Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:41 | By Chris Cooke

Tidal relaunches, did you wave?

Business News Digital Top Stories

Not since Paul Tonkinson and Amanda Byram took over the reins on ‘The Big Breakfast’ has a relaunch been this exciting!

So yes, as expected, yesterday afternoon (New York time) Jay-Z gathered together an undeniably impressive band of A-list popstars (many though not all managed by his Roc Nation company or other Live Nation affiliates) to prove, once and for all, that however much fame and charisma you may have as an artist, once you’re standing in a line with a load of other stars with absolutely nothing to do for five minutes, you’re going to look like a bunch of school kids waiting to be picked for a basketball team.

But who could you have on your basketball team? Well, I’d start with Beyonce, I bet she knows how to shoot some hoops. Or maybe Nicki Minaj? Yeah, I’m having Nicki Minaj. Her and Alicia Keys. Jack White doesn’t look like he’d be much use on the basketball court, but perhaps that’d just lure the opposition into a false sense of security and then, wham, Usher could slam that ball in the bucket.

I can’t help thinking Arcade Fire, Jason Aldean and J Cole would just be making up the numbers, and presumably Kanye West ain’t much of a team player. Madonna? Hmm, maybe another secret weapon? And while you might think Daft Punk and Deadmau5 are the weakest links, what with their unwieldy headgear, it’s worth noting Calvin Harris and Chris Martin are skype-ing in. And you ain’t gonna score any baskets that way, are you?

“So who ended up on which team?” you’re all now shouting. Well, here’s the thing, they’re all on the same team see, because these A-listers ain’t just celebrity endorsers of the all-new Tidal streaming service, oh no, they’re shareholders in the whole God-darn thing. Don’t be thinking this is just a Jay-Z-led venture, it’s the A-list artists uniting for the common good, putting their lives on the line to benefit the little guys.

True, the FT cites sources who claim that the artists were given their 3% shareholdings gratis alongside a cash sweetener of up to $3 million, in return for agreeing to front the streaming platform. But I’m sure all the c’lebs are now hard at work in Tidal HQ, checking the servers are running OK, managing the Facebook ads account, and ordering in some new barrels for the water cooler. Oh no, hang on, Jay-Z wants you to drink water from the tap and spend that money on some bloody music, OK?

But surely we learned more about the all-new Tidal during its much hyped, live-streamed New York launch than “look at all our celebrity shareholders, so fuck off Spotify”? Well, no, not really, but earlier in the day we were given some more information. Mainly that Tidal – which so far has only offered the 19.99 high quality audio service – will also have a 9.99 standard audio option, so basically the same as it’s sister service WiMP, which is being rebranded under the Tidal name anyway.

The other key message in all the relaunch bumf is that Tidal is going to become the artist-friendly streaming service, because, hey, did we mention our shareholders? Though quite how it will be more ‘artist-friendly’ remains to be seen. True, the 19.99 service pays out twice the royalties, but then given streaming services are licensed on a revenue share basis, that’s a given, and realistically double-the-cost HD audio remains a niche product. Also, when it comes to the royalties artists actually receive, a lot of that has to do with their deals with the labels and publishers that nearly always sit between them and any streaming set-up.

So the main way in which Tidal will be ‘artist-friendly’ seems to be the shunning of freemium. But then pretty much every streaming service other than Spotify has entered the market without an ad-funded freemium level, and nearly all of them have subsequently added some kind of free-to-use version after seeing how much quicker their Swedish rival grows its userbase when it enters new markets.

But like Apple with its planned iTunes/Beats rehash, Tidal is hoping that it can sign people up not with freebies but with exclusives, whether that be first-plays of new albums or exclusive content. And any sort of exclusive content will do. “Artists can come here and start making songs eight minutes long”, Jay-Z told Billboard.

“I know this is going to sound crazy”, he went on. “But maybe they start attempting to make a ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, you know, a song that doesn’t have a recognisable hook, but is still considered one of the greatest songs of all time. The freedom that this platform will allow means art can flourish here”. So, basically, like a really innovative radio station. A really innovative radio station that no one listens to.

Still, however awkward his launch party may have been (it was very awkward), the addition of Jay-Z’s Tidal to an increasingly crowded marketplace makes what was already set to be an interesting year in streaming music all the more interesting. And imagine what MC Hammer’s going to do with his inevitable acquisition of Rara.

Though however many popstars are on your team, the streaming music sector remains a risky game to play, even for Jay-Z. But if all else fails, he could always bring back Johnny and Denise with their Friday songs. I’d pay for that.

READ MORE ABOUT: Jay-Z | Tidal

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:40 | By Chris Cooke

StubHub sues Ticketmaster over ‘official’ resale sites

Business News Legal Live Business

Having lobbied away the most important of the rules that were proposed for the new Consumer Rights Act – the rule that a seller’s identity must be revealed – the UK secondary ticketing market will likely carry on pretty much as before despite the new legislation forcing online ticket touts to provide buyers will a little more information about the tickets they are selling. Though had the more draconian measure become law (and had it been enforceable) it would have provided an interesting test.

Because officially the live industry hates touting, and only gets involved in the secondary market on the basis that “if you can’t beat them, you have to join them”. But some ticketing firms, promoters and artists now make decent revenues from participating in the ticket tout party, so would they really bail on it if effective regulation could be installed? Of course, the likes of Ticketmaster will argue that effective regulation is impossible, so, let the party roll on.

Meanwhile in the US, secondary ticketing firms from inside and outside the live sector are going to war in the courtroom, because Live Nation’s Ticketmaster has been sued by eBay-owned StubHub, over its official alliance with the Golden State Warriors basketball team.

Because Ticketmaster is not only the primary ticket seller for the Warriors, but it also operates the official season ticket resale platform, where tickets can be officially resold. With that in mind, the basketball team threatens to cancel any tickets it sees being touted on other secondary sites, like StubHub.

It can make that threat because reselling a ticket is usually a breach of the terms and conditions of the original purchase (which is why forcing sellers to reveal their identities in the CRA would have been a big deal, because promoters could use that information to cancel all and any tickets being resold).

But, says StubHub, that’s anti-competitive behaviour on Ticketmaster’s part. The eBay firm says in its complaint: “If you are a Warriors fan and you want season tickets, you have one choice: buy them through Ticketmaster”. The company’s legal rep Michelle Fang then told Bloomberg that her client was suing in the interest of Warriors’ fans, adding of Ticketmaster’s motives: “Given that they haven’t been able to win when we’ve competed on a level playing field, they’re trying to compete unfairly”.

But Ticketmaster hit out at the litigation, saying: “We are disappointed that StubHub has filed a baseless lawsuit that asks the courts to help prop up its business against true fan-friendly competition. NBA teams like the Golden State Warriors have implemented ticket exchanges powered by Ticketmaster because they want ticket resale to be a secure experience, not an opportunity for scalping and fraud”.

StubHub and Ticketmaster have had legal skirmishes before, but if this gets to court, the case could again put the spotlight on how the ‘anti-touting’ live entertainment industry dabbles in the secondary market.

READ MORE ABOUT: StubHub | Ticketmaster

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:39 | By Chris Cooke

More web-blocks ordered in Europe

Business News Digital Legal

Good news for fans of web-blocks, the European courts are increasingly block-happy, with recent injunctions seeing The Pirate Bay being blocked in Spain and KickassTorrents in Denmark.

Spain was one of the first countries to consider forcing internet service providers to block access to copyright infringing websites with its so called Sinde Law, though it’s taken some time for the web-blocking to properly begin, whereas here in the UK, where web-blocking was all but removed from the Digital Economy Act in 2010, web-block injunctions have become a frequent event.

But ISPs in Spain are now having to block the always controversial Pirate Bay following a ruling in a Madrid court, this following the news earlier in the year that Vodafone was already blocking the site, albeit after getting confused by a bit of government communication, so that it eventually unblocked it. Only to now block it again. Good times.

In Denmark action by the Rights Alliance has resulted in twelve piracy sites, including KickassTorrents, being blocked by net firms there. Web-blocks have been common in Denmark for years now.

Though I’m obligated by journalistic convention to point out that web-blocks are limited in their effectiveness by the fact that proxy services provide ways around the blockades, and are usually easily found with a simple Google search. Yes, it’s all Google’s fault again. Kick ass.

READ MORE ABOUT: KickassTorrents | Rights Alliance | The Pirate Bay

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:38 | By Chris Cooke

MusicTank paper puts the spotlight on the private copy levy

Business News Education & Events Labels & Publishers

MusicTank has published a white paper called ‘Private Copying Of Music: A New Model For Artist Compensation’, part of the think tank’s new Future Thinking programme, which aims to put out thought-provoking papers written by postgrad students on the University Of Westminster’s Music Business Management course. The reports are intended to kick-start industry debate at an accompanying MusicTank event.

The private copying paper comes as the UK music community – led by UK Music, the Musicians Union and BASCA – pursues a judicial review over Parliament’s decision to introduce a private copy right here, but without compensation.

As previously reported, until recently in the UK it was technically speaking illegal to make private copies of CDs for personal use, a pointless bit of copyright law that was never enforced against the millions of people who routinely rip tracks off CDs and onto PCs and portable devices.

No one in the British music industry objects to the private copy right being finally introduced in the UK, but elsewhere in Europe the private copy exception to copyright has been accompanied by a levy, traditionally added to blank cassettes, which is passed back to the music community. But the UK private copy system has no such levy, a fact that those pursuing the judicial review says contravenes European law.

Of course, the problem with the levy system in the digital age is deciding what, exactly, to apply the levy to. This is an issue that has been discussed a plenty in European Union circles, and it’s the issue former Westminster student Sam Rudy considers in the new MusicTank paper.

Commenting on the report, the university’s Sally Gross told reporters: “Extensively researched, this paper positions a timely and convincing argument that a private copy levy, even in these days of streaming, should still make up a substantial part of music industry finance”.

You can download the paper here, while details of the June MusicTank event set to debate the topic are here.

READ MORE ABOUT: MusicTank

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:37 | By Andy Malt

Pop named most popular genre in the UK (please do not all shout ‘Duh!’ at once)

Business News Labels & Publishers

Pop music maintained its position as the UK’s most popular genre across albums, singles and compilations in 2014, record label trade group the BPI announced this morning. In the albums market, this puts pop back at the top with 34.5% share of the market, having been pushed down to number two in 2013.

What does all this mean though? Well, it’s hard to tell. As ever, how genres are defined is slightly confusing. I mean, according to the stats, rock music enjoyed its biggest share of the singles market for four years, with 23.4%. However, it was apparently ‘Budapest’ by George Ezra that created this boost. Is George Ezra rock? You decide. Actually, no you don’t, someone has already decided on your behalf. He has a guitar, so shut up.

The third most popular genre, after pop and rock, was dance, which came in at 7.7%, down from 8.3%. It was apparently propped up by Calvin Harris and Avicii, both of whom you could argue should be categorised under pop these days, couldn’t you?

Less ambiguous is Dolly Parton, whose much talked about appearance at Glastonbury, alongside a new best of album release, helped country move up to 2.3% of the market, compared to 1.7% in 2013.

The BPI’s outgoing Head Of PR, Lynne McDowell, said: “Be it pop hits, rock classics, dance anthems, classical compositions or country collaborations, British artists and labels continue to work together to make music loved by fans across the nation. The UK has a rich and diverse cultural heritage and we can be proud of the cross-genre music royalty that we have produced down through the decades to this very day”.

And, yes, I’ll keep you in suspense no longer. The stat I know you’re all waiting for is this: ‘new age’ music maintained it’s five year run of taking 0.1 of the market.

READ MORE ABOUT: British Phonographic Industry (BPI)

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:36 | By Chris Cooke

New CCO at ReverbNation

Business News Digital Industry People

Direct To Fan firm ReverbNation has announced the promotion of Simon Perry, previously SVP Creative, to the job of Chief Creative Officer.

In his new job, Perry, who joined ReverbNation in 2013, will continue to lead on artist curation and development initiatives, as well as heading up industry relations and overseeing the launch of the previously mentioned and soon to launch artist incubator ReverbNation Connect.

Confirming this, the firm’s CEO Michael Doernberg told reporters: “There is no other organisation who has instantaneous access to more great artists around the world than we do at ReverbNation. We believe that being able to identify promising artists in our community and offer them opportunities that will supercharge their careers is going to fuel the next phase of growth here”.

He added: “Since joining the company, Simon has made significant contributions to the development of our music strategies, including to our curation capabilities which are enabling us to play a pivotal role in the ongoing evolution of artist discovery. His proven track record at combining artistry and commerce make him the ideal candidate to lead this important area of our business”.

READ MORE ABOUT: ReverbNation | Simon Perry

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:35 | By Chris Cooke

Celador to rebrand Jack FM stations

Business News Media

There’ll be three less Jack FM stations on the air in the UK from next week, after Celador Radio announced it would drop the bought-in branding for its FM outlets in Southampton, Bristol and Swindon.

And after Shadow Radio Holdings rebranded its Jack FM service in Hertfordshire as Bob FM last year, what is Celador going for? Sam FM. Yes, Sam FM. Though Gareth Hale (not Pace) will be the voice of the station, so you need to imagine him saying it. See, now it’s the greatest name for a radio station never, isn’t it?

Confirming that it would be launching its own brand for the three Jack stations in its portfolio of FM franchises, Celador Radio’s Paul Smith told reporters: “We have been considering for some time taking control of our own brand as opposed to franchising a name, which has consistently caused confusion with the two UK Jack stations not under our ownership. We have had great success with our three Jack stations and look forward to them developing further and achieving yet greater success as Sam FM”.

Celador’s rebrand announcement follows the news that the company which owns those other two UK-based Jack stations – Oxis Media – has acquired the European rights to the entire Jack FM brand from the Canadian business that licenses out the radio format worldwide, SparkNet Communications.

And it plans to launch a load more Jack FM branded services. So worry not, fans of Jack. And haters of Sam. And Bob. All will be well, and all will be well.

READ MORE ABOUT: Celador Radio | Jack FM | Sam FM

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:34 | By Andy Malt

Folk guitarist John Renbourn dies

Artist News

Former Pentangle guitarist John Renbourn has died, aged 70. He was found by police at his home on Thursday morning, after he failed to appear for a live performance in Glasgow the previous evening. He is believed to have suffered a heart attack.

His manager, Dave Smith told The Guardian: “He was just larger than life. Game for anything. He was just finishing off a tour with Wizz Jones, and was looking forward to the next. He was a great teacher – he was always putting himself down as a teacher and running weekend workshops all over Europe, where he would have students come and learn from him”.

Renbourn first came to prominence in the 60s, after working more formally with fellow virtuoso folk guitarist Bert Jansch, who died in 2011.

After recording an album as a duo in 1966, they formed Pentangle the following year, which incorporated jazz influences into their sound. After the group split in 1973, Renbourn returned to his solo career, and in the late 80s began teaching a degree course in steel-strung guitar.

READ MORE ABOUT: John Renbourn | Pentangle

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:33 | By Andy Malt

De La Soul launch Kickstarter campaign for first album in eleven years

Artist News Management & Funding

De La Soul have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the recording and release of their first album for eleven years. Within hours, the group passed their target of $110,000 well ahead of their 2 May deadline.

Explaining the concept for the record, the band say: “The sampler is our instrument, but people who copy, and in this case ‘sample’, have also been considered thieves and unoriginal. So, unfortunately a huge part of our career has also been spent fighting off the ‘sample police’. Enough of those battles! For the new album, we needed a completely new approach, something hip hop hasn’t done before. So, here it is: For the first time, we’re going to sample ourselves”.

And so, they continue: “Over the last three years, we’ve hired some of LA’s finest studio musicians and recorded them in free-styled, unrehearsed, jam sessions. They played everything from banjo to upright bass, sometimes up to a dozen musicians at once; simply allowing sounds to integrate”.

The album will be constructed by sampling these recordings, with contributions from Damon Albarn, 2 Chainz, Little Dragon and David Byrne, plus more names to be announced.

Find out more and throw in some cash here.

READ MORE ABOUT: De La Soul

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:32 | By Andy Malt

CMU’s One Liners: Spotify on your PlayStation, Brandon Flowers on your YouTube, Doldrums in your town, and more

Artist News Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Hey, there, slow down with your Tidal wave of nonsense, you do realise that Spotify arrived on the PlayStation Network yesterday, don’t you? “Quake”, said Spotify’s Gustav Söderström. Though it’s usually quakes that cause the tidal waves, I find.

• Son Lux has announced a new album, titled ‘Bones’, to be released on 22 Jun through Glassnote. Here’s ‘Change Is Everything’.

• I cannot deny that this is the video for Brandon Flowers’ ‘Can’t Deny My Love’.

• Doldrums has announced some UK tour dates, starting at Electrowerkz in London on 20 May. And here’s new single, ‘Loops’.

• Tei Shi will be touring the UK in May and June, including a show at the Red Gallery in London on 21 May. You can listen to her new EP, ‘Verde’, on Hype Machine. And you should.

• Alvvays have announced UK tour dates for August and September, concluding with a Shepherds Bush Empire show on 11 Sep.

READ MORE ABOUT: Alvvays | Brandon Flowers | Doldrums | PlayStation | Son Lux | Spotify | Tei Shi

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:31 | By Andy Malt

Noel Gallagher says solo career has lost him “a fucking shitload of money”

And Finally Artist News

Right, you fuckers. Go and buy Noel Gallagher’s new solo album. And a ticket for a show. Or don’t. To be honest, I’m not sure what the best plan of attack is here. I guess it depends on whether or not you want an Oasis reunion, because not being in that band is having a really negative impact on Gallagher’s bank balance right now.

Speaking to the NME, he said: “Everything I’ve done since I left Oasis has come from my own pocket. You’ve got to pay for the tour, got to pay for the wages and you don’t really break even for about nine months. I don’t mean I lost money. I mean I lost a fucking shitload of money. It was a few million, like. I had to lie to Sara [MacDonald, his wife] at first, and when I eventually did tell her, she freaked out – I mean FREAKED out”.

Yeah, I’m not surprised. You can’t just go around losing a fucking shitload of money on your hobby. Maybe it’s time to get a proper job. But I suppose we should hear him out. What was his rationale? “I did it because I felt like I could and I didn’t want to be signed to a record label, I wanted to do it myself”, he explained. “Luckily enough it’s worked out”.

Wait, it’s worked out? Was this just a complicated way for him to brag about making a fucking shitload of money?

READ MORE ABOUT: Noel Gallagher

Tuesday 31 March 2015, 10:30 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Roots Manuva – Facety 2:11

CMU Approved

Having been pretty quiet for the last couple of years, Roots Manuva is finally back with some new music in the form of a twelve-inch single due for release through Big Dada on 4 May.

Lead track ‘Facety 2:11’ is produced by Four Tet, its title referencing a patois slang word for someone being rude, which is in turn apparently referenced in the track through the rhyming slang “boat race” that is looped to make up the chorus.

The rapper himself describes the track as “a wee spring warmer in voodoo coptic dialect shape shifting: the remit the same as ever in awakening one’s inner, modern day Sun Ra, ODB and Kate Bush on an overdrive of ‘doing because we can’t help ourselves'”.

So there you go. Listen to ‘Facety 2:11’ here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Roots Manuva

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:13 | By Chris Cooke

Irish ISP is forced to set up three-strikes

Business News Digital Legal Top Stories

The High Court in Ireland has told internet service provider UPC that it must introduce a three-strikes system to help combat online piracy. It means the net firm must start sending warning letters to suspected file-sharers with the threat of sanctions against those customers who ignore the warnings, and according to the ruling the record companies need only cover 20% of the costs associated with the scheme.

Five years ago three-strikes was the anti-piracy measure of choice for many copyright owners, with lobbying efforts by music and movie companies in various countries, including the UK, resulting in an obligation on ISPs to operate some kind of ‘graduated response’ system being added to copyright law. Not that it ever really got off the ground here, and even the French system – perhaps the fiercest of all the three-strikes initiatives – somewhat ran aground when it reached strike three.

However, in Ireland, market-leading ISP Eircom voluntarily introduced three-strikes as part of a settlement deal with the major record companies. For their part the labels agreed to pressure the net firm’s competitors to likewise join the three-strikes party, but Ireland’s other ISPs were not keen on the idea, and fought back in both the press and the courts. UPC was particularly vocal in its opposition to the three-strikes system, arguing – with some success – that only a change in Irish law could force its hand.

But last year the Irish record industry launched new legal proceedings against the ISP, perhaps feeling that opinion in both political and judicial circles had shifted in its favour on this issue in recent years. And seemingly it was right.

Based on arguments presented to Ireland’s Commercial Court in January, the judge hearing the case published his ruling last week, and pretty much sided with the labels outright, rejecting UPC’s argument that it wasn’t its job to police how its customers use the internet. Saying that “wholesale theft” was occurring on UPC’s networks, judge Brian Cregan ruled that “the [illegal] downloading of music for free is destroying the intellectual property rights of creative artists and should be a matter of great concern in any civilised society”.

According to Ireland’s Independent newspaper, he went on: “The current generation of writers, performers and interpreters of music cannot have their livelihoods destroyed by advances in technology which allow persons to breach their constitutional rights with impunity”.

UPC and the labels now have a month to propose to the court how they will implement the new three-strikes system. It remains to be seen if UPC has any more fight in it, and if not, whether similar action will now be taken by the labels against the other ISPs in Ireland.

READ MORE ABOUT: UPC

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:12 | By Chris Cooke

Mike Weatherley puts focus on safe harbours with one last IP report

Business News Digital Legal

As Parliament wound up last week ahead of the upcoming election most general, Mike Weatherley, outgoing MP for Hove and, for a time, IP Advisor to David Cameron, published one last paper on intellectual property issues in a bid to input on the current review of European copyright law in Brussels.

The focus of last week’s paper was the role of internet service providers and other web players in policing online piracy. And in particular the so called ‘safe-harbour’ clauses that were included in early internet regulation and which many in the content industries reckon have been used by web companies to knock back reasonable requests to stop third parties distributing unlicensed content online.

Although the safe-harbours contained in American law are more commonly discussed – with the ‘DMCA takedown requests’ now routinely filed by content companies against firms like Google stemming from the same legislation – similar provisions to protect tech companies were included in the European Union’s E-Commerce Directive in 2000.

Commenting on his latest paper, Weatherley told reporters: “As the former Intellectual Property Advisor to the Prime Minister, I felt that it was important to continue to highlight the issues that have grave consequences for our fantastic creative industries. The creative industries are huge contributors to our economy so it’s vital, in order to protect them, that the regulations which were set out in 2000 are updated. The broad scope of the Directive results in rights holders losing out to pirates on an industrial scale”.

The safe-harbours debate will be explored in more detail in the April edition of the CMU Trends Report, available to premium subscribers. But meanwhile, the newly vocal British Academy Of Songwriters And Composers has already welcomed Weatherley’s report, confirming that reform of safe-harbour rules are on its agenda too.

BASCA boss Vick Bain told reporters: “BASCA fully supports the conclusions and recommendations contained in Mike Weatherley’s report. We think there is an urgent need for a debate on the issues raised and on the role of ISPs in the ongoing battle against copyright infringement”.

She went on: “ISPs need to not only be ‘more proactive’ in taking down multiple copies of infringing works; they need to take down and keep down all copies of infringing works, not just the specific cases they are notified of. We would also encourage the UK Government to go even further, particularly on the subject of safe-harbour provisions, which are being systematically abused by some platforms, and we hope that this is the start of a constructive and collaborative debate on issues that directly impact songwriters and composers”.

You can read Weatherley’s report in full here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Mike Weatherley

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:11 | By Chris Cooke

Police regulator reports on first investigation relating to Ian Watkins case

Artist News Legal

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has reported on one of three investigations it instigated following the arrest and subsequent conviction of one time Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins, who was found guilty of sexual abuse against very young children. The investigations were launched following complaints that three separate police forces failed to properly respond to earlier reports of the singer’s crimes.

The first investigation to be completed focuses on the conduct of officers working for Bedfordshire Police. Joanne Mjadzelics, a former girlfriend of Watkins and a key witness in the case, said that police had failed to fully investigate, and to protect an eighteen month old infant, after she first made allegations against the singer and a woman known as “Miss A” in October 2012.

But the IPCC ruled last week that Bedfordshire Police did, in fact, take immediate steps to investigate Mjadzelics’ allegations, and to safeguard the infant in question, though two officers did fail to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry, and to properly record why they had decided not to pursue said enquiries.

Commenting on the findings of the Commission’s investigation, IPCC Commissioner Jan Williams said: “Bedfordshire Police officers did respond in a timely way to the allegation made by Joanne Mjadzelics in 2012, and demonstrably had the welfare of Miss A’s child uppermost in their minds. Nothing was found by our investigation to say the force could definitely have prevented any offending, or contributed to bringing Ian Watkins to justice sooner”.

“However”, the Commissioner continued, “there were some more investigative steps detectives could have taken, including the earlier seizure and analysis of electronic equipment belonging to Miss A. The two officers subject to the IPCC investigation stated that they did not believe there were grounds to seize Miss A’s devices, and it is regrettable that they failed to document their decision-making in this regard”.

The IPCC then said that it agreed with Bedfordshire Police’s decision that the two detectives should receive “management action”, noting that the force was also providing briefings to officers within the force’s Public Protection Unit “as a result of learning from the investigation”.

Separate IPCC investigations into the conduct of officers involved in this case in South Wales and South Yorkshire are ongoing. Watkins, of course, was sentenced to 29 years in prison in December 2013 for crimes against children described by the judge presiding as reaching “new depths of depravity”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Ian Watkins | Lostprophets

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:10 | By Chris Cooke

BMG announces Alibaba alliance

Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers

BMG has announced an alliance with Chinese web giant Alibaba as part of its plan to make China a “priority territory”.

Through the partnership with Alibaba’s digital entertainment division, BMG writers and artists will be promoted through a number of the Chinese firm’s channels and apps, while the new partner will also monitor and take action against the unlicensed use of BMG-repped repertoire in the region.

Confirming the deal, BMG China’s Chief Investment Officer Dora Yi told reporters: “This is a game-changing deal for BMG. Alibaba is one of the most progressive and successful companies in China and is the ideal partner for us as we begin to unleash the potential of BMG’s catalogue here”.

Meanwhile Patrick Liu, President of Alibaba’s digital entertainment business, added: “We are delighted to join hands with BMG to develop a new business model that combines music with e-commerce in China’s entertainment sector. Our rich experience in big data analysis will help us lead innovation in the music industry that ultimately enhances customer experience”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Alibaba | BMG

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:09 | By Chris Cooke

Duran Duran sign to Warner Bros

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Warner Bros US has only gone and signed Duran Duran to one of those record deals everyone still seems to love, with the mini-major set to release the band’s fourteenth studio album, which has just been completed with production input from Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson and Mr Hudson, and is now scheduled for a September release.

Confirming the deal, Warner Bros US President Dan McCarroll employed these words (at least one of which I think you could have predicted): “I am thrilled to welcome Duran Duran into the Warner Bros family. This is an iconic, enduring band that continues to make brilliant, timeless pop music”.

On the new record, he continued: “The combination of Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson and Mr Hudson is a dream team, and the songs they have created together for this new record are as fresh and compelling as anything in the band’s long career. All of us at WBR are looking forward to working with Simon, Nick, John, and Roger as they begin this exciting new chapter”.

And if you thought the band were left speechless by their latest record deal, you’d be wrong. Though they were struggling to work out how to be happier. Said bassist John Taylor: “We could not be happier to be making this deal with Warner Bros, and are looking forward to working on our forthcoming album release with not only their US team but also everyone else within the Warner family around the world”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Duran Duran | Warner Bros Records | Warner Music

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:08 | By Chris Cooke

Roc Nation hasn’t bought the unreleased Tupac archives

Business News Labels & Publishers

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation may be busy trying to turn the social networks turquoise ahead of the big Tidal relaunch later today, but the company has not acquired all the unreleased recordings of Tupac Shakur for $384 million. I mean, there has to be something left in music not owned by a Live Nation subsidiary, right?

Of course, you might be claiming to have never even considered that Roc Nation might be buying the unreleased Shakur archives, but we can’t know with 100% certainty that it wasn’t you spreading rumours to that effect over the weekend.

Gossipers said that Roc Nation had done a deal with E1 Entertainment, the company that finally ended up with the assets of one time hip hop label Death Row Records (even though a row over who had control of the Shakur archives did follow that acquisition). But a spokesman for Roc Nation has told Billboard that rumours Jay-Z’s firm has bought the Shakur recordings are just not true.

The rumours also referenced a planned upcoming release of previously unheard work by Shakur, which very possibly is true. Reps for the late rapper’s estate have already announced plans for an apparel collection, official biography and possibly new recorded material as the twentieth anniversary of Shakur’s untimely passing approaches.

READ MORE ABOUT: E1 Entertainment | Jay-Z | Roc Nation | Tupac Shakur

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:07 | By Chris Cooke

Madison Square Garden Company to go ahead with business split

Business News Live Business

The Madison Square Garden Company is ploughing ahead with previously mooted plans to split itself into two separate publicly listed companies. Music and live entertainment will sit in one business, while the firm’s media interests will go in the other. MSG’s sporting interests will seemingly sit with the former.

Confirming the split plans were now going ahead, the company said in a statement on Friday: “After review, MSG’s board of directors believes that, while MSG has created significant shareholder value since it was established as a public company five years ago, separating MSG’s live sports and entertainment businesses from its media business now would further enhance the long-term value-creation potential of both businesses”.

Synergies between the entertainment and media sides of MSG would continue after the split, the statement added, saying: “While the companies would continue to benefit from commercial arrangements between them, the separation would provide each company with increased strategic flexibility to pursue its own distinctive business plan and allow each to have a capital structure and capital return policy that is appropriate for its business”.

As for how it would work from a shareholder’s perspective, the statement concluded: “Upon completion of the spin-off, MSG shareholders would own shares in both companies and have the ability to evaluate each company’s current business and future prospects in making investment decisions”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Madison Square Garden Company

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:06 | By Chris Cooke

Popstars get a-tweeting ahead of big Tidal relaunch

Business News Digital

So, Jay-Z is trying to turn the social networks turquoise ahead of tonight’s big Tidal relaunch in the US, following the hip hopper’s acquisition of the Nordic streaming firm earlier this month.

A plethora of big popstar names – most seemingly managed by Roc Nation or other management firms within the Live Nation group (or personal mates with Mr Z) – have been bigging up the double-priced high audio quality streaming set-up on the Twitters this morning.

In addition to the FLAC quality audio that has been core to Tidal since it was spun off from existing streaming service WiMP last year (WiMP offering both standard and high quality audio), it is thought Jay-Z’s Tidal will also seek to offer a stack of content exclusives to persuade fans to not only pay for their streams, but to pay double the standard rate for premium streaming in the US and Europe.

So that’s all fun isn’t it?

READ MORE ABOUT: Jay-Z | Project Panther | Tidal

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:05 | By Andy Malt

Dermot O’Leary quits X-Factor

Business News Media

Dermot O’Leary has announced that he is leaving ‘X-Factor’, after eight years hosting the show.

In a statement, O’Leary said: “After eight wonderful years on ‘The X Factor’ it’s time for me to move on. I’d like to thank ITV, Simon [Cowell], the ‘X-Factor’ family and particularly the viewers, all of whom have been a big part of my life for so long. I’d like to wish the team all the best for the future, especially whoever takes over from me. You’re about to be the conductor on the most brilliant, runaway train in showbiz. Good luck, you’ll love it!”

An ITV spokesperson added: “Dermot’s been a fantastic host of ‘The X-Factor’ for the past eight series and we’re sorry to see him go. We wish him all the very best for the future and hope that he’ll be back on ITV screens soon”.

Whether or not he will remains to be seen. O’Leary will continue to present his show on BBC Radio 2 though, and has been tipped by bookies to replace Jeremy Clarkson on ‘Top Gear’.

READ MORE ABOUT: Dermot O'Leary | ITV | X-Factor

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:04 | By CMU Editorial

CMU Business Editor shares the background to music licensing strand at The Great Escape

Business News Education & Events The Great Escape 2015

CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke has expanded on the CMU Insights conference strand Music Licensing: Explained At Last!, which will take place during The Great Escape this May. Details of the strand – which is supported by PPL and PRS For Music – were announced last week, with BASCA, IFPI, CISAC, Clintons, Believe Digital and CI amongst the organisations due to take part.

Explaining the rationale for the strand, Cooke references the artist survey on streaming presented by Dan Le Sac at last year’s TGE: “A key theme running throughout was that artists felt decidedly uninformed about how labels and publishers were licensing these platforms, how royalties were being calculated, and what happened to the money once the DSPs had paid the rights owners. Many felt that they had been too often left out of discussions about the future of digital music”.

He goes on: “Ultimately artists and songwriters don’t need to know the minute details, and the basic rule is quite simple: to succeed you need people to spend more of their time online streaming your tracks. But when an industry is in flux, all stakeholders should take part in the debate, and that means that at this stage all parties should know a little more about what is going on”.

“Which brings us to Music Licensing: Explain At Last! Over this one-day strand we will explain – for artists and songwriters, producers and managers, labels and publishers, licensees, and anyone else who needs to know – how music licensing works across the board, and where the money is being made, from physical sales and sync, to public performance and broadcast income, to the various types of digital services”.

“And then – with reps from the record industry, music publishing and the legal profession on board – we will explain how digital platforms are being licensed, how royalties are calculated, and what happens to the money once the DSPs have paid the rights owners”.

Which will in turn lead to the big ‘digital pie’ debate that has become increasingly noisy in recent months. Vick Bain from BASCA will explain why songwriters have become particularly vocal in this domain, “but all sides will be represented” Cooke adds, “as we consider all the arguments and, perhaps more importantly, beyond The Great Escape stage, what is the best forum where this debate can take place day-to-day, so that all voices are heard, but the music industry doesn’t have to fight its internal battles too much in the public eye”.

Read the full trends piece that explains and previews the music licensing conference strand at TGE here. Full details about Music Licensing: Explained At Last! is online here, and to access the event make sure you get your TGE delegate’s pass here.

READ MORE ABOUT: The Great Escape

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:03 | By Andy Malt

CMU’s One Liners: Global release day set, Jamie XX album release day set, Alex Burley brewery gig day set, and other dates for your diary

Artist News Awards Business News Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases Retail

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Record labels worldwide will switch to releasing new music on Fridays from 10 Jul, the IFPI has confirmed to Music Week. As previously reported, Radio 1’s chart show will also move to Fridays to accommodate the change.

• Jamie XX has announced that he will release his debut album, ‘In Colour’, on 1 Jun. Here’s the first single, ‘Loud Places’, which features Romy from some band called The xx.

• Daphne & Celeste have released the video for their first single in fifteen years, ‘You And I Alone’. The track is produced by Max Tundra.

• Many Things will release a new single, ‘Holy Fire’, on 20 Apr. Here’s the video. They’ll play a launch show at The Lexington the day the single comes out.

• Rudi Zygadlo is releasing a new track, ‘Slow Carz’, via Mad Decent imprint Jeffrees. And here it is.

• Denai Moore has released the video for her new single, ‘No Light’. Her debut album, ‘Elsewhere’, is out next week.

• Alex Burey will perform at the London Fields Brewery on 28 May. Tickets here.

• Two of the winners at this year’s BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards have been announced. Yusuf/Cat Stevens will receive the Lifetime Achievement prize, while the Good Tradition award (aka outstanding contribution) will be posthumously awarded to Meredydd Evans. The ceremony will take place at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff on 22 Apr.

• And finally, in an exclusive interview with CMU, outgoing ID-er Zayn Malik has called Simon Pursehouse from Sentric Music “a bit of a prick”. And yes, we’re now doing gags only five of our readers will get. What of it?

READ MORE ABOUT: Alex Burey | BBC Radio 2 | BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards | Daphne & Celeste | Denai Moore | Global Release Day | Jamie XX | Many Things | Rudi Zygadlo | Sentric Music | Simon Pursehouse | Zayn Malik

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:02 | By Andy Malt

Kanye West and Damon Dash buy bankrupt fashion brand

And Finally Artist News Brands & Merch

Kanye West and Damon Dash have clubbed together to buy fashion brand Karmaloop, after the company went into bankruptcy last week. Dash announced the news via Instagram. Of course.

On one of a number of posts showing Dash and West together, the former wrote: “Yeah, the Karmaloop thing is real. This is exactly how I saw things ten years ago and [Kanye’s] doing some shit that even I couldn’t do but it’s not my place to speak on it, but let’s just say I am proud as fuck. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. The younger dudes are supposed to be better than us. That’s what we fight for”.

I’m not sure that clarifies anything, really. So, er, here’s some sort of new Karmaloop logo instead.

READ MORE ABOUT: Damon Dash | Kanye West | Karmaloop

Monday 30 March 2015, 10:00 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Okay Kaya

CMU Approved

Now that it’s officially (British) summer (time), I think we should start this week in a lower gear, and Okay Kaya’s ‘Damn, Gravity’ fits the bill perfectly. A sleepy song, the guitar and keys are gently layered underneath Kaya’s soft but arresting vocals.

Her online presence is currently pretty sparse, all other tracks apart from this one having been scrubbed from the internet, but ‘Damn, Gravity’ says more than enough. And those able to get to Tobias Jesso Jr’s current US dates will have the opportunity to find out more.

Watch the video for ‘Damn, Gravity’ here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Okay Kaya

Monday 30 March 2015, 06:49 | By Chris Cooke

TGE 2015: All parties need to be welcomed to the streaming debate, which may require a little background information

The Great Escape 2015

CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke on the CMU Insights conference strand Music Licensing: Explained At Last! due to take place at The Great Escape this May.

At last year’s Great Escape, Dan Le Sac talked through a survey we had done of some key players in the UK artist community about developments in the digital sector; the poll coming, of course, after some high profile artists in Europe had hit out at the market leading streaming service Spotify and it royalties it pays. Though in our survey, artists were actually pretty positive about streaming, including the freemium element of Spotify which has since proven controversial in various quarters.

But a key theme running throughout was that artists felt decidedly uninformed about how labels and publishers were licensing these platforms, how royalties were being calculated, and what happened to the money once the DSPs had paid the rights owners. Many felt that they had been too often left out of discussions about the future of digital music.

And a year on – as we hear that the majors are now having second thoughts about Spotify-style freemium – the artists and songwriters I speak to likewise feel that they are being frozen out of a debate that affects their future livelihoods a whole load more than major label execs and shareholders, who can always shift into other industries if they make the wrong decisions today.

I think one of the key problems is that many people working in record labels and music publishers don’t really understand how streaming services are licensed either, which means that the execs that artists and songwriters have day-to-day relationships with struggle to explain how things are working and why per-play figures are imprecise and so low (they are averages, and only make sense if you appreciate that to survive, the streaming services need to ultimately serve up billions of tracks a day).

This is all understandable because the way streaming services are licensed is a long way from traditional music retail, it’s confused by labels putting short-term risk management measures into the deals, and probably requires a little knowledge about how copyright works to make sense.

Ultimately artists and songwriters don’t need to know the minute details, and the basic rule is quite simple: to succeed you need people to spend more of their time online streaming your tracks. But when an industry is in flux, all stakeholders should take part in the debate, and that means that at this stage all parties should know a little more about what is going on.

Which brings us to Music Licensing: Explained At Last!, the second of four CMU Insights strands taking place at The Great Escape this year to have its line-up published. Over this one-day strand we will explain – for artists and songwriters, producers and managers, labels and publishers, licensees, and anyone else who needs to know – how music licensing works across the board, and where the money is being made, from physical sales and sync, to public performance and broadcast income, to the various types of digital services.

And then – with reps from the record industry, music publishing and the legal profession on board – we will explain how digital platforms are being licensed, how royalties are calculated, and what happens to the money once the DSPs have paid the rights owners.

Which will take us to what I see as the biggest digital debate of 2015 – yes, even bigger than the freemium debate! How should streaming income be split between the different stakeholders: labels, artists, publishers and songwriters.

We know that labels take the majority of the streaming income, in much the same way they do with CD sales, the record companies being the primary investors in new talent and funders of new content, ie the risk takers. But are the risks as high in the streaming age? And aren’t many labels now spreading that risk by taking a cut of other artist revenue streams too?

The songwriting community has become particularly vocal on this issue in recent months, and I’m really pleased that the CEO of the British Academy Of Songwriters, Composers & Authors – Vick Bain – has agreed to lead this discussion at TGE in May.

But all sides will be represented as we consider all the arguments and, perhaps more importantly, beyond The Great Escape stage, what is the best forum where this debate can take place day-to-day, so that all voices are heard, but the music industry doesn’t have to fight its internal battles too much in the public eye.

For more information on ‘Music Licensing: Explained At Last!’ click here, and don’t forget, this is just one of four strands presented by CMU Insights at The Great Escape this year. To get access to all four, plus all the other elements of The Great Escape this May, get yourself a delegates pass here.

READ MORE ABOUT: British Academy of Songwriters Composers & Authors (BASCA) | Streaming | The Great Escape

Friday 27 March 2015, 12:00 | By Chris Cooke

Finnish digital rights case could set interesting precedent over pre-iTunes catalogue

Business News Digital Royalties Timeline Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

A potentially important test case being fought in the Finnish courts has ruled in favour of the family of a late artist who were in dispute with the local Universal Music subsidiary.

The case centres on the so called ‘making available’ right, an element of copyright that first emerged in the 1990s, designed to ensure copyright protection covered the distribution of music through digital channels. In the UK the making available right was added to copyright law as a sub-section of the existing ‘communication’ control that traditionally covered broadcast.

The whole concept slipped into many copyright systems in the early days of downloads and everyone carried on regardless. Until some artists and managers started to question whether labels could actually exploit the making available right without their permission.

Because while record companies are usually the copyright owners when it comes to sound recordings – either through default ownership rules or assignment contracts – in Europe there also exist so called ‘performer rights’, which say that performers as well as copyright owners have certain controls over how their recordings are used.

This means that labels need to get performers to approve their exploitation of many elements of the copyright when contracting artists. But, of course, artists with contracts that pre-date the addition of the making available right to copyright law couldn’t have approved exploitation of that element, because it didn’t exist. Therefore, some argue, labels need to get new permission to licence services that are ‘making available’ recordings (which likely includes most digital platforms).

As previously reported, many heritage acts are pissed off with the share of digital royalties they are receiving from the labels from digital income. Most labels pay similar royalty splits on downloads and streams than they do on CDs, but – say the artists – clearly the costs and risks of selling digital are less than with physical music products.

That discussion has rumbled on in numerous quarters for years – and has gone legal many times over in the US – though resolution is usually based on how old record contracts are interpreted, which is very much open to debate. But if labels had to come and get new permission from artists for the making available right, well, that would be an opportunity to renegotiate terms on download income.

And so we come to legal action taken by the sons of Finnish guitarist Albert Järvinen, best known for being in rock group Hurriganes, who argued in the Helsinki Market Court that Universal didn’t have the right to sell two Hurriganes albums featuring their late father digitally. And in a legal battle supported by the Finnish Musicians’ Union, the court has ruled in the Järvinens’ favour.

It’s an interesting case, because it tests whether the assignment of future new performer rights could be part of an artist’s label deal. Most labels will argue that it can and it usually is. But in this case the Helsinki court said no. The question now is whether this sets any kind of precedent, in Finland, and possibly beyond, as in the EU performer rights stem from European law.

There was a complication in this specific case, in that the original record contract wasn’t available, meaning the nature of the deal between artist and label was based on witness testimonies. But, according to the Finnish MU, “Universal could not convince the court of either a general business practice or a silent acceptance enabling them to use the recordings in internet services. The ruling obliges Universal to take out the first two Hurriganes albums from internet services, pending a fine of €50,000”.

Of course, while this case may just force Universal to take the two albums at the heart of the proceedings off iTunes and the streaming sites, if a wider precedent was set the labels would need to start negotiating new agreements with heritage artists over digital sales.

Welcoming the ruling, Ahti Vänttinen, President of the Finnish MU, told reporters: “We believe that a large part if not most of the older recorded repertoire from any country now utilised in internet music services worldwide is not sufficiently licensed by the artists. Labels cannot just assume they have the rights, but they have to agree on them with the artists. It is not credible to presume that record deals in the 1960s, 1970s or even 1980s would have included provisions on internet use. Only in the late 1990’s we started to see provisions dealing with electronic distribution, and even today some contracts are still silent on these types of utilisation”.

Meanwhile Benoît Machuel, General Secretary of the International Federation of Musicians, added: “We welcome this ruling, which makes clear that the majors cannot unilaterally reinterpret their unfair contracts to make them even more unfair to performers. The time has come to re-shape business models and legislations, in order to provide performers with a fair share of the revenue generated by their music online”.

Bold words then. But the big question now is what the wider implications of this ruling will be. It will be very interesting to see.

READ MORE ABOUT: Albert Järvinen | Finnish MU | Hurriganes | International Federation of Musicians

Friday 27 March 2015, 11:59 | By Chris Cooke

MPA announces AudioLock alliance

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

The Music Publishers Association has announced an alliance with AudioLock which will give members of the organisation two months of free time using the anti-piracy service provider’s technology for a set number of songs, and then discounts on using the set-up in the longer term.

And if you don’t believe me, wait until you see what MPA chief Sarah Osborn just said: “As with any sector of the industry, online infringement is a recurring headache for MPA members – the vast majority of whom are SMEs – eating up publishers’ valuable resources, hitting revenues and distracting them from the business of licensing music. We anticipate that our partnership with AudioLock will help alleviate this burden, and we anticipate positive results over coming months”.

And if you’re still suspicious, these words from AudioLock CEO Ben Rush will set you straight: “Our new collaboration with the MPA forms a key part of our existing educational programme, using events, talks and ambassadors to help rights holders protect and keep track of their intellectual property. We feel that supporting trade bodies like the MPA is a significant step to curtailing infringement, and we look forward to showing publishers how our technology can help their business”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Audiolock | Music Publishers Association (MPA)

Friday 27 March 2015, 11:57 | By Chris Cooke

Songwriters voice concerns about proposed collecting society withdrawal

Business News Labels & Publishers

An alliance of organisations representing songwriters around the world has published an open letter addressed to the US music publishing sector expressing concern at plans to pull song rights out of the American collective licensing system.

As previously reported, many American music publishers want to pull their digital rights out of performing right organisations ASCAP and BMI, so that they can do direct deals with services like Pandora. When such deals are done collectively, special rules governing collective licensing mean the licensee always has the option to take royalty disputes to court where a judge sets the rates, meaning the publisher’s negotiating hand is weakened.

In Europe, the big five publishers (Sony/ATV, Universal, Warner/Chappell, BMG and Kobalt) now all routinely do digital deals directly, albeit through partnerships with the collecting societies which still collect and distribute royalties once deals are done.

The major publishers in the US likewise started withdrawing their digital rights from BMI and ASCAP, but then a court ruling decreed that – under American collective licensing rules – rights owners can’t pick and choose what kind of services they licence collectively, they are either ‘all in’ or ‘all out’. Though being all out would involve publishers licensing radio stations, gig venues, bars and cafes directly too.

The American publishers are now busy lobbying to have the collective licensing rules, contained within the so called ‘consent decrees’, revised to allow partial withdrawal. Meanwhile Sony/ATV chief Marty Bandier has threatened to completely withdraw his catalogue from the collective licensing system if the changes aren’t made.

But an assortment of artists, songwriters, managers and lawyers have pointed out that that’s not as simple as it sounds. In Europe the collecting societies – not the publishers – control the performing rights in their songwriter members’ songs, and publishers can’t just withdraw those rights without the permission of each songwriter.

The relationship between songwriter, publisher and society is different in the US, though some have questioned what power the publishers have to pull repertoire from the collective licensing system there too.

These issues were raised by the UK’s Music Managers Forum last summer, and now a consortium of songwriter groups has likewise aired concerns, seemingly after America’s National Music Publishers’ Association refused to open a dialogue on the matter. The songwriters’ letter calls for the publishers to bring them into the discussion, while stating that songwriters across the world “reserve the right to oppose any claims relating to alleged publisher authority to unilaterally withdraw rights and repertoire from the PROs”.

The US publishing sector is yet to respond. Here is the letter in full…

To the American Music Publishing Community,

We are an international alliance of songwriter and composer organizations representing tens of thousands of music creators throughout the world, many of whom have created musical works in which you claim rights. We recently reached out to your trade organization, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), hoping the Association would agree to have a discussion with us regarding unilateral withdrawal by publishers of rights and repertoire from the performing rights organizations ASCAP and BMI.

While the discussion we requested was well within the bounds of applicable competition laws, the response we received from the NMPA was disappointing. In a letter from NMPA’s General Counsel, we were told that the talks we were seeking would be “inappropriate” and would “prove fruitless”. Because we believe there is still much to be gained from an open dialogue with publishers, we are reaching out to each of you directly seeking immediate discussion between our communities.

It is a matter of public record that some music publishers have announced they are considering withdrawing rights and repertoire from ASCAP and BMI, and licensing those rights directly to users. These statements assume that publishers possess the legal authority to make such a unilateral withdrawal of works and rights on behalf of music creators and their families, without exception. We disagree.

While our organisations support the exploration of all opportunities that might increase royalty rates for music creators and publishers, we feel strongly that the songwriters, composers and others we represent maintain their right to decide who collects and administers performing rights royalties on their behalf. Further, we feel that any direct performance licenses negotiated by publishers require complete transparency concerning both the full terms of any direct licensing arrangement, and complete information necessary to determine the royalties each music creator is owed.

Again, we are reaching out to discuss how we can work together for our mutual benefit. As an interim step, however, to preserve the rights of the songwriters, composers and heirs that we represent, this letter shall serve as formal notification on their behalf that each reserves the right to oppose any claims relating to alleged publisher authority to unilaterally withdraw rights and repertoire from the PROs, unless such reservations are specifically waived in writing by an individual creator. In no event should silence by any music creator represented by the members of this alliance be construed as acquiescence or waiver.

Signed,
Rick Carnes, Songwriters Guild of America (SGA)
International Council of Music Creators (CIAM)
Music Creators North America (MCNA)
European Composers and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA)
Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL)
Songwriter’s Association of Canada (SAC)
Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC)
Latin American Composers and Authors Alliance (PACSA)
Société Professionelle des Auteurs et des Compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ)
Pan-African Composers and Songwriter Alliance (PACSA)

READ MORE ABOUT: ASCAP | BMI | National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA)

Friday 27 March 2015, 11:56 | By Andy Malt

Woodland Trust launches petition against T In The Park move

Business News Live Business

The Woodland Trust has launched a petition against T In The Park’s planned move to the Strathallan Estate.

As previously reported, Perth And Kinross Council is still considering promoter DF Concerts’ proposal to move the festival from its long-term home at Balado in Kinross to Strathallan Castle in Perthshire. During a consultation period, the council received 523 submissions, with slightly more against than for T setting up home at the proposed new site. The Woodland Trust and RSPB were amongst the parties against the move.

This week, The Woodland Trust launched a petition to gain support for its campaign against the festival taking place on the Strathallan Estate.

In a statement, the Trust said: “T In The Park is Scotland’s biggest music festival, attracting 85,000 people every year. That’s 85,000 people’s worth of noise, light, litter and general disturbance, which would drive many rare species away from the woodland at Strathallan Estate”.

In continued: “Promoter DF Concerts identified the estate as their preferred site to host T In The Park in July. However the area is surrounded by old, rich woodland used by bats, otters, red squirrels and birds (including ospreys, skylarks and kingfishers). A massive festival is just what the woodland and wildlife doesn’t need”.

Noting that the local council report showed that the Estate was, in fact, “twelfth of the fourteen options identified” by DF Concerts as potential new sites, it is calling on the public to sign its petition to convince the council that “it is an unsuitable area for an event of T In The Park’s magnitude to be held – the impact on precious wildlife is simply too damaging”.

DF Concerts has previously said that it will “robustly address” all concerns put forward.

READ MORE ABOUT: DF Concerts | T In The Park | The Woodland Trust

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