’t forget that you can now subscribe to the CMU podcast in iTunes here, or via RSS here. There’ll be another episode winging its way to you this Friday.
Andy Malt
Editor, CMU
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Monday 31 January 2011, 11:26 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Grouplove
CMU Approved
I’ve been meaning to write about Grouplove for weeks, but as they slipped down the ever growing list of exciting new bands, it looked like they might not make it. Luckily, their debut EP, ‘Colours’, turned up at just the right time, lodging itself in the CMU stereo for numerous repeat listens. It’s always nice to receive a summer record right in the heart of winter, and this is most definitely a summer record. Even the cover art shows people frolicking in the sea.
The EP’s title track is definitely the standout. A simple guitar-pop song strewn with hooks, it sounds like the kind of song that has been played and honed a lot in order to make it sound effortless. You can watch the video for the track by clicking the link below. It features some lovely summery larking about. Oh, but first you have to get through the attempted hanging, beating with a baseball bat and a mild decapitation. Fun, fun.
READ MORE ABOUT: Grouplove
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:24 | By CMU Editorial
Terra Firma approached by potential backers and partners about possible EMI buy back deal
Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories
Terra Firma big cheese Guy Hands has, according to the Mail, been approached by a number of potential investors and strategic partners to discuss the possibility of the equity group keeping control of EMI, but with refinanced debt obligations through a slightly complicated relinquish and buy back arrangement.
As previously reported, it is expected that Terra Firma will have to give up ownership of EMI to the music major’s bankers Citigroup this spring, because the private equity firm’s financial backers won’t let it pump more money into the debt-laden company, meaning EMI will fail to meet covenants linked to its three billion debt to the US bank.
But it is expected that Citigroup will then sell off the music firm for the bargain basement price of £1.6 billion. And, despite the acrimonious relationship between Citi and Terra Firma, it is thought the former has already indicated to the latter that they would consider a bid from Hands et al to buy EMI back.
If such a deal was to go ahead, Hands could find himself exactly where he’s wanted to be for the last two years, in control of an EMI with much reduced debts and far more favourable loan terms. Various previous attempts to persuade Citigroup to write off some of EMI’s debts and relax the aforementioned covenants have been knocked back.
As also previously reported, EMI is actually doing pretty well day to day since Terra Firma’s painful but effective cutbacks, but the whole company continues to be hindered by its highly public multi-billion debt to a bank its parent company are suing. Remove, or rather reduce and restructure, the debt, and the British music major would look pretty good.
With that in mind, the Mail reports that a number of parties have approached Terra Firma about a buy back arrangement. The Wall Street Journal noted last week that Hands had spoken to one of Terra Firma’s existing EMI-supporting backers, Canadian pension fund CPP, but the Mail says conversations are also underway with other funds, equity groups and strategic partners. The result may be new investment into the Terra Firma fund to allow it to buy EMI back outright, or a consortium of new private equity buyers most likely led by Hands.
If this were to happen – and the proposal seems to have gone from outlandish to an actual possibility in a week – it would surely be good news for EMI, given that – unlike any deal with Warner Music or BMG backers KKR – the London-based firm would probably remain a stand-alone concern with both sound recording and music publishing divisions. This would allow Roger Faxon to put his plans for integrating those two businesses more closely into effect.
READ MORE ABOUT: Citigroup | EMI | Terra Firma
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:21 | By CMU Editorial
EMI possibly close to licensing Spotify USA
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories
According to the New York Times, Spotify is very close to getting a North American deal in place with EMI.
With everyone certain a similar deal has already been struck with Sony Music, that would mean the European streaming service is somewhere between a quarter and a half of the way (depending how you look at it) to its long desired US launch. That said, the Times also adds that a Universal deal is some way off, and many question whether Spotify could launch Stateside without the biggest of the record companies on board.
As much previously reported, Spotify’s launch Stateside has been hindered by paranoia among US label execs that licensing the streaming platform’s ad-funded free option could damage the revenues of other digital music businesses – including subscription-based streaming services like Rhapsody and MOG, and a la carte download stores like iTunes. Which is a problem if you are uncertain that the ad-funded model has longevity once Spotify’s venture capital funding runs out, which some label execs are.
But it seems that US bosses at both Sony and EMI have been placated. With neither the labels nor Spotify actually commenting on any of this, it is unclear whether that is by restricting the amount of freely available content, or by writing the majors very large cheques.
Elsewhere, Faisal Galaria, Spotify’s global business development chief has given a very interesting interview to the website of US digital consultancy StrategyEye in which he discusses the various delays to his company’s US launch, and also speculation that Apple may be putting pressure on the majors to hold back from licensing his service, either to protect iTunes download sales, or because the IT giant is planning its own streaming service.
Although stressing he has no actual knowledge of what Apple may or may not have said to the major labels about Spotify, he hypothesises about why the IT giant might not want his service to launch Stateside, and as to why the major’s might be influenced by Apple chiefs.
Noting ongoing rumours of Apple’s own ambitions in the streaming music domain, he muses: “If you assume it takes years and years to build a cloud service – it took us two and a half years – then what do you do in the interim? You use your clout presumably with the labels to say ‘If you do this, I will do X, Y and Z to you'”.
He added: “If you’re the digital team [at a major] and 80% of your revenue was coming from one place, how much are you going to piss them off until someone else can guarantee all that revenue? You’re a nice, fat big executive at label X, Y, Z. You’re getting half a million dollars a year as long as you hit your bonus, are you going to tell iTunes where to go?”
You can read the full interview here.
READ MORE ABOUT: EMI | Sony Music | Spotify
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:19 | By CMU Editorial
Viacom proposes settlement over BET’s slack sync licensing
Legal Media
US media giant Viacom has put forward proposals for an out of court settlement regarding allegations of slack sync rights licensing by its Black Entertainment Television, or BET, network.
Viacom was responding to a class action lawsuit launched by LA-based independent label owners and music publishers The Music Force back in 2009, which claimed BET had synced music from the indie’s catalogues into some of its programmes, including ‘BET Impressions’ and ‘Jazz Visions’, without getting the appropriate licenses.
As a class action, if The Music Force was to win the lawsuit any label or publisher who believed its content had also been used without licence could claim damages. Under the proposed settlement, Viacom would set aside $2.75 million to pay affected rights owners, and set up a website to allow those who believe they are due unpaid royalties to make a claim.
In the main, sync licensing is not covered by collective licenses available from collecting societies, and in the US that includes TV sync. Viacom’s proposed settlement needs approval from the judge overseeing this case before The Music Force’s lawsuit is formally dismissed.
READ MORE ABOUT: BET | Viacom
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:18 | By CMU Editorial
Diddy sued for a trillion dollars
Legal
That this lawsuit has even reached court tells you a lot of the US legal system.
A woman in LA is suing P Diddy for a mere trillion dollars over allegations that they have a son together for whom the rapper and hip hop mogul owes child support, and that he once stole a casino chip from her worth “100s of zillions of dollars”. The lawsuit also accuses Diddy of conspiring with former girlfriend Kim Porter and LAPD assault victim Rodney King to not only disable the couple’s son, but also to instigate the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
According to Radaronline.com, Valerie Turks’ legal papers say: “[Diddy] went through Kim Porter and Rodney King and knocked down the World Trade Center and then they all came and knocked my children down. Set me up to be on disability and disabled my baby. He put my baby in a wheelchair”.
It later adds: “I won a lot of money at the casino in Mississippi and Sean P Diddy Combs has my chip to my money. I want my chip, please help me. It’s well worth over 100 zillions of dollars”.
As well as the ludicrous financial demands Turks requested a restraining order against Diddy, though I’m not sure why the rapper would want to be anywhere near her anyway. The judge overseeing the case denied the restraining order request, but agreed to give the rest of her lawsuit a proper hearing this week.
Actually, as well as the legal system, I think this case probably says a lot about America’s current healthcare system, too.
READ MORE ABOUT: Sean Combs
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:17 | By CMU Editorial
Chris Brown asks for Rihanna restraining order to be lifted
Legal
Chris Brown’s lawyer has asked for the R&B wife-beater’s restraining order in relation to Rihanna to be lifted so to avoid logistical issues at next month’s Grammy Awards. Having Brown and Rihanna in the same room at the US industry’s big bash makes it precariously likely that the former may come within 100 yards of his ex, which would technically put him in breach of the law.
Of course, it was during Grammy weekend two years ago that Brown beat his then pop girlfriend to a pulp, leaving her unconscious on the sidewalk. But since then he’s undergone a year of domestic violence counselling and has been commended by judges on more than one occasion for his progress. He’ll hear back re the restraining order before the 13 Feb main Grammys show.
READ MORE ABOUT: Chris Brown | Rihanna
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:13 | By CMU Editorial
Winehouse in hospital with flu
Artist News
Amy Winehouse reportedly checked into a private medical facility in London last week after falling ill with flu. The singer has previously spent time at the same Harley Street clinic to receive treatment for side effects to a 2009 breast augmentation and later after injuring herself in a drunken fall. However, this time it’s an infectious disease that has caused Winehouse’s ill health, she seemingly having picked up a bug while gigging in Brazil.
READ MORE ABOUT: Amy Winehouse
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:11 | By CMU Editorial
John Barry dies
Obituaries
Composer John Barry, best known for his work on the James Bond soundtracks, has died aged 77.
Brought up in Yorkshire, Barry was originally a classical pianist but early on developed an interest in composing and arranging his own music, too. He began performing live whilst doing national service, and subsequently formed his own John Barry Seven outfit, which came to public attention via the BBC TV series ‘Drumbeat’, where Barry’s own band performed, while he also composed and arranged songs for other musical guests. Most notable among those guests was Adam Faith, who Barry forged a long term professional relationship with, and as Faith moved into movies so did Barry, his first soundtrack being Faith’s first movie ‘Beat Girl’ in 1960.
His reputation as a composer and arranger was already gaining momentum by the late 1950s, resulting in a three year stint as an in-house arranger for EMI from 1959, and then a joint role as arranger and producer for Ember Records from 1962. It was around this time he came to the attention of the producers of the first Bond movie ‘Dr No’, who asked Barry to re-arrange a score already written by Monty Norman. Out of that came the iconic ‘James Bond Theme’. Norman has always been the sole composer credited for that piece of music, though Barry later said his re-arrangement was sufficient for him to claim some ownership of the track. Said allegations were the subject of two legal disputes.
Either way, Barry impressed the Bond producers and, even though musical composer Lionel Hart had composed a theme song for ‘Dr No’ sequel ‘From Russia With Love’, Barry was asked to arrange the film’s score. He subsequently became the Bond franchise’s go to guy for compositions, working on eleven of the 007 movies in total. This led to a wide ranging career in TV, movie and stage show composition, among his most famous works being the theme tune to seventies TV show ‘The Persuaders!’, the stage show ‘Billy’, and the soundtrack to the 1966 film ‘Born Free’, the latter two both projects with his frequent collaborator, lyricist Don Black, who won the BMI Icon Award last year.
Over his long career Barry won no less than five Oscars, and in 2005 he was given a BAFTA fellowship. His last film score was for 2001’s ‘Enigma’, while his last musical collaboration with Black was the stage show ‘Brighton Rock’ which opened in 2004.
READ MORE ABOUT: John Barry
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:10 | By CMU Editorial
Blue to represent Britain at Eurovision
Awards
Blue will represent the UK at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, it has been confirmed. And not only will they sing the song, but they’ve written it too, with the usual ‘let the public pick the song’ stage of the Eurovision palaver being axed this year.
Given that most British Eurovision entrants are never heard of ever again after performing at the big song contest, we can only assume this is good news. Either that, or it possibly means the Blue boys are set to become the next Sugababes line-up.
This year’s big Contest will take place in Dusseldorf in May.
READ MORE ABOUT: Blue | Eurovision Song Contest
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:09 | By CMU Editorial
Slipknot man vague about possible Velvet Revolver stint
Artist News
Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has refused to confirm or deny that he may be the new vocalist with Velvet Revolver.
There have been various rumours that he is due to join Slash et al since they indicated late last year that they had found an as yet unnamed new singer to front the band for a new album and tour, replacing Scott Weiland, who quit in 2008.
But asked about the rumours by Billboard, Taylor said something even more cryptic than a “no comment”. He told the trade mag: “To be continued”. Make of that what you will.
READ MORE ABOUT: Corey Taylor | Velvet Revolver
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:08 | By CMU Editorial
EMI signs X Japan in US
Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
One of Japan’s most successful rock outfits, X Japan, have signed a three-year deal with EMI’s label services division covering North America. The deal will see the major’s Caroline Distribution division handled manufacturing and distribution for the band.
Mike Harris, GM for Caroline Distribution, told reporters: “We are so honoured to have X Japan as part of the EMI Label Services/Caroline family. After the highly successful North American tour last fall, the timing is perfect for the upcoming X Japan release”.
No word on if there are any plans to release the band’s upcoming new album in Europe.
READ MORE ABOUT: EMI
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:06 | By CMU Editorial
Daedelus announces bespoke new album
Gigs & Festivals Releases
Dandy experimentalist Alfred Darlington, aka Daedelus, will release his new concept-driven album ‘Bespoke’ on 11 Apr through Ninja Tune, the first single from which will be ‘Tailor Made’ out on 21 Mar.
Of the theme of ‘custom craftsmanship’ that overarches the record, Daedelus says: “I not only intended it as a reflection of the LP itself, but also an outlook on life”. I’m still trying to work out what that statement might imply about the album, or about life, but I’m sure its something significant and to do with wearing elaborate velvet clothes.
Daedelus is to tour ahead of these new releases, kicking off a series of UK and European dates in London on 23 Feb. Meanwhile, the ‘Bespoke’ tracklist is as follows:
Tailor-Made (feat Milosh)
Sew, Darn, Mend
Penny Loafers (feat Inara George)
One and Lonely (feat Young Dad)
Suit Yourself
French Cuffs (feat Baths)
In Tatters (feat Kelela Mizanekristos)
Slowercase D
Overwelmed (feat Bilal)
Nightcap
READ MORE ABOUT: Daedelus
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:04 | By CMU Editorial
Moddi announces debut album
Gigs & Festivals Releases
The friendly-sounding Pål Moddi Knutsen, or just Moddi as he’s more commonly known, will release his debut album here in the UK on Propeller Recordings on 18 Apr.
The album, called ‘Floriography’, and which saw Moddi work with Björk and Kate Nash producer Valgeir Sigurðsson, was released in his native Norway last year. He’s enjoyed attention further afield by touring Europe with Angus & Julia Stone.
You can watch the rather charming accompanying video for album track ‘Magpie Eggs’ here. Meanwhile, Moddi will be appearing live in London on three occasions in February and March, starting at Angel’s The Wilmington Arms on 13 Feb, followed by two nights at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell in 28 and 29 Mar.
READ MORE ABOUT: Moddi
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:03 | By CMU Editorial
Album review: The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries)
Album Reviews
The Go! Team, Brighton’s most energetic alternative dance/funk/soul/indie/noise (delete as appropriate) set, return after almost three years with the explosive ‘Rolling Blackouts’: their third studio LP with a promise of bigger sounds, bigger attitudes, bigger everything. It does not disappoint.
Of course – something by The Go! Team… well, it always will sound like The Go! Team, won’t it? No matter how far they’ve progressed, their stamp is truly their own: explosive, sunshine-stuffed funk-fluff, sampled to buggery and adorned with as many bells, chants and horns as you could shake a stick at. ‘Rolling Blackouts’ opens as it should with the combustive and appropriately named ‘TORNADO’, a right-hook punch of a track, hard and unmistakably THEM, before the album gallops off to some more retro-tinged songs like killer ‘Secretary Song’ and the Air-ish ‘Super Triangle’.
Featuring guest collabs with members of Best Coast and Deerhoof, ‘Rolling Blackouts’ is a predictable but enjoyable return to form, a much needed injection of joy into the somewhat sagging indie scene. TW
Physical release: 31 Jan
READ MORE ABOUT: The Go! Team | TW
Monday 31 January 2011, 11:01 | By CMU Editorial
MMF event to bring band and brand managers together
Brands & Merch
The Music Managers’ Forum has announced a seminar event aiming to bring together artist managers and some key brand marketing people to discuss the state of music sponsorship, and how brands might better work directly with artists, large or small.
The event is being staged in association with brand partnerships agency Genuine, and brands expected to be represented include Fiat, Jack Daniels and Coke drinks Relentless and Burn. It is an invite only event aiming to, and I quote, “promote a free exchange of ideas between brands and artist managers”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Genuine | Music Managers Forum (MMF)
Monday 31 January 2011, 10:58 | By CMU Editorial
Barry Diller resigns from Live Nation board
Business News Live Business
Barry Diller has completely stepped down from the board of Live Nation, according to an SEC filing made by the live music conglom in the US earlier this month. Diller was originally chairman of the board after Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster, he being a key shareholder in the latter, which had originally operated as part of his InterActiveCorp business.
When he first announced his intent to stand down from the Chairman role last year, he insisted he had always only intended to head up the live music and ticketing giant whilst the merger of the two companies was going through the motions. However, he did initially pledge to stay on until a full time new chair could be found, but then in October it was announced rival shareholder and board member John Malone of Liberty Media would take over with immediate effect, but also on an interim basis.
This led to various speculation that Diller had fallen out with the all new Live Nation’s top two execs Michael Rapino and Irving Azoff; or that he was pissed off that the aforementioned merger had basically ended up being a Live Nation takeover of Ticketmaster; or that there were increasing boardroom tensions between him and Malone, who had previously had run-ins with Diller as a shareholder in the aforementioned IAC. Of course, Live Nation denied all these rumours.
But whatever, Diller has now resigned from the Live Nation board completely, he having originally stayed on despite Malone taking the chair’s seat.
READ MORE ABOUT: Barry Diller | Live Nation | Ticketmaster
Monday 31 January 2011, 10:57 | By CMU Editorial
Music PR appointments galore
Business News Industry People Marketing & PR
Someone’s kicked off the music PR merry go round. I’m not sure who started it, but here are some of the results.
First, Shoshanna Stone, formerly head of press for Sony UK’s RCA division, is joining the Outside Organisation to set up a new multimedia PR division doing press, telly and online. She will take with her some of the artists she has worked with at RCA as clients, including Britney Spears, Usher and John Legend.
Second, James Hopkins, formerly head of press for Sony UK’s other big division, Columbia, is also leaving the major, though for him it’s a move into management, he leaving to set up a UK office for US-based Vector Management, which manages Kings Of Leon, Kesha and Kid Rock, as well as some other artists whose names don’t begin with K.
This leaves two holes in the Sony press infrastructure, both of which will be filled by former Universal press reps. Chloe Melick, formerly of the Polydor PR team, will take over as head of press at RCA on an interim basis, while Louise Mayne from the Mercury Records press team will take over at Columbia.
Unrelated to all of this, entertainment PR agency PPR has announced the recruitment of Rajina Gurung, who was previously with radio pluggers Hart Media.
READ MORE ABOUT: Columbia Records | Outside Organisation | PPR | Sony Music | Vector Management
Monday 31 January 2011, 10:54 | By CMU Editorial
Comcast complete NBC Universal acquisition
Media
US cable operators and ISP Comcast has completed its takeover of NBC Universal creating a thirty billion dollar media giant with interests in TV, movies and internet and video-on-demand services.
The deal is a long time in the making, but got regulator approval earlier this month, mainly by Comcast agreeing to forgo management rights over American video-on-demand platform Hulu, in which NBC Universal is a shareholder. Bosses at Comcast said this weekend that their purchase of a 51% stake in NBC Universal was completed on Friday.
As previously reported, current owners GE started the process of selling just over half of NBC Universal to Comcast in late 2009, when they themselves bought the final 20% of the media company off Vivendi, the current owners of Universal Music, and one time owners of the other Universal entertainment companies.
READ MORE ABOUT: Comcast | NBC Universal
Monday 31 January 2011, 10:53 | By CMU Editorial
New Kid outed by Tiffany, but he doesn’t care
And Finally
New Kid On The Block Jonathan Knight has denied he has been outed by 80s popstar Tiffany, insisting his homosexuality has never been a secret, even though it’s not something he has ever really spoken about publicly before.
Tiffany, who was romantically linked to Knight back in their teen pop heydays, confirmed the New Kid’s sexuality in a TV interview last week. Although the pop man came out to his friends and family some 20 years ago, and despite a National Enquirer interview with a man who claimed to be Knight’s ex-boyfriend a year after the New Kids reformed in 2008, it seems many of the one time boyband’s fans were unaware the singer was gay.
Responding to Tiffany’s interview last week, Knight has posted a message on the NKOTB’s website, saying: “To all my fans who have expressed concern: I have never been outed by anyone but myself. I did so almost 20 years ago. I never knew that I would have to do it all over again publicly just because I reunited with NKOTB! I have lived my life very openly and have never hidden the fact that I am gay. Apparently the prerequisite to being a gay public figure is to appear on the cover of a magazine with the caption: ‘I am gay’”.
He continued: “I love living my life being open and honest, but at this time I choose not to discuss my private life any further! My fellow band members don’t discuss their private lives with their loved ones and I don’t feel that just because I am gay, I should have to discuss mine!”
READ MORE ABOUT: Jonathan Knight | New Kids On The Block | Tiffany
Monday 31 January 2011, 10:51 | By CMU Editorial
You’re all too posh, youse lots
And Finally
Pete Waterman has criticised the modern music industry for being too dominated by posh graduates, a fact which, he says, means the pop stars they sign are getting posher too.
Speaking to Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme, Waterman said: “It’s never been worse. You know, the major companies dominate and what they do is, they see a CV and if you haven’t got 96 O Levels, you aint getting a job. It’s as simple as that. What this is is job protection. In the old days you got a job in the music industry because you knew something about music, or were passionate about it and people gave you a chance. Now when your CV goes through, they don’t take you unless you’ve been to university full stop”.
Of course, technically speaking you’d have to be at least 40 to have any O Levels at all, but that’s possibly the sort of pedantry that’s typical of my university education. To be fair to Waterman, his claims aren’t entirely baseless.
The music industry – especially at the more corporate end – isn’t particularly diverse in terms of social class or ethnicity, and at the upper end of the hierarchy it is often rather male dominated. Though in terms of social class, I’m not sure that’s so much to do with snobbery in recruitment, as it is to do with the fact that any industry that often requires entry-level staff to work for free for two years is going to have a middle class bias.
Whether any lack of diversity in the record companies actually affects artist signings I’m not sure – pop and rock has always had its share of middle class boys and girls. But Waterman thinks so, adding: “I think that when all the A&R people wear Jack Wills clothes, it tells you where they are going. It’s become snobbish. It’s become a snobbish culture. If you go back even 20 years, if you weren’t greatly educated you became a boxer, a footballer or a popstar. Now if you’re not educated you won’t become a popstar – because you’re never going to get the interview”.
When did popstars start having to do job interviews? The Today feature mentioned a number of modern pop artists who were privately educated, including Lily Allen, Flo Welch and Chris Martin, though it was the mother of another posh pop star actually not referenced who felt the urge to respond to the report.
Mrs Blount (yes, Jamie chose to perform under the surname Blunt) said in an email: “I was most interested to hear Pete Waterman’s thoughts on public school rock stars. His attitude is reflected by most of the critics in the UK. My son James Blunt, who is hugely appreciated worldwide, receives harsh criticism here and we have, rather sadly, been aware that it is because of his background. We are relieved that on the whole James’s fanbase take no notice of the critics”.
I’m not sure Blunt’s education is totally to blame for his whiney voice, though.
READ MORE ABOUT: James Blunt | Pete Waterman
Friday 28 January 2011, 15:59 | By Andy Malt
CMU Weekly – Friday 28 Jan 2011
CMU Weekly Editor's Letter
In these days where companies create content with a view to making it ‘go viral’, it’s always nice to see something genuinely capture the hearts and minds of internet users such that hundreds, thousands, even millions of them feel the need to share it.
This week, it was news of Razorlight’s return that was getting people (not millions, but certainly thousands) excited in this manner. Well, it wasn’t, it was more the press photo that accompanied the news. The fact that Razorlight will return this year with a new album, a headline slot at Guilfest (alongside James Blunt), and an almost entirely new line-up was over shadowed by a strange facial expression and a massive hat.
As far as I can tell, The Quietus takes the prize for putting the picture online first, postulating that the band had morphed into goth legends Fields Of The Nephilim. As the day drew on, it would be suggested that they were trying out for the next ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ movie, that Cotton Eye Joe’s frontman had been added to the line-up, and that Johnny Borrell had suffered a stroke.
The picture was reposted thousands of times on blogs, entertainment websites, and social networks, each time met with hilarity. I struggled all day to get anything done, as I fought the compulsion to go and stare at this amazing image one more time. I even missed a bus because of it.
In the end, Razorlight were forced to issue a statement on the matter. Yes, they told us, a photo of the band had been “leaked online”. Apparently I missed the memo where it was announced that “leaked online” had become shorthand for “was sent out to journalists by a PR company”. The statement also revealed that “founder members Bjorn Agren (guitar) and Carl Dalemo (bass) agreed on an amicable parting following unproductive early recording sessions for a new album late last year”.
Considering the metadata on the picture reveals that it was taken in October last year, that doesn’t leave much time for the two new members – Gus Robertson and Freddie Stitz – to have been recruited, which may also account for the awful styling. Though the biggest question of all still remains unanswered – whose idea was the hat?
So, that’s the main thing that happened this week. There were a few other minor things, too, which you’ll find linked to below and discussed on this week’s podcast. Filling what would otherwise be 35 minutes of silence on the latter this week is news and discussion on ACS:Law, The Pirate Bay, Vevo, Edgar Bronfman Jr, U2, Kings Of Leon, Courtney Love and more. As ever (well, as last week), I am joined by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke to make the chat happen.
Andy Malt
Editor, CMU
THE BULLETIN: Click here to read this week’s CMU Weekly bulletin
THE PODCAST: Click here to download this week’s podcast, or stream below
| Subscribe to the e-bulletin here | Subscribe to the podcast here | Subscribe in iTunes here |
READ MORE ABOUT: Razorlight
Friday 28 January 2011, 15:55 | By CMU Editorial
Playlist: The Go! Team
CMU Playlists
The Go! Team’s debut album, ‘Thunder, Lightning, Strike’, was released in 2004 to widespread acclaim. Recorded by founder Ian Parton in his parents’ kitchen, the album was constructed out of myriad samples and trashy live instruments.
It was only when asked to perform at a festival that summer that Parton began to think about playing the songs live. Realising this would be a tough call, he conceived the live band almost as a separate entity to the studio recordings. The most obvious difference between the two sides of the project was the freestyle rapping of Ninja at live performances.
For album number two, ‘Proof Of Youth’, released in 2007, Parton made more use of the live band and other collaborators, including Chuck D. Two years of touring followed, after which Parton had a bit of a rest before getting to work on his third album, ‘Rolling Blackouts’, which is released by Memphis Industries on 31 Jan.
Musically very much in-keeping with the distinct Go! Team sound, ‘Rolling Blackouts’ features yet more exciting collaborations, including Bethany Cosentino from Best Coast, Satomi Matsuzaki from Deerhoof, and French singer-songwriter Soko.
Ahead of the release and UK tour dates, we asked Ian Parton to compile a Powers Of Ten playlist for us.
IAN PARTON’S TEN
Click here to listen to Ian’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.
01 The Sven Libaek Orchestra – Open Sea Theme
Libaek was an Australian library music composer. No other song has suited scuba diving so perfectly.
02 Daniel Johnston – Some Things Last A Long Time
Deeply sad stripped back song, made sadder when you know Daniel Johnston’s story.
03 Little Lisa – Choo Choo Train
An obscure little 60s soul song. I don’t know much about Little Lisa but I’m guessing she was a teenager when she sang this.
04 Serge Gainsbourg – Initials BB
I love the kinda espionage feel to this song. Serge is a badass.
05 Solex – Solex All Licketyspit
I love the chorus of this song, right up my street – catchy and strange. We were lucky to have Solex sing on our second album.
06 Boards Of Canada – Roygbiv
One of my all time favourite songs – public information films, vintage wildlife documentaries, schools TV programmes.
07 Best Coast – When I’m With You
Achingly simple and achingly dreamy – a band who keep the California myth alive.
08 Mantronix – Hardcore Hip Hop
The drums on this song are seriously amazing – that clap machine is super tough.
09 Broadcast – Black Cat
Ouija boards, Italian library music and eyeliner.
10 David Axelrod – The Mental Traveller
If you’ve never seen a photo of David Axelrod, he looks like the magician David Copperfield, but he sure made epic music…
READ MORE ABOUT: Ian Parton | The Go! Team
Friday 28 January 2011, 15:54 | By Andy Malt
CMU Beef Of The Week #50: Glee v Rock
And Finally Beef Of The Week
This week, ‘Glee’ creator Ryan Murphy came out fighting in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, in which he was asked about comments made about the show by Kings Of Leon and Slash. Earlier this month, Slash told Entertainment Weekly: “Glee is worse than ‘Grease’ and ‘Grease’ is bad enough. I look at ‘Grease’ now and think, ‘Between ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Glee’, ‘Grease’ was a work of art'”.
‘Grease’ is a work of art, of course, but I can see his point. Murphy can’t though. He is unwilling to accept that some people might think that musical films and TV shows set in American high schools are a bit shit, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “Usually I find that people who make those comments, their careers are over; they’re uneducated and quite stupid”.
Oof! Succinctly taken down there. Okay, he focused on his own personal and possibly groundless opinions of Slash, rather than addressing the guitarist’s claims against the artistic credibility of his show, but, hey, at least he did it in a more measured and calm manner than Axl Rose did on ‘Get In The Ring’.
With the former Guns N Roses guitarist defeated, Murphy moved on to Kings Of Leon. Last year, in an interview with the NME, bassist Nathan Followill revealed that they’d turned down the opportunity to have their music used in ‘Glee’ – despite the fact that “apparently everybody loves it” – saying: “We could have sold out so much more. We turn stuff down constantly”.
A reasonable thing to say, you might think. After all many artists like to keep a tight control over how and when their music is used. Not so, apparently. Kings Of Leon, in their heartless attempt to stop their music from becoming even more overly dispersed than it already is, are apparently stopping The Kids from learning to play musical instruments and sing.
Or, as Murphy put it: “Fuck you, Kings Of Leon. They’re self-centred assholes and they missed the big picture. They missed that a seven year old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings Of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instrument. It’s like, OK, hate on arts education. You can make fun of ‘Glee’ all you want, but at its heart, what we really do is turn kids on to music”.
First off, aren’t all the characters in ‘Glee’ in their late teens and played by people in their late 20s? That’s not exactly close in age to seven year olds. And second, I thought ‘Glee’ was a cynical attempt to sell cover versions of songs to teenagers. Clearly that part of it was a front.
With this quote in hand, The Hollywood Reporter rushed straight round to KOL frontman Caleb Followill’s house with a dictaphone and played him the evidence. He was shocked.
“This whole ‘Glee’ thing is a shock to us”, he said. “It’s gotten out of hand. At the time of the request, we hadn’t even seen the show. It came at the end of that record cycle, and we were [bored of] promoting [it]. This was never meant as a slap in the face to ‘Glee’ or to music education or to fans of the show. We’re not sure where the anger is coming from”.
And that could so easily have been the end of it. But someone always has to mouth off on Twitter, don’t they? In this case it was the band’s drummer Nathan Followill, who wrote on Wednesday: “Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating seven year olds how to say ‘fuck'”.
Murphy got straight on the phone to Perez Hilton to denounce what he saw as a gay slur, saying: “That’s a homophobe badly in need of some education. I’m all for manicures, don’t wear a bra. Would guess most gay dudes don’t. It’s telling that Nathan can reduce a group of people to a mean-spirited cliché, in a time where young gay men are killing themselves all over the country because of hatred like this”.
Oof again! But, Murphy did hold out an olive branch, adding: “That said, I would love to sit down with Nathan or any member of Kings [Of] Leon, and tell them how on ‘Glee’ we actually love their music, and support their artistry… but cannot condone or even laugh at their clear disdain of gay people”.
Of course, you could read Followill’s comments differently, and think that he was accusing Murphy of being like a whiney woman. Though if you do, bang goes the drummer’s new job presenting football coverage on the all new Sky Sports. Except he says it was neither, and later deleted the offending tweet, saying: “I’m sorry for anyone that misconstrued my comments as homophobic or misogynistic. I’m so not that kind of person. I really do apologise”.
Yeah, he presumably meant the other form of prejudice where you might accuse a man of needing a bra; he was saying Ryan Murphy is obese. I’ve seen photos of him, he’s actually pretty skinny. Oh my God, Nathan Followill hates fat people and promotes anorexia! Someone prepare a statement, quick!
READ MORE ABOUT: Glee | Kings Of Leon | Ryan Murphy | Slash
Friday 28 January 2011, 11:31 | By Chris Cooke
The music business week in five – Friday 28 Jan 2011
Business News Week In Five
Hey ho, here it is, Friday people. And I told you seven days ago that this week I would be able to name some of the bands that are due to play The Great Escape this May, and look, this is me making good on that promise.
As you may have already seen earlier this week, a big bunch of bands have already been stuck on the bill for Europe’s leading new music festival, with Katy B, Brother, Worriedaboutsatan, Little Dragon and Wave Pictures among the reasons to be excited. The first of the ‘Dome shows’ that take place during TGE has also been announced. These are open to TGE wristband holders for just six quid, and the first band confirmed in this part of the programme is the marvellous Friendly Fires. Hurrah.
And then, of course, there’s Warpaint. Team CMU caught these girls playing in that little bar at the end of Brighton Pier at TGE last year and got so excited that Andy went on to include them in his artists of the year top ten last month. If you missed them in 2010, well you need to do some catching up, but you’ll find them quite a bit higher up the TGE bill this coming May, one of the Great Escape’s great success stories.
You’ll find the full band line up as confirmed so far over there at escapegreat.com. And now for another promise. This time next week, I’ll be able to start telling you about the first few confirmed panellists, speakers, topics and other delights confirmed for the TGE convention that we here at CMU are programming this year. So, see you in seven days to make good on that promise. Meanwhile, here’s your week in five.
01: VEVO’s UK launch was confirmed. Actually, Sony Music digital man Thomas Hesse said at the launch of that IFPI Digital Music Report last week that the Sony/Universal owned online music video service would go live in the UK this year, but with the digital firm now recruiting its British sales team VEVO’s sales chief David Kohl told Media Week that launch would come in the next “few months”. Everyone seems to think April. Elsewhere in digital news, Sony’s Omnifone-powered cross-device streaming music service, Music UnLimited with Qriocity, already live in the UK, expanded into a number of other European territories this week. CMU report | Marketing report
02: The Pirate Bay promised a new file-sharing service.Which was nice of them. The file-sharing group has put up a webpage at fear.themusicbay.org, with an insider telling TorrentFreak the current TPB team are planning on launching an uber new file-sharing service to coincide with the upcoming 78th birthday of the aforementioned IFPI. The music industry should be “afraid” the anonymous source added. CMU report |TorrentFreak report
03: A Chinese file-sharing service started to block illegal content, presumably because the authorities in China recently published details of new penalties for online piracy, with up to seven years in jail for the worst offenders. VeryCD started blocking links to unlicensed content last Friday. Its owners have hopes to relaunch as a legitimate music platform, though will presumably have lost most of their users by the time that happens. CMU report | Variety report
04: ACS:Law’s main man stepped back from sue-the-fans litigation. Lawyer Andrew Crossley – whose London law firm led the way in sending legal letters to alleged file-sharers last year demanding damages from the accused – told the judge hearing the 27 cases that were actually taken to court that he wanted nothing more to do with file-sharing litigation. He said he was quitting because of harassment by the file-sharing community, and not because the judge had previously said his firm’s legal arguments in court were flawed on all sorts of levels. ACS most notably worked for porn firms, but had a few small music clients. CMU report | Guardian article
05: Live Nation settled its long running delivery fees case.The live giant’s ticketing firm Ticketmaster was sued years ago by two consumers who claimed the ticketing agency misled customers by implying so called “delivery fees” covered the cost of delivering tickets, when the firm actually made a profit on them. The lawsuit became a class action last year. Although not admitting fault, Live Nation agreed to compensate confused customers and cover all legal costs, to the tune of $22.3 million. CMU report | ABC News report
And that is it. Do look out for your CMU Weekly, complete with Go! Team compiled Spotify playlist and the second ever CMU podcast, out this afternoon – www.theCMUwebsite.com/weekly.
Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU
READ MORE ABOUT:
Friday 28 January 2011, 11:28 | By Paul Vig
Approved: Muak at Egg
Club Tip CMU Approved
Tomorrow sees the first Muak night of 2011 take over Egg in London for fourteen straight hours of top notch house music, beginning at 10pm and finishing at midday Sunday, just in time to go and grab a Sunday roast.
By that time, you will have danced your feet raw to various DJs, the main draw being teutonic soulful tech house master Ian Pooley (who looks like he’s had few roast dinners himself in his latest press shot – OK, he has never been of small frame). Pooley shot to fame with the classic album ‘Meridian’ in 1998. Oh God, can it be that long ago?
Also on the bill and worth staggering into the other room for is Frankie Feliciano, who’s recorded for Masters At Work, King Street, Nervous and various other NTC labels. He’ll be bringing in soulful deep house all the way.
Saturday 29 Jan, Egg, 200 York Way, London, N7, 10pm-10am, £13 adv/£15 door, more info at www.muakparty.com, press info from Jo/Nix at Phuture Trax.
READ MORE ABOUT: Ian Pooley | Muak
Friday 28 January 2011, 11:26 | By CMU Editorial
So, who is going to buy EMI?
Business News EMI Sale Timeline Labels & Publishers Top Stories
With everyone now seemingly certain that Citigroup will take over control of EMI this spring – with the major’s current owners Terra Firma unable or, more to the point, unwilling to provide an extra cash boost to ensure the music firm meets the covenants of its mega-bucks loan with the US bank – the Wall Street Journal has moved on to writing lists of which buyers Citi execs might then sell the British music major on to.
Most we already knew about, with equity firm KKR, co-owners of the ever expansive BMG, and long time EMI suitor Warner Music, leading the list of potential buyers Citigroup has supposedly had contact with. It’s been mooted for sometime that the KKR-backed BMG might buy the EMI music publishing business, leaving the EMI record companies for Warner to snap up. Though there is still a chance BMG might bid for the labels instead, or that either buyer might go for the whole shebang.
Of course, there is the question as to whether Warner Music, without a cash rich parent company or backer, could afford to bid for EMI at all. Though, as previously reported, the company does have Goldman Sachs in the house as we speak reviewing all its options, leading to speculation it might sell off its publishing business Warner/Chappell to fund an acquisition of some or all of EMI.
KKR is also thought to be a potential bidder for Warner/Chappell, though the Telegraph reported this week that Sony’s publishing division Sony/ATV is also interested. Or it was late last year when, the broadsheet claims, it put in a call to Warner Music supremo Edgar Bronfman Jr to float the idea of him selling Warner/Chappell to them.
The Telegraph also claims that, having heard about that Sony/ATV call, Terra Firma boss Guy Hands then suggested to Edgar he use the money to buy the EMI record labels, Hands allegedly hoping a quick deal could be done to pre-empt Citigroup from taking control. Though for Terra Firma to sell the EMI labels to Warner would have needed Citigroup approval anyway.
Anyway, most of that is old news, who else is the WSJ tipping as possible EMI bidders if and when Citigroup take control and put it up for sale? Well, the other two music majors for starters – so Sony and Universal – though any attempts by them to buy EMI would surely interest competition regulators in the US and Europe which might make any sale slow, tedious and expensive (even a Warner deal might come with those strings attached, it certainly would have done five years ago).
Like the Mail last weekend, the WSJ also says that Citigroup has spoken to Terra Firma – despite the bitter legal battle the two firms were embroiled in late last year – about the it buying the company back, in a deal which would enable the equity group to keep EMI in its portfolio but with nearly half the debt burden; in that the £3 billion Citigroup debt would be written off, but Terra Firma would have to borrow another £1.8 billion from someone else to buy the music major back.
Quite where Hands would get the £1.8 billion from isn’t clear, though the WSJ claims he has spoken to Canadian pension fund CPP about them helping to finance the deal, it possibly being the Terra Firma-backing Canadian institution that was rumoured to have been most supportive when Hands last needed to raise cash to inject into EMI last year.
If that doesn’t work, one City source has told The Journal, Citigroup might even consider helping out by providing Hands with a brand new loan. Which would be brilliant. Citigroup seize EMI from Terra Firma because of an old bank loan gone bad, and then sell it to Terra Firma by providing it with a new bank loan. It seems unlikely, but it would be a crazy turn of events if it were to happen.
Talking of crazy rumours, The Journal’s last bit of EMI-related gossip is the suggestion that Simon Cowell’s Syco might bid. I have a feeling this is a rumour primarily created to inject a bit of celebrity in the proceedings, but the WSJ says that “people familiar with the matter” claim that the top guard at the Sony-backed Cowell-controlled music and telly firm have discussed the idea.
Even if that’s not true at all, perhaps Cowell could turn all of this into a reality TV show – EMI’s Got Talent – in which a public phone vote decides which gullible suitor gets to buy the London music firm. If the ‘Citi sells it back to Terra Firma’ thing is really an option, that would make quite good telly.
READ MORE ABOUT: Citigroup | EMI | Sony Music | Sony Music Publishing | Syco | Terra Firma | Universal Music | Warner Chappell | Warner Music
Friday 28 January 2011, 11:25 | By CMU Editorial
Napster back in court, lose
Legal
Ah, Napster losing in court, it’s like the good old days all over again. Except, of course, this is a totally different Napster to the one that dominated the early file-sharing court battles in America.
Yes, Napster v2.0 may be a legitimate digital music service, but it’s not immune to the occasional legal squabble. This one relates to Napster’s licensing deals with US independent label Rounder Records, and more specifically the publishing royalties due on tracks released by the indie and then sold or distributed by the digital service to its customers.
Napster has had two licensing deals with Rounder. The second, struck in 2006, specifically mentioned the mechanical royalties due to a song’s publishers whenever a Rounder recording was sold, and said it was the label’s job to ensure those were paid, and to indemnify Napster against any related claims. The original deal from 2001, however, did not saying anything so explicit about those royalties, meaning some initially went unpaid.
In 2006, copyright administration company MSC Music America arrived on the scene claiming to represent the owners of some of the songs on which publishing had not been sorted, and promptly sued. An out of court settlement followed two years later, but by that point Napster had run up $1.3 million in legal bills.
Napster promptly sued Rounder Records to recover that money, I think on the basis that under the first contract the label had an implied duty to sort out mechanicals, and under the second they had an stated obligation to cover any legal costs the digital firm incurred related to publishing royalty disputes on their recordings.
But, according to the Hollywood Reporter, a New York judge this week found in favour of Rounder Records, saying that it was the 2006 contract that mattered – it superseding the original agreement – and that in the section of that document that dealt with indemnity it was agreed Napster would get Rounder’s prior “written consent” before running up any costs. It didn’t, so no damages were due.
The original Napster, of course, was sued into bankruptcy. Roxio bought the brand name, eventually spinning it off into a separate company, which is now a subsidiary of Best Buy.
READ MORE ABOUT: Napster | Rounder Records
Friday 28 January 2011, 11:24 | By CMU Editorial
Gold Panda wins Guardian First Album award
Awards
Well, this is good news. Gold Panda’s debut album, ‘Lucky Shiner’, hasn’t won nearly enough awards, if you ask me. The Guardian has now gone some way to redressing that but giving the producer its First Album Award.
Guardian music writer, and one of the award’s judges, Alexis Petridis said: “The prosaic reason that Gold Panda won is because it was the album the judges found themselves listening to most. It sounds very warm and human and inviting – it’s someone using synthesisers and samples to give you a sense of themselves, rather than rock a dancefloor”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Gold Panda
