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Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:23 | By Chris Cooke
212 artists back Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in Blurred Lines appeal
Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
No less than 212 artists have come out in support of Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams as they attempt to overturn the ruling in the big fat ‘Blurred Lines’ plagiarism case.
The likes of John Oates, Linkin Park, Jennifer Hudson, The Go-Gos, film composer Hans Zimmer and production duo Stargate are among the eclectic band of musicians who reckon that the ruling in the ‘Blurred Lines’ case set a dangerous precedent by confusing inspiration with infringement.
As much previously reported, Thicke and Pharrell were accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’ on their big hit. It was actually the terrible twosome who first went legal over those claims, in a bid to secure confirmation that there was no infringement, but it backfired and ultimately a jury sided with the Marvin Gaye Estate, that ‘Blurred Lines’ had indeed ripped of ‘Got To Give It Up’.
Thicke and Pharrell filed their appeal against that judgement last week. At the heart of that appeal is an argument that was also key to duo’s original case in court, which basically centres on some technicalities of American copyright law.
The lawsuit was over the copyright in the song, not the recording, and under the specific laws of relevance here only the song as filed with the US Copyright Office is protected. Lawyers for Thicke and Pharrell argued that any similarities between the two tracks were because ‘Blurred Lines’ had some elements in common with the recorded version of ‘Got To Give It Up’, but those elements are not actually in the sheet music for the latter song, and are therefore not protected by copyright, so can’t be infringed.
The judge overseeing the case agreed with Thicke and Pharrell’s lawyers with regard to what was specifically protected by copyright, ie the core composition of the song, which is why he banned the playing of the famous recording of ‘Got To Give It Up’ in the courtroom. But, say those same lawyers in their appeal, the judge failed to properly brief and guide the jury with regards these technicalities resulting, they say, in the wrong ruling.
However, the celeb-backed amicus brief filed with the appeals court yesterday – also signed by members of Train, Tears For Fears, Fall Out Boy, The Black Crowes, Tool, Weezer and more – focuses less on copyright law complexities, and more on the potential impact the ‘Blurred Lines’ ruling has on the creative process of the songwriter.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the brief states: “The verdict in this case threatens to punish songwriters for creating new music that is inspired by prior works. All music shares inspiration from prior musical works, especially within a particular musical genre. By eliminating any meaningful standard for drawing the line between permissible inspiration and unlawful copying, the judgment is certain to stifle creativity and impede the creative process. The law should provide clearer rules so that songwriters can know when the line is crossed, or at least where the line is”.
The brief goes on to state that ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Got To Give It Up’ “do not have similar melodies; the two songs do not even share a single melodic phrase”, and instead the similarities between the two records is about “feel” and “groove”. It then observes that Gaye himself was heavily influenced by the work of other artists, including Frank Sinatra, Smokey Robinson, Nat ‘King’ Cole and James Brown.
The filing concludes: “Such a result, if allowed to stand, is very dangerous to the music community, is certain to stifle future creativity, and ultimately does a disservice to past songwriters as well. One can only imagine what our music would have sounded like if David Bowie would have been afraid to draw from Shirley Bassey, or if the Beatles would have been afraid to draw from Chuck Berry, or if Elton John would have been afraid to draw from the Beatles, or if Elvis Presley would have been afraid to draw from his many influences”.
Ten of those pesky musicologists have also filed an amicus brief in support of Thicke and Pharrell, also discussing the potential impact of the ‘Blurred Lines’ ruling if it’s allowed to stand, as well as more of the copyright complexity stuff too. “There can be no genuine disagreement among experts as to the fact that there is no harmonic similarity between ‘Blurred’ and ‘Give’ because the chord progressions in both works were entirely different”, they wrote in their court filing.
Other third party amicus briefs are now expected in this case, which is being watched closely by the entire music community.
READ MORE ABOUT: Marvin Gaye | Pharrell Williams | Robin Thicke
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:21 | By Chris Cooke
Judge kicks out much of Monster’s case against Beats
Business News Legal
A judge has dismissed a number of allegations made against Beats and its co-founders Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine by Monster LLC, an early partner in the ‘stick-a-by-Dre-label-on-the-side-and-hike-up-the-price’ headphones business.
As previously reported, tech company Monster and the then independent Beats ended their alliance in something of a messy divorce in 2012. Then last year, after Apple had bought the headphone firm and its fledgling streaming service in a $3 billion deal, Monster sued.
The firm accused Beats of some dodgy dealing around its previous share sale to phone maker HTC, which Monster said was deliberately structured to enable Beats to exercise a change of ownership clause in its contract with Monster LLC in order to end the two companies’ business partnership.
Monster founder Noel Lee also claimed that he had been misled by Beats management about future plans, meaning he sold his stake in the Beats company in 2013, netting much less than if he’d waited for the Apple deal a year later.
But, according to Billboard, in a summary judgement, the judge hearing the case concludes that Beats’ actions were allowed under its contracts with Monster and Lee, while also noting that both had entered into deals with the Beats business as “sophisticated investors”.
The summary judgement means that a scheduled court hearing will now only consider efforts by Beats to force Monster to cover its legal costs.
READ MORE ABOUT: Beats By Dre | Monster LLC
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:16 | By Chris Cooke
Composer critical of Russian collecting society becomes President of its Authors’ Council
Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers
A producer and composer who has been critical of Russian collecting society RAO has been elected as President of its Authors’ Council, which is the main governing body of the organisation. Some now wonder if Igor Matvienko will attempt to reform the society, though he has already distanced himself from a group attempting a radical overhaul of the collective licensing body.
As previously reported, RAO is currently fighting off fraud allegations which have led to the society’s General Director Sergei Fedotov being arrested and held in jail. It is alleged the rights body used around 500 million rubles of money it collected on behalf of songwriters to buy four buildings in Moscow, ownership of which was then transferred to other companies and individuals. RAO management deny any wrongdoing.
In the wake of that controversy, a small group of Russian writers called an extraordinary conference of the society, which would have the power to replace Fedotov and rewrite the organisation’s constitution. But Matvienko, while conceding he too has issues with the way RAO is run, was nevertheless critical of that mini revolution.
On becoming President of the RAO Authors’ Council, he said: “As any living organism RAO has its own pros and cons. And I’ve just recently expressed my opinion on those disadvantages openly. Nevertheless, this organisation has a long history, it is the heir of [previous society] VAAP and it currently counts over 26,000 authors [as members]. We should take into consideration all of inefficiencies and take further actions to rectify them. But we shall not allow anyone to destroy our native RAO”.
Meanwhile, yesterday the Authors’ Council itself issued a more overt rebuttal of those efforts to call an extraordinary conference, and of the members making that call.
It’s Vice President, composer Oleg Galakhov, said: “The more royalties RAO collects, the more often different people try to raid the organisation. RAO is constantly developing together with the whole sector of copyright protection. I don’t think that this ‘self-appointed group’ cares about authors, transparency or any positive changes. What are they going to do after seizing RAO? No one knows. Their goal at the moment is to brake and ruin the existing organisation. Very few people are capable of creating something new”.
Meanwhile, the Council confirmed that it believed Fedotov to be innocent of the fraud charges, and therefore they continue to back him as the boss of the RAO.
Alexander Klevitsky, another VP of the Council, said: “The question of changing the General Director hasn’t been discussed at this meeting of the Authors’ Council. We haven’t discussed anything of that sort. Sergey Fedotov was officially elected at the last legitimate – I’d like to stress that – legitimate Conference of RAO. Mr Fedotov is the General Director of RAO, and there are absolutely no reasons for electing a new one. We are waiting for the incident to be over, and for Sergey Fedotov to return to his work”.
So, all in all, it still very much remains to be seen whether the appointment of Matvienko to the President role will bring about any changes at the society.
READ MORE ABOUT: Igor Matvienko | Russian Authors' Society (RAO)
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:08 | By Andy Malt
Sadiq Khan responds to calls to ensure Fabric reopens
Business News Legal Live Business
London mayor Sadiq Khan has responded to calls for him to act in order to protect club venue Fabric from permanent closure. Though he doesn’t go much further than his previous tweet on the matter “urging” all involved to sort it out, noting that he doesn’t have the authority to force the police or local council to let the club stay open.
As previously reported, Fabric has been closed since earlier this month, due to a police investigation into two recent drug-related deaths. The venue is now awaiting a new licence review by Islington Council, which will decide whether or not it can reopen. Owners of the club have pushed their commitment to preventing drug use on the premises, and said that they are reviewing policies. Meanwhile, the venue last week launched the #SaveFabric campaign, and a petition in support of the club began collecting signatures.
Khan has been a particular focus for campaigning because, before being elected as the capital’s mayor in May, he spoke about his commitment to London’s night time economy. So far he’s lived up to that by overseeing the opening of the long-in-development Night Tube and advertising for a Night Czar. But the situation with Fabric is seen by many as the first real test for him in this area.
Responding to the #Save Fabric petition, which has now gained almost 100,000 signatures, Khan spoke about improving safety as a collaborative effort, and linked to a recent Islington Gazette article on a police report about drugs within Fabric. In it a police officer claims that on a visit to the venue as many as 80% of people inside “appeared to be under the influence of drugs”, and that the venue provides “a safe haven for the supply and consumption of illegal drugs”.
“I am committed to using the influence of my office to overcome the numerous challenges facing the night time economy”, writes Khan. “However, it is important to note that City Hall does not have the power to intervene in licensing cases like the current situation with Fabric”.
He continues: “Clubbing needs to be safe. There have been two tragic deaths at Fabric over recent months and there are clearly issues that need addressing. Fabric, the Metropolitan Police and Islington will of course have to take real action to protect the safety of everyone who enjoys a night out at the club”.
“My team have spoken to all involved in the current situation and I am urging them to find a common sense solution that ensures the club remains open while protecting the safety of those who want to enjoy London’s clubbing scene”, he concludes. “I welcome your call for us all to work together – City Hall, London’s music venues, local authorities, the police and others – to make our clubs safer while also protecting our night time economy”.
Read Khan’s response in full here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Fabric | Sadiq Khan
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:07 | By Andy Malt
Twickets partners with End Of The Road to test new ticket resale system
Business News Deals Digital Gigs & Festivals Live Business
Face value ticket resale platform Twickets has partnered with the End Of The Road festival for the first test of a new ticket reissue and waiting list service.
Rather than passing on the original ticket to a new person when a sale is agreed via the platform, the seller’s original ticket will be cancelled and an entirely new one issued to the buyer. This should make the process easier and less open to abuse, as the new ticket is issued by Twickets, rather than relying on the seller sending their ticket on.
As part of the system, Twickets also introduces a waiting list for tickets, with the first person in the queue being offered the chance to buy any place at the festival that comes up for sale. As the system rolls out to more events, this function will only become available once tickets have sold out on primary platforms.
“With the launch of our new reissue and waiting list service in conjunction with End Of The Road, we hope to provide a secure and simple way for festival goers to buy unwanted tickets”, says Twickets’ Richard Davies. “We are working hard to integrate ethical ticket resale across the events ecosystem and it’s great to be working with one of the most exciting festivals in the country, who share our commitment to cracking down on ticket touts”.
End Of The Road organisers add: “It’s really important to us that people don’t get ripped off by counterfeits and touts when trying to resell their ticket for any event. At End Of The Road we can actually do something about this by working with Twickets – an effective and reliable ethical face-value-or-less platform that allows our loyal audience – many of whom buy tickets months in advance – the opportunity to resell their tickets in a levelled playing field”.
“We sell out every year, so we know the market has long been rife with exploitation”, they continue. “We are proud to work with an organisation as committed as we are to the customer experience, striving for the highest levels of honesty and fairness”.
End Of The Road takes place this weekend, running from tomorrow until Sunday. Following this initial launch, the new Twickets system is due to be rolled out to other events in the coming months.
READ MORE ABOUT: End Of The Road Festival | Twickets
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:06 | By Chris Cooke
MTV considering options for VMAs as clip-stream viewing totally out-performs audience for telecast
Awards Business News Digital Media
MTV says it is considering airing the VMAs live across the US next year – rather than putting it out at 9pm across the entire country, which means it airs live on the East Coast, but pre-recorded in other time zones.
Doing so would be a rather late-in-the-day acknowledgement that event television now happens as much online as on air as people chatter and comment via their social networks of choice. Though it would also mean the show airing in a less prime slot in some parts of the country, which could hit ad income.
Keeping the VMA brand money flowing is a challenge for MTV, which faces much the same problem as most legacy media. The TV audience for the event has slumped in recent years, despite it being aired on eleven different Viacom-owned channels this time.
Official ratings reckon that 6.5 million people tuned in this year, compared to 9.8 million a year earlier. But the viewing of online clips from the show on both MTV’s website and across the social networks was up significantly, from just over 30 million to 149 million streams according to the broadcaster.
How do you generate decent ad revenue from the online viewing though? Especially when clips are consumed via third-party platforms which either control the advertising, or even worse don’t offer the option to put any advertising alongside the content at all.
“Gone are the days where TV is where you go to – TV has to come to you”, observed MTV President Sean Atkins, according to Billboard. “In a world where you are multi-platforming, when I can experience it on my feed from my friends on Facebook who are in New York, are you better off just going live? You give everyone essentially equal access to every platform at the same time”.
READ MORE ABOUT: MTV | MTV VMAs
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 10:01 | By Andy Malt
Glasgow music scene rallies to save sound engineer Robert Makutsa from deportation
Business News Industry People Live Business
A petition has been launched calling on Nicola Sturgeon to halt procedures to deport sound engineer Robert Makutsa to Kenya. Makutsa has lived and worked in Glasgow for seven years, including at the now closed Arches venue.
According to friends, the Home Office initiated the deportation process because Makutsa’s job was not one that met requirements for overseas workers, meaning his current employer was not granted the necessary ‘Certificate Of Sponsorship’ to keep him on. He was then, it is claimed, detained without warning.
Commenting on the situation, Brian Reynolds of Synergy Concerts and the Hug And Pint venue says: “While [Hug And Pint booker] Joe Rattray and I were frantically looking for an audio engineer when Dougie Laing was sick last week, I tried to call Robert twice. Little did I know he was detained by the authorities and placed in detention centres and prisons between Glasgow and London for ‘overstaying’ his visa despite never having been informed that his application had not been successful until he was incarcerated”.
“Robert is currently not allowed to work despite being obliged to pay rent and council tax on his Cessnock residence”, he adds. “This is an outrageous imposition on Scotland’s arts community by the immigration authorities and we must unite to ensure that Robert is permitted to stay in the country where he is contributes so much and where he is valued and loved”.
You can read more and sign the petition here.
READ MORE ABOUT: Robert Makutsa
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 09:58 | By Andy Malt
Selena Gomez taking time off to “focus on health and happiness”
Artist News
Selena Gomez has announced that she is taking a break from public life, after revealing that she has been coping with anxiety, panic attacks and depression as a side effect of contracting autoimmune condition lupus last year.
In a statement to People magazine, Gomez says: “As many of you know, around a year ago I revealed that I have lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways. I’ve discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of lupus, which can present their own challenges”.
She continues: “I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off. Thank you to all my fans for your support. You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best. I know I am not alone by sharing this, I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues”.
The singer first spoke about her treatment for the condition last year, speaking about her anger that time out of the spotlight led to speculation that she had developed a drug addiction. She told Billboard: “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re assholes’. I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again”.
The cause of lupus is not yet fully understood, but affects the immune system in various different ways as healthy cells, tissue and organs are inflamed. Most common symptoms are fatigue, rashes and joint pain. There are various treatments available, though no known cure.
Mind has more information on depression, anxiety and panic attacks. If you need to speak to someone, you can contact The Samaritans or music industry specific helpline Music Support.
READ MORE ABOUT: Selena Gomez
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 09:52 | By Andy Malt
CMU’s One Liners: Roc-A-Fella Records, Bon Iver, Sleigh Bells, more
Artist News Awards Business News Gigs & Festivals Labels & Publishers Media One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Damon Dash is reportedly plotting a new TV series that will tell the story of his former business partnership with Jay-Z and the hip hop label they ran together, Roc-A-Fella Records. Dash is promising a “brutally honest account” of the label’s story, which would presumably include the tensions that rose between its founders in the latter years.
• There’s another new Bon Iver track out there in the world. This is ’33 God’.
• Having announced their new album last week, Sleigh Bells have now released another new track from it, ‘It’s Just Us Now’.
• Tulisa has recorded a cover of ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ by Shanks & Bigfoot. Here is a seventeen second trailer. You might say that was quite enough, but the whole track will be released on Friday.
• Tkay Maidza has released a new track, ‘Carry On’, which features Killer Mike as a guest.
• Cold Cave have put out the video for new single ‘The Idea Of Love’.
• Conan Mockasin and Sam Dust (aka LA Priest) have formed a new band, Soft Hair. Here’s their first single, ‘Lying Has To Stop’.
• Ultimate Painting have premiered new single ‘Song For Brian Jones’. Here it is. Their new album, ‘Dusk’, is out on 30 Sep, and they’ll headline Islington Assembly Hall on 6 Oct.
• Savoy Motel have aired new single ‘Sorry People’, taken from their upcoming debut album.
• The Chemical Brothers have announced three UK live shows in December, finishing up with a performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on 10 Dec. Tickets on sale this Friday.
• Savages have announced that they will play Brixton Academy on 25 Nov. Tickets go on sale through Songkick this Friday.
• Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls will be touring the UK in November and December. One pound from each ticket sale will be donated to War Child.
• Who will be performing at the Mercury Prize ceremony this year though? Well, The 1975, Skepta, Kano, Bat For Lashes, Jamie Woon, Laura Mvula, Michael Kiwanuka, Savages, The Comet Is Coming and Anonhi. There’ll also be some sort of David Bowie tribute.
READ MORE ABOUT: Anonhi | Bat For Lashes | Bon Iver | Cold Cave | Conan Mockasin | Damon Dash | David Bowie | Frank Turner | Jamie Woon | Jay-Z | Kano | LA Priest | Laura Mvula | Mercury Prize | Michael Kiwanuka | Roc-A-Fella | Savages | Savoy Motel | Skepta | Sleigh Bells | Soft Hair | The 1975 | The Chemical Brothers | The Comet Is Coming | Tkay Maidza | Tulisa Contostavlos | Ultimate Painting
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 09:41 | By Andy Malt
Mel C pens essay on why she won’t be involved in any Spice Girls reunion
And Finally Artist News
Mel C has penned an essay for Love Magazine on how fame has changed since her day, and why she’ll never be involved in another Spice Girls reunion.
“I will be a Spice Girl until I die”, she writes. “But the continuous speculation on whether we will reform to celebrate 20 years of ‘Wannabe’ has been particularly exhausting. Don’t get me wrong – I totally get it. But is it a new rule that bands have to reform? Why can’t we just be remembered for our incredible achievements in the 90s”.
Not that she hadn’t toyed with the idea of a reunion. She continues: “Truth be told, earlier this year after several face-to-face meetings with the girls I made the difficult decision not to be part of a proposed reunion with Emma, Geri and Melanie. Victoria had already bowed out understandably with the demands of her fashion label and her rather large family”.
She concludes that “something didn’t feel quite right and I had to follow my gut”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Mel C | The Spice Girls
Wednesday 31 August 2016, 08:54 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Konni Kass
CMU Approved
Konni Kass began her career as a professional musician as a teenager in the Faroe Islands. Supply and demand worked in her favour in a country where everyone seems to be in a band but she was one of the few who could play saxophone.
After time spent in education, first studying jazz and currently medicine, she formed a band to perform her own songs last year, and released her debut single ‘Surrender’ earlier this year. Two more – ‘Sounds’ and now ‘Time’ – have followed, in the run up to the release of her debut album in November.
Kass’s music is based in soulful pop, but tends to take unexpected turns that set her apart from her contemporaries. On ‘Time’ in particular, as the music shifts gears into something more like dance music, the tone of her voice also changes, as if fragile cracks suddenly repaired themselves.
Listen to ‘Time’ here:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2016 by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Konni Kass
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:30 | By Chris Cooke
MegaUpload extradition appeal to be livestreamed on YouTube
Business News Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories
Kim Dotcom’s latest attempt to fight extradition to the US to face charges of money laundering, racketeering and copyright infringement will be livestreamed on YouTube, so that’s a thing. Lawyers for Dotcom had argued that the case should be beamed live to the world, but reps for the US government objected.
As much previously reported, Dotcom has been fighting extradition from New Zealand to the US ever since American authorities shut down his MegaUpload business in early 2012 on copyright grounds. A New Zealand court finally considered the extradition request late last year, ultimately siding with the Americans, though Dotcom et al are now appealing.
Legal reps for Dotcom said that the appeal should be streamed because, you know, the bloody media and all that, who knows what they’ll say, so letting people watch the hearing on the YouTubes will restore balance and ensure public scrutiny. The American authorities argued that the streams could prejudice the actual criminal trial if and when it happens back in the US, in particular making it harder to select an impartial jury.
But as the appeal hearing got underway yesterday, the judge overseeing the case – Murray Gilbert – green lighted the livestream, and on Dotcom’s preferred platform of YouTube too. Though there are conditions.
First, guidelines for broadcasting court sessions in New Zealand say that there should be a ten minute delay, and for this case it will be 20 minutes, so that specific things can be blocked from the public screening if necessary. Commenting will also be turned off and the footage will not be able to stay on YouTube long-term.
Though, of course, viewers will be able to comment on the livestream elsewhere if they so wish and, somewhat ironically, there is nothing to stop pesky users from ripping the stream and plonking that content in publicly accessible digital lockers of the MegaUpload model, and then sharing that content beyond the trial period itself.
In their opening remarks yesterday, judges for the MegaUpload side – actually repping former Dotcom colleagues Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk – said that the judge in the original extradition hearing had shown “extraordinary disinterest” in their arguments.
They then listed some familiar grievances, regarding the process US and New Zealand authorities went through in originally investigating and arresting the former MegaUpload management, and over the fact the defendants had not been allowed to use funds seized from their former business to hire experts in US law as part of their defence in the New Zealand courts.
The appeal is expected to take at least six weeks, and it’s thought that star attraction Dotcom won’t take to the stand himself until next week. By which time the YouTube livestream should be fully functioning. What a time to be alive!
READ MORE ABOUT: Kim Dotcom | MegaUpload
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:28 | By Andy Malt
Snoop Dogg’s alcopop case allowed to proceed to trial, fans sue over live show railing collapse
Artist News Brands & Merch Business News Legal Live Business
A judge has allowed Snoop Dogg’s lawsuit against Pabst Brewing Co to proceed to trial. The rapper accuses the company of breaching the terms of an endorsement deal.
As previously reported, the rapper signed up to promote alcopop Blast By Colt 45 in 2011, a deal which ran for three years. His contract contained a clause entitling Snoop to 10% of the profits if the brand was sold before January 2016. He sued in 2015, claiming the company had failed to pay him his cut when Pabst Holdings Inc, which is the sole shareholder in Pabst Brewing, was sold to a third party.
Pabst argues that it did not technically sell ownership of the brand, merely the rights to control it, and that such a deal is excluded from its profit share arrangement with the rapper. Snoop’s lawyers claim that the drinks firm intentionally structured the sale of Pabst Holdings Inc so that it could avoid paying the rapper what he was due. The company’s lawyers counter that it would have been “ridiculous” to complicate a $700 million deal simply to avoid handing some money over to Snoop Dogg.
The judge overseeing yesterday’s pre-trial hearing criticised both sides, reports The Hollywood Reporter. He said that both parties had “conjured up a lot of facts on this case” and that the whole thing was “maddening”.
As a result, he said that there were too many pieces of conflicting information for him to provide a summary judgement, which Pabst had been calling for, therefore allowing the case to proceed to trial. A jury will now have to try to work out what the hell went on, with the trial expected to begin in October.
Elsewhere in Snoop Dogg legal news, he and Wiz Khalifa are both being sued over the railing collapse at a recent show in New Jersey, which left more than 40 people injured.
As previously reported, the rappers were performing together at the BB&T Pavilion venue in the city of Camden earlier this month when the three foot metal railing gave way, sending fans falling down on to the concrete below.
Last week, three separate lawsuits were filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, with seventeen people claiming damages for a variety of injuries, reports Courthouse News. Live Nation is ultimately accused of liability, the lawsuits saying that it was responsible for repairs that should have been done in order to avoid the accident.
“Live Nation made the repairs in a cheap and reckless fashion because their focus was more on cutting costs than it was on the safety of the concertgoers”, claims one complaint.
Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa are both accused of making the situation worse by “inciting the crowd to a dangerous level”, when they encouraged fans near the back of the outdoor venue to move closer to the stage before the incident happened. The surge as people followed these instructions caused the crowd to suddenly push hard against the already loose railings, further weakening the concrete in which they stood.
Neither rapper, nor Live Nation, nor a fourth defendant, National Event Services, have commented as yet.
READ MORE ABOUT: Live Nation | Pabst Brewing Company | Snoop Dogg | Wiz Khalifa
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:26 | By Andy Malt
Pulled Apart By Horses sign to Raw Power Management
Artist News Business News Deals Management & Funding
Raw Power Management has signed a new deal with Pulled Apart By Horses to represent the band worldwide. The partnership will be backed by funding from Amplify Music.
“We are big fans of Pulled Apart By Horses and delighted that they have joined the Raw Power family”, says the firm’s CEO Craig Jennings. “This exciting new finance agreement with Amplify Music gives the band real freedom to explore the creative and commercial possibilities open to them. With that security behind them and the ability for them to make their own decisions they are in a better position now than they’ve ever been before”.
Amplify Music grew out of previously reported music investment firm Power Amp and takes advantage of the Seed Enterprise Initiative Scheme that was introduced by HMRC in 2012.
The company’s founder, Tom Bywater comments: “We are delighted to be working with Pulled Apart By Horses on their new album, which is their best yet. Also, we’re excited about working with Raw Power Management for the first time – they are thoroughbreds in the rock management world. We can’t wait to see what they can do with a band like this in combination with the war-chest we’ve given them. Let the battle commence!”
Er, yeah. There’s no release date for that album yet, but their last LP ‘Blood’ came out in 2014.
READ MORE ABOUT: Amplify Music | Power Amp | Pulled Apart By Horses | Raw Power Management
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:20 | By Andy Malt
Inverness’ Tooth & Claw wins PRS Music Makeover prize
Business News Live Business Management & Funding
Inverness pub The Tooth & Claw has been named the winner of this year’s Music Makeover competition, run by PRS For Music. The prize is a £10,000 grant to revamp the live music venue, as well as some free advice from producer Steve Levine.
The venue’s co-owner Paulina Matuszak says: “We are overjoyed with the support that both PRS For Music and the local community have given us. We want The Tooth & Claw to become a staple of the Inverness music scene and with this prize, that dream is becoming a reality. We can’t wait to play host to the best of Inverness music!”
PRS Chairman Guy Fletcher adds: “We regard pubs as an essential component of our popular music culture; they provide unparalleled opportunities for emerging musical talent to develop their skills and their popularity. Our Music Makeover award gives PRS For Music an annual opportunity to encourage music-loving venues to support local talent and enables them to improve the quality of the music experience for both performers and their audience”.
The Music Makeover prize was launched in 2012, initially offering £5000 towards refurbishment of the winning venue each year.
READ MORE ABOUT: PRS For Music | The Tooth & Claw
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:18 | By Chris Cooke
Guvera must find nearly a million to meet creditor obligations tomorrow
Business News Digital
The heat may have been taken off struggling streaming music firm Guvera after creditors of the two subsidiaries it put in administration accepted a ‘deed of company arrangement’ earlier this month, though according to The Sydney Morning Herald tomorrow is going to be the first big test of that arrangement with nearly AUS$1 million in payments due.
The newspaper says that under the deed of company arrangement, the Guvera parent company will pay AUS$150,000 to creditors of its Guvera Australia company each month and another AUS$30,000 to creditors of Guv Services. But this month it must also pay AUS$761,200 in outstanding employee superannuation entitlements, which brings the total bill to AUS$941,200.
Some have questioned the Guvera company’s ability to meet its commitments under the ‘deed of company arrangement’, despite it successfully negotiating down its liabilities to all but former employees quite significantly. So tomorrow will be a key opportunity for the streaming firm to address those concerns.
The Herald notes that administrator Deloitte assured creditors that it would be “active” in ensuring payments due to be made by Guvera Limited were indeed paid on time. If deadlines are not met, the administrator said: “Creditors can consider an extension, or variation of the [deed], or place the company into liquidation”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Guvera
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:16 | By Chris Cooke
EE to bundle Apple Music via new deal
Business News Deals Digital
Your old buddies over at EE – the mobile network that’s now a division of BT, of course, – have announced a deal with Frank’s mates over there at Apple Music that will mean new and upgrading pay monthly customers of the tel co will get themselves six months of free musical streams from the tech giant.
So that’s six months of free time on Apple Music which is, in case you wondered, and I quote, “a single, intuitive app that combines the best ways to enjoy music including your music library, a revolutionary streaming music service, radio led by the flagship Beats 1 station, and playlists curated by world class music experts”. Though not all of that actually requires a subscription.
Whatever. Most of the on-demand streaming services have used partnerships with mobile firms to extend their userbase, of course, though this is Apple Music’s first tel co tie up in the UK. EE will promote the alliance with a “multi-channel, multi-million pound advertising campaign”, tel-co-led marketing efforts being another attraction of these deals for the streaming services, beyond the quick win of new subscribers joining up at their mobile provider’s expense.
Says EE boss Marc Allera: “We’re delighted to be the first UK operator to offer Apple Music, with its incredible catalogue of songs, playlists, and Beats 1 radio. As the UK’s biggest and fastest network, our focus is on bringing our customers the best 4G coverage in the most places. But we also look to bring our customers services from the best companies in the world. In Apple Music there is no doubt that we have found that, and together we’ll provide customers with an outstanding music experience on the biggest and fastest mobile network in the UK”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Apple Music | EE
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:15 | By Chris Cooke
Music Business Association pays tribute to John Trickett
Business News Industry People Retail
The US entertainment retail trade group the Music Business Association, aka Music Biz, has paid tribute to John Trickett, the British songwriter, producer and music industry executive who died at his London home last week. He was involved in Music Biz via his retail business Immergent, and was most recently the organisation’s Board Treasurer.
The trade group’s President James Donio said: “We are devastated and our hearts are extremely heavy at Music Biz today as we mourn the sudden passing on Friday of our Board Treasurer John Trickett of Immergent. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in the UK”.
The statement went on: “He was a truly renaissance man in the music business – a producer, engineer, publisher, and record label and commerce executive, not to mention an accomplished songwriter and musician in his own right with more than 60 song titles to his credit”.
Noting Trickett’s work for Music Biz, including under its previous incarnation as NARM, Donio added: “He brought great vision, creativity, passion, innovative spirit, and good humour, as well as a solid grounding and experience in business finance and strategic planning. His dedication to the association was exemplary, always contributing the generous gift of his time and talents in the most selfless way possible”.
READ MORE ABOUT: John Trickett | Music Business Association
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 10:03 | By Andy Malt
Moddi releases third ‘banned’ song from new album
Artist News Releases
We’re still a couple of weeks away from the release of Moddi’s ‘Unsongs’ album, but a third single has now been released from it. As previously reported, the LP sees him record covers of twelve songs from around the world that were banned.
Following versions of songs by Pussy Riot and Kate Bush, Moddi now releases a cover of ‘A Matter Of Habit’, which was originally performed by Izhar Ashdot, with lyrics by author Alona Kimhi, which she based on first-hand testimonies from soldiers of the Israeli soldiers who had served in the West Bank.
The song’s ‘banned’ status came when a live performance was cancelled by army radio station Galatz in 2012, which later stated that “we should avoid celebrating a song that demonises our soldiers”.
However, there’s more to it than that, says Moddi: “‘A Matter Of Habit’ may have been written about a particular conflict, but it carries a universal message: that anyone can become an oppressor. It says something bigger about not just Israel, but the entire Western World. Everyone recognises the feeling of numbness that comes from being exposed to violence and death every day. We see it in the news, we hear about it on the radio. In the end it just passes as background noise. We don’t feel empathy anymore, just a growing fear that the same thing might happen to us one day”.
He continues: “Modern politics is driven by this fear. That is why a song like ‘A Matter Of Habit’ can become so controversial, because it also suggests that being human is a matter of habit; that there’s a way to recover our sensitivity, our humanity. But not without being exposed to the atrocities that are part and parcel of our political system”.
To accompany the song, Moddi has also released a short documentary about it, the first in a series of similar videos that will be published on unsongs.com, which you can watch here:
Listen to ‘A Matter Of Habit’ here:
READ MORE ABOUT: Alona Kimhi | Izhar Ashdot | Moddi
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 09:59 | By Andy Malt
CMU’s One Liners: Andrew Bird, Dua Lipa, Meshuggah, more
Artist News Gigs & Festivals One Liners Releases
Other notable announcements and developments today…
• Andrew Bird has released the lyric video for new single ‘Roma Fade’. He’ll also be performing live on Facebook at 8.30pm UK time tonight.
• Dua Lipa has announced that she will release her debut album on 10 Feb. She’ll also be touring the UK in October, finishing up with an appearance at Koko in London on 10 Oct. And here is a new track, ‘Blow Your Mind (Mwah)’.
• Meshuggah have released new track ‘Born In Dissonance’ from their upcoming new album, ‘The Violent Sleep Of Reason’.
• Mono have released new track ‘Ely’s Heartbeat’. Their new album, ‘Requiem For Hell’, is out on 14 Oct.
• Allie X has released the video for new single ‘All The Rage’.
• Well look at this, Biffy Clyro are going on a whole damn UK arena tour in November and December. They’ll wind their way around to London’s O2 on 8 Dec. Here’s the official trailer for the tour.
• Apothek will play The Pickle Factory in London on 25 Oct. Their debut album is out on 30 Sep.
READ MORE ABOUT: Allie X | Andrew Bird | Apothek | Biffy Clyro | Dua Lipa | Meshuggah | Mono
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 09:55 | By Andy Malt
MTV VMA ratings plummet, Taylor Swift misses show for jury duty
And Finally Artist News Awards Media
It was the MTV VMAs this weekend, which you may or may not have noticed. Many didn’t, it seems, as the awards show saw its TV ratings drop for the fourth year in a row. Despite being shown across eleven channels in the US, the number of people tuning in dropped by 34%, according to the New York Times.
Possibly part of the problem is Kanye fatigue. It was the rapper who was again wheeled out to do his whole ‘deliver a long speech and hopefully say something controversial’ thing. Rihanna and Nicki Minaj performed (the former four times), as did Britney Spears as part of that big comeback. But the most interesting thing about this year’s VMAs was that Taylor Swift didn’t turn up because she was reporting for jury duty in Nashville.
Swift was put forward as a potential juror in an aggravated rape and kidnapping case, but was dismissed after she said she felt she would not be able to be impartial, due to her ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit against a fan.
“She asked to be left off out of concern for an upcoming trial in Denver where she was – she used the term – ‘groped’ by a fan at a meet-and-greet”, said a spokesperson for the Davidson County District Attorney General’s Office.
So, the court trip was a short one, but still meant no MTV awards ceremony for her. She didn’t win anything this year anyway. Unless you count Calvin Harris’s Best Male Video prize for ‘This Is What You Came For’, a song she co-wrote. Harris didn’t thank her in his acceptance speech, which was one of the biggest controversies of the show. Which perhaps shows how much of its edge the VMAs ceremony has lost.
For the rest of the awards, it’s probably safe to assume that Beyonce won any category you can think of.
READ MORE ABOUT: MTV VMAs | Taylor Swift
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 09:11 | By Andy Malt
Approved: Modern Studies
CMU Approved
Led by songwriter Emily Scott, who recruited King Creosote collaborator Pete Harvey, drummer Joe Smillie and solo artist Rob St John, Modern Studies formed in early 2015. Having contributed to the vast tribute album to folk musician Shirley Collins last year, they are now preparing to release their debut LP ‘Swell To Great’ on 12 Sep.
The title of the album is taken from a label that sits alongside one of the ‘stops’ on the aging harmonium that forms the basis of its songs. The Victorian instrument requires a delicate balance of care and force to make it work, by all accounts. Its gentle wheezing sets the tone for the layers of instrumentation around it, featuring analogue synths, cello, double bass, drums, guitars, and a wine-glass orchestra.
Listening to the finished record, it’s clear that this is something that’s been brought to life with a great deal of care and attention. It welcomes you to sit a while and take it in, which is an invitation well worth taking up.
Listen to the single ‘Dive Bombing’ here:
Stay up to date with all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2016 by subscribing to our Spotify playlist.
READ MORE ABOUT: Modern Studies | Rob St John
Tuesday 30 August 2016, 09:00 | By Chris Cooke
CMU Digest 30.08.16: Streaming exclusives, Spotify, Fabric, safe harbours, Amazon, Pandora
CMU Digest
The key stories from the last seven days in the music business…
There was much debate over streaming exclusives, following a widely reported memo at Universal Music which discouraged labels at the mega-major from locking new releases to specific digital platforms. It followed Apple Music’s latest high profile exclusivity deal with Frank Ocean, who also managed to ensure that the more important of his new records was not a Universal release as expected, possibly because of the money he made from the Apple deal. In the UK, both the Entertainment Retailers Association and Music Managers Forum welcomed Universal’s general move away from streaming exclusives, feeling such deals are anti-fan. [READ MORE]
Spotify confirmed it now had over 39 million paying users via an interview between new artist relations chief Troy Carter and Billboard. Former artist manager Carter said he hadn’t been hired to get Spotify a string of artist exclusives, but rather to persuade the music community that there are other better ways to form alliances with the streaming platform. [READ MORE]
A campaign was launched to rally support for London club Fabric, which faces losing its licence following two recent drug-related deaths at the venue. The club remains closed while its local council reviews its licence. Fabric co-founder Cameron Leslie said: “We are asking that the police work with us as they did for such a long time to tackle the challenges we all face head on”. [READ MORE]
A European Commission paper seen by Reuters discussed putting new obligations on user-upload platforms that benefit from the controversial safe harbours of copyright law, to both enter into licensing deals with rights owners and to provide said rights owners with rights management tools. Though it’s not clear if those proposals would help the music industry in its bid to force the hand of YouTube, given the video site already does both those things. [READ MORE]
It was reported that when Amazon launches its stand-alone streaming music services later this year, it will offer a half price version that will only work on its proprietary Echo speaker system. This would potentially open up subscription streaming to a more mainstream audience for whom ten dollars a month is simply too much, though device limitations might also be a big turn off for that same audience. [READ MORE]
Pandora could launch its in-development fully on-demand streaming service as soon as next month, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move will see Pandora offer Spotify-style streaming, in addition to its current personalised radio set-up. The company also hopes to expand its service into more territories, though a potential sticking point in its licensing negotiations with the labels is how the personalised radio bit is licensed outside the US, where Pandora has often relied on a compulsory licence that doesn’t exist in most other countries. [READ MORE]
The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Believe bought French label Naive out of administration [INFO]
• Cloud 9 bought BMG’s stake in Phrased Differently [INFO]
• BMG bought a slice of BBC Worldwide’s music publishing catalogue [INFO]
• Brighton’s Juice 107.2 returned to local ownership [INFO]
• Warner Bros UK signed Liam Gallagher [INFO]
• Bucks Music Management signed Dan Weller and Artery Music [INFO]
• Absolute Label Services announced alliances with Carly Paoli, Parker, Jonathan Antoine and Gavin Greenaway [INFO]
READ MORE ABOUT: Amazon | European Commission | Fabric | Frank Ocean | Pandora | Spotify | Universal Music
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:23 | By Chris Cooke
European Commission paper considers increasing copyright obligations of YouTube et al
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories
So the European Commission is considering putting new obligations onto user-upload platforms as part of its ongoing copyright review, though it’s as yet unclear whether the proposals – even if they became law – would have any impact on the user-upload platform most music people actually care about, ie big bad YouTube.
As much previously reported, in the last year the music industry has made it lobbying priority number one to alter the safe harbours of copyright law which allow internet companies to side-step liability for copyright infringement when users upload unlicensed content to their servers. Under the safe harbours, net companies only need act over unlicensed content on their platforms when made aware of it by a rights owner.
The safe harbours are utilised by companies like YouTube to operate opt-out rather than opt-in streaming services. The record companies and music publishers – despite most having licensing deals in place with YouTube – don’t like that fact, arguing that by exploiting the safe harbours YouTube secures much more preferential deals from rights owners than opt-in services like Spotify and Apple Music, which – they say – distorts the market. The music industry wants the safe harbours amended so that services like YouTube no longer benefit.
Despite taking on the weight of Google’s lobbying machine – not to mention lobbyists working for other web giants – the music industry’s reps have insisted they’ve been getting a positive response from policy makers in Europe on this point.
And now Reuters says it has seen a draft paper from the European Commission that proposes new obligations on user-upload platforms to both seek licensing agreements with rights owners and to put in place “appropriate and proportionate measures, such as content identification technologies, to ensure the functioning” of any agreements with the content industries.
Which might be good news. Though the problem for the music business – whose main target in the safe harbours debate is YouTube – is that the Google-owned company will likely argue that it already does both of those things.
While new legal obligations might motivate YouTube to further enhance its Content ID system – which is one of the better automated content identification platforms, though by no means perfect – unless the video site is obliged to monitor uploads itself for copyright infringing material, it will still likely have the upper hand when deal making, which means the music industry will face the same problems.
But the devil is in the detail, and it will be interesting to see what the final version of the paper proposes when it is published next month.
READ MORE ABOUT: European Commission | YouTube
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:21 | By Andy Malt
Liam Gallagher signs to Warner Bros UK
Artist News Business News Deals Labels & Publishers
Liam Gallagher has signed a new record deal with Warner Bros UK and will release his debut solo album next year.
“Very excited to be signing to the mighty Warner Brothers”, said Gallagher of the deal. “Looking forward to making some super sweet sounds. Keep the faith!”
Sure, I’ll keep it in a box and put it on a high shelf so as not to lose it.
“Liam’s one of the all-time greats – brilliant, distinctive, controversial and captivating”, said WBR UK president Phil Christie. Meanwhile Gallagher’s manager at UROK, Sam Eldridge, nodded frantically: “Liam is one of the greatest singers, frontmen and artists of all time”.
So that’s the review of the man himself done. But what about this new album everyone’s been promising us? Well, says Christie: “The album he’s currently recording is big, bold and heartfelt, and it feels important and culturally relevant”.
I do like some cultural relevance. Especially with my afternoon cup of tea, so that all sounds great to me. Though whether Gallagher on his own can top the heady heights of his career with former band Beady Eye remains to be seen.
READ MORE ABOUT: Liam Gallagher | Warner Bros Records | Warner Music
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:20 | By Andy Malt
#SaveFabric campaign launched to rally support for threatened club
Business News Legal Live Business
Fabric has launched a campaign against the “very real threat of closure” it currently faces. The London club is calling on people to voice their support and sign a petition calling for it to be kept open.
As previously reported, Fabric shut down earlier this month as police investigated two recent drug-related deaths at the venue. A review of its licence by Islington Council was also initiated, meaning Fabric will now be closed for the third weekend in a row, and over the lucrative bank holiday period too. This despite a court ruling late last year that said that the venue’s systems to keep drugs from being brought through its doors already went beyond those of other clubs.
Last week, the venue said that it was nonetheless reviewing all procedures in order to see whether further improvements could be made. Now the club has launched the #SaveFabric campaign, in a bid to focus the wealth of support it has found online since it closed its doors.
“As you know by now, Fabric is facing the very real threat of closure on 6 Sep”, says the club’s co-founder Cameron Leslie. “If Fabric’s licence is revoked, or onerous conditions are placed upon it that make it impossible to operate, then London will lose yet another venue. However stringent the operating policies and procedures, venues are currently too far downstream on the problems and risks to avoid the inevitable”.
He continued: “We are asking that the police work with us as they did for such a long time to take the challenges we all face head on. Please take a moment to sign the petition and share with friends, family and fans, [and then] hopefully the London Borough Of Islington and the Mayor will take note”.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has already voiced his support for Fabric, though beyond a tweet it’s not entirely clear what he is doing.
Also commenting on the campaign, Chairman of Night Time Industries Association Alan Miller says: “We are hopeful and confident that with all the fantastic work done by so many stakeholders across London recently, that Islington Council will find a way, along with the police, to ensure that what the Mayor of London has said – and what we all want and need – [will happen]: that Fabric will be able to continue operations, leading the way as it does internationally and in the UK with it’s ‘gold standard’ of professionalism and for us to retain one of Britain’s most loved cultural gems”.
You can sign the petition here, and if you’re posting about it on social media, you’re encouraged to use the hashtags #SaveFabric and #nightlifematters.
READ MORE ABOUT: Fabric
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:18 | By Chris Cooke
Songkick secures new funding from Access Industries
Business News Digital Live Business Management & Funding
Gig recommendations service, DIY ticket seller, obsessive tout-blocker and our very favourite of all the Live Nation litigants, Songkick, has raised another $15 million in funding from Mr Lenny and all of his Access Industries. Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik is an existing investor in the ticketing business, having originally backed direct-to-fan platform Crowdsurge before it merged with Songkick last year.
Sitting on top of all the cash, the firm’s CEO Matt Jones told Billboard: “We’ll be growing our technology team to continue to deliver a better overall live experience for fans and artists. We’ll be expanding our concert discovery innovations, and connecting more fans to concerts in new, engaging ways. We’ll also be introducing the next iteration of our discovery platform integrations, working with more artists, and continuing to deliver our anti-scalping technology. We’re working to ensure that every artist we work with has the tools to get more tickets into the hands of their dedicated fans”.
Sounds like fun. The new investment comes as the firm expands its West Coast operations in the US, alongside the hiring of a new VP Of Product, Lydia Goldberg, and a new VP Of Design, Lee Martin.
READ MORE ABOUT: Access Industries | Songkick
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:16 | By Chris Cooke
Spotify passes 39 million users as exclusives debate rumbles on
Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Management & Funding
So, Spotify now seemingly has 39 million paying subscribers. And whereas boss man Daniel Ek nonchalantly revealed that the 30 million landmark had been passed in a tweet back in March, this time the streaming service’s recent high profile artist relations hire Troy Carter dropped the 39 million figure in a chit chat with Billboard.
Former artist manager Carter was discussing what being Spotify’s Global Head Of Creator Services actually means, saying: “I was brought on board to strengthen the bridge between Spotify and the music community”. Though that doesn’t mean scoring a load of artist exclusives akin to those used by Tidal and Apple Music to encourage new sign ups.
“Exclusives are bad for artists, bad for consumers and bad for the whole industry”, Carter told Billboard. Which is basically the viewpoint that has been held by Spotify for some time, regarding artists locking new albums to one specific streaming service. Though it’s also a viewpoint in vogue this week, of course, following Universal’s internal announcement that streaming service exclusives are officially out of favour at the mega-major.
Carter then echoed what most critics of recent Tidal and Apple exclusives have said, which is that very few people are going to sign up to multiple services, so the album exclusives will just annoy loyal music consumers who are signed up to services denied the latest big release, and possibly send said consumers back to piracy or platforms like YouTube.
Being Global Head Of Creator Services at Spotify, therefore, seemingly involves persuading labels and artist managers that album exclusives are not the future, and instead they should work with Spotify on creating original content and forming marketing partnerships, while also partnering with the streaming platform to sell gig tickets.
Elsewhere, the UK’s Music Managers Forum has also joined this week’s debate on artist exclusives, supporting the Entertainment Retailer’s Association in basically welcoming Universal’s recent proclamation on the so called ‘windowing’ of new releases off certain platforms to the benefit of other platforms.
Says MMF CEO Annabella Coldrick: “It has been reported Universal Music has now taken a stance against exclusive deals with individual streaming services. Whilst it’s always incumbent on managers to make the best decision for their artists, MMF has long held a position against windowing. We believe that preventing fans from listening to their favourite artists can cause confusion, damage confidence in streaming services and increase piracy. Along with ERA, we wish for fans to be able to consume music legally and we hope the rest of the industry will follow suit to grow the market as a whole”.
READ MORE ABOUT: Music Managers Forum (MMF) | Spotify
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:11 | By Chris Cooke
Brighton’s Juice and Exeter’s Radio Exe become more local
Business News Deals Media
Two UK local radio stations have just got more local. Brighton’s Juice 107.2 yesterday announced it was back in 100% local ownership after radio group UKRD – which only bought into Juice last year – sold its share in the company.
The change in ownership will also result in new investment in the business and a management rejig, with returning MD Laurence Elphick saying of the changes: “We look forward to creating a radio station that truly reflects the people, places and sounds of our unique home town – proudly independent, inclusive, open-minded and irreverent as Brighton deserves”.
The station’s founder and director Daniel Nathan, meanwhile, said that the changes at the business were “a hugely positive development and a real vote of confidence in our passionately committed team”.
The developments at Juice in Brighton follow the news earlier this month that media firm Celador has sold its 40% stake in Radio Exe, which means the Exeter-based radio station is now also wholly locally owned. There had been speculation that Celador might want to reposition the station under its Breeze network, but that never happened, and was never going to, according to Radio Exe’s management.
Exe Broadcasting Director Paul Nero told Radio Today: “It’s not always been easy and we haven’t always got everything right, but we’ve watched with interest as supposedly knowledgeable people predicted Radio Exe would be swallowed up into a larger company. That’s never been on the cards. We’ve always made clear that, despite generous offers over the years, right now we’re buyers, not sellers”.
Local radio stations becoming more local is news, of course, because the general trend in UK broadcasting has been in the other direction, ie local stations being bought up by national media groups. Which is something Exeter’s MP Ben Bradshaw – who had a stint as Culture Secretary in the last Labour government – noted when commenting on the recent changes at Radio Exe.
He told reporters: “The trend in British radio has been completely one way: national stations buying local ones and effectively closing them down. I’ve watched the hard work and commitment that local broadcasters have put into Radio Exe and it’s no surprise that they have prevailed in keeping Exeter’s station local”.
Talking of Radio Exe, remember when an anonymous party objected to Global Radio’s bid to trademark Radio X after it relaunched Xfm under that name last year?
Well, as we expected, the objecting party was indeed Radio Exe. But, says the Exeter station, it has now reached an agreement with Global so that Radio Exe and Radio X can co-exist. Now we just need someone to launch Radio Ex, 24/7 bitter dedications to former partners. Sounds like the sort of thing Steve Penk might set up.
READ MORE ABOUT: Celador Radio | Global | Juice FM | Radio Exe | Radio X | UKRD
Friday 26 August 2016, 10:07 | By CMU Editorial
BPI announces autumn training programme, including new session from CMU Insights
Business News Education & Events
Record industry trade group the BPI has announced its autumn programme of masterclasses for member labels, which this time includes, for the first time, two online sessions.
Also new to the programme is a beginners guide seminar run by CMU Insights, which will provide an overview of the wider music industry, explaining the different ways artists make money and the business partnerships they enter into to unlock different revenue streams.
The half-day session will also explain how music rights work and outline how record deals are structured and evolving. It’s a concise and user-friendly beginner’s guide useful for those new to the sector, or more experienced label executives wanting to better understand the wider music business, and recent trends and developments.
The Introduction To The Music Industry session is taking place on 14 Sep and 19 Oct at the BPI’s London HQ. The full list of upcoming BPI training sessions is listed below. Places are free to employees of any BPI member record company, who should contact chris.tams@bpi.co.uk to reserve places.
On the programme, Tams says: “These masterclasses typically meet with a hugely positive reaction from our members, and to cater to this growing demand we’ve been happy to increase the numbers each year. Many come thinking they already have a pretty good understanding but leave feeling they have learned something totally new that can only help them in their work. We invite anyone interested to get back to us as soon as possible to book their place and avoid disappointment”.
1 Sep: Advertising Masterclass
14 Sep: Introduction To The Music Industry
15 Sep: Streaming Marketing 101, Campaign Surgery
29 Sep: Campaign Surgery, Future Trends (Webinar)
6 Oct: Channelling You, Social Savvy
13 Oct: YouTube Masterclass
19 Oct: Introduction to the Music Industry
27 Oct: Streaming Marketing 101, Advanced Advertising
3 Nov: Social Savvy, Homing In
10 Nov: Campaign Surgery, Future Trends
17 Nov: Streaming Marketing 101, Channelling You (Webinar)
24 Nov: Channelling You, Video Beyond YouTube
READ MORE ABOUT: British Phonographic Industry (BPI) | CMU Insights
