Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:30 | By Chris Cooke

Flo & Eddie’s pre-1972 settlement with Sirius could net $99 million for heritage artists

Artist News Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

US satellite radio station Sirius XM could hand over nearly $100 million to heritage artists as part of a settlement with one-time Turtles Flo & Eddie over pre-1972 sound recordings.

As previously reported, it was announced earlier this month that Sirius had reached a deal with Flo & Eddie ahead of a scheduled court hearing that was set to discuss what damages the media firm must pay in relation to recordings previously played that pre-date 1972.

Flo & Eddie sued Sirius in three American states over a dispute as to whether or not Sirius was obliged to pay royalties to artists and labels when it plays recordings from the 1950s and 1960s, like those of the plaintiffs’ former band The Turtles. This was up for debate because of some complexities in US copyright law.

In America, unlike most other countries, AM/FM radio stations only pay royalties to the owners of song copyrights and not sound recording copyrights. But US-wide federal copyright law does say that online and satellite radio services must pay artists and labels as well, usually via the Sound Exchange system.

However, said Sirius, federal copyright law only covers sound recordings since 1972, with earlier records protected by state law. Given state-level copyright law doesn’t tend to distinguish between AM/FM and satellite radio – and given AM/FM stations aren’t paying any royalties on sound recordings – Sirius shouldn’t have to either on older tracks, or so argued the media firm.

Not so, said the Californian courts, which reckoned that, actually, sound recording owners probably were due royalties under Californian law when their older tracks were broadcast, even though that technically meant AM/FM stations should also have been paying royalties on those older records and never had.

Following that ruling, Sirius subsequently reached a $210 million deal with the major labels regarding their old catalogue, but that settlement didn’t include Flo & Eddie, or other artists and independents in a similar situation to the former Turtles who could also benefit from the latter’s successful lawsuit as a result of it being granted ‘class action’ status.

It was this month’s settlement that benefited Flo & Eddie themselves and other members of their class and, according to Reuters, terms of that proposed settlement were filed with the court on Monday for judicial approval.

Under the deal, Sirius commits to pay at least $25 million to cover past uses of pre-1972 recordings. That figure could rise to $40 million, depending on the outcome of Flo & Eddie’s other lawsuits on this issue in New York and Florida, which are both currently subject to appeal. The deal also sets out a ten year licensing arrangement that could be worth an estimated $45 to $59 million, again depending on the outcome of the outstanding litigation. The package could, therefore, total $99 million.

Sirius, which denies any wrongdoing in the settlement, has yet to comment on the arrangement, though a legal rep for Flo & Eddie told reporters that his clients “had the tenacity to stay the course over three gruelling years of litigation on behalf of all members of the class, because they believed in what was right”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Flo & Eddie | SiriusXM

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:28 | By Chris Cooke

Warner Music headhunts Sony’s Ole Obermann for key digital role

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Warner Music chief Stephen Cooper has been out poaching again, sneaking into the part of the musical forest they call Sony Vale to capture himself an Ole Obermann. And blimey, if he didn’t just nab himself the best of all the Ole Obermanns, aka Ole Obermann.

“With two decades of diverse digital experience, Ole has the special skill-set needed to forge new business models with tech start-ups and big players alike, while nurturing WMG’s existing partnerships”, declared the Coop, having put away his musket and poaching net and set the newly captured Obermann free in among the slightly smaller but nevertheless well-kept corner of the aforementioned pop forest that is colloquially known as Warner Wood.

“He brings a deep understanding of both global and local streaming markets, data-driven commercial acumen, and a principled, artist-centric sensibility to his new post”, the poacher-in-chief continued. “We are committed to championing the value of music, expanding the universe of opportunity for our artists, and helping them create change, not merely embrace it. Ole’s vision and leadership will make him a valuable asset in achieving our mission”.

“It is an exciting time to be joining Warner Music Group, as we accelerate streaming growth and partner with emerging technology companies to open up new sources of revenue for our artists”, reckons the Obermann, who seemingly appreciates the greenness of the grass on this side of the forest. “I look forward to working closely with Steve and our global leadership to sharpen Warner’s competitive edge, and build on the company’s position as the most artist-friendly and innovative music company”.

Yeah, whatever. Obermann used to work at Sony Music and is now Chief Digital Officer and Executive VP of Business Development at Warner Music, something I’m sure you all successfully garnered in amongst all that musical forest nonsense.

READ MORE ABOUT: Ole Obermann | Sony Music | Warner Music

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:27 | By Andy Malt

Caroline International hires Ministry Of Sound’s Nicola Spokes at UK Label Head

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Universal Music’s label services business Caroline International has announced Nicola Spokes will join the firm next year to head up its UK operations. Spokes joins from Ministry Of Sound, where she is currently Marketing Director.

“Michael [Roe] and Jim [Chancellor] have assembled an exceptionally strong team at Caroline International and in the short space of three years have built a very successful business providing an exceptional service to a diverse and high profile roster of artists”, says Spokes.

She continues: “Leaving Ministry Of Sound after fifteen years with the company and seven years working in the artist label with David Dollimore and Dipesh Parmar, whom I have a huge amount of love and respect for, was a really difficult decision for me to make but joining Caroline International as UK Label Head is a great opportunity for me, and I’m really excited to become part of the team”.

Spokes will take up her new role next April, when current holder Emma Greengrass leaves to become Managing Director of management firm Wildlife Entertainment.

READ MORE ABOUT: Caroline International | Ministry Of Sound | Nicola Spokes

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:22 | By Chris Cooke

Team behind Glastonbury’s Shangri-La to launch new festival in Torquay

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

The company that curates Glastonbury Festival’s Shangri-La zone – as well as Bestival’s Caravanserai, Boomtown’s Ballroom Stage and Wilderness’ Carousel, among other events – has announced it will launch a brand new festival next spring, and only in bloody Torquay.

Across fifteen stages with 200 acts, and no less than “myriad musical genres”, are being promised by Continental Drifts via its new event Grinagog, which will take place in venues around the seaside town from 7-9 Apr 2017. Akala, Jah Shaka, Sam Lee And Magpies Nest, Electro Swing Circus and the one-and-only Steve Davis are amongst the line-up already confirmed.

Continental Drifts man and Torquay native Chris Tofu says: “All my life, I’ve looked at Torquay and seen it as one humongous great festival site… with no mud! The place is like the ultimate festival venue, and I should know because I’ve started loads of festivals. I’m putting everything I possibly can into making an extremely diverse, cultural offering for young people in Torquay. We’re bringing together all the amazing promoters and cultural workers who are in the town and the surrounding area already into one big pot to create a cultural explosion that we hope can really be a place maker for this town”.

The mayor of Torbay, the borough in which Torquay sits, Gordon Oliver, adds: “Through funding from the Coastal Communities Fund and the Mayor’s Events Fund, Torbay Council is proud to facilitate this wonderful music festival. This event will provide access to great artists right on our doorstep and will be enjoyed by many of our young people and visitors to the Bay. Continental Drifts has been procured through a rigorous tender process and they bring a wealth of experience in the festival market ensuring that we host a high quality event. We are particularly excited to offer the residents in Torbay something very unique in the South West and I believe this festival will do this”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Continental Drifts | Glastonbury Festival | Grinagog Festival

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:18 | By Chris Cooke

Kobalt unveils new pre-save button with Laura Marling release

Artist News Business News Digital Releases

In this new-fangled age of streams and sustained listening and repeat micro-payments over an undefined period of audio re-engagement, the savvy music marketers know that the old fashioned declaration of “buy my record now!” has no currency.

Oh no, in this brave new world the marketing message artists need to shout at every appropriate opportunity is “save me, save me!” Even though that could back fire somewhat when the ‘cry wolf’ effect kicks in on the day the artist is actually really drowning. But, then again, these are the harsh realities of the modern music business, I’m afraid.

By the same logic, the notion of the album ‘pre-order’ is starting to become an out-dated concept too, what we need here is a ‘pre-save’. And on my Lord, if the super savvy music marketers at Kobalt haven’t only gone and thought of that. Save me, save me!

So, yes, when pre-orders starting being plugged for the new Laura Marling album earlier this week, some people noted that amongst the menu of plug-buttons on the artist’s own website was one saying ‘pre-save’, which will automatically save the new long player to a user’s personal Spotify library as soon as it is released next year.

Marling is self-releasing new record ‘Semper Femina’ via her own label More Alarming Records in conjunction with Kobalt, which reckons that – with its pre-save button innovation and the proprietary software that powers it – it “again positions itself as a pioneer of technology, data and the digital streaming revolution by optimising creator opportunities and ensuring fans have the power to maximise their listening experience”. Yeah, maybe.

Says David Emery, VP Global Marketing Strategy at what they’re now calling Kobalt Music Recordings: “For an artist of such talent as Laura Marling, we wanted to come up with a way of making sure that her fans – a lot of whom are using streaming services now – didn’t miss out when the new record comes out. As we’re a technology company as well as a music company, we have the power to create something that solves this problem in a simple, innovative, easy to use way”.

Promising other super smart marketing innovations for artists working with Kobalt’s label services business and/or its distribution platform AWAL, Kobalt Music Recordings President Paul Hitchman adds: “This is one of a series of innovative marketing tools that we will be rolling out over the coming months for our Kobalt and AWAL clients. Our services are powered by technology that enables artists to take control of their careers and maximise the opportunities presented by global digital platforms like Spotify”.

‘Semper Femina’ is out on 10 Mar, and as Marling herself is prone to say on occasion, “save me, save me… now for next March”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Kobalt | Laura Marling

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:16 | By Andy Malt

Taylor Swift gets own TV channel

Artist News Business News Deals Media

Taylor Swift is getting her own TV channel as part of new AT&T video streaming service DirecTV Now in the US. What a time to be alive.

Among various channels to go live as part of the new subscription service in February next year, Taylor Swift Now will air videos, live performances, behind the scenes footage and other bits and bobs from the musician’s archive, according to Variety. A tweet from AT&T adds that it will be “a new destination for unique and never [before] seen videos”.

Swift says in a statement: “Are you ready?” Which is, frankly, not the insight I was after. Reese Witherspoon is getting her own channel too, called Hello Sunshine, and she said: “As we continue the journey of creating engaging entertainment for and about women at Hello Sunshine, it’s exciting to have a partner in AT&T who shares that commitment with us”. Let’s pretend Taylor Swift said something roughly along those lines.

Maybe Swift will say more when she plays DirecTV’s Super Bowl event around the launch in February.

READ MORE ABOUT: AT&T | DirecTV | Taylor Swift

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:14 | By Andy Malt

Festival to mark first anniversary of Prince’s death

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

A new four day music festival held in memory of Prince will take place at his Paisley Park compound on the first anniversary of his death, it has been announced. Let’s hope they get the parking admin sorted in time.

Called Celebration 2017, the event will take place from 20-23 Apr, with performances from Prince-related acts such as The Revolution, Morris Day and 3rdeyegirl, among others.

“Celebration 2017 will honour and celebrate the life and legacy of Prince, as the world marks the first anniversary of his passing”, say organisers.

“Bringing together musicians, creative personnel, special guests and friends who worked closest with Prince and knew him best”, they add. “These four days will feature live music, panel discussions and presentations on Prince’s tremendous talent, influence and importance as a composer, musician, producer, live performer and filmmaker”.

Tickets cost $499, or $999 if you want the VIP treatment. More info here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Prince

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:13 | By Andy Malt

Richard Ashcroft announces 2017 arena shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

You forget about Richard Ashcroft sometimes, don’t you? And then he does something that makes you remember that he’s actually quite popular. Like announce an arena tour, for example. I bring that up as an example today mainly because that’s something he’s just done.

In addition to existing shows at Liverpool’s Echo Arena and London’s O2 Arena next week, Ashcroft has just announced that he will play four more arena shows in April and June next year. This continues the promotion of his latest solo album, ‘These People’. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am.

Here are the dates:

18 Apr: Glasgow, SSE Hydro
20 Apr: Birmingham, Barclaycard Arena
22 Apr: Leeds, First Direct Arena
30 Jun: Manchester, Castlefield Bowl

READ MORE ABOUT: Richard Ashcroft

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 09:12 | By Chris Cooke

CMU’s One Liners: Lucian Grainge, Metropolis Studios, Frank Ocean, more

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

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Universal Music boss Uncle Luci Grainge was knighted by Prince William yesterday for all his many services to, well, I don’t know, something. I mean, there’s usually a reason when one of the Windsors gets out a knighting sword, isn’t there? And it’s not always just about slashing open Ed Sheeran’s face.

• Metropolis Studios has appointed Gavin Newman as Event & Content Director. Newman joins from The Hospital. Metropolis CEO Ian Brenchley says everyone there is “absolutely enraptured” by the new hire, which is a new one on us.

• Yasiin Bey, fka Mos Def, will release his final album, ‘Dec 99th’, on 9 Dec as a Tidal exclusive. Yeah, that’s still a thing. From it, this is ‘Local Time’.

• Tom Odell is releasing an EP on 9 Dec called ‘Spending All My Christmas With You’, which is a title that is grammatically all over the place. Still, it’s nearly Christmas, so we’ll let him off. Here’s the video for the less grating (at least in title) ‘Silhouette’.

• If you want to see Frank Ocean headline a festival in London next year, you’d better get a ticket to Lovebox, because he’s promised not to play any others in the city. Not even the Frank Ocean Festival I was planning.

• London’s Convergence festival has just announced the first portion of its 2017 programme. It takes place from 21-25 Mar, with lots of live music, discussions, visual arts and more. Check it all out here.

• Believe it or not – and I choose “not”, but what do I know? – the UK Festival Awards took place in, well, the UK earlier this week. Winners? Oh yeah, there were winners. Look, winners.

READ MORE ABOUT: Convergence | Frank Ocean | Gavin Newman | Lovebox | Lucian Grainge | Metropolis Studios | Mos Def | Tom Odell | UK Festival Awards | Universal Music

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 08:42 | By Chris Cooke

Trends: Reviewing the potential of the new creative tech – the story so far

CMU Trends Digital

The story of the music industry – and certainly the recorded music industry – is one of regular technological leaps that change the music-making process, the consumer experience and the music rights business, meaning just as everyone gets used to one set-up, something comes along that changes everything.

Most people would agree that those regular leaps are now occurring much more frequently, the rise of the web and other net-connected devices instigating and enabling a plethora of technological innovations which even the earliest of adopters – whether creators, consumers or business leaders – have struggled to keep up with.

It also means that the music industry is constantly having to experiment with new platforms, and then build businesses around those that gain traction, while at the same time still supporting legacy services and formats that – while probably in terminal decline – still command a sizeable market share.

This is all rather challenging, to say the least. Though, if a challenge is an opportunity, then there is an upside to all of this. And if you choose to adopt that optimistic viewpoint, a bunch of rapidly evolving new technologies mean there are plenty of opportunities ahead.

As Music 4.5 puts the spotlight on ‘The New Creative Tech’, let’s review the technologies about to have a significant impact on the music industry.

New technologies are often accompanied by complicated terminology, often with jargon that actually covers a wide variety of quite distinct products. But we’ll put the technologies of interest into two loose groups – artificial intelligence and enhanced consumer experience – while acknowledging the two sets inevitably overall.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
‘AI’ isn’t a new term, of course, and it’s a field of computer science that has been evolving for a long time. Though quite what is meant by ‘artificial intelligence’, and therefore what specific technologies fall under this banner, is debatable.

As Dr Mick Grierson, Director of Creative Computing at Goldsmiths College says: “‘Artificial intelligence’ is perhaps not a very useful term, mainly because it’s not easy to define what anybody might mean by ‘intelligence’. There are many definitions, but it’s fairly easy to argue that nobody is quite sure what intelligence is. This is further complicated by the idea that artificial intelligence is somehow related to human-like behaviour or consciousness. This is when it gets really messy, because people are even less sure what consciousness is!”

“And even if they did know, the benefit of machines having human-like consciousness and behaviour is probably not as useful as you might think”, he continues. “For example, if we assume that an ‘artificial intelligence’ is something that can think and solve problems the way a human does, you can quite easily demonstrate this might not be very desirable. Humans often make bad decisions, we’re pretty easy to fool, and we make mistakes all the time, often because we always think we’re right”.

In terms of what people most commonly mean by AI today, he explains: “There are things that many living things do – often that they are not aware of – that are useful for solving problems, like unconsciously remembering patterns from everyday experience. By making models of how we think this might work, some people have created algorithms that learn to solve similar problems – such as to spot certain objects or sounds in a variety of complex situations”.

“A better term for the ability of machines to solve problems by learning from data is ‘machine learning’”, he concludes. “It’s a far more accurate term for understanding what’s happening right now. The algorithms that we create through machine learning are ‘problem solvers’ for specific questions that we are attempting to teach them about”.

From a music perspective, there are a number of practical uses of AI, the most obvious being: audio-identification technologies, of which Shazam and YouTube’s Content ID are perhaps best known; so called chatbots which are starting to be used to automate fan communication; and machines actually creating music.

Martin Gould’s Sonalytic is working on the former. “Everyone remembers the ‘wow’ moment of when they first saw Shazam”, he remarks. “Even today, I still think that this is an amazing technology for people to have at their fingertips. But fingerprinting technologies have been around for a very long time now, and – honestly – one of the things that attracted us to working on this problem was the feeling that there hasn’t been much progress in recent years. Given that advances in machine learning have enabled computers to create detailed labels for photos, and even to drive cars, why hasn’t there been similar progress in the field of audio-identification?”

So how is Sonalytic innovating? “Sonalytic analyses music at the microscopic level of its constituent parts, to extract detailed fingerprints of the individual sounds. This means that we can identify not only whole songs, but also stems, loops and samples within them. For example, we can identify when a derivative musical work uses the vocal line from another song – or even a very short snippet from it. We are also strongly robust to a wide range of audio obfuscations, such as changes in pitch and tempo, filtering, EQing, distortion, and many more”.

He goes on: “We are able to do all of this thanks to our cutting edge machine learning engine, which sits at the heart of our technology. By feeding this engine more and more training data, we are able to extract increasingly powerful fingerprints. By contrast, most existing audio fingerprinting techniques follow a fixed fingerprint-extraction recipe, and therefore don’t provide the power and flexibility of our approach”.

New developments in audio-recognition technology will likely make consumer-facing Shazam-type set-ups more and more sophisticated. Though, for the music industry, it is possibly B2B implementations that are most important, which is to say Content ID type systems that get ever better at spotting audio as it is uploaded to the net, partly for anti-piracy work, but even more so to enable better micro-licensing.

Gould says: “I’m very confident that the recent explosion in popularity of user-generated content isn’t going to slow anytime soon, and it goes without saying that audio-identification technologies will remain at the heart of enabling fair, effective and efficient monetisation, especially given the staggering volumes of uploads involved”.

Elsewhere, Paul Crick from IBM reckons that the chatbots slowly being employed by artists and music companies are the start of an enhanced direct-to-fan experience. Noting that the technology businesses that thrive are those that solve a real problem, he says: “Looking through a music lens, the opportunity exists to overcome some of the structural problems that – for example – get in the way of creating a joined up experience for fans, in the live space say, where providers offer chatbots to engage with the artist which integrate with ticketing, travel services and merchandising, so to offer a door-to-door experience at a range of different price points”.

He continues: “I think the music industry has an opportunity now to access the money traditionally left under the table by being even more creative in thinking about the fan experience, by stepping into the shoes of the fan, understanding their needs and then delivering a range of integrated or ‘joined up’ offers at different price points”.

What about AI turning computers into composers though? Back to Grierson: “I definitely think that machine learning will provide more people with greater power with respect to creating music. And this will mean that some forms of music composition could be replaced, though, to be honest, this has been the case for years, and you can easily argue that the role of the composer, in many areas of music, is not as important as you might think, and perhaps never was – take manufactured pop, for example”.

However, Grierson reckons that these new technologies will generally become tools for human creators, rather than replacing them. “Machines only do what people tell them”, he says. “Nothing more. Without people to control and drive the process, you end up with nothing”.

“This is where the real benefit will be”, he says. “Machine learning is going to revolutionise what is possible for composers. Once contemporary machine learning is embedded in tools such as non-linear editors and music production systems, music makers are going to suddenly realise that the palette of musical possibility just became so much more awesome”.

“The ability to create new sounds – sounds that no one has heard before – will be much more accessible with machine learning”, he concludes. “This is what we’ve been working on at Goldsmiths, and I think the future is bright for machine learning and the arts”.

Crick agrees, citing a recent collaboration between producer Alex Da Kid and IBM’s AI system Watson. He says: “With Alex Da Kid’s single ‘Not Easy’, humans were involved in training IBM Watson the rules of music, including harmony, chord progressions and rhythm. Watson had also been trained to identify and understand key words in the English language and whether some words and phrases were a positive sentiment. Consequently, Alex Da Kid was able to work with Watson to identify how people express themselves about the subject of heartbreak and break up in relationships”.

Of course, once machines start to get involved in creating original music, that poses some interesting copyright questions, as to who owns the intellectual property in any music created – the creator being the default owner of a song copyright under current laws.

Crick agrees: “I think you have to start with understanding that, right now, US and UK copyright law only acknowledges human creators rather than machines as creators. Meanwhile the law – certainly US law – has failed to define the intangible concepts of creativity, originality and authorship. Which means there are many unknowns with AI that have still to be resolved”.

Though, for the time being, where humans are mainly utilising AI tools in their own composition process, those tools are likely to be treated as instruments, with conventional copyright ownership rules still applied.

ENHANCED CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
By ‘enhanced consumer experience’, we are thinking of innovations in audio and video technology that will revolutionise what it means to experience recorded media. So, what are often termed ‘virtual reality’ and ‘3D audio’.

Let’s deal with sounds first. The BBC’s Iain Tweedale explains: “With standard stereo headphones the sound feels like it’s coming from inside your head. Binaural sound is recorded differently and takes into account how one ear hears a sound slightly differently to the other ear depending on where the sound is coming from. So with binaural it sounds like you’re hearing the sounds from outside your head, like we do in the real 360 degree world, adding depth and height to a music performance”.

“Also, regular stereo sound assumes the listener is static, hearing the sound in one fixed place”, he adds. “Where it gets really cool is with dynamic binaural where you can move your head round to look for the source of the sound. This opens up amazing new opportunities in TV and gaming”.

For its part, the BBC is already dabbling with those new opportunities. “We’re already using them with classical music performance such as this year’s Proms, with TV and radio drama such as Russell T Davies’s ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, and currently we’re using it with the ‘Planet Earth 2’ series where viewers can immerse themselves in the amazing sounds of locations like the rain forest”.

Of course, the wider entertainment industries have offered enhanced audio experiences – beyond basic stereo – for some time now. Though, in music, those experiences were usually premium products sold to a niche audience. But will the new 3D audio technologies become a more mainstream thing?

Tweedale: “We’re still at the stage of moving it from the R&D sphere into the regular production process. This requires some industry standards for recording and playback and cost effective capture methods. Once this has been done – which is pretty close now – we can see it becoming a regular feature in big national event radio and TV. It’s also good to see YouTube and Facebook beginning to offer 3D and dynamic binaural capability, as we need regular browser capability to make it widely available. I can also see this going mainstream in VR gaming very soon”.

Which brings us to VR, the creative technology that has probably garnered the most column inches this year. We’ve been promised ‘virtual reality’ experiences before, of course, only to be disappointed. But this time the new tech definitely impresses.

“I think VR is a technology that is here to stay and it offers up tremendous opportunities in media and entertainment”, says Crick. “For music, it offers a new way to engage with fans”.

The co-founder of a company working with VR in music, MelodyVR’s Anthony Matchett, unsurprisingly agrees. “We believe that VR will change the way that artists connect with their fans forever, delivering previously unobtainable experiences with engagement that far outweighs any traditional forms of media”.

The most obvious use of VR in the music space is bringing the live show into people’s homes. Ever since the early days of the web there have been attempts to launch live music streaming platforms. Most failed – Boiler Room perhaps the most notable exception – sometimes because of licensing challenges, other times because the technology just wasn’t ready.

Both record companies and concert promoters see opportunities to generate new revenue streams through VR gig streaming. Not that it will ever quite compete with the real thing – “we don’t believe that events streamed in VR will ever replace the physical experience”, insists Matchett, but, he adds, “VR live streaming enables fans with geographical, financial, age-related or physical constraints to enjoy the ‘live experience’ which is, of course, incredibly exciting for artists, promoters and fans alike”.

But gig streaming is just one possible manifestation of VR in the music space, and may well not be the one that captures the imagination of consumers. We can expect a number of fascinating experiments in this space in the coming years, especially once so called ‘augmented reality’ – which integrates real and virtual experiences – comes of age.

Certainly most people operating in this space reckon that there will be mainstream products to come out of all the VR experimentation that will appeal to mainstream consumers, and therefore artists of all kinds. Indeed, that is already starting to happen, according to Melody VR. “To date, we’ve worked with just under 500 mainstream artists, which demonstrates the appetite for VR across the industry”, says Matchett. “We think VR is relevant to all artists and all labels, regardless of audience”.

In addition to watching the creative experiments in the VR domain, all eyes will also be on which VR technologies gain traction, with most of the big web and tech giants trying to grab a slice of this market. “I think we’ll see some market consolidation over the next couple of years”, says Matchett. And that, crucially for mainstream adoption of VR content, will result in “a vast reduction in the price of hardware”.

It’s impossible to predict exactly which VR manifestations will last the distance, though Crick reckons that success will probably come to those who successfully integrate both VR and AI. “As VR headsets become ubiquitous, then the key will be to use ‘hypersonalisation’ that’s now possible through AI to help people receive pushed-content and find content that matches their own individual behaviour, moods and preferences”.

The one thing we probably can predict, though, is anyone hoping to pause for thought following the big CD-to-download-to-stream transition is out of luck: the music industry’s probably already due another tech-led revolution.

For more information about Music 4.5 click here

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | Goldsmiths College | IBM | MelodyVR | Sonalytic

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 07:50 | By Andy Malt

Theresa May is “wonderful”, says Kate Bush

And Finally Artist News

It’s been a rough ride, this 2016 thing. We’re nearly there now. Nearly there. I’m sure 2017 won’t let us down. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? But 2016, oh, it’s still got some tricks up its sleeve. Like Kate Bush casually revealing that she’s a massive Tory.

Alright, alight, that’s not exactly what she said. However, she does think that Theresa May is “wonderful”, even though as far as I can tell she’s yet to do anything as PM that would enable anyone to form such a strong opinion on her either way. Other than praying a little. Oh, and she just got some dictatorship-level privacy invasion enshrined into law, so there’s that.

Though, if your default setting is ‘Tory: Probably awful’, then I guess it’s possible that there are people out there in this silly isle who automatically think, ‘Tory: Probably wonderful’. People like Kate Bush.

Speaking to right wing Canadian magazine Macleans, Bush was asked about a comment that her 1985 song ‘Waking The Witch’ was about “the fear of women’s power”, and if this fear is “stronger than ever” in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the US presidential election.

“We have a female prime minister here in the UK”, replied Bush. “I actually really like her and think she’s wonderful. I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time. She’s a very intelligent woman but I don’t see much to fear. I will say it is great to have a woman in charge of the country. She’s very sensible and I think that’s a good thing at this point in time”.

I think that is Kate Bush’s way of saying, “Hey guys, 2017 is going to be just fine”. Fingers crossed.

READ MORE ABOUT: Kate Bush | Theresa May

Wednesday 30 November 2016, 07:47 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Bloom Twins

CMU Approved

Twin sister pop duo Bloom Twins, originally from Kiev and now based in London, are preparing to release their second single of 2016, ‘Set Us Free’. The follow-up to ‘Amnesia’, the track is taken from the classically trained musicians’ debut album, produced by Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, which is due out next year.

“This track we co-wrote with the amazing and talented Fiona Bevan and Max McElligott”, they say of the song. “It was the first track we wrote after returning from the Ukraine, where we got stuck for half a year during the uprising. The track is not political at all, rather a call for freedom, but it was certainly influenced by everything that was happening in the Ukraine and the fact that we couldn’t come back to our new home – London”.

You can catch Bloom Twins live at Nambucca in London on 13 Dec. Listen to ‘Set Us Free’ 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: Bloom Twins

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:44 | By Chris Cooke

MPs from all parties call on government to back ticket tout bots ban

Business News Live Business Top Stories

In a bid to maintain the momentum in Westminster that could lead to tighter regulation of the secondary ticketing market in the UK, a cross-party group of MPs joined with reps from the music industry yesterday for a photo-call as the Digital Economy Bill reached its ‘report stage’ in Parliament.

It is hoped a bots ban can be inserted into that piece of legislation, and yesterday’s gathering called on government ministers to now back that move. As much previously reported, Nigel Adams MP first proposed amending the DEB last month so to include a ban of the kind of software used by industrial-level touts to buy up large quantities of tickets.

Those proposals were initially put on hold after ministers said that they wanted to investigate if the Computer Misuse Act already outlawed such software, but following a Culture, Media And Sport Select Committee hearing on the secondary market, introducing a specific bots-ban is now back on the agenda.

Although Adams and his fellow Conservative Damian Collins MP, the current Chair of the Culture, Media And Sport Select Committee, have been most vocal on ticket touting in recent months, the latest move to further regulate the secondary market – or better enforce existing regulations – has cross-party support.

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, who has campaigned on this issue for years, most recently via the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse she co-chairs, which pushed for the ticket resale regulations that were added to 2015 Consumer Rights Act, backs the latest proposals. As does Labour Deputy Leader and Shadow Culture Secretary Tom Watson, who also attended yesterday’s photo-call outside Parliament.

From the music community, industry backers of the anti-tout FanFair Alliance were in attendance, as was recently appointed Featured Artists Coalition CEO Imogen Heap and Josh Franceschi of You Me At Six, who gave an artist’s perspective at the aforementioned hearing of the culture select committee.

Franceschi has also appeared on the BBC’s ‘Daily Politics’ show to speak out against the touts and call for new regulation. Declaring that “if there is one thing threatening the music industry today, it’s ticket touts”, the You Me At Six man noted: “When a gig is announced, fans head to primary ticket websites often to be told the show is sold out, when most of the time it’s not. It’s the touts that have bought the tickets, forcing fans to pay hiked up prices on secondary websites”.

He went on: “These secondary websites masquerade as fan-to-fan market places, but as we highlighted at the select committee, they are all dependent on hardcore ticket touts. One of StubHub’s major clients was recently outed as a man from Quebec, who is still scalping and reselling thousands of tickets to UK events. Enough is enough. Genuine fans are being priced out of the equation, music lovers are consumers too and consumers have rights”.

He concluded: “In New York, legislation is in place and the UK must follow suit too – those profiteering should face prison or a fine. And this goes beyond consumer protection, it is about cultural access. The music industry is already suffering from a lack of money coming into it in other ways. If we want the live community to thrive we need this to change”.

Meanwhile, back in Westminster yesterday, Hodgson told reporters she was pleased there was cross-party support for further action in the touting domain “after many years of campaigning on the many issues in the ticketing industry which are locking fans out of seeing their favourite artist, sports team or theatre show”.

She added: “The chorus of concerns from industry, fans and parliamentarians alike is becoming hard for the government to ignore. It’s time the government acted”.

Adams echoed Hodgson’s call for government support for the bot ban amendment, saying: “It’s time for the government to act on industrial scale ticket touting to protect genuine music fans. Criminalising the use of ‘bots’ by touts to buy up large numbers of tickets is a good place to start”.

The proposed amendment was subsequently discussed in Parliament, with Adams reporting on Twitter that culture minister Matt Hancock “says government WILL take action if necessary on bots after meeting with industry later this week”.

This will please the aforementioned FanFair Alliance, though for them the bots ban is very much just the start, something Campaign Manager Adam Webb noted during yesterday’s event, saying: “Criminalising the misuse of bots would disarm some of the worst online ticket touts – but it is important that government does not stop there. We also need proper enforcement of consumer law to disrupt the touts’ overall business practices and bring transparency to the secondary ticketing sites that they operate from”.

READ MORE ABOUT: FanFair Alliance | Nigel Adams | Secondary Ticketing | Sharon Hodgson

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:38 | By Chris Cooke

AI may replace some forms of music composition, but it will enhance others

Business News Digital Education & Events

While ‘machine learning’ is possibly a better term than ‘artificial intelligence’ to describe the kinds of AI technologies that are impacting on music as we speak, it’s certainly true that such tech is set to make an even bigger impact in the coming years, both commercially and creatively, according to Goldsmith College’s Mick Grierson, who is among the people set to speak at the latest Music 4.5 event in London tomorrow.

CMU Insights always provides a ‘story so far’ overview for Music 4.5 events, and this month for the first time this will include a special CMU Trends article, available to premium CMU subscribers online and Music 4.5 attendees at the event. Grierson spoke to CMU as part of that review, confirming that “there are huge numbers of applications for the sound and music industries” as machine learning technologies continue to evolve.

“Various forms of machine learning have been used to combat copyright infringement for years”, he notes, referring to sound recognition software like YouTube’s Content ID. And recent developments mean technologies of this type “can solve problems that were previously thought of as impossible, such as separating individual tracks from a mix”.

Though AI technologies are also impacting on the creative side of music too. Says Grierson: “I definitely think that machine learning will provide more people with greater power with respect to creating music. And this will mean that some forms of music composition could be replaced, though, to be honest, this has been the case for years, and you can easily argue that the role of the composer, in many areas of music, is not as important as you might think, and perhaps never was – take manufactured pop, for example”.

But Grierson reckons that these new technologies will generally become tools for human creators, rather than replacing them. “Machines only do what people tell them”, he says. “Nothing more. Without people to control and drive the process, you end up with nothing”.

“And this is where the real benefit will be”, he says. “Machine learning is going to revolutionise what is possible for composers. Once contemporary machine learning is embedded in tools such as non-linear editors and music production systems, music makers are going to suddenly realise that the palette of musical possibility just became so much more awesome”.

“The ability to create new sounds – sounds that no one has heard before – will be much more accessible with machine learning”, he concludes. “This is what we’ve been working on at Goldsmiths, and I think the future is bright for machine learning and the arts”.

Tickets for the Music 4.5 event ‘The New Creative Tech’ are available here. Use the code ‘CMU’ to get a 20% discount.

READ MORE ABOUT: Music 4.5

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:36 | By Chris Cooke

Warner Music boss reportedly involved in bid for NME publisher Time Inc

Business News Media

Shares in magazine publisher Time Inc – the UK division of which publishes music titles like NME and Uncut – rallied yesterday amid reports that the company’s board had knocked back an acquisition bid led by Edgar Bronfman Jr, Len Blavatnik and Ynon Kreiz.

According to sources cited by the New York Post, the trio were offering $18 per share to acquire the media firm, which is a 30% premium on the price the company’s shares were trading at last week.

Though analysts reckon that – while Time, in common with all traditional media groups, is still attempting to meet the challenge of significantly boosting the revenues of its online properties as print title income continues to decline – the company’s board reckons it could nevertheless command something closer to $23 a share in any takeover, in line with its share price when spun off into a standalone company back in 2014.

Time, originally founded in 1922, was a division of Time Warner from 1990 to 2014, meaning for many years it was in common ownership with Warner Music. It was Bronfman Jr who spearheaded the 2004 deal that made Warner Music independent of the Time Warner group, subsequently selling the music firm to Blavatnik’s Access Industries in 2011. Kreiz, meanwhile, currently sits on the Warner Music board.

Blavatnik has been busy expanding his media and entertainment assets in recent years, though most of the businesses he has acquired a stake in remain autonomous. Other possible buyers for Time Inc include existing media owners, who would likely integrate the firm’s titles with their own, likely streamlining the portfolio in the process, though some reckon that only a private equity-led bid could come in at $23 a share.

READ MORE ABOUT: Access Industries | Edgar Bronfman Jr | Len Blavatnik | Time Inc | Ynon Kreiz

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:31 | By Andy Malt

The xx release video for On Hold

Artist News Releases

The xx have released the video for new single ‘On Hold’. It features a lot of miming into telephones.

The band explain: “The video is directed by the brilliant Alasdair McLellan, whose work we all adore. It was filmed in Marfa, Texas, a very special place to us, where we wrote and recorded some of our new album. We have a lot of love and respect for the people of the USA, having played hundreds of shows across the country over the past years. We hope this video reflects just some of the warmth and acceptance we have encountered there”.

The xx’s new album, ‘I See You’, is out on 13 Jan. They’ll also be touring early next year, including that seven night run at the Brixton Academy.

Here’s the video for ‘On Hold’:

READ MORE ABOUT: The xx

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:29 | By Andy Malt

New Burial single officially released, after ‘accidental’ Black Friday sale

Artist News Releases

Burial has released a new single, his first solo release on Hyperdub since 2013. Featuring two new tracks – ‘Young Death’ and ‘Nightmarket’ – the release is available now on Bandcamp.

The new music is also available on limited edition twelve-inch. Good luck bagging one of those though. You could, it turns out, have picked one up in Toronto last Friday, when record shop Sonic Boom accidentally sold five copies of it early. Or, perhaps, ‘accidentally’. Either way, people bought them.

Sonic Boom buyer Blair Whitmore tells Pitchfork that the records turned up unclearly marked, so the shop “assumed it was a Black Friday secret listing” and stuck the records on their shelves. It was only the next day that an angry call from Hyperdub revealed that the label was “not happy” about this.

Anyway, that all happened, and now the release is available. Check it out on Bandcamp here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Burial

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:24 | By Chris Cooke

Coldplay top Ticketmaster’s poll of top events in 2016

Artist News Business News Live Business

If there’s one thing human beings in 2016 like, it’s a list. Everyone knows that. Even Ticketmaster. Which is why the Live Nation ticketing firm polled its customers around the world on the most popular events in 2016, and the most hotly anticipated shows in 2017.

Of course, what Ticketmaster has failed to notice is that, while they definitely like lists, human beings in 2016 aren’t that bothered about whether or not those lists contain actual truths. So rather than going to the effort of actually surveying some customers, the ticketing firm could have just made these lists up.

Now, of course, all you cynics out there are probably saying, “well, CMU, how do we know that that’s not exactly what Ticketmaster did, and that these lists you are about to publish aren’t a load of made up nonsense direct from the imaginations of a Ticketmaster PR whizz?” Well, cynics, it’s simple. No one would voluntarily choose to give Coldplay three spots in the UK top ten would they? No one would imagine such a thing. As 2016 has proven time and again, only reality is this grim.

Anyway, lists…

UK Tickets Of The Year 2016 (most popular events)
1. Coldplay (London, Wembley Stadium)
2. Download (Derby, Donington Park)
3. Beyonce (London, Wembley Stadium)
4. Stone Roses (Manchester, Etihad Stadium)
5. Coldplay (Manchester, Etihad Stadium)
6. Creamfields (Cheshire)
7. Coldplay (Glasgow, Hampden Park)
8. NFL International Series (London, Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadiums)
9. Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band (London, Wembley Stadium)
10. Biffy Clyro, Glasgow Summer Series (Glasgow, Bellahouston Park)

UK Most Anticipated Events 2017
1. Robbie Williams
2. Coldplay
3. Take That
4. Drake
5. Guns N Roses
6. Bruno Mars
7. Download Festival
8. Kings Of Leon
9. The Weeknd
10. Radiohead

Global Ticket Of The Year 2016 (most popular events)
1. Coldplay (London, United Kingdom)
2. Rock Werchter Festival (Belgium)
3. Justin Bieber (Arnhem, Netherlands)
4. Download Festival (United Kingdom)
5. Beyonce (London, United Kingdom)
6. Lollapalooza (Berlin, Germany)
7. Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band (Den Haag, Netherlands)
8. The Stone Roses (Manchester, United Kingdom)
9. Coldplay (Manchester, United Kingdom)
10. Coldplay (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

READ MORE ABOUT: Coldplay | Ticketmaster

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:22 | By Andy Malt

Laura Marling announces new album tour dates

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Releases

Laura Marling has announced that she will release her sixth album, ‘Semper Femina’, on 10 Mar. She will also be touring the UK the same month.

“I started out writing ‘Semper Femina’ as if a man was writing about a woman, and then I thought; ‘it’s not a man, it’s me'”, says Marling. “I don’t need to pretend it’s a man to justify the intimacy, or the way I’m looking and feeling about women. It’s me looking specifically at women and feeling great empathy towards them, and by proxy, towards myself”.

Watch the Marling-directed video for first single, ‘Soothing’, here:

And here are the tour dates:

8 Mar: Leeds, Academy
9 Mar: Bristol, Colston Hall
10 Mar: Glasgow, ABC
12 Mar: Manchester, Albert Hall
13 Mar: Oxford, Academy
14 Mar: Birmingham, Institute
16 Mar: Brighton, Dome
17 Mar: London, Roundhouse
18 Mar: Salisbury, City Hall

READ MORE ABOUT: Laura Marling

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:19 | By Andy Malt

Wolf Alice to headline Help Refugees shows

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Wolf Alice will headline two benefit shows for the Help Refugees charity next month, which will see them joined by members of Years And Years, Dream Wife, Alt-J, Black Honey, Slaves, The Magic Gang, Spectator, Bloody Knees, Swim Deep, Peace and Superfood to perform a set of covers.

Titling the shows Bands4Refugees, the gigs sit alongside the previously announced Rave For Refugees nights, which also take place in December. And a special 14+ show with a 3pm start, added due to demand, will kick things off this Sunday.

“We wanted to bring together musicians to stand in solidarity with refugees and to raise money for Help Refugees during their winter campaign Choose Love”, says Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell. “Inspired by seeing Peace and Superfood collaborate in a one-off show of covers, we thought it would be so fun to do the same with some of our favourite musicians”.

The shows will take place at Kamio in Shoreditch on 4-5 Dec. More info here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Help Refugees | Wolf Alice

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:16 | By Andy Malt

CMU’s One Liners: Nordoff Robbins, Independent Venue Week, Olly Murs, more

Artist News Business News Education & Events Gigs & Festivals Live Business One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Nordoff Robbins has launched its Christmas appeal, with a video telling the story of how the music therapy charity helped seventeen year old Justin Bieber fan Evie. The campaign comes with the support of Bieber himself.

• Independent Venue Week returns next year from 23-29 Jan. Acting as ambassador for the event will be Tim Burgess, who says: “Independent venues are where every band starts and where music fans get to see emerging talent … Lots of venues are closing – we definitely need to stick together and stop this happening”.

• Billy Corgan has settled his lawsuit with TNA Wrestling and its parent company Impact Ventures. So that’s a relief, I’m sure we can all agree. As previously reported, Corgan started working with TNA last year in his latest dalliance with the world of wrestling, but fell out with the company after it failed to repay him money he loaned the business.

• Fufanu have released the video for new single ‘Bad Rockets’.

• Olly Murs will be touring the UK in June, July and August next year. Tickets on sale on Friday at 9am.

• Aphex Twin is headlining next year’s Field Day in London on 3 Jun.

• Ghetts will celebrate the tenth anniversary of his ‘Ghetto Gospel’ mixtape by performing it live in full at the Roundhouse in London on 30 Jan.

• Gaika will headline Corsica Studios this Wednesday (aka tomorrow, aka 30 Nov), with support from 808ink. Tickets here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Aphex Twin | Billy Corgan | Field Day | Fufanu | Gaika | Ghetts | Independent Venue Week | Justin Bieber | Nordoff Robbins | Olly Murs | Tim Burgess

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 09:10 | By Chris Cooke

X-Factor winner’s winning single will be digital-only for first time

And Finally Artist News Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Media

Bad news people, the post-victory single from this year’s ‘X-Factor’ winner won’t be getting a CD release. So, however much you were hoping to celebrate with a shiny piece of plastic the potential win of one of this year’s hot contenders – like Burt Curtain, Shelly ShowerCap or the Simon Cowell-coached boyband BRXT – you’re going to have to make do with a new-fangled download or stream. It’s as if ‘X-Factor’ bosses think it’s 2013.

According to the Official Charts Company, last year’s ‘X-Factor’ champion Louisa Johnson somehow managed to shift 30,000 physical copies of her cover of ‘Forever Young’, while 2014 victor Ben Haenow sold 92,000 CD copies of his winning-lap single ‘Something I Need’. Who’d have thought it possible? Though some prime racking in the country’s finest supermarkets have helped with those CD single sales in past years, a strategy that used to secure ‘X-Factor’ winners the Christmas Number One spot in the olden days.

But no more. While whichever ‘X-Factor’ finalist most quickly navigates the inflatable assault cause, performs the best waltz with a failed politician and/or bakes the biggest Victoria sponge will immediately release a track, just as soon as Bob Holness has declared them the overall winner on 11 Dec, said track will only be available in a digital form. Sorry Aunty Sheila, but that’s modern living.

I’ve never actually watched ‘X-Factor’. Is that the one hosted by Kate Thornton?

READ MORE ABOUT: X-Factor

Tuesday 29 November 2016, 08:50 | By Andy Malt

Approved: Brutus

CMU Approved

Newly signed to Hassle Records, Brutus have announced that they will release their debut album, ‘Burst’, on 24 Feb. Pre-empting that, they’ve released new single ‘All Along’, a short sharp burst of genre-jumping heavy rock.

Speaking about the album, vocalist and drummer Stefanie Mannaerts says: “For this record, I had to dig deep into hidden and guarded emotions. It’s not so easy to sing about myself, so I used the third person. It’s also not easy to drum a blast-beat over a melodic vocal to capture some exact feelings”.

“‘All Along’ is for a loved one, a band, the friends around me that are actually able to stand me”, she adds. “It’s a ball of emotions, ready to burst with frustration and anger, but also with tons of energy, love, everything at once”.

The band will be over in the UK for shows in London, Brighton and Ramsgate in March and April next year.

Watch the video for ‘All Along’ 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: Brutus

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:46 | By Andy Malt

Civil cases against MegaUpload kept on hold pending criminal action

Business News Digital Legal MegaUpload Timeline Top Stories

Regular readers might remember that sometime back in the early fifth century the then non-existent United States Of America staged an attack on a file-storage platform called MegaUpload, taking the company’s servers offline and beginning extradition proceedings against its bosses, who were residing in the then uninhabited islands of New Zealand, to face charges of criminal copyright infringement in the sure-to-exist-one-day American courts.

OK, this story may not have been rumbling on for quite that long, but we are now approaching the fifth anniversary of the US government’s swoop on MegaUpload, and those former execs are still in New Zealand awaiting a ruling on their appeal against America’s successful extradition application.

While there was a USA in place when MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom et al were arrested on 20 Jan 2012, the fifth anniversary of that event coincides with the inauguration of Donald Trump as President, so who knows where we’ll be at if and when this case reaches an American court room. It’ll be a bit embarrassing if Dotcom is taken in the rapture leaving all the music and movie industry execs still seated in court ready to testify.

If it ever does get to court, the MegaUpload case will be an important test of the American safe harbours that have got so much attention in music industry circles this year. And in addition to the criminal proceedings, there is also the matter of the record and movie industries’ civil actions against Dotcom and his pals.

The latter have been on hold for some time now, the logic being that it would be better to let the American government pursue its criminal action against the former MegaUpload bosses before the major labels and Hollywood studios swoop in for their MegaDamages.

Last week a federal court in Virginia extended that postponement, putting the civil cases on hold until at least April next year. It was Team MegaUpload who requested that the cases continue to be kept on ice, though neither the Recording Industry Association Of America nor the Motion Picture Association Of America objected.

Lawyers for MegaUpload also told the court that they were in talks with Cogent, one of the companies that previously provided server space to the defunct file-transfer company, and which is now sitting on a bunch of disconnected servers gathering dust.

All the data on those machines – and on servers owned by other former suppliers – has been inaccessible since the sudden MegaUpload shutdown in 2012, including any files legitimately uploaded and owned by former customers of the service, something that has proven controversial.

MegaUpload’s legal team also want access to that old data, because they believe it will help with their attempt to present their client as primarily a legit file-storage company deserving of the aforementioned safe harbour protections with regards liability for any copyright infringement committed on its platform by its one-time customers.

Some non-US server companies who used to provide services to MegaUpload have already wiped old data, while others have sought compensation for storing unusable machines, and earlier this year Cogent said it feared sixteen old MegaUpload servers were now unreadable, simply because they hadn’t been used in such a long time.

According to Torrentfreak, Team MegaUpload told the court last week: “Counsel have met and conferred and are negotiating a preservation order regarding the Cogent data, and they anticipate reaching an agreement and presenting a consent motion and stipulated preservation order to the court for entry”.

They went on: “However, until such a preservation order is entered, the parties each reserve their rights to file motions seeking preservation of the Cogent data on appropriate terms and conditions”.

READ MORE ABOUT: MegaUpload

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:44 | By Chris Cooke

Russian streaming firm sues Yandex over alleged executive poaching

Business News Digital Legal

A Russian streaming service called Zvooq has sued local web giant Yandex over allegations the latter faked interest in investing in the former in order to poach key staff. According to Billboard, Zvooq has sued Yandex for $29 million in a breach of contract case.

The streaming music firm alleges that Yandex was one of a number of companies that had expressed an interest in buying into or acquiring its business, but that – in breach of a contract signed between the two companies as part of those negotiations – the larger web firm then headhunted its marketing director Varvara Semenikhina.

Zvooq co-founder Victor Frumkin told Billboard: “We had bids in hand from international as well as local strategic buyers, until Yandex staged actions which were clearly in breach of our agreement with them, and counter to civilised corporate morals and ethics”.

After joining Yandex, Semenikhina apparently took on a marketing role at Yandex.Music which, in terms of locally-based streaming firms, is Zvooq’s biggest competitor.

Yandex says it is aware and “very surprised” by the litigation, insisting that it “did not violate any agreements with Zvooq or poach its employees”.

A spokesperson added: “All statements from Zvooq are based on populist rhetoric and are not true. We will answer all legal claims in court as we are confident about our stand”.

Zvooq has filed its lawsuit in Cyprus where the service’s parent company is actually registered.

READ MORE ABOUT: Yandex | Zvooq

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:41 | By Chris Cooke

BBC decides Radio 2 doesn’t need a Controller

Business News Media

If, when the BBC recently announced it was seeking a new Controller for Radio 2 and 6 Music, you thought to you yourself, “that’s me, I could do that job, I’d be an ace Controller for Radio 2 and 6 Music”, well, you’re wrong. You’d be a fucking awful Controller for Radio 2 and 6 Music, we all know that. So awful, in fact, that the Beeb has decided to axe the role entirely, just in case it accidentally hired you to do it. So that’s you told.

Former Radio 2/6 boss Bob Shennan was recently promoted to the job of Director Of Radio at the Beeb, and said at the time that the two stations’ existing heads of programming – Lewis Carnie and Paul Rodgers – would run their respective stations on an interim basis while a new Controller for the two channels could be found. But now Shennan’s changed his mind, made Carnie and Rodgers permanent Head Of Radio 2 and Head Of 6 Music respectively, and called off the hunt for a new Controller.

He explained in a memo that: “I decided not to create a Controller position because my role is slightly different from previous directors of Radio; I won’t be on the BBC’s Executive Board and as a result I expect to be able to remain more closely involved in the direction and development of both Radio and BBC Music, to be more ‘hands-on'”.

Shennan also announced that the Commissioning Editor for BBC Music, Jan Younghusband, will move into his Radio And Music division, putting all music commissioning, including TV, into one unit.

Says Shennan: “I’m delighted that Jan will officially join the BBC Music family. She is a great creative talent and will help me define a compelling, joined up music strategy for TV that dovetails with everything we do in radio and online”.

READ MORE ABOUT: BBC | BBC Radio 2 | BBC Radio 6 Music

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:39 | By Andy Malt

Tony Martell dies

Business News Industry People

Former A&R man and founder of the TJ Martell Foundation, Tony Martell died yesterday. He was 90 years old.

Martell set up his foundation, which has to date raised over $270 million for cancer and AIDS research, in 1975 as a promise to his son TJ, who died from leukaemia aged nineteen. Initially his aim was to raise $1 million for leukaemia research, but the organisation continued to fund-raise once that had been achieved and has since gone on to become one of the most successful music industry associated charities.

In his music business career, Martell worked as an A&R rep with acts including Ozzy Osbourne, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Isley Brothers and more. He was also president of CBS International Records in the 1980s.

In a statement, the TJ Martell Foundation says: “Tony taught us all how to keep fighting for what we believe in and to do what we can to help others in need. He never gave up on his fight to find a cure for cancer and through his passion, energy and perseverance the TJ Martell Foundation has supported flagship hospitals in the United States and raised over $270 million for leukaemia, cancer and AIDS research”.

“Tony’s smile, energy and incredible devotion will be missed beyond words”, it continues. “We will work even harder now to keep his memory and dream alive and one day finding a cure for the diseases that he spent his life fighting. In honour of his son TJ for whom the foundation is named, we celebrate the life of Tony Martell whose work saved lives, provided patients with innovative treatments and gave thousands of people hope. We will miss you Tony”.

Details of a memorial service are expected shortly.

READ MORE ABOUT: TJ Martell Foundation | Tony Martell

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:37 | By Andy Malt

Justin Bieber fan punch shouldn’t have been a surprise, says Rita Ora

Artist News

Rita Ora reckons Justin Bieber was quite right to punch a fan in the face last week. OK, that’s not actually what she said, I just paraphrased her words to make them more contentious. Journalists are the worst.

As previously reported, TMZ recently published a video of Bieber apparently punching a fan who reached into his car ahead of a show in Barcelona last week. The fan later said that the matter was “in the hands of lawyers”, and told a Spanish radio station that all he had been trying to do was “touch [Bieber’s] shoulder and face” so was a bit surprised when he ended up with a bloody lip.

However, says Ora: “I’m not speaking for anybody, but knowing [Bieber] and his incredible background, I know how it feels to be uncomfortable and scared. I feel like anyone who had a hand in their face is going to protect themselves”.

Face and shoulder, don’t forget. Face and shoulder. Basically, listen to Rita, don’t go around grabbing at celebrities and expect them to be pleased. Or anyone, for that matter. Whatever happened to manners, eh?

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber | Rita Ora

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:36 | By Andy Malt

Great Escape announced first 50 acts

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

The Great Escape last week announced the first 50 acts on its line-up for next year’s festival, following the First Fifty season of shows in East London which showcase some of those acts for the super-eager crowd.

Also announced were details of the first of 2017’s ‘Spotlight Shows’, the bigger gigs within the TGE programme. Rag N Bone Man will headline that show at the Brighton Dome Concert Hall. Standalone tickets will be available to the Spotlight Shows as normal, though for the first time TGE wristband holders will be able to gain access without buying a top-up ticket, with spaces available to festival-goers on a first come, first served basis.

The festival has also announced a new deposit scheme for three-day festival tickets, allowing people to spread the cost over time, starting with a £30 deposit.

“TGE continues to break the mould and here we come again with the first 50 bands confirmed to play in 2017 that demonstrate what a unique and diverse festival we are”, says Event Manager Kevin Moore.

“We’re truly delighted to welcome Rag N Bone back to the event for our first Spotlight Show, it’s going to be an incredible homecoming performance. It’s our mission to give everyone the opportunity to discover their new favourite artist and with the introduction of our festival ticket deposit scheme, as well as the return of our young adult tickets for those aged sixteen and seventeen, the festival is more accessible than ever before. Roll on May!”

Those first 50 acts, in alphabetical order, are: Abattoir Blues, Alma, Anna Straker, Be Charlotte, Brian Deady, Cabbage, Carys Selvey, Casi, Cherry Glazerr, Croox, Drones Club, Eat Fast, Fil Bo Riva, Goat Girl, Gold Class, Gothic Tropic, Gurr, Hannah Georgas, Husky Loops, Ider, Indigo Husk, Jacques, James Hersey, Jameszoo, Klangstof, LA Salami, Lowell, Marthagunn, Matt Maeson, Middle Kids, Miles From Kinshasa, Moses, Nilüfer Yanya, Plaitum, Poté, Rag N bone Man, Ray Blk, Saint Phnx, Sarathy Korwar, Shame, Shells, Shitkid, Sigrid, Skott, Sløtface, Sophie Hunger, Sturla Atlas, The Age Of LUNA, The Moonlandingz, Tigertown and Yonaka.

As well as all the bands, of course, industry delegates will also be able to attend the CMU Insights Conference that sits at the heart of the TGE convention programme. Four conferences in one, we’ll be revealing details of the four big themes being explored in 2017 very soon, so stay tuned for that, or just assume (correctly) that it’ll all be great and buy your delegates pass now while the early bird rate still applies.

And here’s a little film of last year’s festival for you to enjoy too:

READ MORE ABOUT: Rag N Bone Man | The Great Escape

Monday 28 November 2016, 10:32 | By Andy Malt

Anderson Paak, Jorja Smith and more on BBC Sound Of 2017 longlist

Artist News Awards

The BBC has revealed its Sound Of 2017 longlist this morning, featuring the fifteen new acts its panel of 170 or so pundits are most excited about in the coming twelve months.

The top five will be announced by Huw Stephens and MistaJam on Clara Amfo’s Radio 1 show each day of the first week of next year, starting on Monday 2 Jan. Among the names on the list this year are Jorja Smith, Ray BLK, Nadia Rose, The Japanese House, Maggie Rogers, Stefflon Don and Raye.

“The BBC Music Sound Of panel, always the broadest and most objective list of new music tastemakers assembled each year – which now includes international voices too – has delivered yet another exciting and diverse list of new and emerging talent to look out for next year”, says BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra Head Of Music Chris Price. “These are the names that will capture the imagination of music lovers the world over in 2017, and I’m delighted to say that every single one has already received significant support on Radio 1 and 1Xtra, both in evening and daytime shows”.

He continues: “They join former winners – and now household names – such as Adele, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith and Years & Years, continuing Radio 1 and 1Xtra’s commitment to discovering and breaking new talent on the global stage. Judging by the crop of talent on this year’s long list, there’s no shortage of future stars to choose from”.

Here’s the full longlist:

• AJ Tracey
• Anderson Paak
• Cabbage
• Dave
• Declan McKenna
• Jorja Smith
• Maggie Rogers
• Nadia Rose
• Rag N Bone Man
• Ray BLK
• Raye
• Stefflon Don
• The Amazons
• The Japanese House
• Tom Grennan

Last year’s poll was, of course, topped by Jack Garratt, who I think we can all agree doesn’t deserve the rest of this sentence that you just wrote in your head. He’s playing The Brighton Dome tonight. Why not go and see what all the fuss was about?

READ MORE ABOUT: AJ Tracey | Anderson Paak | BBC | BBC Sound Of | BBC Sound Of 2017 | Cabbage | Dave | Declan McKenna | Jorja Smith | Maggie Rogers | Nadia Rose | Rag N Bone Man | Ray BLK | Raye | Stefflon Don | The Amazons | The Japanese House | Tom Grennan

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