Friday 30 January 2015, 15:07 | By CMU Editorial

Playlist: CMU Approved in January 2015

CMU Approved CMU Playlists

Each weekday, the CMU Approved column highlights a new artist, track, article or other online activity that we think our readers should be aware of. Below is a playlist featuring artists and tracks showcased in the column in January 2015.

Tracklist:

• Skinny Girl Diet – Dimethlytryptamine
• William Onyeabor – Atomic Bomb
• FAE – RUOK
• Susanne Sundfør – Delirious
• Drink To Me – Bright
• Doldrums – Hotfoot
• Emilie Nicolas – Fail
• Le Thug – Basketball Land
• Mew – Satellites
• Momoiro Clover Z v Kiss – Yumeno Ukioni Saitemina
• Kali Uchis – Lottery
• Lilacs & Champagne – Roses & Kisses
• Mikal Cronin – Made Up My Mind
• Clarence Clarity – Those Who Can’t, Cheat
• Zun Zun Egui – African Tree

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Approved: DJ Spinna at The Edition Hotel

Spinna is an in-demand producer and ‘The Sound Beyond Stars’, which is out through BBE this week, features some of his finest work, including reworks of tracks by Louie Vega, Agent K and Kerri Chandler, amongst many others.

Also a DJ for more than 20 years now, he’s highly skilled at making parties go off with a bang. Entry is free to this one, but you need to email [email protected] before 7pm to have your name down on the door to get in.

Friday 30 Jan, Basement, The London Edition, 10 Berners Street, W1T 3NP, 9pm – 2am, free. More info here.

Jay-Z bids for WiMP as Spotify raises more finance

Business News Digital Top Stories

Jay-Z

Ha, and you thought Guvera buying Blinkbox Music was exciting. Now Jay-Z is trying to buy the company behind Nordic streaming platform WiMP and its high-def spin-off service Tidal. And these reports seem a whole load more credible than those that said the rapper was bidding for US radio station Hot 97.

Project Panther Bidco, a company seemingly controlled by J-Zed, has put in a bid to buy Norway-based Aspiro, which owns WiMP, and the firm’s biggest shareholder is backing the offer. Reports say that the rapper’s company is offering $56 million for the streaming service. The deal is yet to be done, though various sources suggest it could be completed some time next month.

Spotify-like WiMP has operations in various European markets, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Poland, and has more recently launched in the US and UK with just the high audio quality element of its set-up under the brand Tidal.

In a statement about its bid, Jay-Z’s company says: “Panther believes that the recent developments in the entertainment industry, with the migration to music and media streaming, offers great potential for increased entertainment consumption and an opportunity for artists to further promote their music. Panther’s strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro’s platform, technology and services”.

So there you go. News of Jay-Z’s swoop for WiMP, which of course has been compared to Dr Dre’s role in the Beats Music service (even though he seemed to have next to no involvement in the streaming music spin-off of the Beats headphone business), broke just after reports that Spotify is busy raising new finance.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Spotify has engaged Goldman Sachs to help lead a new round of private fundraising, with plans to bring in another $500 million in playtime-cash. The move suggests that any planned ‘initial public offering’ for the Spotify business is now not likely for another year or two, which fits with what sources at the company have been saying.

Tom Petty responds to Sam Smith song credit deal

Business News Legal

Tom Petty has commented on the news that he and Jeff Lynne have been given co-credits on Sam Smith’s hit ‘Stay With Me’ on the basis it’s kinda similar to their song ‘I Won’t Back Down’.

As previously reported, the credits were given, despite neither Smith nor any of his collaborators had ever knowingly having heard that track, so there is no allegation of wrong doing or song theft or even subconscious copyright infringement here. Oh no, not at all. Not for a second. Not even a millisecond.

Indeed, there was never any talk of this matter going legal. And I know for a fact that Petty is going to be seething when he sees that I filed this story in the Legal News section. Because this story couldn’t be any less legal. This is ‘Song Sounded Slightly Similar To Another Song So The Other Song’s Writers Got A Credit News’. But there wasn’t time to create a new section header, so Petty’s going to have to live with this being listed as ‘legal’. Even though it’s not legal.

This is what Petty had to say about the matter: “About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement”.

So that’s nice. And let’s not forget, this never went legal. “The word lawsuit was never even said”, Petty adds. “And was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident no more, no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all”.

Peace and love indeed. Though not to lawyers presumably. They’ll be getting no business from Mr Petty, however many pop warblers accidentally-by-coincidence rip off his songs. And praise be to that.

Suge Knight questioned over film set hit and run

Business News Legal

Former Death Row Records owner Suge Knight has turned himself in to police in LA after allegedly killing a man and injuring another in a hit and run incident.

A vehicle struck Terry Carter and Cle ‘Bone’ Sloane on a movie set in Compton, LA – where rappers Game, Ice Cube and Dr Dre were filming – at around 3pm local time yesterday. Knight was reportedly seen driving the red pick up truck involved in the incident 20 minutes earlier. The vehicle was later found abandoned in a car park.

In a statement, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lieutenant John Corina told reporters: “So far we have not confirmed it was him driving the truck. So we’re not saying Suge Knight was driving the truck at this time. Although we want to talk to him, since the truck supposedly belongs to him.”

He added: “From the people we’ve talked to so far, and we still have more witnesses to talk to, so far the people we’ve talked to say it looked like it was an intentional act. So we’re handling it as a homicide”.

Knight’s lawyer James Blatt then issued a statement seemingly confirming that the former hip hop mogul had been driving, but denying that there had been any intent to harm anyone. “He was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men and in an effort to escape he unfortunately hit two [other] individuals. He was in his car trying to escape. We are confident that once the investigation is completed, he will be totally exonerated”, said Blatt.

According to ABC7 Eyewitness News, Knight has now handed himself in to police.

Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler arrested after bar fight

Artist News Legal

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was arrested in California earlier this week after being involved in a bar fight.

A statement from The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office says: “Shortly after midnight on 27 Jan Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call regarding a verbal and physical altercation that took place at the Corkscrew Saloon located at the Furnace Creek Ranch property in Death Valley
National Park”.

It continued: “After the Inyo County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived on scene and interviewed witnesses it was determined that there had been an argument that escalated into a physical confrontation – resulting in an individual being struck, and a broken window. Terence Michael Butler, a 65 year old man from Beverly Hills, CA was arrested for misdemeanor assault, public intoxication and vandalism”.

Butler spent the night in jail, giving him time to sober up.

Listen Up opens US office

Business News Marketing & PR

Now listen up, people. Which might be an abrupt way for me to start, but wait until you see why that opening is undeniable comedy gold. Well, middling smile-inducing amusement. Actually I’ve set the bar way too high here. Forget I mentioned comedy. It’s just very clever word play. Forget I mentioned clever word play. Look, this story is about a company called Listen Up and I said “now listen up, people”. And that’s a thing. There you go. Let’s all agree that that is definitely a thing.

Anyway, London-based music press and promotions company Listen Up has announced it will open a new LA office on 2 Feb, right there on Sunset Boulevard. Nice. The American side of the business will be headed up by Cecilia Doreng-Stearns, former Director Of Publicity at Dim Mak Records.

Confirming her new role, Doreng-Stearns told reporters: “I’m very excited to be joining Listen Up during this new phase of the company’s international development. I’m greatly looking forward to building off the strong foundation that James Mack and Luke Neville have established in the UK and beyond”.

Meanwhile the there mentioned Listen Up directors delivered some words too. Neville said of their decision to open up Stateside: “We’ve been travelling to America regularly for the last few years, having meetings with labels, management, artists – so we have such a good infrastructure of contacts in North America to establish ourselves firmly”.

Mack added: “With the sheer size of North America and the press opportunities it presents, to be to be able to exceed your clients expectations you need to have a firm base out there”.

Second national DAB network bids in, Virgin Radio could return

Business News Media

So, the bids are in, people. You know, the bids. From the two groups who would like to control the second national DAB digital radio network.

Yes, that’s the one Channel 4 once won ownership of with grand plans to launch its own network of radio channels, none of which ever got of the ground. The TV company blamed the credit crunch, if I remember rightly. And why not? But seven years on way more people have got DAB radio sets now, so it’ll all be fine this time round.

We already knew that media firms Bauer and UTV were joining forces to put in a bid, backed by broadcast services group Arqiva (which already operates the existing national DAB network).

Under the name Sound Digital, Bauer is proposing to plonk of bunch of its existing radio brands, like Heat Radio and Planet Rock, onto the new network, while UTV would bring to the table three new speech stations: a channel two version of its existing TalkSport, a service akin to the Talk Radio set-up out of which TalkSport originally grew, and a business news station backed by Bloomberg.

UTV has also reached an agreement with the Virgin Group to relaunch the Virgin Radio brand on the new network. Which is slightly ironic, as the original Virgin Radio morphed into Absolute Radio after its sale to the Times Of India Group in 2008, and that brand is now owned by Bauer. Indeed Absolute 80s is one of the services Bauer plans to put on the Sound Digital network if it wins control of the new DAB multiplex.

Confirming his link up to the Sound Digital proposal, that there Richard Branson was quoted by The Guardian: “It’s been a long held wish of mine to see Virgin Radio re-launch in the UK after the success we had with Virgin Radio UK in the 1990s. The team at Virgin Radio International has worked tirelessly to accomplish this and I’m delighted that UTV Media invited us to join their exciting plans for digital radio in the UK. We wish UTV Media and its consortium success in its application to OfCom”.

The whole Sound Digital pitch faces competition from a joint venture called Listen2Digital, which is led by Phil Riley’s Midlands-based radio company Orion Media, with Fun Kids owner Folder Media, Asian broadcaster Sabras Sound and infrastructure business Babcock International also on board.

Their national digital network would include channels for Orion’s GEM franchise and Folder’s Fun Kids set-up, plus a bunch of new services including business, sports, food and jazz-based channels. Commenting on his bid, Riley told reporters: “I have long thought that the UK radio industry needed more choice and more competition in the provision of DAB and I think our bid delivers that”.

Having confirmed it has received both bids, media regulator OfCom is now considering the two proposals, and is expected to announce a winner this spring.

Justin Bieber was just pretending to be a prick

Artist News

Justin Bieber has said that he was just “pretending” to be “arrogant”, “conceited” and “basically how I’ve been acting the past year and a half”. So you can strike all those things he did – from the drag racing to the egg throwing to the pissing in a bucket – right off the record and give him a clean slate.

Following an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ chat show in the US, Bieber posted a video online saying: “I just wanted to make a video because I wanted to express how I feel right now. Today, I was on Ellen and it was a lot of fun. She’s amazing, it was her birthday, but I was really nervous. I think I was nervous because I was afraid of what people are thinking about me right now. It’s been a minute since I’ve been in a public appearance, and I didn’t want to come off arrogant or conceited or basically how I’ve been acting the past year and a half”.

He continued: “I’m not who I was pretending to be. Why I say I was ‘pretending’ is often we pretend to be something we’re not as a cover up of what we’re truly feeling inside. And there were a lot of feelings going on in there. Just being young and growing up in this business is hard. Just growing up in general is hard”.

Of course, this doesn’t really tally with what his manager Scooter Braun said in 2012, when he told Rolling Stone that being a “prick” was just Bieber’s natural state.

Shortlist out for indie album of the year prize

Artist News Awards

Pan-European indie label trade group IMPALA has revealed the (rather long) shortlist for its European Independent Album Of The Year Award. And here it is!

Alt-J – This Is All Yours (Infectious Records)
Aphex Twin – Syro (Warp)
Batida – Dois (Soundway Records)
Broken Twin – May (Anti/Epitaph)
Caribou – Our Love (City Slang)
Dans Dans – 3 (Unday Records)
The Dø – Shake Shook Shaken (Wagram Music)
Emis Killa – Mercurio (Carosello Records)
Fai Baba – Savage Dreamer (A Tree In A Field Records/Irascible)
Fka Twigs – LP1 (Young Turks)
Frankie Chavez – Heart And Spine (Search Records)
Highasakite – Silent Treatment (Propeller Recordings)
Iceage – Plowing Into The Field Of Love (Escho)
Jennie Abrahamson – Gemini Gemini (How Sweet The Sound)
Nina Romic – Stablo (Aquarius Records)
The Notwist – Close To The Glass (City Slang)
Ocho Macho – De Puta Madre (Cls)
Pepe Willberg – Pepe & Saimaa (Khy Suomen Musiikki)
Sleaford Mods – Divide And Exit (Harbinger Sound)
Tremenda Trementina – Sangre Pop (Everlasting Records)
Twin Atlantic – Great Divide (Red Bull Records)
Within Temptation – Hydra (Bmg)
Young Fathers – Dead (Big Dada/Anticon)

CMU’s One Liners: Kasabian on the BRITs rock n roll conspiracy, Kanye and North West make music video, and a bevy, yes a bevy more

Artist News Awards One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Kanye West has debuted the video for the other song he recorded recently – the first being that new Rihanna track. Said video features footage of him and daughter North in a field. Look here.

• Dappy’s back. Or backkkk, to use his own words. He’s put a video for a new track called ‘Beautiful Me’ on YouTube.

• Eric Prydz has reworked ‘Tether’ by Chvrches. If that’s a thing you would like to hear, you can listen to it on the BBC website.

• Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst have released a track called ‘Recruit’. It’s something to do with clothing brand Cottweiler’s autumn/winter 2015 collection.

• It’s always important to keep in mind that while stealing sheep is illegal, the band Stealing Sheep are not. So it’s totally fine for you to watch their new video. It is a trailer for their new album, ‘Not Real’, which is out on 13 Apr.

• Adam Lambert has announced that his new album is called ‘The Original High’. No release date for it yet, but the first single will be out in April.

• Brian Wilson will release a new solo album on 6 Apr. It’s called ‘No Pier Pressure’, which I think is grounds enough for boycotting it.

• Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno has claimed that the band not being asked to perform at The BRITs next month is “a conspiracy” to “shut rock and roll out”. And after all that work Alex Turner did last year too, dropping that microphone and everything. Of course, it could be because Kasabian’s last album was really shit. Still, they’ve been booked to perform at the BAFTAs, so that’s the thing.

CMU Beef Of The Week #241: Blink 182 v Blink 182

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week

Prior to this week, if you had any interest in Blink 182 (which I realise is possibly an oxymoron), you would have been forgiven for assuming that the reunion the trio embarked upon in 2009 was about to grind into action again.

They split in 2005, of course, following growing tensions between band members. Bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker almost immediately formed new band +44, while guitarist Tom DeLonge eventually re-emerged with new project Angels & Airwaves. Not a word was spoken between the two sides until 2008, when Barker was involved in a plane crash which left four of the six people on board dead.

This tragedy became the catalyst for DeLonge to re-establish contact with his former bandmates and their subsequent reunion of the band. There were tours, festival shows and, eventually, in 2011, a new album, ‘Neighbourhoods’. Which it is OK for you to have completely forgotten about.

“The reason the band broke up was really stupid in the first place; it’s not like anybody had sex with each other’s wives”, DeLonge said at the time. “Though, for how bad we hated each other, that should have been what happened. The band got so big that the machine running the band took over. We were burnt out, we needed a break, but the machine won’t let you do that. The band had stopped communicating because the machine was so big”.

Since then, the world of Blink 182 has been generally less dramatic, though there were a few significant events. There was an Australian tour conducted without Barker, who had understandably developed a fear of flying, and their departure from Universal/Interscope, an EP release and live shows for the tenth anniversary of their ‘Blink 182’ album. Oh, and they headlined Reading/Leeds last year.

Then, finally, at the tail end of last year DeLonge told Alternative Press that the band had found a “partner” with which to release their seventh album, and that come the new year they would be “going pretty hardcore” on recording that.

So there’s a potted history of the last six years of Blink 182 in 300 odd words. You might think that recap was a bit longer than necessary, but really I’ve been easing you in for the next 1500 words, which concern just 48 hours of this week. Make sure you’re sitting comfortably, we’re going to be here for a while.

Right, so, on Monday a press statement went out from Blink HQ. Rather than saying, “hey, we’re all in the studio having a great time recording this album”, as you might have expected based on DeLonge’s comments from late last year, it informed fans that the guitarist was now out of the band “indefinitely”.

“A week before we were scheduled to go in to the studio we got an email from [DeLonge’s] manager explaining that he didn’t want to participate in any Blink-182 projects indefinitely, but would rather work on his other non-musical endeavours”, said Hoppus and Barker.

But fear not, the remaining two members of the band would still play their upcoming headline performance at Barker’s Musink festival in California, with Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba filling the hole left by DeLonge. Though they were a little vague on what this all meant for the long-term future of the band, possibly because they weren’t yet sure themselves. But there were “no hard feelings”, the statement said. This had simply been a necessary and mutual decision between bandmates.

“To all the fans”, DeLonge wrote in an Instagram post later that day, “I never quit the band”. Which somehow ruined that whole air of consensus.

“I actually was on a phone call about a Blink 182 event for New York City at the time all these weird press releases started coming in”, he continued. “Apparently those releases were ‘sanctioned’ from the band. Are we dysfunctional? Yes. But, Christ…”

In a statement then sent out by his publicist, he added: “The ONLY truth here is that I have commitments that limit my availability this year. I love Blink 182 and I’m not leaving”.

So, hey! That’s all a bit confusing. And that sudden ‘limited availability’ doesn’t really chime with what DeLonge said at the end of last year. But perhaps, if everything is considered together, what we are to take from all this is that DeLonge got some sudden other commitments requiring him to step away from some of the band’s planned activities, but any departure is very temporary.

Though why the word “indefinitely” in the first statement? Well, DeLonge sort of implies that that might have been a miscommunication; maybe his bandmates hadn’t actually signed off on the quote put out in their name.

“The press release that came out today is 100% from Travis and me and we stand by it 100% because it’s all true”, Hoppus quickly told Rolling Stone. “There’s no ambiguity”.

And I do mean ‘quickly’; all this backwards and forwards took less than a day. What did bands do before the internet, where you can go from press statement, to retaliation, to lengthy Rolling Stone interview in under 24 hours?

Clearing up why there could be such a breakdown in communication, Hoppus explained that he and Barker had not spoken to DeLonge via anything but email for months. And then often only through the guitarist’s manager. Nonetheless, they had managed to sign a new record deal in December and book studio time starting on 5 Jan. Then comes an email from DeLonge’s manager, claims Hoppus, stating that “Tom. Is. Out”. Which does seem pretty clear.

Barker continued: “It’s hard to cover for someone who’s disrespectful and ungrateful. You don’t even have the balls to call your bandmates and tell them you’re not going to record or do anything Blink-related. You have your manager do it. Everyone should know what the story is with him and it’s been years with it. When we did get back together after my plane crash, we only got back together, I don’t know, maybe because I almost died. But he didn’t even listen to mixes or masterings from that record. He didn’t even care about it. Why Blink even got back together in the first place is questionable”.

Despite this, Hoppus added: “Travis and I are intent on protecting the legacy of Blink-182 and continue to do what we’ve been doing for the past two decades: continue playing the songs”. And “when Tom finally said, ‘I’m not going to go into the studio or play this show’, it was kind of a gigantic relief because at least he finally said it. But to then say, ‘I didn’t quit the band’, it’s just not true'”.

In fact, Hoppus continued: “It’s disingenuous. I just wish Tom does whatever makes him happy and stops holding Blink 182 back from what we all agree that we’re going to do: play shows, record music, continue this legacy and have a good time doing it”.

Which would have been a nice sign-off point after which all parties could step away and let the fuss die down a bit. Or it would have been if DeLonge hadn’t got up the next morning and decided to tweet: “A year ago Mark and I spent a week on the phone with managers debating parting with Travis… Don’t pretend there isn’t more to this story”.

To be fair, I suspect DeLonge realised this was a mistake, because the tweet was deleted. But the damage was done and it was only a matter of time before some journalist or other phoned Hoppus up for a response, allowing the bassist to once again ramble on and on and on and on. And just when you thought this Beef might be reaching its conclusion.

Speaking to Alternative Press, Hoppus explained that the calls to which DeLonge referred took place after the aforementioned Australian tour, you know, the one I mentioned back when we were all much younger. The one where Barker decided he couldn’t do the flights because, well, he’d been involved in a near fatal place crash and so wasn’t especially keen on long-haul air travel.

Well, that tour went ahead fine but, Hoppus recalls, midway through Barker “and the promoter got into a Twitter argument back and forth that was very contentious and was a lot of stress. Tom was upset, I was upset, because it was happening while we were on this tour, and the tour was going very well”. After the tour, still angry at the situation they had been put in by the Twitter spat, DeLonge suggested that the band replace Barker permanently.

Hoppus went on: “It was really just Tom blowing off steam. There were a few days of calls where I listened to Tom, commiserated with Tom and, immediately afterwards, called up my manager and [said], ‘Tom’s upset right now, he’s talking about trying to replace Travis, but I’m not into it. That’s not going to happen’. And sure enough, Tom, after a month, called back up and was like, ‘Hey you know what? I was just angry about it. It was a bad situation, and of course I don’t want to kick Travis out of the band'”.

Then, once again, Hoppus went on at length about the fine details of the break up, painting DeLonge as very much the bad guy in the situation, before again giving his estranged bandmate a get-out by saying: “I think that Tom doesn’t want to do Blink. I don’t think he has fun doing it. I think he has a good time when he’s onstage, but I think that other than that, he just doesn’t enjoy it”.

Is this the end though? Hell no.

We still have DeLonge’s 1000 word Facebook post to go. And, just to clarify, we’re still only on Tuesday here. All of this has taken place in less than two days. “Where to begin?” started DeLonge, with everyone presumably willing the answer to be, ‘somewhere right near the end’. But alas no, because DeLonge’s story started with the band’s original formation in his garage “where I dreamed up the mischief” before giving a detailed account of his view of the last two and a half years.

The communication breakdown began not with him, he said, but with his bandmates. He’d tried to hold things together, he claimed: “The big reset was when I tried to put together a band summit in Utah where we’d talk and work things out. It quickly was narrowed down to three hours in someone’s dressing room in a shitty casino. What I hoped would be a positive get-together away from everything turned into an awkward meeting in a smelly convention hall dressing room”.

“At the end of the day, we’ve always been dysfunctional”, he went on. “Which is why we haven’t talked in months”.

The real problems arose with their new record contract, he said, which initially stipulated that he could not release the new Angels & Airwaves album for nine months, and that the Blink 182 record would need to be completed within six. With numerous commitments already in the diary, this would not be feasible.

“At the end of the day, all of this makes me really sad”, he concluded. “Sad for us. Sad for you – that you’re witnessing this immaturity. I know them very well, and their current actions are defensive and divisive. I suppose they’re doing this as a way to protect themselves from being hurt. Like we all do”.

So there you go. And I think that if there’s one thing we should take from all of this, it’s that a man who co-wrote an album called ‘Take Off Your Pants And Jacket’ just apologised for his band’s immaturity.

Approved: Zun Zun Egui

CMU Approved

Zun Zun Egui made a bold and exciting entrance with their debut album, ‘Katang’, in 2011, but their second, ‘Shackle’s Gift’, takes them to a new level of brilliance.

As with their debut, the new record is an astonishing mash of musical styles somehow formed into something compelling and coherent. Flashes of familiarity appear throughout – some Talking Heads here, a bit of Queens Of The Stone Age there, and occasionally some of that 70s African rock you (I) know a bit from a few Soundway compilations.

But it quickly becomes apparent that this band have a far deeper knowledge of the world’s music than you (me), helped in part by having members who hark from Mauritius and Japan, as well as the UK.

Of course, there’s nothing unusual in bands drawing on a range of sounds and styles to create their own music. But what’s different about Zun Zun Egui when compared to many other bands is how unselfconscious they make it sound.

Check out the album’s two singles, ‘I Want You To Know’ and ‘African Tree’.

Sony to shut Music Unlimited and push Spotify on the PlayStation Network, but what about Japan?

Business News Digital Top Stories

So, a handful of plums to anyone who had Sony Music Unlimited down as the first streaming music service to shut down in 2015.

Sony Corp finally bailed on the digital music market yesterday by announcing that its subscription service Music Unlimited, originally known for a short time by the baffling name of Qriocity, would cease to be in all territories on 29 Mar this year.

It brings to an end the various digital music adventures of the consumer electronics side of the Sony empire, which began with the ill-fated Connect download store, part of the firm’s initial bid to try and stop Apple’s iPod from trouncing the Walkman brand in the digital music player space.

The Omnifone-powered Music Unlimited service primarily lasted this long because it was the music channel on Sony’s PlayStation Network. And in that domain we get a bold new alliance with Spotify, which will soon be pushed out to users of the games console under the brand PlayStation Music.

In a blog post yesterday announcing the Spotify partnership (and, lower down, the Music Unlimited culling), PlayStation users were told: “We know how important music is to our community of gamers, and this partnership combines the best in music with the best in gaming. PlayStation Network users will enjoy the convenience of linking your accounts to Spotify, making it easy to sign up with your existing ID and subscribe to Spotify’s Premium service. You can also use Spotify while playing games on PS4, enabling you to soundtrack your gaming sessions with your favourite songs in the background”.

Echoing most of that, Sony Computer Entertainment’s Andrew House told reporters: “Music is a core component of the entertainment offering that consumers expect from Sony, and our goal with PlayStation Music is to provide the most compelling music experiences to the millions of PlayStation Network users around the world. This partnership represents the best in music and the best in gaming coming together, which will benefit the vibrant and passionate communities of both Spotify and PlayStation Network. We’re thrilled to make Spotify the foundation of our strategy with PlayStation Music”.

Meanwhile Spotify’s PR team managed to pry their boss Daniel Ek away from his PlayStation long enough to exclaim: “We are incredibly honoured to partner with Sony and PlayStation to give gamers around the world an amazing experience wherever they listen to music. As a gamer and PlayStation 4 user myself, I’m super excited to be able to soundtrack my ‘FIFA 15’ Arsenal matches later this spring”.

It’s a good deal for Spotify, which is seeking to capture more mainstream consumers through partnerships with established brands, and the PlayStation Network will expose it to a massive audience worldwide.

As for Sony, it’s probably a wise move to get out of the increasingly competitive but still loss-making streaming music market, and instead try and encourage people to use those streaming services that are gaining traction on its hardware. (Though, of course, we should probably note Sony isn’t entirely out of the streaming music game, with the Sony Music record company still a sizable shareholder in Vevo).

Quite how Spotify integrates into the PlayStation Network will be interesting to see, and will likely impact on what kind of subscriber figures the partnership brings the streaming music firm. It will also be interesting to see what occurs in Japan, where Music Unlimited is one of the few established streaming music services and Spotify is yet to launch.

Sony’s blog post noted that the 41 markets where Spotify will be available via the PlayStation Network includes “nearly all” of the nineteen where Music Unlimited has previously operated. Presumably Japan is the market that prevents a “completely all”.

Sony is a shareholder in another new streaming service in the Japanese market, Line Music, a joint venture with messaging app Line and the fourth Japanese major record company Avex. That venture is seen as a last ditch attempt by Sony Music Japan (a separate though commonly owned business to the global Sony record company) and Avex to control the digital music market in the country. It’s a plan some are already predicting to fail, not least because the Japanese units of Universal and Warner increasingly favour speeding Spotify et al into the local music market, and are not partners in the Line Music project.

A formal Spotify alliance elsewhere in the Sony empire might ultimately remove one of the barriers that has stopped the service entering the second biggest recorded music market. Or perhaps Sony Music Japan will lobby for Line Music (or Line’s recent streaming music acquisition MixRadio) to be the provider that is pushed to Japanese PlayStation gamers.

Sly Stone awarded $5 million in damages over unpaid royalties

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Sly Stone, real name Sylvester Stewart, has been awarded $5 million by the Los Angeles Superior Court after it was ruled that his former manager and lawyer had withheld royalties from him.

The musician filed his lawsuit in 2010, saying that manager Gerald Goldstein and attorney Glenn Stone had convinced him to sign an employment and shareholder agreement with Even Street Productions in 1989. Through this, he claimed, they then failed to pay him around $2.5 million in royalties, instead keeping the money for themselves.

The defendants argued that Stewart had been paid millions of dollars in royalties, and had renewed his agreement with them 40 times between 1994 and 2006. But he had, they said, broken the terms of his agreement by not delivering new music, and it was that which led to the dispute.

But, according to Variety, the jury sided with the musician and ordered Even Street to pay him $2.5 million in damages, while manager Goldstein and attorney Stone will have to pay
$2.45 million and $50,000 respectively.

Vodafone blocked The Pirate Bay in Spain by mistake

Business News Digital

There is some confusion over whether or not The Pirate Bay is subject to a web-block order in Spain after it emerged that Vodafone was blocking access to the site in the country. When asked about the block, the net firm initially said it wasn’t aware it was in place, then said that it had been instigated following an order from the country’s Ministry Of Culture, and then said it had misunderstood a communication and was now unblocking access to the site.

Web-blocking, of course, has become an anti-piracy measure of choice for record companies and movie studios in a number of European countries. Blocks are usually achieved when rights owners secure an injunction against local internet service providers through the courts, either relying on specific web-block laws, or judicial interpretation of other existing copyright rules. Though many content companies would like a government agency to take responsibility for instigating the blocks on an ongoing basis.

Spain is one of the countries that has made moves in that direction. The country’s copyright laws having been initially unhelpful in the music industry’s fight against unlicensed file-sharing, the so called Sinde Law, introduced at the end of 2011, boosted copyright protection in the country, and a bunch of further refinements have been made more recently, again to the copyright owner’s benefit (in particular introducing hefty fines for the operators of file-sharing services).

When customers of the Vodafone ISP in Spain started reporting that they could no longer reach The Pirate Bay some thought it might be a result of the new copyright regulations, though strangely other net firms in the country weren’t blocking access to the site. After initially denying any knowledge of the blockade, Vodafone subsequently told Torrentfreak that it had blocked access to the Bay to comply with an order from Spain’s Ministry Of Culture, which was empowered to order web-blocks under Spanish law.

But then a spokesman for the company issued a new statement saying that the blockade had been instigated as a result of a communication it received last year, though it now realised that that communication was not an official request for the site to be blocked. An official source said: “We have been too diligent … we will lift the blockade of The Pirate Bay until we receive a warrant”.

So that’s all rather confusing. Of course, The Pirate Bay, blocked or not, is still down following a raid on its servers late last year, but everyone seems certain it will return to the internet this weekend.

Though sources tell the aforementioned Torrentfreak that the new Bay will be a streamlined version of the old site, with many of the people who previously monitored and tidied the database of torrent links no longer involved. That’s a development that has caused ructions amongst the group who have kept the site going in recent years, some of whom might now launch a rival service. Which, given there are already mirrors of the old Pirate Bay database online, could mean several Bays to enjoy, navigate and block. Good times.

American Idol winner says 19 arrangements contravene Californian law

Business News Labels & Publishers Management & Funding

There has been quite a bit of chatter amongst entertainment lawyers Stateside this week about the possible impact of a petition recently lodged with the California Labor Commissioner by Phillip Phillips, aka 2012’s ‘American Idol’ winner.

The dispute could test the contracts that winners of talent shows like ‘Idol’ enter into with the show formats’ owners, alliances that often begin with the terms contenders sign up to when first auditioning. It may also look into the legal problems that can occur when an artist has contracts with multiple divisions of one company, one of which is a management contract, as is the case with Phillips and ‘Idol’ owner 19 Entertainment, now part of the CORE Media Group.

That said, the dispute relates specifically to California’s Talent Agencies Act, and will mainly test if Phillips’ deals with 19 fall under that legislation and, if they do, whether his management firm has complied with the rules and is empowered to secure bookings for him.

Explaining his action, Phillips says: “I am very grateful for the opportunities provided to me through appearing on ‘American Idol’. The value that the fans and the show have given to my career is not lost on me. However, I have not felt that I have been free to conduct my career in a way that I am comfortable with. I look forward to being able to make my own choices about my career and to being able to make great music and play it for my fans”.

In a long list of specific complaints against 19, many accuse his management reps of negotiating deals on his behalf that primarily benefit them – either by aiding other 19 ventures or securing favourable revenue shares for other parts of the business – when, as managers, the company has a ‘fiduciary duty’ to secure the best possible deal for him. And while in this case that gripe is specifically framed in 19’s obligations under Californian law, that conflict of interest problem has been raised before when people have proposed 360 degree music companies which include management.

But 19 Entertainment insists it operates within the law. A spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter: “We’re very proud of everything we’ve accomplished together with Phillip, working closely to help nurture his extraordinary talent and advance his career. We have always acted in the best interest of Phillip. We will vigorously defend ourselves from any baseless claims to the contrary and from any attempt to interfere with our rights and relationships”.

Lil Wayne reportedly sues Cash Money over unpaid advance

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Lil Wayne has reportedly gone legal in his dispute with his label, the Universal-allied Cash Money.

According to TMZ, Wayne claims that the label has failed to pay him a $10 million advance that was due on his yet to be released ‘Tha Carter V’ album, and that as a result he should be cut loose from his contract with the record company.

We knew relations between Wayne and Cash Money boss Birdman were being tested last month when ‘Tha Carter V’ failed to emerge on its most recently scheduled release date. TMZ says that the rapper’s lawsuit alleges that he was due an $8 million advance when he began work on the new record and another $2 million when it was completed, but so far nothing has been paid.

It’s assumed this financial dispute is behind the most recent delays in getting the record released. Whether a ten million dollar cheque could smooth things over and get the album out there isn’t clear, though if the matter can’t be settled Wayne is apparently asking for $51 million in cash and co-ownership of all recordings released by his imprint with the label Young Money, which includes Drake and Nicki Minaj’s output.

Cash Money is yet to respond to the reports.

Lil Louis left with permanent hearing loss following Sankeys accident

Artist News Live Business

Lil Louis has said that his career as a DJ and producer may be over, following hearing damage he suffered in an accident with an air horn at Sankeys nightclub in Manchester on Saturday.

In a post on Facebook, the house producer said that during soundcheck an unnamed member of staff at the venue came into the DJ booth and “decided to show off a new toy (a very powerful CO2 cannon blaster machine), which seemed twelve inches from my left ear”.

Following hospital treatment, he was diagnosed with permanent “sound induced hearing loss” in his left ear. He added that it also means his “equilibrium is off”, leaving him unable to walk in a straight line.

“I am fucking upset, because this idiot (a manager no less), should have known better”, he wrote. “And not only did he prevent me from playing for you, he may have ended my career as a DJ and artist. I’m not looking for sympathy, but to prevent any new rumours from milling, instead of handling it privately as usual, this time I’m sharing the details”.

Students campaign for university building to be named after Wiley

Artist News

Students from Queen Mary University in Bow, East London are campaigning for a proposed new graduate centre to be named after local musician Wiley.

In a petition addressed to university principal Simon Gaskell, Navaid Ghouri and Susanna Mollah write: “We believe that Wiley deserves the accolade of having the proposed graduate centre named after him as the ‘Wiley Graduate Centre'”.

They go on: “Wiley represents the drive and ambition that university is all about, and as our university is located in East London, we believe this is a fitting tribute. We are highly aware of the economic and social disadvantages in the area and want to raise ambitions”.

Several hundred people have already added their names to the campaign.

Father John Misty creates fake streaming service, for some reason

Artist News Digital Releases

Father John Misty, aka former Fleet Fox John Tillman, has created a parody streaming service called SAP to promote his new album, ‘I Love You, Honeybear’. It makes a very clever comment on the modern music industry. Well, I’m assuming it’s very clever indeed, because I seriously have no idea what he’s banging on about.

“I am pleased to introduce SAP, a new signal-to-audio process by which popular albums are ‘sapped’ of their performances, original vocal, atmosphere and other distracting affectations so the consumer can decide quickly and efficiently whether they like a musical composition, based strictly on its formal attributes, enough to spend money on it”, sniggers Tillman.

Through tears of laughter, he continues: “SAP files sound incredible when compressed and streamed at low resolutions over any laptop speaker or cell phone. They are cheap to produce and take up even less space than the average MP3. They contain just enough meta-data to be recognized by sophisticated genre aggregation software. Everything you love about discovering and sharing free music, minus the cost to anyone: artist or fan”.

After reading this set up on the SAP website, you can listen to a version of Tillman’s new record with the vocals replaced by crappy synth sounds. See, I told you it was probably clever, or something.

Check it out for yourself here.

CMU’s One Liners: Rita Ora heading to the Oscars, Calvin Harris extends Vegas residency, former RHCP guitarist goes acid house, and more perplexing stories from the world of music

Artist News Awards Business News Deals Gigs & Festivals Industry People Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• There was a time when Sony/ATV’s Senior Vice President A&R Europe Johnny Tennander wasn’t also Deputy Managing Director of the company’s Scandinavian division. But those days are gone. Long gone. Because now he is.

• Universal’s Spinefarm label has announced two new worldwide signings. They are punk mainstays Anti-Flag, who will release their first album for the label in May, and Australian hard rock crew Airbourne, who won’t.

• If you were worried you might not get the chance to see Calvin Harris DJ in a painfully clinical nightclub in Las Vegas, don’t. He’s just extended his residencies at Hakkasan Group’s Hakkasan Nightclub, Wet Republic at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and Omnia Nightclub at Caesars Palace. “Sleeves”, commented Harris.

• OOFJ, who are CMU approved I’ll have you know, have released a new track. A single, if you will. ‘I Forgive You’, it’s called, and it’s taken from their second album, which is out, oh, soonish.

• Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is releasing an acid house album under the name Trickfinger. It’s out in April. Here’s a track. It’s dull as shit.

• I’m getting a bit bored of the dripfeed of tracks from the ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ soundtrack, but the latest is from Sia, so I should probably flag it up for you.

• Drenge, eh? Drenge. Dreeeeeeeeeeeeenge. Those guys can do what they want. And frequently do. Look, they’ve written a song about it. Is it taken from a new album? You bet your sweet bottom it is. That album’s called ‘Undertow’ and is out on 6 Apr.

• Shlohmo, eh? Shlomo. Shlooooooooomooooooooooo. That guy can also do what he wants, if doing what he wants is releasing a new album the same day as Drenge. Which apparently he is. The album’s called ‘Dark Red’, and here’s a new track called ‘Buried’.

• Do you like Calexico? I used to quite like Calexico. Maybe we’ll all like the new Calexico album then. ‘Edge Of The Sun’ is out on 13 Apr via City Slang. There will also be a tour, starting at the Shempire on 28 Apr. Now, a song!

• Marina And The Diamonds – that’s just one person, remember, don’t let her confuse you – has released a track called ‘I’m A Ruin’. Am I going to link to it on YouTube? Yes.

• It is so almost time for a new Lapalux album. I suggest he releases one on 6 Apr. He could called it ‘Lustmore’. It would also be a smart move to get Szjerdene to guest on a track, which would probably be best titled ‘Closure’. And, hey, guess what? I just made all those things come true (it was definitely me).

• Canadian punk types Metz are preparing to literally double the number of albums in their catalogue by releasing a second album, ‘II’, this spring. They’ll also play a show at the 100 Club in London on 3 Mar. Here’s some sort of video.

• L7 have announced that they are reforming to play festival dates this summer, fourteen years since their last performance. Money is also being collected via Kickstarter for a documentary on the band.

• That Rita Ora has announced that she will be performing at the Oscars next month. Get her.

Kenny G invented the Frappucino

And Finally Artist News

Kenny G is responsible for a lot of things. All of them bad. This apparently now includes the Frappucino, which he reckons Starbucks invented to shut him up.

Speaking to Bloomberg, G revealed that he was an early investor in Starbucks, and as a result got a direct line to CEO Howard Schultz. “At the beginning, Starbucks didn’t have anything but coffee”, explained the saxophonist. “And there was another company, Coffee Bean, that had something called ‘blended’, that was a sweet drink and people were lined up around the block”.

And he rambled on: “So I would always call Howard and say, ‘Howard, there’s this thing that they do there that’s like a milkshake or whatever’. And so I think that part of the reason that they did Frappuccino was people like me giving them that kind of feedback. So I would like to think that I was partially responsible for that”.

It’s not that good a story really, is it? Doesn’t deliver on the headline or the initial build up in the report itself. Serves you right for reading something about Kenny G.

Approved: Clarence Clarity

CMU Approved

Having eeked out a handful of tracks over the last two years, Clarence Clarity is set to release his debut album, ‘No Now’, on 2 Mar through Bella Union.

His output may have been slow and sparse, but the project has had a startling clarity of vision from the outset. Each new bold, warped funk track comes coupled with a garish and unsettling video. Everything about the venture demands your attention, and is sent out with a confidence and attention to detail rarely seen – an achievement probably aided by him testing the water with an earlier and similar but abandoned (and also once approved) project.

A UK tour supporting Jungle commences in February, culminating in a show at The Roundhouse in London on 3 Mar. And you’ll also be able to catch him at this year’s Great Escape.

You should acquaint yourself with his entire YouTube channel, but I’ll start you off with ‘Those Who Can’t, Cheat’. Or if it’s a bit early for such bright colours, below that is his latest SoundCloud release, ‘Meadow Hopping, Traffic Stopping, Death Splash’.

Marvin Gaye record will not be played in court during Blurred Lines trial

Business News Legal Top Stories

Thicke Williams

So it seems that the main qualification for joining the jury in the upcoming and set-to-be-entertaining ‘Blurred Lines’ court case may just be that you’ve never previously heard one of the records at the heart of the case, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give Up’.

As previously reported, the terrible twosome behind the pop monstrosity that is ‘Blurred Lines’ – Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke – are accused of nicking a sizable slice of the Marvin Gaye classic for their 2013 hit.

While both stars deny that claim – Thicke says he was too drunk and drugged up at the time to have had any input on the record whatsoever, while Williams noted of Gaye “he’s an Aries, I respect him” – core to the defence are some copyright law technicalities.

In particular, what elements of Gaye’s song are actually protected by copyright. It’s the song rather than the recording copyright that is under the spotlight, and Thicke and Williams’ lawyers argue that only the core composition, as represented in the sheet music, enjoy protection. Any bips or bops or ‘yeah, yeahs’ that appear in the final recorded version of the song, they say, are outside of the copyright. Which is important because it’s arguably those extra bits n pieces that ‘Blurred Lines’ borrowed.

As previously reported, with that in mind Team Lines requested that neither ‘Blurred Lines’ nor ‘Got To Give Up’ be aired in the courtroom in their released form, arguing that instead the core compositions of both should be played on a keyboard, so that the jury decide from that, and that alone, whether there has been any infringement. And the judge in the case has now agreed with that request.

Noting that this whole dispute began when Williams and Thicke filed legal papers to secure confirmation that their hit did not infringe, Richard Busch, representing the Gayes, was unsurprisingly critical of this decision yesterday.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said: “Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke started this lawsuit against the Gaye family, but then filed motions asking the court to prohibit the playing of Marvin Gaye’s song, which prevents the jury from comparing the songs. We know of no similar case where this has occurred, and do not believe that a truly fair trial can take place if the jury cannot hear and compare both songs. We are currently exploring all of our options”.

But speaking for the ‘Blurred Line’ peddlers, legal man Howard King welcomed the ruling, saying: “A truly fair trial requires only a comparison of the compositions, not the sound recording which is not owned by the Gayes. Given the fact that the compositions have absolutely no substantial similarities, there is little chance the Gayes can prevail at trial or on any threatened appeal”.

As we speak all of this is set to kick off in court on 10 Feb.

Rdio removed as defendant from latest pre-1972 lawsuit

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal

Rdio says that is has been removed as a defendant from a new lawsuit focused on the 1972 issue in US copyright law.

As previously reported, following on from previous litigation pursued by other parties against satellite radio company Sirius and streaming service Pandora, the label side of an American media firm called Zenbu last week sued a stack of digital music services alleging they were all streaming pre-1972 sound recordings it controls without licence.

There has been much debate in the US, where AM/FM radio stations do not to pay royalties to the owners of sound recording copyrights but federal law says satellite and online radio services have to, what the rule is with recordings that pre-date 1972, because US-wide federal law does not apply to records released before that year.

The debate has centred on whether state copyright laws that protect older material, and which don’t specifically mention satellite or online services, give labels a similar right to payment, even though AM/FM stations have never paid royalties for that catalogue either. Some early judgements on the Sirius/Pandora cases last year suggested that, actually, they do.

The new lawsuit accuses an assortment of digital services including Slacker, Songza, iTunes Radio, Grooveshark, Sony Music Unlimited and Rdio.

The specific allegations against each service aren’t clear, though you’d expect that last year’s landmark rulings (which are still being appealed) would only affect streaming services operating under a licence from collective licensing agency SoundExchange, and which had opted to not pay royalties on pre-1972 records. Which means only those services operating Pandora-style interactive radio streaming rather than fully on-demand Spotify style set-ups, which need licenses directly from each record company to play any recordings.

Now, Rdio’s freemium option is of the Pandora model, though nevertheless its inclusion as a defendant on the new lawsuit was surprising. And most surprising, it seems, to Rdio itself, which is damn certain it has no liabilities here.

And seemingly Zenbu’s lawyers have quickly agreed, dismissing their action against this particular streamer. A spokesperson for Rdio told CMU: “We’re pleased the lawsuit was dismissed. Rdio respects copyright and is committed to compensating artists for their creative works and pays royalties for all songs we offer”.

Gary Glitter testifies in sex abuse trial

Artist News Legal

Gary Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, testified at Southwark Crown Court yesterday, denying ten charges of sexual abuse against children in the 1970s and 80s.

As previously reported, the trial began earlier this month, and sees Gadd accused of abusing three girls between 1975 and 1980, including a “clear and unmistakable attempt to rape” a school-age girl.

Saying that he had used his autobiography to “charge” his memory about his actions at the time of the alleged crimes, the singer claimed wig maintenance as his alibi.

He said that he had begun losing his hair as a teenager, and had worn a wig throughout his pop career. After each show, he said, he had returned to his hotel to fix the hairpiece and thus would not have been able, as it is claimed, to assault any of his fans immediately following a gig.

“I never had anybody backstage after a performance”, he told the court, according to the BBC. “Because this was a major problem in my life, or rather a major chore. I had to deal with it”.

The case continues.

Ian Brown testifies in Fred Talbot’s indecent assault trial

Artist News Legal

Providing some celebrity intrigue to a trial that almost certainly didn’t need it, Ian Brown yesterday testified against former Granada TV weatherman and ‘This Morning’ regular Fred Talbot, who is accused of ten counts of indecent assault against five boys, dating from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when he was working as a teacher.

Brown is neither a victim nor a witness of the actual alleged assaults, but he was taught biology by Talbot when he attended Altrincham Grammar School in the 1970s. And in his testimony at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday he recalled Talbot’s alleged inappropriate behaviour in the classroom.

According to the BBC, while recalling one class that occurred when he was aged eleven, Brown told the court how Talbot had shown his pupils “a three minute film on a Super 8 projector of a guy walking into a room dressed in denims; he sits on bed, takes his trousers down and masturbates. It was only a few years later that I realised it was probably a gay porn film. It wasn’t a sex education film. It was years later I realised it was wrong to show us that film”.

Brown went on to describe a lesson where Talbot “asked the class if any of us had ever masturbated. He wanted to know who was successful in the masturbation. He asked boys to raise their hands”. Talbot would then have “private words” with those who had done so. “I can remember sitting there wondering, ‘What is he saying to them?'”

Talbot’s defence lawyer countered that her client was delivering sex education, as you might expect in a biology class. “I doubt that’s on the curriculum”, the singer responded. While, when asked why he never told his parents about these incidents at the time, he replied:
“It was 1974. I was eleven and the teachers ruled with an iron rod. It would have been an embarrassment to tell my parents things like that”.

Talbot denies the charges against him. The case continues.

Challenges for small music venues outlined in new Music Venue Trust report

Business News Live Business

The Music Venue Trust has published an interim findings report into challenges currently facing small venues in the UK. The full report is set to follow in March.

Amongst the issues facing venues interviewed for the report are the two covered heavily in the media recently, complaints about noise (often from a single person) and changes to planning legislation making it easier for developers to convert buildings containing or next to venues into flats or offices.

Diminishing audiences at a grass roots level were also of concern, with various causes suggested. The recession was an obvious one, while some venue operators also said that the student audiences they rely on had dwindled, in part due to increased tuition fees.

Also coming in for criticism was the Live Music Act, which removed the red tape surrounding putting on small gigs in pubs and such like. In doing so, respondents said, the Government created more competition for venues focused on new music, proving right predictions made by former Luminaire owner Andy Inglis in 2013.

The music publishing sector’s collecting society PRS For Music also comes in for heavy criticism in the report, accused of trying to collect money from venues that don’t play PRS-registered music and charging more than many small venues can afford in fees, which then put them at risk of going out of business.

Announcing the report, Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd said: “There is a national challenge to our live music venue circuit brought about by a sequence of events and developments which have left that network in a perilous and precarious state. Music Venue Trust feels that we need to take an overall view of the challenges out there”.

He went on: “We need to be openly discussing and airing those challenges with our live music industry colleagues, and working together to tackle that range of issues so we not only maintain and preserve this circuit but actively start to improve it. We feel that past failures to talk about the ecosystem of UK music have meant that people who don’t actively work in it perhaps don’t understand the structure of the industry, or the vital role that this network of venues plays in maintaining it”.

“The UK is, quite literally, a music world leader, punching vastly above its weight in terms of the impact our artists and musicians make across the globe. A huge proportion of the music we export, which generates thousands of jobs, develops the artistic careers of our best writers and musicians, and is such an important part of the UK’s standing on the international cultural stage, starts in a small venue. This is the grassroots of our industry, the research and development department of our major international music industry partners. It is impossible to overstate this enough; no Troubadour or 12 Bar Club, no Adele”.

“Our UK music scene, arguably the best in the world, is built on a robust ecosystem that starts with a first live concert in front of as few as ten people on a Tuesday night in Guildford and climaxes with three nights at Wembley Stadium. And it’s not just the musicians – our industry and other parts of the creative sector are filled with people who cut their teeth promoting, booking or simply working the door at a small venue. This small venue circuit is the training ground and the entry level experience for our lighting engineers, sound technicians, and cultural organisers at all levels; we need to ensure we do all we can to protect it”.

Read the interim report here. The full report will follow on 9 Mar.

Gary Gersh joins AEG Live

Business News Industry People Live Business

AEG Live has appointed Gary Gersh to the brand new role of President Of Global Talent because, well, why the hell not, that’s what I say.

US industry veteran Gersh, whose career has so far encompassed retail, labels and management, though this is his first gig in the gig business, will “play a critical role in managing and enhancing the ongoing relationships between artists and their agents, managers and other business associates and AEG Live’s touring, festivals and fifteen regional offices”.

On his move into the live space, Gersh himself told the Billboards: “I love music, but I also love business and growth and the opportunity to build, and all those things collide in one place here. I’m super excited about being a part of that”.

He went on: “You know how it is, when you’re doing something often and for a long time, you think, ‘If I can be challenged and be an excitable boy again, that would be a super way to go through the next ten or twelve years of my life’. I just decided it was time for a change. Fortunately it landed me here, and I couldn’t be more excited”.

Friday 30 January 2015, 15:07 | By CMU Editorial

Each weekday, the CMU Approved column highlights a new artist, track, article or other online activity that we think our readers should be aware of. Below is a playlist featuring artists and tracks showcased in the column in January 2015.

READ MORE ABOUT: Clarence Clarity | Doldrums | Drink To Me | Emilie Nicolas | FAE | Kali Uchis | Kiss | Le Thug | Lilacs & Champagne | Mew | Mikal Cronin | Momoiro Clover Z | Skinny Girl Diet | Susanne Sundfør | William Onyeabor | Zun Zun Egui

Friday 30 January 2015, 11:02 | By CMU Editorial

BBE and Blacktronica tonight present the London launch party for the new remix album from DJ Spinna, ‘The Sound Beyond Stars’, down in the basement of the Edition Hotel in the West End.

READ MORE ABOUT: DJ Spinna

Friday 30 January 2015, 11:01 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Bidco | Jay-Z | Project Panther | Spotify | Tidal | WiMP

Friday 30 January 2015, 11:00 | By Chris Cooke

Tom Petty has commented on the news that he and Jeff Lynne have been given co-credits on Sam Smith’s hit ‘Stay With Me’ on the basis it’s kinda similar to their song ‘I Won’t Back Down’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Jeff Lynne | Sam Smith | Tom Petty

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:59 | By Andy Malt

Former Death Row Records owner Suge Knight has turned himself in to police in LA after allegedly killing a man and injuring another in a hit and run incident.

READ MORE ABOUT: Suge Knight

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:58 | By Andy Malt

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was arrested in California earlier this week after being involved in a bar fight.

READ MORE ABOUT: Black Sabbath | Geezer Butler

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:57 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Listen Up

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:56 | By Chris Cooke

So, the bids are in, people. You know, the bids. From the two groups who would like to control the second national DAB digital radio network.

READ MORE ABOUT: Bauer Media | DAB | Listen2Digital | Sound Digital | UTV Media | Virgin Radio

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:55 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:54 | By Chris Cooke

Pan-European indie label trade group IMPALA has revealed the (rather long) shortlist for its European Independent Album Of The Year Award. And here it is!

READ MORE ABOUT: The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA)

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:53 | By CMU Editorial

Other notable announcements and developments today…

READ MORE ABOUT: Adam Lambert | Brian Wilson | Chvrches | Dappy | Eric Prydz | Holly Herndon | Kanye West | Kasabian | Mat Dryhurst | Stealing Sheep

Friday 30 January 2015, 10:52 | By Andy Malt

Prior to this week, if you had any interest in Blink 182 (which I realise is possibly an oxymoron), you would have been forgiven for assuming that the reunion the trio embarked upon in 2009 was about to grind into action again.

READ MORE ABOUT: Blink 182

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:58 | By Andy Malt

Zun Zun Egui made a bold and exciting entrance with their debut album, ‘Katang’, in 2011, but their second, ‘Shackle’s Gift’, takes them to a new level of brilliance.

READ MORE ABOUT: Zun Zun Egui

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:52 | By Chris Cooke

So, a handful of plums to anyone who had Sony Music Unlimited down as the first streaming music service to shut down in 2015.

READ MORE ABOUT: Line Music | Music Unlimited | Omnifone | PlayStation Network | Sony Corp | Sony Music | Sony Music Japan | Spotify

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:51 | By Andy Malt

Sly Stone, real name Sylvester Stewart, has been awarded $5 million by the Los Angeles Superior Court after it was ruled that his former manager and lawyer had withheld royalties from him.

READ MORE ABOUT: Even Street Productions | Gerald Goldstein | Glenn Stone | Sly Stone

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:50 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: The Pirate Bay | Vodafone

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:49 | By Chris Cooke

There has been quite a bit of chatter amongst entertainment lawyers Stateside this week about the possible impact of a petition recently lodged with the California Labor Commissioner by Phillip Phillips, aka 2012’s ‘American Idol’ winner.

READ MORE ABOUT: 19 Entertainment | American Idol | Phillip Phillips

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:48 | By Chris Cooke

Lil Wayne has reportedly gone legal in his dispute with his label, the Universal-allied Cash Money.

READ MORE ABOUT: Cash Money | Lil Wayne | Young Money

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:47 | By Andy Malt

Lil Louis has said that his career as a DJ and producer may be over, following hearing damage he suffered in an accident with an air horn at Sankeys nightclub in Manchester on Saturday.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lil Louis | Sankeys

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:46 | By Andy Malt

Students from Queen Mary University in Bow, East London are campaigning for a proposed new graduate centre to be named after local musician Wiley.

READ MORE ABOUT: Wiley

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:45 | By Andy Malt

READ MORE ABOUT: Father John Misty

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:43 | By Andy Malt

Other notable announcements and developments today…

READ MORE ABOUT: Airbourne | Anti Flag | Calexico | Calvin Harris | Drenge | John Frusciante | Johnny Tennander | L7 | Lapalux | Marina | Metz | OOFJ | Rita Ora | Shlohmo | Sia | Sony Music Publishing | Spinefarm Records

Thursday 29 January 2015, 10:41 | By Andy Malt

Kenny G is responsible for a lot of things. All of them bad. This apparently now includes the Frappucino, which he reckons Starbucks invented to shut him up.

READ MORE ABOUT: Kenny G | Starbucks

Wednesday 28 January 2015, 10:52 | By Andy Malt

Having eeked out a handful of tracks over the last two years, Clarence Clarity is set to release his debut album, ‘No Now’, on 2 Mar through Bella Union.

READ MORE ABOUT: Clarence Clarity

Wednesday 28 January 2015, 10:51 | By Chris Cooke

So it seems that the main qualification for joining the jury in the upcoming and set-to-be-entertaining ‘Blurred Lines’ court case may just be that you’ve never previously heard one of the records at the heart of the case, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give Up’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Marvin Gaye | Pharrell Williams | Robin Thicke

Wednesday 28 January 2015, 10:50 | By Chris Cooke

Rdio says that is has been removed as a defendant from a new lawsuit focused on the 1972 issue in US copyright law.

READ MORE ABOUT: Rdio

Wednesday 28 January 2015, 10:49 | By Andy Malt

Gary Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, testified at Southwark Crown Court yesterday, denying ten charges of sexual abuse against children in the 1970s and 80s.

READ MORE ABOUT: Gary Glitter

Wednesday 28 January 2015, 10:47 | By Chris Cooke

READ MORE ABOUT: Fred Talbot | Ian Brown

Wednesday 28 January 2015, 10:46 | By Andy Malt

The Music Venue Trust has published an interim findings report into challenges currently facing small venues in the UK. The full report is set to follow in March.