Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:27 | By Chris Cooke

Lloyd’s insurers countersue Kanye West over St Pablo tour claim

Business News Legal Top Stories

Insurers from Lloyd’s Of London have filed a countersuit against Kanye West, who went legal earlier this month in relation to the cancelled dates on his 2016 ‘St Pablo’ tour. The insurers accuse the rapper of failing to cooperate with their investigators, while also claiming that there are “substantial irregularities in Mr West’s medical history”.

As previously reported, West abandoned his US tour last November after erratic behaviour at a couple of his shows, including a ten minute rant that took aim at Hillary Clinton, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Drake and Mark Zuckerberg, among others. He was subsequently admitted to the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital Center, with one news agency stating at the time that “the decision to hospitalise West was for his own health and safety”.

West’s lawsuit earlier this month claimed that it was his doctors who advised him to end his tour prematurely in order to receive treatment following a psychological breakdown. The rapper and his company Very Good Touring Inc then claimed on the insurance policies that had been taken out for the tour, citing this medical guidance as the reason for cancellation. But the Lloyd’s based insurers are yet to pay up, despite – West’s lawyers argued – their client submitting to the independent medical examination required by his insurance policy.

But in the countersuit filed this week, the insurers claim that West has not fully cooperated with the people they appointed to investigate the insurance claim. One thing seemingly being investigated is any possible drug consumption, because the ‘St Pablo’ insurance policies exclude any losses directly resulting from the use of illegal drugs or the impact of prescription medication not used as prescribed.

The legal filing made by the insurers in the LA courts this week said that specifics weren’t being included in the countersuit to protect West “from public disclosure of details of his private life”, but the litigation does allege that the insurers’ investigators have found “substantial irregularities in Mr West’s medical history”.

When West filed his litigation, his lawyer Howard King said that insurers like those trading via Lloyd’s Of London have business models that thrive “on conducting unending ‘investigations’ of bona fide coverage requests, stalling interminably, running up their insured’s costs, and avoiding coverage decisions based on flimsy excuses”.

Now responding to the countersuit, King told reporters that the Lloyd’s insurers simply didn’t “want to honour a legitimate claim but can’t find a factual basis to deny” payment.

READ MORE ABOUT: Kanye West | Lloyds of London | St Pablo

Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:25 | By Chris Cooke

musicFIRST launches campaign to rally US artists behind copyright reform 

Business News Legal

US-based organisation The musicFIRST Coalition yesterday launched a new website and online campaign to rally artists behind the key issues on which it is lobbying, namely radio royalties, compulsory licences, the 1972 copyright quirk and those bloody safe harbours. Many of these issues relate specifically to American copyright law, though – of course – safe harbour is a global gripe for the music community.

musicFIRST has given each of the strands of its campaign a tongue-in-cheek title. ‘No Heart Radio’ is focused on the fact that, under US copyright law, AM/FM radio stations pay no royalties to artists and labels, the biggest beneficiary of which is American radio giant iHeart. Meanwhile the ‘SiriusLY’ strand notes that, while US online and satellite radio stations like Sirius do pay recording royalties, they can utilise a compulsory licence where rates are set by the Copyright Royalty Board. musicFIRST reckons that results in below-market rates.

Under the banner ‘That 70s Law’ is the campaign to extend federal copyright law to all copyright protected sound recordings, rather than only those released since 1972. As it currently stands older tracks are protected by state copyright law, throwing up all sorts of complications when it comes to the online and satellite radio royalties due under federal rules. And finally ‘YouLose’ is the title for musicFIRST’s campaign against the use of safe harbour protection by user-upload services, which – of course – mainly means YouTube.

The new digital advertising campaign targets American artists, seeking to get more music makers behind musicFIRST’s lobbying efforts. Among other things, artists will be encouraged to share their stories online and to send messages to their local representatives in US Congress, where the industry is seeking legislative reform.

Says musicFIRST Executive Director Chris Israel: “Music has incredible value and music creators should always be fairly compensated for their work. It is a very exciting time and the ways that we are listening to music are changing rapidly. Unfortunately, many laws remain outdated and often fail to protect music creators by denying them fair pay for their hard work. Our new campaign is focused on empowering music creators to advocate for the essential and enduring value of their works”.

Israel goes on: “Our goal is to rally the people and organisations who make and love music to ask Congress to address obvious flaws in our copyright system. We are simply looking for a level playing field with no government subsidies, grandfather clauses or decades-old safe harbours. The music industry has evolved, innovated and grown. Some of those who told us to ‘adapt to disruption’ are now the ones hiding behind outdated government protections. It’s time to modernise the rules to let competition, innovation and great music thrive. The real winners will be the millions of fans who ultimately drive everything we do”.

READ MORE ABOUT: musicFirst

Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:19 | By Chris Cooke

Kobalt signs Rudimental

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Kobalt yesterday announced it had signed a new worldwide deal with Rudimental, via which it will administrate the publishing rights in all of the group’s future works, kicking off with their recent release, the James Arthur featuring ‘Sun Comes Up’.

Noting Rudimental’s regular collaborations with other artists, Kobalt’s SVP Of Creative Sam Winwood said: “Rudimental is not only one of the most exciting and important bands to come out of the UK in recent years but they have also helped discover and launch a whole new generation of great UK artists and continue to do so”.

Rudimental also recently teamed up with Sub Focus, Chronic and Maverick Sabre on a new track called ‘Trouble’, which you can listen to here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Kobalt | Rudimental

Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:15 | By Chris Cooke

9500+ sign petition to save Oxford venue The Cellar

Business News Live Business

Over 9500 people have now signed a petition calling on the landlords of Oxford venue The Cellar to allow the club and music space to continue to operate. It follows the news earlier this week that the venue’s landlord – St Michael’s & All Saint’s Charities – plans to redevelop the basement space for retail use.

The Cellar was opened 40 years ago by local promoter Adrian Hopkins and is now managed by his son Tim. It has long history of presenting an eclectic mix of artists and genres through its gig and clubbing programme – especially up and coming talent – as well hosting comedy, film, art and student theatre events.

Commenting on the news that redevelopment may force the venue out, Tim Hopkins told reporters earlier this week: “It is devastating news, not just for The Cellar team, but for the Oxford music scene as a whole. The loss of an important cultural asset such as The Cellar is a matter of concern for everyone, not just the music fans and musicians of Oxford. It should be of concern to anyone who cares about jobs, the night-time economy, local creativity and the social community of the city”.

Speaking for St Michael’s And All Saints’ Charities, which also owns the shop unit above The Cellar, currently occupied by Lush, Rupert Sheppard told the BBC: “The trustees have no wish to cause unnecessary upset to those who value The Cellar, but it will be appreciated that they are under obligations to act in the best interests of the charities and their beneficiaries”.

With that position in mind, Hopkins went on: “We appreciate the pressures that may be felt by St Michael’s And All Saint’s Charities, but the aims of the charity are not furthered by losing such a vital local space. We would welcome the opportunity to work with St Michaels and All Saints to look at an alternative way to increase their income, if this is their aim; but we have yet to be consulted on this. Working together could led to economic benefits for the charity, and we urge the trustees to pause and consider the wider benefits that a cultural space such as The Cellar brings to the local community”.

The UK’s Music Venue Trust has likewise called on St Michael’s And All Saint’s Charities to halt its planning application to redevelop The Cellar space into a retail unit, and to instead liaise with Hopkins on possible alternative options.

It’s CEO Mark Davyd said: “We urge St Michaels and All Saints to withdraw their application and work with The Cellar to develop a proposal that protects this important venue. Oxford City Council have a very clear cultural strategy, and converting a fantastic cultural asset like The Cellar into a retail space quite obviously flies in the face of that, as well as the needs of local people. It’s quite clear that the people of Oxford want The Cellar to stay, and we hope the charity will recognise this and reconsider their plans.”

Foals, Ride, Glass Animals, Objekt, Rob Da Bank and Young Knives are among the artists and DJs to have already backed the campaign to save The Cellar. The online petition is here.

READ MORE ABOUT: The Cellar

Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:10 | By Chris Cooke

Deezer rolls out high quality audio service beyond Sonos

Business News Digital

The Deezer geezers are expanding their high quality audio offering that was previously known as Deezer Elite.

To date the higher quality audio option has only been available for use on Sonos devices, but over the next few months the service – now known as Deezer HiFi – will be rolled out to Sony, Samsung, Yamaha, Bang & Olufsen, Onkyo, Pioneer, AudioPro and Devialet speakers too.

The expansion is part of Deezer’s alliance with Google and the tech giant’s voice-activated Google Home platform, with Deezer HiFi basically working on any speakers that have Google’s Chromecast built in.

As is the industry norm, a subscription to Deezer’s hi-def service – offering FLAC rather than MP3 quality audio – is double the price. So £19.99 a month in the UK.

Says Deezer’s VP Of Hardware Partnerships Riad Hawa: “With more and more consumers embracing voice activated services and a clear market for high quality audio, it is important that we are in a position to offer both to ensure the best possible experience. Through deepening our relationship with existing partners and expanding our product offering, we believe that we deliver just this”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Deezer | Sonos

Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:07 | By Chris Cooke

LG unveils MQA-enabled smartphone for higher quality audio

Business News Deals Digital

Talking of high quality audio gubbins, LG Electronics has unveiled a new phone that, it says, will be “the first global MQA-enabled handset” – MQA being the previously reported digital format that combines higher quality audio with smaller file sizes.

The blurb bigging up LG’s new V30 smartphone, available worldwide over the next month, notes that “MQA’s award-winning technology captures and reproduces the sound of the original studio master in a file that’s small enough to stream”. It goes on: “The LG V30 handset features integrated MQA playback technology so that master quality sound recordings can be played back via the mobile device”.

Speaking for MQA, the firm’s CEO Mike Jbara told reporters: “This is a great partnership with LG because MQA’s technology – delivering quality audio in a convenient file size – truly comes into its own on the mobile device. The V30 handset raises the bar in terms of offering an all-round premium user experience”.

READ MORE ABOUT: LG Electronics | MQA

Thursday 31 August 2017, 11:03 | By Chris Cooke

CMU’s One liners: Vevo, ACM, LCD Soundsystem, more

Artist News Business News One Liners

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Tourism Ireland is teaming up with Vevo to create video guides to Irish cities presented by artists – kicking off in early September with Kodaline guiding people around Dublin.

• The Academy Of Contemporary Music will next month open a brand new recording facility at its Guildford campus, which will be used for lessons and masterclasses, and also be available to ACM students to book in downtime. It includes “a large live room suitable for bands and orchestral set ups, a stone-room offering an alternative resonance and sound, alongside a control room complete with an SSL Duality console”.

• Manchester’s Off The Record festival, featuring a line-up of 30 emerging acts only announced the day before the event, and a day-time conference for music makers, will return for a second edition on 10 Nov.

• The next edition of the dance music focused Brighton Music Conference will take place from 25-28 Apr 2018, in Brighton, obviously.

• Here’s a new LCD Soundsystem track called ‘Pulse (v.1)’. It pre-empts the release of new album ‘American Dream’ tomorrow, though doesn’t seem to be on that LP’s track listing.

• Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile have collaborated on a new album called ‘Lotta Sea Lice’, which will be released 13 Oct. The first single is ‘Over Everything’.

• Want to hear the opening track from the new Godspeed You! Black Emperor album? The LP is called ‘Luciferian Towers’ and is out on 22 Sep. You can listen to the track ‘Undoing A Luciferian Towers’ on Bandcamp.

• The 2018 BRIT Awards will take place on 21 Feb right there in the middle of the O2 Dome in North Greenwich. It’ll air on ITV.

READ MORE ABOUT: ACM | BRIT Awards | Courtney Barnett | Godspeed You! Black Emperor | Kurt Vile | LCD Soundsystem | VEVO

Thursday 31 August 2017, 10:59 | By Chris Cooke

Radio X criticised by media regulator over Russell Brand’s sex chat with Elvis impersonator

And Finally Business News Media

Media regulator OfCom has ruled that Global’s Radio X was in breach of broadcasting rules when it aired a conversation between Russell Brand and an Elvis impersonator on a Sunday morning show earlier this year, which began with the question from Brand “have you ever had sex as Elvis?”

“I’ve done it without the jumpsuit, but I have kept the cape on”, said Elvis tribute act James Burrell. “That’s good, that’s how to do it”, Brand bantered back. “You can’t have sex with a jumpsuit on”.

“Well the only difficulty with that, is they’re studded, you see”, Burrell continued, “and they get very spiky and so they can cut you in places that you wouldn’t imagine. And if you’re on top of somebody, you know!”

Inspired by that chit chat, another guest on the show then mused: “Do you remember that documentary where, I think Elvis came out of a hotel and he said he’d just met a prostitute and he just goes to his friend, he just goes, ‘You know that prostitute you showed me? She gives tremendous head, tremendous head'”.

So, all good fun for some Sunday morning listening then. But won’t somebody think about the children? “Rule 1.3 states that children must be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them”, OfCom stated in its latest Broadcast Bulletin earlier this week.

And, it went on, “Rule 1.5 states that broadcasters must have particular regard to times when children are particularly likely to be listening”. Both rules had been breached by the Sunday morning Elvis sex chat, OfCom concluded.

Global argued that Radio X targeted an “alternative” audience and “maintains a distinction from other mainstream stations”. It also added that Brand was “a well-known comedian and broadcaster with a loyal following who are familiar with his style of humour”. And, probably, are aware of past controversies surrounding his radio output.

But Radio X could have done more, OfCom reckoned, to ensure such content didn’t air during the morning, not least because Brand’s show was pre-recorded.

READ MORE ABOUT: Global | OfCom | Radio X | Russell Brand

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:24 | By Chris Cooke

Queensland Attorney-General advises consumers to “think twice” before using Viagogo

Business News Live Business Top Stories

As the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission takes Viagogo to court over allegations the always controversial secondary ticketing site has made false or misleading representations, and engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, two state governments in Australia have also spoken out about the ticket resale platform.

In Queensland, the state’s Attorney-General and Minister For Justice Yvette D’Ath specifically advised consumers to “think twice” before buying tickets off the Viagogo site, reporting that the Queensland Office Of Fair Trading had received 43 complaints about the tickets site in the last year. The minister added that to date Viagogo had refused to engage with both Queensland’s OFT and its own aggrieved customers.

The specific complaints against Viagogo being logged by consumer rights officials in Queensland are pretty familiar – including unclear and sky-high fees, and consumers being unaware that they are buying from a tout rather than an official seller of tickets to a show.

D’Ath said in a statement: “The number of complaints received and the failure of Viagogo to attempt to resolve them is very concerning. Viagogo’s conduct to date shows they have little interest in resolving consumer complaints and are unwilling to act in good faith if something goes wrong”.

The minister continued: “We expect overseas online businesses to operate in a transparent manner and deal promptly with legitimate consumer complaints. Until such time as Viagogo improves its business practices, I urge consumers to think twice before dealing with them”.

D’Ath also reminded consumers about specific rules in Queensland regarding the resale of tickets for profit, including that “it is illegal to resell or buy resold tickets for more than 10% above face value for events at Queensland’s major venues”, and that the resale of tickets for next year’s Commonwealth Games, which are being staged in the state, is not allowed.

Elsewhere, the Minister For Better Regulation in New South Wales, Matt Kean, has also spoken out against Viagogo, reporting that NSW Fair Trading had now made over 194 attempts to contact the ticket resale company, and that those communications “had gone vastly unanswered”.

Kean told reporters: “Complaints to date have included delayed delivery, events being cancelled, heavily marked-up prices, hidden fees, and failure to provide refunds. With most complaints relating to two or more tickets, [NSW] Fair Trading has estimated around 600 consumers have been ripped off at a cost of almost $130,000”.

Although very chatty in the early days of online ticket touting, Viagogo has employed a wall of silence for a number of years now, routinely ignoring angry customers and inquisitive politicians when they try to make contact. It remains to be seen how the company responds to the ACCC’s legal action.

Meanwhile, as previously reported, the UK’s FanFair Alliance recently published a guide to getting a refund from Viagogo, produced in partnership with Claire Turnham, who set up the Victims Of Viagogo group on Facebook after her own run-in with the site.

READ MORE ABOUT: Viagogo

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:20 | By Chris Cooke

Unfair dismissal claim filed after health facility treats Justin Bieber’s bashed balls

Artist News Legal

Justin Bieber’s aching balls are back in court. Actually, I’m not sure Bieber’s balls have ever been in court before. And they’re not really in court this time either. Though his testicles are involved in a new legal claim for unfair dismissal that has been filed in New York.

This all relates to an incident back in May when Bieber made an emergency visit to a facility run by Northwell Health in Long Island after he injured his testicles playing football (proper football mind, none of that American football nonsense). It all turned out fine though, for Bieber at least, whose balls are all good.

However, it didn’t turn out so fine for an employee at the Northwell Health facility called Kelly Lombardo, who was fired for allegedly accessing the pop star’s medical files. She wasn’t providing any treatment to Bieber, but was accused of sneaking at look at his medical documents in order to see whether there was any truth in a rumour that the pop boy had actually be in the building to be tested for a sexually transmitted disease.

Lombardo denies the allegations saying that, while she was aware of the STD rumour, she didn’t believe that that was why Bieber visited Northwell Health, and either way she didn’t attempt to access his files. Lombardo then says that when she told her bosses all of this, they implied to her that, because she was a “young female”, she must have been curious as to why the pop star had visited her place of work.

The sacked employee has now filed a wrongful-termination claim with the New York Division Of Human Rights. Meanwhile her legal rep, David H Rosenberg, told the New York Post: “My client never accessed Mr Bieber’s medical file. She was falsely accused of doing so on account of her gender”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:15 | By Chris Cooke

Katy Perry sued over toe injury at 2014 concert 

Business News Legal Live Business

A stage-hand is suing Katy Perry and Live Nation over allegations that she lost a toe after being injured working on the singer’s Prismatic World Tour in 2014.

Christina Fish claims that she was working on the tour when it visited Raleigh in North Carolina that year. It was there that, after being asked to help move some staging, her toe was injured after said staging rolled over her foot.

In her legal claim, Fish says that although she could feel her shoe fill with blood as a result of the injury, she was only offered ice by her colleagues, with no one calling an ambulance. She therefore had to get a friend to take her to the emergency room. Her injured toe subsequently became gangrenous and eventually had to be amputated.

Fish is seeking damages for the injury, the impact it had on her life, and the emotional distress it caused. A number of stage productions companies are listed as defendants alongside show promoter Live Nation and Perry herself.

READ MORE ABOUT: Katy Perry | Live Nation

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:09 | By Chris Cooke

Goldman Sachs’ latest prediction of a rosy future for streaming boosts major label valuations

Business News Labels & Publishers

The bankers at Goldman Sachs are optimistic about the potential of the streaming music market, even if you’re not. Analysts at the bank have been monitoring the streaming sector via their ‘Music In The Air’ series of reports, and they now reckon that annual worldwide revenues from music streaming could be up to $28 billion by 2030, based on estimates that 847 million people could be paying to stream music by then.

The business model currently being employed by the likes of Spotify and Apple Music requires massive scale in order for those services to become profitable. By which we mean significant numbers of paying subscribers, premium rather than ad-funded free streaming being where most of the money is generated. But Goldman Sachs seems to be of the opinion that the streaming market can continue to grow sufficiently – more than eight-fold in terms of paying users – to allow such scale.

That optimistic level of growth would also be great news for the music rights companies too, of course, and most notably the two major global players Universal Music and Sony Music. Both have had their valuations increased by Goldman Sachs based on the latest streaming music forecasts – to approximately $23.5 billion and $19.5 billion respectively.

Though, of course, while it’s true that the music right firms see the majority of the money that is generated by streaming, the income seen by the likes of Universal and Sony has to be shared with artists and songwriters.

More of the streaming money goes to the label side of the business, and under traditional record deals the label keeps the majority of that income. Though the growth of the label services sector and possible new investment options for artists may force even the majors to offer even new talent more favourable terms in the future.

Meanwhile lobbying is ongoing – within the industry and the political community – to review the legacy deals of heritage artists where the labels get to keep the vast majority of the money based on contracts written before anyone considered how much easier it would be to exploit catalogue in the streaming age.

That, plus continued uncertainties about the reach of the contract termination right under US copyright law, could all hit the bottom line of the majors, even if and as streaming income continues to boom.

READ MORE ABOUT: Apple Music | Goldman Sachs | Spotify | Streaming

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:05 | By Chris Cooke

Sony/ATV launches new royalty reporting app for songwriters 

Business News Labels & Publishers

Sony/ATV is the latest music publisher to be feeling all appy about the way it shares royalty information with its songwriters, with the music publishing major launching a new Android and iOS app via which to access its royalty portal SCORE.

Many music publishers and collecting societies have been busy in recent years trying to ensure their writers have better, more timely and easier-to-access data about how their song rights are generating income as part of a phenomenon historians call The Kobalt Effect.

With many artists often on the move, those efforts have increasingly focused on allowing writers to access royalty information via mobile devices. Sony/ATV says that its new SCORE app “means the company’s songwriters and their representatives can obtain real-time access to their current royalty account and historic earnings whenever and wherever they are and in superlative detail”.

Sony/ATV boss dude Marty Bandier said about the new app yesterday: “At Sony/ATV we are committed to providing our songwriters and their teams with an unrivalled level of transparency and service, which includes giving them access to the most highly-detailed royalty information available. The launch of the SCORE app is an important next step in us delivering on that promise and now means our writers can obtain an unsurpassed insight into their historic and current period earnings with one simple click”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Sony Music Publishing

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:03 | By Chris Cooke

Live Nation expands presence in Brazil with new hire

Business News Live Business

Live Nation has announced a new hire that sees the live giant further expand its presence in the Latin American market, and in particular Brazil.

Alexandre Faria is a veteran of the Brazilian live entertainment business, having been booking shows in the country, and elsewhere in South America, for over two decades, most recently for T4F Entretenimento.

He now becomes SVP Talent Buying for Live Nation in Brazil, based out of Sao Paulo and reporting into Bruce Moran, Live Nation’s President Of Latin America.

Confirming the hire, Moran said: “Cities throughout Brazil are becoming key tour stops as more global artists visit their fans in Latin America. The knowledge, relationships and passion Alexandre Faria displays for promotions makes him a great asset to Live Nation as we continue to expand concert offerings to meet growing demand across Brazil”.

Meanwhile Faria himself added: “I’m excited to join the Live Nation Latin America team during a time with so much opportunity and development. Together, we will bring the people of Brazil and Latin America standout performances from international artists as well as local talent”.

International acts due in Brazil on Live Nation tours this autumn include U2, John Mayer, Coldplay and Bruno Mars.

READ MORE ABOUT: Live Nation

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 11:00 | By Chris Cooke

Bauer brings The Hits back to local digital radio networks

Business News Media

Do you remember how, in 2015, Bauer Media took its The Hits radio station off the local DAB digital networks, instead using those DAB slots to launch ‘channel 3’ versions of its regional radio brands?

It meant we got stations like Radio City 3 in Liverpool, accompanying Bauer’s other local stations in Merseyside, Radio City 1 and Radio City 2. The ‘two’ branded versions of Bauer’s local stations were aimed at an older audience, while the ‘three’ branded versions were skewed towards younger listeners.

Well, forget I explained all that, because the ‘channel three’ stations are being shut down so that The Hits can return to the DAB network.

Why? Well, explains Bauer’s Graham Bryce to RadioToday: “We’re constantly evolving our business – this change allows us to reflect the needs of our audience and remain competitive, delivering outstanding, engaging and relevant content as a single stream across the UK”.

Yeah, whatever you say Graham. It means that from this coming Friday the following stations will go in favour of The Hits brand: Clyde 3 in Glasgow, Forth 3 in Edinburgh, Hallam 3 in Sheffield, Key 3 in Manchester, Metro 3 in Newcastle, MFR 3 in Inverness, Aire 3 in Leeds, City 3 in Liverpool, Rock FM 3 in Preston, Tay 3 in Dundee, TFM 3 in Durham and Viking 3 in Hull.

READ MORE ABOUT: Bauer Media | The Hits

Wednesday 30 August 2017, 10:57 | By Chris Cooke

Hackers post a naked Justin Bieber to Selena Gomez’s Instagram

And Finally Artist News

Selena Gomez admitted earlier this year that, since becoming the most followed celeb on Instagram, she has basically stepped back from photo sharing platform and now has an assistant managing the account.

Presumably said assistant had a fun Monday this week, given that was the day hackers successfully hacked their way into the actress/singer’s Instragram profile and posted naked photos of her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber.

The naked snaps weren’t new. They were the full frontal pap shots first published in 2015  showing Bieber wandering around naked during a holiday in Bora Bora. The pop boy said at the time “I feel super violated”. Though he added that it was “hilarious” that his own father had used the publication of the photos to positively critique his dick on Twitter.

The caption provided by the hackers under the photo on Gomez’s Instagram profile was somewhat less complimentary.

Though it did then direct people to another page on the social network adding “we run da scene”, heavily implying a hack had occurred, and that neither Gomez nor her Instagram assistant had actually decided that now was the perfect time to dig out some old naked photographs of her ex-boyfriend and share them with the world at large.

Instead, the star’s Instagrammer-in-chief quickly disabled the account, removed the Bieber cock shots, changed the password, and got back to the business of entertaining Gomez’s 125 million Instagram followers with bland photos of fully clothed individuals. And so life can continue as normal.

READ MORE ABOUT: Instagram | Justin Bieber | Selena Gomez

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 11:05 | By Chris Cooke

Australian consumer rights commission takes Viagogo to court

Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has begun legal proceedings against always controversial secondary ticketing website Viagogo, accusing the ticket resale platform of making false or misleading representations, and of engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct, which is plenty to be getting on with.

As previously reported, in various countries where it actively operates, the always secretive Viagogo has come under particularly heavy fire from those who oppose rampant online ticket touting. For example, in the UK – while the anti-tout brigade also has plenty of issues with eBay’s StubHub and Live Nation’s Seatwave and Get Me In! – in recent months more attention has been given to Viagogo.

Partly because it was the one ticket resale platform to refuse to justify its business model when asked to do so by the culture select committee in Parliament. Partly because it is the one ticket resale platform which consistently refuses to work with promoters who are pro-actively clamping down on touted tickets, including organisers of the Teenage Cancer Trust charity gigs. And partly because of the Victims Of Viagogo campaign on Facebook.

The latter accuses Viagogo of employing tactics to confuse and rip off consumers, and that’s pretty much what the ACCC is claiming in its new legal filing with the Aussie Federal Court, which alleges that the secondary ticketing company breached Australian consumer rights law between 1 May and 26 Jun this year.

Among the specific complaints made by the ACCC are: that Viagogo failed to disclose upfront its significant booking fees, that are 27.6% for most events; that it misled consumers about ticket availability by making statements like “less than 1% of tickets remaining”, without explaining that that only referred to Viagogo’s own supply of tickets; and that it used the word ‘official’ in Google ads, implying it was an approved primary ticket seller.

The latter point has also been raised by anti-touting campaign group FanFair in the UK and by the Advertising Standards Authority in Ireland. FanFair recently showed just how often Viagogo uses Google ads to come top when fans search for information on shows. Consumers who don’t know the difference between paid-for and organic search result listings may assume that the top ranking means Viagogo is the official seller of tickets, a confusion the site’s use of the word ‘official’ exacerbates.

ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said yesterday: “We allege that Viagogo failed to disclose significant and unavoidable fees upfront in the ticket price, including a 27.6 per cent booking fee for most events and a handling fee. [And] Viagogo’s statements such as ‘less than 1% of tickets remaining’ created a sense of urgency for people to buy them straight away, when tickets may have still been available through other ticket sources”.

She added that her organisation also alleges that “by using the word ‘official’, Viagogo represented in [its] ads that consumers could buy official original tickets, when in fact Viagogo is a platform for tickets that are being on-sold by others”. Revealing that the ACCC had received 473 customer contacts about Viagogo just this year, she concluded: “The ACCC expects all ticket reselling websites to be clear and upfront about the fees they charge, the type of tickets they sell and the nature of their business”.

The UK’s FanFair campaign welcomed the developments in Australia. Campaign Manager Adam Webb told CMU: “FanFair Alliance welcomes the ACCC’s decision to take Viagogo to court. The only astonishing aspect here is such action has not occurred sooner and that Viagogo has been able to dominate the resale market for so long”.

He went on: “The list of complaints made by the ACCC – sky high fees, failure to provide refunds, misleading users, the masquerading as an ‘official site’ on Google search – are all unerringly familiar and, for the sake of UK audiences, we hope this move emboldens our regulators to act accordingly. Not only towards Viagogo, but against all secondary ticketing platforms who follow their lead”.

For its part, Viagogo – which now operates from a bunker in Switzerland and which sends out security when MPs come to its London HQ with some questions to ask – is yet to comment on the ACCC action. Though presumably it will at least send some lawyers to the Federal Court Of Australia when the case comes before judges there.

READ MORE ABOUT: Viagogo

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 11:03 | By Chris Cooke

Lynyrd Skynyrd biopic blocked because of ex-drummer’s involvement

Business News Legal

A US judge has blocked the production of a Lynyrd Skynyrd biopic, though only because of the involvement of the band’s former drummer Artimus Pyle.

When legal action was first launched to try and block production of the film – which was to be called ‘Street Survivor: The True Story Of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash’ – legal reps for co-producer Cleopatra Records argued that it had no plans to suggest that the band had authorised the project. And under its First Amendment free speech rights, it argued, it was allowed to make a film about the band and the 1977 plane crash in which two band members died.

The judge overseeing the case agreed that Cleopatra was free to make the film in its own right, but then stated that the involvement of Pyle in the movie venture breached an agreement – or ‘consent order’ – he had reached with his former bandmates back in 1988.

In that agreement, Pyle was given permission to tell his own life story, but on the condition he didn’t use the band’s name or exploit the rights of the two band members killed in the 1977 crash – Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines.

According to Rolling Stone, judge Robert Sweet wrote in his judgement yesterday: “None of the defendants received the requisite authorisation under the terms of the consent order in depiction of Van Zant or Gaines or in the use of the Lynyrd Skynyrd name, and therefore all have violated the consent order”.

The judge went on: “Cleopatra is prohibited from making its movie about Lynyrd Skynyrd when its partner substantively contributes to the project in a way that, in the past, he willingly bargained away the very right to do just that; [but] in any other circumstance, Cleopatra would be as ‘free as a bird’ to make and distribute its work”.

The legal action against the biopic was pursued by the estates of Van Zant and Gaines, as well as current Lynyrd Skynyrd members, Gary Rossington and Van Zant’s brother Johnny.

READ MORE ABOUT: Lynyrd Skynyrd

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:58 | By Chris Cooke

Merlin royalty distributions pass a billion dollars

Business News Labels & Publishers

Indie-label repping digital rights agency Merlin this weekend confirmed it had now distributed over a billion dollars to the independent record labels and music distributors it represents in the digital market.

Merlin was launched in May 2008, mainly to secure the indie label sector more parity with the majors when it came to negotiating licensing deals with the digital platforms, which had always had a tendency to do their major label deals first, and then send indies a template arrangement that lacked many of the kickbacks offered to Sony, Universal and Warner.

As it bragged its billionth dollar in distributed digital income, Merlin noted that “since agreeing our first commercial partnership in September 2008 as a launch partner to Spotify, Merlin has now licensed more than 20 digital music services – including Deezer, Google Play, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, YouTube Red, Pandora, Vevo and KKBOX”.

For labels represented by Merlin, income generated by the digital rights agency is becoming ever more significant – of course – as the streaming boom continues, and subscription streaming becomes the single biggest revenue stream for the recorded music market.

With the notable exception of Apple – which simply added streams to the existing iTunes deals that pre-date the organisation – Merlin agrees terms and processes royalties on behalf of its members with most of the market-leading streaming platforms worldwide.

Commenting on the billion dollar landmark, Merlin boss Charles Caldas said: “It makes me immensely proud to reach this landmark. Like all the best independent labels, Merlin is run with passion, as a lean and efficient operation – albeit with an extensive and profound global responsibility. Our unique structure has empowered Merlin’s members to sit centre stage in the streaming market, while enabling digital music services to capitalise on the immense consumer demand for independent music”.

Caldas added: “Even more inspiring is that this billion dollars in revenues comes only from the new-generation services that have launched since we did. In a market still in its early stages of evolution, the more significant growth is arguably yet to come”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Merlin

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:56 | By Chris Cooke

Former Fueled By Ramen A&R becomes Fueled By Ramen A&R

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Warner Music has hired Johnny Minardi to be Senior Director Of A&R at both Roadrunner Records and Fueled By Ramen in the US. Minardi worked for the latter label before in a marketing and A&R role.

Confirming the new hire, Mike Easterlin, who is President of both Warner imprints, proclaimed that: “I am very happy to have Johnny back in the FBR family and at the same time welcome him to the Roadrunner team”.

Added Easterlin of his new hire: “He has great ears and outstanding A&R instincts, and was instrumental in putting FBR on the map with a string of fantastic signings. I know he will be hugely influential in the continued evolution of both labels. Welcome home, Johnny!”

READ MORE ABOUT: Fueled By Ramen | Roadrunner Records | Warner Music

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:52 | By Chris Cooke

Taylor Swift offering ticket priority to merch buyers 

Brands & Merch Business News Live Business

Response to Taylor Swift’s new single ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ was somewhat mixed this weekend, while the pop star has also received plenty of criticism – from the media at least – for a new US-based direct-to-fan programme that promises priority access to concert tickets to fans who either engage more with the musician online, or who spend lots of lovely money on her records and merch.

The official pitch for the Ticketmaster-powered Verified Fan programme is that it’s a move to stop tickets for Swift’s next tour getting into the hands of touts – or ‘scalpers’ to use the American term – including, presumably, those touts who use Ticketmaster’s secondary ticketing sites to flog on their tix.

Says the promo for the Verified Fan campaign: “Taylor Swift is committed to getting tickets into the hands of fans…NOT scalpers or bots. So she’s collaborating with Ticketmaster #VerifiedFan to create an exclusive programme to help YOU get the best access to tickets in North America, in a really fun way. Once you register, improve your place in line by participating in boost activities until initial registration closes on Nov 28”.

Different “boost activities” provide Swift fans with different levels of priority, with those that involve spending money providing the most priority points. Which means that those fans with more money to spend on merch and such like will be given the most priority – which kind of goes against a common justification for targeting the touts, ie that the big mark-ups on the secondary market price out real fans who are of limited means.

But, then again, it’s all about the bundle in the direct-to-fan space, so there is a logic to the whole hurrah, despite the media backlash. For Team Swift, more attention will be given to how the fans respond. Either way, if the star can sell more records by linking them to tickets, well, that’ll be good news for Right Said Fred who – you may have seen – have been given writer credits on ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, because it borrows a rhythmic pattern from their 1991 hit ‘I’m Too Sexy’. And why not, say I.

READ MORE ABOUT: Taylor Swift | Ticketmaster

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:50 | By CMU Editorial

CMU Insights returns with masterclass on the streaming business

Business News Education & Events

CMU Insights is set to provide a concise but comprehensive overview of the streaming business next month at the first event in its autumn programme of seminars and masterclasses, hosted at the London HQ of Lewis Silkin.

The masterclass ‘Digital Deals, Dollars And Trends – Explained!’ will provide an overview of the digital music market in 2017, in the UK and around the world, before explaining how streaming services like Spotify are licensed, and how royalties flow through the system.

Says CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke, who leads the masterclass: “Every week we are presented with new stats – from labels, trade bodies and digital firms – further confirming that streaming is becoming the dominant revenue stream for recorded music. Which makes it more important than ever for people to understand how the streaming business works”.

He goes on: “Digital licensing is complex, though makes sense if you walk through some copyright law, contractual conventions and deal terms first, which is what we do in this masterclass. The streaming business model is not without its controversies, and may as yet need to evolve, though you need to understand how it is working today to be part of the debate around that evolution – let alone to understand your royalties day-to-day”.

The masterclass takes place on Monday 18 Sep at 2pm – tickets are £99 including VAT and booking fees and can be bought here.

READ MORE ABOUT: CMU Insights

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:46 | By Chris Cooke

The National squeeze 5000 photos into new video

Artist News Releases

The National have posted a new video for ‘Day I Die’, the latest track from new album ‘Sleep Well Beast’. The video features over 5000 photos taking by photographer Graham MacIndoe during band rehearsals in Paris, which have been mashed together into a video by director Casey Reas, who created a bespoke bit of software to make the promo.

Says Reas: “Graham captured eighteen time-lapse photo series during rehearsals at Le Centquatre in June 2017 in Paris. Hours of rehearsal are compressed into a few minutes. Over five thousand of these photographs were brought together to make the final video”.

He goes on: “I wrote custom software to collage multiple photographs together and to compile them into videos. A flickering colour layer abstracted from broadcast television signals augments the black and white footage. The images here are played back at 12fps, near the threshold of the persistence of vision”.

So, that’s the science, here is the video. The new album is out on 8 Sep.

READ MORE ABOUT: The National

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:43 | By Chris Cooke

Kendrick Lamar dominates at the VMAs

Artist News Awards

It was the VMAs on Sunday night, the big annual awards bash from MTV Stateside. For younger readers, MTV was an olden days thing that was a bit like YouTube, but shitter.

So here we go everybody, the list of VMA winners courtesy of the shit version of YouTube! As you’ll quickly notice, it was Kendrick Lamar’s night overall, which is very good news indeed, because he loves shit versions of YouTube. Enjoy the list everybody!

Video Of The Year: Kendrick Lamar – Humble
Song Of The Summer: Lil Uzi Vert – XO Tour L1if3
Best Hip Hop: Kendrick Lamar – Humble
Best Dance: Zedd and Alessia Cara – Stay
Best Pop: Fifth Harmony feat. Gucci Mayne – Down
Best Collaboration: Zayn and Taylor Swift – I Don’t Wanna Live Forever

Best Direction: Dave Meyers Snd The Little Homies (for Kendrick Lamar – Humble)
Best Cinematography: Kendrick Lamar – Humble
Best Art Direction: Kendrick Lamar – Humble
Best Choreography: Kanye West – Fade
Best Visual Effects: Katy Perry feat Skip Marley – Chained to the Rhythm
Best Editing: Young Thug – Wyclef Jean

Artist Of The Year: Ed Sheeran
Best New Artist: Khalid
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award – Pink

Best Fight Against the System (everyone’s a winner in this category): The Hamilton Mixtape – Immigrants (We Get the Job Done), Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful, John Legend – Surefire, Logic feat Damian Lemar Hudson – Black Spiderman, Big Sean – Light, Taboo feat. Shailene Woodley – Stand up/ Stand N Rock #NoDapl

READ MORE ABOUT: Kendrick Lamar | MTV | Video Music Awards

Tuesday 29 August 2017, 10:39 | By Chris Cooke

‘X-Factor’ contenders told to stop singing Ed Sheeran songs

And Finally Artist News Media

‘X-Factor UK’ returns for its 409th season this coming weekend (or at least it seems that way sometimes). In terms of host and judges, it’s exactly the same line up as last time, with Dermot O’Leary, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger all amazingly still alive.

And what’s more, all five are ready and raring to make yet more dreams come true for every single wannabe singer who’s looking for five minutes of fame and then a lifetime of obscurity. But what tips does host O’Leary have for this year’s long line of wannabes?

Well, mainly, don’t try and be Ed Sheeran. Don’t rock up and sing a song by Ed Sheeran. In an Ed Sheeran stylee. Why? Because the world doesn’t need a new Ed Sheeran. The world already has an Ed Sheeran. And some people would argue that’s already one too many.

“I think the most important thing is for people to be original”, O’Leary told reporters when asked for his top tips for contenders. “Every year we have people trying to be Adele, Sam Smith or, this year, Ed Sheeran – we do not need another one of those artists, we have them already. It’s incredible how many kids turn up with a guitar and do an Ed song”.

The ‘X’ host goes on: “I always wonder why you would bother doing that because you’re only ever going to get compared to him. But yeah, a few people have come along who I have thought I can envisage me playing their songs on Radio 2”.

Also presumably bored of lacklustre Sheeran covers, ‘X-Factor’ producers are apparently encouraging contestants to sing more original songs on this series of the ITV talent show.

“I think that’s a terrific idea”, mused O’Leary. “I think that comes from a girl on ‘America’s Got Talent’ who sang original songs all the way through the competition and won. It just goes to show that it can happen. So I’m all for it, I think it’s a really good idea”.

‘X-Factor’ wannabes who had been planning on singing a Sheeran song, but who are now persuaded to pen something original, could just follow the lead of their hero and rip off any old Matt Cardle track they can get their hands on. Only joking! No, if you’re songwriting Sheeran-style, you need to rip off a Marvin Gaye track. Only joking! I meant TLC.

READ MORE ABOUT: Ed Sheeran | Simon Cowell | X-Factor

Friday 25 August 2017, 11:22 | By Chris Cooke

Warner signs new Spotify deal – at last! 

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers

Warner Music has finally got its big fat fountain pen out and put its mark on a new multi-year licensing deal with Spotify. It means the market-leading premium streaming service now has new licences from all three majors and the indie label-repping Merlin.

As much previously reported, Spotify required the new multi-year deals to be in place before it could list itself on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the digital company needed to get listed sooner rather than later, because loan agreements it had entered into got more expensive to service the longer it took for the business to become a public company.

This strengthened the negotiating hand of the record companies a little. Though Spotify nevertheless insisted that it needed to reduce its revenue share commitments to the labels slightly, in order for its business plan to remain viable, not least because the big music publishers have successfully pushed their revenue share arrangements up a little in recent years.

It was never in the interest of the labels to scupper Spotify’s entire business model, given just how much of the record industry’s revenues now come from this one single service, and – of course – they all have equity in the Spotify company so will benefit from it staging a successful launch on Wall Street.

But Spotify’s need to list on a stock exchange as soon as possible meant the labels had leverage, and to that end secured things like windowing of new releases, data and marketing kickbacks and target-based royalty rates in the new deals.

Confirming that Warner had now reached a new agreement with Spotify, the mini-major’s Chief Digital Officer, Ole Obermann, took to the Instagrams yesterday (for some reason) and declared that: “It’s taken us a while to get here, but it’s been worth it, as we’ve arrived at a balanced set of future-focused deal terms. Together with Spotify, we’ve found inventive ways to reinforce the value of music, create additional benefits for artists, and excite their fans all over the world. Even with the current pace of growth, there’s still so much potential for music subscription to reach new audiences and territories”.

Artists signed to the majors are now looking forward to receiving detailed memos from their label partners setting out all the key terms of the new Spotify deals, so they can assess how it will impact on their own businesses. I mean, they won’t get any such memo, and instead artists will have to continue to navigate the new streaming business blinded by NDA, but you can always look forward with hope, right?

READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify | Warner Music

Friday 25 August 2017, 11:17 | By Chris Cooke

ASCAP formally supports BMI in 100% licensing appeal

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

US collecting society ASCAP has filed one of those amicus briefs in support of its rival BMI as the legal shenanigans relating to the 100% licensing debate continue to go through the motions.

As much previously reported, last year the US Department Of Justice declared that – by its reading of the so called consent decrees that regulate both ASCAP and BMI – the two societies are obliged to offer licensees so called 100% licences.

That would mean a licensee with a BMI licence could make use of a song even if BMI only controlled 15% of said song. Under the current ‘fractional licensing’ system the licensee would also need licences from whichever societies or publishers control the other 85%.

BMI, ASCAP and the US songwriting community hit out at that DoJ declaration, which would require a major change in how collective licensing works and performing right royalties flow Stateside. BMI took the matter to the court that oversees its consent decree, where judge Louis L Stanton immediately sided with the society.

The DoJ then appealed that ruling, and earlier this month the BMI submitted its response to that appeal. ASCAP’s submission followed this week, supporting the arguments set out by its fellow society as to why the fractional licensing system should remain in place.

ASCAP also noted that, although judge Stanton is specifically considering the BMI consent decree, his ruling on this matter could and should impact on the ASCAP consent decree too.

ASCAP said yesterday that it had “filed a brief because … the government’s arguments concerning the BMI decree also apply to ASCAP’s. That is why ASCAP has requested that any decision issued by the Second Circuit [appeals court] apply equally to ASCAP”.

It goes on: “As the government has previously acknowledged, it is important that ASCAP and BMI operate under the same set of rules and that the industry have a ‘common understanding’ of both decrees”.

Confirming the submission of an amicus brief on the BMI case, ASCAP chief Elizabeth Matthews told reporters: “ASCAP, and its more than 625,000 members, stands shoulder to shoulder with BMI in our unified fight for the rights of songwriters”.

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

Friday 25 August 2017, 11:08 | By Chris Cooke

IP-focused policing unit secures more funding

Business News Legal

The City Of London Police’s unit focused on intellectual property, which goes by the name of PIPCU, has secured funding through to at least 2019.

The government’s Intellectual Property Office confirmed to the Law Gazette earlier this week that it had agreed to continue funding the IP Crime Unit to the tune of £3.32 million, which will keep the department operating until at least July 2019.

As previously reported, PIPCU was set up in 2013 to specifically focus on intellectual property issues, including specific IP infringement cases, and wider anti-piracy campaigns, such as its ‘follow the money’ initiative, which has involved encouraging brands to ensure their ads don’t appear on piracy websites.

After PIPCU’s initial launch, the IPO previously committed funding to the policing unit in 2014, a package that bank-rolled the operation until earlier this summer.

READ MORE ABOUT: PIPCU

Friday 25 August 2017, 11:05 | By Chris Cooke

Merch from Justin Bieber’s abandoned tour to land in H&M

Brands & Merch Business News

Justin Bieber has announced that merch from his most recent tour will be available in at least some H&M stores as of next month. Or at least we assume that’s what he was announcing when he said on Twitter “#stadiummerch at @hm September 7th”

Bieber presumably has a few spare boxes of the t-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants he was flogging on his recent live trek, given he cut the tour short due to “unforeseen circumstances” and a new found desire to be “sustainable”.

Those who desperately want Bieber-branding emblazoned on their clothing, but who can’t face the thought of shopping with H&M, can also buy the tour merch via a bespoke website at purposetourmerch.com.

READ MORE ABOUT: Justin Bieber

Friday 25 August 2017, 11:03 | By Chris Cooke

Primary Talent pays tribute to Dave Chumbley

Business News Industry People Live Business

Booking agency Primary Talent has paid tribute to Dave Chumbley – a director and agent at the company – who died earlier this week after a short illness. Chumbley was a founding team member at Primary Talent, having previously worked for a number of other booking agencies, including World Service and The Agency Group.

The statement from Primary Talent stated: “Dave was a great man, a world-class agent, esteemed director and colleague whose dedication to his artists was unmatched. We are extremely lucky to have been touched by his unique humour, exceptional kindness and infectious joie de vivre”.

Meanwhile Primary Talent co-founder and former MD Martin Hopewell told IQ: “I’m in a state of complete shock – as hundreds of people around the world who knew Dave must be at the moment. He was such a larger-than-life character, and had such a massive impact on the live business, that this just doesn’t seem possible”.

“I worked with Dave since the 1980s when he joined the team at our old agency, World Service. Most people will know him as a tenacious and skilled representative for his clients, but those who were lucky enough to be among his many friends and colleagues will know that that big, booming voice of his was matched by an equally big heart”.

Hopewell concluded: “He was a generous, funny and intelligent man, but – most of all – for many of us he was a loyal and trusted friend. The live business is quite literally not going to be the same without him”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Dave Chumbley | Primary Talent

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