Friday 29 June 2012, 19:00 | By

CMU Weekly Podcast – Friday 29 Jun 2012

Setlist

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review the week in music and the music business, including Glastonbury’s split from Festival Republic, OfCom’s shiny new three-strikes code (or incomplete draft thereof), the cover star of Placebo’s debut album threatening to sue, and Deadmau5′s distaste for live performance. Get the CMU Weekly Podcast every Friday by signing up via iTunes or RSS.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 18:34 | By

Editor’s Letter: How live do you need to be?

CMU Weekly Editor's Letter

Andy Malt

Debate has raged in the world of dance music (or EDM, as we’re apparently supposed to call it now) recently following comments variously made by Canadian producer Deadmau5, real name Joel Zimmerman, about how live (or not) his contemporaries’ sets may really be.

Appearing on the cover of this month’s Rolling Stone, Zimmerman said: “David Guetta has two iPods and a mixer and he just plays tracks – like: ‘Here’s one with Akon, check it out!’ Even Skrillex isn’t doing anything too technical [live]. He has a laptop and a MIDI recorder, and he’s just playing his shit … People are, thank God, smartening up about who does what, but there’s still button-pushers getting paid half a million. Not to say I’m not a button-pusher. I’m just pushing a lot more buttons”.

Although not actually named by Deadmau5 in said interview, Swedish House Mafia have come in for similar button-pusher criticism in the past – in particular the group’s Steve Angello is accused of miming his DJ sets, which he has both dismissed as unfounded and insisted to be necessary – so someone from Rolling Stone duly bounded up to his bandmate Sebastian Ingrosso, at a recent show where he was DJing, to quiz him on Deadmau5’s comments.

“That’s interesting that he said that, because that’s exactly what he does – but we don’t”, said the Swedish producer. “We have four CD players [and] six hands, so we’re going in and out all the time, otherwise we would be bored and take our fuckin lives”.

Now whether or not having more hands (collectively) than Deadmau5 really means the Mafia are automatically doing more on stage I’m not sure, but I think his point is that, even if they’re not performing the tracks truly live, they are recreating them using DJ skills to play and beat-match the various parts, so that fans get something more than just the studio recording through big speakers.

Ingrosso’s remarks, and various other critical voices (some following his set at the Hackney Weekend on Saturday), led Deadmau5 to publish a blog post on the issue. Entitled “We all hit play”, it’s possible the producer wanted to knock the debate on its head, though instead he just stirred the pot further.

He wrote: “When it comes to ‘live’ performance of EDM [just pressing play is] about the most it seems you can do anyway. It’s not about performance art, it’s not about talent either (really it’s not) … I think given about one hour of instruction, anyone with minimal knowledge of Ableton, and music tech in general, could do what I’m doing at a Deadmau5 concert. Just like I think ANY DJ in the WORLD who can match a beat can do what ANYONE else (not going to mention any names) is doing on their EDM stages too”.

When he performs his full live show, Deadmau5 continued, there is a small amount of live tweaking, but much of what he plays is pre-mixed tracks (or portions of tracks) that he just drops into Ableton Live to mix. And even if he wanted to do more of it actually live, he added, he’s constrained by the fact that the music is synced up to lights and visuals.

For more low key shows, he added: “I just roll up with a laptop and a midi controller, ‘select’ tracks and hit a spacebar. Ableton syncs the shit up for me… so no beat-matching skill required. Beat-matching isn’t even a fucking skill anyway as far as I’m concerned. So what, you can count to four. Cool. I had that skill down when I was three, so don’t give me that argument please”.

Justifying his views, he concluded: “My ‘skills’, and other PRODUCERS’ skills, shine where it needs to shine… in the goddamned studio, and on the fucking releases. That’s what counts … But to stand up and say you’re doing something special outside of a studio environment, when you’re not, just plain fuckin annoys me”.

Which is all well and good, except that I’m not sure saying “I do my work in the studio, the live show is secondary” is actually that good an excuse. I mean, all artists – whatever the genre – utilise a different set of skills in the studio, and often employ different techniques on recorded music, but that doesn’t mean studio sessions are by definition more important than live shows. And besides, if your focus is 100% on getting the most out of the recording studio, why bother performing live at all? It’s not a prerequisite that every studio artist must also have a stage show. Though, of course, you might find that the live shows are generating bigger cheques these days.

Now, for the record, I’m not someone who thinks artists should always play everything totally live. I’m completely fine with people – from any genre – using backing tracks and pre-programmed stuff where they feel it’s necessary, whether for logistical or artistic reasons. The key is how it comes across to the audience. In his post Deadmau5 adds that it’s “the people who came to appreciate the music, the lights” who make the show great. Which may be true – and if the punters are happy, and the box office pays out, then what’s the problem? Button-pusher critics should shut up.

But it’s not helpful for Deadmau5 to suggest that he takes the easy route because it’s pretty much the only route that works, or matters. Electronic shows do not have to be just about pressing buttons, and numerous artists in and on the peripharies of the genre have proven that with great live shows. Some on a massive scale, some achieved in small venues on zero budgets. Some focusing on the lights and visuals (which can be awe inspiring), others on finding ways to actually recreate their electronic sound on the fly, whether with collaborators or a clever use of technologies. The latter way often means accepting a sound that is somewhat less polished than the studio recording, but often that enhances the live experience, in much the same way a garbled lyric or mistaken chord can at a rock gig.

As I say, if your fans go crazy for a simple button-pushing show, and if you have the budget to provide the lighting and visual extravaganzas that often complete such concerts, and if you’re happy to just stand there waving your arms night after night, well that’s fine. And perhaps Deadmau5 is right that it’s better to be honest about such things than to pretend you’re doing more than you really are on stage. But it would be a shame if such an attitude puts off those artists who do have ambitions to recreate their electronic music totally live, or a vision to do something truly amazing on stage.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

PS: The dates for next year’s Great Escape festival have been announced. Clear 16-18 May 2013 in you diary and book your Super Earlybird tickets for just £80 now.

PODCAST
It’s back! Did you miss it? It’s OK, no need to answer that, I know you did. On this week’s podcast Chris and I discuss Glastonbury’s split from Festival Republic, OfCom’s shiny new three-strikes code (or incomplete draft thereof), the cover star of Placebo’s debut album threatening to sue, and Deadmau5’s distaste for live performance. You’ll be able to hear it all (well, not the rubbish bits we’ve edited out, but the rest of it) later this weekend on theCMUwebsite.com or iTunes.

IN THE NEWS
Last weekend would have been Glastonbury Weekend. Thankfully it happened to be taking a year off, so 180,000 people avoided being caught up in what would have been an inevitable mud bath given the awful weather (maybe some of them enjoyed the mud at the Isle Of Wight festival instead). Still, you need to mark the passing of Glasto Weekend somehow, which Michael Eavis and co chose to do by announcing the end of the event’s decade-long relationship with Melvin Benn’s Festival Republic.

Also announcing something this week was OfCom, which wandered in with its brand new draft code on how that whole three-strike anti-piracy system is going to work. Well, it laid out how strikes one and two, the sending of warning letters to alleged file-sharers, could work, as well as outlining the initial appeals system for the falsely accused. There’ll now be some more consultation on the new draft, which will take at least another six months. Still, lots of people in the music industry seemed pleased about things.

Not at all pleased was the Musicians’ Union, which hit out at the London Organising Committee Of The Olympic And Paralympic Games (LOCOG for short) over accusations that it was asking musicians performing at events relating to the Games to do so for free. There were also reports that musicians were being offered very low sync fees to have their music played in the Olympic Park.

In acquisitions news this week, it was confirmed that Global had put in a successful bid to buy The Guardian’s GMG Radio business. However, the UK radio giant’s competitors vowed to object to the deal.

Elsewhere in controversial purchases, Live Nation’s Irving Azoff criticised the opponents of Universal’s proposed purchase of the EMI record labels who spoke in front of US Congress last week. Then the boss of independent distribution and marketing company Mark Chadwick said that Universal CEO Lucian Grainge had used quotes by him out of context to make it look like he supports the merger, when he does not.

With regards the other big EMI deal, the Sony-led bid to buy EMI Music Publishing, the European Commission published a summary this week of why it approved that takeover earlier this year without undertaking an indepth investigation. And then the US Federal Trade Commission announced it was also approving the deal (that bit of news has only just occured – more in Monday’s CMU Daily), meaning the Sony acquisition of EMI’s publishing business will now definitely go ahead.

In the ongoing MegaUpload saga, this week the defendants scored a win when a New Zealand judge ruled that the police there had not had proper warrants when they raided the home of MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom earlier this year and ordered the return of data seized. Dotcom himself also racked up a PR coup when Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak confirmed he was a supporter.

Artist-focussed court news this week saw the boy (now a 28 year old man) who appeared on the cover of Placebo’s debut album threatening to sue the band for ruining his life, and One Direction countersuing One Direction for suing One Direction for using the One Direction name when in fact, say One Direction, they have more right than One Direction to use the One Direction name in the US. Got that?

Finally, it was announced this morning that just six months short of its tenth anniversary, The Word magazine will close next month. Good luck for the future to all those who have been involved over the last (almost) decade.

FEATURES AND NEW MUSIC
For this week’s interview we spoke to Future Of The Left frontman Andy Falkous, while former Postal Service member Dntel put together a playlist for us (specifically to be played while floating down a river on a rubber ring). The Beef Of The Week this week concentrated on a dispute between photographers and The Stone Roses ahead of the band’s Heaton Park shows, and in his column Eddy Temple-Morris handed over to Embrace frontman Danny McNamara. Plus, of course, we had all the latest festival line-up updates.

In the Approved column this week we had alt-rap troupe WHY?, serial indie collaborator Chris Cohen, new indie-pop type Igor Volk and Japanese dream pop producer Cuushe.

Elsewhere, we had the utterly ridiculous new video from Lana Del Rey, a Fleetwood Mac cover from Lykke Li, a new track featuring Emmy The Great from Dan Le Sac, a new video from Rita Ora, and new tracks from Com Truise, Toy and Tashaki Miyaki. Plus, Mumford & Sons, Efterklang, Tame Impala, Rancid, Erased Tapes and Blur all put out videos this week previewing various things.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:25 | By

The music business week in five – 29 Jun 2012

Business News Week In Five

Chris Cooke

So, what a very busy week for music news this has been, making it pretty hard to get the week down to just five key developments. But look, I’ve done it anyway! Though let me remind you here in this top bit that tickets also went of sale for the 2013 edition of The Great Escape this week, more info here. And now, the week in five.

01: Glastonbury parted company with Festival Republic. The uber-festival has been working with Melvin Benn’s festivals company for ten years, it assisting Glasto on licensing, logistical and security matters, and helping the event fully gain the confidence of its local council’s licensing committee. The parting is amicable, with Benn wanting to focus on his company’s other expanding portfolio of music events, and Glastonbury now confident it can bring logistical matters back in-house. Benn will assist with the appointment and briefing of a new Logistical Director. CMU report | Festival Republic statement

02: Guardian Media Group sold its radio company to Global Radio, after weeks of speculation that a sale was in the offing. A bidding war between Global and rivals Bauer for the Smooth and Real Radio networks reportedly pushed the asking price up to £70 million. The deal with be subject to competition regulator approval, as Global is already the UK’s biggest radio firm, and the acquisition of GMG Radio will give it over a 50% share of the radio advertising market. Bauer, UTV Radio and Absolute Radio have all already called on regulators to block the deal. CMU report | FT report

03: OfCom published a new draft of its three-strikes code, which outlines how the warning letters ISPs have to send suspected file-sharers under the 2010 Digital Economy Act will work. There are only a few changes from an earlier draft of the code, relating to how rights owners will monitor file-sharing, what information suspected file-sharers will receive, and how they can appeal if they believe they have been falsely accused. The content industries said “about time too, let’s get this moving”, while opponents to three-strikes said the whole system was still fundamentally flawed. Stakeholders, the European Commission and Parliament will all have further input before anything is approved, so letters are unlikely to be sent until 2014. CMU report | Reactions

04: The Word announced it was closing. The popular music magazine’s August edition will be its last. Co-founder and publisher David Hepworth wrote “dramatic changes in the media and the music business have made it more difficult for a small independent magazine to survive and provide its staff with a living”. CMU report | The Word statement

05: A US judge accused Universal of trying to ‘bamboozle’ the court in the FBT case, the landmark legal battle over what level of royalties artists should receive from their digital sales. Having already won the right to a higher cut of income, the Eminem collaborators are to return to court soon to work out how much more money Universal should pay them. But the major only plans to account for revenues received directly by Eminem’s label Aftermath, and not revenues generated from Eminem record sales for other Universal subsidiaries around the world. FBT want to dispute this approach in court, but Universal said the judge hearing the case had already approved that method when clarifying some points about an earlier ruling late last year. But said judge disagreed, saying the major had tried to “bamboozle” the court and defendants by assuming a very specific point had been addressed by asking a very generic question. Meaning Universal’s financial reporting approach will be discussed when the parties in this case return to court. CMU report | Hollywood Reporter report

And that is your lot for now, though look out for the latest CMU podcast going online this weekend.

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:24 | By

Approved: Yoyoyo 90s Jam

Club Tip

Yoyoyo 90s Jam

Taking place in an as yet undisclosed warehouse location in East London, Soul Clap will be bringing together a night of early 90s-style raving tomorrow night.

The US-centric line-up will feature a headline DJ set from San Franciscan house DJ and producer Doc Martin, plus newer names on the scene The Martinez Brothers, while former vocalist for Chicago deep house pioneers Fingers Inc, Robert Owens, will be over for a special live set. And rounding it all off will be residents Soul Clap.

These Yo 90s Jam raves always have great line-ups and go down well, so this should be a party to remember.

Saturday 30 Jun, secret warehouse location, 10pm – 6am, £15-£20, more info and tickets from here.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:23 | By

The Word magazine to close

Media Top Stories

The Word

Popular music magazine The Word is to cease publishing, its publisher David Hepworth confirmed this morning. The next issue, the August edition published in mid-July, will be the last. The independent title would have been ten years old next February.

Hepworth writes: “We regret to announce that the August issue of The Word, which will be published in the second week of July, will be the last. In the nine years since the magazine launched there have been dramatic changes in the media and the music business. These changes have made it more difficult for a small independent magazine to survive and provide its staff with a living. This hasn’t been made any easier by the economic climate of the wider world”.

He continues: “We would like to thank all the staff members past and present, plus the writers, photographers, illustrators, artists, PRs and advertisers who have helped make the magazine what it has been. We also want to thank the backers who have supported us throughout. Most of all we want to thank you, the readers. Your heartfelt involvement with the magazine – via its pages, its website, its events and its podcasts – have made the last nine years one of the most satisfying periods of our working lives. [Co-founder and Editor] Mark [Ellen] has written about this in greater detail in the August issue”.

It’s not clear whether this will have any impact on the rest of Hepworth’s business Development Hell, which also publishes Mixmag and social network site dontstayin.com.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:22 | By

EC publishes summary of its decision on Sony buying EMI Publishing

Business News EMI Sale Timeline Labels & Publishers Top Stories

EMI Music Publishing

The European Commission has published a full 84 page summary of its decision regards the acquisition by a Sony-led consortium of EMI Music Publishing. As previously reported, the deal was given the all clear by European regulators in April after Sony offered a number of concessions, ie selling off the Virgin and Famous UK song catalogues. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval in the US.

As assumed, a key factor in the regulators’ decision-making was the complicated ownership structure of the EMI publishing company post any deal. Although Sony’s existing publishing firm, Sony/ATV, will control EMI day-to-day, the EMI publishing business will remain a separate entity co-owned by Sony/ATV and a number of other investors. And as it is, of course, Sony Corp does not own Sony/ATV outright, it being a 50/50 joint venture with the Michael Jackson estate.

This is different than with the other big EMI deal, ie Universal’s bid to buy the EMI record company. Universal Music is one entity owned by one parent company, and it plans to absorb the EMI labels whole, creating one mega music firm. But with Sony’s bid, although Sony Corp will have an interest in the Sony Music record company, the Sony/ATV publishing firm and EMI Music Publishing, all three will remain autonomous, and the latter two will have other shareholders, a fact that has allayed some of the European regulator’s concerns regarding the group’s market dominance.

According to pan-European indie labels trade body IMPALA, which has opposed both the EMI sales, the EC’s report also concludes that online services and/or piracy will not, in their own right, constrain the “excessive market power” of big rights owners. This is important because one of Universal’s counter-arguments to claims by opponents that a combined Universal/EMI would have too much power over the digital music domain, is that the dominance of certain digital service providers and the threat of online piracy constrains the rights owners power over things like pricing.

Commenting on the report, IMPALA boss Helen Smith told CMU: “We welcome the decision’s confirmation that neither online customers nor piracy are capable of restraining excessive market power in music. It also acknowledges that online platforms are being asked to pay more for Anglo-American music than local music, which is exactly what we predicted”.

She continued: “Against that backdrop, the merger is bad news for publishers and writers, as well as for collecting societies and any label or online service which needs to be able to rely on fair terms. We believe the remedies do not go anywhere close to securing future competition. We now need to study the EC’s reasons in detail with our legal team to decide next steps”.

The EC decision can be downloaded here

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:20 | By

Essential chief says he was misquoted at Congressional hearing on EMI

Business News EMI Sale Timeline Labels & Publishers Top Stories

EMI

Elsewhere in EMI takeover news, the MD of UK-based distribution company Essential Music & Marketing, Mike Chadwick, has filed a short statement with the US Senate anti-trust subcommittee, which last week held a hearing on Universal’s bid to buy the EMI labels, claiming he was quoted out of context at the hearing by the mega-major’s big bad boss man Lucian Grainge.

In his submission to the committee, Grainge name checked a couple of independent music execs who had gone on the record as saying that, in the digital era, they felt it was easier for their companies to compete against even the biggest record companies. One of those execs was Chadwick who, in an interview with Music Week earlier this year, said that he didn’t feel directly threatened by a combined Universal/EMI, because as the majors get ever bigger, there is an increasing number of artists who are looking for other options, such as using a smaller independent distribution company like his.

Grainge noted that Chadwick had said of the EMI deal, “Is it good for us? It’s great for us”. However, the Essential chief says that was quoted out of context because, while he doesn’t feel directly threatened by the looming merger, he did express concerns, in the same interview, about the wider implications of further consolidation in the record industry. Clarifying his viewpoint, Chadwick submitted the following to Congress this week:

“Lucian Grainge’s testimony to the Subcommitee on Antitrust, Competition Policy And Consumer Rights last week contained a selective quote from an expansive interview I gave Music Week magazine in the UK earlier this year. Mr Grainge suggested that I believed the proposed merger was a positive step for the business. In fact, my interview offered a view in which I questioned whether the merger would be good for the music business”.

“To clarify further, my company is a sales, distribution and services company and tends not to compete on label or artist signings with Universal or EMI, however I nevertheless believe that the concentration of market power that would result from the merger would be a negative step for the industry and for independents”.

“My considered view is the increase in market share and market power of the merged company would give it too much leverage with important gatekeepers such as radio, TV, music magazines and other media, as well as across retail. Therefore, although the transaction could free up certain artists, given Universal’s enhanced market power, those artists would have significant difficulty in accessing media and commercial outlets on level terms. A merger would also enhance Universal’s ability to abuse its dominant position in the emerging digital market and this would be certain to disadvantage independents in their ability to compete across the world”.

As previously reported, although last week’s Congressional hearing made for entertaining viewing, what really matter to Universal are the regulatory investigations being undertaken by the FTC in the US and the European Commission over here.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:19 | By

New Zealand judge confirms MegaUpload raid and data share illegal

Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline

MegaUpload

A New Zealand judge confirmed for certain yesterday that the warrants used for the raid on the home of MegaUpload founder Kim ‘Dotcom’ Schmitz back in January were illegal, while also agreeing with the tech man’s lawyers that the FBI should not have been allowed to take copies of data seized during that raid back to the US.

As previously reported, it first emerged back in March that police had secured the wrong kind of warrant before they raided Dotcom’s mansion at the request of the US authorities. The raid was part of a united effort with American officials to shut down the controversial MegaUpload file-transfer service, which is accused of widespread copyright infringement.

Then earlier this month it was revealed that the FBI had taken copies of data stored on hard disks seized during the raid, back to the US. MegaUpload attorneys argued this breached the rules that said any seized property must stay within New Zealand, though the country’s police countered that that rule only applied to physical property, not data.

But Judge Helen Winkelmann disagreed yesterday, ordering New Zealand police to return the data files to Dotcom. While on the warrant issue, she told the court: “The warrants did not adequately describe the offences to which they related. Indeed they fell well short of that. They were general warrants, and as such, are invalid”.

It’s not really clear what judicial confirmation of errors having been made by officials means for the criminal case against Dotcom and his fellow former MegaUpload executives, though obviously it’s embarrassing for New Zealand police, and arguably gives the Mega team some claim to the moral high ground. America’s application to have Dotcom et al extradited back to the States is still ongoing. Meanwhile New Zealand police said yesterday they were considering the judgement and were in discussions with the Crown Law Office “to determine what further action might be required”.

According to the Australian Associated Press, MegaUpload’s main legal rep Ira Rothken told Radio New Zealand earlier today: “One would think, with such a large case, that they would have a higher standard of care in how they conducted themselves. In terms of egregious behaviour, this is at the high end of the scale of egregious, wrongful intrusion on privacy”.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:17 | By

Music Video Awards voting opens

Awards

UK Music VIdeo Awards

Entries are now being accepted for the 2012 edition of the UK Music Video Awards, which will be presented in London in November. Details of categories are online at www.ukmva.com and the deadline for entering is 3 Aug.

UK MVA Editorial Director David Knight told CMU: “The MVAs has become a globally-recognised event for celebrating the outstanding creative work in music videos in the UK and around the world. Last year filmmakers travelled from Europe and the United States to attend our biggest show ever. It was a very good night indeed – and I’m sure the fifth MVAs will be the best one yet. Apart from anything else, you won’t have to fight past the builders in Leicester Square to get into the Empire this year!”

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:16 | By

DJ Poll voting opens

Awards Media

DJ Magazine

Voting is also now open for the annual DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll, with voting taking place through Facebook, though clubbers and dance music fans should visit www.djmag.com/top100 first for information. Voting will run until 29 Aug, with the winners announced at an awards party during the Amsterdam Dance Event in October.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:14 | By

Universal signs Rod Stewart

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Rod Stewart

Universal Music announced a new deal with Rod Stewart earlier this week, he having previously worked with Sony on his most recent releases. The new partnership with Universal will include the release of the aging singer’s first ever Christmas album. So that’s something for us all to look forward to.

Confirming the new worldwide partnership, Universal top man Lucian Grainge told reporters: “I’ve known Rod and [his manager] Arnold [Stiefel] for many years and have been wanting to work with them for some time. Rod possesses one of pop music’s most inventive and memorable voices; and we’re delighted to be part of the next great chapter in his already storied career. UMG remains committed to artistic creativity and expanding opportunities for artists in the marketplace. And nowhere is this more evident than in our new partnership with an artist of Rod’s calibre”.

Stewart himself added: “I’m confident that by partnering with my fellow CBE, Lucian, and his cracking, top-notch company, we have the best team in the business”.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:14 | By

Noisettes announce Absolute alliance for self-release

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers Releases

The Noisettes

Noisettes and their management company SEG UK have announced an alliance with label services company Absolute Marketing & Distribution to release the band’s new album ‘Contact’ in August. The new record will come out on the band’s own label MONA-RA-RAMA with Absolute providing project management, sales, distribution and marketing support.

The band’s manager John Arnison told CMU: “We are delighted to have partnered up with Absolute Marketing for the release of the new Noisettes album, which is their strongest album yet. We wanted the release to be independent, but I required a partner on this that both I and the band could have faith would help deliver”.

He continued: “I have worked with Absolute on many projects as they have the expertise in house that is needed to bring a high profile record to market. Absolute provide all the skills of an established and successful record label whilst we retain the ultimate ownership, which is the perfect partnership”.

Listen to the album’s lead single, ‘Winner’, here:

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:12 | By

Skrillex composing film score

Artist News

Skrillex

Young Skrillex is masterminding an original musical score for the new movie from director Harmony Korine (‘Kids’, ‘Gummo’), ‘Spring Breakers’. The frat-step DJ’s part in the project was confirmed to Pitchfork by Wes Anderson collaborator Randall Poster, who happens to be acting as music supervisor on the Korine film.

Starring a very zeitgeisty Hollywood cast including James Franco and Selena Gomez, ‘Spring Breakers’ and its Skrillex-y score are set to premiere in 2013.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:11 | By

Mumford & Sons release video trailer

Releases

Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons may just be about to double their discography (ie release a second album), having published one of those suggestive video trailers featuring a horse. Though who knows, perhaps they just really like horses.

View the rustic promo, which also features some maritime semaphore flags allegedly spelling out the word ‘Babel’, here:

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:10 | By

Lykke Li, MGMT cover Fleetwood Mac for tribute LP

Releases

Lykke Li

Myriad ‘indie’-type artists have covered Fleetwood Mac standards for a new tribute LP, ‘Just Tell Me That You Want Me’. As you’ll note via the below tracklisting, Best Coast, Tame Impala, Marianne Faithfull, Washed Out and St Vincent all feature on the collection, which is out for purchase from 14 Aug.

Stream the donation from Lykke Li here:

Lee Ranaldo Band feat J Mascis – Albatross
Antony – Landslide
Trixie Whitley – Before The Beginning
Billy Gibbons & Co – Oh Well
Best Coast – Rhiannon
The New Pornographers – Think About Me
Marianne Faithfull – Angel
Lykke Li – Silver Springs
Karen Elson – Gold Dust Woman
Matt Sweeney And Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Storms
Washed Out – Straight Back
Tame Impala – That’s All For Everyone
Craig Wedren feat St Vincent – Sisters Of The Moon
The Kills – Dreams
Gardens And Villa – Gypsy
The Crystal Ark – Tusk
MGMT – Future Games

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:05 | By

Tim Burgess details solo LP, tour dates

Gigs & Festivals Releases

Tim Burgess

Solo Charlatans blonde Tim Burgess has other things to do besides devising hypothetical cereals, you know, namely preparing a sophomore solo LP titled ‘Oh No I Love You’ to succeed his 2003 debut, ‘I Believe’.

Set for self-release via Burgess’s own label O Genesis on 24 Sep, it features various members of Lambchop, My Morning Jacket and Factory Floor, as well as Earl Scruggs’ grandson Chris Scruggs and lo fi character R Stevie Moore (who, as it happens, has his own greatest hits record coming out via Burgess’s label soon).

Burgess will be touring to promote the new record with a five-piece band, featuring The Charlatans guitarist Mark Collins, on the dates shown below.

But first, a tracklisting:

White
The Doors Of Then
A Case For Vinyl
The Graduates
Hours
Tobacco Fields
Anytime Minutes
The Great Outdoors Bitches
The Economy
A Gain

Tour dates:

18 Oct: Aberdeen, Lemon Tree
19 Oct: Glasgow, Oran Mor
20 Oct: Manchester, Deaf Institute
22 Oct: Birmingham, Glee Club
23 Oct: Bristol, Thekla
24 Oct: London, Union Chapel
26 Oct: Dublin, Workman’s Club
27 Oct: Belfast, Stiff Kitten

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:04 | By

Rita Ora sets live dates

Gigs & Festivals

Rita Ora

Nondescript Rihanna replica Rita Ora has announced a couple of headline dates to match her er… truly revelatory new single ‘How We Do (Party)’. It’s good that the “party” part is in parentheses, lest we forget to party (“and bullshit”, as the track also urges).

Ms Ora will be playing Manchester’s Sound Control on 29 Aug before gracing The Scala in London on 30 Aug.

‘How We Do (Party)’ will be available in all self-respecting pop music shops as of 12 Aug, and here is its video:

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:01 | By

How To Dress Well to play ‘intimate’ London show

Gigs & Festivals

How To Dress Well

Ethereal R&B tastemaker How To Dress Well is to play at north east London’s premier under-construction nightspot, the Vice-owned Birthdays, on 8 Aug.

CMU approved producer Tom Krell will be present to preview (and promote) his new LP ‘Total Loss’, which is out by way of Weird World on 17 Sep.

When that happens, its tracklisting will look like this:

When I Was In Trouble
Cold Nites
Say My Name Or Say Whatever
Running Back
& It Was U
World I Need You, Won’t Be Without You (Proem)
Struggle
How Many?
Talking To You
Set It Right
Ocean Floor For Everything

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Friday 29 June 2012, 12:00 | By

Micachu & The Shapes to tour

Gigs & Festivals

Micachu & The Shapes

Art-pop trio Micachu & The Shapes will mark the approaching release of their new LP, ‘Never’, which a number of live dates, the first of which is a special album launch party at London’s Arcola Theatre Tent.

As previously reported, ‘Never’ is out via Rough Trade on 24 Jul.

Tour dates:

24 Jul: London, Arcola Theatre Tent
13 Oct: Brighton, Coalition
14 Oct: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
16 Oct: Glasgow, Captain’s Rest
17 Oct: Manchester, Islington Mill
19 Oct: Bristol, Colston Hall

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Friday 29 June 2012, 11:58 | By

Festival line-up update – 29 Jun 2012

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

Bestival

BESTIVAL, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight, 6-9 Sep: Bestival has just taken on a further horde of resident artists, not least David Rodigan, Kate Nash, Summer Camp, Disclosure, Dan Le Sac, Scroobius Pip and Rudimental, who join headliners New Order, Stevie Wonder and Orbital. www.bestival.net

BOOKSTOCK, Shoreditch, London, 26 Aug: Dub Pistols, We Were Evergreen, Mark Archer, Bikini Beach Band and many more are now poised to be part of The Book Club’s Summer street fest, which is free to attend with a priority wristband. www.wearetbc.com/bookstock

MERTHYR ROCK, Cyfarthfa Park, Merthyr, Wales, 31 Aug – 2 Sep: Razorlight, Skindred and Kids In Glass Houses have now been named as headliners across Merthyr Rock’s three-day rosters, as also feature Deaf Havana, Yashin, Lower Than Atlantis and Saves The Day. www.merthyrrock.com

UNSOUND, Krakow, Poland, 14-21 Aug: Taking place beneath the banner theme ‘THE END’, Unsound’s second wave of conscriptions includes Hieroglyphic Being, Voices From The Lake, Shackleton, Kuedo, Colly G, Taxman and Evian Christ, all of whom align with Julia Holter, aTelecine, V/Vm, Tim Hecker and Oneoftrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin on the festival’s line-up at large. www.unsound.pl

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Friday 29 June 2012, 11:47 | By

Vivendi chief resigns

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Vivendi

The CEO of Universal Music’s parent company, Vivendi, Jean-Bernard Levy, is departing the French media and telecoms conglom following a disagreement regarding the strategic direction of the group. The somewhat sudden departure follows denied speculation that Vivendi might split its business empire into two.

Levy had been Vivendi’s CEO for a decade, having initially joined a company on the brink. The one-time water firm had over-expanded in the late 1990s, and was facing major financial problems, not to mention allegations of false reporting. Levy helped restructure the business, selling off some key entertainment assets, and enabled the firm to become strong again.

Though more recently shareholders have been getting tetchy because of the underperformance of the group’s French mobile business SFR, which has been struggling to battle some tough new competition of late. And despite recording an annual profit in 2011, investors were unhappy when the firm said earnings were unlikely to grow for at least two years because of SFR’s struggles.

The exact nature of the “disagreement regarding strategic direction” is not known, though it’s thought disagreements are mainly between Levy and the firm’s Chairman Jean-René Fourtou, and may relate to SFR’s fortunes. A US court ruling earlier this week relating to a decade old legal dispute with US-based Liberty Media (relating to those allegations of false reporting) may have also added to stresses, Vivendi having been ordered to Liberty 765 million Euros. The French firm plans to appeal.

Though, commenting on Levy’s sudden departure, a source told Reuters: “It’s not Jean-Bernard’s record, it’s not the situation at Vivendi, it’s not even the situation at SFR that’s the problem, it’s the future of the group”.

Confirming Levy would depart, Vivendi said in a statement last night: “A Vivendi Supervisory Board was held this June 28. Jean-Bernard Lévy is stepping down as Chairman of the Management Board following a divergence of views on the strategic development of the Group. The Supervisory Board wishes to thank Jean-Bernard Lévy for his contribution over the last ten years alongside Jean-René Fourtou”. The firm’s Legal Counsel Jean-Francois Dubos will take over from Levy, for the time being at least.

The change in leadership at Vivendi isn’t likely to have any major impact of Universal Music, or its bid to buy the EMI record company, which, insiders say, still has the full support of the group’s board.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 11:45 | By

EMI appoints new Classics A&R president

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

EMI

EMI UK yesterday announced the appointment of Jean-Philippe Rolland to the role of A&R President for classical music division EMI Classics. He previously held a senior A&R role at another EMI classical division, Virgin Classics, based in France. In his new role he will divide his time between Paris and London. He replaces Andrew Cornall, who will continue to consult for the major.

Confirming the appointment, EMI Music UK boss Andria Vidler told CMU: “I’m delighted that Jean-Philippe is joining EMI Classics in this important role to strengthen our A&R capability. Classical music is core to EMI and in Jean-Philippe we have one of the most experienced and respected A&Rs in the business”.

Rolland himself added: “I have been working closely with the EMI team in London for many years and it is my pleasure to strengthen our professional relationships to achieve more successful projects together”.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 11:44 | By

Digital appointments: 7Digital, Deezer, eMusic

Digital

7Digital

Download firm 7Digital announced the appointment of a new London-based VP of Global Marketing this week in the form of Kelaine Blades, who was most recently with mobile technology company AeroMobile. Says 7Digital chief Ben Drury: “Kelaine is an ideal addition to the 7Digital team. Our mobile offering has grown significantly over the past few years, and her experience will ensure this continues. We’re about to expand our product offering too, so she is joining us at just the right time”.

Elsewhere, streaming music platform Deezer announced the appointment of a new Director of International PR, Julie Harari-West formerly of global PR firm Weber Shandwick. Laurent Billion, Chief International Officer for Deezer told CMU: “Julie has joined our senior team in this new role created to help us build our brand worldwide as we continue to expand globally. Deezer is the leading music streaming service in France and with Julie’s help we will look to replicate this success around the world”.

And finally subscription-based download service eMusic has appointed an International Editor, Amber Cowan, who has had previous journalistic and editorial roles at the likes of The Times, BBC and London Lite. She will head up the firm’s UK-based editorial team. Says eMusic CEO Adam Klein: “As eMusic continues to grow its UK team, Amber’s experience in music journalism and her successful track record in securing exclusive interviews will help us continue to promote music discovery to our members, and bring them closer to the artists they love”.

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Friday 29 June 2012, 11:43 | By

CMU Beef Of The Week #116: Photographers v The Stone Roses

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses reunion gets underway properly tonight with the first of the band’s big Heaton Park show in Manchester. But will there be any evidence of this after the fact? A group of photographers have announced that they are boycotting the shows due to what they say are unfair contracts issued by the band’s management.

According to the BBC, the original contract demanded that professional photographers documenting the shows sign all rights in the photos they take over to the band for a sum of £1, and accept limits on what they could then do with their pictures. A revised contract was submitted on Monday, though this has seemingly not placated the angry photographers.

Ian Tilton, who has photographed the band throughout their career, including for album artwork, told the BBC that he supported the boycott, saying: “I understand that the Stone Roses want to make money from the pictures. But I don’t agree that the photographers can only use the pictures once, for one publication. The photographers should be allowed to earn money from the pictures they take”.

John Toner, who represents freelancers at the National Union Of Journalists, added: “Too many musical artistes now wish to grab rights from photographers. Having said that, people are surprised that The Stone Roses have chosen to go down this route. We fully understand why a band would wish to retain merchandising rights, and the photographers would be happy to concede this. Equally, a photographer must have the right to license editorial use of images without obtaining the band’s permission for each use”.

So, there you go. If you’re not going, then you’ll never see it. There will be no pictures. None. Not even one. Except all the shitty wobbly ones people will be tweeting. Oh, except what’s that you say, Murray Chalmers?

Asked for comment by the Beeb, the band’s press officer Chalmers said: “There is no boycott”. And before you say, ‘but it does sound quite a lot like there is one, he added: “We have a complete list, a full quota of photographers who are covering the concerts”.

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Thursday 28 June 2012, 12:12 | By

Playlist: Dntel

CMU Playlists

Dntel

Jimmy Tamborello released his first solo album as Dntel, ‘Early Works For Me If It Works For You’, in 1999. However, he first began to find real success with the project with the release of third album ‘Life Is Full Of Possibilities’ via Plug Research in 2001. Forming The Postal Service with Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard the same year, the follow-up didn’t come until Tamborello moved Dntel over to TPS’s label Sub Pop for 2007’s ‘Dumb Luck’.

Dntel’s latest album, ‘Aimlessness’, was released earlier this month via Pampa Records, a mix of dreamy pop and electronica which features collaborations with Nite Jewel and Baths, the latter on the single ‘Still’.

With the album out, we asked Jimmy to put together a playlist for us, which he has entitled ‘Innerspace Innertubing’, a name he explains thus: “It’s summertime so I figured I should make a floating down the river mix. Peaceful and pretty, but with a little bit of melancholy. To be honest, I have no idea what most of these songs are about lyrically because I have trouble paying attention to the words, but the mood seems right. And it’s mostly recent stuff (or newly reissued). An innertubing adventure listening to ‘…And Justice For All’ sounds just as appealing, really. I just want to go innertubing. Where do you do that?”

DNTEL’S TEN
Click here to listen to Dntel’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his choices.

01 Beachwood Sparks – Nature’s Light
This is my favourite song from Beachwood Sparks’ new album. It’s nice to have them back and sounding so good.

02 Connan Mockasin – Forever Dolphin Love (Mickey Moonlight Remix)
There’s an effortless feel to his music that I like. The original version of this song is good, too, but I like that this mix simplifies things a little. It sounds like floating in a swamp at night.

03 Sun Araw, M Geddes Gengras & The Congos – Food, Clothing And Shelter
Haziness and stuff bouncing around in the water.

04 Peaking Lights – Cosmic Tides
More haziness, dulled sounds and soothing vocals.

05 Daughn Gibson – Ray
This guy’s voice is a little intense for this voyage but I like the glowing mood of the song.

06 Trypes – From The Morning Glories
This might be the part where you hit some mild rapids. Daughn Gibson’s voice prepared you a little.

07 Paco Sala – Spiral
Those rapids stressed you out but now things are calm and you can appreciate your surroundings. I like that this song has a Cocteau Twins feel with by copying the Cocteau Twins.

08 Sumsun – Float/Dream
This whole EP is good river floating music.

09 Luke Abbott – Modern Driveway
If you have a DJ mixer on your innertube I think this would mix well out of the Sumsun track but bring the intensity up a little. This would be the climax of your ride.

10 Actress – IWAAD
Now you’re pulling your tube up onto the shore and the sun’s going down.

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Thursday 28 June 2012, 12:11 | By

Approved: WHY? – Sod In The Seed

CMU Approved

WHY?

Returning with their first release for almost three years, alt-rap troupe WHY? have announced a new record deal with City Slang and a brand new EP, ‘Sod In The Seed’. A precursor to their fifth album (fourth as a fully fledged band), the six track release will be available digitally on 13 Aug, and then as a twelve-inch exclusively at a run of upcoming tour dates in October.

The title track of the EP is available to stream and download now via SoundCloud. A very welcome return, it’s instantly recognisable as WHY? Frontman Yoni Wolf provides the sort of thoughtful, introspective lyrics he’s lent to numerous projects for more than a decade now, backed by the collision of indie, folk and hip hop that has become the band’s staple sound.

Listen here, and check out the tour dates below:

8 Oct: Brighton, Old Market
9 Oct: London, Electric Ballroom
10 Oct: Manchester, Central Methodist Church
11 Oct: Bristol, Fleece
12 Oct: Glasgow, Swg3
13 Oct: Oxford, The Bullingdon

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Thursday 28 June 2012, 12:10 | By

Great Escape 2013 dates announced, early bird tickets on sale

Business News Education & Events Gigs & Festivals Top Stories

The Great Escape

Ladies and gentlemen, get your diaries out (your 2013 diaries that is. You got them yet? Of course you have, you all use Google Calendar now so should be booking in meetings for 2053). Here come the dates for the next edition of The Great Escape, Europe’s leading festival for new music, and the accompanying CMU-programmed music business convention.

The 2013 edition of The Great Escape will take place in Brighton from 16-18 May, and ridiculously cheap early bird delegate tickets are now available for £80, which will get you access to the entire convention and the whole festival. Tickets are available from this URL. Rooms can also already be booked in the official convention hotel, The Queens.

As previously reported, the 2012 edition of the CMU-programmed convention last month included conversations with Michael Eavis, Brian Molko and Xfm’s John Kennedy, and debates on the impact of sync and the art of music supervision, the pros and cons of local music scenes, and live opportunities for new bands across Europe.

An expanded networking programme gave delegates direct access to key distributors, agents, bookers and digital innovators, and also included the first ever Digital Pitch Party. There were focused strands on what it means to DIY, and on the state of the music media, plus the return of John Robb’s Pop Question Time, the popular Heroes & Villains session, our very own Yearly Music Conference Awards and much more. See our summary here.

The 2013 event will be even bigger and better, with the networking strand of the proceedings further expanded, and another packed programme of great debates, conversations and insight sessions. Needless to say, watch this space for more information.

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Thursday 28 June 2012, 12:08 | By

MU hits out at Olympic musical freebies

Business News Live Business Top Stories

Musicians' Union

The Musicians’ Union has called on artists and musicians across the UK to turn down any offers to play for free as part of this summer’s Olympics festivities.

It follows a number of reports from musicians around the country that they have been approached by people involved in Olympic ventures who have asked that they play live, or licence their recordings for sync, for free, or next to nothing, because an involvement in Britain’s big sporty debacle will be “good promotion”. PPL Chairman Fran Nevrkla mentioned reports of such approaches at the collecting society’s AGM earlier this month, calling the offers “shameful and deeply offensive”. Meanwhile the MU says such offers go against previous commitments made by LOCOG, the body running the London Games, which said any musicians involved would be paid.

One artist told the Corporate Watch website: “They [Olympic organisers] said they were really keen for us to play on major stages at different events. We replied quoting our normal fees. After months of meetings they offered us a raft of gigs but said it was LOCOG’s policy not to pay any musicians for performing. They should stop trying to capitalise on the image of the Olympics and pay a fair rate for our services”.

Meanwhile The Quietus, which has been following this story closely, has heard from a musician approached about a sync arrangement (quite why artists would be approached directly for such deals isn’t clear, as most acts would be in contract with a label and publisher who would control such arrangements, but there you go).

The Quietus writes: “His group had been approached regarding the use of one of their songs to accompany footage to be shown on screens in the various venues in the Olympic Park. The fee [for usage for] the rest of the year… a princely £250 to the artist. The Quietus learns that £250 per master usage and publishing is the standard rate being offered [for] music syncs at the Olympic site, with the you-can’t-bank-it carrot of exposure being used as the reason for the low fees. Our source described the offer as ‘beyond insulting’ and, needless to say, his band’s music will not be featured at the Olympics”.

Responding to the various reports of Olympic events asking for freebies from musicians, the MU said yesterday: “This is completely unacceptable and the MU is urging any musician who is approached to call their MU Regional Office and report it. We are chasing every single example with LOCOG, and we are also going public where appropriate. We are also in touch with the TUC, as LOCOG signed a Principles Of Cooperation with them which specifically states that professional workers will be paid for their services and are distinct from the unpaid volunteer workforce”.

Meanwhile the Union’s Assistant General Secretary Horace Trubridge told CMU: “LOCOG have repeatedly told us that all professional musicians will be paid, and yet we’ve seen example after example of them breaking their word. If they want musicians to entertain thousands of people then they should pay for it. It is difficult enough to earn a decent living as a professional musician these days – where does this idea come from that musicians should be happy to work for free? Who else would be?”

He added: “We need as many musicians as possible to come forward about this so that we can put as much pressure on LOCOG as possible. We will also be bringing it to the attention of the general public so that they can decide whether they think it’s fair that musicians are not being paid whilst most of the other professionals involved are”.

Rising concerns about the treatment of musicians by LOCOG came as the Olympics body announced that a Muse track, called ‘Survival’, would be the official song of the games. Possibly a tribute to all those hard-working musicians who somehow survive despite having to play the London games, with its multi-billion pound budget and vast family of big business sponsors, for free.

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Thursday 28 June 2012, 12:06 | By

Universal spin allegedly delays IFPI report

Business News EMI Sale Timeline Live Business Top Stories

IFPI

A global report on the state of the record industry, due for publication by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry this month, looks likely to be delayed until the autumn, with allegations in the New York Post that the delay has been caused by a disagreement between the major record companies over a section on the rising importance of independent digital distributors and companies that enable artists to sell direct to fans.

According to the Post, it is Universal Music that wants a section focusing on the rise of companies like TuneCore and The Orchard – which help smaller rights owners and self-releasing artists distribute their recordings – in a bid show that it is possible to launch artists in the digital age without access to a major label’s marketing and distribution networks.

The mega-major is, of course, keen to play down its own dominance in the record industry as it tries to secure regulator approval in Europe and the US for its proposal to buy the EMI record company, a move that will make it even more dominant.

At the Congressional hearing on the proposed deal last week, Universal chief Lucian Grainge and EMI boss Roger Faxon were very keen to stress that, in the digital age, the power of the traditional major players has decreased significantly in the face of new competition from digital start-ups, and companies that enable artists to release and sell music themselves.

Meanwhile, speaking in support of the deal, Live Nation chief and artist manager Irving Azoff told the Washington political types: “I have no doubt labels add value, but you just don’t have to have one in a world where an artist can deliver an album to fans themselves”.

But, perhaps unsurprisingly, the other majors, which have to sign off on the IFPI report, are objecting to the inclusion of those statements, believing Universal only wants them included to help smooth over its EMI ambitions. One source told the Post: “[With Universal’s proposed amendments] this report suddenly doesn’t make sense – it’s really unfair”.

By “other majors”, we can presumably assume it is Warner Music that is objecting. The EMI record company also has an interest in its merger with Universal. And while Sony Corp might not really want a report doing the rounds that tells its investors its position in the recorded music market is weakening, Sony has refrained from commenting on Universal’s bid to buy the EMI record labels, because it is leading the consortium that needs regulator approval to buy the EMI music publishing business.

Warner, however, has been lobbying hard against the Universal/EMI deal, with its former CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr, still a board member, speaking out against the acquisition on Capitol Hill last week. Some might, of course, accuse Warner of opposing Universal’s latest acquisition because it too bid to buy the EMI labels and lost (and some, of course, includes Azoff, who said exactly that last week). But Warner would argue that it, like the independent sector, has genuine concerns about a combined Universal/EMI with 40% market share of the global recorded music market.

According to the Post, with Universal adamant that the “oh, aren’t The Orchard doing well?” line goes in, and Warner refusing to sign off the report if it does, IFPI chief Frances Moore has ruled the document should be delayed until the autumn. By then the Universal/EMI deal may well have been approved, and the major will no longer be portraying itself as a castrated has-been. Needless to say, neither the IFPI or any of the majors have commented on the Post’s allegations.

Of course, as some have previously noted, while it’s true that The Orchard and one of its main competitors, INgrooves, have become forces to be reckoned with in the digital distribution space (and beyond) working with indies and artists direct, the former is part owned by Sony Music and the latter Universal Music. So while they may not have any control over their new rivals, they share in their success.

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Thursday 28 June 2012, 12:03 | By

Judge allows international royalties dispute to feature at next FBT v Universal hearing

Business News Digital Royalties Timeline Labels & Publishers Legal

Universal Music

So, yet another interesting development in the ongoing FBT Productions v Universal Music dispute, the one that could set the precedent for how artists with pre-iTunes record contracts are paid royalties on download sales.

As much previously reported, the major labels treat download revenue as record sales money, and pay artists the royalty they are contractually due on such income, usually 15%. But many heritage artists have argued that download revenue should be treated as licensing income, because the labels do one licensing deal with firms like iTunes, rather than having to press, distribute and market actual CDs. It’s an important distinction, because many artists will be contractually due a significantly bigger share of licensing deal income than record sales money, maybe as much as 50%.

FBT, who as early Eminem collaborators have a stake in Slim Shady’s early recordings, released by Universal’s Interscope division, via its Aftermath imprint, successfully sued for the bigger share of digital royalties. And now a string of other major label artists are suing, citing the FBT case as justification for a bigger digital pay out. Though Universal insist the FBT ruling does not set an industry-wide precedent, and the other cases are yet to get to court.

Meanwhile, the FBT case itself rumbles on, because another hearing is needed to work out exactly what the production outfit should be earning from digital sales. And this week, the judge overseeing the case made another ruling in FBT’s favour regards some technicalities over how royalties should be calculated, allowing the producers to raise a secondary issue when the case returns to court. And he didn’t mince his words either when responding to Universal’s arguments as to why said issue should not be considered at this stage.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the latest squabble relates to the way in which money moves between the various Universal Music companies around the world, when tracks released in the US are sold abroad by other divisions of the major. To cut a long story short, according to FBT’s lawyers, only about 29% of international revenue actually returns to the major’s Aftermath division, with the other 71% being kept by the local Universal companies that actually sell the music (so in the UK that would be Polydor).

Which is an issue, FBT say, because Universal is proposing to only pay new increased royalties on the revenues actually received by Aftermath, and not the revenues held onto by other Universal subsidiaries. Again there’s a digital element to this argument. When local Universal labels invest new time and money into physically releasing international artists in their territories, there may be an argument for a system that ultimately pays out less to the artist. But in the digital domain – where US catalogue is simply made available to non-US download stores under existing licensing agreements, then – FBT would argue – the practice is less acceptable.

Anyway, FBT want this issue to be discussed when their case returns to court, but Universal does not. The major argues that this particular matter has already been resolved, and FBT has no business bringing it back up at this stage in the proceedings. That claim is based on the fact that last autumn the major asked the judge for clarification regards the phrase “our net receipts” which had been used in an earlier ruling, and as to whether that referred to Aftermath’s net receipts. The judge said it did.

So, when FBT raised the issue of international revenues, Universal’s lawyers argued that, in his clarification last year, the judge had already ruled that revenues generated by other Universal subsidiaries were not relevant. Moreover, they said, FBT’s legal team would have realised exactly what the major was referring to when it asked for clarification on the “our net receipts” point last year, and if they had an issue with the judge’s interpretation of that clause they should have raised it then, not now. Team Universal added that they suspected the plaintiffs deliberately failed to raise the issue then so to cause more trouble now.

However, Judge Philip Gutierrez has not bought that argument, saying in a written judgement that [a] he did not mean to make a ruling on this matter when asked for clarification on “our net receipts” last year, and [b] he doesn’t believe that FBT were aware that Universal intended for the international royalties issue to be resolved via that clarification either, because there would be no logic in them choosing to ignore the matter until later.

On the latter point, the judge wrote: “The court is deeply troubled by defendants’ argument. While it is hard to see what FBT could gain by feigning ignorance, it is now quite apparent what defendants could hope to gain by bamboozling the court and plaintiffs on this issue. Defendants’ current stance makes it appear as though defendants carefully inserted the issue into the motion for summary judgment before they had notified FBT or the Court of what percentage of the revenues from foreign sales of permanent downloads and mastertones would be paid to FBT. An attempt to dupe the court into a premature ruling will not serve as the basis to deny FBT an opportunity to challenge defendants’ accounting practices”.

All of which means the international royalties issue will be discussed when the FBT case returns to court. Which is a pain for Universal. And I can’t imagine being accused of deliberately trying to “dupe” an American court will be particularly helpful when your busy convincing US regulators that your company should be trusted with a 40% market share by allowing you buy the EMI record labels.

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