Friday 31 July 2015, 12:42 | By Paul Vig

Vigsy’s Club Tip: Summer Drum N Bass Boat Party with DJ Marky and SP:MC

Club Tip CMU Approved

Yes! Another boat party! Soundcrash is taking clubbers down the Thames again but with a different twist – this time taking it drum n bass style.

Music will be supplied by none other than the Brazilian DJ Marky, who not only took the sound of dnb to South America with DJ Patife in 2001, but brought some Latin sunshine into the UK scene too. Marky’s Movement Mix from the same year was truly seminal, and has stood the test of time.

Marky will be joined on the boat by SP:MC and also some Soundcrash residents and Tom Central.

Saturday 1 Aug, Dutch Master Boat, Millennium Pier, Lower Thames Street, London EC3N 4DT, 7pm – 12am, £22.50. More info here.

READ MORE ABOUT: DJ Marky

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:40 | By Chris Cooke

Music publishers set to hate at least one DoJ reform to US collective licensing

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

What he gives with one hand he takes away with another. God that is. The sneaky little fella. But the US Department Of Justice maybe planning the same trick with its review of collective licensing rules in America, according to various sources cited by Billboard. Presumably the DoJ has been inspired by the Lord himself. This is what happens when you put “in God we trust” on your money.

So yes, as previously reported, the DoJ is busy reviewing the so called ‘consent decrees’ which regulate ASCAP and BMI, the two big performing rights organisations for the US music publishing sector, which provide licences on behalf of American publishers and songwriters for anyone needing permission to ‘perform’ (broadcast, stream, play in public) a song.

It was the publishers who wanted the review, not least because the majors want to stop the PROs from licensing their catalogues to streaming services. Mainly on the basis that, without all the rules and regs of collective licensing, the publishers could threaten to pull their repertories from a streaming service, and get a better deal on royalties in return.

But the US courts said that the publishers either had to licence all their performing rights collectively, or none, and that so called ‘partial withdrawal’ (eg just pulling digital from the PROs) is not an option under the consent decrees. The publishers want the decrees rewritten so partial withdrawal is possible, and word has it the DoJ is likely to recommend such a change to the courts that ultimately decide the rules.

Here’s the thing though, sources say that another new line the DoJ is proposing for the consent decrees could severely reduce the impact of partial withdrawal, and shake up collective licensing in other ways that could send the music publishing sector’s royalties down rather than up.

This second proposal relates to co-written – and therefore co-owned – songs, where multiple publishers and, often in the US, multiple PROs are involved. Under the current system, where you have a song with two writers, one a BMI member and one an ASCAP member, a licensee needs permission from both societies to use the work, with each society then collecting revenues on behalf of its member.

Of course, most licensees will have blanket licences from the societies, so don’t really notice this is what they are doing. But crucially, if they had a BMI licence but no ASCAP deal, the licensee could only use songs that are represented by the former in their entirety, if an ASCAP member has even a small share in the copyright of any one tune, the radio station or concert promoter isn’t licensed to make use of the work.

Now, technically under US copyright law any stakeholder in a copyright is actually empowered to licence the work in its entirety, providing they share any income with the other co-owners. But in practice, there are all sorts of scenarios where this doesn’t happen, the collective licensing of performing rights being one of them.

But the DoJ is seemingly considering inserting a line into the consent decrees that explicitly says that this should become practice in the collective licensing domain, oblivious of any society rules, or agreements between songwriters and/or publishers, that currently force so called ‘fractional licensing’, where licensees need separate agreements with each stakeholder.

What that would mean is: even if Sony/ATV et al pulled their digital rights from BMI and ASCAP, any songs in their catalogues co-owned with a publisher who was still using the PROs for digital would still be available for digital services to stream under their BMI and ASCAP blanket licences. It would also mean that Sony/ATV could license its repertoire in its entirety, even though they won’t own 100% of many of the songs in their catalogue.

Now, quite what would happen to co-owned works if and when partial withdrawal was allowed in the US has been discussed in legal circles ever since the majors first indicated their desire to shift digital over to direct licensing.

The DoJ’s proposal would at least provide some clarity, though the move is not popular with the American publishing community, who feel it would greatly weaken their hand at the negotiating table. And could actually result in the Pandoras of the world – and, indeed, licensees outside the digital domain – getting a better deal, because they could play BMI off against ASCAP when it comes to the repertoire that the two societies co-represent.

Publishers also argue that the proposal is based on an incorrect assumption by the DoJ, ie that because in theory under US copyright law any one stakeholder in a copyright work can wholly licensee it, that must be common practice across the industry in all licensing scenarios. One anonymous publishing exec quoted by Billboard says: “The DoJ’s [proposal] is factually inaccurate on what the industry’s customary practices are, and the repercussions of their stance as it is now are not being fully considered”.

Few have, as yet, gone on the record in dissing the DoJ on this proposal, though ASCAP CEO Beth Matthews confirmed in a statement, “ASCAP supports fractional share licensing coupled with transparency by all market players to effectuate digital withdrawals”.

Quite what impact this proposed rule would have across the board – as in how many songs in the Sony/ATV repertoire could still be licensed via BMI and ASCAP as a result of co-ownership with an indie – is hard to assess, what with there being no central database of copyright ownership.

Though that lack of a copyright database would arguably put pressure on the streaming services to still do deals with all parties – ie BMI, ASCAP, Sony/ATV, Warner/Chappell, Universal, BMG and Kobalt – anyway, because they wouldn’t necessarily know which songs were wholly controlled by a major or majors, and therefore were no-go works under their BMI and ASCAP licences.

Which means this DoJ proposal would be an incentive for the music publishers to continue being rubbish at sharing copyright ownership data, which would be a big down side. Though it would also likely make Pandora et al even more vocal on the need for some kind of global repertoire database, so perhaps actually it would speed things up in that regard.

Either way, there should be much debate to be had when the DoJ formally published its proposals for the all new consent decrees.

READ MORE ABOUT: ASCAP | BMI | Pandora | US Department Of Justice

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:39 | By Chris Cooke

Pandora fails to cut BMI rates on back of owning a single FM radio station

Business News Digital Legal Media

Pandora has failed in its latest legal bid to lower the monies it pays to collecting society BMI.

As previously reported, Pandora has been arguing with the two big US music publishing performing rights organisations – BMI and ASCAP – over what royalties it should have to pay for streaming the songs they represent.

Despite the publishers being generally critical of the rate courts that rule on such matters when collective licensing is involved, saying judges often don’t take commercial realities into account when deciding rates, back in May the courts basically ruled in favour of BMI, demanding Pandora pay the society a 2.5% rate, rather than the 1.75% figure the streaming music service was proposing.

But Pandora continues to pursue every legal angle it can to get royalty payments down. In court this week, one specific little trick Pandora has been trying on for a while now was considered and rejected. As you may remember, back in 2013 Pandora bought itself an FM radio station in South Dakota, arguing that doing so made it a traditional broadcaster which should be able to make use of a separate more beneficial digital licensing arrangement that BMI had agreed with the US radio industry.

However, in court this week the judge rejected that argument, noting, quite reasonably, that Pandora cannot be compared to traditional radio, even if it owns a traditional radio station on the side. The Pandora business model is as different from conventional radio, he concluded, than it is from fully on-demand streaming services like Spotify, which pay higher rates to the music publishers.

So shut your face Pandora, basically. Though there are further appeals and technicalities to come on all this, almost certainly.

READ MORE ABOUT: BMI | Pandora

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:37 | By Chris Cooke

No Happy Birthday decision after new “smoking gun” evidence submitted

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

The judge overseeing the ‘Happy Birthday’ copyright dispute has pushed back any decision making for at least another week.

As previously reported, a film company behind a documentary on the famous song claims that, in the US at least, ‘Happy Birthday’ should no longer have copyright protection, because the copyright in it originates from before a 1923 change in American copyright rules. Under the pre-1923 rules the song is already ‘public domain’, ie out of copyright.

The song’s publisher Warner/Chappell, however, insists that while the song may have existed before 1923, it was never formally published. It links publication to a 1935 copyright registration, which falls well after the 1923 rule change, and thus means the song is still a protected work.

Both sides submitted their arguments a while back, and a judge was due this week to consider whether he should make a summary judgement one way or the other, or let the whole thing proceed to trial. Until this week, the plaintiffs’ main argument was that Patty Smith Hill and Mildred Hill, the sisters who wrote some or all of the song, had “surrendered the copyright to the public” prior to the 1935 registration, rendering that registration redundant.

But then the plaintiffs arrived this week with a last minute bit of new evidence, a song book from 1922 that contained the song. That meant, the plaintiffs argued, that ‘Happy Birthday’ was definitely published before the all important 1923 rule change. Except, countered Warner/Chappell, not if the song had been published in 1922 without permission. A matter that would surely need a trial to be worked out.

Having taken submissions from both parties, a judge in the California federal court considered the ‘they surrendered the copyright’ argument on Wednesday, but held off reviewing the new evidence, giving the two parties another week to prepare refreshed arguments taking the 1922 songbook into account.

And so, no resolution as yet, and no new court hearing currently scheduled. The judge could as yet make a summary judgement on the final set of submissions from each party, or could let the whole matter proceed to court. If the latter, I vote Robin Thicke is brought in to play ‘Happy Birthday’ on the piano. You know, just to set the scene.

READ MORE ABOUT: Good Morning To You Productions Corp | Warner Chappell

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:35 | By Chris Cooke

PRS For Music opens up Beyond Borders scheme for 2015

Business News Labels & Publishers

The PRS For Music Foundation has put out a call – a loud call, a momentous call, an invigorating call, an inspirational call, an avant-garde call, a considered call, a tremendous call, a lively call, an uplifting call, an energising call, a bracing call, a vitalising call, a salubrious call – for groups and organisations with projects that could qualify for funding under the organisation’s Beyond Borders programme. So listen everybody.

This scheme is aimed at encouraging collaboration between artists in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and, as of last year, the Republic Of Ireland too, with arts funding bodies from most of those countries also contributing. The grants of up to £15,000 can cover new commissions, live and recording work, to be performed in at least three of the five participating countries.

Says the Foundation’s Executive Director, Vanessa Reed: “I’m thrilled that we’re now launching the latest round of Beyond Borders, a cross-border programme which has supported many brilliant music projects over the past five years. This is a unique opportunity for organisations and groups across the UK and Republic Of Ireland to seek funding that will enable them to work together on touring and co-commissioning, bringing new music to a broader audience”.

So, the call has been made. Answer it here.

READ MORE ABOUT: PRS Foundation

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:32 | By Chris Cooke

The Voice could go to ITV in 2017

Business News Media

‘The Voice’ may switch to ITV the series after next, according to sources.

Well, speculators really, in that this is mainly a conclusion reached by combining three separate facts: first that the Beeb’s current deal with ‘Voice’ owners Talpa Media only runs for one more series; second ITV bought Talpa Media earlier this year; and third shows like ‘The Voice’ are set to be much criticised by the current government review of the Corporation’s operations.

Of course, we’re all meant to be bigging up the BBC at the moment, otherwise Culture Minister Johnny Whittingdale and his best buds in the commercial media might kick the whole organisation down a big hole, and build a tanning salon on top of it to obscure the mess they leave behind.

Though, while the BBC is, of course, brilliant and magnificent and wonderful, and must be protected from such vandalism, that doesn’t mean the twonks that run the place aren’t more than capable of pissing licence fee payer money up the wall on vanity projects and other unnecessary ventures. Like the utterly pointless BBC Music Awards and that stupid all-star ‘God Only Knows’ cover.

However, despite Johnny wanting the BBC to mainly focus on making programmes about particle physics and wool, that doesn’t mean the Corporation shouldn’t be in the business of entertaining the masses, which it routinely does with its own programming franchises like ‘Doctor Who’, ‘EastEnders’ and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.

But shows like ‘The Voice’ can be controversial for the Beeb, because it was bought in at great expense from a third party to compete with an existing very similar format broadcast by rival ITV, ie ‘X-Factor’. And even some friends of the BBC question whether that was a good use of licence fee funds. Even if you argue that ‘The Voice’ is clearly not a commercial show, in that no UK winner from it has ever enjoyed anything nearing a commercially successful career post their victory on the programme.

All of which is fuelling speculation, principally in The Sun, that the BBC will have to dump its music talent show after its 2016 outing, but that ITV will then take the franchise on, it already owning it via the Talpa acquisition, despite not having the rights to use it in the UK just yet. So that’s good news isn’t it? That everyone thinks there’ll still be space on the telly airwaves for two popstar talent shows come 2017.

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | ITV | The Voice

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:30 | By Andy Malt

Airport officials deny Morrissey’s accusation of sexual assault

Artist News Legal

A spokesperson for the US Transport Security Administration has denied any wrongdoing, after Morrissey accused a member of security staff at San Francisco International Airport of sexually assaulting him earlier this week.

In a post on his True To You fansite, Morrissey claimed: “Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays [after going through security] I was approached by an ‘airport security officer’ who stopped me, crouched before me and groped my penis and testicles. He quickly moved away as an older ‘airport security officer’ approached”.

“Luckily I was accompanied by two members of British Airways Special Services, who were horrified at the sexual attack and suggested that I lodge a complaint”, he added.

In response to the singer’s accusation, a spokesperson for the TSA said: “TSA takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and strives to treat every passenger with dignity and respect. Upon review of closed circuit TV footage, TSA determined that the supervised officer followed standard operating procedures in the screening of this individual”.

They added: “During the screening process, if an anomaly is detected, secondary screening is required to ensure the passenger does not have threat items, such as explosives, concealed under clothing. TSA works with numerous groups to continuously refine and enhance our procedures to improve the passenger experience while also ensuring the safety of the travelling public”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Morrissey

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:29 | By Andy Malt

Tyler, The Creator raps Dr Seuss

Artist News

While he waits to see if he’ll ever be able to perform in Australia again, Tyler, The Creator has appeared on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, dressed as The Cat In The Hat, to perform lines from the new Dr Seuss book.

Oh what, you didn’t know there was a new Dr Seuss book? Well, it’s been in the news quite a bit. Dr Seuss has been dead for a while, of course, but this unpublished book has been discovered and is now being published. There’s been uproar though, because it reveals that The Lorax was actually pretty racist.

Hang on, I might be getting my long lost books mixed up. Whatever, Jimmy Kimmel decided that the new old book should be given a modern spin, and so got Tyler to come and rap some lines from it.

The whole thing’s quite weird, and not particularly funny, but watch here if you like:

READ MORE ABOUT: Tyler The Creator

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:26 | By Andy Malt

Prince releases exclusive Spotify single, after removing catalogue from streaming services

Artist News Digital Releases

That Prince is a funny one, isn’t he? Always keeps you guessing. I mean, just a few weeks ago he was pulling all of his music off all the streaming services, and now he’s surprise releasing a new single exclusively on Spotify.

The track, titled ‘Stare’, appeared yesterday, with Spotify tweeting that it was “just for Spotify fans”. But does that mean all the rest of his music is available there too? Nope. Just that one track and a few stray odds and ends from compilations.

Spotify seem as confused as everyone else by this, telling fans who asked if the rest of his music would be returning to “listen hard” to this new single “and hope he brings the rest back soon”.

Who knows if it will work, but you can listen especially hard to ‘Stare’ here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Prince | Spotify

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:16 | By Andy Malt

CMU’s One Liners: Meek Mill releases Drake diss track, Mariah directing Christmas film, 1000 Foo Fighters fans perform Learn To Fly, and more

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Media One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Meek Mill has now released his diss track in the ongoing beef between him and Drake. In it he claims that someone once urinated on Drake in a cinema. And for that reason I’m going to say that this beef is not over.

• Mariah Carey is set to direct and star in a TV movie for the Hallmark Channel called ‘Mariah Carey’s Christmas Project’.

• In an attempt to convince Foo Fighters to play a show in Italy, 1000 musicians have come together to play the band’s ‘Learn To Fly’ in a field. Here’s what that sounds like.

• Are !!! going to release a new album in October. As if. Oh wait, they are, and it’s called ‘As If’. Sorry for the mix up there. It’s out on 2 Oct. This is a track from it, ‘Freedom 15’.

• Slaves have posted the video for their new single, ‘Sockets’.

• Tom Jones and comedian Rob Brydon will join forces for a show at the Wembley Arena on 8 Oct, as part of this year’s BBC Children In Need campaign. “Great honour”, says Tom. “Delighted”, adds Rob.

• Song, By Toad’s Pale Imitation festival will be back in Edinburgh throughout August, showing off some of the finest local musical talent. It’ll all take place at Henry’s Cellar Bar from 2-29 Aug. Tickets here, and a playlist of all the acts playing here.

READ MORE ABOUT: !!! (Chk Chk Chk) | Drake | Foo Fighters | Mariah Carey | Meek Mill | Pale Imitation Festival | Rob Brydon | Soft Play | Song By Toad | Tom Jones

Friday 31 July 2015, 12:09 | By Andy Malt

CMU Beef Of The Week #267: One Direction v Zayn Malik

And Finally Artist News Beef Of The Week Deals Releases

Well, it finally happened. The remaining four members of One Direction have written Zayn Malik out of their history. Zayn who? No idea, mate. What do you mean this sounds like something I just made up in order to fill a weekly column? How dare you! Now I will have to fill the rest of this article with evidence, and then you’ll all look rather silly.

It was all smiles in March when Malik left the group, of course. “I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22 year old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight”, he said back then. “I know I have four friends for life in Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall. I know they will continue to be the best band in the world”.

Just warms your heart, doesn’t it? Even now. Even now that we know it couldn’t last. Even now those “four friends for life” have become Zayn’s sworn enemies for eternity. Because that is what has happened, don’t forget.

So, having tired of having a 100% normal life, this week Malik announced that he had new management and a new record label, breaking free from the chains of Simon Cowell’s Syco and one time ‘X-Factor’ act management company Modest!.

Oh sure, he’s still signed to a Sony label and Cowell was apparently involved in getting him that record deal. But whatever, this is all pretty close to a clean break. And clean breaks mean cutting loose the ties that have been holding you back. So Zayn took the opportunity to announce that everything he’s done prior to this point – ie the entire 1D recorded repertoire, all their live performances and the big duvet cover deal – are an embarrassment that he hopes to forget.

Well, those weren’t his exact words. What he actually said was: “I guess I never explained why I left [One Direction]. It was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who I really am!”

But that’s not what he said in March, is it? In March it was all, “Soz, it’s all got a bit too much in this hot spotlight”. Now – as the Mystic Meg of pop, Louis Walsh, previously predicted – it turns out what Malik really felt was that he should be the only one taking all the heat of said spotlight. And just to drive the point home about everything that went before being rubbish, he added the hashtag “#realmusic” to his deal tweet, basically accusing his former band of being somehow fake, like he’s now Jake Bugg or something.

But a beef requires two sides, so let’s go and take a look at what’s been going on with the four men who are currently still collectively known as One Direction (until the end of the year).

“We’re really sad to see Zayn go, but we totally respect his decision and send him all our love for the future”, they said when Malik left the group. “The past five years have been beyond amazing, we’ve gone through so much together, so we will always be friends”.

And so, as they saw their former comrade go forth and pave the way for the imminent solo career future that awaits them all (well, at least two of them), what messages of support did they send? None. None at all. Not even one. They just acted like they hadn’t even noticed. They tweeted about other things, or, in Liam’s case, stayed so committed to ignoring Zayn that he tweeted nothing at all between Monday and this morning.

Oh, but he tweeted something today though, did he? Yes he did. Thank you for spotting that and giving me a segue into the next stage of this beef. Because this is where it gets really crafty, you see. As if to really drive the point home that they don’t even remember who this ‘Zayn Malik’ character is, One Direction released their first single without his silly voice bringing down the vocals as a big surprise for fans this very morning. Because that’s how exciting New Music Fridays can be.

Even better, the title of the track is quite clearly a message to the man they’re pretending not to remember. ‘Drag Me Down’ is the title. Because, like, they’re saying that Zayn was dragging them down, and now with this song they’re showing off how they can reach their true potential without him. I mean, lyrically that’s not even close to what it’s saying, but that’s what makes it so clever. So subtle.

And so, I think that, without question, this all proves the bitter rift between Zayn Malik and the remaining members of One Direction. Oh sure, you might point out that Liam’s lack of tweeting this week means that a tweet from last week marking the fifth anniversary of the group is still near the top. And yes, sure, he thanks Zayn along with everyone else in that tweet. But let me ask you this: who is the only one whose name he doesn’t give a capital letter?

Now, who wants me to explain how the 50/50 split between 1D members over whether to link to Spotify or iTunes while announcing that new single this morning shows who will be the next two group members to quit?

READ MORE ABOUT: One Direction | Zayn Malik

Friday 31 July 2015, 08:04 | By Andy Malt

CMU Podcast: The Digital Pie, Amazon Prime Music, vKontakte, Zayn Malik

Artist News Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Setlist

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review the week in music and the music business, including the latest on the digital pie debate, Amazon Prime Music’s UK launch, Russian social network vKontakte’s “goodwill agreement” with Sony Music, and Zayn Malik’s contract signing frenzy. The CMU Podcast is sponsored by 7digital.

Subscribe: iTunes | audioBoom | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Spreaker | MixCloud | RSS

Stories discussed this week:

The digital pie debate

• German publishers up the ante in digital pie debate
• German publishers and music authors call for equal streaming pay (Billboard)

Amazon Prime Music

• Amazon Prime Music arrives in the UK
• Amazon launches music streaming service in the UK (BBC News)

vKontakte

• Controversial Russian social network reaches ‘goodwill agreement’ with Sony Music
• ‘Russian Facebook’ Settles Piracy Dispute With Sony Music (Billboard)
• How to pronounce vKontakte (Forvo)

Zayn Malik

• Zayn Malik signs with Turn First Artists
• Zayn Malik signs solo deal with RCA

Listen to this week’s CMU Approved artists:

• Kiiara
• GJan
• Jim Perkins
• Memory Maze

What we didn’t have time to talk about:

• New Beatport CEO as SFX rejigs management structure
• Plaintiffs present “smoking gun” in Happy Birthday case
• Warner definitely out and iHeartRadio in at Snapchat Discover
• Apple Music has signed up over ten million, say label sources
• Avicii and Deadmau5 spend more time than they should caring about Noel Gallagher’s opinion
• Meek Mill/Drake squabble continues

Please subscribe, rate and review the show once you’ve listened!

READ MORE ABOUT: Amazon | Amazon Prime | Amazon Prime Music | DMV | GEMA | One Direction | Simon Cowell | Sony Music | vKontakte | Zayn Malik

Thursday 30 July 2015, 12:05 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Memory Maze

CMU Approved

Memory Maze – aka musician Gavin Ellis – draws tantalisingly close to the release of his debut album, ‘From The Outside In’, with the release of his latest single, ‘The Closest Thing To Heaven’, this week. The long player is just two weeks away now, with the album set for a 14 Aug release on Infinite Jest.

Like previous singles – ‘Like A Mirage’ and ‘Depth Of Field’ – the track is a dreamy swirl of guitar and synths wafting around underneath Ellis’ teased vocals. ‘The Closest Thing To Heaven’ is accompanied by a video directed by Teleman synth player Jonny Sanders.

Watch that very video here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Memory Maze

Thursday 30 July 2015, 12:01 | By Chris Cooke

German publishers up the ante in digital pie debate

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Ah, the digital pie debate. If I had a pie for every time I’ve written or spoken about the digital pie debate this year, I could open a pie shop. Well, a pie stall. Well, I could have a one-off pie party. For nineteen people. But nineteen people who really liked pies.

Anyway, this is an interesting development, because while songwriters and publishers have been getting increasingly vocal about digital royalties this year – hitting out at digital platforms and the record industry, which both take a bigger cut of streaming income than the songs sector – few have gone as far as to say, on the record, that the label/publisher split should be 50/50. But now the Germans have.

The German publishing sector having had a good moan about digital royalties at MIDEM earlier this year, an alliance of trade groups representing publishers, composers and lyricists in Germany is now demanding for a repositioning of the way streaming royalties are split between the owners of the respective song and recording copyrights, both of which streaming services exploit, of course.

As previously reported, traditionally the record label takes the lion’s share of CD sales income (songwriters and publishers seeing less than 10%), but when it comes to income from things like broadcast and public performance a 50/50 split is much more common (if anything thing, those revenues usually tip in the publishers’ favour). There are myriad reasons for this – and premium subscribers can read this analysis of the digital pie debate here using the password in this week’s CMU Digest – but what you need to know now is that something more akin to the CD model has been applied to both download and streams.

Which Dr Rolf Budde, President of the German Music Publishers’ Association, thinks is wrong, wrong, wrong. Comparing the respective royalties received by the record labels and the German publishing sector’s collecting society GEMA from key streaming services, he told Billboard: “A comparison shows that the earnings of labels in the ad-supported segment of Spotify are up to as much as eight times as high as the payments made to GEMA, which 61,000 copyright-owners and 4700 music publishers are expected to be content with. This is absolutely disproportionate, and is unfair to the authors and publishers”.

For their part, off the record the labels insist that they continue to take most of the risks, and do most of the legwork, in getting recordings of songs onto digital platforms, and therefore should continue to see a much bigger share of resulting income. Though few in the record industry want to get into this debate in public, hoping that – as the digital pie grows – songwriters and publishers will start to see their income from recorded music increase again, and that’ll shut them up, even if their percentage share remains relatively low.

Though, with the recorded music market still pretty stagnant in terms of overall revenues, and with the German publishing sector now going big on this debate, that hoping strategy is unlikely to work out.

READ MORE ABOUT: DMV | GEMA | Rolf Budde

Thursday 30 July 2015, 12:00 | By Andy Malt

Zayn Malik signs solo deal with RCA

Business News Deals

Zayn Malik has signed a solo record deal with Sony/RCA, a day after it emerged he had a new management contract with Turn First Artists. Well, it’s good to get all your admin done in one go, isn’t it?

Although the move takes him to a new label, he remains, of course, within the Sony family – One Direction still working with Sony divisions Syco in the UK and Columbia in the US until they split later this year.

The singer announced the deal on Twitter, taking a Leona Lewis-style swipe at One Direction’s output in the process, saying: “I guess I never explained why I left [One Direction]. It was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who I really am! #realmusic #RCA”

He followed that up with a photo of him signing his new contract, and then another hashtag “REALME” to show that he really means business. Real business. Really.

Despite the sniping, Simon Cowell tweeted his congratulations to Malik, and took a bit of the credit for the deal too. “We have been working on this for a while and I am pleased to say congratulations to Zayn Malik on signing with RCA”, he wrote, adding: “I believe they are the perfect label for Zayn’s solo career and I am sure whatever they release together will be special”.

So, with Cowell still on side, what did Malik’s former bandmates have to say about the news on Twitter? Well, Harry tweeted a photo of Jack Nicholson, Niall tweeted about “a very brave little dude called Gavin”, Liam continued a silence that has lasted since Monday, and Louis tweeted about a charity fundraising competition.

And I don’t think it takes a master codebreaker to work out what they all mean.

READ MORE ABOUT: One Direction | RCA | Simon Cowell | Sony Music | Zayn Malik

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:55 | By Chris Cooke

IFPI reaffirms its position on digital pie debate

Business News Labels & Publishers

Perhaps sensing that the mantra “don’t blame Spotify, it’s all the fault of your label” is being increasingly recited in the artist community when digital royalties are discussed, the boss of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, Frances Moore, has taken to her blog to begin the fight back.

Yes, the average recording artist is making less from recorded music today compared to the 1990s, but that’s because the entire industry is making much less from recorded music. And, actually – all you moaners – the labels are paying more of their revenues over to artists today than back in the CD heyday. So stop saying labels are the problem. You know who’s really to blame. For everything. YouTube, that’s who.

I’m paraphrasing a little, but that’s the basic gist of Moore’s piece. We already knew this was the IFPI’s line, because the grade group rehearsed these arguments went unleashing its annual stats pack earlier this year, but in the new blog post Moore goes over the arguments once again.

IFPI’s independently verified research, Moore wrote, “found that while payments to artists have declined over the past five years, the decline was substantially smaller than the reduction in corresponding sales revenue. This means that artist remuneration has actually increased as a proportion of record companies’ revenues in the last five years”.

She goes on: “The IFPI research covered payments to locally signed artists by record companies in eighteen markets worldwide. It found that industry revenues in those countries declined by 17% over from 2009 to 2014, while corresponding payments to artists declined by only 6%. That meant the proportion of record companies’ revenues paid to local artists in those markets increased by 13% over five years”.

So boom, take that whining artist types. And ignore the fact various managers and indie labels had a good go at pulling apart this IFPI research when it was first shared earlier this year. Moore concludes: “The issue is not that artists are getting lower royalty payments from digital services – they are not – but that the overall recorded music market has shrunk, which means smaller revenues for all involved”.

But what about blaming YouTube? Well: “It is true that artists and record producers are not being paid fairly for the use of their music. This is because user upload platforms, such as SoundCloud and YouTube, are taking advantage of exemptions from copyright laws that simply should not apply to them”.

Yeah, fucking YouTube, ruining everything for everybody. Except for all the artists who use it as their primary marketing platform. And all the music consumers who use it as their main discovery channel. But for everyone else, everything’s ruined.

As we say, Moore’s new blog covers mainly old ground, but it reaffirms the record industry – and especially major labels’ – line on the big old digital pie debate (label/artist dimension). More on which here if you are a CMU premium reader, and this article actually says some nice things about YouTube as part of the ‘converting freemium’ discussion. You’ll need the password published in the CMU Digest to access these articles.

READ MORE ABOUT: Frances Moore | International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry (IFPI)

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:52 | By Chris Cooke

Windish Agency allies with Paradigm network

Business News Deals Live Business

The Windish Agency has announced a new partnership with the Paradigm Talent Agency, which includes partnering with the other agencies that are already partnering with Paradigm, ie AM Only and Coda. Which is an awful lot of partnering, isn’t it?

Paradigm took a stake in London-based Coda last year, in case you’d forgotten. I hadn’t, but that’s because I re-read the entire CMU archive every weekend.

As a result of the new alliance, Paradigm, AM Only, Coda and Windish will now all operate under the Paradigm Music Division banner, with Tom Windish, of Windish Agency founding fame, joining that division’s leadership team while continuing to lead his own company day to day.

Says he: “Partnering with Paradigm, AM Only and Coda solidifies our long-standing relationship as collaborators, and our respective cultures and synergies will significantly enhance the entire team’s ability to provide exceptional service and representation for all of our artists. The independent spirit embodied by our agencies is what makes this partnership special, and uniquely positions us to identify, create and maximise client opportunities on a global scale”.

Paradigm CEO Sam Gores adds: “The common thread in building Paradigm Music has been to invest in strong, visionary leaders who are universally respected by their peers and committed to building careers the right way. From the moment I met Tom Windish I was impressed with his business acumen, integrity, leadership, taste, and unique way of thinking. Over the years Paradigm has established a pattern of successful partnerships that together have formed a unified culture that I am proud of”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Paradigm Talent Agency | Windish Agency

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:45 | By Chris Cooke

Richer Sounds launches new website for unsigned bands

Business News Digital

I’m heading to Edinburgh this weekend for the Festival, where CMU publisher UnLimited Media takes a flat for the month, which is just across the street from the city’s branch of Richer Sounds.

You don’t need to know that really. I’m just telling you to add some colour to this story about hi-fi seller Richer Sounds launching an unsigned music website. This will be different to all the other unsigned music websites, in case you wondered, because it will be run by a company that has a shop across the road from the flat where I’ll be based for the next four weeks.

It’s like Richer Sounds CEO Julian Richer said: “At Richer Sounds we’re passionate about music, and our goal is to help great artists get the attention they deserve. Richer Unsigned is an exciting new curation-based platform that caters to the needs of a shifting landscape in the music industry, and will help nurture both new and existing talent we have in the UK”.

Wanna know more? Well, head on over to richerunsigned.com and you can find out all about the website’s playlists and tracks of the week and tips for new artists and such like and all that gubbins. Or if you’re more interested in why I’m heading to Edinburgh for the month, you should go to threeweeks.co.uk.

READ MORE ABOUT: Richer Sounds | Richer Unsigned

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:40 | By Chris Cooke

NME launches an app

Business News Digital Media

So, buzzy new freebie music mag the NME has done an app. You know apps, right? I had an app once. But it kept misbehaving so I had to have it put down. Now I come to think of it, perhaps that wasn’t an app. But the NME has an app. It’s called the NME Daily.

What’s in it? Content, that’s what. Content and functions. We should make a CMU Daily app. Fill it with this kind of shit. But I need to find a start-up to make it for me. If only I knew a start-up. If only CMU HQ sat alongside a entire building of buzzy buzzy start ups.

The buzzy buzzy buzzy start-up which made the NME Daily app is called Tapjet. “Working with NME has been a fantastic experience”, said Tapjet CEO Chris Harris. “Our app-streaming technology enables NME to change features in the app live – creating new experiences to match the news cycle”.

Ah, the news cycle. I had one of them once too. Now here’s NME’s buzzy, buzzy, buzzy, buzzy Editor-In-Chief Mike Williams saying things like “digital product set”.

Williams: “When we announced our major brand transformation, we promised an exciting new digital product set, so we’re delighted to be able to share the new NME Daily App with the world. The new NME is all about giving our audience what they want, when they want it and how they want it, and NME Daily delivers on this with some cool new regulars and an amazing user experience. Mobile is key to NME, and with new music, great pictures and big opinions every day, NME Daily is a brilliant new string to our bow”.

READ MORE ABOUT: NME

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:36 | By Andy Malt

Dr Dre to release companion album to NWA biopic, says Ice Cube

Artist News Releases

Dr Dre will release the long-awaited follow-up to his 1999 album ‘2001’ this weekend. Or so says Ice Cube. And the long-awaited record will reportedly be released as a companion to the new NWA biopic, ‘Straight Outta Compton’.

Appearing on US radio station Power 99’s ‘Rise & Grind Morning Show’, Ice Cube said: “Dre is dropping an ‘inspired by’ album. He’s dropping something on 1 Aug. It’s mega. It’s Dr Dre. It’s what everybody’s been waiting for, it’s definitely a dope record, and he’s dropping it all on the same day”.

Before you all set your alarms for Saturday morning, it is possible there have been some crossed wires here. What, a Dr Dre album not coming out when someone said it would? Perhaps, yes. According to Rolling Stone, sources have said that Dre will announce the album on his Beats 1 show on Saturday, though the actual release will come later.

It’s not clear if this record will include any material from Dre’s long in production third studio album, originally called ‘Detox’, because there was word he’d ditched that long postponed record. Perhaps instead he could do a rap explaining how you stop Apple Music charging you £10 on 1 Oct.

READ MORE ABOUT: Dr Dre | Ice Cube

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:33 | By Andy Malt

Avicii and Deadmau5 spend more time than they should caring about Noel Gallagher’s opinion

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Avicii and Deadmau5 have taken the bait after being mocked by Noel Gallagher. Although Avicii did call him a “silly sausage”, so it’s OK.

Gallagher recently dismissed EDM acts headlining festivals in an interview with the NME ahead of his performance at T In The Park, saying: “I don’t know anything about Avicii, I don’t wish to know anything about Avicii. It sounds like a fucking artist from the renaissance period. Is it like that David Guetta nonsense? Is that the night after me or the night before me? The night before me? Alright, I can save it after that, don’t worry about that”.

He then introduced himself at the festival as “Deadmau5 without the stupid fucking hat”.

Responding via the Instantgram, like the kids do nowadays, Avicii said: “Sounds like you’re playing the wrong festival if you’re at the same time dissing its entire audiences music taste you silly sausage!”

He added: “What is really ‘sad’ is hearing a old time musician like yourself confessing so bluntly and openly to not having an open mind to new music by dissing shit you haven’t even heard. I really didn’t think someone whose whole image is being witty would turn all stereotype ‘bitter ol timer rocker’ like that”.

If Avicii didn’t realise Gallagher’s “bitter ol time rocker” routine is pretty much central to his whole being witty thing, then I think the producer possibly knows as much about the former Oasis guitarist as the former Oasis guitarist knows about him. But still, he offered to give Gallagher a preview of his new album and invited “honest feedback”.

Deadmau5 initially responded with a short video describing himself as “Noel Gallagher without the stupid accent”.

Then, having thought about it, he decided that he agreed with Gallagher’s comments about EDM, although assumed quite a lot in the process. He published a blog post on Tumblr yesterday, accusing some artists of “fucking up EDM” by turning up to shows and just playing a CD of their music.

He wrote: “Would it fucking kill you to be able to add some sort of modularity, performance, showmanship BEYOND putting a fist in the air, telling people to make noise, and or playing the top line on an invisible keyboard in the air to show the crowd “HEY! EVERYONE! THIS LEAD GOES HERE! WATCH MY HAND. IT GOES DOOT DOOT DOOT DOOT”.

“I think this hits the core of what Noel Gallagher was hinting at”, he concluded. “Not EDM in general”.

I think you underestimate Noel Gallagher’s ability to generalise, sir.

READ MORE ABOUT: Avicii | Deadmau5 | Noel Gallagher

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:31 | By Andy Malt

CMU’s One Liners: Miguel and Foals videos, Chad Valley returns, Despacio in London, and more

Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Miguel has released a video for ‘NWA’, from his new album ‘Wildheart’.

• Foals have made one of those YouTube videos you can move around for new single ‘Mountain At My Gates’.

• Chad Valley has announced that he will release his second album, ‘Entirely New Blue’, through Cascine on 2 Oct. Here’s the first single, ‘True’.

• Here is the new single from Batteries, aka Bis’ Sci-Fi Steven, ‘Human Requirements’.

• James Murphy and 2manydjs’ Despacio soundsystem will be wheeled into the Roundhouse for two nights of perfect audio quality on 10-11 Sep. No news, though, on whether they’ll be permitted by Neil Young to play his records. “Perfect” yes, but is it “super perfect”?

READ MORE ABOUT: 2manydjs | Batteries | Chad Valley | Despacio | Foals | James Murphy | Miguel

Thursday 30 July 2015, 11:29 | By Andy Malt

Liam Gallagher performs new song in Irish pub

And Finally Artist News

While Noel Gallagher’s been busy upsetting big name dance music makers, his brother has been quietly entertaining some old men. A video has appeared on YouTube showing the former Oasis frontman performing a new song to a few folks in a pub in Charlestown in the west of Ireland.

Gallagher apparently knocked out a few tunes in JJ Finan’s in the town on Sunday afternoon, something that went largely unnoticed by a large proportion of the pub, if the amount of talking going on in the background is anything to go by. Presumably they were wondering when the proper musicians would start playing again.

Anyway, here he is:

READ MORE ABOUT: Liam Gallagher

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:53 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Jim Perkins – Transfiguration

CMU Approved

The first single from composer and producer Jim Perkins’ new album, due out on 6 Oct, ‘Transfiguration’ is another excellent example of his innovate approach to classical music. Written for string quartet, the recording has been broken down into individual notes, pulled apart and re-arranged, creating something new and completely enveloping.

Having tackled solo piano on his debut album, ‘Grains’, this new record will see Perkins explore strings more deeply, with pieces written for a variety of combinations of the group of instruments from solo violin to 21 piece string orchestra.

He will also be involved in a collaborative album from his Bigo & Twigetti label, created by a group of musicians over the course of a week. This follows on from last year’s ‘Forty Eight’ EP, which was created over a 48 hour period, with four musicians each creating their own track for the others each in turn to add their own touches. Also working on the new collaborative album will be Nonesemble, Leah Kardos, Antonyes, Lucy Claire, Tiny Leaves and more to be announced in early August.

Watch the video for ‘Transfiguration’ here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Jim Perkins

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:51 | By Chris Cooke

Controversial Russian social network reaches ‘goodwill agreement’ with Sony Music

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

Often controversial – in music industry circles, at least – Russian social networking giant and Facebook clone vKontakte has signed a ‘goodwill agreement’ with Sony Music which means, well, who knows what, lots of goodwill will be flowing between the two parties presumably. Enough, it would seem, to halt the major’s legal action against the social network.

As previously reported, both the domestic music industry in Russia, and international labels and record industry trade groups, have hit out at vKontakte for allowing people to share music without licence across its networks.

For its part, the social networking firm has made various gestures over the years towards halting the file-sharing and introducing some sort of licensed music service on its platform, but none of that stopped the three major music companies from filing separate litigation against vKontakte in the Saint Petersburg & Leningradsky Region Arbitration Court last year. Those cases were due to be considered by the court this week.

But the Sony lawsuit, at least, has now seemingly been withdrawn because of the aforementioned ‘goodwill agreement’. vKontakte confirmed to Billboard that an agreement had now been made with Sony, though there were few details as to what that agreement says, and whether it is a stepping stone towards the social media business becoming a legit music provider. Though local media reports reckon it is.

Despite past acrimony, vKontakte could be a useful partner for the labels in the Russian market if it could get a licensed royalty-paying streaming music service off the ground, Spotify having bailed on the country back in February.

Though it remains to be seen whether similar exchanges of goodwill are incoming between the social network and Warner and Universal Music. The same court considering those two lawsuits this week recently ruled against vKontakte in a legal battle with a Russian record company, which might be partly behind the social media firm’s current goodwill frenzy.

READ MORE ABOUT: Sony Music | vKontakte

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:50 | By Chris Cooke

Zayn Malik signs with Turn First Artists

Business News Deals Management & Funding

Zayn Malik has engaged new management to help kickstart his solo career, presumably having tired of being “a normal 22 year old” having “some private time out of the spotlight”.

Or perhaps he wants someone official to make announcements and release new material on his behalf, rather than collaborator Naughty Boy just posting it all to Twitter. Or perhaps he suspects there could be four more former 1D boys having a go at the solo career thing very soon, so he ought to get his off the ground pronto.

Either way, rather than signing up with One Direction overseers Modest! Management, Malik is putting his solo ambitions into the hands of Sarah Stennett at Turn First Artists. Though, despite the new management arrangement, it is thought the former IDer could continue to work with Simon Cowell’s Sony imprint Syco if and when he gets round to releasing some new tunes.

READ MORE ABOUT: Turn First Artists | Zayn Malik

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:48 | By Chris Cooke

BMG allies with MCN BroadbandTV on new artist development venture

Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers

Multi-channel network BroadbandTV has announced a new joint venture with BMG which will “accelerate the careers of emerging music artists” via a “model set for the digital age”. So that’s definitely at thing. Called Windfall, the new joint venture constitutes “a comprehensive and technologically-advanced alliance”. So, those are all words, aren’t they?

Among its various YouTube networks, BroadbandTV runs hip hop focused Opposition and EDM-happy WIMSIC, and with Windfall it will look to collaborate with artists that come through those operations, also offering the publishing, rights management, promotion and distribution expertise that sits within the BMG empire.

Confirming the tie up, and using more of those words, BroadbandTV CEO Shahrzad Rafati said: “This deal is another shining example of our commitment in advancing the online video ecosystem, and is an exciting addition to our growing portfolio of services. The launch of Windfall supports our goal to more than double the size of our music network over the next twelve months. Not only does this partnership with BMG break new ground in expanding the relationship between artists and labels, it’s a big step forward in the music industry as a whole where online video has become such a massive strategic component to engage with fans. With Windfall, we’re not just creating music stars, but media stars”.

Busy preparing his HQ for all those “media stars” who will soon be lining up outside, BMG boss Hartwig Masuch said of the deal: “For many artists and music fans, music is now an audio-visual artform. With online video emerging as a breeding ground for new talent, our partnership with BroadbandTV brings an innovative new offering to the market, creating an artist-friendly suite of online video services which we believe will be a game-changer”.

READ MORE ABOUT: BMG | BroadbandTV

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:47 | By Chris Cooke

Downtown allies with Latin label Fania Records

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Downtown Music Publishing recently announced a worldwide publishing agreement with Codigo Music, which acquired the seminal New York-based Latin label Fania Records back in 2009. Under the deal, Downtown will administrate and represent Fania’s songs catalogue.

Confirming the new alliance, Downtown CEO Justin Kalifowitz told reporters: “Fania was a New York City institution. Their investment, promotion and celebration of some of New York’s greatest talents played an enormous role in the development of our city’s diverse musical heritage. I am honoured that we can play a small part in promoting this incredible piece of New York City history”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Downtown Music | Fania Records

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:45 | By Chris Cooke

No more bidders come forward for SFX, allowing founder to proceed with buyback

Business News Live Business

Robert Sillerman is ever closer to taking his EDM-lovin music business SFX back into private hands, after the firm confirmed on Monday that it hadn’t received any competing offers to acquire the company.

As previously reported, Sillerman announced earlier this year that he wanted to buy back his latest entertainment venture, which he previously floated in 2013, making an offer for the nearly 63% of the company he doesn’t currently control. Not all the firm’s investors were impressed with the deal (one went legal), but the company’s board backed the proposal after Sillerman increased his offer to other shareholders.

However, that backing was subject to a 45 day window in which a special committee appointed by the board would sound out other possible bidders for the company, who might want to compete with Sillerman to acquire the EDM event and festival promoter and Beatport operator. But no such second bidder came forward.

Though there was interest, it seems, in buying some of SFX’s assets – proposals the special committee is now reviewing – but it nevertheless seems likely that Sillerman will soon be able to start approaching individual shareholders in a bid to regain ownership of the entire company. Insiders say he hopes to have the business back in private ownership by the end of the year.

READ MORE ABOUT: SFX Entertainment

Wednesday 29 July 2015, 10:44 | By Chris Cooke

ReverbNation unveils music discovery app

Business News Digital

US-based direct to fan platform ReverbNation has launched a new music discovery app, which, the firm says, “enables music fans to find their new favourite band before everyone else does”. And why not, I say. The app, called EchoMusic, basically aims to make it easier to navigate the ReverbNation community via a smartphone, checking out artists distributing their content on the D2F platform.

There’s some human and automated curation going on in their too, with the app – says ReverbNation itself – “utilising a combination of big data and a three-tiered review system by music experts in every genre from all across the country to identify the best tracks in the company’s extensive existing catalogue, as well as from the 30,000 new artists that join the site every month”.

Or, in the words of the firm’s CEO Mike Doernberg: “We have the world’s largest catalogue of music from new artists. But we also recognise that it’s not enough just to have a lot of music, there needs to be a way for music fans to be able to make sense of all of it. The EchoMusic app contains the very best artists in our community, hand-picked by our curation team, and served up in an accessible, easy to use way that helps music fans discover new bands before anyone else and share them with their friends”.

READ MORE ABOUT: ReverbNation

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