Friday 28 December 2018, 12:45 | By Chris Cooke

ERA comments on HMV administration

Business News HMV Timeline Retail

The Entertainment Retailers Association has commented on this morning’s news that HMV UK is heading back into administration after a tough fourth quarter for the entertainment retail chain.

The CEO of ERA, Kim Bayley, told reporters: “After what has been widely reported as a tough fourth quarter for retailers, HMV is not the only high street name facing tough decisions right now. It is a fast-moving situation and it is too early to say how it will end”.

“What is clear”, she went on, “is that following its first move into administration in 2013, HMV has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround and it is conceivable that this will happen again. The fact is the physical entertainment market is still worth up to £2 billion a year so there is plenty of business there”.

“For the sake of HMV’s staff, customers and suppliers”, Bayley concluded, “we are very much hoping HMV can turn things around again”.

The boss of Hilco, which bought HMV after the company first fell into administration back in 2013, confirmed this morning that another slump in DVD sales and persistently high business rates were both key factors behind today’s developments. It’s thought that last minute rescue talks with the firm’s suppliers, especially in the music industry, failed to find a solution.

KMPG will manage the administration process. More than 120 stores could close and 2200 jobs be lost if a buyer can’t be found.

READ MORE ABOUT: Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) | HMV

Friday 28 December 2018, 11:35 | By Chris Cooke

HMV UK heading back into administration

Business News HMV Timeline Retail Top Stories

HMV is heading back into administration after a disappointing Christmas quarter. KPMG are set to be appointed as administrators and, while the shops will continue trading in the short term, more than 2200 jobs are at risk unless a buyer can be found for the business.

The iconic British music retailer first fell into administration in early 2013 as the company struggled to service debts that had been run up as the company tried to diversify beyond the sale of CDs, DVDs and games in the late 2000s. The business was bought out of administration by restructuring specialists Hilco, which kept a streamlined but substantial network of stores open.

Hilco put the focus back on HMV’s core products – ie music, movies and games – even though it was clear that the sale of physical discs, whatever form of entertainment they contained, was going to continue to decline for the foreseeable future.

The new owner’s strategy from the off was to keep costs down, first by renegotiating deals with the music, DVD and gaming companies, and then by renegotiating rents with its landlords, relocating stores to more cost efficient sites where necessary.

The all new HMV did have another go at moving into digital music – the retailer having launched a number of failed digital ventures over the years – but selling discs on the high street was always the priority for the new management team.

The aim, presumably, was to get as much out of physical music, movie and gaming products as they could while entertainment consumption continued to shift online, exploiting the firm’s position as last man standing (in terms of being a national chain selling CDs and DVDs) and capitalising where they could on things like the vinyl revival.

In the main it worked, for a time, with the decline in CD sales in particular slowing down, and the all-new HMV having a few years of solid trading.

But it seemed inevitable that – as physical product sales continued to fall – even the streamlined, super-cost-efficient HMV would reach a point where the business was no longer viable. Especially when you throw in big bad Amazon as a rival, the growth of direct-to-fan sales in the music space, and generally challenging times for all retailers on the British high street.

In a statement to media this morning, Hilco and HMV boss Paul McGowan said that the latest slump in DVD sales and high business rates were two key factors in the decision to put the company into administration at this time. It’s thought rescue talks with suppliers, especially in the music industry, did take place, but without a solution being found.

McGowan said: “During the key Christmas trading period the market for DVD fell by over 30% compared to the previous year and, whilst HMV performed considerably better than that, such a deterioration in a key sector of the market is unsustainable”.

“HMV has clearly not been insulated from the general malaise of the UK high street”, he went on, “and has suffered the same challenges with business rates and other government-centric policies which have led to increased fixed costs in the business. Business rates alone represent an annual cost to HMV in excess of £15m”.

McGowan concluded: “Even an exceptionally well-run and much-loved business such as HMV cannot withstand the tsunami of challenges facing UK retailers over the last twelve months on top of such a dramatic change in consumer behaviour in the entertainment market”.

The news that HMV UK is going into administration comes just a week after it was announced that HMV Hong Kong – sold to a different company in 2013 – was also closing the doors on its seven stores. Meanwhile HMV Canada, which Hilco bought before the UK business in 2011, wound down its operations at the start of last year.

READ MORE ABOUT: HMV

Monday 24 December 2018, 09:00 | By Chris Cooke

CMU Digest 24.12.18: Spotify, MegaUpload, Viagogo, Brexit, HMV, Music Venue Trust

CMU Digest

The key stories from the last week in the music business…

Spotify settled the highest profile of its mechanical royalties lawsuits. Wixen sued at the end of last year, aware that the then proposed and since passed Music Modernization Act would limit its options in suing over past unpaid mechanical royalties. Randall Wixen praised Spotify and its management for working with him to settle past grievances and work out a viable licensing partnership for the future. Moving forward, the MMA will empower a new collecting society to process the mechanical royalties due whenever songs are streamed, for songwriters and publishers without a direct deal with companies like Spotify. [READ MORE]

The New Zealand Supreme Court said that it would consider an appeal by Kim Dotcom in relation to efforts to extradite him to the US. The American government wants to extradite Dotcom and his former MegaUpload colleagues so that they can face charges of criminal copyright infringement in relation to their former business. Lower courts in New Zealand have already approved the extradition. US prosecutors argued that – based on their interpretation of recent changes to NZ law – a further route of appeal shouldn’t be available, but the Supreme Court disagreed and said it would consider the case. [READ MORE]

Viagogo said it might go to the European courts to fight anti-touting laws in France. It followed a ruling by the Constitutional Council of France that an outright ban on ticket touting, in place in the country since 2012, was compliant with the French constitution. The controversial secondary ticketing platform is now facing legal action in relation to allegations it broke those laws. Viagogo had argued that the ban “infringed  freedom of trade” and was therefore was unconstitutional. [READ MORE]

Music industry trade groups were critical of the UK government’s proposals for new immigration rules post-Brexit. UK Music said the proposals would prevent many European artists from working here and would likely result in similar restrictions being placed on UK musicians looking to perform in the EU. Meanwhile the Incorporated Society Of Musicians said new restrictions on free movement in the UK would have “a devastating impact on British musicians”. [READ MORE]

HMV in Hong Kong announced it was closing its stores. The Hong Kong division of the music retailer was sold off by HMV UK when it collapsed in 2013. More recently the Hong Kong business was owned by a Chinese film company and had pushed more into gadgets and toys over CDs and DVDs. Disappointing revenues had resulted in legal disputes with some of the chain’s landlords, which in turn escalated the move towards putting the retail business into administration. [READ MORE]

The Music Venue Trust announced that numerous music industry organisations had now backed its plan for a ‘pipeline investment fund’. The new fund will raise monies from within the music industry and then back infrastructure projects at grass roots venues around the UK, as well as looking to acquire the freeholds of some of those venues and to provide legal, planning and licensing advice to venue operators. The fund seeks to tackle challenges facing the grass roots live music sector in the UK. Now backed by a plethora of industry bodies, discussions will begin as to how the fund might be financed and run. [READ MORE]

The big deals from the last seven days in the music business…
• Concord acquired theatre publisher Samuel French [INFO]
• Virgin Radio secured Sky sponsorship for its new Chris Evans breakfast show [INFO]
• The Featured Artists Coalition announced a partnership with Roland [INFO]
• CTM Publishing announced four new deals [INFO]
• Warner/Chappell signed Celeste [INFO]
• Syco and Arista Records jointly signed Courtney Hadwin [INFO]
• Universal Music Publishing signed Hrvy [INFO]

READ MORE ABOUT: HMV | Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) | MegaUpload | Music Venue Trust | Spotify | UK Music | Viagogo

Sunday 23 December 2018, 17:31 | By Andy Malt

Setlist: Tencent, Kraftwerk, Neil Young

Artist News Brands & Merch Business News Digital Gigs & Festivals Legal Live Business Setlist

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last couple of weeks, including Tencent Music’s IPO and legal woes, what the EU Advocate General has to say about the copyright implications of uncleared sampling and Neil Young’s bid to stop Barclaycard sponsoring his London show. Setlist is sponsored by 7digital.

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Stories discussed this week:

• Tencent Music IPOs at bottom end of expected price bracket
• Uncleared samples are copyright infringement however short, reckons EU’s Advocate General
• Beef Of The Week #434: Neil Young v Barclaycard

Also mentioned:

• Blurred Lines song-theft ruling stands as Supreme Court deadline passes

Upcoming events:

• Digital Dollar Masterclass – 16 Jan
• Making Money From Music Copyright Seminars – 4-18 Feb
• Music Marketing & Fan Engagement Seminars – 4-18 Mar

READ MORE ABOUT: Barclaycard | Blurred Lines | Kraftwerk | Marvin Gaye | Neil Young | Pharrell Williams | Robin Thicke | Tencent

Friday 21 December 2018, 13:00 | By Andy Malt

Playlist: On The CMU Stereo 2018

CMU Approved CMU Playlists

With the year nearly done and dusted and the festive break incoming, we’ve put together a playlist featuring 40 of our favourite tracks of 2018, which we’ve loosely grouped into seasons.

To listen to all these tracks, click through to our ‘On The CMU Stereo 2018’ playlist now.

Here’s a rundown of our selections…

Winter

The first part of the year was incredibly fertile for new music, giving us a huge amount of great things to listen to. Some of the year’s best albums arrived in this period, including Ezra Furman’s ‘Transangelic Exodus’, Anna Von Hausswolff’s ‘Dead Magic’ and US Girls’ ‘In A Poem Unlimited’. There was also the first taste of new material from the likes of Janelle Monáe and Father John Misty, and a standalone release from the consistently great techno producer Anna.

Here’s what’s on our winter playlist:

Ezra Furman – Suck The Blood From My Wound
Moaning – Artificial
Tune-Yards – Heart Attack
Anna – Hidden Beauties
Rolo Tomassi – Aftermath
Anna Von Hausswolff – The Truth, The Glow, The Fall
US Girls – Pearly Gates
Janelle Monáe – Django Jane
Father John Misty – Mr Tillman
Natalie Prass – Short Court Style

Spring

This section of the playlist takes us off in a more experimental direction, kicking off with vocal artist Hatis Noit. She wowed us with her performance at The Great Escape in May, with her looped vocal lines reverberating around St Mary’s Church in Brighton.

Another highlight of TGE for many was Flohio, who has gone on to release a series of fantastic singles, which have in turn earned her a place on the BBC Sound Of long list for 2019. Here’s we’ve included her debut ‘Bands’.

Meanwhile, other leftfield entries on the spring list include Aisha Devi, Agar Agar, JFDR’s cover of ‘White Ferrari’ by Frank Ocean, and the always welcome return of Jenny Hval.

Here’s what’s on our spring playlist:

Hatis Noit – Illogical Lullaby
Aisha Devi – Inner State Of Alchemy
Agar Agar – Fangs Out
Flohio – Bands
JFDR – White Ferrari
Mellah – Paseo
Alison Wonderland – Church
Jenny Hval – Spells
Princess Nokia – For The Night
Aro Vana – XVII

Summer

We start out here on the same experimental slant that ran through our spring selection with Eartheater’s ‘CLIT’. However, across the ten tracks, this is probably our most varied selection.

Appearing at either end of the list are two different takes on pop – Benin City’s endlessly enjoyable ‘Bus’ up near the front and, near the end, an appearance from Ariana Grande, who really established herself as a stand out artist this year. We’ve picked her track ‘God Is A Woman’.

Jon Hopkins makes the list with the title track of his ‘Singularity’ album, which was one of our favourite LPs of the year. Plus, of course, ‘This Is America’ by Childish Gambino makes the cut, it surely being the track that 2018 will be best remembered for.

Here’s what’s on our summer playlist:

Eartheater – CLIT
Benin City – Bus
Jon Hopkins – Singularity
Childish Gambino – This Is America
Kojey Radical – Water (feat Mahalia)
Orbital – Tiny Foldable Cities
Maribou State – Feel Good (feat Khruangbin)
Kathryn Joseph – IIII
Ariana Grande – God Is A Woman
Yves Tumor – Licking An Orchid (feat James K)

Autumn

This collection of tracks features two artists we’ve already included previously, in the form of the Anna remix of Jon Hopkins’ ‘Singularity’. The original version of the Hopkins track was on our summer list, and Anna’s ‘Hidden Beauties’ appeared in our winter selection. Here they combine to show once again why they have been two of our favourite artists of this year.

These last ten tracks, I now realise, are actually almost all electronic music of some kind, and together they show how strong that broad genre has been in its various forms this year. Worth singling out in particular is Marie Davidson, whose ‘Working Class Woman’ – a techno concept album about the producer’s state of mind during the year after she relocated from Montreal to Berlin – is one of the absolute highlights of 2018.

Here’s what’s on our autumn playlist:

Bliss Signal – Surge
Amnesia Scanner – AS AWOL
Beak> – Brean Down
Qrion – GAF
Lawfawndah – Joseph
Marie Davidson – Your Biggest Fan
The Prodigy – Light Up The Sky
Jon Hopkins – Singularity (Anna Remix)
Grimes – We Appreciate Power (feat Hana)
Farai – National Gangsters

Listen to all 40 tracks here.

Check out all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2018 on this Spotify playlist.

READ MORE ABOUT: Agar Agar | Aïsha Devi | Alison Wonderland | Amnesia Scanner | Anna | Anna Von Hausswolff | Ariana Grande | Aro Vana | Beak> | Benin City | Bliss Signal | Childish Gambino | Eartheater | Ezra Furman | Farai | Father John Misty | Flohio | Grimes | Hana | Hatis Noit | Jakes K | Janelle Monáe | Jenny Hval | JFDR | Jon Hopkins | Kathryn Joseph | Khruangbin | Kojey Radical | Lafawndah | Maribou State | Marie Davidson | Mellah | Moaning | Natalie Prass | On The CMU Stereo | On The CMU Stereo 2018 | Orbital | Princess Nokia | Qrion | Rolo Tomassi | The Prodigy | tUnE-yArDs | US Girls | Yves Tumor

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:53 | By Chris Cooke

Spotify settles Wixen’s $1.6 billion mechanicals lawsuit

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

Spotify has settled the mechanical royalties lawsuit that captured by far the most headlines. That being the $1.6 billion action launched by music publisher Wixen right at the end of last year.

While the potential damages bill – coupled with the eminent list of songwriters Wixen represents – meant that particular litigation was very widely reported, it was merely the latest in a number of lawsuits focused on the payment, or not, of mechanical royalties by streaming services in the US. Most of those unpaid mechanical royalties were the result of a flawed licensing system in America, flaws that this year’s Music Modernization Act seeks to address. Although it was one element of that new legislation that prompted Wixen to sue.

Streaming services exploit both the so called mechanical and performing rights of the song copyright, and in some countries those two elements are licensed separately. However, in most countries there are collecting societies representing both mechanical rights and performing rights. This means that – even where some publishers license some of their songs to some digital service providers directly – there is a society that can provide a DSP with a ‘mop-up’ licence covering pretty much any song on its platform not already covered by a direct deal.

In the US, while there are collecting societies representing performing rights, there is no society for mechanical rights. American copyright law actually sets a compulsory rate for mechanical royalties, but the DSP must send paperwork and payments to each song’s publisher. The problem is, the DSP doesn’t actually know what precise songs are contained within any one recording, let alone who wrote or published that song. So it doesn’t know who to pay.

There are rights agencies in America which can help to identify what songs are in what recordings and send off the paperwork and payments. Some of these traditionally helped the record labels, who always needed to sort out the payment of mechanical royalties on CDs and downloads. But sorting out such things for a DSP with 40 million tracks on its system is different to helping a label licence a new ten track album. As a result, a certain portion of the songs on Spotify’s platform (and other DSP platforms) were not fully licensed in the US.

Once that became apparent, songwriters and music publishers started to sue for copyright infringement. Under American law, when you sue for infringement, you can claim so called ‘statutory damages’, which is a fixed sum per infringement, oblivious of what mechanical royalties might actually be due. Which is how, when you have a publisher like Wixen with many songs on Spotify, the total potential damages could reach something like $1.6 billion.

While some songwriters and publishers blamed Spotify and the other streaming services for not properly navigating the US mechanical rights licensing system and ensuring all songs on their platform were fully licensed, others in the music publishing sector conceded that the real problem was that that licensing system wasn’t fit for purpose.

Some of the latter group started to champion copyright law reform to overcome the issues, which resulted in the MMA – passed by US Congress in September – via which a mechanical rights collecting society will be set up able to offer DSPs one of those mop-up licences. That society will be paid for by the DSPs but run by the music community.

That was all very sensible. Although one element of the MMA was to draw a line in the sand on 1 Jan 2018 and say that from that point onwards songwriters and publishers could no longer seek statutory damages from DSPs over unpaid mechanicals, providing the DSP sought a licence from the new society. Where a DSP didn’t have a direct relationship with a publisher, royalties would be paid to the new society, and writers and publishers could claim what they are due from there.

Worried that this element of the MMA might stop it from suing over past unpaid mechanicals, Wixen quickly filed its lawsuit at the end of last year before that proposed deadline. The independent music publisher was actually already participating in negotiations to settle an earlier class action on the mechanical royalties issue, but said that it had to also file its own legal action in case it wasn’t happy with that settlement and then the MMA prevented new litigation.

At the time the publisher’s President, Randall Wixen, said in a statement: “We are very disappointed that these [streaming] services will retroactively get a free pass for actions that were previously illegal unless we actually file suit before 1 Jan 2018. Neither we nor our clients are interested in becoming litigants, but we have been faced with a choice of forfeiting rights and damages, or taking action at this time”.

Although Wixen insisted that his company “loved” the Spotify service, he was at times very critical of the company and its management, and of its attempts to settle the aforementioned class action. But behind the scenes talks continued between the two businesses, even as Spotify listed on the New York Stock Exchange, something that again put the streaming firm’s mechanical royalty woes in the US back under the spotlight. And now a deal has been done, with Wixen becoming much more complimentary about the Spotify company and its bosses.

Name-checking both Spotify’s CEO and General Counsel, Wixen told reporters yesterday: “I want to thank Daniel Ek and Horacio Gutierrez, and the whole Spotify team, for working with the Wixen team, our attorneys and our clients to understand our issues, and for collaborating with us on a win-win resolution”.

He went on: “Spotify is a huge part of the future of music, and we look forward to bringing more great music from our clients to the public on terms that compensate songwriters and publishers as important partners. I am truly glad that we were able to come to a resolution without litigating the matter. Spotify listened to our concerns, collaborated with us to resolve them and demonstrated throughout that Spotify is a true partner to the songwriting community”.

Although specifics of the settlement are confidential, the two companies said in a statement: “Wixen Music Publishing Inc and Spotify USA Inc have agreed to a final dismissal of the lawsuit filed by Wixen Music Publishing late last year. The conclusion of that litigation is a part of a broader business partnership between the parties, which fairly and reasonably resolves the legal claims asserted by Wixen Music Publishing relating to past licensing of Wixen’s catalogue and establishes a mutually-advantageous relationship for the future”.

Confirming the settlement for Spotify’s side, the aforementioned Gutierrez said: “We’d like to thank Randall Wixen and Wixen Music Publishing for their co-operation in helping us reach a solution. Wixen represents some of the world’s greatest talents and most treasured creators, and this settlement represents its commitment to providing first-rate service and support to songwriters while broadening its relationship with Spotify”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Spotify | Wixen Music

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:51 | By Chris Cooke

New Zealand’s Supreme Court agrees to hear final MegaUpload extradition appeal

Business News Digital Legal

New Zealand’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a final appeal by Kim Dotcom and the other former managers of one-time file-transfer platform MegaUpload in relation to efforts to extradite them to the US to face charges of criminal copyright infringement.

It’s nearly seven years since the US authorities shut down MegaUpload on copyright infringement grounds, seizing its domains and servers and launching criminal proceedings against its management team, many of whom, like Dotcom, lived in New Zealand. The music and movie industries subsequently filed civil litigation which was then put on hold pending the outcome of the criminal cases.

Dotcom et al have been fighting extradition through the New Zealand courts ever since. At each stage judges have ultimately sided with US prosecutors, ruling that there are grounds to extradite the MegaUpload men. However, not all routes of appeal have been exhausted.

That said, lawyers for the US argued that the case should not go to the Supreme Court, and that the second phase of the extradition process should begin, where the case is considered by the country’s Minister Of Justice.

Whether or not a third appeal in the courts should be allowed depended on how you interpreted changes to New Zealand law since the whole case began back in 2012. For their part, MegaUpload’s lawyers argued a final appeal in the courts should go ahead.

This morning the Supreme Court itself sided with Team MegaUpload, in that they said they would take the case. In a statement, the court said that “given the significance of extradition” it didn’t believe that, when amending the rules, the country’s parliament intended to deny the right of appeal to the Supreme Court in cases like this. To that end the country’s highest court stated: “We conclude that we have jurisdiction to entertain the proposed appeals”.

Needless to say, Dotcom was quick to welcome the ruling, saying on Twitter: “The US tried to stop the Supreme Court of New Zealand from hearing my appeal by challenging its jurisdiction. What was the US afraid of? Today the Supreme Court held that it has jurisdiction and granted leave to appeal. Merry Christmas!”

Meanwhile, Dotcom’s US attorney Ira Rothken added: “We are pleased that the New Zealand Supreme Court granted review of the US extradition case against Kim Dotcom. We believe that the court will find that cloud storage providers cannot be held criminally liable for user copyright infringements under NZ law”.

And so the case continues!

READ MORE ABOUT: Kim Dotcom | MegaUpload

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:50 | By Chris Cooke

US magistrate judge advises safe harbour be denied to ISP Grande Communications

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Legal

A magistrate judge in the US has advised that American internet service provider Grande Communications should be denied safe habour protection in its legal battle with the Recording Industry Association Of America.

The judge told the court hearing that legal battle that it should grant the RIAA a summary judgement in its favour on the crucial safe harbour question.

Grande was sued by the RIAA over its failure to deal with repeat copyright infringers among its customer base. Internet companies cannot usually be held liable for their customers’ infringement because of the safe harbour. However, to qualify for safe harbour protection, the internet company must operate a takedown system via which copyright owners can have infringing content removed and complain about repeat infringers.

The RIAA argues that Grande did not have sufficient anti-infringement procedures in place to qualify for safe harbour protection under America’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act. And therefore it should be held liable for its users’ infringement.

The trade body’s legal action followed BMG’s case against another American ISP, Cox Communications, which was likewise accused of having shoddy procedures for dealing with infringing customers. BMG’s court win against Cox was overturned on appeal, but on a technicality, with appeals judges pretty much confirming Cox was liable for its customers’ infringement. Cox subsequently settled with BMG.

Earlier this year the RIAA requested a summary judgement stating that Grande, like BMG, did not enjoy safe harbour protection. Such a judgement would mean that the court would then only have to decide what kind of copyright infringement Grande was liable for, and therefore what kind of damages it should pay the record industry.

Magistrate judge Andrew Austin has been considering that request and has now advised that the court grant the summary judgement.

According to Torrentfreak, he wrote in a report on the case that although Grande had a policy to deal with repeat infringers – as the DMCA demands – the ISP “affirmatively decided in 2010 that it would not enforce the policy at all, and that it would not terminate any customer’s account regardless of how many notices of infringement that customer accumulated”.

The report then goes on: “A ‘reasonably implemented’ termination policy requires that the policy be enforced, and not just adopted. Because the evidence is undisputed that Grande never enforced its policy during the relevant time period, it is precluded from raising the DMCA safe harbour defence in this case”.

Indeed, the judge added, “it is hard to imagine a case in which it is more clear that the DMCA safe harbour is not available”.

None of which bodes well for Grande. And although a district judge must now make a final ruling on the RIAA’s request for summary judgement, if they follow the magistrate’s judge’s recommendation, that will seemingly confirm that the BMG v Cox judgement has set a definite precedent under American law as to the requirements on ISPs claiming safe harbour protection.

READ MORE ABOUT: Grande Communications | Recordings Industry Association Of America (RIAA)

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:48 | By Chris Cooke

CTM Publishing announces four deals via its partnership with Steve Lewis

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Independent music publisher CTM has announced a number of new deals, all of which have been secured via the firm’s partnership with UK music publishing veteran Steve Lewis.

The new deals include acquisitions of the publishing catalogue of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Derek Bramble and the music publishing rights of composer Matt Winn. Meanwhile an administration deal has been secured with Roger Greenaway and a worldwide publishing agreement with Neil Rushton for his Kool Kat/Base Room catalogues.

Confirming the new deals, CTM owner André de Raaff – who previously founded and ran indie publisher Imagem before its sale to Concord last year – says: “I have known Steve for more than 20 years and we always had a very successful and also pleasant relationship. During my ‘Imagem years’ we did not work together, but we always kept in contact. His extremely impressive career speaks for itself and I am pleased that in the first year of our new relationship we have been able to make these signings and I am convinced many will follow in 2019”.

For his part Lewis – who over his career has run music publishing businesses like Virgin Music, Chrysalis and Stage Three Music – adds: “André was my sub-publisher when I ran both Chrysalis and Stage Three and, having worked together for 25 years, I know we have the same philosophy. CTM is proactive, writer-centric and independent minded. I know I can rely on their administration and creative teams to provide the very best service to writers”.

READ MORE ABOUT: CTM | Derek Bramble | Steve Lewis | Watt Winn

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:43 | By Chris Cooke

UK music industry supports grassroots venue investment fund

Business News Live Business

Numerous organisations from across the British music industry have given support to the idea of creating a ‘pipeline investment fund’ to support the grassroots live music network in the UK.

The fund was proposed by the Music Venue Trust at its Venues Day event back in October, and would seek to find ways to raise money from within the music industry that could be used to fund infrastructure, sound and lights in grassroots venues; acquire freeholds on the properties utilised by such venues to assure their long-term future; offer centralised legal, planning and licensing advice; and other training and support for those involved in the grassroots live sector.

The aim of the fund would be to tackle the widely documented challenges facing many grassroots venues across the UK. Which is to say, the challenges that have led to many venues closing down, depriving local music fans of easy access to grassroots music and early-career artists of a platform via which to hone their performance skills and build an initial fanbase.

Specifics of how the fund would work are still to be decided and discussed, but at Venues Day MVT encouraged other stakeholder groups in the music industry to support the initiative by signing a ‘statement of intent’. The likes of the Musicians’ Union, the Concert Promoters Association, the National Arena Association, the Entertainment Agents Association, the Music Managers Forum and the Music Industries Association have now done so.

As has UK Live Music, the committee that sits within UK Music and which brings together representatives from across the live music sector. Its Chair, Greg Parmley of ILMC, said yesterday: “With 35% of the UK’s grassroots venues having closed over the last ten years, it’s time for the industry to act. We need structured and planned investment to secure these vital spaces against development, rent rises, poor infrastructure and failing facilities”.

Meanwhile MVT’s Beverley Whitrick added: “We asked the UK music industry to sign up to the concept that we need to take collective financial action on the challenges facing grassroots venues. We are delighted with the response from the industry and the willingness to find positive, constructive solutions so that we can properly protect the grassroots music venues pipeline from which, ultimately, everyone benefits”.

You can read the full statement of intent and more about the proposed fund here.

READ MORE ABOUT: Music Venue Trust

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:41 | By Andy Malt

James Ainscough named new Help Musicians UK CEO

Business News Industry People

Music charity Help Musicians UK has announced the appointment of James Ainscough as its new permanent CEO. Ainscough initially joined the organisation back in April as interim Financial Director, before becoming interim CEO in July, following the sudden departure of his predecessor Richard Robinson.

“On behalf of all the trustees, I am delighted to announce that James Ainscough has been appointed to the position of permanent Chief Executive at Help Musicians UK”, said the charity’s Chair Graham Sheffield. “This appointment has been made following an exhaustive and rigorous search process”.

Ainscough adds: “Help Musicians UK has been doing great work for decades to support and empower musicians through all stages of their lives and it is a privilege to take the helm as the charity approaches its centenary in 2021”.

“In recent years”, he goes on, “we have been working hard to reach out to professional musicians of all ages, all genres and from all areas of the UK with research-based initiatives and funding programmes where the need is greatest. This will continue, with a growing emphasis on supporting musicians’ health, welfare and careers in a joined-up way”.

He continues: “I am hugely grateful for the encouragement and support that the trustees have shown me. Help Musicians UK wants a world where musicians thrive, and I am delighted to work together with the trustees and our exceptional staff team as we play our part in fulfilling this vision”.

Prior to joining HMUK, Ainscough spent a decade at the Royal Albert Hall, initially as Finance Director, before moving up to COO in 2015.

READ MORE ABOUT: Help Musicians | James Ainscough

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:40 | By Andy Malt

Unauthorised Beyonce and SZA albums briefly appear on streaming services

Artist News Digital

Beyonce and SZA have become the latest artists to have old music wrapped up and presented as new by scammers.

Two albums of old Beyonce songs, demos and other rarities – credited to Queen Carter and titled ‘Have Your Way’ and ‘Back Up, Rewind’ – appeared on streaming services last night. Meanwhile, a collection of leaked SZA demos, titled ‘Comethru’, was also released, credited to Sister Solana.

Commenting on the unauthorised release, SZA said on Instagram: “These are random scratches from 2015. Def not new new!” Meanwhile the President of her label, Top Dawg Entertainment’s Terrence Henderson, said on Twitter: “There is no new SZA album out. Old songs were stolen and leaked. We are currently fixing the issue”.

All three releases were quickly taken down and are no longer available. The release of these albums follows a similar incident involving Ariana Grande last month. Under the name Zandhr, an album of previously unreleased and rare songs by Grande was briefly available to stream under the title ‘Nobody Does It Better (Deluxe Version)’.

Exactly who is behind these leaks, and their motivation, is unclear.

READ MORE ABOUT: Beyonce | SZA

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:39 | By Andy Malt

Beef Of The Week #435: Beefs Of The Year 2018

And Finally Artist News Awards Beef Of The Week Brands & Merch Business News Legal Live Business

So, another year is all but over. Which means now is the time to look back and reflect on how bloody angry everyone was. Each week this column was filled with musical people shouting at each other. And what a joy it was.

Here we select ten of our favourite Beef Of The Week articles from the last twelve months. I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that – despite there being plenty of opportunity to include daft music-based quarrels over it – we’ve left all mention of Brexit out entirely. Let’s just forget about all that for a couple of weeks, eh? Maybe even forever.

So enjoy these, ten of the finest cuts of beef we could find in this year’s archive. The Beef Of The Week column will be going on hiatus in 2019. We’ve been doing this every week for eight full years now and it’s time for a rest. Plus, I have a really good feeling that everyone’s going to start getting along super well next year, making this column entirely redundant.

Anyway, here are the Beefs Of The Year…

19 Jan: Moby v Donald Trump
It’s been a weird year, politically. It’s been a weird few years, really. But we had an indication of how weird this year was going to get when Moby started claiming to have secret information about Donald Trump back in January. Information, he claimed, he’d been given by “active and former CIA members” specifically because he had a bigger social media following than them, so would be able to share it with more people. [Read full article]

2 Feb: Everyone v The Grammys
I had to double check that this happened this year, but it definitely did. It was in 2018 that Grammys boss Neil Portnow said that the main reason women hardly appeared at his big awards ceremony – as winners or performers – was because they weren’t trying hard enough. “Step up”, he said, “Fuck off”, they replied. [Read full article]

23 Feb: Fergie v The USA
Fergie’s attempt to jazz up the American nation anthem – hindered by the fact that she isn’t a jazz singer – was one of the year’s great joys. Not just because it’s fun to watch a line of basketball players trying not to laugh, but also because it provided an excuse to watch a load of other equally bad celebrity renditions of the song. [Read full article]

2 Mar: Mount Eerie v Autographs
Mount Eerie’s Phil Elverum doesn’t like signing autographs. As you would know if you’ve asked him for one recently, because instead of getting a speedy signature you would have been handed a 2733 word essay on why he’s just not that into them. I’ll pay good money to anyone who can get me a signed copy of it. [Read full article]

6 Apr: Louis Cut v Gravity
I’m not sure this really counts as one of the beefs of the year, but I’d completely forgotten about it and really enjoyed reading about it again. Also, having already warned you all of the perils of asking for autographs, we might as well cover the even more dangerous pastime of shaking the hands of your favourite music makers as well. [Read full article]

4 May: Police v Illegal raves
As the summer drew near, Gwent Police put together a handy guide for countryside dwellers to spot illegal raves being set up. The document also doubled as a handy guide for putting on a successful illegal rave. [Read full article]

15 Jun: Pusha T v A fox
Sure, everyone was talking about Pusha T’s beef with Drake this year. But Drake’s all anyone ever talks about. I’m so bored of Drake. Much more fun was Pusha T’s encounter with an angry fox while recording his latest album ‘Daytona’. Here we analyse the effect this incident definitely had on the album’s lyrics. [Read full article]

24 Aug: Nicki Minaj v Travis Scott (and his baby)
Lest we forget that this was the year the Nicki Minaj had so many beefs that one of them was with an actual baby. The baby of Travis Scott. With whom she also has beef. “I know that you guys are saying, me and baby Stormi have beef”, she said on her Beats 1 show. “Yes we do”. [Read full article]

16 Nov: Threatin v Europe
We couldn’t let this one slip by, even though I’m sure it’s still fresh in everyone’s minds. The story of the man who built a fake fanbase and then booked a tour hoping they’d turn up is one that will live on for many years. [Read full article]

14 Dec: Neil Young v Barclaycard
This was only last week, but oh man is it one of my favourites. Neil Young always delivers the goods. Some people would pull out of a show when they realised it was sponsored by a company that doesn’t align with their political beliefs. Instead, Neil Young convinced AEG to pull a whole day out of a festival, so his show could sit outside of those proceedings without bloody Barclaycard’s logo on the poster. [Read full article]

READ MORE ABOUT: Barclaycard | Donald Trump | Fergie | Grammy Awards | Gwent Police | Louis Cut | Moby | Mount Eerie | Neil Young | Nicki Minaj | Pusha T | Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival | Threatin | Travis Scott

Friday 21 December 2018, 12:16 | By Paul Vig

Vigsy’s Christmas and New Year’s Eve club tips 2018

Club Tip CMU Approved

It may be the end of the year work-wise (if you’re lucky), but the clubbing world only gets busier from here on in. Sure, there’s a brief break to swap gifts with loved ones, but then it’s time to get right back on it as we build to the last big blow out of the year on New Year’s Eve.

So here are my tips for keeping the party going over the festive break…

21 Dec: Jon Hopkins & DJ Nobu Curate at Fabric
Let’s not hang about, my first choice takes place tonight. Jon Hopkins and DJ Nobu take a room each at Fabric and fill them with an assortment of DJs and performers worthy of a list sent to Santa. Hopkins, himself one of our artists of the year, has a live set from Nathan Fake, plus DJ sets from Haai and Kelly Lee Owens. Nobu meanwhile ropes in Marco Shuttle and Jay Clarke.

Fabric, 77a Charterhouse Stret, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6HJ, 11pm-7am, £25. More info here.

Boxing Day: Dub Shotta at Brixton Jamm
Jungle legend General Levy headlines this opportunity to shake the turkey out of your system, with Benny Page & Sweetie Irie, Ed Solo and stalwart Nicky Blackmarket, among others. The whole night will be hosted by The Ragga Twins and MC Sye.

Brixton Jamm, 261 Brixton Road, London, SW9 6LH, 10pm-5am, £10. More info here.

New Year’s Eve: Tribes West at Royal Oak
For my first NYE selection we head to North West London, where Tribes West are taking over the Royal Oak. The main room will be exclusively house focussed, with the likes of Phil Asher, Stuart Patterson and Sancho Panza’s Jimmy K-Tel spinning the tunes. Downstairs will be a broader mix of music, covering funk, reggae, hip hop and more.

The Royal Oak, 95 High Street, Harlesden, NW10 4TS, 7pm-3am, £10. More info here.

New Year’s Eve: NYE at Egg Ldn
Always a solid bet for any weekend of the year, Egg Ldn has a great line-up for its NYE show. Headlined by techno producer Charlotte de Witte, she’ll also be joined by Luigi Madonna, Regal, Tobi Neumann, Luther Vine, Warboy and more. Tickets for this are almost gone, so move fast if you want to get in here.

Egg Ldn, 200 York Way, Kings Cross, London, N7 9AP, 9pm-10am, £65. More info here.

New Year’s Eve: Tief NYE at Corsica Studios
And finally, we head down to South London to Corsica Studios. Joy Orbison is headlining this one, with Jon Rust and Covco. Room two has just one booking, with Powder making the long trip from Tokyo worth her while with a six hour set.

Corsica Studios, 5 Farrell Court, Elephant & Castle, London, SE17 1LB, 10pm-6am, £30. More info here.

Whatever you choose to do to keep yourself entertained over the festive period, have a good one. Merry Christmas and happy new year!

READ MORE ABOUT: Charlotte de Witte | DJ Nobu | General Levy | Jon Hopkins | Joy Orbison | Phil Asher | Powder

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:48 | By Andy Malt

Music industry says UK government’s “clueless” post-Brexit immigration policy will be “devasting” for British music

Business News Legal Live Business Top Stories

Music industry trade bodies UK Music and the Incorporated Society Of Musicians have both hit out at a newly published white paper that outlines the UK government’s plans for a new immigration policy if and when Britain leaves the European Union. A major crack down on immigration, especially from other EU countries, has – of course – been a top priority for the government in all of its Brexit negotiations to date.

The white paper promises a “skills-based” immigration system “which favours experience and talent over nationality”. It also proposes that any of those skilled workers coming to the UK to work must earn a minimum of £30,000 a year to qualify for entry, which is a key point both UK Music and the ISM have criticised.

“Requiring musicians, songwriters and producers from the EU to earn salaries of at least £30,000 to work in the UK poses a major threat to the music industry where music creators earn on average £20,504, way below the average for other jobs”, says UK Music in a statement.

It then notes that “if the approach of the white paper is agreed, then the UK’s cultural industries may suffer retaliation from EU member states. This could mean extra costs and red tape for artists who need to cross borders for their work”.

ISM chief exec Deborah Annetts has a similar warning, stating that: “The end of freedom of movement will have a devastating impact on British musicians. The introduction of harsher immigration rules after Brexit will cause declining diversity and creativity in the British music industry. It could also potentially lead to the introduction of reciprocal immigration rules by EU countries”.

She continues: “While it is good news that government does not intend to immediately introduce a £30,000 minimum income threshold for new immigrants, we do urge for any future plans [to that effect] to be abandoned. Such a threshold is not compatible with the music profession, where earnings can be less. We look forward to working with the government during the consultation period”.

She added that other parts of the policy are “insufficient for musicians and the creative industries” and called on the government to instead “seek to retain existing freedom of movement rights, or failing that establish a two-year multi-entry touring visa for musicians”.

UK Music is also calling for the introduction of a “touring passport”, which would waive visas for musicians and crews coming to the UK temporarily.

The trade body’s CEO, Michael Dugher, firmly lays into the government’s proposals in his own statement, saying: “The UK music industry contributes £4.5 billion to the economy, with live music alone contributing around £1 billion. As we’ve made repeatedly clear, a crude salaries and skills approach to freedom to work post-Brexit just doesn’t work for so many artists and musicians. We risk limiting the ability for European musicians to play in our world-leading festivals, venues and studios”.

“If this approach is reciprocated by the EU and there is no visa waiver in place, we risk making it very hard, if not impossible, for so many UK artists to tour in EU”, he goes on. “This is how they build an audience and frankly make any kind of living from music. It is frustrating in the extreme that there are still some people in government who have their fingers in their ears. This is utterly clueless. It’s vital that we don’t pull the rug from under Britain’s world-leading music industry”.

Announcing the white paper yesterday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Today’s proposals are the biggest change to our immigration system in a generation. We are taking a skills-based approach to ensure we can attract the brightest and best migrants to the UK”.

“These measures will boost our economy and benefit the British people”, he concluded, despite pretty much all economic forecasts on the UK’s future post-Brexit saying otherwise.

READ MORE ABOUT: Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) | UK Music

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:46 | By Chris Cooke

Gwen Stefani still faces injured fan lawsuit, but Live Nation is off the hook

Artist News Business News Legal Live Business

Live Nation has successfully removed itself as a defendant in litigation relating to injuries incurred by a fan at a Gwen Stefani show in North Carolina in 2016. However, the case against Stefani herself will continue.

Concert-goer Lisa Stricklin sued both Stefani and Live Nation last year. She is seeking damages for leg injuries which occurred after Stefani called on audience members to come forward and fill empty seats during the 2016 concert at the outdoor PNC Music Pavilion venue in Charlotte.

Stricklin, who was sitting in reserved seats at the show, says that she was injured after fans responded to Stefani’s call to move forward, pushing through barriers and trampling her. The injuries were the result of negligence on the part of the singer and Live Nation, Stricklin argued, while asking for more than $5 million in damages.

Both defendants tried to have the case dismissed earlier this year, but for different reasons. Stefani argued that her call for fans to move forward was protected under free speech rights in America’s First Amendment. Meanwhile, Live Nation said that it should never have been included in the lawsuit in the first place because it could not have anticipated that Stefani would tell people to move to the front of the venue.

In her arguments requesting that the case be dismissed, Stefani also claimed that she could not have known that her instruction would place any concertgoers in danger. Her lawyers also cited a previous case against Ozzy Osbourne, in which a couple claimed that his music contributed to the suicide of their son. That case was dismissed after it was ruled that Osbourne could not be held liable for his speech.

Judge Robert Conrad has rejected both those arguments in this case. He states that it was foreseeable that, by initiating a mass movement of people, someone could get hurt. Meanwhile, the Osborne case was not relevant, he said, because it “involved substantive lyrics – not concert directions”.

To that end, he concluded, there were no grounds to dismiss the case against the singer by summary judgement, and instead both sides’ arguments should go before a jury.

However, the judge did accept Live Nation’s reasons for having them removed from the case, concluding that the live music firm “did not owe plaintiff a duty to protect her from the crowd and her resulting injury because Stefani’s actions were unforeseeable”.

The case – without Live Nation’s involvement – is now due to return to court next February.

READ MORE ABOUT: Gwen Stefani | Live Nation

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:44 | By Andy Malt

New inquest into Radiohead drum tech death to open in March

Business News Legal Live Business

A new inquest into the death six years ago of Radiohead drum tech Scott Johnson, after staging collapsed ahead of a show in Toronto, is to open next March, it has been announced. This comes after criminal proceedings in relation to the tragedy being halted in September last year, following years of delays.

After the criminal case was abandoned, the Chief Coroner of Canadian province Ontario announced that a new inquest into Johnson’s death would be launched. Radiohead, who were highly critical of what happened with the criminal case, welcomed the move, but said it would “not bring those responsible for Scott’s death to account, and it provides no justice for Scott and his family”.

Johnson was killed and three others injured ahead of a planned Radiohead show at Downsview Park in Toronto in 2012, after a scaffolding structure collapsed onto the open-air stage on which the band were due to perform. The show was promoted by Live Nation, and the live music giant was subsequently charged under Ontario’s Occupational Health And Safety Act, alongside provider Optex Staging & Services Inc and an individual engineer working on the show, Domenic Cugliari.

The criminal case reached court in 2015, but quickly started to drag. Then in June last year the judge overseeing the trial was promoted and no longer had jurisdiction. As a result a mistrial was declared and the whole case was set to begin anew. However, the defendants then argued that the entire case should instead be abandoned, citing a relatively new precedent in Canadian law designed to stop criminal cases from dragging on indefinitely.

The new judge considering the proceedings subsequently agreed that, under that new precedent, the charges against Live Nation, Optex and Cugliari should indeed be ‘permanently stayed’.

The inquest is set to begin on 25 Mar, and will examine the circumstances leading up to Johnson’s death. A jury will then make recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents.

READ MORE ABOUT: Live Nation | Radiohead | Scott Johnson

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:43 | By Andy Malt

Spotify denies accessing Facebook users’ private messages

Business News Digital

Spotify has denied accessing Facebook users’ private messages, following a New York Times report earlier this week claiming that it was among over 150 companies given such permissions by the social media giant.

The report claims that Spotify – along with Netflix and the Royal Bank Of Canada – was given the rights to read, write and delete users’ private messages, and to see all participants on a thread. This was as part of an integration that allowed users to share tracks from Spotify within Facebook Messenger. But a spokesperson for Spotify told the NYT that the company had been unaware that it had even been given such powers by Facebook.

In a subsequent statement, the streaming music firm said: “Spotify’s integration with Facebook has always been about sharing and discovering music and podcasts. Spotify cannot read users’ private Facebook inbox messages across any of our current integrations. Previously, when users shared music from Spotify, they could add on text that was visible to Spotify. This has since been discontinued. We have no evidence that Spotify ever accessed users’ private Facebook messages”.

Facebook has, however, admitted that it did give Spotify and others the option to access private data, saying in a blog post: “Did partners get access to messages? Yes. But people had to explicitly sign in to Facebook first to use a partner’s messaging feature. Take Spotify, for example. After signing in to your Facebook account in Spotify’s desktop app, you could then send and receive messages without ever leaving the app. Our API provided partners with access to the person’s messages in order to power this type of feature”.

It also said that “most of these features are now gone” but that the company recognises “that we’ve needed tighter management over how partners and developers can access information using our APIs”.

Elsewhere in the NYT article, it is claimed that another streaming music firm, Pandora, was among several companies to enter into agreements allowing them access to data shut off to others as certain features were discontinued.

READ MORE ABOUT: Facebook | Pandora | Spotify

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:42 | By Andy Malt

Chris Evans’ Virgin Radio show secures Sky sponsorship

Brands & Merch Business News Deals Media

“I wonder how his Radio 2 audience will feel about having to listen to all those adverts”, you probably said witheringly upon hearing that Chris Evans was moving from the Beeb back into commercial radio to host the breakfast show on Virgin Radio. That’s just the sort of tedious thing you’d say. You’re so predictable and boring. I hate you. Anyway, they won’t have to, because Virgin Radio’s done a “groundbreaking” deal with Sky to ensure that there will be no ad breaks whatsoever on Evan’s grand new show.

Though, I suppose, that depends on what you count as an ad break. Presumably Sky isn’t throwing a load of money at the show and expecting nothing in return. I’m sure Evans will have to shout out “Sky threw a tonne of money at us so that we don’t have to have any stupid adverts, yay Sky!” – or words to that effect – every 30 minutes or so.

And before you think, well, hang on, Virgin Radio is owned by the Wireless Group, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, and doesn’t Murdoch also control Sky, so isn’t this just shovelling money around the group to placate new hire Evans, you’ll be forgetting that US media giant Comcast bought the Sky business earlier this year. So that can’t be it. It’s almost certain there’ll be plenty of “blimey how good is Sky?” references on the new show.

That’s not how Evans himself is spinning it. Here’s a thing he said: “So much has changed in broadcasting since I was last at Virgin Radio that now, thanks to Sky, we can do the show without ad breaks. I’m even more excited about starting in the new year!”

Joining Evans in trying to make a sponsorship deal seem like the craziest thing anyone’s ever thought of, Sky’s UK & Ireland CEO Stephen Van Rooyen adds: “The ‘Chris Evans Breakfast Show’ on Virgin Radio will bring audiences something completely new, bold and fresh – everything we love at Sky. We’re excited to create an innovative radio first with Chris and Virgin Radio, and bring Sky customers even more of the entertainment they love when Virgin Radio launches across Sky from 7 Jan”.

Oh yeah, did I mention that you’ll also be able to listen to Virgin Radio via your Sky set-up (assuming you have one) from 7 Jan? Don’t tune in expecting to hear Chris Evans then though, his TOTALLY AD-FREE show doesn’t start until 21 Jan. Sponsored by Sky!

READ MORE ABOUT: Chris Evans | Sky | Virgin Radio

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:32 | By Andy Malt

George McFall drops pseudonyms for new album

Artist News Releases

George McFall – aka Clean George IV, aka CGIV, aka an excellent music maker whatever name he’s using – has announced that he will release a new album, ‘XIV:Surrounder’, in February next year. And for this record, he’ll be known, simply, as George McFall.

The long-awaited follow-up to his debut album (as Clean George IV) ‘God Save The Clean’, ‘XIV:Surrounder’ continues the more electronic sound heard on his run of singles as CGIV. Along with the announcement of the album comes a new single, ‘Autumn’.

McFall says of the new LP: “It’s a document of my attempts at overcoming self absorption, the dropping of masks, the distillation of output, [and] the never ending battle against the traps of consumerism”.

Tour dates are set to be announced shortly. In the meantime, here’s ‘Autumn’:

READ MORE ABOUT: CGIV | Clean George IV | George McFall

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:27 | By Andy Malt

Kylie Minogue confirmed for Glastonbury ‘legends slot’

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

If you put money on Kylie Minogue finally headlining Glastonbury next year, bad luck. You’re an idiot. That ship has sailed. She’s a legend now and legends don’t headline.

Minogue was due to headline the festival back in 2005, but had to pull out after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She has mentioned a desire to still play the event at various times in interviews over the years since then and she was among the bookies’ favourites to headline in 2019. Even more so after Emily Eavis said on Radio 2 that one of the artists already booked was a woman who is “not British”.

However, it’s now been announced that Minogue will actually play the so-called ‘legends slot’ on Sunday afternoon at Glastonbury 2019 – ie the slot previously occupied by the likes of Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Barry Gibb and Shirley Bassey. Though in its announcement, Glastonbury actually referred to “the legendary Sunday afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage”, suggesting that the time rather than the artist is the fabled thing.

Confirming her intentions on Twitter, Minogue said: “I’m so THRILLED to announce that I’ll be playing the ‘legend slot’ on Sunday 30 Jun at Glastonbury 2019. It will be fourteen years since I was originally meant to appear there and so much has happened up to now. I can’t wait to see you all there to share this special show”.

So, currently Stormzy remains the only headliner officially announced for next year. The Spice Girls could still be in there.

READ MORE ABOUT: Glastonbury Festival | Kylie Minogue

Thursday 20 December 2018, 11:25 | By Andy Malt

Brian May to serenade NASA spacecraft as it makes historic flyby

And Finally Artist News Releases

Queen guitarist and part-time astrophysicist Brian May has announced that he will release a new solo single on New Year’s Day. Titled ‘New Horizons’, May’s first solo release for two decades will mark the farthest ever flyby by a man-made spacecraft in history, which is when a space probe passes a planet or such like close enough to record scientific data.

The song will receive its premiere at NASA’s control centre at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Greenbelt, Maryland. It is from here that the New Horizons spacecraft has been controlled since its launch in 2006. On 1 Jan, it is due to pass an object in the Kuiper Belt on the edge of our solar system named Ultima Thune.

“This project has energised me in a new way”, says May. “For me it’s been an exciting challenge to bring two sides of my life together – astronomy and music”.

He continues: “It was Alan Stern, the Project Instigator of this amazing NASA mission, who threw down the glove last May. He asked if I could come up with a theme for Ultima Thule which could be played as the NH probe reached this new destination. I was inspired by the idea that this is the furthest that the hand of man has ever reached – it will be by far the most distant object we have ever seen at close quarters, through the images which the spacecraft will beam back to Earth”.

“To me it epitomises the human spirit’s unceasing desire to understand the universe we inhabit”, he goes on. “Everyone who has devoted so much energy to this mission since its launch in January 2006 will be feeling they are actually inside that small but intrepid vehicle – only about the size of a grand piano – as it pulls off another spectacular close encounter. And through the vehicle’s ‘eyes’ we will begin to learn, for the very first time, what a Kuiper Belt Object is made of. And pick up precious clues about how our solar system was born”.

‘New Horizons’ was co-written with lyricist Don Black and also features the voice of Stephen Hawking. You can listen to a snippet of the song here, before the full track is unveiled on New Year’s Day.

READ MORE ABOUT: Brian May | Don Black | NASA | Stephen Hawking

Thursday 20 December 2018, 10:02 | By Andy Malt

On The CMU Stereo 2018 – Autumn

CMU Approved CMU Playlists

With the year nearly done and dusted and the festive break incoming, this week, we’ve been running down 40 of our favourite tracks of 2018, ten at a time, loosely grouped into seasons. Today we reveal our final list, as we come up to the present day and our autumn favourites. If you sign up to our ‘On The CMU Stereo 2018’ playlist on Spotify here, you can listen to all of these tracks and our winter, spring and summer choices now.

This final playlist features two artists we’ve already included this week, in the form of the Anna remix of Jon Hopkins’ ‘Singularity’. The original version of the Hopkins track was on our summer list, and Anna’s ‘Hidden Beauties’ appeared in our winter selection. Here they combine to show once again why they have been two of our favourite artists of this year.

These last ten tracks, I now realise, are actually almost all electronic of some kind, and together they show how strong that genre has been in its various forms this year. Worth singling out in particular is Marie Davidson, whose ‘Working Class Woman’ – a techno concept album about the producer’s state of mind during the year after she relocated from Montreal to Berlin – is one of the absolute highlights of 2018.

Here’s what’s on our autumn playlist:

Bliss Signal – Surge
Amnesia Scanner – AS AWOL
Beak> – Brean Down
Qrion – GAF
Lafawndah – Joseph
Marie Davidson – Your Biggest Fan
The Prodigy – Light Up The Sky
Jon Hopkins – Singularity (Anna Remix)
Grimes – We Appreciate Power (feat Hana)
Farai – National Gangsters

Listen to all ten tracks here.

Check out all of the artists featured in the CMU Approved column in 2018 on this Spotify playlist.

READ MORE ABOUT: Amnesia Scanner | Anna | Beak> | Bliss Signal | Farai | Grimes | Hana | Jon Hopkins | Lafawndah | Marie Davidson | On The CMU Stereo | Qrion | The Prodigy

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 14:18 | By Chris Cooke

Damages bill cut in New Zealand political party’s copyright battle with Eminem

Artist News Brands & Merch Business News Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

New Zealand’s National Party has managed to get nearly NZ$375,000 knocked off the damages bill in its copyright dispute with Eminem.

The New Zealand political party found itself in court last year fighting Eminem’s publishing company over a piece of music it used in a campaign ad back in 2014. Although the party had licensed that piece of music from a library music company, the court agreed with Eminem’s legal team that it nevertheless ripped off the rapper’s hit ‘Lose Yourself’.

Indeed, so clear was the rip off, that the court decided the party’s library music licence was irrelevant and it had still infringed Eminem’s copyright with its advert. The fact that the library music track was called ‘Eminem-esque’ and that people working on the campaign had noted its likeness to ‘Lose Yourself’ didn’t help the politicians’ case.

Should that infringement cost the National Party NZ$600,000 though? Eminem’s side actually argued that the damages should be higher, not least because there’s no way his publishing company would have licensed the music for a political ad had it been asked.

However, in the New Zealand court of appeal back in July, legal reps for the National Party argued that the damages figure was way too high. The party had acted in good faith when it licensed the ‘Eminem-esque’ track, its lawyers argued, and there was no way it would have gone ahead with a licensing deal with the rapper’s company had a $600,000 sync fee been on the table.

The politicians also argued that they picked ‘Eminem-eque’ because the beat was in sync with the what was happening in their ad (some rowers rowing), not because they wanted any association with the rapper. Plus before they opted to use that particular track, others were also being considered.

To that end the National Party wanted the court of appeal to cut the damages bill down to size. And that’s exactly what it did today, knocking the total figure down to NZ$225,000.

According to the New Zealand Herald, the appeals court said in its ruling: “On the evidence, the proposition [that] the National Party turned a blind eye to the risk of copyright infringement or saw a risk and embarked on a reckless course of conduct with respect to that risk was not sustainable”.

READ MORE ABOUT: Eminem | New Zealand National Party

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 14:10 | By Andy Malt

HMV stores in Hong Kong to close after tough year

Business News Retail

HMV stores are to close in Hong Kong because they have been “unable to escape from the crushing force of the wheel of history”, according to a statement from parent company HMV Digital China Group. To be fair, that’s a pretty mighty wheel.

Hong Kong currently has seven HMV stores, all of which have been struggling of late. A drop in revenues of around 41% over the last year left the chain in financial difficulties. Unable to pay rents, a number of landlords recently launched legal action attempting to evict the firm from their premises. The cost of fighting these actions seems to have accelerated the business being placed into administration.

When the main HMV company in the UK went into administration back in 2013, it sold its Hong Kong and Singapore stores to a private equity firm, which in turn sold the Hong Kong outlets on to Chinese film company China 3D Digital Entertainment two years ago. That new parent company more recently changed its name to the HMV Digital China Group.

In a strategy alarmingly similar to the one that nearly pushed the HMV UK operation out of business six years ago, HMV Hong Kong switched its focus away from CDs and DVDs, instead pushing headphones and collectable toys as its main products. In its statement, the company specifically calls out Apple as one of the reasons for the business failing, though the problem wasn’t Apple’s digital music services but its headphones.

The statement says: “The emergence of [Apple’s] AirPods has resulted in a significant drop in sales for our bestselling earphones, coupled with a seemingly saturated market for speakers, the lack of improvement in the traditional audio-visual sales and a general change in the economic environment, which led to an overall decline in stores sales and in turn a rapid decrease in sales for HMV Retail in the past few months”.

Highlighting global issues for the retail sector – and its impact on other separate HMV businesses elsewhere – it goes on: “Suffering from operational difficulties, HMV Retail was unable to escape from the crushing force of the wheel of history. The HMV Retail business in Canada had closed all its 102 stores last year due to the impact of online streaming media, signifying the hardship in operating physical stores; and as HMV Retail stores in Hong Kong faces the same shock in recent months, it became an inevitable decision for us to wind up the business”.

Despite this negative view of the retail market today, the statement adds that liquidators will nevertheless attempt to find a buyer willing to keep the chain in operation.

Although the retail business was a significant subsidiary of HMV Digital China Group, the parent company also has interests in artist management; music, film and TV production; film distribution; and money lending. The statement stresses that these aspects of the business will be unaffected by the retail arm’s administration, although the parent company’s share price dipped by more than 20% upon the announcement yesterday.

READ MORE ABOUT: HMV

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 14:07 | By Andy Malt

Swedish female-only festival ruled to have broken discrimination laws

Business News Legal Live Business

A Swedish festival that billed itself as “the world’s first major music festival free from cis men” has been ruled discriminatory by a government regulator in the country. The new festival was set up in response to reports of sexual assault and harassment at various music events, particularly Sweden’s Bråvalla festival.

Named Statement Festival, the event was positioned as being open to anyone but cisgender men, ie men who retain the gender they were assigned at birth. It went ahead in August with an all-female line-up of music and comedy performers. Ahead of that first edition, organisers said: “We simply want women, non-binaries and transgender to go to a festival and feel safe at the same time – and now this summer it will happen!”

Complaints were seemingly made to the effect that the festival was discriminatory, which prompted the Swedish government’s Equality Ombudsman to launch an investigation. And it has now made a ruling.

Actually, although marketed as an event free from cis men, no rules to that effect were enforced at entry points, so there wasn’t actually any discrimination at the festival itself. However, the regulator ruled that pre-event statements that “clearly discouraged” a specific group from attending the festival did breach the law.

A spokesperson for the Equality Ombudsman stressed that the ruling was not criticising the ultimate motivation of the festival, ie to tackle the serious problem of sexual abuse at music events. “[The Equality Ombudsman] obviously believes that all visitors to the festivals must be able to feel safe”, it said. However, it went on, its specific task is to ensure compliance with Sweden’s Discrimination Act, and to that end it is “important that the measures taken to increase security do not violate the prohibition of discrimination”.

In response, festival organisers said: “We think it is sad that 5000 women, non-binary and transgender people experiencing a life-changing festival caused a few cis men to go through the roof. The success of the Statement Festival shows that we are needed and the decision does not change that fact. Otherwise, we have no comment – we are busy changing the world”.

Watch a short film of footage from Statement here:

READ MORE ABOUT: Statement Festival

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 14:02 | By Andy Malt

BASCA confirms interim CEO will stay on

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Following the announcement earlier this week that Vick Bain was standing down from the CEO role, songwriter association BASCA announced at its AGM yesterday that Graham Davies will continue as its interim CEO for a further year. He has been working in that role since June, initially filling in for Bain while she as on leave due to ill health.

“It is a privilege to lead BASCA”, says Davies. “It has a great past and a great future. The craft and rights of music composers and songwriters must be properly supported, celebrated and nurtured as without their talent, the music the world loves wouldn’t exist. The industry is changing, and we must raise our voice to bring about fair protection and remuneration for creators’ rights. I am confident that we have the right strategy and a talented team to bring about much needed change”.

Davies previously spent 20 years at song rights collecting society PRS, most recently as Director Of Strategy And Digital. Since the beginning of this year he has advised other rights organisations and companies including ASCAP and Mind Your Rights.

“Graham’s deep knowledge of rights, formation of policy and management experience has brought enormous benefit to BASCA in the short time he has worked with us”, says BASCA Chair Crispin Hunt. “We are delighted he has agreed to lead the organisation at this critical time”.

Also announced yesterday was the news that MEP Emma McClarkin and music lawyer Julia Montero have joined BASCA’s board as independent directors.

READ MORE ABOUT: British Academy of Songwriters Composers & Authors (BASCA) | Emma McClarkin | Graham Davies | Julia Montero | Vick Bain

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 14:00 | By Andy Malt

PJ Harvey documentary to premiere at Berlin International Film Festival

Artist News

A new documentary following the making of PJ Harvey’s 2016 album ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ is set to premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.

Titled ‘A Dog Called Money’, the film is directed by Seamus Murphy – who previously worked on short films to accompany tracks from Harvey’s ‘Let England Shake’ album and took photographs for her book of poetry, ‘Hollow Of The Hand’. As well as filming Harvey and her band recording the album in a glass box at London’s Somerset House, he also travelled with her to Afghanistan, Kosovo and Washington, DC as she gathered material to write lyrics about.

“Polly and I know and trust each other”, says Murphy. “Enough for her to travel with me to Afghanistan and other challenging places, and for me to believe she’d bring back magic. She then invited me into a big white box behind one-way windows to film every moment of the recording of the songs she brought back. Individually and together, this is our response to what we encountered”.

The Berlin International Film Festival takes place on 7-17 Feb next year. Exact details of the screening of ‘A Dog Called Money’ have not yet been announced.

READ MORE ABOUT: PJ Harvey

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 13:59 | By Andy Malt

Jack White’s Raconteurs release first new music for ten years

Artist News Releases

Jack White fronted band The Raconteurs are back with their first new music for more than ten years. They’ve just released two new songs, ‘Sunday Driver’ and ‘Now That You’re Gone’.

As well as White, the Raconteurs line-up features singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, plus Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of The Greenhornes. The band formed in 2005 and released their debut album, ‘Broken Toy Soldiers’, the following year. They released the follow-up, ‘Consolers Of The Lonely’, in 2008, but the project ground to a halt after touring for that record was completed. It has been suggested a number of times in recent years that new material was in the works, most recently earlier this year.

Then in October it was announced that two new songs would be released as part of a tenth anniversary reissue of ‘Consolers Of The Lonely’. These tracks, said a statement at the time, were taken from “recent sessions that will ultimately result in a new Raconteurs album in 2019”.

As well as being available as part of the reissue package, you can find the new tracks on your digital music service of choice now. No further details of the new album have yet been revealed.

READ MORE ABOUT: Brendan Benson | Jack White | The Raconteurs

Wednesday 19 December 2018, 13:55 | By Andy Malt

One Liners: Hrvy, FAC, Jhene Aiko, more

Artist News Brands & Merch Business News Deals Education & Events Labels & Publishers One Liners Releases

Other notable announcements and developments today…

• Universal Music Publishing has signed Hrvy to a big fat publishing deal. “I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to work with the team at UMPG”, says the pop newcomer, “I can’t wait to work with the team on more music, it’s a really exciting time for me right now, the future feels exciting”.

• The Featured Artists Coalition has announced a partnership with Roland, which will see the musical instrument maker provide masterclasses, advice and studio time to members of the organisation. “This great collaboration opens access to top quality kit and professionals, alongside insights from the best and a real dialogue between music creation and music innovation”, says FAC CEO Lucie Caswell.

• Jhene Aiko has released her first solo track of the year, ‘Wasted Love Freestyle 2018’.

• Beabadoobee has released the video for ‘Dance With Me’, the lead single from her new EP, ‘Patched Up’.

• William Tyler has shared new song ‘Call Me When I’m Breathing Again’, featuring Hand Habits, from upcoming album ‘Go West’. He’s also announced that he’ll play a handful of UK shows in April, kicking off at St John On Bethnal Green church in London on 25 Apr.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily – updated every Friday.

READ MORE ABOUT: Beabadoobee | Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) | Hand Habits | Hrvy | Jhene Aiko | Roland | Universal Music | Universal Music Publishing | William Tyler

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